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Zelda: Ocarina of Time – RemakeKillstreaks
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 has 17 killstreaks, from the UAV to the Gunship and Air Lockdown. Since launch every streak costs one kill more than the Oct 19 blog lists, so the UAV costs 5 kills (4 with Hardline). The Tactical Nuke sits outside the 17: 30 kills without dying calls it in and wins the match.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 has 17 killstreaks at launch, and the cheapest, the UAV, costs 5 kills: Infinity Ward's launch patch notes say the beta's increase of one kill on every killstreak stays for launch, "meaning UAVs are 5 kills (or 4 kills with the Hardline perk equipped)". Activision's Oct 19, 2026 launch blog lists each streak with a "Kill Requirement" in tiers of 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12, one lower than that. Modern Warfare 4 streaks are killstreaks, not scorestreaks, but objective play also fills the meter, and for the first time in a Modern Warfare game each loadout carries its own streaks. The clip is jackfrags' Select Killstreak screen, on Air Lockdown and then Gunship.
Quick facts
| Killstreaks at launch | 17 |
| Cheapest | UAV: 5 kills since launch, 4 with Hardline |
| Most expensive | Gunship and Air Lockdown |
| First unlocks | UAV, Artillery Beacon, Attack Helicopter at Level 4 |
| Last unlock | Air Lockdown at Level 55 |
| Meter | Kills first, objective play also counts |
| Per loadout | Each class has its own streaks |
| Tactical Nuke | 30 kills without dying, outside the 17; ends the match |
Sources: Call of Duty launch patch notes, Call of Duty, Oct 19, 2026, Call of Duty progression blog, esports.gg.
All 17 killstreaks
The table gives each streak's kill requirement as the Oct 19 blog prints it, then the cost with the beta's one-kill increase that the launch notes kept. Infinity Ward states the launch cost outright only for the UAV (5 kills); the other figures in that column add the same one kill to the blog's number, as the notes say the increase applied to every killstreak.
| Killstreak | Oct 19 blog lists | With the +1 kept at launch | Unlocks at level | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UAV | 4 | 5 | 4 | Reveals enemies on the minimap |
| Bomb Glider | 4 | 5 | 6 | Thrown, player-piloted explosive glider for scouting and a dive attack |
| Care Package | 4 | 5 | 9 | Drops a random killstreak at your position |
| Impact Warhead | 4 | 5 | 12 | Explosive payload that drills through several floors |
| Artillery Beacon | 6 | 7 | 4 | Heat-seeking missiles home on a thrown beacon |
| Crossfire | 6 | 7 | 20 | Dual airstrikes from both directions |
| Combat Drone | 6 | 7 | 26 | Remote-controlled anti-personnel drone |
| Counter UAV | 6 | 7 | 31 | Scrambles every enemy minimap |
| Wheelson | 8 | 9 | 16 | AI vehicle that hunts targets or guards your area |
| Missile Salvo | 8 | 9 | 24 | Aerial platform firing lock-on missiles |
| Railgun Sentry | 8 | 9 | 38 | Electromagnetic cannon, deployable as an autonomous sentry |
| Attack Helicopter | 10 | 11 | 4 | Overwatch helicopter that tracks targets |
| Deathstalker | 10 | 11 | 35 | Remote-controlled helicopter with twin turrets that overheat |
| Advanced UAV | 10 | 11 | 40 | Orbital UAV showing enemy direction in real time, immune to lock-on |
| Argonaut | 10 | 11 | 45 | Heavy assault armor with a cluster grenade launcher and a burst sidearm |
| Gunship | 12 | 13 | 51 | Heavy gunship with 105mm, 40mm and 25mm cannons |
| Air Lockdown | 12 | 13 | 55 | A series of bombing runs with anti-air cover while active |
Sources: Call of Duty, Oct 19, 2026, Call of Duty launch patch notes, Call of Duty progression blog.
How the streak meter works
Kills remain the main way to fill the meter, but Infinity Ward's beta patch notes describe a "Smart Streak Meter" that also counts objective play: taking a Domination flag, holding a Hardpoint, planting the Data Spike in Hijack. That makes streaks reachable for players who play the objective in modes such as Domination and Hardpoint.
Each Multiplayer loadout has its own killstreaks, a first for a Modern Warfare game, according to the launch patch notes. You can build a cheap UAV class for objective modes and a high-streak class for slayer modes and swap between them.
Two Perks change streaks. Hardline (Perk 2, Level 4) cuts every killstreak's cost by 1, so the UAV costs 4. Kill Chain (Perk 1, Level 48) makes kills from your killstreaks count for half streak points, per the Oct 19 blog and the progression blog. Collateral turns killstreaks off altogether (Activision's PC blog), apart from a UAV the team can buy together for the next round (maps and modes blog).
Changes since the beta
Infinity Ward's beta patch notes and launch patch notes list these changes:
- Every killstreak cost one more kill from Beta Weekend 2, kept for launch.
- Several UAVs no longer combine into an Advanced UAV.
- The UAV's health rose from 100 to 150 for launch.
- The Impact Warhead's warning radius shrank from 76 meters to 25 meters (Aug 29, 2026).
- The Artillery Beacon fires 5 missiles instead of 6, with its inner damage radius cut from 15.24 to 10.16 meters and its outer radius from 25.4 to 17.78 meters.
- The Attack Helicopter's health was cut 45% (Aug 23, 2026).
- Wheelson's pathing and targeting were reworked for launch to be more aggressive.
- The Oct 24 update fixed the Deathstalker flying outside the boundaries of Rooftops.
Tactical Nuke
Modern Warfare 4 has a Tactical Nuke, earned with a streak of 30 kills without dying. It is not one of the 17 killstreaks you pick for a loadout: esports.gg's guide (Oct 19, 2026) says it is active for every player at all times, and Dot Esports' guide (Aug 31, 2026, written during the beta) says it "exists outside the standard streak system". When you reach 30, you get a prompt to call it in; doing so ends the match at once with a win for your team, and a cinematic of the blast plays.
The two guides disagree on what counts toward the 30. esports.gg says only gun, equipment and Field Upgrade kills count, so kills from your killstreaks do not. Dot Esports says objectives also count toward the streak meter, as they do for ordinary killstreaks, and that the Nuke needs no Player Level to unlock. Activision's launch blogs do not describe the Nuke, and the launch patch notes mention it only in an audio fix for the "Nuke" sequence.
Countering killstreaks
The game gives every class tools against streaks, all on Equipment and Field Upgrades and Weapons:
- The Ghost Perk hides you from UAVs, and Cold-Blooded from AI targeting systems.
- The SAM Airburst Turret Field Upgrade fires missiles at aerial streaks.
- The PILA and JOKR launchers lock on to air and ground targets; the PILA unlocks at Level 4.
- The Shock Stick sends vehicles haywire, and DDOS jams nearby enemy electronics.
- Combat Grid (Perk 3) shows enemy killstreaks through walls, and the Signal 50's Apex rounds deal more damage to killstreaks.
Sources: Call of Duty, Oct 19, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
How many kills is a UAV in MW4? A UAV costs 5 kills in Modern Warfare 4 since launch, or 4 with the Hardline Perk, per Infinity Ward's launch patch notes. The Oct 19 blog's figure of 4 predates the kept increase.
Are MW4 streaks killstreaks or scorestreaks? Modern Warfare 4 uses killstreaks, but its Smart Streak Meter also counts objective play such as capturing a Domination flag or holding a Hardpoint.
Is there a Nuke in Modern Warfare 4? Yes. MW4 has a Tactical Nuke, earned with 30 kills without dying; it is not one of the 17 selectable killstreaks, and calling it in ends the match with a win for your team.
Do killstreak kills count toward the Nuke in MW4? Not according to esports.gg, which says only gun, equipment and Field Upgrade kills count toward MW4's 30-kill Tactical Nuke. Dot Esports adds that objectives count toward the streak meter.
What is the best killstreak in MW4? No outlet has ranked MW4's killstreaks as of Oct 25, 2026. The UAV is the cheapest and the first to unlock, and the Gunship and Air Lockdown are the most expensive at 13 kills with the launch increase.
Can you have different killstreaks per class in MW4? Yes. Each MW4 loadout has its own killstreaks, a first for a Modern Warfare game.
What does Hardline do in MW4? Hardline, a Perk 2 Perk unlocked at Level 4 in MW4, cuts the cost of every killstreak by one kill.
Sources
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Launch Patch Notes, Infinity Ward, Oct 24, 2026
- Ready for Launch: All Modern Warfare 4 Operators, Weapons, Equipment, and Multiplayer Create-a-Class Features, Call of Duty, Oct 19, 2026
- Ready for Launch: Modern Warfare 4 Progression and Prestige, Call of Duty, Oct 19, 2026
- How to get the Tactical Nuke killstreak in Modern Warfare 4, esports.gg, Oct 19, 2026
- How to get Tactical Nuke in Modern Warfare 4, Dot Esports, Aug 31, 2026
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Beta Patch Notes, Infinity Ward, Sep 1, 2026
- Ready for Launch: Multiplayer Maps and Modes Confirmed, Call of Duty, Oct 21, 2026
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 PC Trailer, Tech Updates, and More, Call of Duty, Sep 29, 2026
- Modern Warfare 4 Multiplayer Gameplay and Impressions..., jackfrags, Oct 22, 2026 (video)
- Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4 (2026) Multiplayer - 15 Things You Need To Know Before You Buy, GamingBolt, Oct 11, 2026 (video)
Moments
Modern Warfare 4 Multiplayer Gameplay and Impressions...
jackfrags
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4 (2026) Multiplayer - 15 Things You Need To Know Before You Buy
GamingBolt
Related
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Campaign Rewards and DifficultyEach of Modern Warfare 4's 16 missions gives one reward for Multiplayer and DMZ: 8 Base Operators, 3 Double XP Tokens, 2 Double Weapon XP Tokens, a Calling Card, a Loading Screen and an Emblem. Rewards are the same on any of the six difficulties (Recruit, Regular, Hardened, Veteran, Realism, YOLO); only beating YOLO adds the "YOLO Completer" Calling Card.
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Ending and Post-Credits SceneModern Warfare 4 ends with Captain Price killing the Archer in the final mission, Greater Good, then dying of his wounds after Ghost forgives him. In the post-credits scene, CIA officer Kate Laswell deletes the files on Gaz, Ghost and Price, erasing Task Force 141 from the record, with Ghost its last survivor.
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DMZDMZ is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4's PvPvE extraction mode: you deploy solo or in a squad of up to three into the Hajin Exclusion Zone, loot, complete missions, fight North Korean forces and rival players, and keep only what you carry out on an exfil. It is part of the paid game, not free like Warzone.
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DMZ Bounties and Dynamic OpsIn Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4's DMZ, killing a player puts a Bounty on you, and four kills across deployments make you Wanted; others claim it by extracting with your Dog Tag. Dynamic Ops are multi-step objectives made fresh each match that pay DMZ XP, DMZ Cash and a Supply Drop that improves with every Op in the same run.
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See also
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Game ModesCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 launched with over a dozen multiplayer modes, including the new Inflation, Hijack, Collateral and Ground War: Combat Outpost, eight of them with Hardcore versions. Possession and Infected arrive for Halloween on Oct 29 and Oct 30, 2026.
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PerksCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 uses a Pick 3 perk system: one Perk from each of three slots, six Perks per slot, 18 in all. Dexerto ranks Ghost, Ninja and Bomb Squad as the best Perks at launch.
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Equipment and Field UpgradesCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 has 9 tactical grenades and gadgets, 11 lethals and 12 Field Upgrades at launch. Each unlocks at a set Player Level; the Riot Shield is now a Field Upgrade, and Trip Wire, Smoke Wall and Razor Wire Trap are new.
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WeaponsCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 launched with 33 weapons in nine classes: 8 assault rifles, 5 SMGs, 2 shotguns, 3 LMGs, 3 marksman rifles, 3 sniper rifles, 4 pistols, 4 launchers and one knife. Each unlocks at a set Player Level from 4 to 55, and most have an Apex attachment earned at max weapon level.
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Gunsmith and AttachmentsGunsmith in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 lets you fit five attachments to a weapon plus its Apex attachment, the final reward for maxing the weapon's level. Attachments are shared: unlock one once and every weapon that takes it can use it.