Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is a game all about shooting guns and killing other players. At least, that’s how it’s meant to be played. Not for one determined pacifist, however, who has managed to Prestige without killing a single player.
Redditor Pilgore revealed his in-game stats after reaching Prestige 1, confirming a remarkable 0.00 K/D after 111 games, or 19 hours and 26 minutes of Multiplayer. That means he managed to gain enough experience to level up past 55 and trigger Prestige despite having zero kills. Perhaps even more remarkable, Pilgore achieved the feat with a 1.92 win ratio.
Pacifism will always be a legitimate strategy. Prestige 1
byu/Pilgore1 inblackops6
How did Pilgore manage it? Why do this in the first place? And where does he go from here? IGN interviewed Pilgore, real name John, to find out, and obtained permission to publish one of his Nuketown matches to show off his impressive pacifist tactics. Check it out in the video below.
In short, Pilgore employs a combination of playing the objective (I know, rare for Call of Duty!), and using the Spy Cam Tactical equipment and Scrambler Field Upgrade to gain score during the match, then calls in the UAV, CUAV, and HARP scorestreaks as they become available. Pilgore also shoots down any enemy scorestreaks as soon as they come in. Pilgore does not shoot at enemy players at any point; rather, he plays Call of Duty like the most useful support class you could ever want.
As you'd expect, Pilgore has many more victories in objective-based modes such as Hardpoint and Domination than K/D-focused modes such as Team Deathmatch and Kill Confirmed. And if you’re interested in Pilgore1’s Perks, he uses Flak Jacket, Gearhead, and Dispatcher to trigger Strategist, with the Tactical Expert wildcard granting an extra piece of Tactical equipment. "Four Spy Cams can genuinely get you UAV/CUAV on its own," he said.
IGN's Twenty Questions – Guess the game!
IGN's Twenty Questions – Guess the game!
To start:…try asking a question that can be answered with a "Yes" or "No".000/250
So, why bother playing Call of Duty as a pacifist? It turns out Pilgore has done this before with previous Call of Duty games, joking with a friend that he could Prestige before him even if he got zero kills on 2020's Black Ops Cold War. “I enjoyed playing that way so I just kept on going,” Pilgore said. He managed to hit Prestige 15 on Cold War, 10 on Vanguard and Modern Warfare 2, and 15 on last year’s Modern Warfare 3 playing this way.
It’s one hell of an achievement and shows incredible focus and discipline, but one thing that bothers me about all this is how Pilgore was able to avoid killing an enemy player just once, even accidentally. I play a lot of Call of Duty and I’ve often killed enemy players by mistake, simply by either pressing the wrong button at the wrong time, or having a rocket intended for a scorestreak blow up an enemy player who just happened to get in my way.
“It was definitely risky at the start (previous games) and I got lucky a few times,” Pilgore explained. “I'd throw a Decoy grenade and it would sometimes hit somebody, luckily, it never got me a kill (yet). I've gotten much better at being careful after doing this for 51 Prestiges now. There's almost no worry of it happening this game as the Spy Cam has replaced Decoys for me.”
Pilgore added that he’s been lucky enough not to have an enemy player jump in his crosshairs while he’s shooting down scorestreaks. And it’s worth noting that the player who calls in a scorestreak gets the kills if it crashes down on other players, so there's no danger of an accidental elimination there.
I also assumed that it would take an excruciatingly long time to gain enough XP to Prestige while playing as a pacifist, but Pilgore insisted his method is “actually a pretty decent way to get score/XP.”
“I consistently get at least 7,000 score a match,” he went on. “My tactics haven't really changed over the years. Experimented with different loadouts but the main gameplay has been the same. Earning XP doing this is much better than you'd think.”
Keep going until I get a kill or get bored. I have a buttload of patience.
The inevitable next question is what’s next for Pilgore? Perhaps unsurprisingly, given his history playing Call of Duty as a pacifist, there’s no turning back now. “Keep going until I get a kill or get bored,” he vowed. “I have a buttload of patience.”
Taking on Zombies mode? We've got Essential Zombies Tips and Tricks to help you get started, plus a guide on How to Exfil. Both Zombies maps are full of easter eggs and secrets; here's everything we've found in both Terminus and Liberty Falls, including How to Pack-a-Punch in Liberty Falls and How to Get the Meteor Easter Egg in Terminus.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.