Season 1 is coming to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 on November 6, a mere two weeks after it officially launched. For DMZ players, there will be a bunch of new content, not least the new X01 map.
But I get it; you may also feel like you're 'behind' or not prepared. You see the big content creators on Twitch and YouTube with a stash full of the highest rarity items. But most of us aren't able to play the game all day (even I, when covering it is part of my job).
Solo players can also feel a little left out, since regularly hitting the toughest areas for the best gear usually needs the coordination of a full squad. X01 especially sounds like it's going to be tough, so you're going to want gear. And plenty of weapons.
Fortunately, even if you are playing solo, there are some good routes out there you can run with the sole purpose of just getting loot. And decent loot, at that. The one I'm going to feature here can be done in 10-15 minutes, has an exfil close by every time, and crucially, should be pretty chilled out.
How to farm good loot and weapons in MW4 DMZ easily as a solo player
I take no credit for coming up with this idea. Plenty of folks on YouTube have talked about it, and I first saw TheSpazo on YouTube recommend it as a loot run.
Essentially we're going to target six bunkers on the left side of the map and throw in one compound that sits on the route. This guarantees six weapon lockers and a safe, as well as plenty of bags, military lockers, foot lockers, tool boxes, and, if you need to upgrade your FOB, a ton of valuables really easily.
The first thing you need to do is deploy into the Operation Iron Citadel story mission. If you don't have this unlocked yet, you need to complete the first three missions on the pyramid and you'll get access.
You don't need to do the mission for this, but using it guarantees you're going to spawn on the map in the right place.
When you're in your raid, open the map, and you're looking for six marks along the left portion that are little circles. They're missile silos, which may come into play in future content, but attached to them are bunkers full of goodies.
There will be one to the west of where you spawn, so hit that one first. There will then be a second one south of that. The gallery above shows all the grid locations for each of the six.
Basically you need to grab the first vehicle you can and hit all six bunkers as fast as possible. A car will often spawn near you when you load in, or you can find one down at Deadtown.
But the route is simple. Start at the bottom around where you spawn, drive up to each silo, go in through the bunker entrance that will be off to one side, and just loot everything inside.
You'll find maybe one AI enemy in some of the bunkers, but that's about the only resistance. When you come to a door locked from the inside, simply follow the windows and go round to the door at the other side of the room. This is the room you really want to hit because it's where you'll find the weapon lockers.
The only non-bunker part of this run is the Military Compound just north of the airbase. You don't need to waste time clearing it; simply approach from the south, go through the gap in the wall, up the external staircase on the first building, and the safe is in the room at the top.
Then leave the way you came and go back to hitting the bunkers. By the time you finish, you'll have had a chance to loot at least six weapons along with a ton of other great stuff.
The valuables you get are also an easy way to get DMZ Cash by selling them in the FOB. If you're not needing any to craft upgrades, just sell them, and you'll be rolling in cash. Maybe hang onto any Gold Skulls or Gold Bars, though if you find any, because you'll need them at some point in the future, and they're pretty darn rare.
Once you've looted all the bunkers, hit an exfil and get out. If your Operator has the Trait that reveals the Final Exfil point on the map, this will often be in the top left corner, which is ideal to hit from the final bunker.
Other players in your match are less likely to be there, but if it's not, there always seems to be an exfil in the vicinity of the airbase if you've loaded in via the story mission.
There's the whole discussion over whether there are actually fewer players in a lobby when you select a story mission or not, but in my experience this run has been pretty chilled. I've only seen one player in the last 10 runs, funnily enough, someone who beat me to the Final Exfil point.
So you do need to keep your guard up, but only you will spawn at that location for that story mission, so it increases your odds. But speed is of the essence. Don't waste time running; don't waste time looting other buildings. Get a vehicle and move fast, in and out.
Take a Weapon Backpack if you have one
As you're focusing on just harvesting loot with this run, you want to take as little as possible in with you. You shouldn't be coming into contact with many enemies, so one tip would be to only take in one weapon so you have a vacant slot.
If you have a Weapon Backpack you can use, take it, because with a vacant slot in your loadout and this, you have a chance to exfil with two new weapons per run.
At the very least use a Medium Backpack if you can, because that secure slot will guarantee you get out with any high-value items you find, such as recipes and weapon manuals.
But leave your backpack as empty as possible. You need the space because you're going to find a lot of loot.
I specifically say this is a good loot run to carry out as many times as you can before Season 1 for a couple of reasons.
The first is that right now, choosing this story mission seems to have reverted to the old ways where there seem to be fewer players. Only one person will ever get a story mission spawn at a time, so you will be starting on your own. But still, other players exist, so speed is essential.
The other reason is that this could change when Season 1 starts. Or loot spawns could change. In a live service mode like DMZ, always be ready for a change to come in that could end whatever methods you've become comfortable with. But we've had the final pre-season update now (as far as we know) so you have at least a few days while it should stay like this.
So it's a good time to stock up on weapons and materials and get crafting FOB upgrades if you can. Especially if you're wanting to check out X01. That promises to be a difficult location, so get the best start you can before it arrives.
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