What is a Special Weapon in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Warzone?

What makes a nail gun so special?

Black Ops Cold War crossbow

Image via Activision

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If you are trying to unlock the Nail Gun in either Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War or Warzone, you may be confused by the unlock challenge. In the base multiplayer game of Black Ops Cold War and for the Warzone battle royale mode, the challenge text states that you must “get 5 Eliminations with Special Weapons in 15 different completed matches.” But which weapons fit under these classifications? The answer is obvious in Black Ops Cold War, but a bit less clear in Warzone.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Special Weapons
Screenshot by Gamepur

In Black Ops Cold War, the following weapons are all umbrellaed in the Special category of weapons.

  • M79/Special Alpha
  • R1 Shadowhunter/Special Bravo
  • Ballistic Knife/Special Charlie
  • Nail Gun/Special Delta

In Warzone, on the other hand, there is no Special category — you can find these weapons elsewhere in your Loadouts menu though in the following tabs.

  • M79/Launcher Alpha – Launchers
  • R1 Shadowhunter/Marksman Rifle Delta – Marksman Rifles
  • Ballistic Knife/Melee Foxtrot – Melee (Secondary)
  • Nail Gun/Submachine Gun India – SMGs

While Black Ops Cold War has all of these incongruous and quirky weapons under one catch-all categorization, Warzone spreads them out in other classifications. If you play both Black Ops and Warzone, unlocking the Nail Gun will most certainly be an easier feat in standard multiplayer. If you only play Warzone, then the unlock condition should still apply with the aforementioned weapons, despite their odd categorizations.