Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s winter event is in full swing and there’s a ton of new content for players to unlock. Just like previous updates, developer Treyarch has included several new character missions for their battle royale mode, Blackout. One of these characters is IX Shaw who tied to the IX Zombie level. Just like other Blackout skins, you will need to complete Shaw’s character mission if you want to obtain him.
Here’s how to unlock IX Shaw in Call of Duty’s Blackout mode:
(Author’s note: At the time of writing this, IX Shaw’s character mission reportedly bugged, so it’s possible some aspects may change later down the road.)
1) Get the Ritual Bowl Character Item
The first step to unlocking IX Shaw requires you to obtain the Ritual Bowl. This item drops from dead zombies, so make sure to go anywhere these ghouls spawn. We suggest landing at the graveyard near Asylum or the diner by Array. Both of these are pretty secluded and should allow you to slay some zombies in peace. We strongly suggest you avoid the boxing ring since a lot of players like to land in this location.
So far we have not found a Ritual Bowl ina Mystery Box, but we wouldn’t be surprised if it spawned there too. Remember, you aren’t guaranteed to get the Ritual Bowl so it may take a few tries before this item appears.
2) Use 5 Perks at Once and Place Top 30 (Solo), Top 15 (Duos), Top 7 (Quads)
Here’s where things get a bit complicated given this quest appears to be glitched. Currently, we do not know how the quest is supposed to function normally, but there is a workaround to completing this step. Once you get the bowl and then reach the minimum specified placement drop the Ritual Bowl onto the ground and pick it back up. Then you can activate the 5 Perks and it should give you a green checkmark for both parts of this quest. Dropping the bowl is only needed if you obtained the item before reaching Top 30/15/7.
Another method we’ve heard – but not directly confirmed – is to just die with all 5 Perks active once you reach the designated rank. This is similar to Prophet who requires you to win with three perks active, only with IX Shaw you have to simply reach a certain number. Since we cannot directly confirm this method, we suggest just dropping the bowl and picking it back up.
3) Finish the Match With the Ritual Bowl
Finally, you will have to finish the match with the Ritual Bowl in your inventory. Make sure you have hit the listed placement before you die. If you are playing a Solos game and die at rank 31 then you will not receive IX Shaw. For this character, we recommend playing in either Solos or Duos since the placement is easy to obtain and there is no kill-specific requirement. IX Shaw is one of the easiest skins to unlock in Blackout since all you need is 5 Perks.
If you’re having trouble reaching the required placement, consider playing a bit more passive. It’s pretty easy to sneak your way into the Top 30, especially if you avoid a lot of high traffic areas like Rivertown and Firing Range. With a bit of patience and some luck, this zombie killer will be yours in Blackout.