Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Payback Challenges, Titles, and Emblem

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Payback Challenges, Titles, and Emblem
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Payback Challenges - Level 47

Payback challenges are, as it sounds, all about getting payback. To get payback, you have to kill a player than has recently killed you. You can only get payback once after being killed by that player; to get it again, you need to be killed by them again. Perhaps the hardest part about getting payback challenges is finding the players that killed you and killing them in the specific way required. In general, just play the game. Many, such as getting payback with headshots, will simply happen as you play. Some, like getting payback with a copycat class, requires something special from you. All of these challenges are unlocked at level 47.

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Time is Money I and II - Get Payback 5 and 25 times with Semtex grenades. Worth 3,500 and 10,000 EXP respectively. Challenge I unlocks the Time is Money title, and challenge II unlocks the radiation emblem. This challenge is relatively easy to get through the course of normal gameplay. Just throw semtex grenades and try to kill people. Unless you’re amazingly good, you’ll have died a few times, and thus some players will get you payback kills.

I’m Rich I and II - Get Payback 5 and 25 times with C4. Worth 3,500 and 10,000 EXP respectively. Challenge I unlocks the I’m Rich title and challenge II unlocks the Seasnipers emblem. Slightly harder than payback with semtex, C4 packs are just as deadly if you use them properly. Kill people with them when you can and you’ll eventually get the payback kills you need.

Color of Money I and II - Get Payback 5 and 25 times with heashots. Worth 3,500 and 10,000 EXP respectively. Challenge I unlocks the Blood Money title and challenge II unlocks the close-up skull emblem. Headshots are a good way to kill players and they complete dozens of challenges, so getting payback with them will be par for the course. Chances are you’ll have done this twice over by the time you even unlock it.

Robin Hood I and II - Get Payback 5 and 25 times while in Last Stand. Worth 3,500 and 10,000 EXP respectively. Challenge I unlocks the Robin Hood title and challenge II unlocks the cartoon price emblem. This challenge is tricky. It doesn’t work in Final Stand, for one. For two, dying, being put in last stand, and killing the person that killed you doesn’t count. A person has to kill you, and then kill you again, and while in last stand that second time, you kill them. This makes this challenge difficult. However, playing with last stand constantly should get you the kills you need eventually. Just keep at it.

Bang for your Buck I and II - Get Payback 5 and 25 times with Frag grenades. Worth 3,500 and 10,000 EXP respectively. Challenge I unlocks the Mad Man title and challenge II unlocks the 8-ball emblem. This is another challenge almost as easy as the semtex paybacks. Use the same tips mentioned there, just use Frag Grenades instead.

Overdraft - “Get a payback that sticks to the victim,” Get a payback by sticking the enemy with a Semtex Grenade. Worth 3,500 EXP. Unlocks the Rainmaker title and the Soap emblem. This one you just might get along the way with semtex paybacks. Just stick the players with the grenade and you’ll be good.

Identity Thief - Get a payback with the killer’s copycat class. Worth 3,500 EXP and unlocks the ID Thief title and the copycat emblem. If you use Copycat, you’ll find this easy. If you don’t, you’ll have to pay attention to get it. Fortunately, the better the player that kills you, the more likely you are to be able to kill them with their own class.

ATM - Get a payback with a throwing knife. Worth 3,500 EXP and unlocks the New Jack title and the talon emblem. Like the other payback challenges, simply use the throwing knife and eventually you’ll kill someone with it that killed you previously.

Money Shot - Get a payback with a game-winning killcam. Worth 3,500 EXP and unlocks the Money Shot! title and the night vision emblem. This one isn’t really one you can plan; just try to get the last kill in a match and hope it’s someone that killed you previously.

Break the Bank - Get payback with a claymore. Worth 3,500 EXP and unlocks the Dishes are Done title and the woman’s head emblem. This one is pretty easy too. Just drop claymore everywhere and you’ll rack up the kills.

Elite Challenges - Level 53

Elite challenges require you to perform somewhat more advanced moves in the course of play. Cooking grenades instead of just throwing them, or getting a knife kill when all your ammo is empty. They aren’t as hard as they sound, however. Many of them, like the other challenges, will happen in the course of regular play. A few you’ll have to go out of your way to perform. Each of these challenges is unlocked at level 53.

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Master Chef I, II, and III - Kill 5, 10, and 20 enemies with cooked grenades. Worth 2,500, 5,000, and 10,000 EXP respectively. Challenge I unlocks the So Baked title, challenge II unlocks the BAM! title, and challenge III unlocks the burgertown emblem. To get this challenge you have to cook a grenade, which some people don’t know how to do. Simple; hold the grenade for a second or two before you throw it. Frag grenades have a fixed time between button press and detonation. If you hold it, you can let it explode closer to where you throw it instead of having it roll or bounce away. With a little practice, it becomes easy to kill people around corners and over ledges by cooking a grenade to explode right when it nears them.

Counter Claymore I, II, and III - Kill 3, 10, and 20 enemies by shooting claymores. Worth 2,500, 5,000, and 10,000 EXP respectively. Challenge I unlocks the Clay Pigeon title, challenge II unlocks the Reversal of Fortune title, and challenge III unlocks the pink pacifier emblem. These are slightly difficult to do, but are made easier by the fact that most players will lay a claymore to protect them and then lay down right next to it. Use SitRep to find where claymores are, and shoot them. Eventually you’ll kill players doing so, and get the challenge complete.

Grenades

Counter C4 I, II, and III - Kill 3, 10, and 20 enemies by shooting C4 packs. Worth 2,500, 5,000, and 10,000 EXP respectively. Challenge I unlocks the I.C.E. Man title, challenge II unlocks the Hired Gun title, and challenge III unlocks the blue pacifier emblem. This is more difficult than the claymore challenge, because most people fail to use C4, and if they do, they throw and detonate relatively quickly. Like the claymore challenge, run SitRep and hunt down C4 packs. Be patient; you’re not likely to accomplish this quickly.

The Brink - Get a 3 or higher kill streak while near death. Worth 4,500 EXP. Unlocks the Flatliner title and samurai helmet emblem. Near death, in this case, means your screen is read and flashing. A graze won’t do, you have to really be almost dead. This makes it more difficult because you’ll have a hard time seeing what you’re doing through the blood. Just rampage when you’re hit and kill as many people as you can. Sometimes a grenade launcher will net you the multi-kill you need.

Fast Swap - Hurt an enemy with your primary weapon, then switch to a pistol and finish them off. Worth 4,500 EXP. Unlocks the Quickdraw title and the bullet casing emblem. The hardest part of completing this challenge is remembering to do it. If you’re having trouble, use an SMG and a pistol like the magnum. The SMG has low damage, so you’re less likely to kill before you can switch, and it switches to the pistol quickly. The Magnum has high damage so you’re most likely to finish them off with it.

Elite Challenges - Level 53 cont. and 57

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Star Player - Play an entire match with a 5:1 Kill/Death Ratio. Worth 4,500 EXP. Unlocks the The Mastodon title and the tsunami emblem. This one simply requires you to get the right ratio of kills to deaths. If you die once, you need five kills. Twice, and you need ten. You have to die at least once to get this. Dying once and camping for five kills, then hiding out of the way until the match ends would work. Alternatively, playing normally until you naturally hit a good game works too.

How The ? - Kill an enemy by shooting an explosive through a wall. Worth 4,500 EXP. Unlocks the How The ? title and the illuminati emblem. You do not need to use FMJ rounds for this to count, however they make it easier to shoot through walls. SitRep lets you know where explosives are. You may get this while attempting the Counter-Claymore and Counter-C4 challenges.

Dominos - Kill an enemy by setting off a chain reaction of explosives. Worth 4,500 EXP. Unlocks the The Domino Effect title and the clockwork gears emblem. This one requires you to set off at least two explosives, the last of which kills the enemy. Using SitRep, find a claymore around a wall. Throw a C4 near it and shoot your C4. If this sets off the claymore you could kill the player inside and net the challenge complete.

Invincible - Regenerate from damage five times without dying. Worth 4,500 EXP. Unlocks the The Invincible title and the abrams tank emblem. Being damaged happens a lot. Regenerating happens a lot. Doing it five times without dying in between is complicated and requires you to wander into enemy territory several times and still come out alive. You could taunt a sniper if you know where one is, or use the riot shield and intentionally let your legs remain unprotected.

Survivalist - Survive for five minutes without dying in a single match. Worth 4,500 EXP. Unlocks the Live Long… title and the pink heart skull emblem. Find a nice place to hide. Use Ninja, Cold Blooded, and a silencer if you have to fight. Try to stay alive as long as possible. This works best if you find your hiding place at the start of the match.

Elite

The following challenges unlock at level 57.

Enemy of the State - Kill 3 enemies while you’re the only one on your team alive. Worth 4,500 EXP. Unlocks the Enemy of the State title and the gorilla king emblem. Playing non-respawning game modes like Search and Destroy is the easiest way to do this. Alternately, you can get it in hardcore team deathmatch, but the timing is hard. One possibility is if your teammates are all team killing and getting long respawn timers, that would be your chance. Otherwise you likely only have ten or so seconds to try.

The Resourceful - Kill an enemy by sticking an ally with a semtex. Worth 4,500 EXP. Unlocks the Friends with Benefits title and the tire emblem. If you know where the enemies are and know an ally is charging them, stick them with the semtex. Alternately, you can get a friend to wait for you to stick them and run into an enemy.

The Survivor - Kill an enemy with the knife while your ammo is empty. Worth 4,500 EXP. Unlocks the Survivor title and the brass knuckles emblem. Unless you’ve spent all your bullets netting you kills and you’re thick in enemy territory, you’re likely going to have to waste a bunch of bullets. Use low-ammo guns like SMGs that shoot quickly, and machine pistols that can empty their clips quickly. A knife-runner build works well for this as well; use an SMG, marathon, lightweight, and commando.

Both Barrels - Kill an enemy using the Ranger with both barrels simultaneously. Worth 4,500 EXP. Unlocks the Mmmm Brains… title and the shotgun shells emblem. The Ranger is an incredibly deadly gun. Each trigger fires a barrel while using it, so when you see an enemy, unload both barrels into them. If you’re using Akimbo Rangers, you can shoot one shot from each barrel and get the challenge that way as well.

Intimidation Challenges - Level 61

Intimidation challenges are reasonably hard to achieve, and are meant to reward certain actions that might intimidate the opposing team. This includes such things as killing the top player five times in a row, and killing six enemies with a single stealth bomber. They’re challenging and they often require luck. Still, many of them will happen during regular play. The first set of challenges unlocks at level 61.

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Omnicide - Kill the entire enemy team within 10 seconds. Worth 5,000 EXP. Unlocks the Omnicide title and the severed hands devil horns emblem. This is easiest accomplished with explosives or killstreaks. AC-130s and Chopper Gunners will help a lot. Play an objective game like domination. Ground War is counter-intuitive in that more players makes this harder, but players tend to be more reckless in that game mode, so it could be easier to get it.

Wargasm - Get all three of your killstreak rewards within 20 seconds. Worth 3,500 EXP. Unlocks the Wargasm title and the Infinity Ward Logo emblem. Set your killstreaks to something easy; UAV, C-UAV, and Predator, for example. Use grenades and other explosives to camp a domination point at the start of a game, and hope you can get a good multi-kill or two and get all your killstreaks one after another. Don’t take a break to call them in; you can do that after you’ve earned all three.

The Bigger They Are - Kill the top player on the enemy team three times in a row. Worth 2,500 EXP. Unlocks the The Bigger They Are… title and the pink luchador mask emblem. This is the easier of two identical challenges. You can’t really control this; hunting down a specific player is difficult, if not impossible. Just play constantly and hope you get lucky.

MW2 play

The Harder They Fall - Kill the top player on the enemy team five times in a row. Worth 5,000 EXP. Unlocks the The Harder They Fall title and the blue luchador mask emblem. This is the harder of two identical challenges. Again, you can’t really hunt down the top player with any consistency unless they’re stationary, so just keep playing and hope you get it.

Crab Meat - Kill 10 enemies with a single killstreak. Worth 7,500 EXP. Unlocks the Epic title and the jet formation emblem. This one is easiest with a chopper gunner or AC-130, though you don’t have much time. If you play domination your team can spawn-lock the enemy, and if you’re playing an open map like Wasteland you can rack up the kills. A stealth bomber can also possibly achieve this, but it’s much harder. Play Ground War if you want more targets to kill and a higher chance of killing them faster.

Ultimate Sacrifice - Call in a Tactical Nuke while your team is losing. Worth 10,000 EXP. Unlocks the MOAB title and the animated CoD star emblem. There’s no surefire way to achieve this. To get a nuke you have to be doing quite well, and that usually means your team is going to win. Just do your best to get a nuke and hope the other team gets ahead. Alternately, talk to your teammates, tell them you have a nuke, and ask them to stop winning. It probably won’t work, but you never know.

The Denier - Kill an enemy just before they earn a 10 or higher killstreak reward. Worth 5,000 EXP. Unlocks the The Denier title and the weed emblem. This one is another that’s impossible to plan out. There’s no way to tell what your opponent’s streak is or what they have set for a reward. Just kill players and eventually you may be able to kill them before one of their important streaks.

Carpet Bomb - Kill 5 enemies with a single airstrike. Worth 5,000 EXP. Unlocks the CoD 4 emblem. Playing Ground War can increase your chances of accomplishing this. Try using a Stealth Bomber for a wider area, or use Danger Close Pro to increase the blast radius of your airstrikes.

Intimidation Challenges - Level 64

These challenges are just like the previous Intimidation challenges, only unlocked at a slightly higher level. These challenges unlock at level 64.

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Red Carpet - Kill 6 enemies with a single stealth bomber. Worth 5,000 EXP. Unlocks the Bomb’s away! title and the ghost skull emblem. Obviously you can only use a stealth bomber for this challenge. Use Danger Close Pro for additional damage, play ground war for more targets, and try to get an open map like Wasteland to drop it on. Aim for areas you know the enemies are and hope they don’t have cover.

Grim Reaper - Kill 5 enemies with a single predator missile. Worth 5,000 EXP. Unlocks the The Grim Reaper title and the tiger emblem. There’s no easy way to do this. You could try to lure the enemy team by throwing an emergency airdrop in their area. You could play domination and hope to land one on a heavily occupied point. You can just play with predators constantly and hope to get lucky. Danger Close Pro will increase the damage and blast radius of the missile so you have a better chance.

No Secrets - Call in a UAV three times in a single match. Worth 2,500 EXP. Unlocks the Big Brother title and the satellite emblem. This is relatively easy. UAVs only take three kills to call in. If you’re having a lot of trouble, try using Hardline; two kills per UAV means an almost constant stream of them.

Sunblock - Call in a Counter-UAV three times in a single match. Worth 2,500 EXP. Unlocks the UAV Rays title and the meteor emblem. This is just as easy as the No Secrets challenge. C-UAVs cost four kills, and with hardline they cost three. You shouldn’t have trouble doing that three times in a match. The hardest part is dying often enough to reset your streaks.

Afterburner - Call in an Airstrike twice in a single match. Worth 2,500 EXP. Unlocks the Afterburner title and a jet plane emblem. Harriers are airstrikes and don’t cost many kills. For extra ease, try using Harriers and Precision Airstrikes. One can chain you into the other. Alternately, use Hardline to decrease the cost of the streaks and call them in sooner.

UAV

Air Superiority - Call in an Attack Helicopter twice in a single match. Worth 2,500 EXP. Unlocks the Top Gun title and the major shepherd emblem. The Attack Helicopter isn’t very good, but that’s okay. You only need to call it in, not get kills with it. Set it as a killstreak with whatever other streaks you want, and as soon as you earn it, die and call it in. Then proceed to kill people until you get another. Challenge complete.

MG Master - Get a five kill streak while on a mounted machine gun. Worth 2,500 EXP. Unlocks the Gat Trigger title and the lightning tipped finger emblem. There are many mounted guns in the game, and few that work well enough for this challenge. Karachi has one near the corridor near C that works when players come along blindly from A. Wasteland has several guns that can shoot across the map and get you kills if you spray in common areas. Skidrow has one near C that can cover a wide area and shoot through the walls into the B area. In general, just hop on a gun and try to protect yourself while you kill from it.

Slasher - Get a three kill streak with your knife without dying. Worth 3,500 EXP. Unlocks the The Ripper title and the angry bull emblem. Use a blade runner build to make this easy. Marathon for constant movement, Lightweight with a SMG for fastest movement speed in the game, and Commando to strike enemies from further than you could before. Free For All is a really easy game mode to get this on, as is Ground War if you know where the best hiding places are. Stick to the areas with a lot of corners and never run down long open roads. Wasteland is impossible for this, Invasion is wonderful.

This post is part of the series: Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2: Challenges and Callsigns

Tips and hints for unlocking titles and emblems and completing challenges in Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2.

  1. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2: Weapon Challenges
  2. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2: Perk, Equipment, Basic Training and Operations Challenges
  3. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2: Killstreak, Precision, Finishing Move, and Humiliation Challenges
  4. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2: Payback, Elite, and Intimidation Challenges
  5. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 Prestige and Hidden Challenges
  6. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Call Signs