How to Get a Nuke in Warzone: Champion's Quest Steps

The nuke in Warzone is the finale of the Champion's Quest. You earn the quest with 5 Core Battle Royale wins in a row or 30 wins in 1 season.

In a later match, your squad secures the Champion's Contract from a marked briefcase. The quest then sends you across the map with 3 objectives: a radioactive isotope, a hard drive and a missile transport vehicle.

Finish the chain, arm the nuke and hold it. The blast ends the match, and your squad wins.

Every squad in the lobby sees an active quest on the map. Rivals can contest your objectives and intercept your carriers.

The quest returned with Black Ops 7 Season 04 Reloaded on 25 June 2026. Black Ops 7 Season 06 is the live season until Modern Warfare 4 Season 1 goes live on 6 November.

A PRO plays the full quest on your account once Season 1 is live. Book it with the Warzone nuke order.

There are 4 ways into the Champion's Quest. 2 of them need wins in Core Battle Royale.

A single loss ends a win streak. The 30-win count starts over when a new season begins.

An Extract Elements public event alerts every player to an incoming element airdrop. The 1st player to reach it starts the mission for their squad.

Short on wins? A PRO can play your Battle Royale matches with you in a Duo, priced per win.

Objective locations change every match. The steps stay in the same order.

1. Secure the Champion's Contract from the marked briefcase. That starts the quest for your squad.
2. Find the radioactive isotope at a drone crash site and carry it.
3. Recover the hard drive. The game calls it the Encrypted Drive.
4. Take the drive to the hidden bunker and decode it at the terminal.
5. Deploy the missile transport vehicle from the same terminal.
6. Load the isotope into the missile transport.
7. Escort the vehicle to its destination. Keep at least 1 squad member next to it.
8. Arm the nuke when the escort bar reaches 100%.
9. Hold the site until the arming countdown ends.

The isotope, the drive and the missile transport each head to a random destination. Plan your route as a squad before you pick up each item.

Keep your squad close to whoever carries the isotope or the drive. Rival squads hunt the carrier.

Each completion counts toward a 10-step reward track. The 1st completion pays the Axia Grimm Operator skin, the Warzone nuke skin.

Completions	Reward	Type
1	Containment Crew Alpha and Axia Grimm	Weapon Camo and animated Operator skin
2	Darkly Dreaming	Animated Calling Card
3	Nuke Core	Animated Emblem
4	Death Filter	Spray
5	Containment Crew Omega	Weapon Camo
6	Gamma Stick	Flatline Mk.II melee Blueprint
7	Critical Mess	Finishing Move
8	Axia's Wrath Alpha	Animated Weapon Camo
9	Ion the Ball	Emote
10	Axia's Wrath Omega	Animated Weapon Camo

Rivals who defuse an armed nuke earn an animated Calling Card of their own.

The whole lobby can see an active Champion's Quest. Rival squads can contest each objective and intercept the player who carries a quest item.

• Steal a key item from the quest squad and extract it at a helipad. An extraction helicopter picks it up, and your squad earns a Champion's Quest token for a future match.
• Defuse the nuke after the quest squad arms it.
• Watch for Golden Ticket public events. They give rare extra chances at token progress.

A quest squad can take a stolen item back before the thieves reach the helipad.

Modern Warfare 4 Season 1 goes live at 00:00 ET on 6 November, 21:00 PT on 5 November. Warzone moves to Modern Warfare 4 that day, with Hajin and Zodiac as new maps.

The 30-win count belongs to 1 season. Season 06 wins stop counting on 6 November.

The Warzone Season 1 roadmap of 2 November names no Champion's Quest date. This page changes the day Activision prints its Season 1 status.

The 6v6 tactical nuke in Modern Warfare 4 Multiplayer is a separate streak. Its kill count and Smartstreaks are in the MW4 nuke guide.

Maps, platforms and the camo track for Season 1 are in MW4 Warzone integration. The guns to drop with are in Warzone meta.