How to unlock Maelstrom Shotgun in Black Ops 6 and Warzone

Black Ops 6 and Warzone Season 1 Reloaded not only brings the brand-new Citadelle des Mortes Zombies map and Battle Royale Ranked Play, but three new weapons to unlock including the Maelstrom Shotgun.

Arriving on December 5, the midseason update brings the holidays to Call of Duty. There are loads of Christmas-themed gifts to unlock but since it’s CoD, there are also new weapons. The Maelstrom Shotgun looks to be a close-range powerhouse so here’s everything you need to know about unlocking it in multiplayer and battle royale.

How to unlock Maelstrom in Warzone & BO6

The Maelstrom Shotgun is unlocked through the Merry Mayhem event in BO6 and Warzone. Unlocking it shouldn’t be too difficult, you just need to accumulate enough XP to get through all the rewards. We can’t see how much XP it’ll take just yet, but the second-last reward requires 68000 XP so it’ll be close to 100,000.

The event runs for two weeks from December 5 to December 19, so there’s plenty of time to rack up the required XP. If you don’t manage, it’ll be available in the armory.

Then, the Archie’s Festival Frenzy event runs from December 19 to January 3, bringing the AMR Mod 4 Sniper Rifle as an unlockable reward. Then, later in the season, the Cleaver Melee weapon will arrive through another event.

Activision

Maelstrom Shotgun details

The Maelstrom is a fully automatic shotgun that the devs said “overwhelms enemies with a hail of lead.” While it has “good range and handling,” its recoil and hip fire spread make it best-suited to close-range fights.

For BO6 multiplayer it’ll be ideal in small Strike maps but for Warzone, you’ll want to make sure you have something for medium to long-range like the XM4 equipped to cover your bases. It should also be devastating in Zombies, with its fast fire rate capable of chewing through the hordes with ease.

If you’re solely a Warzone player, you can check out everything you need to know about the upcoming BO6 and Zombies free trial.