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Seventeen Killstreaks have been shown for Modern Warfare 4. Ten of them can be unlocked inside the open beta; the other seven sit behind player levels between 31 and 55, and the beta stops levelling you at 30. This is the full list with what each one does, what it costs after the Weekend Two patch, and what it costs if you run Hardline.
The cost column is where most lists on the internet are wrong, including the first version of this one — the explanation is below the table.
TL;DR
- 17 Killstreaks revealed; only 10 are reachable inside the beta level cap of 30
- Weekend Two raised the cost of every Killstreak by one kill, so the widely-copied 3/5/7/9/11 figures are the Weekend One numbers
- Hardline reduces every Killstreak cost by one, which puts the streaks back at their Weekend One prices
- UAV, Artillery Beacon and Attack Helicopter are unlocked from your first match
- Gunship (Level 51) and Air Lockdown (Level 55) cannot be unlocked in the beta at all
- A Tactical Nuke is community-confirmed during the beta at a 30-kill streak; it is not in the Killstreak menu
Every Killstreak, What It Does and What It Costs
Costs below are the Weekend Two values, after the patch that raised every streak by one kill. The Hardline column is what you pay with that perk equipped — the same numbers the beta used in Weekend One, which is why so many lists disagree with the menu in front of you.
| Killstreak | What it does | Cost (Weekend 2) | With Hardline | Unlock level | In the beta? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UAV | Reveals enemy positions on the minimap | 4 | 3 | From the start | Yes |
| Bomb Glider | Hand-thrown glider with an explosive payload | 4 | 3 | Level 6 | Yes |
| Care Package | Drops a crate containing a random Killstreak | 4 | 3 | Level 9 | Yes |
| Impact Warhead | Single high-damage strike on a marked point | 4 | 3 | Level 12 | Yes |
| Artillery Beacon | Marks an area for a sustained shell barrage | 6 | 5 | From the start | Yes |
| Crossfire | Paired strafing run across a marked line | 6 | 5 | Level 20 | Yes |
| Combat Drone | Player-controlled attack drone | 6 | 5 | Level 26 | Yes |
| Wheelson | Automated ground vehicle with a turret | 8 | 7 | Level 16 | Yes |
| Missile Salvo | Volley of guided missiles on marked targets | 8 | 7 | Level 24 | Yes |
| Attack Helicopter | AI-controlled overwatch helicopter that patrols an area | 10 | 9 | From the start | Yes |
| Counter UAV | Jams the enemy minimap | 6 | 5 | Level 31 | No — one level past the cap |
| Deathstalker | High-tier ground support platform | 10 | 9 | Level 35 | No |
| Railgun Sentry | Automated railgun turret | 8 | 7 | Level 38 | No |
| Advanced UAV | Continuous directional enemy tracking | 10 | 9 | Level 40 | No |
| Argonaut | Heavy assault support unit | 10 | 9 | Level 45 | No |
| Gunship | Player-controlled aerial gunship | 12 | 11 | Level 51 | No |
| Air Lockdown | Area denial from the air | 12 | 11 | Level 55 | No |
Two honest caveats about that table. The unlock levels for the seven Killstreaks above the beta cap come from a single published breakdown rather than from an official table, so one of those may move; the ten inside the cap are officially published. And the descriptions in the second column are short by design: we have not played the beta, so what a streak does is stated from official and press descriptions, not from a feel for how it performs.
Where the grind outlasts the interest, Modern Warfare 4 boosting picks it up from wherever the account already stands.
Why Half the Internet Lists 3/5/7/9/11
Weekend One ran with Killstreaks at 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 kills, and every list published that weekend recorded those numbers. The Weekend Two patch then raised the cost of every Killstreak by exactly one kill, which is what the current build uses.
Hardline, available from the start, reduces Killstreak costs by one. Run it and every streak returns to its Weekend One price — which is why a player with Hardline equipped sees the older numbers in the menu and assumes the newer lists are wrong.
If you are reading any Killstreak list, including this one, check it against your own Create-a-Class menu with and without Hardline before planning around it.
The Three You Start With
UAV, Artillery Beacon and Attack Helicopter are available the first time you load in, one across each of three different cost bands. That gives you a working set from match one, and every unlock afterwards is a swap rather than an addition. The first genuinely new option is Bomb Glider at Level 6, and the loadout starts feeling like a choice around Level 12.
The Tactical Nuke Is Not in the Menu
A Tactical Nuke has been reported by players during the beta, triggered by a 30-kill streak. It is not something you equip and it does not occupy one of your three slots — it is a hidden game-ending streak that fires when the condition is met.
Activision has not documented it in the official beta materials, so treat it as community-confirmed rather than official, and treat any specific claim about how it behaves at launch as unverified.
Killstreaks Are Set Per Loadout Now
Killstreaks belong to the individual Custom Loadout rather than to the account, so switching class mid-match switches your streak set with it. We covered the Create-a-Class system and all eighteen perks in MW4 Perks and Create-a-Class, and the change to how the meter fills in MW4 Smartstreaks.
What This Means for the Beta Grind
If you are levelling with a target, the useful stops are Level 16 (Wheelson), Level 20 (Crossfire) and Level 26 (Combat Drone). Past 26 there is nothing left to unlock in this category before the cap, so the last four levels pay you in weapons and perks instead.
Reaching 30 clears the beta reward track and hands you every streak the beta will ever give you. If you want that done without the weekend disappearing into it, our MW4 beta rewards shelf covers it — played by hand on your account.
Sources and Confidence
Confirmed by the official patch notes: Weekend Two increased the cost of every Killstreak by one kill. Confirmed by official beta materials: Hardline reduces Killstreak costs by one, and the beta level cap is 30 in Weekend Two (20 in Weekend One).
Confirmed across multiple outlets: seventeen Killstreaks revealed, ten reachable inside the cap, three unlocked from the start.
Official: the unlock levels, descriptions and Hardline behaviour for the ten Killstreaks inside the beta cap are published by Activision in the beta progression guide.
Single-source, provisional: the unlock levels for the seven Killstreaks above the cap — Counter UAV through Air Lockdown — come from Insider Gaming rather than an official table. Where a number disagrees with the menu in front of you, the menu wins.
Community-confirmed, not official: the Tactical Nuke at a 30-kill streak.
Deliberately absent: damage numbers, radii, cooldowns and any ranking of which streak is strongest. Those need play time on a stable build, and this article does not have it.
Sources. Primary: the official Call of Duty beta materials — the MW4 open beta player progression guide, which publishes the ten Killstreaks available in the beta with their unlock levels and descriptions and documents Hardline, and the official beta patch notes, which record the Weekend Two cost increase. Secondary, used only for the seven Killstreaks above the beta cap and for cross-checking: Insider Gaming, Destructoid, GAMES.GG and WZRanked.
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