How to unlock free Operator skins in Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0's DMZ mode

Call of Duty Warzone 2.0 Season 1 Screenshots
(Image credit: Activision)

Following the release of the reboot for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare in 2019, the popular first-person shooter franchise shook up the post-launch monetization of its annual premium titles by moving to free seasonal content with a tied-in paid battle pass that coincided with the free to play battle royale released in the spring of 2020. The success of Call of Duty: Warzone and the freshly rebooted Modern Warfare series led to the battle pass along with a wide array of Operator skins sold through the franchise store as bundles with calling cards, emotes, and other customization options becoming the norm throughout the lifespan of Warzone as well as the additional premium titles — Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Call of Duty: Vanguard — which led to an influx of unusual crossovers including the likes of Rambo, Mech Godzilla, and Ghostface from Scream.

With the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2.0 in 2022, Infinity Ward has dialed back the weird and wacky Operator skins, at least for the time being. Most of the initial offerings for player customization — including the options presented by the Season 1 battle pass — are dominated by black, brown and gray tactical gear. The most standout skin currently available in the game is hands down the Mountain Dew inspired option that was part of a promotional event. Even still, that one embraces being mostly black albeit with some neon green accents. If you’re looking to get your hands on something wackier then you’ll need to find a way to acquire the Burger Town King skin which was available in 40 countries around the globe — and yet not the US or UK for some unusual reason — as part of a promotion with Burger King. 

If you’re not interested in sideloading APKs and redeeming codes from Mountain Dew to add to your collection of Operator Skins, however, there are easier options for spicing up your customization catalog. Tucked inside of Warzone 2.0’s new DMZ mode players can find a few extra Operator skins lurking among the rewards for completing various tasks among the game’s three factions. In previous Call of Duty titles, players could see all skins available for an Operator when looking at that character’s customization screen, but for now locked skins in Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2.0 are hidden away so it’s understandable that players are missing these easy to earn alternatives.

How to unlock Operator skins in DMZ — 'Anonymous' Konig skin

"Anonymous" skin equipped for Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 Operator Konig. The skin is unlocked by completing DMZ missions.

(Image credit: Windows Central)

If you've loaded into a match of DMZ via Call of Duty: HQ you've been met with a deployment screen that included a button labeled "Faction Missions". There's little to no explanation for how these faction missions work in game, so without a little research or trial and error they'd be easy to miss out on. There are three main factions for DMZ — Legion, White Lotus, and Black Mous. Players initially have access to the Tier 1 challenge list for the Legion faction. What they may not realize, however, is that completed challenges must be manually de-selected and a new challenge chosen in the old's place in order to track and progress. 

Once five of the six missions available on a tier are completed the next tier of challenges becomes available. To unlock the Anonymous skin for Konig, players will need to complete enough missions to reach the final challenge — titled Frame Job — for Legion Tier 2.

Call of Duty Warzone 2.0 DMZ mode faction mission for Frame Job to unlock Anonymous Konig operator skin.

(Image credit: Windows Central)
  1. From the deployment screen for Warzone 2.0's DMZ mode, select Faction Missions.
  2. Under the Legion mission tab, complete five Tier 2 challenges to unlock the final challenge titled Frame Job.
  3. Equip Frame Job as an active mission, and then deploy into a DMZ match.
  4. Loot nearby buildings and sell valuables at buy stations until you are able to purchase a LTV with a turret. These cost $18000 in cash, so you may need to take a contract and work with your squad to gather the money.
  5. Drive the LTV to the Ahkdar Village POI and proceed to kill 10 AI enemies to complete the second task of the mission.
  6. Drive the LTV back to Mawizeh Marshlands and then destroy it. The best practice is to shoot all four tires and then shoot the now flaming vehicle with additional bullets or lob explosives at it to finish it off. This will complete the third task for the Frame Job challenge.
  7. Once you exfil from the DMZ or leave the match following being eliminated, the Anonymous skin will be available under the customization menu for the Operator Konig. The skin can be equipped across Call of Duty in Modern Warfare 2, Warzone 2.0 and DMZ.

How to unlock Operator skins in DMZ — 'Defuse' Zimo skin

Call of DutY Warzone 2.0 DMZ mode free operator skins as rewards for completing faction missions

(Image credit: Windows Central)

Just as Konig's 'Anonymous' skin is reward for completing Tier 2 of the Legion faction missions, the 'Defuse' skin for Zimo is a reward for Tier 2 of the White Lotus faction. Players will need to equip the mission in order for their progress to count toward the unlock. However, White Lotus faction missions are not available by default, and players will need to complete two tiers of Legion challenges before they are unlocked.

Call of Duty Warzone 2.0 DMZ faction mission Two Birds to unlock a free 'Defuse' Zimo Operator skin

(Image credit: Windows Central)
  1. Complete two tiers of Legion faction missions.
  2. Select the faction missions icon from the DMZ deploy screen.
  3. Complete five of the six missions of your choice for two tiers of the White Lotus mission challenges to unlock the Two Birds Mission.
  4. Add the Two Birds mission to your mission tracker and then deploy into a match of DMZ.
  5. The first mission task is to Travel to Al-Swafwa Quarry, a POI located in the northwestern region of Al Mazrah.
  6. The second mission task requires the player to eliminate 18 AI controlled soldiers while remaining in the Quarry region.
  7. The final task requires that players destroy two reinforcement helicopters while still in the Quarry.  Taking down enemy helos in DMZ can be incredibily difficult using scavenged weapons, and rocket launchers can be scarce. The easiest way to tackle this challenge is to acquire an LTV either by purchasing one from a buy station for $18000, acquiring one from another contract, or just finding one to secure from elsewhere on the map if you're lucky enough to get it. It's also worth noting that there is currently an active investigation into a bug on Warzone 2.0 that causes this mission to track inaccurately.
  8. Once players complete the final task, they can successfully exfil or be eliminated from the match to receive the unlocked Operator skin.

How to unlock Operator skins in DMZ — 'Triage' Roze skin

The 'Triage' skin for Operator Roze is by far the most difficult to unlock in Warzone 2.0's DMZ as it is rewarded for completing the final challenge for Tier 2 of the Black Mous faction. In order to even access the Black Mous faction's challenges, players will need to have completed tier 2 challenges for both the Legion and White Lotus factions, then they will need to complete five of the six available challenges for tier 1 and tier 2 of the Black Mous faction before unlocking the Espionage mission.

Call of DutY Warzone 2.0 DMZ mode free operator skins as rewards for completing faction missions

(Image credit: Windows Central)
  1. Complete the final Tier 2 challenge for the Legion faction.
  2. Complete the final Tier 2 challenge for the White Lotus faction.
  3. Complete five of the six tier 1 challenges for the Black Mous faction.
  4. Complete five of the six tier 2 challenges for the Black Mous faction.
  5. From the deployment screen for DMZ mode, select the faction missions icon.
  6. Under the Black Mous faction tab, select the Espionage mission for tracking.
  7. Equip the Sattiq Poppy Farmer House Key in your backpack before beginning the mission. If you do not have it, you will need to locate the key as loot somewhere in Al Mazrah or complete the Tier 3 mission: Robin Hood under the White Lotus tab before starting Espionage.
  8. Travel to the Sattiq Cave Complex and look for the farmer's house in map quadrant C4.
  9. Use the Sattiq Poppy Farmer House Key to unlock the door and search the house for the politician's laptop
  10. Travel to the Dead Drop location near Al Sammam Cemetary, then deposit the laptop inside the dumpster.
  11. Listen for the command to retrieve the laptop from the dumpster. Open the Dead Drop and take the laptop back.
  12. Return with the Politician's Laptop to Sattiq Cave Complex and return the laptop to the corner of the room in the Poppy Farmer's house.
  13. Successfully exfil or be eliminated from the match after completing the tasks to be rewarded the Triage skin.
  14. The skin can be equipped across Modern Warfare 2 in multiplayer, DMZ, and Warzone 2.0 for the Operator Roze in the customization menu.

Operator skins as DMZ rewards

Call of Duty's new DMZ mode is still in its beta phase, but it seems highly likely that players can expect additional missions and possibly even more factions to come as the mode is expanded throughout the game's life cycle. If grinding through faction missions isn't to your liking, however, you can always opt to expand your collection of Operator skins by picking up bundles through the in-game franchise store using Call of Duty Points or by progressing the seasonal battle pass.

Call of Duty Points

Call of Duty Points

If you're planning to purchase the premium seasonal Battle Pass for additional Operator skins or purchase your favorite Operator bundle, you'll want to top off your Call of Duty Points stash.

Available from: <a href="https://click.linksynergy.com/deeplink?id=kXQk6%2AivFEQ&mid=24542&u1=hawk-custom-tracking&murl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.xbox.com%2Fen-us%2Fgames%2Fstore%2F2-400-modern-warfare-ii-or-call-of-duty-warzone-20-points%2F9nhdtj6t2g8b" data-link-merchant="xbox.com"">Xbox | <a href="https://target.georiot.com/Proxy.ashx?tsid=8428&GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Famazon.com%2FCall-Duty-400-Points-Digital%2Fdp%2FB0BGMF7MF2%2Fref%3Dpd_lpo_1%3Fpd_rd_w%3D0VlYP%26content-id%3Damzn1.sym.116f529c-aa4d-4763-b2b6-4d614ec7dc00%26pf_rd_p%3D116f529c-aa4d-4763-b2b6-4d614ec7dc00%26pf_rd_r%3DVBWD8SWH9A9EJ5YP7DBD%26pd_rd_wg%3D0ywQh%26pd_rd_r%3D00f68053-3382-41fa-bae0-0c0461032bfa%26pd_rd_i%3DB0BGMF7MF2%26psc%3D1%26tag%3Dhawk-future-20%26ascsubtag%3Dhawk-custom-tracking-20" data-link-merchant="Amazon US"" data-link-merchant="xbox.com"">Amazon

Cole Martin
Writer

Cole is the resident Call of Duty know-it-all and indie game enthusiast for Windows Central. She's a lifelong artist with two decades of experience in digital painting, and she will happily talk your ear off about budget pen displays.