The drop of Season 1 Reloaded for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 brought with it the first festive themed event in Merry Mayhem. The ultimate reward for completing the event is the Maelstrom shotgun, pictured above. It's not a massive undertaking to get it over the course of two weeks, but it does require a little grind.
The Maelstrom is rewarded once you complete all other tiers in the Merry Mayhem event, which requires earning 618,000 XP during it. But if you're impatient to get started on levelling it (or want another non-launcher to add into the camo grind pool) you can get it right now.
But it'll cost you.
The Party Etiquette blueprint for the new Maelstrom shotgun in Black Ops 6
If you want the Maelstrom early you can buy a bundle from the store that will unlock it for you.(Image credit: Windows Central / Activision)
There's a bundle available to buy from the in-game store right now called Bad Manners and one of the blueprints you get from it is called "Party Etiquette" and it's based on, you guessed it, the new Maelstrom. As with the Sirin 9mm from the Hit List event which finished earlier this week, folks who are happy to 'pay to win' can get the new weapon early by handing over some cash.
The bundle costs 1,800 COD Points, and beyond the Maelstrom blueprint you'll also get an additional one for the Goblin, as well as some cosmetic items. But how does this work, don't you have to unlock the weapon first?
The short answer is no. Once you have a blueprint for a weapon, it permanently unlocks it for you to use in the various game modes in Black Ops 6. It's why it's generally not the best idea to waste Permanent Unlock tokens from Prestige levels on weapons, because you might be able to get them another way. The current Season 1 Battle Pass, for example, has a number of blueprints for weapons that you can unlock this way rather than using those unlock tokens.
So, if you're in a hurry, you can pony up some of your COD Points now and get your hands on the new weapon before most other people will. Do I recommend it? Not necessarily, but it's an option if you want it.
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