The augments in Black Ops 7 Zombies are powerful, but if you’re like most players, you’ve probably noticed that researching them can take forever. The big questions are: How can you progress faster? What actually counts toward augment progression? And how long does it take to fully unlock everything from zero?

After over 17 hours of gameplay and careful tracking, we’ve crunched the numbers to uncover how augment research truly works. By monitoring every point of XP earned and every percentage of augment progression, we’ve put together a roadmap that can save you hours of grinding.

Understanding Augment Progression

One of the first things to know is that not all XP counts toward augments. XP from challenges, camo progression, reticle upgrades, and weapon unlocks does not affect augment research. Instead, augment XP comes directly from your player performance in-game, particularly from medals earned during matches. Medals—like massacres, headshot streaks, or multi-kill combos—grant bonus XP, making them the most reliable way to accelerate augment progression.

We found that each augment requires increasing amounts of XP to unlock, with later minor and major augments demanding significantly more. Based on our tests, the XP required per percent of augment progression falls between 5,250 and 5,500 XP. While the percentages displayed in-game can sometimes be inconsistent, this estimate provides a solid framework for calculating how long it will take to unlock your desired augments.

How Long Does It Take?

On average, without double XP, we found that progressing a single augment path takes around 16 hours of gameplay. For a brand-new account starting from zero augment research, unlocking all 24 enhancements would take approximately 382 hours, or nearly 16 days of continuous play. However, this can be significantly reduced with double XP events and faster playstyles. Players who already have early minor and major augments unlocked can cut this time in half.

The Secret to Faster Augment XP

If you want to speed up augment progression, here’s the key tip: focus on earning medals consistently. Use your equipment, field upgrades, and ammo mods strategically to trigger medal streaks. For example:

Pair decoys or stim shots with kills to earn combo medals.

Use frenzied guards to lure zombies into traps for multi-kill medals.

Maximize rapid kills to rack up kill streak medals.

These medals stack XP quickly, giving you faster augment progression without relying on challenge or camo XP.

Optimize Your Grind

Track your XP per minute to measure efficiency. Average gameplay without double XP can net around 575 XP per minute, while pushing gameplay speed can reach 672 XP per minute or higher.

Take advantage of double XP events to cut unlock times dramatically.

Prioritize the most impactful augments first, focusing on those that enhance survival and efficiency in matches.

Augment research in Black Ops 7 Zombies is a grind, but with smart gameplay, medal farming, and strategic XP tracking, you can progress faster and make the grind more rewarding. 

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