HOW TO UNLOCK THE SERPENTINE MASTERY CAMO IN DMZ SEASON 5 RELOADED

Infinity Ward may have just added the hardest unlock in Call of Duty history, as DMZ now has a secret mastery camo that can be used on all weapons in Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone. The secret Serpentine camo has been added to DMZ with the Season 5 Reloaded update. Here’s how to complete the toughest unlock fans have ever seen.

Credit to: CovertMF for the “Serpentine” Camo Headline Image Screenshot!

What is The New DMZ Mastery Camo

Season 5 Reloaded added more than just Faction missions into DMZ, as hardcore players discovered a secret barter recipe in a hidden buy station that’s located underneath Zaya Observatory. The secret barter recipe allows players to permanently unlock a camo known as Serpentine, which does NOT unlock for all players on the squad, only the individual who has the ingredients. The camo cannot be bartered at any buy station on any other map, which makes it that much more exclusive.

How to Find The Hidden Buy Station

The buy station that has the Serpentine barter recipe is similar to the Scavenger’s buy station which now spawns near him, which got added with the initial Season 5 update earlier this month. As seen in the footage below, players will need to travel to the bottom of the secret chemical bunker and through a few different rooms before coming across this special buy station. Once found, players will receive a prompt saying radiation is required, meaning they can only access this station when the storm has consumed Zaya Observatory. Bring your gas masks!

What You Need to Barter The Serpentine Camo

Upon selecting the Serpentine recipe, players will be asked to trade four different items for the camo. The barter isn’t as easy as it sounds though, as one item in particular, the Blackcell Hand Cream, requires players to complete multiple quests across multiple DMZ exclusion zones to obtain this new item. The recipe for Serpentine is as follows

1 Blackcell Hand Cream
1 Chemist’s Acid
1 Heavy Chopper Fuel
1 Skeleton Key

Obtaining a Secure Backpack

Players need to keep in mind that with these required items being obtained from other maps, and since these are NOT mission items, these items will be converted to XP upon exfil. You’ll need to acquire a secure backpack in order to store these important items and take them from map to map. Secure backpacks can be obtained through bartering or random looting. To no one’s surprise, players cannot barter a secure backpack unless they’ve unlocked that ability in the Forward Operating base.

Obtaining The Blackcell Hand Cream

DMZ fans were quick to point out this unfamiliar item at the start of Season 5 Reloaded. The Blackcell Hand Cream can only be bartered in the Secure Buy Station on Koschei Complex, which is locked unless you give the shopkeeper some requested items. For those unfamiliar with the secure buy station on Koschei, skip to 0:37 on my guide that covered the rare gun screen unlock from Season 3. Once in the secure buy station, you’ll find the Blackcell Hand Cream recipe, which is comprised of the following items:

1 Premium Liquor (can be bartered on Vondel)
1 Three Plate Stealth Vest
1 Three Plate Comms Vest
1 Three Plate Medic Vest

Where to Find Premium Liquor

Another unfamiliar item in DMZ is the premium liquor, which can only be bartered on Vondel. The recipe for this barter is also demanding, as it requires players to go to Ashika Island, as I’ll explain below. All premium liquor ingredients are as follows:

1 Bombmaker’s Blend (can be bartered on Ashika Island)
1 Bullfrog’s Blowtorch (Can be found in the wreckage of the Bullfrog boss on Vondel)
2 Calling Cards (Can be found in dead player’s bags if Scavenger takes their dogtags)
2 Vintage Wines (Can be randomly looted)

Where to Find Bombmaker’s Blend

Yet another new item that can only be obtained through bartering, has been added to Ashika Island with Season 5 Reloaded. Upon going to a buy station, players will find the recipe for this new item which is as follows:

1 Ancient Gun Oil (Can be bartered on Koschei Complex)
1 Bombmaker’s Screwdriver (Dropped from Bombmaker Boss)
1 GPU (Can be looted or Bartered)
$200,000 (Yeah)

Where to Find Ancient Gun Oil

It doesn’t end there folks, as ANOTHER item is needed in the pursuit of the Blackcell Hand Cream. In order to craft the Bombmaker’s blend, players will need to head to the regular buy station inside of Koschei Complex (right next to the secure buy station) and barter yet another recipe. Refer to 4:52 in this video if you want to know how to obtain a Diamond Bit Drill. The ingredients for this special gun oil are:

1 Diamond Bit Drill (Found in the secret room at Alpha Cluster)
3 AQ Laptops (Can be looted in random rooms of Koschei)
1 Chlorine (Can be looted in Koschei Complex or Building 21)
1 Damascus Dog Tag (Can be looted off max exfil streak players, or purposely die with a damascus tag and have your squadmate take it from your bag)

The Logical Order of Bartering These Items

I’ve just explained all the items needed just to barter the Blackcell Hand Cream, which is one of 4 items needed to craft the Serpentine camo. Funny enough, the order in which you should barter these items should be done in reverse. Don’t forget a Secure backpack is needed to bring these items from map to map. In order to ensure efficient progress with bartering this camo, this is the order you should barter, from top to bottom:

Bombmaker’s Blend (Ashika Island)
Ancient Gun Oil (Koschei Complex)
Premium Liquor (Vondel)
Blackcell Heandcream (Secure Buy Station in Koschei)

Obtaining The Chemist’s Acid

Another update with DMZ in Season 5 Reloaded, is the addition of Chemist’s acid which will now drop from the Chemist boss after killing him. The chemist can still be found and is marked in the radiation zone on Al Mazrah. Be sure to bring a gas mask, but don’t forget all AI near the Chemist will drop additional gask masks as well.

Obtaining Heavy Chopper Fuel

With the introduction of the Heavy Chopper in DMZ Season 3, players were tasked with finding specific fuel for the specific chopper before being able to use it, whether for fun or for an Exfil. The fuel can still be found by looting near the hangars of Al Malik airport, the cargo train and even some of the mechanical rooms in Highrise (Al Mazrah city).

Obtaining a Skeleton Key

Opening any room in DMZ has never been easier thanks to the addition of Skeleton Keys earlier this year. In order to barter a skeleton key, players will need to reach level 2 with White Lotus in the Forward Operating Base, just like the secure backpack. The recipe for skeleton key barters is different on each exclusion zone, but a full list of recipes can be found here:

Unlocking The Serpentine Mastery Camo

If you’ve made it this far, then congratulations, you’ve mastered the art of DMZ bartering and are so close to unlocking what is about to be one of the rarest camos of all time. You now need to tread lightly and avoid getting robbed of your valuable ingredients which are constantly at risk in the DMZ. Be cautious of campers on the secure buy station underneath Zaya Observatory, who may try to avoid the several hours it takes to gather these ingredients. Wait for the storm to hit Zaya, and have one person (choose wisely) trade in all ingredients.

Huge Disclaimer About The DMZ Mastery Camo

While many fans have been left shell shocked with the quality of the Serpentine camo, it’s always possible Infinity Ward updates the camo in a future title update, whether they make it animated or just more worthwhile, considering all the bartering that’s needed. There would certainty be more of an incentive to grind this camo if it meant every player on the squad unlocked it, so hopefully Infinity Ward considers updating or reducing the unlock requirements. The camo does blend well with various blueprints in game. Shoutout to my buddy Lego Unlocked for being the first DMZ player to obtain Serpentine.

Gameplay Credit: @LegoUnlocked On Twitter

In Depth Serpentine Camo Tutorial

Whether you can consider this grind more difficult than Champion’s Quest or any other Call of Duty unlock is up fore debate. For those who prefer a video guide on how to unlock this exclusive camo, feel free to checkout the following video: