4 things everybody does wrong in Call of Duty multiplayer all the time

With the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 coming up in November 2025, everyone will be getting ready to hop online for the game's multiplayer modes. And as many gamers know, things can get chaotic in multiplayer matches with any Call of Duty game. Whether you're playing team deathmatch or any objective game type, it's going to be hectic one way or another. But with the craziness of online matches going on, players are always complaining about often getting killed and having a major disadvantage. And unfortunately, some of it may be due to things they're doing wrong while spawning into matches of their favorite playlists.

Not every loss and terrible set up during a multiplayer match of Call of Duty is due to someone cheating or getting matched up with a professional clan. Sometimes you're getting killed because you're not playing well, or you're not doing something important that can help keep the advantage for your team. And it happens more often than one might realize, especially if you find the kill cam showing up more often than you would like. Here are four things everybody does wrong in Call of Duty multiplayer matches all the time, and how to be proactive when correcting them.

Wasting grenades

Throwing stuff out carelessly

Let's be totally honest, everybody finds themselves wasting grenades all the time. Whether that comes from throwing lethal or tactical grenades across the map, or just never using them at all, wasting grenades is a bad move. Most players may not even realize they're doing it too, especially when one is so focused on getting into a shooting match with other players. Grenades are a good compliment to the rest of your arsenal, but they should never be carelessly thrown when you don't need to. Not every Call of Duty multiplayer map you find yourself on will be small like Nuketown or Shipment, so lobbing one in the sky won't always hit an enemy player.

While different Call of Duty games have variations on grenades, including interesting ones like the pinpoint grenade in Black Ops 7, they are all meant for the same key function. Flushing out or disorienting teams with their effects and explosion radius. This means grenades are ideal for throwing into tight rooms, around choke points with nearby enemies, and nearby hiding spots where you know someone is located. Carelessly wasting grenades by throwing them after spawning or never using them when they count is a surefire way to give up the advantage to the other team. A well-placed grenade at the right moment can break up skirmishes and can shift momentum back into your favor, especially if you manage to kill a few enemies in the process and gain a killstreak.

The best way to start using grenades a lot smarter in multiplayer is to hold back on using them early on. Don't use them at the start of matches, and avoid running into place where others may frequently throw grenades. Wait for moments when you might be entering a room or corridor on the map that players are flocking to, like a capture point in Domination matches, and then throw them in before entering. This will force players to react if they're being careless in the area or too slow to get away before your grenade explodes, either giving you free kills or setting you up to get some. Grenades can be a player's best friend to make big moves onto objectives or keep someone from getting a very big killstreak, so don't waste them so easily.

Rushing into firefights

Sprinting after spawning is a bad idea

Another big issue that every Call of Duty player struggles with is rushing into the conflict. If you spawn back on your side of the map, you might be eager to get back into the fight where you were last killed, only to find yourself dead again from a similar scenario. Being in a rush to get back at the other team is one of the easiest ways to give them free kills, especially on smaller maps where you can take so few steps before someone has you in their crosshair. And while some maps in Call of Duty can have bad spawning spots that lock teams in bad situations, not every map can suffer from this all the time. The opposing team may be getting quick kills because you and your teammates are not assessing the situation and rushing into the fight.

Smaller maps can make this a real devastating problem for teams on the losing end of a match, but larger maps can also set up trigger-happy players for failure. If you spawn on the opposite side of the map and just rush into the open area to get back to where the action is, you leave yourself open to those with long-range rifles and can end up giving them a free kill. The best way to correct this is to stop yourself before hitting the sprint button to get back out there, and instead try a different route or approach to where the fight is taking place. This can mean going in a different area of the map for a better vantage point, or using doorways and objects on the map as cover while moving around differently.

The benefit of this is keeping the other team from getting so many kills at a faster rate, especially when your teammates might not be helping the situation. The fewer kills you give up to the other team, the harder it is for them to get larger killstreaks and the more chances for you to turn the tide. At the same time, taking the extra moments to regroup and reassess things can give you opportunities to spot enemies that might be hiding in spots they can easily shoot players passing by. Call of Duty multiplayer can be hectic and constantly changing, but what you contribute to the chaos can be controlled with a cooler head by not rushing back to where you may have been killed.

Not optimizing loadouts

Gearing towards your playstyle

A key part of online multiplayer matches in any Call of Duty game is making sure you have the right equipment on hand. If you're going to be on a larger map for one game type, then it might make sense to use longer-ranged weapons with good scopes. For smaller maps, you may be able to use mid to short range weapons with perks that allow you to take advantage of the smaller area. The key takeaway is to optimize the loadout you bring into the match, and have other loadouts to pick from later if things change mid-match. But some players mistakenly don't do this often, and instead pick whatever others are using or what is quick to grab at the moment.

Everyone's playstyle online is different, which means that most people won't use the same weapons or perks in the same fashion. While Call of Duty games give the flexibility to utilize perks and equipment for opposing styles, the majority of success will come from putting together something that works best for you individually. This can come from picking weapons and attachments for them that go hand-in-hand with specific perks that enhance your approach to fighting, not giving you a random bonus that you won't take advantage of often. This is why browsing through your loadouts and tinkering with them is very important, because it will make some of the more frustrating aspects of multiplayer matches a bit more manageable. It can lead to closer games and possibly more wins rather than consecutive losses online.

If you're in an objective game type and don't get many kills, then having perks that cater to completing objectives and reducing killstreak costs can be a real difference maker. Or if getting kills easier is the main goal, then finding ways to use equipment that disrupt opponents can help make that easier. But when you're not changing your loadout to fit your playstyle, or just going with what is working for others all the time, you leave yourself open to becoming fodder for players who do take the moment to create better loadouts for themselves.

Being stationary and unaware

Your spot isn't as good as you think

Most people love the idea of camping in one spot and watching as players run by for them to shoot easily. They feel this can always work if they find the right spot and have to do the least amount of work in a match to win. And while camping in sections of a map can be a viable strategy, despite how much people may hate it, it's not an all-purpose solution online. Most players who camp in single areas will often find themselves killed by someone they don't see coming, either from behind or out of their view nearby. This is because after a period, opponents will smarten up and not move towards the place you're targeting, and will eventually flank you.

This is why it's important to keep moving on any map you are dropped into, regardless of the match type. Call of Duty objective matches can sometimes have one key point that everyone converges on, but even those will change location as a match goes on. You can't stay in one location, or a few locations, for the entirety of a match. You have to keep moving and attacking enemies from different places, which can keep players guessing and make you unpredictable. Likewise, you can not only stay aware of where the fighting moves across a map, but also adapt to when things change and the winning or losing sides are switched up.

This is very different from rushing around the map, which is also not good. Moving around is not necessarily rushing towards your doom, especially when you're changing locations to keep enemies away from you or key objectives as you shoot at them. Some players like to run rotations around small maps, which takes advantage of spawn points and unsuspecting players that aren't aware of what's around them. This can work for a time, but it's still important to keep changing things so you don't become predictable by the enemy team. If they know you're going to run a similar route, they can adjust their moves and catch you when you're trying to be routine. Staying ahead is more about keeping aware of what is going on throughout the map, and never letting the other team take advantage of your blind spots and predicability.

Getting better at Call of Duty multiplayer

It takes time to work on and better our skills in any multiplayer game, especially when one has been playing it for a long time across multiple titles. As much as everyone may complain about how Call of Duty online multiplayer can be frustrating and at times unfair, many still keep coming back to it for more action. Part of the way of improving skills in a game like Call of Duty is being able to honestly spot the mistakes made during matches and consciously try to avoid them. Everybody, from the most seasoned players to more casual players, can make mistakes that lead to getting more losses than wins, and yet, still have the same potential to improve and get better with time. As Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 arrives on consoles very soon, players can hop online and take these tips to heart towards improving their game before the newest iteration of Call of Duty multiplayer release on consoles in November 2025.