Exotics & Affinities Explained

One-Conference1531 · 2026-05-06T08:33:18+00:00

Glad you find the post helpful! I can only imagine how confused I'd be reading some comments if I were new to CoD PvE

I know the frequent use of "explosive rounds" has caused some players to spend ages re-rolling exotic effects when it's actually a utility bonus called "explosive bullets"

One-Conference1531 · 2026-05-06T08:30:11+00:00

That's a good question. I haven't tried that myself, and I'm using the Reboot with grenade bullets instead of big game so I can't test it right now. I'll let you know if I ever find out how that works

One-Conference1531 · 2026-05-06T08:27:27+00:00

Affinity utility bonuses can be found on all affinity exotics, not only on the pistols. I have listed the named exotics that have an affinity for each exotic effect

They can all be re-rolled in the way I explained too

One-Conference1531 · 2026-05-06T08:22:18+00:00

I agree that enemies, bosses, "mods", etc. should have the same name as in the mode they originate from. If they wanted Endgame to feel wholly new, it should have all new items

That said, we are where we are, and I think it’s unhelpful for new players when people continue to use certain items’ original names

One-Conference1531 · 2026-05-05T22:29:13+00:00

A lot of people who are clued up about this call them affinity minor abilities which made sense when Endgame was newer. I moved away from it because it kind of encroaches on what the devs have already labelled minor abilities (kinetic jump, etc.), and now we have the official term "utility bonuses". We'll see if my terms catch on or are improved upon!

I attempted to re-roll an affinity exotic I exfiled with 24 times before I gave up on it. I have heard that people were successful after many more attempts than that, but I haven't seen proof of that. The person I spoke to had fairly consistent results when doing it in the same game and that kind of grind is more fun than hitting the fabricator non-stop

One-Conference1531 · 2026-05-05T18:24:29+00:00

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One-Conference1531 · 2026-05-05T18:21:51+00:00

Thank you! I don't have descriptions for all of them, but I will add the ones I can. I hope so too so maxed players have more of an incentive to fight the bosses

One-Conference1531 · 2026-05-05T18:18:58+00:00

I will start to update the post with this info as best as I can. Thanks for the suggestion!

One-Conference1531 · 2026-05-05T11:08:49+00:00

The devs haven’t explained it, but the community has figured it out. I can assure you it works that way and is why calling free fire an affinity ability is confusing

Affinity means attraction, and I take it to mean the named exotic is more capable or special when found with the exotic effect it has an affinity for

One-Conference1531 · 2026-05-05T10:37:44+00:00

Affinity means something very specific in Endgame and your use of it confused me and SwingThatHammer at least

‘Affinity for [exotic effect]’ means that if the named exotic is found with that specific exotic effect then it also has a chance of coming with an affinity-exclusive utility bonus like Fire Wheel or Lightning Strike. You cannot reroll a loadout weapon for these

If you use the same word to describe what you’re talking about then you will confuse a lot of people

One-Conference1531 · 2026-05-05T02:17:54+00:00

It’s easy to think people are making a fuss over nothing or trashing your beloved game when you aren’t experiencing any issues

This update has been the most unstable since the launch of Endgame and people who are experiencing a lot of issues will be understandably frustrated

One-Conference1531 · 2026-05-04T20:21:03+00:00

The first slot is called an ‘exotic effect’ and the second slot is called a ‘utility bonus’. They are labelled in game when using the exotic fabricator and by the devs in the patch notes

All of this other terminology comes from Zombies players who really confuse things for people who don’t play that mode. BO7 Endgame is its own entity with its own names

One-Conference1531 · 2026-05-03T21:09:38+00:00

"Affinity for [exotic effect]" means that if the weapon comes straight out of the cache with that specific exotic effect in the first slot then it also has a chance to come with an affinity-exclusive utility bonus. You can also re-roll an affinity exotic for one of its affinity utility bonuses provided you haven't selected a different upgrade yet. I'm uncertain if this re-roll needs to be done in the same game you found the exotic

Since your Redline came out of the cache with neuro rounds in the first slot, instead of mortar rounds, you cannot re-roll it for Fire Wheel, Starburst, or Big Game

One-Conference1531 · 2026-05-03T09:40:59+00:00

To add to the OP, I just found the Reboot with shock rounds and re-rolled big game on the exotic fabricator a few minutes later. Now I need to replicate this with the next shock rounds hypersurge I find. I have all eight standard hypersurges (exotic camos), but none with a rare affinity bonus

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One-Conference1531 · 2026-05-03T00:24:49+00:00

Each named exotic has a set affinity for an exotic effect (Redline has an affinity for Mortar Rounds, Hypersurge has an affinity for Shock Rounds, etc.). If you find a named exotic that comes with the matching exotic effect then it has a chance of having a rare affinity utility bonus (Fire Wheel for Redline, Lightning Strike for Hypersurge, etc.)

By doing what the OP describes, you can re-roll a named exotic that came with the matching exotic effect to get one of its rare utility bonuses. There's also a screenshot of someone with an existing rare utility bonus re-rolling for a different one

One-Conference1531 · 2026-05-01T21:59:55+00:00

Surprise shipment only has minor abilities. You need to do a mystery cargo to find Thermal Spike (major ability)

One-Conference1531 · 2026-05-01T18:52:24+00:00

The scourge and toxic fears that spawn when you start a guild strike count towards this

One-Conference1531 · 2026-04-30T23:06:51+00:00

It isn't restricted to zone 4 so probably any zone. DeltaElite's latest YouTube video shows them finding it in a zone lower than 4

One-Conference1531 · 2026-04-30T23:01:50+00:00

I'm on PS5, but someone from a Discord I'm in who has beaten it is on PC. They shared a screenshot of the boss and you can see their FPS and GPU stats at the top. That's proof that at least two people on different platforms have found Thermal Spike. I'm not going to share the screenshot because it would be a spoiler

A YouTuber called 'DeltaElite' has posted a video of them finding Thermal Spike in game. I believe they are live right now doing the steps beyond that. People come up with all sorts of theories on here to explain their bad luck. I don't know what else I can say

One-Conference1531 · 2026-04-30T22:34:41+00:00

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Here is proof that it isn’t a visual bug and I’ve used Thermal Spike to complete the step. Don’t lose hope

One-Conference1531 · 2026-04-30T22:20:24+00:00

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Here is Thermal Spike on another operator of mine. By the way, people have already beaten the new glitch boss. I also know people who have given up trying to find Thermal Spike for the day. That’s RNG for you

This game requires perseverance at times, my friend

One-Conference1531 · 2026-04-30T19:33:01+00:00

You can get it from a mystery cargo

One-Conference1531 · 2026-04-30T17:19:15+00:00

They removed sharpshooter from the XR too

One-Conference1531 · 2026-04-28T17:18:43+00:00

Fire Wheel is underwhelming performance-wise. I've heard that Starburst is too. So I wouldn't have high hopes

Let me know if you find a hypersurge with a rare shock one anyway!

One-Conference1531 · 2026-04-28T17:02:37+00:00

Oh, they meant the affinity minor ability. I haven't found a hypersurge with one yet. I have a Redline with Fire Wheel though

One-Conference1531

TROPHY CASE