How to get bot lobbies in Black Ops 6 with a VPN

You’re diving into COD again, there’s a new season, new weapons to level up, and new rewards to get. You’ve just unlocked a fancy new gun, and now you just need some attachments to tweak the performance. You load up a match, and you’re respawning already.

You had the drop on that guy, but your weapon had more recoil than you were ready for. How do you get those attachments without grinding your way through several rough matches? Or maybe you’re new to first person shooters, and you’d like the chance to practice a bit before playing against real people. Either way, there’s a pretty simple answer: bot lobbies.

Bot lobbies let you practice in a multiplayer environment without other players yelling at you. They’re also good for leveling up weapons and getting some good attachments before you try them out against other players. Either way, there’s nothing wrong with smacking down some NPCs while you get used to your loadout, the maps, and the mechanics.

We’ll show you how to get quick and easy bot lobbies in a few minutes with a VPN, plus a few other strategies.

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What are bot lobbies and how does SBMM work?

Bot lobbies are what they sound like: lobbies (or matches) filled with bots. Bots are generally a bit more forgiving than other human players, in terms of difficulty, and these matches are also useful for leveling up weapons, and doing the daily missions without dealing with other players.

Now SBMM is an interesting and somewhat controversial topic. It’s a method of matchmaking where the game analyzes your performance, and gives you a rank according to your calculated skill level. Then it tries to always match you with players of a similar skill level, so your matches will always be challenging. It’s controversial because, frankly, not everyone wants to be challenged in every single match.

How to get bot lobbies in Black Ops 6

Getting bot lobbies with a VPN is quite simple. See, the matchmaking system doesn’t just care about your rank, though that is certainly important. It also cares about your connection speed, and will try to always match you with players that are close to you by default. But, if your ping is still too high, it will determine that putting you in a match with other players might not go very well for you.

If it doesn’t find any suitable players for you to play with, it will create a match for you, and fill it with bots. The trick is to force the matchmaking system to give you bot matches by making it think your connection is a bit worse than it really is. This is where a VPN comes in handy.

Now, somewhat ironically, VPNs are usually used to stabilize your connection to game servers, and even lower your ping sometimes. But even VPNs are susceptible to the laws of physics, so all you need to do is use one to change your region. Connect to a VPN server in a country a long distance from you—preferably somewhere where it’s early in the morning, off peak hours—and your ping will go higher.

The game will think you’re playing in the country you’ve connected to via a VPN, and try to match you with “local” players. But, because of your artificially high ping and low player counts, the game is highly likely to give you a bot lobby.

Here’s how to make it happen on both PC and on consoles.

How to get BO6 bot lobbies on PC

• Sign up for ExpressVPN.
• Download the app for Windows.
• Sign in, and connect to a VPN server in the region you want.
• Start the game, and enjoy your bot lobbies.

How to get BO6 bot lobbies on your console

• Sign up for ExpressVPN.
• Configure your router or modem to use ExpressVPN’s server network.
  • This is usually accomplished in your router’s settings page, via your browser. If you don’t know how to find that, look up the model on Google for instructions, or ask your ISP for help.
  • Not all routers and modems support connecting to VPN networks. You may need to upgrade. You can ask your ISP for help, or check out our recommended routers that support ExpressVPN.
• Again, make sure you connect to a VPN server in the region you want.
• Start the game on your Xbox or Playstation, and enjoy your bot lobbies.

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Other ways to get bot lobbies in Black Ops 6

There are two main ways to get bot lobbies without a VPN: private matches and two-boxing. They both have their pros and cons, so let’s see how they work.

Private matches: the simplest approach

Private matches are exactly what they sound like: you can create your own little match and invite whomever you want. In this case, you don’t want to invite anybody.

How to set it up

• Start the game.
• Go to Multiplayer.
• On the left side of the screen, select Find a Match.
• Scroll down to Private Match.
• Wait a few moments for your profile to load.
• Go to Team 2, and add bots to it. Here, you can also select the difficulty.
• Customize other match settings to your preference, or just start the match.

Benefits

Private matches are great for the simple reason that they’re a built-in way to get bot matches. Easy peasy. You don’t need anything but the gaming device you already have, and your copy of the game.

Limitations/Risks

There’s no real risk to this method, but it does have one major downside: you will not earn weapon XP, or progress toward your daily challenges.

Two-boxing

It’s possible to get bot matches by joining a lobby hosted by a very low-level player. Ideally, this would be a player that has the lowest possible rankings and stats. Two-boxing is a method whereby you make your own low-level player. You just need two accounts and two gaming devices.

One of them doesn’t even have to be very good.

How to set it up

The exact setup will vary, but here’s how it works:

• Get a secondary gaming device. It doesn’t have to be good enough to play the game, just good enough to load it.
• Get a second copy of the game, and make another account. If you own it on Steam or PlayStation, but also have Game Pass, this could help.
• Add your new account as a friend on your main account.
• Start a lobby on the new account.
• Switch to your main gaming device, and join your level one account’s lobby.
• If everything worked right, you’ll get a bot lobby. Stay on your main account, and play.

Additional note: it helps if your level one account’s stats are abysmal. That being said, DO NOT THROW GAMES. At least, not in team-based modes. You can join then leave matches a few times, or go into a few matches where there are no teams, and just lose.

Benefits

If you already have an extra gaming device lying around—for example, if you typically play on PlayStation, but also have a laptop and Game Pass—then this can be a pretty easy and sometimes cheap way to get bot lobbies.

Limitations/Risks

While this method can help you to get bot matches, it’s not guaranteed. It’s entirely possible that you’ll end up in a lobby of low-skill players, but even that’s not guaranteed either. Plenty of players report getting matched with higher skill players anyway.

And, of course, it requires two gaming devices, and two copies of Black Ops 6. Or one copy and Game Pass, or two Game Pass subscriptions… you get the idea. Unless you’ve already got most of what you need, this method could cost you a pretty penny.

Tips for easier matches without exploits

It’s technically possible to get easier matches without bot lobbies, or exploits, but these come with a couple of caveats. For one, they’re not guaranteed to work. Secondly, there’s a stigma attached to these methods because a lot of players use them to just go “noob stomping” and that ruins the game for other people.

If you’re going to try any of the following, take care to be considerate of your fellow players. Chances are, they just got off work and want to relax.

• Play during off-peak hours: play when the pros go to sleep.
• Avoid high-performance streaks: Simply put, don’t play too well, but don’t throw games in team-based modes.
• Use team-based modes: Team based modes can really take some of the pressure off, especially if you turn off voice chat. Try out the modes that offer large scale battles, and pick off stragglers with a sniper, if that suits your fancy.

Can I get banned for using bot lobbies in Black Ops 6?

Not as such. The bots are there for a reason, so playing in casual bot lobbies won’t get you banned. It’s safe, and it’s fine.

However, if you try to use bot lobbies to inflate your stats in ranked modes, that can actually cause some trouble… if only because when you play real matches, you’ll get stomped on by real players.

Why ExpressVPN is the best VPN for gaming

ExpressVPN has a massive network, with server locations in 105 countries. Whether you want a bot lobby, or the best possible connection to your local server, it can help. The servers are tuned for speed, and ExpressVPN’s optimized routing can even lower your ping. Plus, all servers have DDoS protection built in.

Best of all, ExpressVPN works with any gaming device. It has native apps for every OS and supports consoles via VPN-enabled routers. Try it risk-free with a 30-day money back guarantee.

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