All the tools of your trade are contained in this chapter. When you want to create a new class, look here for information on all of the weapons and gear you can outfit your Specialist with.
Introduction to Weapon Charts
Accompanying the different weapon classes are several charts that break down a variety of stats for each of the guns in the game, as well as some attachments that modify those base stats. Use these charts to get a feel for how the weapons stack up against each other within a given weapon class.
Remember, it is ultimately the gun that is most comfortable in your virtual hands that matters the most, so use this information to aid you in finding your favorite, particularly if you have it narrowed down to two or three that you enjoy using.
Shots to Kill
The Shots to Kill chart shows how many shots it takes for a weapon at a given range (with or without a Suppressor or Long Barrel attached) to kill another player. The ranges listed on these charts correspond to the range grids on the maps in this guide. You can look at any gun in the game, check its ranges, then look at any map and see roughly how far you can expect your weapon to perform well.
We have also included in-game screenshots in the Multiplayer Maps chapter that indicate roughly how far these numbers actually are while you are in-game and looking at another target!
The actual lethality of a weapon (its ‘time to kill’) is a combination of its rate of fire and its shots to kill—the Sheiva can kill in two shots, but it fires much slower than the HVK-30, for example.
However, in practical terms, it is often difficult to land all of the hits needed to kill a distant target with a gun that has a high rate of fire and heavy recoil.
While most of the distances for weapons are about what you would expect (going from Pistols and Shotguns up close through SMGs, Assault Rifles, LMGs, and finally Snipers), the specifics of each weapon (and with different attachments) can vary quite a bit.
Two attachments can affect kill times directly: Rapid Fire and High Caliber. Rapid Fire increases the rate of fire of your weapon, so you can potentially deal the same damage more quickly, and High Caliber increases headshot multipliers, giving you faster kills if you are accurate.
Both come with a price, however, as they each cost a Pick 10 point. Rapid Fire also makes your weapon’s recoil more difficult to manage, while High Caliber demands accuracy to gain any benefit from it at all.
Ammo and Rate of Fire
Ammo and Rate of Fire are both fairly straightforward. Ammo shows maximum magazine size, with or without Extended Mags. Rate of Fire shows the RPM of your weapon, with or without Rapid Fire.
Reload
Reload shows your reload time with or without Fast Mags. The bar is segmented into three chunks. The first, the ‘Add’ time, is how long it takes to ‘add’ the ammo to your weapon when you hit reload. The animation for reloading takes longer than actually filling your magazine, so if you cancel the animation by switching weapons quickly, the weapon is still reloaded!
The normal ‘Reload’ time is how long it takes if your weapon still has rounds remaining when you press reload, while the ‘Empty’ time is how long it takes if your magazine is completely dry. With an empty chamber, you have to pull the charging handle or rack the slide as an extra animation, which takes longer!
Because you can reload while running, reload time is rarely an issue when moving in safety, but the Add time can be vital if you’re in CQC and more enemies are closing in on you. You can save anywhere from a half a second to almost a full second if you quickly double tap the Weapon Switch button to cancel the reload animation.
In past Call of Duty titles, you could also cancel the reload animation by sprinting, the ‘sprint cancel,’ but that doesn’t work when you can reload on the run!
Recoil Plots
In addition to the charts that break down the basic stats of each weapon, we have also included recoil plots that simulate thousands of fired shots for each weapon.
Use these plots to get an idea of how intensely the weapon recoils when the trigger is held down.
The plots show the first three shots in a different color, so you can see when and where your shots begin to stray off target if you continue to hold the trigger (or press it rapidly, for burst or semi-auto weapons).
Recoil plays a big part in how effective a weapon is at medium to long range. At shorter distances, recoil either matters less, or possibly not at all at very close range.
If your favored weapon kicks in a specific direction, you can learn to compensate for it when shooting at medium range. At longer distances, it’s best to feather the trigger to fire short bursts so you can stay on target.
Penetration
Weapon penetration is how good your gun is at shooting through cover or thin walls. In general, LMGs and Snipers have the best penetration, while Pistols have the worst and Shotguns do not penetrate.
The FMJ attachment improves your weapon’s ability to penetrate cover and deal damage. When you shoot through cover, part of the damage you would normally deal is lost, so expect to burn a lot of extra ammo to take down targets through cover.
Alongside FMJ, the Scavenger perk, Extended Mags attachment, LMGs, and Outrider’s Vision Pulse power are all useful for taking down targets through cover or behind walls. In general, Assault Rifles with FMJ and LMGs have the easiest time downing targets through cover.