Perk 1

Recon

Minimap shows a larger area. Gain a single radar sweep when a standard enemy UAV appears and another when it dies.

A useful informational perk, Recon gives you better situational awareness by extending the range your minimap covers. This allows you to spot enemies at a greater range than you normally can.

On top of that, the ability to make use of enemy UAVs turns the other team’s support streaks against them, giving you the ability to make partial use of their UAV network.

Because of this perk, be careful making use of UAVs yourself, unless you are running the Ghost perk, as well. Otherwise you may well be highlighting yourself for a nearby enemy using Recon!

Recon tends to be very helpful on mid-range or longer builds, where you can use the extra minimap distance to spot and intercept distant targets easily. It is still useful for aggressive close-range builds, but because checking the minimap in CQC is dangerous, you have less time to safely take full advantage of the intel Recon provides.

Blind Eye

Undetectable by AI targeting systems, including air support and sentries.

Blind Eye is a defensive perk, primarily useful for shutting down powerful enemy scorestreaks.

Keep a custom class that has Blind Eye, Smoke Grenades, an FMJ or Ram Servo-equipped LMG, and possibly a secondary launcher, as well.

If the enemy team manages to call in a dangerous streak, you can switch to this class and destroy their streaks with ease.

As a general use perk, Blind Eye typically isn’t a great choice because it only helps you while the enemy team has players dominating your team, and it does nothing at all for you if your team is shutting down enemy streaks before (or even as soon as) they hit the field.

In most cases you want perks that are always helping you in combat, and Blind Eye doesn’t pass that basic litmus test.

Blast shield

Increase resistance to explosive damage.

A very strong defensive perk, especially in objective modes when you plan on playing the objective aggressively.

Blast Shield can save your life from anything short of a direct impact or stick from the majority of explosive weaponry in the game, so at the very least, it can act as a one-time lifesaver.

Despite its specific utility for objective play, Blast Shield is a good general defensive perk simply because it can keep you alive through situations you would not have survived without it—and that means keeping your scorestreak going.

Dexterity

Reload and switch weapons faster.

Dexterity is useful on any aggressive build, or LMG and sniper setups carrying a secondary weapon. It is also useful for carrying two primary weapons in your class loadout, or if you plan to pick up weapons on the battlefield, because most primary weapons have fairly slow switch times.

The fast reloading is very nice, but it can cause some extremely bad habits. Instantly reloading after every kill is not a good idea.

Enemies tend to come in clumps, and it’s incredibly common to kill one enemy, reload, and get shot just as his buddy comes around the corner.

Whether you were spotted, heard where they were in voice chat, or they simply happened to be moving in the same direction from a spawn point, odds are good that if you take one target down, another is soon to follow.

Dexterity can help chain kills together, but be aware of what reloading can cost you if you reload immediately after a kill while you are still in the open.

Even without Extended Mags on your weapon, you can typically kill at least two enemies on a fresh mag, and with extended mags, three isn’t unlikely, particularly for weapons with deep magazines.

Overclock

Payload charges faster.

A straightforward and useful utility perk, Overclock cuts down the time it takes to charge your Rig’s payload super.

This is generally a “nice to have” perk for most builds, but if the specific payload you have chosen is vital to your preferred role in combat, you can up the importance of this perk a few notches and justify taking it over other important options.

Ghost

Invisible to UAV and radar pings.

A powerful stealth perk, Ghost hides you from both UAV sweeps and the Ping Rig trait’s radar pings.

Consequently, Ghost is vital for any aggressive build where you plan to spend a lot of time in close proximity to enemy positions and spawn points.

Ghost is less important if you plan on playing mid to long range, where the proximity of teammates and distance from enemies makes you less vulnerable to radar detection.