This section forward is for both returning Veterans and new players. Here we’re covering only the new aspects of the game introduced by Infinite Warfare.
Fighting Drones vs Humans
The future of Infinite Warfare presents a new type of ammunition: energy ammunition. Weapons will either fire energy or ballistic ammunition—none of them can switch between ammo types. Energy ammunition has three distinct advantages over ballistic:
- It is extremely effective against drones and robots. This means that energy weapons are the go-to weapons on missions that require going up against a lot of mechanical opposition.
- Many energy weapons can automatically recharge ammunition. This means it is less likely that your favorite energy gun will run out of ammunition mid-mission. Energy weapons only recharge ammunition when they are equipped (unless you have the Fusion Mag attachment).
- Energy shots can “reflect” when they hit an enemy, bouncing off and hitting other nearby enemies.
Energy ammunition is more effective against drones, and conversely, ballistic ammunition works better against humans. Realizing this difference should affect which weapons you decide to bring with you on each mission.
Stealth
While stealth has always been a part of Call of Duty missions, Infinite Warfare takes it to a new level. There are several missions where stealth is vital to your success.
On any stealth level, there are several things you should know about to improve your odds.
Suppressed Weapons
Stealth requires silence. On stealth missions you must use a suppressed weapon to avoid alerting the enemies in an area. The game will recommend a suppressed weapon on the loadout screen, but enemy weapons won’t necessarily be suppressed. If you find a weapon, look for the silencer at the end of a weapon to make sure it’s suppressed.
Suppressed weapon attacks are never audibly detected, but if you kill an enemy in front of another, it will alert the nearby guards.
Stealth Meter
A stealth meter activates whenever stealth is in use. This meter appears in the center of your HUD and will display the direction of nearby enemies, as well as how close you are to being detected. The greater the danger of detection, the bigger and redder the bars.
Light
Light plays a major role in successful stealth. If you are standing in light, stealth meters are more sensitive and more likely to go off. Keep an eye on the floor of the area in which you are standing. Try to stick to the shadows as you move around; this will make it less likely you will be seen.
Sound
You make much less sound if you are crouched while moving around. Whenever a mission requires an enemy to not see you, it’s vital that you move around in crouched mode. You do move slower, but enemies won’t hear your approach, and it’s much easier to score stealth melee kills.
Enemy Field of View
Enemies aren’t always looking directly ahead. They actually look around quite a bit. An enemy glancing off to his right as you advance while crouched can blow your stealth.
There’s no direct way to see an enemy’s field of view. You need to infer that they can see about a thirty-degree cone coming out from wherever the center of their head is positioned.
This is especially important when determining if an enemy will be seen when you kill them with a suppressed weapon.
Silent Kills
While killing an enemy with a suppressed weapon is generally safe, if you are stuck with no suppressed weapons, you can sneak up on an enemy and trigger the Silent Kill event. If you get behind an enemy and they are unaware of you, you will see the Silent Kill prompt on-screen. Hit the Melee button to execute a silent and 100 percent deadly attack.
Space Combat
The most significant addition to Infinite Warfare is the extensive amount of ship combat you will engage in. As leader of an elite navy SCAR squadron, many missions will have you take to the air, space, and beyond to engage the enemy.
Throughout the campaign, you will always be flying one type of ship: the UNSA Jackal. It’s a quick ship with low armor and big guns. In the future of Infinite Warfare, naval combat entails huge ships with massive weaponry (destroyers and A-Jaks). However, these large ships are extremely vulnerable to small ships like Jackals that can perform “hit and run” tactics. To combat the small ships, each destroyer has several squadrons of “Skelters” they can deploy to protect the ship. Every space mission will entail extensive dogfighting with these smaller ships.
Afterburners
Your Jackal is equipped with Afterburners. These can be activated with the Sprint button. Afterburners are vital for quickly evading enemies and changing positions on the battlefield.
When you activate your burners, a meter appears on the screen. You can only keep them active for about ten seconds before they need to recharge.
Free Movement
You can use the D-Pad to freely rotate your ship in space. Performing barrel rolls in space with this technique is one of the best ways to avoid incoming fire from a Skelter on your tail.
To recenter your ship after rotating it, hold up on the D-Pad.
Flares
Enemies will frequently attack you with missiles. When this happens, your HUD lights up with incoming-missile warning indicators. To avoid getting hit by the missile, you must quickly hit your Flares button (the Tactical Equipment button in regular missions) to deploy small rockets that will divert the incoming rocket.
Flares take several seconds to recharge between uses. It’s vital you never attract the attention of multiple missile-firing enemies. Otherwise you could get caught at the wrong end of a missile volley while your flares are recharging.
Lock On
Whenever an enemy is flying in front of you (whether it’s a dogfight or an attack on a big freighter), you can use the Lock On button (the Aim Down Sights button in regular missions) to center an enemy on your screen.
In dogfights the lock on allows you to more easily chase a zigging and zagging enemy. There are limits, however. If an enemy maneuvers very quickly or reverses direction, you may lose your lock. Additionally, locking in dogfights can be dangerous. In a field with a lot of obstacles, the enemy could steer you into debris, inflicting massive damage to your ship.
Against naval ships, lock ons can make hitting a ship’s guns easier for your large cannons. Quickly lock on before you fire your cannons to ensure they find a solid target on the side of the ship.
If you are attempting to lock on a Skelter and the lock isn’t sticking, this usually means that the Skelter is coming right at you. Either open up with your guns immediately, or move to evade the incoming attack.
Missiles
You get missiles of your own to use. Missiles can be dumb fired, but they’re most effective when fired after a lock on. When you have successfully locked on a target, hit the Missile button (the Lethal Equipment button in the main game) to fire a volley of missiles at the enemy.
You start most missions with a stock of eight missiles. You can use the up arrow on the D-Pad to request a resupply from a resupply drone.
Missiles are rarely effective against Aces (they deploy flares as quickly as you can fire them), so it’s best to save them for downing destroyers, A-Jaks, and regular Skelters.
Avoiding Lock On
Enemies can also lock on to your ship. When this occurs, a giant red indicator appears in your screen. If you do experience a lock, you must immediately execute evasive maneuvers to survive.
Bobbing and weaving through nearby obstacles can help reset an enemy lock. One of the best ways to cancel an enemy lock is to immediately engage Afterburners while using the D-Pad to spin your ship. If you still have the lock, immediately stop and reverse direction. This should cancel the lock and allow you to search the battlefield for
Recovering From Damage
As when you are on the ground, if your ship takes damage, you can heal by avoiding additional damage for several seconds. Healing in the ship takes longer than healing in the main game, so be sure to leave the main battlefield if your systems are critical.
Battlefield Strategy
The Jackal levels of Infinite Warfare can be some of the most difficult levels in the game. In addition to the strategies outlined previously, it’s vital that you manage how many enemies are currently threats to your ship.
When engaging a field with several destroyers or A-Jaks, stay out of range of their guns. The ship battles are always in large areas that allow you to avoid fighting nearby large enemy ships.
When engaging with Skelter squads and Aces, it’s best if you can isolate the groups and fight them one by one. To do this, fly to the edge of the battlefield, and wait patiently for one of the groups to follow and attempt to engage you. Taking an Ace out one-on-one is much easier than attempting to kill a group of Aces all at once.
Unlocking Outfitting Options
Jackals can be customized with several different options for their light gun, heavy cannon, and special equipment. These won’t make or break your mission, but are fun to experiment with. Pick the loadouts you find the most effective for your space combat style.
The one exception to this is for Veteran players. Equipping the Reinforced Hull (which is unlocked very early in the campaign) is vital to improve your survival odds on the harder Jackal missions.
Light Guns
30MM Gren
Description: SCARs’ go-to, air-to-air weapon of choice, the 30mm Gren is the most balanced aircraft-mounted gun the UN has to offer.
20mm Dragonfly
Description: Extremely high rate of fire. Pilots need to keep an eye on their barrel temperature.
Gamp .018 Microlite
Description: Energy-based weapon stolen from an SDF raid and retrofitted into the Jackal’s weapons systems.
Heavy Cannons
50mm Pathfinder
Description: Jackal’s standard heavy cannon.
D-8 Cleaver
Description: Not as powerful as the standard 50mm, the Cleaver has an impressive rate of fire, slower overheat, and is less taxing on the Jackal’s weapons systems.
Gamp .385 Anvil
Description: This directed energy weapon is the most powerful cannon a strike fighter can carry.
Special Equipment
Increased weapon power
Description: More damage and max missiles. Less prone to overheat.
Reinforced Hull
Description: Higher health and less collision damage.
Improved Thrusters
Description: Longer boost time. Faster turn and acceleration.