The Best Weapons in Call of Duty: Warzone

Since its release in 2020, Call of Duty: Warzone has captured the attention of over 100 million players, making it one of the most successful battle royale games to date. If you’ve played, you’ve probably learned that gaining a victory can be tough, especially if you’re struggling to find a weapon that suits you. Warzone is played way differently than Modern Warfare or Black Ops Cold War‘s conventional multiplayer suite; the goal is to have a diverse loadout that is ideal for all situations in attempts to help you survive against over 140+ other players.

You’ll probably find some decent weapons along the way, but ideally, you should use your custom loadouts, which can be acquired via a Loadout Drop. These can be obtained by purchasing them from a buy station or by finding one that spawns throughout the game, giving you full access to your arsenal of custom guns and attachments.

To keep things fresh, Warzone developer Raven Software has made a habit of changing how many top weapons perform, meaning you can’t get used to the same options for too long. Now that Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has been integrated into Warzone, there’s certainly no shortage of weapons to choose from. And with the integration of Call of Duty: Vanguard on the horizon, the list of ideal weapons will likely evolve. Here, we’ll go through some of the game’s best weapons, from the most versatile, to the highest damage output, and their recommended attachments, accounting for any type of scenario you’ll encounter.

These are the best weapons in Call of Duty: Warzone.

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AK-47 (CW)

Recommended loadout:

Kicking off our list is the Cold War version of the AK-47. This has a tremendously fast time to kill (TTK), and is much easier to use than it used to be, thanks to recent updates. The nice thing about the AK-47 (CW) is that it shoots slowly, meaning you can get away with using a smaller magazine size. Though, most players will opt to run the 60 round magazine size with it.

The AK-47 is an excellent weapon for skilled players who want to be aggressive while ensuring mobility and aim down sights (ADS) speeds aren’t penalized much. This weapon isn’t as easy to use as the Krig or the Grau 5.56, but its TTKs make up for it. It’s best to practice with this weapon on Rebirth Island since most of your engagements will be within 100 meters, meaning recoil won’t be as much of an issue.

EM2

Recommended loadout:

Hands down, the king of assault rifles right now is the EM2, at least when measuring TTKs. It kills dramatically faster than most of the assault rifles in the game but is even harder to control than the FARA 83 — again, showing Raven Software’s commitment to balance. This weapon has a few quirks we should mention, such as its slow rate of fire and heavy handling. In many ways, the EM2 feels like an LMG, which might be a turn-off to some.

Though, if you build the weapon appropriately, you can significantly improve its mobility and handling. One thing we highly advise is to use a different optic than the default option. This scope has comically slow aim down sights (ADS) speeds and will almost certainly get you killed in the heat of battle. If you equip the Field Agent Grip and Agency Suppressor, you’ll have a much easier time controlling this weapon. In addition, stick with the 40 Rnd to reduce your ADS times (as opposed to the 50 Rnd), as the weapon fires slowly enough to justify having a smaller magazine size.

Grau 5.56

Recommended loadout:

The Grau 5.56 is sort of the opposite of the AK-47 (CW) in that its TTKs are slower, but the weapon is much easier to control. You might remember this weapon from the early Warzone days, as it was a top choice shortly after the game’s launch.

Since then, the Grau 5.56 hasn’t changed much, but most of the best weapons in the game have been nerfed, bringing this classic assault rifle back to the forefront. This is a weapon great for new players, as it’s super easy to control, thanks to its virtually non-existent recoil. Some players like using an optic with this weapon, and if you fall into that camp, you can save the attachment for something else to boost mobility or ADS speeds. Otherwise, stick with something that has plenty of zoom such as the 4.0 x Flip Hybrid.

Bullfrog

Recommended loadout:

Much like the Grau 5.56, the Bullfrog is a weapon that doesn’t have the best (or even great) TTKs, but more than makes up for it in other categories. For one thing, the Bullfrog is very easy to control, making it ideal for players looking to secure eliminations at mid-range. This makes it easy to stick to your target, especially when engaging beyond close range. It’s also a fantastic weapon thanks to its large magazine, which starts at 50 rounds. This means you can skip equipping an extended mag, freeing up another precious attachment slot. It’s a fantastic SMG all around that works well in a variety of situations despite not being the best in any one scenario.

PPSh-41

Recommended loadout:

Kicking off our SMG recommendations is the PPSh-41, a great all-around option that works well in many scenarios. It doesn’t have the best TTKs up close, but it’s a tremendous weapon to use past 17 meters or so. Typically, SMGs are far less effective past 15 meters, but this is where the PPSh shines. With that in mind, this is a good weapon to use as sniper support or alongside a long-range assault rifle like the Krig 6.

The best thing about the PPSh-41 is its massive magazine potential of 71. This is enough to wipe a full squad before needing to reload, which is major. Despite being physically larger (especially with that huge ammo drum), the PPSh has fantastic ADS speeds and mobility, coming in line with the best SMGs in the game. The PPSh-41 is continuously slept on and is worth trying out during season 5.

MAC-10

Recommended loadout:

We’ve covered two SMGs that work well at range, but what about a close-quarters option? After all, that’s what an SMG is primarily used for. In this case, the MAC-10 is one of the best choices in the game, with solid TTKs up close and a larger magazine potential, and it’s decent at range. The benefit of the MAC is its fast fire rate and high mobility, meaning you can zip around and pull off quick kills before your opponents know what hit them.

Between 10 and 20 meters is where the MAC-10 shines the brightest, outclassing many other SMGs in the game. Even after being slightly nerfed recently, this weapon is still worth using since it’s so reliable.

MP5 (CW)

Recommended loadout:

Ah, the classic MP5. The Cold War version has gone in and out of the game’s meta, but has always been good. Now, due to a nerf to the previous top dog, the OTs 9, the MP5 (CW) has reclaimed its position at the top spot. This is because the MP5 (CW) has excellent TTKs, even if it isn’t super easy to use.

That’s why you should stick with the MP5 within 10 meters to ensure its high recoil doesn’t negatively impact you much. This weapon has high mobility, high damage, and is overall a blast to use. You can also build it to excel at mid-range, but we’d recommend avoiding that, and instead, equipping attachments suited for close-quarters engagements.

OTs 9

Recommended loadout:

Our last SMG pick is the OTs 9, a weapon that easily outclasses every other option in the game — at least within 8 meters or so. The OTs 9 is the king of close-quarters, allowing you to take down your opponents faster than any other SMG, as long as you’re close enough. It has low enough recoil when used up close that it’s easy to use while allowing you to wipe the floor quickly with your opponents.

But surely a weapon this good has its downsides, right? Well, the OTs 9 is practically useless past 15 meters, and its recoil past that range becomes high enough to make it hard to use. The other major flaw is that it has a low ammo capacity of 40, meaning you likely won’t be able to take on more than two opponents at a time with it. To help mitigate this flaw, we advise using the VDV 40 Round Fast Mag, which gives you faster reload times. Despite its downsides, it’s well worth trying, thanks to its extremely fast TTK up close.

Gallo SA12

Recommended loadout:

Speaking of close-quarters, let’s touch on a weapon category that is often overlooked: Shotguns. Since shotguns are only useful at around 8 meters or so, many players opt against using them, which is understandable, but if you play your cards right, you can become unstoppable with the right setup. Arguably the best option in the game is the Gallo SA12. It’s tough to measure TTKs with a shotgun, but based on our testing, you can down a player in as low as two shots depending on proximity (and how much armor they have equipped).

Aside from the high damage potential, shotguns are great because they’re primarily fired from the hip, as opposed to aiming down sights. This means you can start dealing damage to your opponents first since your pellets will come out faster. The Gallo SA12 is the best option for longer ranges — of around 10 meters or so. Even though a maximum of 12 pellets doesn’t sound like much, you’d be surprised how much damage you can deal with that amount.

JAK-12

Recommended loadout:

If you’re new to using shotguns, there’s one more recommendation you might want to try. The JAK-12 is our second choice in the shotgun category due to it being fully automatic. This means you can simply hold down the trigger to fire off a consistent stream of pellets. Up close, this is absolutely devastating, even though each pellet doesn’t deal as much damage as the Gallo SA12. If you’re within 5 meters or so, the JAK-12 pretty much beats anything else, so it’s at least worth trying out.

One thing to note is that we advise using the Frangible — Disabling Perk on this weapon, which slows your foes’ running speed when you deal damage to them with the JAK. This allows you to close the gap faster, potentially leading to an easier elimination.

MG 82

Recommended loadout:

Hands down, the MG 82 has one of the best TTKs in the entire game. In fact, past seven meters or so, it outranks the AK-47 (CW) and the OTs 9, making it a top choice. The problem is that it’s not the easiest weapon to use and has slow mobility due to it being an LMG. Still, you can deck it out in a variety of ways to make up for most of its shortcomings.

The build described above is more so meant for mid to long-range and works well for players who know how to control recoil. This will stabilize its recoil as much as possible while ensuring it works well from afar. As a tip, we advise pulling back hard on the stick to keep it steady. Do keep in mind, you can build this weapon for close quarters as well, which works great on Rebirth Island. Either way, the MG 82 is an absolute beast if you know how to use it.

Kar98k

Recommended loadout:

In Warzone, being able to take out enemies from afar quickly is ideal, and that’s where the Kar98k comes into play. This sniper is meant to be used much more aggressively than something like the HDR and works great in fast-paced engagements. The Kar doesn’t have the range of the slower, heavier snipers, but that doesn’t mean you can’t secure long-range eliminations from hundreds of meters away with it.

The main reason the Kar is so useful is that it features high damage and fast ADS speeds, meaning you can quickly scope in, pull off the shot, and adjust if need be. It’s deadly accurate and can be fired off quickly, making it one of the best snipers in the game — especially for aggressive players. It’s recommended to couple this weapon with a close-range firearm, like an SMG or shotgun.

Swiss K31

Recommended loadout:

The Swiss K31 is virtually identical to the Kar9k. However, the Swiss is slightly slower but deals more damage to the chest, so it warrants your attention, for sure. Pretty much everything we explained about the Kar98k applies to the Swiss. It has fast ADS speeds, is lightweight, and is great for aggressive players. One of the other upsides to using the Swiss K31 is that it has a built-in sniper scope (as opposed to the Kar). Because of this, you essentially have an extra attachment slot to use, which could give it the upper hand against the Kar.

In this case, we like using the Vandal Speed Loader, which grants you significantly faster reload times. Being able to reload quickly could save your life, so we suggest giving this attachment a try when using the Swiss. Ultimately, the Swiss and Kar are both fantastic. Which one you end up leaning towards will come down to slight differences and personal preference.

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