What To Know About Modern Warfare II’s Gun Mods, Tuning

Screenshot: Activision / Kotaku

If you have an appetite for destruction, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II is happy to provide you with a nearly endless supply of guns that you can customize to an absurdly delicious degree. Seriously, it’s almost as fun as sorting my nail polish colors.

But it’s not about making all the other soldiers, gals, and non-binary buddies envious of your brutal styles; there are a ton of stats you’ll want to understand as well. For every attachment you apply to a gun, there are obvious pros and cons. And once you reach max level with a given gun, you unlock weapon tuning, allowing you to tweak the feel and performance of the guns even further.

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Modern Warfare II gives you plenty of room for freedom, style, and min/maxing, so while time will tell what the god-level meta will end up being, don’t be afraid to dive in and experiment. a setup that helps you step onto the dash while looking cool and adapting to your style of play.

This guide focuses only on the guns you point and shoot, i.e. your primary and secondary weapons. Let’s dig.

Screenshot: Activision / Kotaku

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II Pistols 101

As soon as you load the game, you’ll see a set of tabs at the top: Play, Weapons, Operators, Battle Pass, and Store.

The weapon selection will take you to where you can sort through your loadouts, killstreaks, and vehicle customization. In Loadouts, you’ll notice that you can have up to 10 custom builds, so don’t worry about having to commit to a narrow selection. A loadout is made up of six elements: you get a primary and secondary weapon to choose from, as well as your tactical and lethal gear, perks, and a field upgrade.

Your upload is shown in a horizontal bar on the “Edit Uploads” screen. Selecting a specific loadout will allow you to configure each of the six types. Some of your available weapons are dictated by the perks you have active for that loadout. Primary weapons have the following types:

Main weapon types

Assault RiflesBattle RiflesSMGShunting RiflesLMGSniper RiflesSniper RiflesMelee

There are only three types of secondary weapons.

Secondary Weapon Types

Weapons break down into platforms, which look like a skill tree in an RPG, showing what attachments you can unlock for a given weapon. When looking at a weapon in the loadout or weapon menu screen, you can see the progress of the platform by pressing V on the keyboard (touchpad on PlayStation, view button on Xbox).

The M4 platform, for example, is a family of weapons consisting of the M4 Assault Rifle, 556 Icarus LMG, FTAC Recon Battle Rifle, M16 Assault Rifle, and FSS Hurricane SMG.

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You level up each weapon by going out and scoring kills. Some weapons from a specific platform are locked behind a weapon tier. For example, to get the Bryson 890 shotgun, you need to build your Bryson 800 to level 16. You can also upgrade each individual gun for even more attachment customization.

Screenshot: Activision / Kotaku

Customizing Weapons and Attachments with the Gunsmith

When viewing a specific loadout in the menus, some weapons will have an “Armourer” option. Here you can change how your weapon is built.

In Gunsmith’s “Build a Weapon” tab, you can install many different “Modifications” to the weapon’s optics, muzzles, magazines, stocks, and ammo types. You can select up to five mods at any time, and you can also swap out the gun’s receiver – essentially its core to which everything else attaches – for others in the weapon’s Platform family. (Note that not all weapon mods within the same platform are compatible.)

After making changes to the Gunsmith, you can jump straight into the Firing Range to test out how the new changes look. It loads pretty quickly too, so while you can’t directly A/B compare some mods, you can still get a good feel for each selection without spending forever behind a loading screen.

Each change affects stats in unique ways, and each has specific pros and cons. The 419mm EXF gun, for example, will increase your damage range, hip-fire accuracy, and bullet speed (perks), but at the cost of down-sight speed and recoil control. hip (disadvantages).

The second tab of the Gunsmith interface is “Customize”. This is where you can apply different weapon charms, skins, stickers, etc. Each camo skin will have different requirements, but it’s very similar to unlocking attachments: Simply earn Weapon EXP by scoring kills and completing specific challenges noted under each camo skin. There are also weapon mastery challenges that you must complete once you unlock the Gold, Platinum, Polyatomic, and Orion skins.

The more you level up a specific weapon, the more attachments you will have access to. Once you’ve maxed out a specific weapon, you can start tuning those attachments to take even more control over its performance.

Screenshot: Activision / Kotaku

Weapon Tuning in Modern Warfare II

Weapon tuning allows you to further tweak the pros and cons of each attachment. Remember that you must reach level 20 with a specific weapon in order to adjust the modifications.

You can’t adjust all of the attachments, but the ones you can will offer two sets of sliders that let you emphasize everything on a weapon’s strengths or back off the cons a bit. Keep in mind these are all fine tuning adjustments. If you want to maximize your down-sight speed, for example, you’re better off going for mods that prioritize that rather than trying to compensate for slower ADS speeds via weapon tuning. That said, Modern Warfare II’s high TTK rate means that even the finest tweaks can make a difference in the heat of battle.

Weapon tuning is really best leveraged once you have a good idea of ​​what weapons and mods you like. This stage of weapon customization is more of an art than a science, so expect to take your time figuring out what works best for you.

Upgrading Weapons in Modern Warfare II

Maxing out your weapons is one of the main goals of the game, and you’ll make the most progress with the weapons you actively use. Keeping a firearm holstered or slung over the shoulder will not suffice; to upgrade a gun you have to be there using it to put lead into your enemies.

With so many weapon choices, it’s not a bad idea to stick to a few weapons, two or three at most, at first. Playing with the Overkill Perk equipped (available with the Assault preset package) is a good way to see what it feels like to wield two primary weapons at once.

Screenshot: Activision / Kotaku

Don’t forget to take advantage of the Weapon XP boosts as well. You can select them in the multiplayer matchmaking screen. Be careful though, as your XP boosts count in real time outside of matches. With that in mind, it’s best to save XP boosts for use in playlists that aren’t as latency-heavy.

Quick Play and Ground War generally have faster queues. However, keep in mind that 32v32 modes such as Ground War might have you in gunfights less frequently as you’ll often spend time moving between objectives. On the other hand, it can be a good opportunity to upgrade a sniper or sniper rifle, as you will have more distance to work with. If you’re looking to upgrade close-range weapons like shotguns, smaller 6v6 sets might be your best bet, but your mileage may vary.

One thing I like to do is set aside a loadout specifically for weapon leveling. Label it “Leveling” and simply use it to swap out the weapons you want to progress, leaving your main loadouts intact and free to select when you want to change your playstyle in a match.

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If you swap out a gun in a loadout that you plan to use regularly, all mods will be reset, which isn’t ideal. A dedicated “Upgrade” loadout will allow you to prioritize your remaining nine loadout selections with the weapons, mods, and settings you prefer. You may also want to prioritize certain perks that can make leveling up a bit easier. Overkill, for example, will allow you to have two primary weapons on the field, so you can progress with two at a time (although again, you must actively use a given weapon to gain XP from ‘gun on it.) I also like having Fast Hands equipped for an upgrade loadout, as it allows for faster swaps between guns, which is useful when trying to give both a practice session. . Scavenger is another good perk to have for leveling up weapons, as you’ll be able to get more ammo during a game.

Modern Warfare II didn’t disappoint when it comes to delivering a ton of fun guns to shoot and blast shit. Spend some time equipping your weapons, and you’ll probably play better and look cooler on the field. And once you have an idea of ​​which weapons and mods you like best, don’t forget to try tuning the weapons to further tweak the feel of the game for you.