Leveling Down

With Modern Warfare 2 being the biggest title of this holiday season (and probably the year), many gamers may pick this up and are interested in getting into the multiplayer, but are overwhelmed by all of the things that Modern Warfare 2 expects the player to understand. That’s where this article comes in. I’m writing this article from a viewpoint of you as a reader having never played any of the recent Call of Duty games online (but of course, I’m hoping you’ll have understood general first person shooter mechanics). In this article, I’ll explain what perks are, kill-streak rewards, leveling up, general strategies and tips for improving your game, etc. I will focus the article towards Team Deathmatch, since it is the most popular mode for Call of Duty multiplayer games and the easiest one to learn. Once you digest this information, the skills you learn for Team Deathmatch will be more than enough if you decide to move towards more the objective-based multiplayer modes in the future.

Table of Contents
I. Why Call of Duty Multiplayer is Popular
II: The Basics
III. Customization
III. a. Profile Specific Customizations
III. b. Class Specific Customizations
III. c. Weapon Specific Customizations
IV. My Specific Tips for New Players

I. Why Call of Duty Multiplayer is Popular

Call of Duty 4 was a revolutionary change in multiplayer FPS games because it allowed for an unprecedented ability to customize the way you wanted to play online. In the past, FPS online games were about everyone starting the same, and for Team Deathmatch, it was about making your way to the weapon spawns and getting the powerful weapons before anyone else (as in the case for Halo 3). The Team Fortress mod in Quake changed that, letting players choose a particular class they wanted to play, and the class was outfitted with particular weapons and gear specific to its class. Team Fortress 2 is still quite popular today for that reason.

Call of Duty 4 (and consequently, World at War, and Modern Warfare 2) goes one step beyond Team Fortress’s allowing you to pick a class: in Call of Duty multiplayer, you can create your own classes. In fact, you can create several different classes, and change between them any time you die in multiplayer. In the class, you are not only able to customize what you want to use as your weapons and grenades, but Call of Duty 4 introduced something called Perks that you could customize. Perks are actual abilities that affect your class in a game. For example, one Perk may allow you to do more damage with your bullets, while another perk may allow you to penetrate walls when you shoot. Some allow you to even drop a grenade when you die or allow you to reload faster. There are dozens of Perks in the game, but the thing is, you are only allowed to utilize three Perks at a time. With players playing very differently, and their particular classes being different, the Perks revolutionized how the game was played. One Perk may be good for one class you’ve created – such as a faster reload perk for an SMG that runs out of ammo quickly, but not so good for a class you’ve created where you’re using a machine gun with over 100 rounds. It’s all about figuring out what perks work best for your play style.

With dozens of weapons and perks in the game, Call of Duty 4 implemented an RPG-like leveling system. You would gain experience points for your profile (which was the umbrella that all of your customized classes sat under) when you won matches, performed certain challenges, etc. As you leveled up, new weapons and Perks would get unlocked, allowing you more options to customize your classes. At the same time, these new unlocks were not necessarily better than what players started with, so the balance was still present because a level 1 player had weapons and Perks that were just fine in engaging a level 60 player with his unlocked weapons and Perks.

What also made Call of Duty 4 multiplayer unique was something called killstreak rewards. In Call of Duty 4, if you killed 3 players without dying, you were able to call in a UAV, alerting you to where all the opposing players were. Netting 5 kills in a row without dying allowed you to designate an airstrike on a particular area, and 7 kills gave you the opportunity to call down a chopper that would mow down any opponents out in the open. World at War and Modern Warfare 2 continue the killstreak rewards, with World at War allowing you to call in dogs at 7 kills and Modern Warfare 2 going even a step further to let you actually pick what you want to use when you get a high enough killstreak (that I will get to below).

So there you go – Call of Duty multiplayer is popular due to the sheer amount of customization you can have for your character, the leveling up aspect that drives you to keep playing to unlock new customization options, and killstreak rewards. Of course, support for team-based matchmaking also helped, and auto team-balancing between rounds went a long way as well.

Now, let’s get to some basics to understand before you dive into Modern Warfare 2′s multiplayer:

II. The Basics

1. Determine Your Preferred Engagement Range
As mentioned in a previous article I wrote, it’s good to determine what your preferred engagement range with the enemy is. Do you like being as far away as possible? Do you like to be right up in their face? Figuring this engagement range out is important in a game like Modern Warfare 2 because you will want to create a class that best supports this range. The four engagement range archetypes that I see most are:

1. Point blank shotgun/melee
2. Close range SMG
3. Medium range assault rifle
4. Long range sniper rifle

Some have the patience to camp and wait as a sniper player, while others like to be up close and constantly on the move with an SMG. Forcing yourself to encounter enemies in a range different than the one you’re most effective with will cause your kill to death ratio to suffer, which could end up losing your team the match. Once your engagement range is set, it’s time to learn the maps and determine specific areas that provide your range an advantage. If you’re a medium range assault rifle player, you don’t want to be caught in high traffic apartments – you will get trounced by the closer ranged players. And if you prefer the SMG, don’t hang out in areas that players with a scoped rifle can pick you off before you close the gap.

2. Modern Warfare 2′s Damage System
Modern Warfare 2′s damage system is not much different from Call of Duty 4 or World at War – shots are very lethal. In Halo 3, you could be engaging another opponent and you end up both chucking grenades at each other, emptying your assault rifles, and finally, trying to close in and get the melee kill because the grenade and the full assault rifle cartridge were not enough to kill your opponent. What happens in Halo 3 is if you fired upon someone, they could actually fire back and potentially kill you if they were skillful enough. Modern Warfare 2 does not really allow this “dance” to happen once one player fires upon another. A headshot is a kill, regardless of the weapon. A melee swing (knife) is a kill, regardless of the direction your opponent is facing. A three round burst from the assault rifle can kill an opponent. One sniper rifle shot can kill an opponent. Bullets in Modern Warfare 2 do a lot of damage, and are relatively realistic (would you be able to get up in real life if you got shot with a sniper rifle?). What’s not realistic though, is the auto regeneration of health. If you are getting shot at, there is a possibility of taking cover and if you didn’t take enough damage to die, your health will fully regenerate.

3. Offense and Defense
Now that I’ve explained the damage system of Modern Warfare 2, you’ll probably realize that there is not much room for error in the game. If you shoot someone first, you should kill him. If you didn’t kill him, it was your own mistake because in Modern Warfare 2, the damage is set up in such a way that if you shoot first, the opponent should not be able to retaliate adequately before dying. This makes the game more defensive based – especially on urban maps. Players will desire to take defensive positions and look for advantages where they can get the first shot off because if they can do that, they can most likely get the kill. What mixes things up are indicators in the game that alert players to those that are camping and playing defensively. If you fire a shot from your gun without a suppressor, you will show up on the map so opponents will know where you are. If you kill someone, they can see from their Kill-cam exactly how you killed them and where you were. If the opponents kill you enough times, they can call in a UAV and learn where you are hiding. So while you can sit and camp all day, once a smart opponent knows where you are, they will come for you. This keeps players in the game constantly on the move. If you stay anywhere too long, you will be found.

Remember that you’re either going to be offensive or defensive in Modern Warfare 2. Defense means you’ve found a good area to sit down and control. This often means it’s an advantageous position such as a tall building or overlook with high enemy traffic that allows you to get kills easily. Being offensive will mean hunting you’re on the move. Being on the move is risky, especially if you don’t know a map since it gives the defensive players an opportunity to pick you off. But at the same time, defensive players will generally favor longer range weapons so if you can get in close enough, you can get the kill. Through the course of a game, players will constantly shift between offense and defense, and it is imperative to know when to hold something and when to go hunting.

4. Key Areas of Maps
Many of Modern Warfare 2′s maps have buildings with elevated positions that players can use. With bullets so effective in the game, Modern Warfare 2 has a greater reliance on using advantageous positions. Whatever it takes for you to get your shot off first gets you the gold. As players learn maps, there will be a general trend as both teams begin fighting to hold particular positions of advantage, which is usually an elevated position with a lot of cover and the ability to see most of the map. Once one team holds it, the other team often tries to break into it, so there is sort of a see-sawing back and forth as both teams try to secure and hold the location that will give their team the opportunity to get more kills. Learn these key points on every map, as they are equally important if you decide to hunt or to hunker down somewhere. If you want to play defensively, you can go set up in these spots, and if you are looking for enemies to kill, you should patrol near those spots.

5. The UAV
The UAV, or the Unmanned aerial vehicle, is a gameplay feature that was introduced in Call of Duty 4 and has since continued into World at War and now Modern Warfare 2. The UAV is a special reward that allows an aerial vehicle to scan the entire map and indicate basically all enemy team members to you. Remember that if an enemy fires a shot without a silencer, he will show up as a red dot on your map, but then gradually disappear. The UAV functions in a similar way, but constantly sweeps the map for about 45 seconds so you know where the enemies are. This is often times a perfect opportunity to go on the offensive, since you know where they are and they don’t know where you are. Pay attention to the audio queues in the game – of course you’ll notice when your team has a UAV, but you’ll also be told when the enemy has a UAV up as well. If the enemy knows where you are, that’s the time to consider sticking with your team so you don’t get easily picked off by yourself since they will be hunting you down. A good simple rule of thumb is if an enemy UAV is up, you try to play more defensively, but if your UAV is up, you should go more offensive and try to hunt them down.

6. Leveling Up & Prestige Mode
As you play Modern Warfare 2 online in any Xbox live game (not private matches), you will gain experience on your profile and level up accordingly. Killing other players, winning (or even losing) matches, and accomplishing specific in-game challenges nets you experience, which lets you rank up and every time you rank up, something new gets unlocked for you to customize for your character. Unlocks can range from new weapons, to new perks, to new killstreak rewards, etc. The max level cap in Modern Warfare 2 is level 70, so when you hit that, basically everything should be unlocked for you in the online game. The only things that will not be unlocked are weapon specific attachments, which generally revolve around getting enough kills with a particular weapon so if you’re not using those weapons, you won’t unlock their attachments.

When you hit Level 70, you have the option to enter Prestige Mode, which sends you back to Level 1, making you lose basically all of your unlocks that you earned on your way to Level 70. You’re basically starting over, but now the emblem next to your name will indicate that you are not just an ordinary level 1 player, but a Prestige level 1 player. There are 10 levels of Prestige, and in the past games, people have leveled all the way up to level 10 Prestige, maxing out and spending hundreds of hours in the process. So in the future, if you see some low level player but an icon you don’t recognize, it’s most likely a Prestige mode indicator.

III. Customization

Customization in Modern Warfare 2 can be ridiculously overwhelming, so hopefully I break this section down into pieces that are easier to digest. Just keep in mind that there are two customization pieces: ones done at the profile level and ones done at a class level.

III. a. Profile Specific Customizations

First off, let’s start with customizations that can be done for your overall profile. Your profile (i.e. your Gamertag), allows you to create several classes (once you hit level 5), and whatever customizations you create for your profile will carry through to any class you are playing.

1. Profile Specific Customization: Clan Tag
This is simply a four character text field that you can enter and it will appear in brackets before your name in any game you play. Often times this is used when players are a part of a clan, they all use the same clan tag to indicate that they’re together/know each other.

2. Profile Specific Customization: Titles & Emblems
As you play more and more online, you’ll notice an interesting bit of customization apparent with every player you see: a title and an emblem. Both of these are earned as you play online and are unlocked when you accomplish specific feats in the game. They do not provide any sort of tangible benefit but are more like vanity plates. If you unlocked a really difficult title and you choose to use it, others may quickly understand that you accomplished something difficult in order to get it. Or, you can use silly and playful ones that unlock as well. It’s up to you how you want your online persona to be presented.

3. Profile Specific Customization: Killstreaks
Killstreaks are “rewards” that are granted to you when you kill enough players in a row without dying. By default, you start with UAV as your 3-kill killstreak, a care package as your 4-kill killstreak, and a Predator Missle as your 5-kill killstreak. New to Modern Warfare 2 is the ability for your killstreaks rewards to stack, so if you were able to get a 5-kill killstreak with the default killstreak rewards, you would still be able to use the UAV, the care package, and the Predator Missle. In Call of Duty 4, if you got more kills and unlocked the next killstreak reward, you would lose your lower level killstreak reward.

Killstreaks are displayed on the bottom right hand side of the screen, indicated to the right of the d-pad. This means, for every killstreak, you want to hit right on your d-pad to bring it up and then hitting the right trigger to activate the killstreak reward. While your lower killstreak rewards are still preserved, you cannot cycle among them all – you still have to use your highest level killstreak reward first before it clears out of that right d-pad spot so you can use your other ones. I was actually able to get two turrets once as kill-streak rewards, and was able to put one down right after the other, so even the same killstreak reward will stack if you unlock it (most likely from a care package).

The way killstreak reward customization is handled is that there’s a list of various killstreaks from 3 kills to 25 kills, and outside of the default ones, the rest are all locked. As you level up (I think it may be every six levels or so), you gain the ability to unlock a killstreak reward. You can unlock any of them that you wish, because the higher killstreak ones are balanced by the fact that you actually have to get that many kills before you can use them. You can only hold 3 killstreak rewards at a time, and only one of any particular killstreak number. For example, you cannot have two killstreak rewards that both require 4 kills. But you can set your 3 killstreak rewards as an 8 kills one, a 9 kills one, and a 10 kills one. Of course, that is generally not advised because if you pick a 3 kills one you will get it more often, helping you get to the higher kills ones.

Also note that kills from a killstreak reward that you find dropped in a care package do not count towards your killstreak.

Here’s the list:

3 kills
UAV – Shows enemies on the minimap

4 kills
Care Package – Airdrop a random killstreak reward or ammo
Counter-UAV – Temporarily disables enemy radar

5 kills
Sentry Gun – Airdrop a placeable sentry gun
Predator Missile – Remote control missile

6 kills
Precision Air Strike – Call in a directional airstrike

7 kills
Harrier Strike – Call in a Harrier Strike
Attack Helicopter – Calls in a support helicopter

8 kills
Emergency Airdrop – Call in an emergency airdrop

9 kills
Pave Low – Heavy armored assault helicopter
Stealth Bomber – Call in a stealth bomber

11 kills
Chopper Gunner – Be the gunner of a chopper
AC-130 – Be the gunner of an AC-130

15 kills
EMP – Call in an Electromagnetic pulse bomb

25 kills
Tactical Nuke – Deploy a tactical nuke

III. b. Class Specific Customizations

When you level up to 5, you will finally unlock the ability to create five different classes. Within each class, you can choose weapons, accessories, and perks. You will be allowed to switch among the classes between lives whenever you play online by hitting the Start button and selecting the “Choose Class” option.

For your class loadout, you are able to equip one primary weapon, one secondary weapon, one equipment item, a special grenade type, and a deathstreak reward. Basically all weapons, accessories, grenades, etc. are all viable and up to how the player wants to play the game. Keep in mind though that if you want to use a Riot Shield, it will take the slot of your primary weapon and you will be a lot slower. And it is possible to dual wield some secondary weapons, but I don’t have enough info on determining what the limitations are on using them besides not being able to aim down the sights with dual-wielded weapons.

1. Class Specific Customization: Primary Weapons
Assault Rifles
M4A1 (unlocked at start)
FAMAS (unlocked at level 4)
SCAR-H (unlocked at level 8 )
TAR-21 (unlocked at level 20)
FAL (unlocked at level 28)
M16A4 (unlocked at level 40)
ACR (unlocked at level 48)
F2000 (unlocked at level 60)
AK-47 (unlocked at level 70)

Sub-Machine Guns
MP5K (unlocked at start)
UMP45 (unlocked at start)
Vector (unlocked at level 12)
P90 (unlocked at level 24)
Mini-Uzi (unlocked at level 44)

Light Machine Guns
L86 LSW (unlocked at start)
RPD (unlocked at start)
MG4 (unlocked at level 16)
AUG HBAR (unlocked at level 32)
M240 (unlocked at level 52)

Sniper Rifles
Intervention (unlocked at start)
Barret .50cal (unlocked at start)
WA2000 (unlocked at level 36)
M21EBR (unlocked at level 56)

Riot Shield (unlocked at start)

2. Class Specific Customization: Secondary Weapon
Machine Pistols
PP2000 (unlocked at start)
G18 (unlocked at level 22)
M93 Raffica (unlocked at level 38)
TMP (unlocked at level 58)

Shotguns
SPAS-12 (unlocked at start)
AA-12 (unlocked at level 18)
Striker (unlocked at level 34)
Ranger (unlocked at level 42)
M1014 (unlocked at level 54)
Model 1887 (unlocked at level 67)

Handguns
USP .45 (unlocked at start)
.44 Magnum (unlocked at level 26)
M9 (unlocked at level 46)
Desert Eagle (unlocked at level 62)

Launchers
AT4-HS (unlocked at start)
Thumper x 2 (unlocked at level 14)
Stinger (unlocked at level 30)
Javelin (unlocked at level 50)
RPG-7 x 2 (unlocked at level 65)

3. Class Specific Customization: Equipment
Frag (unlocked at start)
Semtex (unlocked at start)
Throwing Knife (unlocked at level 7)
Tactical Insertion (unlocked at level 11)
Blast Shield (unlocked at level 19)
Claymore (unlocked at level 31)
C4 (unlocked at level 43)

4. Class Specific Customization: Special Grenade
Flash Grenade x 2 (unlocked at start)
Stun Grenade x 2 (unlocked at start)
Smoke Grenade x 1 (unlocked at start)

5. Class Specific Customization: Perks
In Modern Warfare 2, Perks are handled a little bit differently than in the first game since there are now PRO versions of basically every Perk. You can unlock these PRO versions once you rack up enough kills while using the perk. It replaces the regular version of the Perk and still gives you the regular version’s benefit but also gives you the additional PRO benefit as well. There are three Perk slots, and you can only choose one from each grouping for that particular Perk slot. For example, you can’t choose a Perk Slot 1 perk to occupy your Slot 2 or 3 – it has to stay in 1 so you can only have 1 Perk 1 Slot active at a time.

When you customize your class, you will have the following options for each of the three perk slots (with some only unlocking once you reach a higher level):

Perk Slot 1
Marathon – Unlimited Sprint (unlocked at start)
PRO Marathon – Mantle faster (unlocked by completing perk specific challenge)

Sleight of Hand – Faster Reloading (unlocked at start)
PRO Sleight of Hand – Faster Aim-Down-Sight (unlocked by completing perk specific challenge)

Scavenger – Full resupply from dead bodies (unlocked at Level 13)
PRO Scavenger – Extra Mags (unlocked by completing perk specific challenge)

Bling – 2 primary weapon attachments (unlocked at Level 21)
PRO Bling – 2 secondary weapon attachments (unlocked by completing perk specific challenge)

One Man Army – Swap classes while alive (unlocked at Level 45)
PRO One Man Army – Swap classes faster (unlocked by completing perk specific challenge)

Perk Slot 2
Stopping Power – Increased Bullet Damage (unlocked at start)
PRO Stopping Power – Increased Bullet Damage to Vehicles (Killstreaks) (unlocked by completing perk specific challenge)

Lightweight – Move Faster (unlocked at start)
PRO Lightweight – Faster knife speed (unlocked by completing perk specific challenge)

Hardline – Killstreaks require 1 less kill (unlocked at Level 9)
PRO Hardline – Deathstreaks require 1 less death (unlocked by completing perk specific challenge)

Cold-Blooded – Undetectable by UAV, air support, sentries, and thermal (unlocked at Level 25)
PRO Cold-Blooded – No red name or crosshair when targeted (unlocked by completing perk specific challenge)

Danger Close – Increases explosive weapons damage (unlocked at Level 33)
PRO Danger Close – Extra air support damage (unlocked by completing perk specific challenge)

Perk Slot 3
Commando – Increased Melee Distance (unlocked at start)
PRO Commando – No falling damage (unlocked by completing perk specific challenge)

Steady Aim – Increased hip-fire accuracy (unlocked at start)
PRO Stead Aim – Hold your breath longer (unlocked by completing perk specific challenge)

Scrambler – Scrambles (Jams) the enemy radar in a small radius (unlocked at Level 17)
PRO Scrambler – Delays the explosion of enemy claymores (unlocked by completing perk specific challenge)

Ninja – Invisible to heartbeat sensors (unlocked at Level 29)
PRO Ninja – Move silently (unlocked by completing perk specific challenge)

SitRep – Detect enemy explosives and tactical insertions (unlocked at Level 37)
PRO SitRep – Make enemy footsteps louder (unlocked by completing perk specific challenge)

Last Stand – Go Down and use a pistol before dying (unlocked at Level 41)
PRO Last Stand – Use your equipment in last stand (unlocked by completing perk specific challenge)

6. Class Specific Customization: Deathstreaks
Deathstreaks are new to Modern Warfare 2, and are the opposite of killstreaks. If you die several times in a row without killing anyone, you are now awarded with a deathstreak reward to help you back on your feet. The deathstreak reward is a slot you can customize in your class, picking from one of the four below:

Copycat – copy the loadout of the enemy that killed you on your fourth death. (unlocked at start)

Painkiller – Triple health for ten seconds after respawn (unlocked at Level 6)

Martyrdom – Drop a live grenade (unlocked at Level 27)

Final Stand – Last Stand, but you will be able to use your primary weapon and fully recover after a set amount of time without being shot again. (unlocked at Level 39)

III. c. Weapon Specific Customizations

Finally, there are weapon specific customizations like accessories and camo color that you can set up a specific weapon for any class type, but don’t necessarily carry over to another class. These specific customizations are still more attributes of a particular class you’ve created, but I’ve broken them out into their own section to keep the class specific customizations a little bit less overwhelming. An example of what I basically meant is: you can use one weapon in a certain class you’ve created and give it a red dot sight and arctic camo, but in a different class you’ve created you can use the same weapon but this time outfit it with a silencer and woodland camo.

These weapon specific customizations are all unlocked based on how effective you are in killing enemies with the particular weapon. Some accessory unlocks require you to kill enough enemies with a different accessory first, so make sure when you go to the weapon accessory customizations, if you’re interested in any you look to see what its pre-requisite accessory is.

Also, the Bling Perk allows you to attach two unlocked attachment to your primary weapon, and Bling PRO allows you to attach two unlocked attachments to your secondary weapon.

1. Weapon Specific Customization: Attachment
Red Dot Sight
Holographic Weapon Sight
ACOG Sight
Thermal Scope
Suppressor
Grenade Launcher
Heartbeat Sensor
Shotgun
Extended Magazine
Full Metal Jacket
Sniper Scope
Akimbo
Rapid Fire
Foregrip
Tactical Knife

2. Weapon Specific Customization: Camo Color
Desert
Arctic
Woodland
Digital
Urban
Blue Tiger
Red Tiger
Fall

IV. My Specific Tips for New Players

So now that you have the basics and understand how to play Modern Warfare 2, here are some game specific tips I can think of off the top of my head:

1. Learn from Mercenary Team Deathmatch
Mercenary Team Deathmatch is like Team Deathmatch, but it does not allow for parties. This means no one in the game knows each other, and therefore you will not be at a major tactical disadvantage. Call of Duty matchmaking tries to autobalance teams based on skill between each round, so the best players do not end up on the same team together. This means, if you were still the worst person in the game, you the second worst person would be put on the other team, and it would basically alternate with every single player. If you play just regular Team Deathmatch, which allows for parties, the auto-balancing algorithm will not break up parties. Thus, if you end up going against a team of six clan members that are ridiculously good, you will still face them the next round as well because they will not be broken up. Mercenary Team Deathmatch always has teams fully rebalanced between rounds, always providing you with at least a couple good players on your team so you can see how they play.

2. Improving Your Kill to Death Ratio
In Team Deathmatch, it’s not about any sort of objectives. Whichever team reaches the score of 7500 first wins the game. Each kill is 100 points, and serve as the primary way to increase your team’s score. A kill to death ratio is the number of kills you made in the game versus the number of times you died. You ideally want a ratio of 1 or more, which means you will have killed more times than died in the match. If your deathcount is higher, than it means the other team got more points off your deaths than you were able to get points for your team – making you more of a liability than an asset. There’s also no respawn timer as well, so you can quickly jump back into battle if you want. Fight the urge to do so and calm down if you keep dying. It’s easy to get killed over and over if you just respawn and want to jump back into the fray. Reorganize your thoughts and try to decide on a new, more effective strategy.

In order to raise your kill to death ratio, you have to kill more and die less. The most obvious way to do so is to just become a better FPS player. That means increasing your reflexes, accuracy, reaction time, etc. so that when you encounter an opponent, you kill him first. It’s not really any different than those “cowboy” shootouts that relied on their speed of the draw. You want to be the one left standing whenever you encounter an opponent.

Fortunately, if you don’t have what it takes to have the skills and reactions of a pro-gamer, a more realistic solution to simply being able to play better is to play smarter. This means, you don’t want to engage other players in a straight up “duel” where you’re both attacking each other. There are no rules that prevent you from using your environment to gain an advantage and score the kill quickly. There are also no rules for shooting an enemy in the back. Nor are rules for you to score kills through stealthy means. Think about opportunistic ways to get kills, rather than a straight up 1 on1 dance to the death. Force the enemy to fight on your terms. And remember, crouching and laying prone also make you a more difficult target to hit.

3. A High Kill to Death Ratio is Often a Result of Killstreak Rewards
If you’re marveling at how people are going 20-2 or something while you’re barely making it even, it can often be due to killstreak rewards. The player can get a couple of kills, call down a UAV, learn where the enemies are, and hunt a few more down to unlock more killstreak rewards. Suddenly he’s calling in a chopper or a harrier or throwing down turrets and wiping out the entire team. On average, calling in a chopper or a harrier will net you five free kills or so where you don’t have to do anything at all. Thus, it is imperative to maintain your killstreaks and get a lucky package or to simply get momentum and get yourself the higher end killstreak rewards. Don’t be discouraged thinking you have to go kill 20 players yourself. Play smarter not harder!

4. The Key to Leveling Quickly is Completing the Challenges
There’s practically a challenge for everything in the game, each netting experience points rewards for completing them. Killing 10 enemies with a particular weapon. Killing 25 enemies while crouched. Blowing up a car. Killing 10 enemies with grenades. And so on. There are challenges specific to basically every weapon in the game, so ideally, a good way to level up is to complete all challenges for a particular weapon, and then move on to another weapon to primarily use. Once you’ve completed all of the challenges for that weapon, you move on to the next. This should maximize the amount of bonus experience you are earning, but keep in mind that if you are struggling with a particular weapon, it may not be worth it to stick with it complete the challenges. Because if you’re not able to kill very effectively with the weapon, you’ll not only hurt your team but it may be faster to simply net kills with your best weapon fully accessorized and no challenges left to unlock than a new weapon that is completely bare.

5. If You Are New to a Map, Stick With a Group
Modern Warfare 2 online isn’t an open world for you to explore – there are several other players out there trying to kill you. If you wander by yourself and don’t know a map at all, be prepared to be shot down in cold blood from an enemy in an advantageous position. Stick with the pack, so if you come upon the enemy, you have backup and while you may get as many kills, odds are you will survive much longer. Once you are confident in how the map works, then take the initiative to play your own way.

6. If the Enemy Launches a UAV, Stick With a Group
Similar to the previous tip, if the enemy launches a UAV and you don’t have a perk that blocks it, that means the enemy will know exactly where you are. If you are alone, chances are you will get killed. Sticking with a group increases your survival because with several teammates around you, even if the enemy knows where you are, they will most likely not be able to kill all of you. When the enemy launches a UAV, you want to consider moving into defensive mode because they will be hunting you – a whole team in a fortified position against enemies that know where they are helps even the odds.

7. Use the Kill Cam to See How You Got Killed
When you die, it’s easy to quickly hit the respawn button and get right back into the action. But sometimes it’s worth seeing how you were killed to learn more about the surroundings you were in. For example, if you’re sniped as you crouch and walk across a building window, now you know that even if you’re ducking and trying to cross, you can get sniped there. Useful in the future to not do it again, but also useful if you want to snipe newbies at that location as well.

8. Stealth vs Non-stealth
It’s possible to equip perks and accessories in such a way that you never show up on the enemy radar. Equipping a Suppressor on your weapon means whenever you shoot, you won’t show up on the radar. Equipping the Cold Blooded Perk in Perk Slot 2 means enemy UAVs and Thermal will not be able to detect you. Equipping the Ninja Perk in Perk Slot 3 means enemy heartbeat sensors will not be able to detect you either. All of these are balanced by reducing your engagement range, damage, accuracy, etc. but it is still a viable strategy. I recommend keeping a stealth build if you go up against a dominating team that constantly has a UAV up.

9. Chainguns and Sentry Guns
Returning with the sequel are manned chainguns, but new to this game are deployable sentry guns. Both have very powerful rounds and have some ridiculously accurate range. Try to avoid engaging them from the front as much as possible. If you find a chaingun you can use, consider it because the moment you shoot in the direction of any opponent, he’ll most likely be dead. When manning a chaingun, remember that it needs to be spun up first before you can fire, so make sure you’ve got it ready to shoot for when the time comes.

Deployable sentry guns are new to Modern Warfare 2, and are quite deadly. When placing them, try to place them so their back is against a wall because they can easily be disabled with one knife from the back. Engaging from the front should only be done with a riot shield or the Cold Blooded Perk (the turret will not detect you if you have the Cold Blooded Perk active).

10. How to Deal with Riot Shields
If you come across an opponent with a riot shield, you will have a very difficult time killing him by firing at him. While it is possible to shoot his feet, the better tactic would be to either use explosives (grenades, etc.) from the front or to take advantage of the shield holder’s reduced vision. Strafing around him to shoot at his side works, or even running up to him to get the melee knife kill on the side works as well.

11. Use the Melee Knife Whenever You Can
If you melee anyone from any direction, you will automatically get the kill. The melee is even further enhanced with the Commando Perk, which increases your melee range. Melee kills do not give away your position on the radar, and are far more accurate than trying to shoot an opponent that is circling around you.

12. What is the Care Package Killstreak Reward?
This is automatically assigned to you as a 4-kill Killstreak Reward, and I highly suggest you keep it. When you use it, you throw a grenade with red smoke down to indicate a location for a friendly helicopter to drop a package. In this package contains a random killstreak reward or ammo. Once in a while you’ll be unlucky and get just ammo or a UAV, but more often than not you will get one of the better killstreak rewards. There’s only two or three bad ones, but about ten good ones so the odds are definitely in your favor that you’ll get something good.

Be mindful though that the enemy can see where the package has been dropped on the map, and come get it themselves so you want to go to an outdoor corner or isolated area to signal for the drop. Also, your team members can “steal” the item as well for themselves, so when it drops you want to secure it for yourself as soon as possible. Most of the time, allies will not “steal” it from you since they know they didn’t rightfully call it down, but just be careful.

Try to drop the flare in an open area, and not close to the edge of a map or near an area where there’s an overhang or an unreachable area. That’s because these boxes are being dropped above, but there isn’t pinpoint accuracy so it is very possible that they can get stuck and you’ll lose the package completely. Always look up first before you throw down the package signal to ensure that it will not get caught on anything. You can be killed by your own package as well if you are in the way when it drops. Stay nearby, and use caution. If you have the package dropping at the edge of the map, the package can do some crazy things where it will force itself back into the map, but it can kill you while doing so as the physics behind the package change completely when it falls and is outside the map (I got killed by my own package when it suddenly launched itself at me because it had not landed inside the map).

You can also steal enemy packages as well once they have landed, but stealing an enemy package takes significantly longer than opening your own. Therefore, some players will actually set up traps where they call down a package and wait a bit far away so enemy players come try to take the package, giving the trap setter easy targets. When you see an enemy package sitting there by itself, think twice before trying to open it!

13. The Hardline Perk Allows For More Killstreak Rewards
Hardline allows all killstreak rewards to be earned at one less kill. While it doesn’t affect the higher end killstreak rewards (that take 7+ kills) as much since you still need a lot of kills anyway, it significantly affects the lower end killstreak rewards. Instead of getting a UAV at 3 kills and a package at 4 kills, you’re now getting a UAV at 2 kills and a package at 3 kills. Not only will you have the UAV going a lot more often, but you’ll have access to potentially much deadlier killstreak rewards sooner. When you hit level 9, go for it!

14. The Red Dot Sight Attachment is Unlocked at 25 kills
If you are a mid-range player, a red dot sight is vital for your assault rifle. Pick an assault rifle and stick with it until you can get 25 kills and get the sight, making your mid-range game more effective. Remember to equip it though once you’ve unlocked it!

15. The Suppressor Attachment is Unlocked at 75 kills
If you stick with a weapon long enough and get 75 kills, you’ll unlock a silencer for it. The silencer allows you to fire shots without showing up on the radar, but at the same time, reduces your accuracy. It is useful for a more stealth-oriented build.

16. SMG + the Steady Aim Perk
The Steady Aim Perk allows for “increased hip-fire accuracy”. What this means is, you can actually run and gun with SMGs more accurately now because your target area is smaller when you just shoot with the right trigger. With assault rifles, you should be hitting L first to aim down the sight because if you’re “hip-firing” without using the sight, your attack area will be huge and you will most likely not get the kill. But for an SMG, you’ll be closer to an opponent and you want to quickly shoot them without relying on aiming down the sight. Steady Aim helps you out in this aspect, and I highly recommend it for run and gun players.

17. The Accuracy Attribute
Every gun has an Accuracy attribute associated with it. However, accuracy in Modern Warfare 2 isn’t what you’d intuitively think. Accuracy in this game is all about damage penalty. (I don’t know the exact formula for it, so don’t take my numbers literally. I’m just making them up for the point of explaining this penalty.) If you have an assault rifle that has an accuracy of 75 (and say 100 is the full bar on the rating), assume it means you can shoot up to 75 feet in front of you and still do 100% damage to anything up to that range. Even if you aimed using the red dot sight and hit someone 100 feet away, anything over the “accuracy range” for the gun gets reduced damage with more and more of a penalty the further away you are.

One example of this is a SCAR-H with a red dot sight versus a SCAR-H with a red dot sight and suppressor equipped. Say the SCAR-H has a 75 accuracy rating, allowing you to shoot up to 75 feet without a damage penalty. If you switched to a class that had a SCAR-H equipped with a red dot sight and a suppressor (using the Bling perk), the suppressor reduces the accuracy by about 25, meaning you now have a range of 50 feet without a damage penalty. Even though you can still see and fire upon someone at 75 feet just like you did without the suppressor, you will be doing less damage.

18. The Enemy UAV Can Be Shot Down
If anyone on your team or any of your class builds has the AT4 launcher equipped as a secondary weapon, it’s actually heat seeking and will destroy the enemy UAV if you can get a lock on it. The UAV is a plane but it’s flying really high up so you won’t see it unless you really look for it in the open sky. Next time you hear that the enemy UAV is up, lock onto it and shoot it down!

19. Enemy Aircraft Can Easily Be Shot Down
In Call of Duty 4, it was possible to shoot down an enemy helicopter (the 7 kill killstreak reward) but without any sort of autolocking feature, it was quite difficult. Such is not the case in Modern Warfare 2. Your starting rocket launcher can lock into an enemy chopper, harrier, and even the AC-130. It’s quite satisfying to hear that the enemy calls in a harrier and you shoot it down immediately. The AC-130 deploys flares as counter-measures, but if you can use the Stinger (unlocked at level 30), you get two rounds. Firing one right after another at the AC-130 gets the AC-130 to deploy counter-measures first, but the second one will take it down.

When deciding between calling in a harrier strike or a chopper, the difference is that the harrier strike has a mini airstrike first – and the third harrier stays stationary in the middle of the map to shoot down any enemies running around. With it floating stationary in the air, it’s an easy target for rocket launchers. When the chopper is called in, it will fly around the map and shoot down enemy targets, making it harder to hit since it’s on the move.

20. The Differences Between the Primary Weapon Types
Let me quickly make a mention of the four primary weapon types. The Assault Rifle relies on aiming down the sight or using some sort of sight or scope to be most effective. That also means you cannot really move much when you want to fire it. The SMG has a higher fire rate so you have to reload a lot quicker, but usually you should be a lot closer to an opponent and should always be able to take out an assault rifle holder at short range. While you can generally “fire from the hip” without aiming down the sight for your SMG, the assault rifle holder will have to aim down the sight to be accurate enough to shoot you.

The light machine gun functions similar to an assault rifle, but has a lot more rounds, more reloading time, but reduced accuracy (it has a high recoil) and it reduces your speed. You can’t fire from the hip like an SMG, so you have to rely on aiming down the sight with it in order to be effective. But at the same time, you won’t have the same range as an assault rifle holder – meaning the use of an LMG is most effective somewhere between short to mid range (basically in between an SMG and assault rifle).

The Sniper Rifle is what you would expect – high damage, but only accurate when aiming with the scope and from a very far away distance.

21. Newbie-Friendly Class Builds
This isn’t an exhaustive list – you may feel a different combination of Perks suits your playstyle better and I totally encourage sticking with what works for you. But in case you’re just trying to get started, check these out for some guidance.

Level 5-9 Assault Rifle build
Primary Weapon: M4A1 or FAMAS (FAMAS is a 3 round burst whereas the M4A1 is fully automatic)
Perk 1: Sleight of Hand (faster reloading)
Perk 2: Stopping Power (increased damage)
Perk 3: Commando (increased melee distance)

This is a fine starting assault rifle build that allows you to be effective with increased damage, faster reloading, and for short range engagements, your melee knife is more effective.

Level 5-9 Sub-Machine Gun build 1
Primary Weapon: MP5K or UMP45
Perk 1: Sleight of Hand (faster reloading)
Perk 2: Stopping Power (increased damage)
Perk 3: Steady Aim (increased accuracy without having to aim down the sights)

This SMG build is the typical starting one that allows you to play “run and gun” style since steady aim allows you to just fire upon any enemy within short range without having to aim down the sights. Sleight of Hand is very useful for SMG holders since they run out of ammo quickly and Stopping Power means less bullets needed to make the kill

Level 5-9 Sub-Machine Gun build 2
Primary Weapon: MP5K or UMP45
Perk 1: Marathon (unlimited sprint)
Perk 2: Lightweight (move faster)
Perk 3: Steady Aim (increased accuracy without having to aim down the sights)

This SMG build is somewhat of a variant of the first one, where you trade in extra damage for increased mobility. With the combination of Perk 1 and 2 active, you will be the fastest player on the map if you want to take a “rush the enemy” down style approach. As soon as an enemy fires a shot or your UAV goes up and you see the red dot(s) show up on your radar, you’re on the move for the next kill.

Level 5-9 Light Machine Gun build 1
Primary Weapon: L86 LSW or RPD
Perk 1: Sleight of Hand (faster reloading)
Perk 2: Stopping Power (increased damage)
Perk 3: Commando (increased melee distance)

Level 5-9 Light Machine Gun build 2
Primary Weapon: L86 LSW or RPD
Perk 1: Marathon (unlimited sprint)
Perk 2: Lightweight (move faster)
Perk 3: Commando (increased melee distance)

Since the LMG weapon sits in between the assault rifle and SMG, you’re fine with taking a build from either class. In the first build, you are still sort of a “planter” where you want to set up your machine gun and fire at medium range on approaching enemies with your increased damage bullets. The second build reduces your damage and reloading to allow you to move faster. If you’re holding a light machine gun, you will be moving slower than any other primary weapon holder, so Marathon and Lightweight allow you to at least be a bit more mobile.

Level 5-9 Sniper Rifle build 1
Primary Weapon: Intervention or Barret .50cal
Perk 1: Sleight of Hand (faster reloading)
Perk 2: Stopping Power (increased damage)
Perk 3: Steady Aim PRO (hold your breath longer)

This is an ideal build for a sniper because the faster reloading and increased damage are key with a rifle that only has a few bullets in a cartridge. You want that one shot to be a kill shot, so Stopping Power helps you get there, and Sleight of Hand is there in case you miss. The third Perk slot is great if you can upgrade Steady Aim to Steady Aim PRO, which allows you to hold your breath longer when sniping. What this means is that when you aim down a sniper rifle with a scope, your view is all shaky but if you hold your breath, you will be able to have no shakiness for a few seconds. Even longer breath is obviously better. But keep in mind that in order to unlock Steady Aim PRO, you have to get kills through the use of the Steady Aim perk, which is basically only effective with the SMG.

The Other Slots
Secondary Weapon is up to you – pistol, shotgun, or launcher. I prefer the launcher myself, since I like shooting down enemy UAVs, helicopters, and harriers. Equipment – frag grenade is tried and true or the new sticky grenade isn’t bad either. And the secondary grenade type is also up to you – whether you prefer a flashbang or smoke grenade. Deathstreak – ideally, you shouldn’t be relying on them too much but I think the one that gives you extra health is the best one at an early level. Several times now I’ve fired upon people that have that deathstreak active and fail to get the kill that I would otherwise get.

Key levels: 8, 9, 13, and 21
Level 8 is only key for assault rifle players: the SCAR assault rifle is unlocked at that time, and while it runs out of ammo faster than the M4A1, it has increased damage, making it a favorite among assault rifle users.

At level 9, you unlock the Hardline Perk for Perk Slot 2, allowing your killstreaks rewards to require 1 less kill. It’s up to you if you want to replace Stopping Power (increased damage) or Lightweight (move faster) in the hopes that you score more killstreak rewards. I would suggest it, but you will have reduced damage.

At level 13, the Scavenger Perk unlocks for Perk Slot 1, allowing you to fully resupply your ammo when you run over dead bodies. If you stay alive for lengthy periods of time, you will definitely run out of ammo so consider this perk over faster reloading or unlimited sprint when the time comes.

And finally, at Level 21, you unlock Bling for the 1st Perk slot. While you are only able to use one attachment for each primary weapon (such as a red dot sight, a grenade launcher, a suppressor, etc.), Bling allows you to attach two. It’s a big deal to be able to use both a red dot sight and a suppressor, so consider that too once you hit 21.

Parting Thoughts
Whew, that’s all I got for now but I will hopefully be able to update this entry as I come up with more as time goes on. Good luck, and please don’t hesitate to share any tips of your own!

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