Our series on the best weapons in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone has gone over each weapon type to present you the best of the best. Today, we close it all off with a view on the best pistols and equipment.
Besides the primary weapons in Call of Duty, you can choose a secondary weapon for each loadout. Five pistols, four launchers and a melee weapon are available for this purpose. We will neglect the knife here, since you can strike without a knife and it only really makes sense for the troll build with shield and knife. Launchers are used from time to time, but in our opinion, they only make halfway sense in Warzone or ground wars. When fighting other players, a pistol almost always performs better and killstreaks can be eliminated with primary weapons.
Pistols: A Handy Companion in Dire Times
Pistols are usually the last resort when you run out of ammunition for the primary weapon or you need to finish off an opponent quickly before reloading. Changing weapons is always faster than reloading. If you play it at the right distance, aim well and use the best attachments, a pistol can get you some kills.
For Warzone, we still recommend taking two primary weapons with you with the Overkill Perk because pistols are not suitable for longer distances.
3. The X16
Many people rate the X16 higher, but it only makes it to No. 3 on our list.
The X16 is available from the very beginning, providing a solid secondary weapon right from the start. It has a very high fire rate in exchange for low damage. Mobility and recoil control make it especially strong at short distances. The attachments should further develop those strengths and increase the range:
- Muzzle: Silencer (Monolith)
- Run: Singuard Arms Advantage
- Laser: tactical laser
- Trigger: Light trigger
- Handle: Patterned grip tape
These attachments maximize the range of the X16 and give it an extremely high rate of fire. The laser and grip also increase the speed of aiming and provide more stability. With this setup, you have a very good secondary weapon for close combat, but you can also take out enemies at medium distances with more hits. The high fire rate can compensate for a whiff or two in close combat.
2. The .50 GS
You probably think you have no idea what a .50 GS is, but you actually do – it’s a Desert Eagle and it impresses with its high damage. Once again, some might argue that the .50 GS should be higher, aka in first place, but the difficulty of handling this gun plays a part hence why we slid it down to No. 2.
The .50 GS is unlocked at Level 52 and, like all pistols, it offers good mobility. However, its big advantage over its competitors is the high damage. One shot to the head, two to the body get you a kill. Standard Desert Eagle stuff. However, the outrageous damage comes at a price – low fire rate and very high recoil. We recommend extending the range further and mitigating some of the weaknesses:
- Muzzle: Silencer (monolith)
- Run: FORGE TAC enforcer
- Trigger: Light trigger
- Handle: Patterned grip tape
- Extra: dexterity
Muzzle and the barrel increase the range and aim speed significantly. With the light trigger, we increase the rate of fire and the extra dexterity lets you reload faster. The .50 GS becomes a one-shot monster in close combat – provided you can aim well. Even at longer distances it can be played well thanks to its high damage potential. However, the high recoil requires some practice and the low rate of fire does allow for many misses, especially in close combat.
This makes the weapon a top choice for players with very good Aim, but for everyone else, we recommend one of the other two pistols.
1. The M19
The M19 makes it to our first place thanks to its versatility – it is a true all-rounder.
The M19 is unlocked at Level 37 and is most similar to the X16 in its stats, with an extremely high rate of fire, mobility and recoil control. However, it does a little more damage than the X16, which is why we rank it higher. The attachments should, as always, improve the range and fire rate:
- Muzzle: Silencer (monolith)
- Run: XRK L Super
- Laser: tactical laser
- Trigger: Light trigger
- Handle: Patterned grip tape
With these attachments, we increase the range and give the M19 a fire rate that can almost keep up with a submachine gun, provided you can click that fast. Aiming speed is increased again. With its good control, high rate of fire, and decent damage, this pistol is perfect for quick kills at short range and taking out already shot enemies when the primary weapon is empty.
Three body hits with this weapon kill an opponent in close combat – and these three shots are fired extremely fast. At a distance, the .50 GS performs much better, but that's not what secondary weapons are for, which is why it's rated as the second-best pistol in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.
Equipment: A Necessity for Survival
Two slots are available for equipment in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: the primary slot and the tactical slot. The primary slot contains all deadly gadgets, while the tactics slot provides non-lethal ones.
Primary Equipment
In the primary slot, you will find deadly grenades, mines, claymores and throwing knives.
The choice here depends on the game mode as well as your personal playing style. However, we recommend the ordinary Fragmentation Grenade or Semtex as the best all-rounder. The Fragmentation Grenade can be thrown further and bounces off surfaces, making it a good choice for being thrown into rooms or corridors from a safe position as a ricochet. Semtex, on the other hand, sticks to surfaces and enemies – so if you hit someone directly, they cannot run away.
If you prefer to play passively and want to secure your position or defend an objective, you can use a claymore or proximity mine. The former is placed and has a conical trigger radius to the front. It is suitable for securing doors or passages.
The mine, on the other hand, is placed on the ground and jumps into the air when an enemy approaches before exploding shortly afterward. The advantage is that it is often difficult to see in the heat of battle. However, due to the delayed explosion, it can happen from time to time that the enemy does not die. If you run fast enough, you can escape from the deadly explosion radius.
Tactical Equipment
In the tactical slot, there are glare, smoke and stun grenades, but also a heartbeat sensor, stim or the snapshot grenade.
Again, the choice depends on the playing style and mode. For the multiplayer, we recommend glare or stun grenade, or stim. Stun grenades have a similar effect: they impair the opponent's vision and movement, allowing you to surprise them or to enter rooms that have been abused by an opponent.
Stim allows the player to regenerate health more quickly and is particularly suitable for fast run-and-gun gameplay. Once you have been shot, it usually takes a while for health regeneration to kick in. Stim triggers it immediately, allowing you to sprint straight into the next fight without interruption.
As mentioned in our Loadouts article, Warzone is best suited for the Heartbeat Sensor, which reveals nearby enemies and gives you a big advantage.
This marks the end of our series on the best weapons in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. It has been a great ride and we hope all of this helped you understand CoD weaponry better. If you’re up for a re-run, you can start from the very beginning with our assault rifles list or just check out the full list below.
ALL TOP CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE WEAPON LISTS:
- Top Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Weapons: Shotguns
- Top Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Weapons: Assault Rifles
- Top Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Weapons: Sniper Rifles
- Top Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Weapons: Designated Marksman Rifles
- Top Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Weapons: Light Machine Guns
- Top Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Weapons: Submachine Guns
