COD5 Perks

Are you addicted to Call of Duty 5 and want some tips to maximize your game play. Here are tips on what perks to use on COD5. They are my own personal opinions but having completed the game in Prestige Mode, these are what I found to work best for me.

Perk 1 - Bandolier Best?
Bandolier
This is a must with any fully automatic weapon. An exception to this rule is the M1A1 carbine, simply because the gun has low recoil and a high magazine capacity which would make you want to squeeze off more rounds than you should.

Why the bandolier? Let’s see, an additional 100 or so rounds of ammo. In hard core mode, 1-2 rounds can kill a person so you’ll have the potential to kill 100 people. You can’t come close to that with any other perk. Nothing is worse than running out of ammo on your 6th kill only to be killed because you ran out of ammo, which is why you would want the bandolier. Also, what is the main cause of death in Call of Duty? Guns and bullets!

Satchel Charges
These rule for tank killing. Aim for the rear armor. I find the satchel charges to be much more effective and stronger than rockets. The only downside is that you must be within throwing distance of the tank. However, firing a rocket gives away your position so it evens out. Satchel Charges can also be good for clearing out rooms or what not, but use them sparingly since you’ll probably get shot while trying to plant the charge.

Bouncing Betty
ONLY if you’re sniping. ONLY! I see no other reason to use Bouncing Betties with any other class because you are supposed to be on the move. They are very time consuming to set up - if you are palying Headquarters your are most likely to get shot whilst placing a bouncing betty. A sniper usually camps, gets a few kills, then moves - all by himself. Bouncing Betties are all a sniper can rely on for detection and support.


Perk 2 - Use Stopping Power?

Stopping Power
I’ve though long and hard about this and I’ve come to the conclusion that Stopping Power should be the only Perk used in the Perk 2 slot for a variety of reasons.

1. Weapon damage is increased. This is especially important when playing in hard core mode. Stopping Power will shave off 1-2 rounds needed to kill a person depending on the gun. Those 1-2 rounds make a huge difference. Even with bolt action rifles, I still use Stopping Power because it almost guarantees a one hit kill. Without Stopping Power, it may take two shots to bring someone down with a bolt action rifle, which leaves you open to be shot while cycling the next round. Rifles like the M1A1 and M1 take 1-2 shots to kill a person with stopping power, depending on the distance and impact point. They are usually one hit kills, but occasionally you’ll have to hit twice. If you didn’t have Stopping Power, you’ll find yourself needing two hits to kill more often than one hit to kill. In the middle of a fast paced firefight, where both of you are getting hit by each other, a one hit difference does make a difference.

2. Duration of the perk; Stopping Power is active the entire game and is utilized in every round you fire. Perks like “Gas Mask” are only activated when there is Tabun gas in the vicinity. Sleight of hand is only active when you reload. Camouflage is only active when there’s an enemy recon plane. So on and so forth with the rest of the perks in Perk 2. Simple mathematics and logic should tell you that you are firing your weapon more than any other action in the game (besides movement).

3. Stopping power cancels out Juggernaut. Since we’re talking hard core mode, Juggernaut is useless and adds little health. It still takes almost equal amounts of hits to bring someone down with Juggernaut. There have been plenty of times where I’ve killed someone using Juggernaut with 1-2 hits from the M1A1. “The best defense is a good offense.” Stronger bullets or stronger armor? Since you’re supposed to be on the offense, stronger bullets of course. Stronger bullets = faster killing = more killing = more points on the board.


Perk 3 - Stead Aim Best?

Deep Impact
Makes most types of cover non-existent. Use this perk on any non-submachine gun. SMG rounds do not penetrate as well as rifle rounds and they also don’t deal as much damage when passing through a wall, so don’t waste this perk on SMGs. Instead, use Deep Impact with rifles and machine guns. Deep Impact allows the bullet to deal more damage (than it would without Deep Impact) after it has passed through a wall. Once you start to get more experienced, you’ll have no problem “walling” or “ghosting” people (shooting through walls).

Plus, in Call of Duty 5, if you leave your crosshairs over the enemy for a split second, their name will appear in red over their head. Even if they move behind cover, you will still see their name through the wall, which tells you exactly where to shoot. You can also make accurate predictions of enemy positions using a recon plane. If you see that someone is in a building, fire off a few rounds into their suspected hiding place. Then, if you see the “x” hit mark, keep firing until they die. Deep Impact comes in handy way more than you’d think!

Steady Aim
Makes hip firing more accurate. Personally, I only use this perk with submachine guns and submachine guns only get used in small maps. Small maps means close vicinities, which is where Steady Aim soars. You practically never have to aim at anybody within ~20ft. Steady Aim gives running and gunning its name. Not having to bring the weapon up to your shoulder and aim shaves off at least 1/2 second, an eternity in FPS games. This gives you the upper hand into getting the first shot off, which greatly raises your probabilities of scoring the first hit. Scoring the first hit means they either die or get hit and become slightly disoriented, which still gives you the upper hand. Pair this with a PPSh and you have a mean combo.


Perk 3 Honorable Mentions

Second Chance
Suffers the same flaw as many of the other perks which were not mentioned; the duration of the perk is too short. This perk is only active when you’re supposed to be dead. Isn’t the point of the game NOT to die and get as many kills as possible? In Call of Duty 5, they also added the ability to revive teammates. But seriously, how often to you see a downed teammate?

Most experienced players do not fall for Second Chance and will release a few extra shots after you’ve “died” just to make sure. Plus it is extremely easy to tell if someone has Second Chance equipped because they tend to soak up more rounds than normal before they drop down to the ground with their pistol.

Iron Lungs
This perk was more important in Call of Duty 4, but I believe that it holds little value in World at War. This is because Call of Duty 5 introduced sniper rifles with iron sights. Iron sights are far superior than scopes and have benefits such as no need to steady rifle, which leads to different advantages like faster follow up shots.

Although scoped rifles do more damage than their iron sight counterparts, it still only takes one shot from an iron sight bolt action rifle with Stopping Power to kill a person in hard core mode. Why go through the trouble of using a scope and wasting a perk when iron sights will do just fine? Although iron sights are difficult to use, they are every bit as accurate as scopes. The only exception I would make to this rule is when playing on Seelow since the map is huge and picking out enemies can be difficult. But even still, with good eyes, iron sights are manageable.

Perk 4 - Tanks

Ordinance Training
Faster turret reloads means more tank shells down range. More tank shells means a higher probability of killing an enemy. Killing enemies wins the game. The coaxial machine gun is OK at best because the MG is in a fixed, forward firing position making it awkward to use at times.

We are looking for perks to directly aid us in killing the enemy; moving faster (Leadfoot) or turning the turret faster (Greased Bearings) does not accomplish this. Water Cooler is useless because who is stupid enough to get on a tank machine gun? Anybody manning the machine gun on a tank is an easy, instant target with little mobility.


Well, that about sums it up. If any body has any questions, comments, or rebuttals, I’d be happy to hear and address them. Stay tuned for more Call of Duty 5 strategy posts in the future!