The best perks in Modern Warfare 2
These are the best Basic, Bonus, and Ultimate perks available in Modern Warfare 2
Which are the best perks in Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2? Perks may not be as immediately important as weapons as part of a Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 loadout, but they're not to be underestimated. You can take 4 out of the 20 Perks on offer in Modern Warfare 2 into each match, and they all offer something unique and valuable that can help you stay alive and reach the top of the scoreboard.
Perks in Modern Warfare 2 are divided into three slots or categories: Basic, Bonus, and Ultimate. We'll go over our recommendations for each of these slots below, along with our opinions on the overall best perks in Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
Many of the perks in Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will be familiar to players of previous COD games, but there is a key difference in how perks work this time around. In MW2, players choose two Basic Perks, and then their Bonus and Ultimate perks are unlocked 4 and 8 minutes into each match respectively.
You start the game with every perk already unlocked, so you won't need to level up fast in order to use them - unlike, say, Killstreaks, many of which are locked until you reach a certain level.
What are the best perks in Modern Warfare 2?
Here are the best Modern Warfare 2 perks to choose for most loadouts:
- Overkill
- Double Time
- Fast Hands (Bonus)
- Quick Fix (Ultimate)
This perk setup will offer players a great deal of survivability and situational awareness, in addition to the ever-useful benefit of two primary weapons. But these aren't the only useful perks in Modern Warfare 2. Below we'll walk you through the other perks in the game, and which are the best options for each perk slot.
Best Modern Warfare 2 perks: Basic slot
You can pick 2 out of the 8 Basic Perks on offer in Modern Warfare 2. In our opinion, the best Basic Perks are Overkill, Double Time, and Battle Hardened.
Overkill has been a staple of Call Of Duty loadouts for years: the ability to carry two primary weapons is extremely powerful because it allows you to create much more balanced loadouts for fighting at various ranges. The extra mobility granted by Double Time is very useful in Modern Warfare 2's particularly fast-paced matches, and Battle Hardened is ideal for countering the ever-present onslaught of stun and flash grenades.
Best Modern Warfare 2 perks: Bonus slot
Your bonus perk is unlocked 4 minutes into each match. There are 6 to choose from, but our favourite Bonus Perks are Fast Hands and Cold-Blooded.
Fast Hands ups your handling speeds considerably, allowing you to reload, switch weapons, and use equipment faster. This is all extremely useful stuff for pretty much any combat situation. Cold-Blooded, meanwhile, is valuable for keeping you off the enemy's radar, and helping you to avoid enemy killstreak attacks.
Best Modern Warfare 2 perks: Ultimate slot
Your Ultimate Perk in Modern Warfare 2 is unlocked 8 minutes into a match, so you don't see its effects as often as the other perks in your toolkit. The best Ultimate Perks to pick right now are Quick Fix, Bird's Eye, and Ghost.
Quick Fix is a fantastic survivability perk which suits the fast pace of MW2's matches, giving you instant health regen upon killing enemies. Bird's Eye zooms out your minimap and brings back enemy red dot pings on the map, which is enormously useful for situational awareness. Ghost is the antithesis of Bird's Eye, rendering you invisible to UAVs and other forms of detection, which is fantastic for flank attacks and taking the enemy by surprise.
All Modern Warfare 2 perks list
Below is the full list of every perk in Modern Warfare 2, and what each one does:
| Perk | Slot | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Overkill | Basic | Carry two primary weapons. |
| Double Time | Basic | Double the duration of Tactical Sprint. Increases crouch movement speed by 30%. |
| Battle Hardened | Basic | Reduce the effect of enemy Flash, Stun, EMP, Gas Grenades, and Shock Sticks. Immune to Snapshot Grenades. |
| Scavenger | Basic | Resupply ammo and throwing knives from dead players. |
| Bomb Squad | Basic | Take reduced damage from non-Killstreak explosives. Reset fuze timers when picking up live grenades. |
| Tracker | Basic | Enemies leave behind a footprint trail, and enemy death markers are visible. Kill markers are hidden from the enemy team. |
| Strong Arm | Basic | See a preview of the trajectory for thrown equipment. |
| Extra Tactical | Basic | Spawn with one additional Tactical. |
| Resupply | Bonus | Spawn with an additional Lethal. Equipment recharges over 25 seconds. |
| Spotter | Bonus | Spot enemy equipment, Field Upgrades, and Killstreaks through walls. Aiming down sights highlights them for the team. Hack enemy Claymores, Proximity Mines, C4, and Trophy Systems. |
| Cold-Blooded | Bonus | Undetectable by AI targeting systems, and thermal optics. Does not trigger High Alert warning. Does not highlight in enemy Tactical Cameras, Recon Drones, and Spotter Scopes. |
| Fast Hands | Bonus | Reload, use equipment, and swap weapons faster. |
| Hardline | Bonus | Reduce Killstreak cost by one (1) kill. Reduce Scorestreak cost by 125. |
| Focus | Bonus | Reduce flinch when aiming down sights and extend Hold Breath duration. |
| High Alert | Ultimate | Vision pulses when spotted by an enemy player outside of view. |
| Ghost | Ultimate | Undetectable by UAVs, Portable Radars, and Heartbeat Sensors. |
| Quick Fix | Ultimate | Killing players immediately triggers health regeneration. Capturing and holding objectives increases health regeneration rate. |
| Overclock | Ultimate | Store an additional Field Upgrade charge. Increase Field Upgrade charge rate by 40%. ON-EARN: Get a Field Upgrade Charge. |
| Survivor | Ultimate | On death, enter Last Stand with the ability to self-revive once per life. Teammates can revive downed players faster. |
| Bird's Eye | Ultimate | The minimap is zoomed out. UAV and Radar pings reveal the enemy's direction. ON-EARN: Ping enemies on the minimap. |
That wraps up this primer on the best Perks in Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Perks are, however, second to your choice of weaponry and equipment, so prepare for the mayhem with our list of the best guns in Modern Warfare 2. You can also check out our guides on the best Assault Rifle and best SMG in Modern Warfare 2, as well as more technical guides such as how to slide cancel in Modern Warfare 2.
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