Black Ops Weapons

In Call of Duty: Black Ops, players are able to set up to ten different classes, each of which can equip a primary and secondary weapon. In most situations, your primary Black Ops weapons are the ones that you will use to get most of your kills.

Different classes of weapons specialize in different things such as long-range combat, close-quarters fighting, and everything in between. As a result, a lot of your success in Call of Duty simply comes down to selecting the right Black Ops weapons on the right map!

Below, I will mention each of the primary classes of weapons and give their strengths and weaknesses. You will also find specific strategies for each gun added to this section over time, so check back regularly.

Classes of Black Ops Weapons

There are 5 different classes of primary weapons: 

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Submachine Guns – These are the lightest guns in the game. These guns emphasize mobility over power, have a high firing rate, and average range. Examples include the AK47U and the Skorpion.

Think of the submachine gun as the middle ground between an assault rifle and a shotgun. In a very tight room, the shotgun wins out, and across a long distance, submachine guns do not hold up to the power of an Assault Rifle.

The submachine gun wins out on everything in between, and is decent in close-quarters combat. The submachine gun is perfect for players who like to constantly run around the map who would be bored if they were standing in a single place.

Assault Rifles – Assault rifles are the most balanced weapon class in the game. These weapons perform very well from a distance and yet are still effective at a close range. They are also highly accurate and have good damage.

The major downside assault rifles is that these Black Ops weapons tend to have a lot of kickback, especially when you are on the move. Additionally, fighting against a submachine gun or shotgun in a small room can be very tough.

The Assault Rifle favors the accurate. As a result, it is the weapon class of choice for many of the best Black Ops players. If you can shoot accurately and aim quickly, the kickback is of little consequence as if your aim is good, it is very easy to get a headshot with an Assault Rifle, resulting in a 1-hit kill.

Shotguns – Shotguns are naturally best at close-quarters combat. I would rarely recommend starting out with a shotgun, however, these weapons do shine at very small maps like Nuketown. A shotgun in the backyard area or inside the building can be very dangerous.

Naturally, the major downside to the shotgun is that the range is very, very limited. Fortunately, you can get a lot of 1 and 2 shot kills without even aiming, and shooting from the hip (i.e. not aiming) is the primary mode of operation when using the shotgun.

I keep 1 shotgun class set-up but do not actively use it unless wind up in a match where the other team has many players camping in buildings. It is also a great anti-sniper weapon, because even when the person knows you are coming it is hard to out-power a shotgun when you are trapped in a room.

When playing with a shotgun, be sure to swap out your pistol or secondary weapon for a longer-ranged gun when you kill someone. It will make your life a lot easier. I also find the shotgun is good in FFA games, as you wind up with a lot more close-quarter fights as compared to Team Deathmatch play.

If you have ever seen a Zombie movie, you also know that shotguns are great versus zombies. It helps if the shotgun is your top tier weapon versus dogs, because then you can shoot from the hip and take these out without needing to aim.

Light Machine Guns – Light Machine Guns are the biggest class of guns in the game. They are generally characterized by high damage, high firing rate, low mobility, moderate accuracy, and moderate range.

Unlike in previous Call of Duty games, the light machine guns in Black Ops are a lot more similar to the Assault Rifles. In fact, some of them do not really feel like you are carrying a large weapon and indeed play very close to an Assault Rifle style of play.

The most noticeable thing about this class of Black Ops weapons is the low mobility. When you run with a light machine gun, your character moves very slowly. Additionally, when moving from sprinting to aiming, the transition is extremely slow. The kickback is also fairly high when moving.

Since these Black Ops weapons are slower to aim and fairly inaccurate from the hip, it makes the wielder fairly vunerable while sprinting. If you get caught while sprinting, you are almost guaranteed to be dead, because shooting from the hip is very inaccurate and aiming out of a sprint takes forever. Additionally, reloading takes forever.

You can speed up reloading time and aiming time by getting Sleight of Hand and the pro version, but at that point, you might as well play with another class of guns. 

Light Machine guns work best when you sit back behind a wall on a map with a lot of open space and a lot of players (at least a team deathmatch but preferably a ground war) and you are not required to move too much. They also make great defense for flags if you can encamp in a spot and blast away at anyone who tries to capture a flag or resource node. 

Sniper Rifles – Sniper Rifles are the longest-range weapons in Call of Duty. You generally can only get 1 shot off on a target, so you have to be very accurate. However, they are the highest-powered weapon and frequently score 1 hit kills if you hit the enemy in the torso or head.

However, I really must say that I think Sniper Rifles got "the shaft"  in this new call of Duty title and are at the least effective of the Black Ops weapons at the moment. I am sure there are some players who are having great success with them, but I find it very rare to actually find someone using a sniper rifle in online play.

The primary reason for this is that the Black Ops multiplayer maps are a lot smaller than in previous versions. There just are not enough large maps that are worth using the Sniper Rifle on. Nearly all of the Team Deathmatch maps are small enough that the longest range weapon you need is an Assault Rifle.

If you are not able to get off shots from across the map, there is no point to using a Sniper Rifle. You can camp with an Assault Rifle and be much more effective.

Black Ops Weapons Conclusion

To wrap things up, I think that you will be best off if you practice with a variety of Black Ops weapons. Certain maps favor different types of weapons, depending on the size of the map and the amount of structures.

By learning to be effective with a variety of weapons, you can improve your flexibilty and choose the weapon that best suits your current map and your current opponents. 

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