Modern Warfare 2

[Looper]

I want to level a pistol for Tactical knife schnatagens but am unsure what the best way to do it would be. Does Stopping Power make a significant difference for example?

[Petrousgyre]

I want to level a pistol for Tactical knife schnatagens but am unsure what the best way to do it would be. Does Stopping Power make a significant difference for example?

I used the USP with Marathon and Lightweight and got in behind the opposition. Died loads though. If you get on with the Magnum (I don't) then you can use the preset classes with a Magnum and a tactical knife - every kill you rack up with the tactical knife counts towards the gun itself.

[Looper]

I used the USP with Marathon and Lightweight and got in behind the opposition. Died loads though. If you get on with the Magnum (I don't) then you can use the preset classes with a Magnum and a tactical knife - every kill you rack up with the tactical knife counts towards the gun itself.

Me either, it just felt pot luck when I killed someone with it. 'Die lots' it is then

[Naysonymous]

The ACR without stopping power is terribad in FFA games isnt it? I thought I would have a few rounds for a change of pace, and as I am trying to level up a few things, ACR, Holo Unlock, Cold Blooded pro then some games of shooting down things from the air would be the order of the day. There tend to be a lot of UAVs and Care Packages in FFA, so there are plenty of things to shoot down with Cold Blooded equipped.

Had a couple of decent rounds from a K/D point of view, 19-2 and 14-5, but I was in a room with people running around like maniacs with Commando/Akimbo Rangers or SMG's, they were all going 15-17, 20-19, 10-16 (etc) but trying to nail a sprinting target with the ACR is tricky to say the least! I think I only got 3 kills with the ACR in my 19-2 game! (and I was annoyed to get killed at the end which ruined my 10:1 KD)

I'm loving the SCAR though. I fucking hated it first prestige, the reloading annoyed me. It seems to have just clicked this time round, even if I allowed myself to reach level 51/52 before equipping it.

[Rossco]

I love the SCAR too. Have recently switched to the ACR to level it up but can't wait to get back to using the SCAR.

It seems like ages ago I was running about with UMP45 Marathon Lightweight etc. Tried it earlier today and just failed miserabley! Some things just take time to get into again.

[Down by Law]

Anyone sick of boosters watch this. It's so nice to see them get fucking ruined!!

[Naysonymous]

I have just been steamrolling people in FFA with the SCAR. Just had a game where I went from 1-5 to 28-7. Karachi is such a great place for FFA if you have claymores and scavenger.

[Vemsie]

Anyone sick of boosters watch this. It's so nice to see them get fucking ruined!!

Hehe. Good stuff.

[ZOK]

Anyone sick of boosters watch this. It's so nice to see them get fucking ruined!!

Heh...that was some sweet action!

[Raane]

I want to level a pistol for Tactical knife schnatagens but am unsure what the best way to do it would be. Does Stopping Power make a significant difference for example?

Just stick last stand as your bottom perk with marathon and lightweight ensure you've got a light gun like a snifle or SMG and flank lots. Highrise is ace for this due to the underpass and such.

Soooo frustrating when you don't get to use killstreaks. I went on a mad killstreak unlocking all of mine (UAV, Sentry, Emergency Airdrop) and also stealing a second sentry gun and an AC130! Activate the AC130 and the game ends just before my first shot can land... GRRR!

[panda_t]

The ACR without stopping power is terribad in FFA games isnt it? I thought I would have a few rounds for a change of pace, and as I am trying to level up a few things, ACR, Holo Unlock, Cold Blooded pro then some games of shooting down things from the air would be the order of the day. There tend to be a lot of UAVs and Care Packages in FFA, so there are plenty of things to shoot down with Cold Blooded equipped.

Had a couple of decent rounds from a K/D point of view, 19-2 and 14-5, but I was in a room with people running around like maniacs with Commando/Akimbo Rangers or SMG's, they were all going 15-17, 20-19, 10-16 (etc) but trying to nail a sprinting target with the ACR is tricky to say the least! I think I only got 3 kills with the ACR in my 19-2 game! (and I was annoyed to get killed at the end which ruined my 10:1 KD)

Are you using the normal sight? I love the ACR for hitting ANYTHING (even sprinting side on to me a way off) but I find it much harder without the red dot. Tried going back back to the SCAR when I prestiged and I just can't use it any more, it sprays all over the place.

[ZOK]

The iron sight on the ACR is nifty, but the red dot just rules.

I spent about 400 kills using the Holo on it, and it's shite in comparison, it really turned me into a bullet sprayer. With the RD it's like a sniper rifle.

[Rossco]

I've actually stopped using red dot and holos on all guns now. Find it so much better being able to use another attachment instead. You get used to using just iron sights in now time.

[ZOK]

Totally, but if you're stupidly addicted to maxing out the headshot challenges like I am, like some sort of OCD idiot, the red dot is essential.

[Silent Runner]

I was in a MTDM earlier on that ended with a guy on my side getting a nuke. In the next game he’s calling in helicopters and AC130s after a few minutes and racking up a massive killstreak. ‘We’ve got a booster here’ I mutter to myself. So I spend a few minutes tearing around the map trying to find him while his streak moves towards the magic 30 (needless to say on the other side there’s a guy with a corresponding number of deaths). We’re playing on Terminal so there can’t be many spots to boost but I can’t find them. He’s at 28 kills when I almost trip over him, lying in the flower bed at the foot of the escalators. I start emptying my magazines into the air to draw in some enemy fire – his partner in boost turns up but I bag him, finally he’s killed by a noob-tube from the top of the escalators. I die as well but it’s a noble death.

[snowbind]

Totally, but if you're stupidly addicted to maxing out the headshot challenges like I am, like some sort of OCD idiot, the red dot is essential.

Nah, on autos just make sure you trace upwards.

[Naysonymous]

Are you using the normal sight? I love the ACR for hitting ANYTHING (even sprinting side on to me a way off) but I find it much harder without the red dot. Tried going back back to the SCAR when I prestiged and I just can't use it any more, it sprays all over the place.

I use the iron sights on almost every gun, but the games which prompted those comments were with a red dot. I was hitting people, but they were escaping in instances where a TAR or SCAR would probably have dropped them. I do prefer the ACR with stopping power, a five bullet kill (which it is at range without stopping power) is a bit much to ask when most people in the room were sprinting around with marathon. I just struggle with a target running across my field of vision if they aren't going down in 2 or 3 bullets. I think I have learned to handle recoil much better now. 1800 or so kills with the UMP 45 taught me that!

[panda_t]

Fair enough!

[ZOK]

I just had a go with that UMP for the first time...I did okay in my first game which was Favela, but then on Highrise I was 19-27!

I don't think it's the gun for me...

[LittleJoe]

Have they done something with Afghan and Terminal? Just been playing this all evening and they didn't come up once.

[Trigg]

Well, I went 56 for 6 last night on Run Down playing HQ using the WA2000 with silencer. It was a cracking game due to 4 of the other team using Shields and I was just gaining a little distance and picking them off while my team captured the HQ. For the record as well I've always used the 50 cal but I think the WA2000 is a crack gun. Just pop off two round everytime and 99 percent of the time you get the kill. Its a brilliant game when everything clicks!

I also started using the SCAR last night with the silencer and its a bloody good gun too. Have to have scavenger with it as you go through bullets in no time but it packs a punch and as just a bit more recoil than the ACR.

[Starbreaker]

Right, forgive me but I've got a few nub multiplayer questions if anyone can be bothered to answer (I picked this up the other day and am still having a bit of trouble getting into the multiplayer):

1) How important is it to level assault rifles - or whatever, really - in order? I'm level 25 and have been using the Scar for ages now, unlocked all the attachments and so on, and now the TAR's popped up I'm not sure to switch or not - seems like a bit of a chore going through iron sights for a less accurate gun when I've got one with a heartbeat sensor and a goddamn ACOG on a gun that's already more accurate, but I really have no idea of the benefits and downsides to the guns aside from base stats that are on the barracks screen.

2) Is there a way to combat the pretty much constant camping aside from learning all the maps really well? It's really depressing seeing a killcam that's 9 times out of 10 someone with a pair of dual Rangers trained on a doorway or someone on Afghan hiding in the grass with thermal sights, staring at a trench. I mean, I know it's not exactly a sprint-around-like-you're-playing-Quake game, but if I get a kill that I've got by camping (and I have a very loose definition of camping), then I feel incredibly guilty and it'sw just about starting to piss me off now.

3) Perks/classes etc - do you use all of the custom classes? I'm at a bit of a loose end - I have no idea what really works well together, and at the minute my default gun is pretty much always a Scar unless there's a helicopter out in which case I'll use a class that has an AT-4 and then change back once I've pewpew'd it. I'm not sure about Sniper rifles/shotguns due to a mix of being unfamiliar with the guns and not really having an inclination to use them, but I really need an idea of a basic all-rounder class that's not going to get shot in the back of the head EVERY. THREE. SECONDS.

4) What the hell's a Ripper? Something to do with knives?

[Petrousgyre]

Have they done something with Afghan and Terminal? Just been playing this all evening and they didn't come up once.

Strange, I played almost nothing but Afghan and Terminal last night. What type of game you playing?

[Mr Cochese]

I was only playing Terminal and High Rise last night.

[Petrousgyre]

1) How important is it to level assault rifles - or whatever, really - in order?

You certainly don't have to play with all the guns but it is worth trying out a fair selection. It takes no time to unlock a red dot and silencer for an assault rifle. At range a FAMAS with a red dot is likely to be more useful to you than a SCAR with an ACOG. The stats in game are nonsense, strangely - have a look here, bear in mind that full health = 100.

2) Is there a way to combat the pretty much constant camping aside from learning all the maps really well?

You're overstating how much camping goes on, IMO. If you do find a camper either throw a grenade or noobtube in their direction or just avoid them and let someone else take them out.

3) Perks/classes etc - do you use all of the custom classes?

How you customise your classes very much depends on how you play. Getting shot in the back of the head has little to do with your loadouts and more with how you're playing. Don't run around like a madman, it's the worst possible way to play MW2, a more considered, deliberate approach is what's required. Take your time whilst on cover, make sure you know what's around you, where your team are etc. When you you break cover move quickly and avoid well known corridors of death.

4) What the hell's a Ripper? Something to do with knives?

Marathon/lightweight/commando with a tactical knife on a handgun.

[Graham]

Right, forgive me but I've got a few nub multiplayer questions if anyone can be bothered to answer (I picked this up the other day and am still having a bit of trouble getting into the multiplayer):

I'm by no means a great player, I tend to die twice as much as I kill (my ratio, last I looked was at about 0.6), but I'll give these a stab.

1) How important is it to level assault rifles - or whatever, really - in order? I'm level 25 and have been using the Scar for ages now, unlocked all the attachments and so on, and now the TAR's popped up I'm not sure to switch or not - seems like a bit of a chore going through iron sights for a less accurate gun when I've got one with a heartbeat sensor and a goddamn ACOG on a gun that's already more accurate, but I really have no idea of the benefits and downsides to the guns aside from base stats that are on the barracks screen.

Depending on your playing objectives it can be useful but it's by no means important that you do so.

If your objective is levelling up quickly then I guess it's beneficial to pick a gun, work through it's challenges and when you hit all the challenges, change gun, rinse, repeat (i.e. earning the xp from completing challenges for guns gets you ranked up quicker).

If your objective is just playing, for fun, it's not important at all. Play with what you feel comfortable playing with or get enjoyment out of or that makes you a better player for the duration of a round. I think it's always worth giving new guns that you've unlocked a bash for a few rounds to see how they perform but there's no hard and fast rules. Just pick what you fancy.

I guess you can break it down to assault rifles = medium range, sub machine guns = close range, light machine guns = mid to long range, snipers = long range etc. and so certain guns suit your own play style better than others.

Personally I started with the SCAR, because it had balanced stats and I knew no better, and have since moved on to the MG4 and more recently the AUG light machine guns. I find I'm a much more effective player from distance in a supporting role witha light machine gun - and so I get more enjoyment out of being more effective for the team.

2) Is there a way to combat the pretty much constant camping aside from learning all the maps really well? It's really depressing seeing a killcam that's 9 times out of 10 someone with a pair of dual Rangers trained on a doorway or someone on Afghan hiding in the grass with thermal sights, staring at a trench. I mean, I know it's not exactly a sprint-around-like-you're-playing-Quake game, but if I get a kill that I've got by camping (and I have a very loose definition of camping), then I feel incredibly guilty and it'sw just about starting to piss me off now.

You hit the nail on the head in your first sentence really. Learn the maps. It really does make a difference. When you get sniped from distance, watch the killcam and either decide to make your way to your revenge via a different route, or just take an alternative route and go do something less boring instead. Don't just keep running the same route and embracing a quick death from the same chap.

Also learn the joy of grenades, or the grenade launchers (generally referred to as noobtubes), to ruin a campers day. Experiment with chucking them left right and centre to work out how far you can chuck them. And with what accuracy.

3) Perks/classes etc - do you use all of the custom classes? I'm at a bit of a loose end - I have no idea what really works well together, and at the minute my default gun is pretty much always a Scar unless there's a helicopter out in which case I'll use a class that has an AT-4 and then change back once I've pewpew'd it. I'm not sure about Sniper rifles/shotguns due to a mix of being unfamiliar with the guns and not really having an inclination to use them, but I really need an idea of a basic all-rounder class that's not going to get shot in the back of the head EVERY. THREE. SECONDS.

I didn't to start with, I do now. I've set up my 5 classes in a similar way to the default 5 but with alternative weapons and perks. I have a medium ranged assault class currently with the ScarH (so I can complete the challenges), a close ranged assault class with akimbo P90 sub machine guns (very fast rate of fire but at the expense of accuracy). A support class (my most played) with the AUG and the Stinger anti-air (it seems no bugger takes air down when I'm playing, so I defaulted myself to doing it, and the AUG is a beast of a gun). A ripper class when I fancy being the annoying dude running rings around the map. And a shield class when I'm feeling like being helpful to my teammates. Having all the classes configured just gives you more scope to changing your play style midgame if necessary.

The only class I don't bother with is a snipery type class - I'm generally rubbish with snipers in most games, so just don't bother.

4) What the hell's a Ripper? Something to do with knives?

Aye, a guy who has set himself up to run around the map, at speed, knifing people up close and personal. You see them coming, you fumble with your gun, by the time you're ready to fire they're already on top of you and have knifed you in the guts. Generally involves levelling up a pistol for the tactical knife, and using Lightweight, Marathon and Commando perks to make you quicker running around and have a longer strike range when it comes to the stabby stabby moment.

[Bobbi Champagne Jr]

Right, forgive me but I've got a few nub multiplayer questions if anyone can be bothered to answer (I picked this up the other day and am still having a bit of trouble getting into the multiplayer):

1) How important is it to level assault rifles - or whatever, really - in order? I'm level 25 and have been using the Scar for ages now, unlocked all the attachments and so on, and now the TAR's popped up I'm not sure to switch or not - seems like a bit of a chore going through iron sights for a less accurate gun when I've got one with a heartbeat sensor and a goddamn ACOG on a gun that's already more accurate, but I really have no idea of the benefits and downsides to the guns aside from base stats that are on the barracks screen.

- Using the other weapons and going through their challenges helps you level up faster. The guns all have their different advantages and although you're happy with the SCAR now, you might find you appreciate the advantages of other guns the more you play (the SCAR's small clip is a bit of a downer for example). You don't need to do them in any order either.

2) Is there a way to combat the pretty much constant camping aside from learning all the maps really well? It's really depressing seeing a killcam that's 9 times out of 10 someone with a pair of dual Rangers trained on a doorway or someone on Afghan hiding in the grass with thermal sights, staring at a trench. I mean, I know it's not exactly a sprint-around-like-you're-playing-Quake game, but if I get a kill that I've got by camping (and I have a very loose definition of camping), then I feel incredibly guilty and it'sw just about starting to piss me off now.

- Learn the maps, watch the killcams and use your flashbang/ stun grenades.

3) Perks/classes etc - do you use all of the custom classes? I'm at a bit of a loose end - I have no idea what really works well together, and at the minute my default gun is pretty much always a Scar unless there's a helicopter out in which case I'll use a class that has an AT-4 and then change back once I've pewpew'd it. I'm not sure about Sniper rifles/shotguns due to a mix of being unfamiliar with the guns and not really having an inclination to use them, but I really need an idea of a basic all-rounder class that's not going to get shot in the back of the head EVERY. THREE. SECONDS.

- Look through this thread a bit more and you'll see people talking about different set ups and what works for them. Bit of advice though - people throw the word 'essential' around a bit too much when describing their favourite classes and perks; apart from having an anti air class you can switch to with cold blooded, nothing is 'essential'. Spend your time experimenting with different guns and perks, actively put in the effort to unlock challenges and pro perks and you'll start figuring out what works for you as an all round class (for example, you might like the extra power that stopping power gives you or you might appreciate getting a killstreak reward a bit earlier with Hardline.)

It's a good idea to switch to your shotgun whenever you enter a building or enclosed area where there's going to be some close quarters action.

4) What the hell's a Ripper? Something to do with knives?

- Normally a class consisting of Marathon + Lightweight + Commando then lots of running around knifing people, unlocking a tactical knife on a handgun helps too.

[Mr Cochese]

Rippers are one of the reasons why I prefer the LMG role within the team. The idea is to move slowly around light cover with your scope up and maintain absolute control of your lines of sight, so you should always see the rippers coming where a player in a more aggressive role might over rely on their radar to spot threats.

[Pistol]

I also have a few noobish queries, if you don't mind

1) How do you actually join your friends in-game? The other night I was on the dashboard and saw a mate was playing, it gave me the option on my friends list to join him and boom, straight into the game. But once I was playing MW2, I couldn't seem to find any sort of "play with friends" option. Is it there and I'm just being dumb? Or maybe everybody was playing game types I haven't unlocked yet () so the option didn't show up?

2) I basically know very, very little about the game right now. I stuck with the built-in class that has cold-blooded, 'cos I figured I could do with keeping as low a profile as possible or I'm just going to get killed all the time. Well, even more so than I do now, anyway. I've unlocked a custom class slot though, is it worth creating my own sneaky sneak class with a silencer so I can continue learning the ropes without getting slaughtered?

[Tom*]

1) I think you can press a button at the main menu to see "Friends playing MW2", or just bring up the XBL guide thing and do Join In Progress for whoever is in a game. You can only join a friend already in a game if there's space though, so you might Join In Progress only to find the game full by the time you've loaded up MW2. Also if you join a friend in progress you won't be in a party so might be on seperate teams. You need to make a party first then enter a game to make sure you're together.

2) Yeah why not? I don't think Cold Blooded is unlocked from the start though (to use in custom classes), and silencers need to be unlocked individually for guns. So depending on your rank you'll have to play 'loud' for a bit. Or just use that default one until you've got more unlocks.