What is the best AK-74u loadout for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War? We spent a long time running around shooting things in the Call of Duty Cold War beta, but now that the FPS game has released, there’s been a few tweaks and rebalances – so if you’re on the lookout for an up-to-date loadout for the AK-74u, you’ve come to the right place.
The AK-74u is technically an assault rifle, but it’s classed as an SMG in Cold War. It might not be as overpowered as the MP5 submachine gun, but this Black Ops favourite is still one of the best Call of Duty Cold War weapons available. We’ve tested out several different attachment combinations in the gunsmith, and this is what we’ve settled on – though of course, it’s a matter of personal preference, so we’ve described some alternative choices below.
Call of Duty Cold War will be integrated with Call of Duty Warzone on December 10, too – so stay tuned to see how the Cold War version of the AK-74u measures up to other Call of Duty Warzone guns.
BEST CALL OF DUTY COLD WAR AK-74u LOADOUT
The best Call of Duty Cold War M16 loadout is:
Primary weapon: AK-74u
- GRU Suppressor
- 9.3” VDV Reinforced
- VDV 50 RND Fast Mag
- Foregrip
- GRU Elastic Wrap
Secondary weapon: Cigma Rocket Launcher
Tactical: Stun Grenade
Lethal: Frag Grenade
Field Upgrade: Field Mic
Perk 1: Tactical Mask, Flak Jacket
Perk 2: Scavenger, Tracker
Perk 3: Ghost, Ninja
Wildcard: Perk Greed
The muzzle choice is a toss up between the Sound Suppressor or GRU Suppressor; the latter gives you more vertical recoil control but reduces your Effective Damage Range even more than the Sound Suppressor. Either way, we recommend going with a suppressor to avoid being seen on the minimap.
You’ll get +18% Effective Damage Range with the 9.3” VDV Reinforced barrel, plus +80% Bullet Velocity, at the cost of -4% Sprinting Move Speed and -20% Aim Walking Movement Speed. If that doesn’t feel good to you, the 8.4” Rifled barrel gives you +25% Effective Damage Range with only a 5% reduction in Sprinting Move Speed.
At the cost of -25% ADS time, the VDV 50 RND Fast Mag gives you an additional 40% reload speed, plus 67% Ammo Capacity, Starting Ammo, and Magazine Ammo Capacity. If you don’t want to sacrifice that all-important ADS for more bullets, the 40 RND Drum is a good alternative choice.
Related: Check out the best CoD Cold War Gallo SA12 loadout
The Foregrip gives you an extra 15% Horizontal Recoil Control, with no downside. The GRU Elastic Wrap gives you +30% ADS Time, +90% Flinch Resistance, and the ability to aim while going prone, but you’ll be down -10% Shooting Move Speed and -15% Sprint to Fire Time – which isn’t much at all, so it’s a very worthy tradeoff.
Perk Greed as your Wildcard allows you to choose three extra perks, meaning you can take Flak Jacket, Tracker, and Ninja as well as Tactical Mask, Scavenger, and Ghost. If you feel like you need an optic, though, you can choose Gunsmith instead, which gives you three extra attachment slots to use on your AK-74u.
If you’re still making your way through the Call of Duty Cold War missions, you may be wondering how to decrypt the floppy disk in Operation Chaos or how to unlock all the Call of Duty Cold War endings – we’ve got you covered.