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The best loadouts in Modern Warfare 2

Cut out the middle man entirely by using the best loadouts in Modern Warfare 2 to equip yourself with meta weapons, grenades, and equipment right away

Modern Warfare 2 best loadout: a soldier carrying a large sniper rifle in front of an army vehicle

Want to get your hands on the best loadouts in Modern Warfare 2? While it’s easy to pick out the best guns, sometimes you need to utilise an entire loadout to get the most out of your weapons in the FPS game. We’ll let you know which perks to choose, along with a powerful secondary weapon, and the perfect tactical and lethal grenades to complement the best loadouts.

Picking the right loadout for you has a lot to do with your playstyle and how you prefer to approach combat. If you want to go in all guns blazing, you might find that the best assault rifles and SMGs suit you best. Tactical and strategic players may find that battle rifles and best snipers rifle work best as you can sit back and let the action come to you. We’ve highlighted five unique loadouts, each using a gun from each weapon class to give you a range of options.

Best Modern Warfare 2 loadouts

These are our picks for the top five best Modern Warfare 2 loadouts:

  • SP-X 80 & Vel 46
  • M4 & P890
  • 556 Icarus & Pila
  • STB 556 & Lockwood 300
  • FTAC Recon & Vaznev-9K

Best Modern Warfare 2 SP-X 80 loadout: the SP-X 80 Sniper Rifle inside a mould.

SP-X 80 and Lachmann Sub MP5

The SP-X 80 is one of the only sniper rifles in Modern Warfare 2 that can be configured to guarantee one-shot kills from almost any distance. Using our best SP-X 80 loadout, you can dominate games from the comfort of your favourite spot on the map. All you need to do is find a strong vantage point, set up a claymore mine just out of sight of the entrance, then wait for enemies to sneak up on your hidden explosive.

Barrel: 18.5” Bryson LR Factory
Laser: FSS OLE-V Laser
Stock: Max DMR Precision
Rear Grip: Schlager Match Grip
Bullet: FSS ST87 Bolt

As the resident sniper, you’re going to have a lot of enemies looking to take you down. This is where the combination of the heartbeat sensor and best Vel 46 loadout comes in. If you start to hear enemies approach you, take a glance at your heartbeat sensor to track any flankers. If your claymore didn’t do the job, switch to your SMG and blast your foes to smithereens.

Muzzle: Singuard MKV
Barrel: Tango 228 Barrel
Rear Grip: Schlager Soldier Grip
Magazine: 50 Round Mag
Stock: Demo RXT Stock

As mentioned earlier, you’re going to want to take a heartbeat sensor as your tactical equipment with a claymore for your lethal pick. We recommend picking the Munitions Box field upgrade if you want to reach the tougher Modern Warfare 2 killstreaks on offer, this should allow you to stay in the fight for much longer.

Select Overkill as your basic Modern Warfare 2 perk to take two primary weapons with you. For a sniper build, Focus works best as your bonus perk to reduce flinch while aiming down sights. Finally, pick Ghost as your ultimate perk to become undetectable on UAVs, radars, and heartbeat sensors.

Tactical: Heartbeat Sensor
Lethal: Claymore
Field Upgrade: Munitions Box
Perks: Overkill, Focus, and Ghost

Call of Duty Modern Warfare best M4 loadout: the stock M4 in MW2's Gunsmith menu

M4 and P890

The stock M4 is an excellent assault rifle, but we’ve made it even better by using the perfect set of attachments to excel at medium to long range. You won’t find many Modern Warfare 2 maps where the best M4 loadout struggles to take people down from a distance. Don’t worry, this assault rifle can handle enemies up close if the situation presents itself, but we have a strong secondary option in case you run out of bullets.

Muzzle: Forge-TAC Castle Comp
Barrel: Hightower 20″ Barrel
Optic: Cronen Mini Red Dot
Rear Grip: Sakin ZX Grip
Underbarrel: VX Pineapple

If you haven’t given the P890 pistol a try yet, you need to get your hands on this weapon right away. Not only does our best P890 loadout keep you off the enemy’s radar thanks to our sound suppressor barrel, but this gun is also capable of downing enemies in only a few shots. This is the perfect weapon for close-range encounters when you need an extra burst of speed and your M4 is running low on bullets.

Muzzle: Forge DX90-F
Barrel: XRK TacOps Barrel
Trigger Action: Bruen Express
Magazine: 10 Round Mag
Rear Grip: FJX DVF60 Grip

You’re going to be in the middle of the action with this loadout, so take a flash grenade as your tactical and semtex for your lethal. In order to avoid getting killed, equip Dead Silence as your field upgrade to make your footsteps completely silent.

For your base perk, Battle Hardened works very well for aggressive players as it reduces the effects of pesky tactical equipment, and it also makes you immune to snapshot grenades. Go for Spotter as your bonus perk to spot enemy equipment through walls, stopping you from getting blown up by a stray claymore. Quick Fix is the best ultimate perk on offer as it instantly triggers health regeneration after eliminating players.

Tactical: Flash Grenade
Lethal: Semtex
Field Upgrade: Dead Silence
Perks: Battle Hardened, Spotter, and Quick Fix

Best Modern Warfare 2 556 Icarus LMG loadout: the 556 Icarus in a case in the Gunsmith UI

556 Icarus & PILA

Once you build the 556 Icarus using the correct attachments, you can transform this heavyweight weapon into a surprisingly agile gun that feels more like an assault rifle. Sporting 75 in each clip, the best 556 Icarus loadout has plenty of power to drop enemies with only a quick burst of bullets. The only thing you need to pay attention to is the weapon’s slow reload speed, you may need to ask someone to cover you while you change magazines as this process takes a few seconds.

Muzzle: Forge-Tac Castle Comp
Barrel: FTAC Coldforge 16″ Barrel
Underbarrel: FSS Sharkfin 90
Stock: Demo Precision Elite Factory
Rear Grip: XTEN Grip

The PILA launcher is the perfect weapon to pair alongside an LMG as you will rarely run out of bullets using your primary gun. It seems as though UAVs and Counter UAVs have never been more prevalent in a Call of Duty game – this makes the PILA almost essential for swatting these nuisance devices out of the sky.

Equip the stun grenade to temporarily stop any nearby foes and pick the molotov cocktail to force enemies out from cover. We also recommend the Battle Rage field upgrade to increase your health regeneration and resistance to tactical equipment.

Though the 556 Icarus already has decent mobility stats, you can’t go wrong with Double Time as your basic perk to increase your tactical sprint duration. To make up for the LMG’s slow reload time, equip the Fast Hands bonus perk which lets you switch weapons faster, while decreasing the time needed to use equipment and reload your guns. Opt for High Alert as your ultimate perk to receive a visual indication whenever someone spots you outside your view.

Tactical: Stun Grenade
Lethal: Molotov Cocktail
Field Upgrade: Battle Rage
Perks: Double Time, Fast Hands, and High Alert

Modern Warfare 2 STB 556 loadout: The STB 556, a mid to long range assault rifle with superb handling and damage output, resting in its case

STB 556 & Lockwood 300

The STB 556 is one of the most accurate assault rifles we’ve used in Modern Warfare 2 so far, capable of downing enemies from medium range without having to account for any recoil. It feels almost unfair at times switching from enemy to enemy using the STB 556 as your bullets go exactly where you want them. Check out our best STB 556 loadout to get your hands on this versatile assault rifle.

Barrel: 508mm Rear Guard
Underbarrel: Operator Foregrip
Muzzle: FTAC Castle Comp
Rear Grip: STIP-40 Grip
Optic: Cronen Mini Pro

There’s something about the Lockwood 300 that makes it so satisfying to whip out when enemies start to creep up on you. This shotgun is capable of blasting away foes in a single shot when using our best Lockwood 300 loadout, making it one of our favourite weapons to use.

Laser: Stovl Tac Laser
Stock: Heist Stock Mod
Barrel: 711mm Matuzek D50
Muzzle: Sakin DB107
Underbarrel: VX Pineapple

Again, we like the flash grenade and semtex equipment combination here. For your field upgrade, the DDOS tool can be highly effective against teams using electronics.

You’re going to need the Overkill basic perk to take both an assault rifle and shotgun with you in the same loadout. For the bonus perk, you can’t go wrong with Fast Hands to ensure you won’t have any problems dealing with enemies up close. Finish off the set with the Quick Fix ultimate perk to instantly regenerate health after every kill.

Tactical: Flash Grenade
Lethal: Semtex
Field Upgrade: DDOS
Perks: Overkill, Fast Hands, and Quick Fix

Modern Warfare 2 best FTAC Recon loadout: the FTAC Recon encased in foam

FTAC Recon and Vaznev-9K

When it comes to raw damage, the FTAC Recon feels like a hybrid between a sniper rifle and an AR. You have the mobility of an assault rifle combined with the damage output of a fully stocked sniper rifle. The best FTAC Recon loadout makes a number of key upgrades by adding a larger magazine, improving its recoil control, and enhancing its damage range to make it a real threat from a distance.

Magazine: 15 Round Mag
Barrel: Bull Rider 16.5”
Rear Grip: Sakin ZX Grip
Underbarrel: Edge-47 Grip
Optic: Cronen Mini Pro

The Vaznev-9K is arguably one of the best SMGs in Modern Warfare 2 thanks to its incredible close range capabilities. This weapon derives from the AK-47 Gunsmith platform which is known for its damage output – combine that with the body of an SMG and you’ve got yourself a dangerous weapon. Use our best Vaznev-9k loadout to get the most out of this excellent SMG.

Muzzle: Lockshot KT85
Rear Grip: True-Tac Grip
Stock: Otrezat Stock
Laser: Schlager PEQ Box IV
Ammunition: 9mm Hollow Point

This loadout works very well on larger maps where you’re able to get the most out of the FTAC Recon’s long range abilities. That being said, it’s worth using Overkill as your base perk to bring the Vaznez-9K with you. For your bonus perk, Cold-Blooded can save your life without you realising it by keeping you off any AI targeting systems. Take Survivor as your ultimate perk – this works perfectly with the FTAC Recon as you can afford to lose a long range battle knowing you can always self-revive afterwards.

Use the snapshot grenade to reveal the locations of any nearby enemies lurking in buildings, and bring the drill charge with you to surprise foes behind walls. Finally, we recommend the Suppression Mine as your field upgrade as the enemy team might try to flank you if you go on a hot streak.

Tactical: Snapshot Grenade
Lethal: Molotov Cocktail
Field Upgrade: Suppression Mine
Perks: Overkill, Cold-Blooded, and Survivor

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And there you have it, those are some of the best loadouts in Modern Warfare 2. If you start to enjoy using any of these weapons, it’s definitely worth taking a look at our mastery camos guide to discover how to unlock unique skins for your favourite guns. We’ve also got a guide to the Modern Warfare 2 killstreaks if you want to have a look at which tools are available when you start to dominate a match.