The best Modern Warfare 2 perks and perk system look slightly unfamiliar this time around, with new perk packages entering the fray. Perk packages still include two standard perks, but bonus and ultimate perks make their debut in the FPS game.
Perks are just one part of your Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer setup, and allow you to choose a loadout of four, each with its own unique benefit in the multiplayer game. These could be hiding you from enemy UAVs or spawning with an additional tactical item – and the right perk could make the world of difference to your performance.
All Modern Warfare 2 perks
The following list is every perk available in Modern Warfare 2 since launch, whether more will become available in the future remains to be seen, but this is likely to be the full roster.
| Perk | Perk type | Unlock Level | Use |
| Overkill | Basic | 31 | Carry two primary weapons |
| Double Time | Basic | 0 | Double tactical sprint duration and extend crouch movement speed by 30% |
| Battle Hardened | Basic | 37 | Reduce the effect of enemy Flash, Stun, EMP, Gas Grenades, and Shock Sticks, and immune to Snapshot Grenades |
| Scavenger | Basic | 26 | Resupply ammo and throwing knives from dead players |
| Bomb Squad | Basic | 11 | Take reduced damage from non-Killstreak explosives. Reset fuse timers when picking up live grenades |
| Tracker | Basic | 39 | Enemies leave behind a footprint trail, and you can see enemy death markers, while your kill markers are hidden from the opposing team |
| Extra Tactical | Basic | 18 | Spawn with one additional tactical item |
| Strong Arm | Basic | 0 | See a preview of the trajectory for thrown equipment |
| Resupply | Bonus | 30 | Spawn with one additional lethal item, and equipment recharges over 25 seconds |
| Spotter | Bonus | 41 | Spot enemy equipment, field upgrades, and killstreaks through walls, while aiming down sights highlights them for your whole team. You can hack enemy claymores, proximity mines, C4, and trophy systems |
| Cold-Blooded | Bonus | 28 | Makes you undetectable to AI targeting systems and thermal optics. You won’t trigger high alert warning, or appear in enemy tactical cameras, recon drones, and spotter scopes |
| Fast Hands | Bonus | 8 | Reload and use equipment faster, and change weapons quicker |
| Focus | Bonus | 50 | Reduce flinch when aiming down sights and extend your Hold Breath duration |
| Hardline | Bonus | 0 | Reduce Killstreak cost by one elimination. Reduce Scorestreak cost by 125 |
| High Alert | Ultimate | 14 | Get a visual alert when spotted by an enemy player outside of view |
| Ghost | Ultimate | 52 | Become undetectable by UAVs, portable radars, and heartbeat sensors |
| Quick Fix | Ultimate | 44 | Eliminating players immediately triggers health regeneration. Capturing and holding objectives increases health regeneration rate |
| Overclock | Ultimate | 0 | Store an additional field upgrade charge, and increase field upgrade charge rate by 40% |
| Survivor | Ultimate | 34 | Upon death, enter Last Stand with the ability to self-revive once per life, and teammates revive downed players faster |
| Bird’s Eye | Ultimate | 47 | See a zoomed-out minimap, and UAV and radar pings reveal the enemy’s direction. Instantly pings enemies on the minimap upon earning the perk |
Bonus and ultimate perks explained
While we’re used to having perks that are active from the very start of a game, and basic perks still are, bonus and ultimate perks work slightly differently, only becoming active part way through the game. As standard, bonus perks are earned four minutes into each Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer match, while ultimate perks become active after eight minutes. This time can then be reduced by killing enemies and capturing and holding objectives.
Each time you respawn, perk icons show at the bottom of your screen, showing how close you are to activating your bonus and ultimate perks. Once earned, you’ll get a large visual notification, and audio confirmation.
Perk packages
A perk package quite simply is the umbrella term for your setup of two basic perks, one bonus, and one ultimate. There are some preset perk packages to choose from if you’re not sure, or you want to give some new perks a try. Even better, once you manage to work out your favourite perk loadouts for each different mode, you can save them all, and uniquely name each package.
That’s everything we know about Modern Warfare 2 perks. While you wait, why not familiarise yourself with all the Modern Warfare 2 killstreaks, the best MW2 guns, and each of the game modes in which the perks above will be so crucial.