Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Weapons Tier List

The Call of Duty bolsters its excellent roster of games with Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War. This entry for 2020 boasts a good single-player experience partnered with the tried and tested multiplayer formula that fans love.

As with most competitive games, every bit of advantage you can have over the opponent will go a long way, especially in ranked modes.

One such advantage is mastering weapons that are inherently good through the game’s current patch – or meta. In this article, we look at all weapons in Call of Duty: Cold War and rank them according to their effectiveness in matches.

So, with all that out of the way, let’s dive right in.

S-Tier

These are the most useful and versatile weapons in the current meta. You’ll likely see everyone in the lobby running these weapons as they contribute greatly to a player’s chance of performing well.

Weapon	Type	Description and Explanation
MP5	SMG	Full-auto submachine gun. Fast fire rate with low recoil. Good visibility and control while firing. No surprises here: the MP5 has always been good in most Call of Duty games – Cold War is no different. It has a very high rate of fire which compensates for low damage. With minimal recoil, it is also accurate at varying distances. The MP5 is serviceable in mid to long-range, but it excels in close quarters.
Bullfrog	SMG	Full-auto submachine gun. Fast fire rate with low recoil. Good visibility and control while firing. Everyone seems to be rocking the MP5 in lobbies, but the Bullfrog is slowly making a name for itself. It’s superior to the MP5 in terms of precision at long-range and it boasts a larger magazine size. This makes it less punishing for players. It also has well-designed iron sights – something mostly understated when ranking the best guns.
Krig 6	Assault Rifle	Full-auto assault rifle. Improved damage and accuracy. Excellent weapon control with slightly faster reload-speeds. The Krig is awesome, especially from long range. Its base form is already accurate, but it becomes god-like when fitted with the right attachments. If you
AUG	Tactical Rifle	Burst fire tactical rifle. High damage with moderate recoil and slower movement speeds when firing. Built-in optic provides 1.5x magnification. The AUG is an absolute laser beam from long-range. Its sight magnification coupled with manageable recoil and quick killing speed will get you kills on unsuspecting enemies. The only downside to the AUG is that it requires enough skill to use it properly – as whiffing shots are costly. Once you get past that, however, you have access to one of the best weapons in the game.

 

A-Tier

These weapons perform admirably in most situations. In the hands of a skilled player, they can be considered S-tiers.

Weapon	Type	Description and Explanation
AK-74u	SMG	Full-auto submachine gun. Improved damage and range with reliable weapon control. The AK-74u boasts a higher damage per bullet than the MP5 and Bullfrog. This power comes at a price, however. The recoil on this thing demands a steady hand and its range is built for close-encounters. The good news is, the AK-74u’s problems are easily solved by attachments. Once you acclimate a bit to it, you’ll get kills easily with this weapon.
LW3 Tundra	Sniper Rifle	Bolt-action sniper rifle. High damage with moderate sway. 1-shot kill to the head, upper-chest, and shoulders. The LW3 is the best sniper rifle in the game due to its minimal sway and recoil, plus high damage. The meta right now does not swing in favor of snipers, which is why using this weapon just might get you some surprise kills on unsuspecting enemies.
AK-47	Assault Rifle	Full-auto assault rifle. High damage with a marginally slower fire rate. Excellent stopping power for mid to short-range counters. Ahh, the AK-47. The indisputable king when it comes to pure stopping power. Cold War didn’t change this weapon too much. You still have the quick kill time and high damage potential, it’s still perfect for both an aggressive or defensive playstyle, and it has steady recoil at close and mid-range.
XM4	Assault Rifle	Full-auto assault rifle. Reliable damage with improved fire rate. Fair weapon control when sustaining fire. If you’re struggling with the AK-47’s slower rate of fire, then you might want to try the XM4. It’s great for sustained fire and pin-downs. The only problem is that it’s not as effective in shorter ranges.
Gallo SA 12	Shotgun	Semi-auto shotgun. Reliable damage and pellet spread. Moderate recoil and visibility when firing. The Gallo SA 12 is the best in its class when it comes to shotguns. It’s less punishing because of its semi-auto rate of fire – allowing you to hit and recenter your shots in gunfights. It also has ridiculous damage if you manage to get close enough to your enemy.

B-Tier

These are great weapons that need more fine-tuning and practice from the player to achieve their potential.

Weapon	Type	Description and Explanation
M16	Tactical Rifle	Semi-automatic tactical rifle. High damage and reliable accuracy with lower ammo capacity. Excellent visibility and control while firing. The AUG is miles ahead of any other tactical rifle in the game. The M16 is the second-best one, two tiers below it. It has a good range and effective killing potential because of minimal recoil. It doesn’t have the laser-like accuracy the AUG has from distance, however.
Pelington 703	Sniper Rifle	Bolt-action sniper rifle. Hand loaded with improved handling speeds and faster rechamber. 1-shot kill to the head or upper chest. The Pelington is a useful sniper rifle because you can 1-shot kill an enemy on the head or upper body – which is a large target if you’re a decent sniper. It has worse drag than the Tundra which is why it stays here in B-tier.
Milano 821	SMG	Full-Auto submachine gun. High damage with a slower fire rate and fair recoil. Improved handling speeds with a more accurate hip-fire spread. The Milano 821 is ideal for close-quarter encounters. It favors damage over fire rate, and it boasts good ADS speeds. Your accuracy will take a hit while using it because of its high recoil, however.
Stoner 63	LMG	Full-auto light machine gun. Improved fire rate with a larger ammo capacity. Subdued recoil and good visibility while firing. Not many people run LMGs in Call of Duty multiplayer. They’re bulky, have high recoil, and are slow to reload. The recoil part is the biggest drawback, but because you can fix this with attachments, the Stoner 63 becomes an attractive weapon choice. It has a huge clip size, perfect for when you’re pinned down or raining fire on enemies in open spaces. Its fast rate of fire ensures that you get fast kills to immediately move on to the next target.
Type 63	Tactical Rifle	Semi-automatic tactical rifle. High damage and reliable accuracy with lower ammo capacity. Excellent visibility and control while firing. On paper, the Type 63 seems like it was built with long-range in mind, but that’s not all there is to it. It has minimal recoil, which means better precision for your shots. Because of its steady nature, you can find the Type 63 viable for mid-range or, if you can hip-fire to save your life, even close-quarters.

C-Tier

Average weapons that won’t strongly skew a gunfight in your favor, but they don’t have glaring flaws either.

Weapon	Type	Description and Explanation
FFAR 1	Assault Rifle	Full-auto assault rifle. Fast fire rate with quick reloading speeds. Modest damage and slightly less ammo capacity. As with other Assault Rifles, the FFAR has good killing potential. The way it does this, however, is through a fast rate of fire in favor of damage. This means that you need more hits to effectively finish off your enemies. With a small clip size though, it’s hard to pull this off.
M60	LMG	Full-auto light machine gun. Consistent ammo capacity with heavy-grain rounds provides premium stopping power and bullet economy. Slower fire rate and handling speeds. The M60 has decent qualities except for its atrocious recoil. The high damage and ammo capacity try to make up for this, but it’s too hit-or-miss even for veteran players.
1911	Handgun	Semi-auto pistol. Good accuracy with a modest ammo capacity. High damage in close encounters. An overall good sidearm, the 1911 is above the other two pistols because of how safe it is. It has a decent clip size and accuracy, which makes it an effective switch-out weapon for emergencies or finishing an enemy off.
RPG-7	Launcher	Free-fire rocket launcher. Increased blast radius with heavy damage to vehicles, equipment, and personnel. Additional rockets provided. With Call of Duty rocket launchers, what you see is usually what you get. They perform their intended task well but are not reliable in other scenarios. The RPG can destroy vehicles or hit a cluster of opponents thanks to its free-fire nature.
Cigmia 2	Launcher	Lock-on rocket launcher. An anti-vehicle weapon that delivers devastating damage. Small ammo pool and slow handling speeds. As with the RPG, the Cigmia has a very specific use case. Unlike the former, this one is equipped with auto-locking, which is good if you just want to destroy enemy vehicles without putting too much effort into aiming.

D-Tier

Weapons that are used rarely given the current meta. It takes a lot of skill for a player to see massive success using these.

Weapon	Type	Description and Explanation
Magnum	Pistol	Double action revolver. High damage with increased penetration and lower muzzle velocity. The Magnum is ideal for skilled players who want another primary weapon. It has high damage at close range and can penetrate light cover. It’s difficult to use though and very unforgiving for less accurate players.
QBZ 83	Assault Rifle	Full-auto assault rifle. Superior mobility with improved handling speeds. Erratic initial recoil with a less accurate hip-fire spread. The QBZ has ADS speeds comparable to SMGs. Sadly, the horrendous recoil puts it at the bottom of the Assault Rifle list.
KSP 45	SMG	3-round burst submachine gun. High damage with moderate range. Burst fire spread is less efficient at long range. While the KSP 45 isn’t that bad, it’s heavily outclassed by other SMGs. You may want to try it and see if you have a better time with its burst-fire mode. Otherwise, look for better options.
DMR 14	Tactical Rifle	Semi-auto tactical rifle. Increased fire rate with minimal recoil. Maintains reliable damage over longer range encounters. The DMR suffers the same fate as the KSP. It’s a decent weapon, but there are just better options in its weapon type.
Hauer 77	Shotgun	Pump-action shotgun. High damage with a possible 1-shot kill in close quarters. Hand loaded with moderate rechamber speed. While the Hauer is devastating at close range, its unforgiving nature and slow re-chamber animation put it a notch behind the Gallo. If you’re confident with your aim in close quarters, give this gun a try.

F-Tier

These are currently the least effective weapons in Cold War. Use these if you want to challenge yourself.

Weapon	Type	Description and Explanation
Knife		Lethal melee weapon. A straight-edge blade that kills enemies with a single deadly strike. As satisfying as it is to get a knife kill on an unsuspecting enemy, those moments are few and far between. With how skilled the players are, you’ll likely get lasered before you can get close to an opponent.
Diamatti	Pistol	3-round burst pistol. Fast cyclic rate of fire with a short delay between bursts. Increased ammo capacity and slightly slower reloading speeds. The Diamatti’s burst-fire mode is its biggest weakness. It’s unforgiving for players who whiff their shots. The slower reload animation also puts you at a disadvantage in gunfights.
M82	Sniper Rifle	Semi-auto sniper rifle. Heavy recoil with slow handling. 1-shot kill to the head or upper chest. Hold R3 while ADS to steady. The M82 probably has the worst handling experience out of any weapon in the game. Its bad recoil and slow drag sharply contradict its semi-auto rate of fire. You also can’t hit quick scopes with it because it requires time to steady your aim.