Learn About Each Weapon Class of Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War

A critical component of Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War Multiplayer is its weapons. Each one can be instrumental to a team’s success, but only if the operator wielding it knows how to unleash its true potential.

In the Black Ops Cold War there are ten weapon classes across the primary and secondary categories, each with their own strengths and weaknesses that are defined by four statistics:

• Firepower – How much and how fast a weapon deals damage against enemies and vehicles.
• Speed – How much the weapon affects an Operator’s movement speed and ability to aim down sights.
• Accuracy – How much recoil the weapon has, as well as its stability, and hipfire spread.
• Ammo – How large a weapon’s magazine is and how fast an Operator can reload with it.

In simplest terms, these ten weapon categories in Black Ops Cold War are defined by these traits and specific combat situations (with no attachments equipped):

• Assault Rifles – Fully-automatic, highly modular weapons that excel in mid-range combat (ideal combat range: 20-45 meters).
• Submachine Guns – Compact and fast-firing weapons that find their stride in close-quarters (ideal combat range: 5-30 meters).
• Tactical Rifles – Similar to assault rifles, but meant for more accurate Operators due to their burst or semi-auto firing modes (ideal combat range: varies)
• Light Machine Guns – Heavy, high capacity, and high-caliber weapons that are incredibly effective against vehicles and large infantry groups (ideal combat range: 15-50 meters.)
• Sniper Rifles – High precision rifle defined by superior damage per shot and low fire rate. Can hold breath while using to line up more accurate shots. (ideal combat range: 40-100+ meters.)
• Pistols – Lightweight, low capacity weapon with extremely quick handling speeds, especially when switching from a primary weapon. (ideal combat range: 3-20 meters.)
• Shotguns – Fires shells, usually made of pellets that spray out from the barrel, making it ideal for extreme close-quarters situations. (ideal combat range: 1-15 meters.)
• Launchers – Single-shot weapons with explosive payloads; the most effective category against enemy vehicles and Scorestreaks, with splash damage against enemy groups being a secondary use case (ideal combat range: N/A)
• Melee – A weapon used in hand-to-hand combat; provides the fastest movement speed out of any weapon and near-instant, silent kills on impact. (ideal combat range: close quarters).
• Special – Additional weapons that do not fit the above categories, usually meant for niche combat roles such as launching grenades (ideal combat range: varies).