Modern Warfare 4 Best Loadouts

Modern Warfare 4 Best Loadouts TL;DR:

• M4: The best all-round pick, built for controllable recoil and a clear sight picture.

• ISO Nightshade: The close-range loadout cornerstone that’s best for pushing objectives and moving between fights.

• Kastov 762: A harder-hitting rifle for players comfortable with its recoil.

• KG-7 Vulcan + ISO Nightshade: A sniper and SMG pairing that works using the Overkill perk.

• Rezi 12 Enforcer: A shotgun build with pump-action and explosive slugs.

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Best MW4 Loadouts

The M4 and Nightshade builds are pretty straightforward - you use them for close-to-mid-range encounters that you’ll find yourself in most of the time. Kastov is the same niche, just with a bit worse recoil and harder-hitting shots. Snipers and shotguns need a little more commitment to the map layout and the routes you take. Having a few different loadouts ready is a normal practice that everyone should use. Here are the best loadouts in MW4: 

Custom loadouts become available at Player Level 4. Most of the loadouts in the list need high lvls to unlock the entire kit, but you can adapt and use whatever you have at hand during leveling. I can’t recommend Gunny enough if you don’t want to bother with tweaking your guns.

Best M4 Loadout in MW4

The M4 is an easy gun to recommend building your versatile AR loadout around because you can take it onto most maps and situations without feeling like you compromised in any way. Even at its base, it’s a great weapon with ~300ms TTK, and this build simply improves its medium-range control, where keeping your shots together using the right attachments is the ultimate goal: 

• Secondary: Krait P68.

• Perks 1 / 2 / 3: Quick Fix / Fast Hands / Battle Hardened.

• Equipment: Concussion Grenade, Frag Grenade, and Trophy System.

Quick Fix and Fast Hands are extremely useful in fast-paced gameplay, and remain almost universally best in most loadouts players use. Trophy System is definitely worth bringing for objective modes, and Portable Radar is a great alternative when you want more information. What I think makes this loadout great is that those choices work with most other weapons too; there is no need to change a perk combination most of the time - if you grow tired of the M4, just change the primary and keep playing without any downtime.

When it comes to potential attachment replacements, Slimline Elite unlocked at lvl 13 is the first potential swap to reconsider if you prefer the irons to optics. On the other hand, losing track of targets because you choose not to use optics costs more than a small handling penalty, so I almost always prefer the optics. Once you unlock it, M4 Hurricane needs a different attachment setup. It blocks Barrel and Magazine attachments, which makes it incompatible with the Crosswind barrel above. 

Best ISO Nightshade Loadout in MW4

The Nightshade is arguably the best close-range SMG option we got. Its upsides are obviously RPM and high base handling that gives you some room to spend attachment slots on increasing control and other stats. That is what this build does: it takes a few mobility trade-offs to make sustained fire easier to manage:

• Secondary: Krait P68.

• Perks 1 / 2 / 3: Quick Fix / Blood Rush / Battle Hardened.

• Equipment: Concussion Grenade, Sticky Grenade, and Trophy System.

In MW 4, Blood Rush is required to enable Tactical Sprint and for kills to replenish your stamina, which is crucial to counteract the Nightshade’s 10m effective firing range. This perk fits an aggressive SMG playstyle extremely well, but it is not something you have to run just because you equipped an SMG. Fast Hands is a great alternative for faster reloads and weapon swaps, and Ninja works well with a quieter playstyle. As you can see, if you played other titles in the series, the meta remains largely the same.

Best Kastov 762 Loadout in MW4

The Kastov is worth using when you like assault rifles and want as much damage from each hit - Kastov’s 30 vs the M4’s 24. The downside is its recoil, which can make a missed burst much more frustrating than it would be with the M4. This setup puts together several attachments that work toward keeping the rifle manageable while using a simple optic:

• Secondary: Krait P68.

• Perks 1 / 2 / 3: Ghost / Ninja / Scavenger.

• Equipment: Smoke Grenade, Drill Charge, and Munitions Box.

Ghost and Ninja are useful for taking a side route into a contested area and flanking the enemy team. Scavenger helps keep the rifle supplied during longer lives, but you can use Quick Fix or Fast Hands instead. This gun works with any setup, really.

As for equipment, smoke is great for creating unexpected angles, which works well with the perks we’re using. Munitions Box is the extra supply option here, but it could be an overkill when used with Scavenger. Trophy System is a great replacement option when the match has you spending more time holding an objective.

Best KG-7 Vulcan Loadout in MW4

The KG-7 Vulcan build below leans toward handling for more of a mobile playstyle. You can keep a pistol as your backup, or use Overkill to bring an SMG alongside it. The Nightshade is my favorite pairing because it makes your loadout versatile at all ranges:

• Second primary: ISO Nightshade with the build listed above.

• Perks 1 / 2 / 3: Overkill / Fast Hands / Battle Hardened.

• Equipment: Smoke Grenade, Frag Grenade, and Portable Radar.

If a pistol does everything you need up close, you can leave the Overkill out and take another Perk 1 option. Fast Hands is necessary because it complements the double weapon pairing through faster weapon swaps too well. Smoke helps with getting in and out of cramped situations, but you can use other options.

Best Rezi 12 Enforcer Loadout in MW4

Rezi 12 Enforcer changes the weapon enough that it deserves a separate build. The ordinary Rezi is semi-automatic, but Enforcer has pump-action cycling and explosive slugs. That changes the timing of follow-up shots by a huge margin, so it is worth trying the conversion and seeing if it works better for you. The setup below includes Enforcer specifically, not the base shotgun:

• Secondary: Krait P68.

• Perks 1 / 2 / 3: Quick Fix / Bomb Squad / Battle Hardened.

• Equipment: Flash Grenade, Sticky Grenade, and Trophy System.

The defensive perks are useful around objectives, since it’s usually where the explosives are thrown constantly. They are optional, but I feel like they’re worth the slots more often than not in my games. Ninja is another Perk 2 choice if you want to get closer without your enemies noticing you sooner than you’d want. Alternatively, Overkill lets you bring a rifle for longer fights, at the cost of Quick Fix. That pairing gives you more range without trying to force the shotgun into every situation, but should you even use a shotty at this point? 

Best Beginner Loadout in MW4

Han 86 with a Gunny’s Balanced preset is a good early rifle. You can keep its suggestions or replace individual parts whenever something feels awkward, but overall it’s a great starting point at the point when you don’t have much else unlocked: 

Flash Grenade, Frag Grenade, and Portable Radar round out the kit. ISO Nightshade also becomes available as early as Player Level 4 if you would rather use an SMG. M4 at Level 14 is another huge milestone that gets you a great gun to play with.

When changing attachments yourself, fix the thing that bothers you most. If your optic feels awkward, start with it; if draw time is too high, try to reduce it. Everybody has their own playstyle, so adjust your presets for it 

Best Perks in MW4

Quick Fix is the most OP perk of the bunch in respawn modes, specifically because extra health from kills is invaluable.  Ghost is worth taking instead if you like to play off-angles, and Overkill is always cool since two primaries are better than one.  None of these choices really depend on a particular gun, so you can potentially just keep your favorite perk setup when switching weapons.

Perk 2 slot has the toughest competition. Fast Hands helps with reloads and weapon swaps, Blood Rush gives you Tactical Sprint, and Ninja makes your footsteps quieter. Bomb Squad is worth taking when grenades are causing more deaths than gunfire. You only get one of these, which is why there’s no single combination I’d recommend for every match.

For objective modes, Quick Fix, Bomb Squad, and Battle Hardened work extremely well together. Ghost and Ninja are a good pairing for flanking, with Scavenger helping you stay supplied during longer lives. If you’re carrying a sniper and an SMG, Overkill and Fast Hands are useful together because you’ll be switching weapons regularly.

Check out other helpful MW4 articles here:

• MW4 Weapon Tier List
• Best MW4 Settings
• MW4 DMZ Guide