COD4---A Beginner's Multiplayer Improvement Guide

I've received a few e-mails about creating for COD4 what I created for Halo 3....basically a guide to help improve the skill of players who are having a hard time. This guide isn't going to be as comprehensive as my previous Halo3 blogs. Much of the information I gave in those blogs works just as well for COD4 as it does for H3.

But there are a few differences, and a few tricks in COD4 that should improve your kill/death and as a result lead to an improved win/loss ratio.

Just like Halo 3 I'll mention the basics first, explain some of the better perks and finish with some basic strategies for team gametypes.

COD4 is just like any other FPS. He who shoots first, faster and more accurately while minimizing his exposure to his opponents stays alive longer and denies death points to the opposing team/players or lives long enough to help accomplish the team's immediate goal.

1.) In COD4 you have 3 different positions; Standing, kneeling and prone, and each have their advantages and disadvatages.

While standing you will notice it harder to shoot, but your movement rate is much faster than kneeling. The disadvantages to standing are 1--your are a much larger target and thus much easier to shoot and 2--you make more noise when you move about alla footsteps. I generally only stand in the beginning of a game when I'm running to my position.

Kneeling is probably the best position in my opinion. You'll notice it is easier to shoot a sniper when kneeling, you aren't as big a target as when you're standing, you make much less noise when moving and the drawbacks to kneeling aren't as bad as the other two positions. This is because when you are kneeling, you can still toggle sprint for that quick burst of speed without having to switch positions like you would in the prone position.

Prone is the friend of the camper. There is nothing wrong with the prone position. It has the advantages of being the most stable firing position and also making you a smaller target, and can even hide you if you go prone in some tall grass. If you're a sniper, prone is sometimes your very best friend. There are two problems with prone though...1--you can not just up and run quickly without changing your stance first. Your turn speed is dramatically reduced and it is really easy to get flanked. 2--prone pretty much elininates the need for juggernaut and last stand perks. This is because generally if you get shot in the prone position from an enemy in front of you, it is most likely going to be a head shot. I am not saying never go prone. Just be aware of your position before doing so.

Trick with player positioning....So you find yourself out in the open in a one on one confrontation with an enemy. He's firing at you but isn't real accurate and isn't killing you with his weak skorpion or some other weapon....What do you do? Toggle your stance from standing to kneeling to prone and back to kneeling and back to prone until you kill him. If he hasn't killed you right off the bat when you guys meet, chances are he isn't a great shot, by changing your position a lot he'll find it harder to hit you. Of course, you'll be hard-pressed to shoot back, but after you do it a few times you'll find killing the enemy much easier and it should help you out every other game or so.

2.) Watching your Radar is just as important in COD4 as it is in H3.

The radar in COD4 isn't movement based like it is in h3. It is triggered by loud noises like unsilenced weapons or the deployment of a UAV by a yourself r a team mate. What you can infer from looking at the radar in COD4 is much the same as in H3. If you see one red dot, there are likely to be more clustered around that position.

Using your UAV is probably the most important and poorly executed thing in COD4. If you find yourself with a UAV, don't immediately use it if one has already been deployed in the past 10 or 15 seconds. This maximizes the time your team will have the advantage of always being able to see those enemy players who aren't using a UAV. I can't tell you how many times I've set off a UAV for my team only to have someone waste their UAV 2 seconds after I used mine. Always call out when you are going to use your UAV and let your teammates know one has already been deployed. Then let your team know about 10 seconds bfore it dies to call out another UAV so you always have one deployed.

3.) Your Perk Loadout is key to winning and surviving in COD4.

You'll read in the forums how people enjoy running with dead silence and stopping power, and if they find it works for them, let em do it. BUt I have one rule when I choose my loadouts... I always want to maximize my class objective with my perks. Let me say this again. I always want to maximize my class objective with my perks. This means I don't want to run martyrdom with juggernaut. Why not? Because they don't really complement each other.

Here are some maximized class examples:

Perk1:Bandolier Perk 2:Stopping Power Perk 3:Deep Impact----This is maximized for inaccurate rapid fire weapons like SMG's LMG's and every assult weapon except the G3 and M14. Now with this loadout and one of the previously mentioned weapons I can fire indiscriminately at anything that moves and be reasonably sure I'll be a killing machine until I die or until my ammo runs out, which because of bandolier gives me more time to hold a position without scrambling for another weapon should I live that long.

Perk 1:Grenade Launcher RPG, claymore, C4 or 3x's Frag Perk 2: Sonic Boom Perk 3: Martyrdom---- With this class I'm an up close killing machine. Until I get my 3x's frag I'll run with the RPG usually and a shotgun or an inaccurate SMG like the UZI. Why is this maximized? Because sonic boom allows all my explosives to be the shiznit ( I can't believe I just said shiznit) The choice of weapon dictates that I must be closer to my targets to kill them, so If I die, the martyrdom will be much more effective, and doubly so due to sonic boom. I rarely use claymores or C4 unless I'm playing headquarters, so the 3x's nades with their amped power are great for just throwing prayer nades and getting lucky kills.

Perk 1: toss up, choose what you like, I prefer bandolier or 3x's frag Perk 2: UAV jammer Perk 3: Dead Silence--- This loadout is good for only silenced weapons, and I run with it exclusively with my silenced M16. With this loadout you maximize your ability to be the ninja you always wanted to be. Just remember...there is a kill cam, so unless they're stupid, they'll find you eventually if you become too much of a pest.

Perk 1:Another toss up Perk 2: Juggernaut Perk 3: Last stand----This loadout is great for taking flags in domination or capturing headquarters. This is because it maximizes your life when you're in those target areas hopefully long enough for you to take them. This is a weaker loadout because one headshot will ruin it, but it is great because you effectively have to be shoot three times to die giving you those 2 or 3 precious seconds to take that flag or headquarters. Every objective team should have at least one guy with that loadout in my opinion.

These are just 4 basic loadouts. There really isn't any new informations here. What I was trying to show is that any loadout you choose should use all three perks to accomplish one specific goal.

This is it for today's blog, but I'll post more on wednesday or thursday afternoon. Until then ask any questions about COD4 and I'll try to answer them in my next installment.