Black Ops 3 Perks Guide - Best Perks Tips For Weapons

Perks are well known legal modifiers in Call of Duty that every player gets to use out of a given set.

There are three perk slots in Call of Duty: Black Ops 3. Each slot has a different set of perks, from which you can choose one.

For more help on Black Ops 3 Multiplayer, read our Specialists Guide, Weapons Guide and Performance Tweaks Guide.

Black Ops 3 Perks

Following guide will tell you all that you need to know about the perks in the game, where they are useful, and whether or not they suit your playstyle.

Perk 1

Afterburner
Reduces recharge time for Thrusters.

This Perk greatly favors players who like to move around a lot, and enjoy CQC combat. If you find yourself using your thrusters very frequently, it’s likely you’ll want to use this perk. If however you’re a sniper or someone who carries an LMG/heavier Assault Rifle, skip this perk.

Afterburner makes repeated double jumps and slides more viable, all the while reducing time you need to spend sprinting or wall-running to recover the charge.

Sixth Sense
Displays a minimap indicator with the direction of nearby enemies.

This is a defensive perk that detects nearby enemies and flashes a directional alert on your minimap. This perk is very useful if you’re a relatively stationary sniper who likes to play the patient game, as often snipers camping can get caught out easily from behind.

However, you need to be aware of the direction of the flash in relation to the terrain around you. This can take a bit of practice, and the constant alerts can be very distracting, especially on multi-level buildings and locations. This perk can be countered by Hard Wired.

Blind Eye
Make yourself undetectable by enemy air support.

Blind Eye prevents automated aerial streaks from attacking you, but you’re still greatly vulnerable to player controlled streaks.

Choosing this perk really depends on the map and where you spend to roam around. It’s practically useless in closed environments, but can be an absolute life-saver in more open areas.

That said, you should always keep a build which combines Blind Eye with a launcher in case you’re facing powerful aerial scorestreaks. Some locations tend to provide them much easier than others.

Overclock
Earn your Specialist Weapon or Specialist Ability faster.

If you enjoy using your specialist ability a lot, this is a simple and obvious pick. It greatly reduces the time it takes to earn your power, which means more kills per match.

You should use this perk as often as possible in your first few weeks of play to get the maximum out of your powers.

It’s expected that the use of this perk will eventually will die out, as more skilled players would easily know how to counter specific Specialist abilities and weapons, and would rather rely on their skills.

Flak Jacket
Take less damage from enemy explosives and flames.

This powerful defensive perk is a lifesaver, and counters a very large number of weapons, equipment and Specialist abilities. It’s a general-purpose defensive perk that should heavily be considered in closed maps where grenades and other explosives tend to be a bigger threat.

Ghost
Prevents you from being detected by enemy UAV while moving, planting, and defusing bombs, or while controlling scorestreaks.

This is a powerful stealth perk that goes very well with SMGs, as it allows you to infiltrating and go behind enemy lines without compromising your position. SMG users quickly learn to constantly remain in motion, and this perk only encourages the habit.

Perk 2

Fast Hands
Swap weapons faster and aim faster after sprinting. You can also reset the fuse when throwing back frag grenades.

This is a useful combat perk that would greatly suit players who prefer close-quarters combat. Combining this with the Ghost perk can be especially useful, especially for an aggressive style of stealthy play.

Ante Up
Spawn in with a starting bonus to your scorestreak meter.

Ante Up provides a small initial bonus score to your scorestreak when you first spawn. This is a one-time bonus, so it can be useful if you want to trigger low cost scorestreaks, but it’s generally less effective when you’re aiming for bigger and meaner scorestreaks.

Hard Wired
You are immune to Counter-UAV, Power Core, EMP Grenade, and Smoke Screen. You also won’t trigger Trip Mines, Shock Charges, or C4. Also reduce digital imprint against enemy Tracker and Sixth Sense Perks.

This perk is extremely defensive, and also extremely useful. It’s generally accepted as one of the most powerful perks in the game, and is likely to make it into most general builds.

Tracker
See a digital imprint of enemy footsteps.

This perk causes enemy players to leave a trail of digital footprints behind them. This can make it very useful to follow and track enemies.

However, players with the Hard Wired perk will completely nullify this. Tracker can also sometimes make you become over-obsessed with the footprints, which can work against you quite a lot.

Cold Blooded
You are not targeted by ground-based AI scorestreaks. You are also immune to Thermal Optics.

This defensive streak is fairly useful, especially if you’re playing in dark areas where you’d encounter lots of players with the thermal optic attachment on their weapons.

The best use of this perk is with EMP grenades. You can combine the two in a build that is specifically made for completely killing off ground-based AI scorestreaks.

Scavenger
Replenish ammunition and equipment from enemies killed by non-explosive weapons.

This is an extremely powerful support perk that lets you resupply your ammo and equipment from slain enemies. It allows you to refill your lethal and tactical equipment, such as grenades, proxy mines, flashbangs etc.

It is a must-have on builds that make heavy use of tactical and lethal equipment.

Perk 3

Gung-Ho
Hip-fire your weapon, deploy equipment, and throw grenades while sprinting.

Oh dear. This one is a crazy perk to have if you’re an expert CQC player. Combine this with a speedy SMG and you’re good to go against most enemies. This gives you significant advantage while rushing or flanking enemies.

It shouldn’t however be used to run straight into enemies while hip-firing. Instead, try to use that extra timing edge it gives you to initiate fights and then transition to ADS aiming.

Blast Suppressor
No mini-map signature when thrust jumping. Thruster sound is suppressed.

This is a pretty minor stealth perk, but useful if you’re really enjoying the thrusts in the game. It’s usually recommended to combine this perk with the Afterburner or Ghost perk, depending on your playstyle.

Overall, it’s not exactly a perk that will catch the eyes of many.

Awareness
Enemy movements are easier to hear.

If you play by ear a lot, and have a good audio setup, this perk can make you a killing machine. Competitive Call of Duty players are well-known to play a lot by ear and use hearing to their advantage, so it’s certainly going to suit them.

Engineer
Show enemy equipment and scorestreaks. Re-roll and booby trap Care Packages.

This is a useful perk for very specific builds. It lets you spot enemy gear and streaks through walls. It pairs quite well with the Black Hat tactical equipment, allowing you to easily hack enemy equipment through walls.

Aside from this build, there’s not much that this perk offers that would make it a more viable option over others in this category.

Tactical Mask
Reduce the effects of Flashbangs, Concussions, and Shock Charges.

This is very useful perk, especially in tighter maps where everyone would be going flashbang-happy. It’s a highly specific perk, and can combine very well with Flak Jacket and Shotguns to make you a walking mini-tank if used correctly.

Dead Silence
Move silently.

This is the inverse of Awareness, reducing the sound of your footsteps and general movement greatly, making it difficult to detect you.

Dead Silence is the perfect perk for stealthy, offensive CQC builds, as it allows one to flank opponents very easily without being noticed.

In slower-paced modes like Search & Destroy, this perk is an absolute life-saver, and players are generally more aware to sounds.