Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Multiplayer Survival Guide

Modern Warfare 3’s multiplayer is fast, brutal and comes with a steep learning curve. So we decided to give you plenty of tips that will help you dominate online, and level up fast. Follow these tips, and you’ll see a significant improvement.

 

Stop running everywhere

So many Modern Warfare 3 players get killed because they run everywhere without considering the consequences. The worst thing you can do is run around a corner or into a building with no knowledge of who is lying in wait for you.

Notice that we still run around a lot, but take a few seconds to raise our sights and use caution before approaching corners and choke points. Speed and care are everything in Call of Duty, and a few seconds of being cautious isn’t going to slow you down too much. Be disciplined.

Taking the time to stop your sprint and walk around corners and inside buildings will give you a second or two to properly survey the landscape and see if enemies are waiting to spring an ambush.

 

Keep your sights up

Coming the above tip with this one and you will extend your life expectancy dramatically. Stop your sprint before approaching a corner and raise your weapon as you walk slowly.

Chances are someone on the opposing team is blindly sprinting towards the same corner, and you will kill them purely because you had your weapon up first. In the time it takes them to raise their gun and fire back, they’ll already be dead.

 

Don’t camp

Campers might seem like the salt of the earth but if you’re smart you’ll learn how to outflank and kill them easily. When camping, you really do risk attacks from behind. 

While you’re too busy watching the map from your camping spot, your attackers are finding out the best way to take you down with extreme prejudice form the sides or from behind. Plus you’ll be hated.  

 

Never aim from the same spot

If you find yourself locked in an exchange with a particular enemy, the worst thing you can do is poke your head out to aim, retreat, and then poke your head out from the exact same spot. You will die most of the time doing this.

Instead, go prone and edge out, or walk around the cover you were behind to get a new angle on your attacker. While they’re waiting for you to poke your head out again, you have plenty of time to flank them. 

 

Never reload in the open

You are at your most vulnerable when you’re reloading. You can’t do anything once you hit reload, so it’s possibly the worst thing you can do in the middle of a fight. 

Notice the way we move, shoot and reload in the video above. If we were shooting at enemies, we’d always, always walk back to cover to reload before attempting to move back into the open to fire more rounds. If possible, hide behind something low, like a dumpster or defensive wall.

It’s wise to reload every time you know you have a spare second, and most importantly, when you’re behind cover. There’s nothing worse than running out of bullets when going face to face with an enemy who has a full clip. It’s wise to reload when you’re down to a quarter clip of bullets.

 

Cook grenades

Never, ever just throw a grenade with a full timer. This gives your target far too much time to notice the grenade on their HUD and escape before it detonates. Holding it for just a second longer will increase your chances.

Notice the difference in detonation time between both of these throws. Cooking grenades in this manner makes you more likely to injure or kill your target before they have a chance to run away.

Also, if you see a sniper in a window who is camping, walk around the area they’re firing in, good a grenade until the very last second and hurl it right in for an easy kill. The same goes for buildings full of campers.

 

Never spam guns

It’s all too tempting to simply hold down the trigger and volley off a barrage of bullets in the hope that you kill your target.  This is potentially suicidal. For one, if you don’t have a suppressor attached, you will give your position away on the radar when firing.

Here, we demonstrate how the recoil changes between fully-automatic fire and iron sights burst fire. We’ve also fired at a wall in both modes so you can see the range of bullet spread between styles. Always go iron sights where possible, and use controlled bursts.

Two, you will run out of bullets quicker and be forced to reload. Three, you will have a tough time hitting your target. Short, controlled bursts will reduce bullet spray and help you nail the chest and head area for quick kills. Be smart and disciplined.

 

Take the long way around

Whenever you see an enemy in the distance that you want to take out, never take the most popular route to kill them. Chances are, other players on the enemy team are already checking the most popular paths in anticipation of an attack. 

Take a few seconds to skirt around hot zones and you will have a greater chance of flanking or even attacking enemies from the rear. They’ll be so busy watching the popular routes that hey will never notice you.

 

Change position after every kill

Campers are terrible. They really, really are. Although there is something to be said for making use of a sector of each map, rather than a single corner. If you kill someone, chances are the player will run towards you to get revenge.

Simply move to a different spot than the one you were in before, and when the attacker will try to get you back, you will be able to ambush them easily. It’s slightly cheap, but it’s not strictly camping.

 

Use the Dead Silence perk wisely

The golden rule of Call of Duty is to use whichever perk removes fall damage – in Modern Warfare 3’s case, Dead Silence – on a map with tons of high points. Imagine that you are in a tall building with enemies pouring in from below. Normally you’d be cornered. 

But, simply hop out the window for a speedy, slippery exit and you’ll likely survive. This style of movement makes you incredibly hard to predict, and gives you much better navigation across otherwise perilous maps.

 

Watch the HUD

Always, always, always keep an eye on your mini-map for signs of enemy fire. If you’re clever about it, you can anticipate where an enemy is running to by the direction of their dot on the HUD. 

This works even better when you have a UAV up, as you can track enemy movement with greater accuracy. Simply run to wherever they’re headed and ambush them when they least suspect it. 

 

Tailor your classes

There’s a lot to be said for making a dream class and using it for every single map. But you should try and adapt to different maps and game modes. For example, the Call of Duty: Black Ops map Nuketown was a hotbed of noob tubes and other explosives.

Equipping Blast Shield helped reduce explosive damage, while shotguns where useful in clearing out enemies hiding in houses at speed. In wide maps, consider using the Blind Eye perk to reduce your visibility and to avoid detection from air support. 

 

Try suppressors

If you keep finding that you’re being ambushed all of the time, consider using a suppressor on your weapon, but be warned that this will either affect your gun’s range or damage. 

Suppressed sniper rifles are great for being undetected, but your bullets will do minimal damage, so keep your eyes on your stat meters and use suppressors wisely. 

 

The claymore trick

If you know of an area where lots of players travel across, you can play a sneaky trick on them using claymores. Plant a claymore at a popular choke point and just fire your gun in bursts every so often.

Doing this will light you up on the HUD, and will often cause enemies to run towards your position. If you’re lucky they’re be so excited at the thought of an easy kill that they’ll run straight into your claymore instead. Fools.

 

Kill Confirmed bait

This one is slightly similar. If you kill an enemy in the open during Kill Confirmed mode, don’t run and grab their dog tags straight away. Because they’re in the open, members of their team will see them easier, and likely run to deny you the kill.

Find a hiding spot and wait for the attacking team to run and grab the tags, then simply kill them when they aren’t paying attention. Each time you try this, always change your hiding spot as the Kill Cam will let them know where you were.

 

The care package trick

If you call in a care package and it’s something rubbish like a UAV, or Counter UAV, there’s a good case for not even bothering to get it. Just leave it lying in the open and wait for members of the other team to try and grab it. Find a hiding place to shoot them from while they try to steal it for easy kills. 

 

Rig Domination points to blow

This trick doesn’t have the highest success rate, but it is great if you pull it off. When playing Domination or Capture The Flag modes, simply place a claymore right on top of your flag or a Domination point, or your own flag. 

Chances are your attackers will be so excited when running to claim the point or flag that they wont stop to see if there are claymores around. When they run close to the domination point, the claymore will go off and you will gain an easy kill. 

Notice that once you claim a domination point, a flashing circle appears around the base of the flag pole. If you aim to place your claymore in the dead centre of this circle, it will be harder to spot by enemies who are rushing in to grab the point blindly. Even if they see it, they willw aste a few seconds trying to shoot it.

Even if they stop to shoot the claymore first, this still slows them down drastically, so it’s a good habit to get into.