Call of Duty: Modern Warfare gives players a wide arsenal of weapons to fight against nasty Killstreak stoppers. With field upgrades, you can further develop your tactics, and one of the strongest upgrades is the special ammunition. Find out here what it does and which weapons benefit the most from it.
The fast-paced first-person shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare does not just hand soldiers firearms. There is heavy combat equipment through Killstreaks, nasty gear like knives and grenades, but also field upgrades that recharge automatically and provide good bonuses.
The field upgrade “Spezialmunition” (engl.: Stopping Power) provides you with more damage for your weapons, but also changes the caliber and thus the handling. Find out here how this special ammunition works and which weapons really take advantage of it.
The YouTuber and CoD analyst “TheXclusiveAce” took a closer look at “Stopping Power” and explains in one of his videos how the perk works and why some weapons benefit more from it than others.
Field upgrades recharge automatically and are worth it
How can I use special ammunition? This ability is part of the field upgrades that recharge automatically during a match and can then be used.
It does not matter if you get taken out. Once you have fully charged the upgrade, you can use it whenever you want. After that, the bar charges back up.
How long do the upgrades take to recharge? There are some powerful gadgets, all with different recharge times. You can reduce the time by scoring points, so by getting kills or completing mission objectives. Special ammunition takes the longest to fully recharge among all field upgrades.
Special ammunition does not only change damage
How exactly does the perk work? When you activate the upgrade, you receive a magazine with bullets that have a larger caliber than the usual ammunition of the equipped weapon. This gives you more damage, but it also alters the recoil.
Effects of Special Ammunition:
- You receive a magazine with larger caliber
- This brings a maximum of 30 bullets that do not come from your bullet reserve
- Damage is increased, depending on the weapon, the multiplier is x 1.3 up to x 2.0
- The recoil increases by approximately 40% – 50%
- The increased damage does not count for headshots
You can counter the increased recoil with attachments, which improve your aiming.
What else is there to know? If you fire a few rounds of the special ammo and then reload, the bullets are not lost but remain in the next magazine.
“TheXclusiveAce” found out that the damage of the weapons increases to the point where the weapons need one less bullet to score a kill. Weapons that could already get one-shots are excluded from this, just like the special case M13. More about that below.
Since special ammunition does not increase headshot damage, it can lead to the curious situation where body shots might do more damage than head hits.
Most weapons get stronger, but not all
Why are there differences? Each weapon has its own multiplier with special ammunition, so one less round is needed for a kill. This leads to significant differences, as you generally need more bullets with an SMG than, for example, with assault rifles.
Which weapons benefit the most? “TheXclusiveAce” recommends 3 assault rifles that become significantly stronger with a ammunition upgrade.
- Oden – The weapon turns into a one-shot monster, and hits to the chest will take out the opponent immediately.
- FAL – The semi-automatic weapon also achieves one-shot capability in the chest area.
- M13 – The fast-firing assault rifle now requires 2 bullets less to kill at short distances, so only 3 instead of 5.
Note that these improvements only count for body shots. The Oden and FAL still require 2 headshot hits for a kill.
What else is worthwhile but not so powerful? The following weapons also provide a bonus, but it is not as outstanding as with the weapons above.
- All SMGs
- Any pistol
- Kilo-141
- AK-47
- M4A1
- Scar 17
- RAM-7
- PKM
- SA87
- Holger 26
With Stopping Power, these weapons get stronger, but here you might prefer another field upgrade, like an ammunition box or an EMP drone.
Which weapons should I avoid using this? Then “TheXclusiveAce” has highlighted 2 weapons that you better not load with super ammunition.
- MG 34 – The MG requires the same number of bullets for a kill with special ammo as without.
- FR 5.56 – The rifle operates with a 3-shot mode, and if all bullets hit, a “burst” is enough for a kill. Stopping Power worsens the handling, and controlling the 3-round burst is much harder.
Sniper rifles also benefit, but differently
While some assault rifles become one-shot weapons, sniper rifles do not necessarily need this boost. However, “TheXclusiveAce” presents one exception.
Which rifle has the advantage here? That is the EBR-14. The DMR usually requires a headshot for a kill, but with special ammunition, this one-shot range expands to the torso and gives the weapon a significant damage boost.
With reservations, “TheXclusiveAce” also recommends the lightweight sniper rifle Dragunov. The area for lethal hits is extended down to the stomach, making the weapon somewhat stronger.
What about the other snipers and DMRs? With the MK-2 Carbine and the Kar98k, the bonus hardly provides any advantages. The Kar98k is not influenced at all, and the Carbine gets advantages at longer ranges, for which the field upgrade is hardly worth it. However, this could be interesting for the “Ground War” mode.
The full blooded snipers AX-50 and HDR, although they get a significantly larger one-shot range down to the knees. However, according to “TheXclusiveAce”, the kill zones are already large enough and an enhancement would be unnecessary. Check out our tips for snipers if you want to improve here.
When used correctly, special ammunition can be a powerful ally, providing you with extra ammunition and significantly strengthening the weapons for a limited time. So get out onto the battlefield and take down some opponents with unexpected one-shot shots.
Do you think special ammunition is strong, or do you prefer other field upgrades?
