Snipers are a popular class in Call of Duty: Warzone. They can eliminate opponents from great distances before they even notice. MeinMMO presents the best loadout for each of the popular sniper rifles HDR, AX-50, and Kar 98k.
What are these loadouts? The weapon loadouts presented here are our recommendations for two of the most popular sniper rifles, the HDR and the AX-50, as well as the DMR Kar 98k, which may be the new strongest sniper rifle.
The builds are partly inspired by CoD experts and YouTubers like FOG of GAMING and adjusted based on our own experience in Warzone. For each build, we provide additional gear recommendations as well as advice on playstyle and where the weapon is particularly effective.
For general tips on weapon building in Warzone, visit our best weapons with setups for your personal loadouts. There, you will find additional builds for weapons that do not fall into the sniper category.
1. The best HDR loadout in Warzone
Here’s how to build it:
- Muzzle: Suppressor (Monolith)
- Barrel: 26.9″ HDR Pro
- Laser: Tactical Laser
- Scope: Thermal Dual Power Scope
- Stock: FTAC Champion
We recommend this gear:
- Secondary weapon: PILA
- Blue perk: KRD or Cold-Blooded (depending on whether you want to counter snipers or RPGs)
- Red perk: Ghost
- Yellow perk: Eager
- Equipment: C4 and Smoke Grenade
How does the loadout play? The HDR is arguably the strongest and slowest sniper rifle in Warzone. You can eliminate opponents with high precision at long distances, but you are quite stationary. It is a “classic” sniper build.
With this setup, your crosshairs barely sway (no “idle sway”). However, you need the tactical laser, as the HDR does not have a grip attachment. If the weapon offers enough target stability even without the laser, you can exchange it for the Extra Dexterity perk.
The Heartbeat Sensor as the strongest tactical equipment is not recommended in this build, as you do not want to get too close to enemies. Remember to communicate with your team about who uses which equipment. Ignoring this is one of the biggest mistakes many players still make.
2. The best AX-50 loadout in Warzone
Here’s how to build it:
- Muzzle: Suppressor (Monolith)
- Barrel: Singuard Arms Pro
- Scope: Scope (Thermal)
- Stock: Singuard Arms Assassin
- Grip: Textured Grip Tape
We recommend this gear:
- Secondary weapon: PILA or Renetti
- Blue perk: KRD or Cold-Blooded (depending on whether you want to counter snipers or RPGs)
- Red perk: Alert
- Yellow perk: Combat Scout or Eager
- Equipment: Molotov and Flash Grenade
How does the loadout play? Unlike the HDR, you can build the AX-50 more on ADS speed and should partly do so. It is more suited for a “Quick Scope” playstyle.
The strength of the AX-50 is that you can aim faster and still hit at long ranges. Therefore, it is particularly strong when you are in a duel with other snipers.
From cover, you can follow up with shots faster and be ready to fire quicker than players with the HDR. At the same time, you are only slightly less accurate on moving targets.
Why not the 32″ barrel? While the slightly longer barrel is somewhat stronger at long distances, the Arms Pro has fewer disadvantages, especially regarding ADS speed. Since this plays a slightly larger role with the AX-50, we recommend the shorter barrel.
3. The best Kar 98k loadout
Here’s how to build it:
- Muzzle: Suppressor (Monolith)
- Barrel: Singuard Custom 27.6″
- Scope: Mercenary Scope (Thermal) or Variable Zoom Scope
- Stock: STVOL Precision Wedge
- Grip: Textured Grip Tape
We recommend this gear:
- Secondary weapon: PILA
- Blue perk: KRD
- Red perk: Ghost
- Yellow perk: Eager
- Equipment: C4 or Thermite and Heartbeat Sensor or Stim
How does the loadout play? For a proper sniper build, there is basically only one way to build the Kar. As a DMR, it is actually meant for faster fights, and this also reflects in its sniper variant.
Compared to the other two builds, the Kar is significantly more aggressive and should be played that way. You have a higher rate of fire than with the other weapons and are only less accurate at long distances. So try to quickly get closer to a distance where other snipers feel uncomfortable.
Use your higher shot frequency to distract opponents and entire squads. If this still feels too slow, you can opt to forgo the extended barrel, change the stock, and play a real “Quick Scope” monster. Even “Drag-Scoping” can help to secure hits as a controller player.
General tips for sniper loadouts
Nowadays, rocket launchers have become popular in Warzone and have become quite strong despite nerfs. As a result, a lot of players are now using rocket launchers and especially the KRD perk.
This, however, leads to fewer players using the Cold-Blooded perk. For this reason, we recommend a thermal scope for each of our builds, as very few players are using the counter perk anymore.
If you are certain that you don’t need a thermal scope or still encounter too many players with Cold-Blooded, opt not to use a scope attachment with the HDR and AX-50 at all. For the Kar 98k, instead, attach the scope or variable zoom scope.
Otherwise, as a sniper, you should generally see the enemy before they see you. Only fire when you are confident you have the advantage and can eliminate the enemy. Otherwise, you will reveal your position. If you want to improve further, you can find our article 8 tips for snipers in CoD Warzone.
