Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone offer numerous perks that you can equip in your loadouts. However, one of them is now stronger than you might think: KRD (Eng. EOD). MeinMMO explains why it is so good.
What is KRD? The perk KRD (short for: Explosive Ordnance Disposal) is a perk in the first extra slot (blue). It reduces the damage you take from explosive weapons and explosions. The only exceptions are killstreaks, which always deal full damage.
As a perk in the blue slot, it shares the selection with important extras like Cold-Blooded and Looting. Until now, Cold-Blooded has been the perk that many players preferred to use.
However, that could change now. After several adjustments, most recently in the massive mid-season update on May 19, the KRD perk could become the strongest in its category. We’ll show you why this is the case.
KRD – The strongest perk in its slot?
This is what KRD does: The effect of KRD is divided into two different instances:
- in the first instance, KRD limits the maximum damage you can take from explosives to 80
- in the second instance, it reduces the damage you generally take from explosives by about 15% (about 40% in Warzone)
This only applies to pure explosive damage. Direct hits from a rocket launcher are not reduced and will kill you instantly even with KRD.
That’s why it’s so strong: In the mid-season update, an adjustment that was meant to nerf rocket launchers has instead buffed them – at least these weapons are now significantly stronger than they were at the beginning of Modern Warfare.
They can now kill players if they hit just a piece nearby – in Warzone even with 3 armor plates. This leads to more and more players using them. However, KRD significantly reduces the effectiveness of rockets. With the perk, you will only be killed by direct hits.
Additionally, KRD even reduces the damage you take from Molotovs. The CoD expert and YouTuber TheXclusiveAce has found that with KRD, you can survive about two seconds longer if hit directly and can stay in the fire for two “ticks” longer. We’ve embedded his analysis video for you here:
KRD – Even better in Warzone
The strengths mentioned above mainly refer to the various multiplayer modes of Modern Warfare, but in the battle royale mode Warzone, KRD may have an even stronger effect.
On the one hand, the reduction is stronger (around 40% instead of 15%). On the other hand, opponents always need at least three rockets to kill you, unless they hit directly.
The first explosive damage you take can at most take away your armor. It doesn’t matter if you are wearing one, two, or three armor plates.
If a rocket lands next to you, your armor will be taken away first. After the second hit, your health points will drop to 20, and only the third rocket can kill you, provided you don’t take damage from other sources.
KRD vs. Cold-Blooded – Which is stronger?
So far, the perk Cold-Blooded has been the favorite for the loadouts of most players. This is because thermal optics were particularly popular in Warzone for a long time – especially on sniper rifles.
Cold-Blooded prevents you from glowing brightly in the thermal sight and appearing to the opponent like a torch. However, fewer sniper rifles are being used nowadays, and more rocket launchers.
Ace believes that KRD will replace Cold-Blooded and he himself is already using only this perk in his loadouts. He thinks that the current meta is changing at least in Warzone and that KRD will take the place of Cold-Blooded in the short to medium term.
Whether KRD can ultimately prevail remains to be seen. Rocket launchers could be nerfed again or other features strengthened – possibly as early as Season 4. Find out here, what we already know about Season 4 of Modern Warfare and Warzone.
As much as KRD was an underestimated perk until now, full metal jackets for weapons are actually overrated. Full metal jackets (short: FMJ) are a popular extra for many players’ weapon setups. However, they are not as strong as many think. We have explained in our article, how strong full metal jackets really are.
