20 Call of Duty Perks That Changed Multiplayer Forever, Ranked

Perks completely changed the way Call of Duty was played. Being able to customize a soldier's skills and add bonuses to normal gameplay was a massive shift for multiplayer gaming as a whole. Out of every perk that has ever existed, few have been more impactful on the franchise than the twenty I'm covering here, for good and for bad.

20. Extreme Conditioning and Marathon. Back before limited sprint or tactical sprint existed, players had to commit one full perk slot just to extend how long they could run. Extreme Conditioning gave way more sprint time and made you more lethal on the battlefield, while Marathon gave unlimited sprint, letting you zip around and become a menace nobody could catch. Perks like this aren't really needed anymore since everybody has unlimited sprint by default now, but I'd say Double Time is basically the modern version of Extreme Conditioning since it extends tactical sprint duration, even if I would love for tactical sprint to just disappear.

19. Stopping Power Disappeared For a Decade Before Returning as a Warzone Field Upgrade

Stopping Power vanished from the series for ten years before coming back as a field upgrade, and it's now a pretty big part of how the game plays on the Warzone side of things. It gave a huge buff to bullet damage, typically enough to shave one whole bullet off the time to kill on every gun. That made the game play much quicker and made people smarter about where they ran and how much cover they took, since they could be deleted in an instant.

Because it was a hidden perk, you couldn't tell somebody was running it until it was too late, which forced everyone to play smarter rather than harder. Stopping Power is rarer now, but I would argue it helped the developers figure out how to balance the series going forward, whether everyone should have the same stats or whether optional damage boosts were a good part of the class creator.

18. Dead Silence and Ninja Became a Flashpoint After Modern Warfare 2019 Removed Them

Dead Silence and Ninja became such a talking point during the Modern Warfare 2019 era because I don't think people realized how integral the perk was to the Call of Duty experience until it was ripped away. Being able to eliminate or drastically reduce footstep audio made ultra aggressive and stealthy playstyles viable in a way they wouldn't be otherwise. That's part of why aggressive players hated Modern Warfare 2019.

Without a Dead Silence or Ninja perk, you couldn't reliably move around the map without the entire enemy team hearing you coming, which encouraged camping. I'm really glad that debate has ended for the most part and that the perk is back for good, hopefully. If we're talking about the most impactful perks in Call of Duty history, it has to be here. The negative effects of removing it, I would dare say, were catastrophic.

17. Bling Let Players Run Two Attachments For the First Time in Modern Warfare 2

Bling only showed up in one Call of Duty game, classic Modern Warfare 2, but it did something very important. Back in the beginning of the golden age, you could only have one attachment on your gun at a time. Modern Warfare 2 shook things up with a perk that let you equip two, which sounds cute now but was mind blowing at the time and changed the trajectory of the franchise.

Soon after, multiple attachments became an expectation in Call of Duty. The Bling concept was later expanded into a ten attachment class creation system in Black Ops 2, and it's where Treyarch got the idea for the Primary Gunfighter wildcard, with Vanguard eventually offering ten attachments. Bling may not have been around long, but it was the godfather of attachments and a crucial part of the series' evolution.

16. Scavenger Has Been in Every Call of Duty Game Since Its Modern Warfare 2 Debut

You cannot have a Call of Duty game without Scavenger. It has been in every entry since it debuted in Modern Warfare 2. Being able to resupply off dead enemies meant players could be much more aggressive and much less careful with their shots. A lot of people forget that back in the earliest Call of Duty games, it wasn't uncommon to run out of ammo, since there was no way to resupply without walking over the exact gun you were already holding.

Unless somebody else on the battlefield happened to be using the same gun, say everyone using the MP40, you had to be careful with how much ammo you spent. With Scavenger, you could be aggressive and careless, and as long as you were scoring kills, you were never going to run dry. It was a genuinely clever way to keep the pace up while fixing a real problem from those early games.

15. Hardline Turned Killstreaks Into a Crutch Perk During the Golden Age

Hardline would take one required kill off your killstreak or scorestreak. Back when UAVs cost three kills by default and Blackbirds cost seven, that made it an extremely powerful perk to run. Anyone playing Black Ops 1 on newer consoles has probably noticed a lot of people running Hardline so they can earn UAVs every two kills.

In classic Modern Warfare 3, where killstreaks looped for the first time, Hardline Pro gave birth to some genuinely cheesy UAV spam classes. Hardline isn't nearly as popular now because killstreaks and scorestreaks are more expensive, so the benefit isn't felt as strongly. But back in the golden age, I'd dare say it was a crutch perk for some of us. It was.

14. Marksman Let Players Spot Nameplates From Far Away in Modern Warfare 3

Marksman was a yellow perk that let you see enemy nameplates from a much further distance, making it basically impossible for them to hide if you were sniping or running a mid range assault rifle like the ACR. It also made it much easier to tell instantly if an enemy was in your sights, which sped up the traditional sniping meta.

The most important part of Marksman is what it showed the developers, that the game is much better when you can clearly identify enemy players at a quick glance. I always thought this perk was underrated in classic Modern Warfare 3, and I'd argue its influence has gone a long way.

13. Lightweight Made LMGs and Heavy Assault Rifles Viable

Lightweight was important beyond just running fast, because it made LMGs and heavy assault rifles far more viable by removing the massive movement penalties that came with them. That penalty is one reason LMGs weren't popular in COD 4. Starting with Modern Warfare 2, you could just slap Lightweight on your class and move normally, which unlocked new playstyles the series still leans on now and again.

12. Stalker Removed ADS Slowdown and Gave Us Stock Attachments

Stalker infamously removed the aim down sights slowdown, and it unlocked so many new ways to play because now you could aim down sights on the move without turning yourself into a sitting duck. You could run around corners and keep precise accuracy with a rifle or SMG, letting players move through the game much quicker than before.

The Stalker perk is the whole reason we have stock attachments in Call of Duty today. As I put it, lightweight walked so Stalker could run, and stock attachments exist because of Stalker, so pay your respects.

11. Martyrdom Dropped a Live Grenade on Your Body When You Died

We all hated Martyrdom, but it was still a big part of the game and its history. It was one of the original perks and would drop a live grenade on your body when you died. Beyond being the most annoying thing on the planet, it was a massive part of the COD 4 and World at War experience, making ultra aggressive playstyles a little more risky since you never knew if you'd get punished for rushing in with a knife.

Martyrdom moved to the Death Streak category starting with Modern Warfare 2, and I'm pretty sure it hasn't shown up since Modern Warfare 3. It had a huge impact on the series because the developers got noticeably more careful with their perk design after this, having to sit up and pay closer attention.

10. Steady Aim Made Hipfire Builds Viable Before Laser Sights Existed

Steady Aim has basically been replaced by laser sights, but it had a huge impact on how the game used to be played. Being able to run hipfire builds let players go a lot more aggressive, and it added new life to certain SMGs and shotguns that weren't very accurate but that you also didn't want to aim down sights with.

Steady Aim literally unlocked entire new playstyles because it made it viable to run around with your gun up without aiming first. Even though it's since been replaced by laser sights, this is one of the most important perks in Call of Duty history.

9. Juggernaut Was the Original Counterpart to Stopping Power

Juggernaut gave a small health boost on spawn, which made you the most obnoxious person in the lobby since you'd tank sniper shots and walk off assault rifle bullets like they were nothing. It was actually removed from the game before Stopping Power was, so it didn't last very long.

Its effects live on anyway. Juggernaut is the reason we later got things like ballistic vests and armor plates, because developers realized how valuable an extra shot or two attached to your health bar can be in a game like Call of Duty. It was annoying to fight because you never actually knew if an enemy had it until you started shooting them, and the effects were pretty long lasting.

8. Last Stand Let You Drop to the Ground and Fight Back With a Pistol

We all hated Last Stand, but it was a major part of the Call of Duty formula and its legacy, having debuted in COD 4 and stuck around for a long time. It came back in World at War and Black Ops 1, then moved to the death streak category for Modern Warfare 2 and Modern Warfare 3. The ability to drop to the ground and try to get a kill or two with your pistol was a major part of the early COD formula.

It wasn't until Black Ops 2 that Last Stand was deleted from the franchise for good. There are still some people out there who insist that removing it was actually a good thing, which I find baffling, but those people exist.

7. Quickdraw Was Essential For Quickscoping in Classic Modern Warfare 3

Quickdraw was absolutely crucial for quickscoping classes in the early days of Call of Duty, specifically classic Modern Warfare 3, where quickscoping was basically impossible without it. Not every classic COD game had a perk that sped up your aim down sights animation, but whenever it showed up, people ran it as much as they could because of how drastically it sped up multiplayer.

In Modern Warfare 3 and Ghosts specifically, Quickdraw was ridiculously strong, and its popularity in those games is why quickdraw attachments became a staple of the franchise.

6. Sitrep and Engineer Let You See Enemy Equipment Without Stepping on It

When Sitrep was introduced, you could finally see where enemy equipment was without stepping on it first. It was a game changer, letting you detect claymores and bouncing betties without setting them off and even get a sense of where enemy killstreaks like care packages and sentry guns were planted.

The perk was reworked and eventually turned into Engineer, but its effects have become a staple of the franchise. Every new Call of Duty game has a perk that lets you see equipment through walls, and now you can even loot and booby trap care packages with it, which is annoying but also kind of a nice touch.

5. One Man Army Let Players Exploit Infinite Grenade Launcher Ammo in Modern Warfare 2

One Man Army may not have been around for long, appearing in just one game, but it left a real impact on the series and its community. Being able to change classes mid spawn was a huge issue in classic Modern Warfare 2 because it let players basically give themselves infinite grenade launcher ammo by swapping between two noob tube and claymore classes.

It exposed a major issue with how Call of Duty was balanced at that time, and that lesson carried into how the developers approached explosives going forward.

4. Sonic Boom and Danger Close Were Often Paired With One Man Army in Modern Warfare 2

The perk debuted in COD 4 as Sonic Boom, giving grenades a little extra punch, then was renamed Danger Close in Modern Warfare 2, where the pro version expanded it to also include a killstreak damage buff. Being able to beef up your explosives was a huge issue with the game as a whole, because everybody hated going up against Danger Close.

Like One Man Army, it exposed a major issue with how Call of Duty was being balanced at that time, and it led to explosives becoming much more balanced in future games. It may not have been a well liked perk, but it had a major impact on the series, one we probably needed to go through to get to the other side.

3. Double Tap Showed How Much Fun a Fire Rate Boost Could Be

Double Tap gave a massive fire rate buff in COD 4, then returned in World at War before being replaced by a proper rapid fire attachment in Modern Warfare 2, which is where fire rate buffs have lived ever since. There likely wouldn't be so many rapid fire attachments in Call of Duty today if Double Tap hadn't shown everyone, all those years ago, how much fun the game can be when you can fire really, really fast.

2. Deep Impact Eventually Became the FMJ Attachment

Deep Impact debuted in COD 4 and was a must have for sniper classes, letting players hit wallbang shots. Starting with Modern Warfare 2, Deep Impact was swapped out for FMJ rounds, giving better bullet penetration at the cost of an attachment slot instead of a perk slot.

Being able to shoot people through walls is a major part of the Call of Duty formula, and reducing the damage penalty that occurs when a bullet passes through cover has led to some of the coolest clips the series has produced. Whenever somebody quickscopes another player through a wall, it's satisfying, and that traces straight back to Deep Impact.

1. Ghost, Assassin, and UAV Jammer Made Stealthy Play a Core Part of Call of Duty

My number one pick is Ghost, Assassin, and UAV Jammer, because stealthy playstyles simply wouldn't exist without it. It debuted as UAV Jammer, then quickly became a core part of the Call of Duty experience. As more perks were added and the game evolved, stealthy suppressed classes became a major part of multiplayer.

No matter what Call of Duty game you're playing or who you're playing with, there will always be people running whatever perk keeps them off the UAV sweeps. The perk was overpowered in certain games, with Assassin Pro in classic Modern Warfare 3 coming to mind for me, thanks to its bonus effects. Out of every perk covered here, this is the one I think had the biggest impact on how the game was played from the very beginning all the way to right now.

Did you correctly guess Ghost, Assassin, and UAV Jammer as the number one pick before reaching the end?