The world of solos in Call of Duty: Warzone is often underappreciated as players tend to stray toward the more team-oriented game modes instead. But make no mistake. Winning a game of solos and knowing that you and you alone were responsible is empowering in its own right. But without teammates to rely on it, can be a tough task to accomplish. Furthermore, a lot of your knowledge gained from playing the team-based modes no longer applies. Many of your best loadouts from trios and squads may not even be viable in Warzone solos.
This is because the focus on one versus one gunfights makes the magazine size limitation of certain weapons no longer applicable. If you want to perform well in Warzone solos, you’re going to need an entirely new loadout. Relearning the meta from scratch can be a daunting task. Fortunately, I’ve got you covered.
Primary weapon
There are a fair number of viable primary weapons in Warzone. Many of the classic choices including the MP5, Mac 10, and FFAR 1 will still perform perfectly fine in solos. But there is one outstanding choice that comes into its own when you only need to outgun one person, the AS Val.
You don’t see the AS Val too often in anything beyond duos. And that’s for a good reason. Its capped 30 round magazine is difficult to use in trios and squads where you’ll often need to engage in back-to-back gunfights. And even with Sleight of Hand equipped, reloading in the middle of a team fight just isn’t practical.
But when that limitation is removed and all you need to do is beat one enemy at a time, the AS Val outclasses everything. Its time to kill is just 407 ms up to a 32 meter range and is 60 ms faster than any other automatic weapon. Despite being an assault rifle, this can consistently outgun every submachine gun available in Warzone up close. Even better, its low recoil makes it surprisingly viable at medium range and even passable at long range. Although there are certainly better choices for engagements beyond 70 meters.
The AS Val is also gifted with two of Warzone‘s most important meta-defining traits. It has incredible iron sights and an integral suppressor. This means that you save two attachment slots and can instead optimize your build for recoil control, reload time, or aim down sight speed. I like to use Sleight of Hand, but many other players prefer the benefits given by the Tac Laser. Be sure to test different loadouts to find out what works best for you in Warzone solos.
Secondary weapon
If the AS Val does have one notable weakness, it’s how it matches up against sniper rifles. The AS Val can kick fairly hard at long range thanks to its unique 9x39mm high caliber ammunition. This makes picking off enemies using head glitches or good cover rather difficult. If you use the AS VAL, you’re going to need a suitable secondary.
Thankfully, Warzone solos accommodates sniper loadouts better than expected. As there are so many players on the map at one time, you’re bound to see a lone straggler running in the distance sooner or later. And when that time comes, it’s important that you have a suitable sniper rifle at hand. And when it comes to Warzone snipers, none outperform the Kar98k.
Despite the HDR and SP-R 208 both being viable choices, the Kar98k is my favorite sniper. All three sniper rifles deal 250 damage to the head, resulting in a one-shot kill. However, the Kar98k has superior aim down sight speed as well as an easier to use optic. The default sniper scope, in particular, provides fantastic visibility. It does provide less magnification than the HDR at just 7x, but I prefer that, as it makes the Kar98k easier to use at medium range.
A common myth Warzone players often believe is that the Kar98k has significantly worse bullet velocity than its competitors. Certainly both the HDR and SP-R 208 with Norma rounds output a faster bullet velocity, but the difference isn’t that substantial. The bullets travel around 14% faster than the Kar98k. This might make a difference at extreme ranges, but anything within 300 meters or so feels similar regardless of which sniper you choose.
Equipment
Your choice of lethal equipment is relatively limited in Warzone. Ever since the C4 nerf back in October, Semtex has become the new norm. It has a relatively short detonation time and can one-shot enemies if they are stuck directly. It doesn’t necessarily have the same stopping power as a launcher or C4, but it’s easier to use in more situations. Alternatively, the throwing knife can partner well with the AS Val’s smaller magazine. After downing an enemy, using a throwing knife to finish them off conserves ammo and set you up better if another enemy appears shortly after.
Similarly, there is only one piece of tactical equipment you should ever be using on your Warzone solos loadout. The Heartbeat Sensor outclasses every other option tenfold due to the sheer amount of utility it provides. Any enemies not using Ghost can be scouted in advance making it less likely for you to be caught out by someone camping. You should habitually be using the Heartbeat Sensor whenever possible to keep yourself informed of your surroundings. However, don’t become too reliant on it, as all it takes is one player using the Ghost perk to unravel your plans.
Perks
For Perk 1, most players will want to opt for EOD. Of all the options in this perk category, it is the only perk that will directly save your life. Being able to tank an explosion is invaluable, making this the overall best Perk 1. However, Double Time can also be a decent choice. If you’re planning to play aggressively and run around a lot, having 100% more tactical sprint can help you get around the map. As a less useful, but okay option, you could use Cold-blooded. It’s not overly useful, but it does keep you off thermal optics which are popular on many sniper builds.
Perk 2 only has two viable options to pick from. For the purposes of this loadout, you are going to be running Overkill in order to get both your AS Val and Kar98k as fast as possible. Getting a second loadout in Warzone solos can be difficult, but if you get the chance, use your second loadout to pick up Ghost. Ghost is a great perk that prevents you from appearing on enemy heartbeat sensors and UAVs.
Since you’re running two primary weapons, Amped is the best choice for Perk 3. The main benefit of Amped is that it allows you to switch between your AS Val and Kar98k quickly. This is great because you can switch to a suitable weapon to counter enemies that catch you off guard. Otherwise, Tune Up can be an okay choice, as it speeds up self revive by 25%. Some players may even find Tracker useful, which lets you see enemy footprints if someone has been nearby recently. But given Tracker’s limitations of only lasting four seconds, both Amped and Tune Up outclass it.
For more Call of Duty: Warzone tips and guides, be sure to hit up our guides and features hub.
