The Tactical Rifle category has been unilaterally ruled by the M16 ever since its introduction to the game, and while we don’t see the CARV.2 overtaking it anytime soon unless the current king gets slapped with a few nerfs, if you equip the right attachments it will easily become a highly competitive and versatile weapon, capable of controlling different distances or simply spewing a high amount of damage. You’ll have to put in some work if you want to unlock the gun and perfect your loadout - here’s how.
Unlocking the CARV.2
As one of the mid-season weapons coming to Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Warzone, the CARV.2 requires players to complete a specific challenge tied to the weapon in order to be able to start using it in combat - of course, you can fork over 1,200 COD Points and start using the Konsole CARV.2 blueprint, but we wouldn’t recommend spending your currency on that right off the bat.
To unlock the CARV.2, you need to “rapidly kill two or more players using a Tactical Rifle across 10 matches”. The important thing to note here is that you really do need to score those ten rapid kills over 10 different matches, so if you (miraculously) manage to kill two or more players rapidly 10 times in a single match, that still counts as 1. Additionally, scoring the rapid kill and then leaving the match means it won’t be attributed, so you need to stick it out to the end of the match - which you really should be doing anyway. It’s just good sportsmanship. Regardless of whether you will be farming those rapid kills in multiplayer or Warzone, we recommend rolling with the M16, one of the absolute best Tactical Rifles in the game right now. The M16 has been around for a while so we’re going assume most of you have attachments unlocked for it - the best loadout for that gun consists of the Agency Silences Muzzle, the 16.3" Rapid Fire Barrel, the Millstop Reflex Optics, the Field Agent Foregrip Underbarrel and 45 Rnd ammo. If you don’t have these unlocked, your preferred M16 loadout should suffice. Players who own Black Ops Cold War have an easier job at this, since multiplayer matches are decidedly shorter and more fast paced than Warzone matches. Queue for Hardcore playlists, as these game modes give all players significantly lower health than the others. Sure, that means it’s harder for you as well, but you’re here to score rapid kills above all else. Warzone players will need to be more patient, as the same rule about having to score a rapid kill in 10 distinct matches remains - and remember, no quitting. Plunder is far and away the most efficient game mode for farming the CARV.2 challenge, thanks to the respawning mechanic. Falling in combat won’t grind your progress to a halt. Now all that remains is to score those rapid kills and unlock your own CARV.2!
The Best CARV.2 Loadouts
So what is it you’ve been working towards? The CARV.2 is a powerful bullpup Tactical Rifle designed to be effective at medium to long ranges, sporting large magazine sizes and advanced recoil control. Like any other weapon, this too can be extensively customized and fine-tuned using various attachments, making it better suited to your playstyle - but of course, there are ideal loadouts that rise above the competition. Different loadouts will work better for different purposes - we’ve collected the best ones based on what range you want to dominate, or if you want to crank the damage output to the theoretical maximum the CARV.2 supports. Let’s take a look at the loadouts.
All Purpose CARV.2 Loadout
Don’t want to commit to owning a specific range? Don’t worry, there is a great all-rounder CARV.2 loadout that will put you in a good place regardless of range, though it won’t be quite as effective at specific ranges than optimized loadouts. Sometimes versatility is worth more, however.
Muzzle: Agency Silencer Barrel: 20.8” Strike Team Optic: Visiontech 2x Underbarrel: Field Agent Foregrip Ammunition: 45 Rnd Drum
Many elements of our all-rounder loadout will pop up repeatedly in other loadouts too, but the differences are all the more important. The Agency Silencer is the current ‘best in show’ as far as muzzle attachments go in the Warzone meta, and you can’t go wrong with it here either. The Strike Team barrel will give you a useful rate of fire boost, whereas the Visiontech 2x optics will help with accuracy at most ranges - essentially all except the two extremes of very close and very far. Meanwhile the Field Agent Foregrip is another favored underbarrel attachment to keep that recoil in check. Finally, the 45 Rnd Drum won’t penalize your reload speeds too much while still helping you score multiple eliminations before running dry.
Close Range CARV.2 Loadout
Despite being billed as a medium-long range weapon, you can tweak the CARV.2 for short range shootouts with a bit of clever attachment selection.
Muzzle: Silencer Barrel: 20.8” Strike Team Optic: Sillix Holoscout Ammunition: 45 Rnd Drum Rear Grip: Serpent Wrap
The high round capacity and rapid rate of fire combined with the inherently good recoil control makes the CARV.2 well suited to close quarters combat, whatever the official description might say. You’ll notice a key difference here being that we swapped out the Agency Silencer for the regular one. This choice will make the weapon less effective at range, but will give you faster ADS and movement speeds. The Strike Team barrel is a great close quarters attachment due to the increase of fire rate, but keep in mind the caveat that unlike what the game would have you believe it does not increase bullet velocity - but that’s okay, we don’t need it to anyway. When it comes to sights, there is some flexibility afforded by this loadout. We wrote in the Sillix Holoscout as personal preference, but really, anything with a zoom less than 2x will work here. If you are up for a bit of experimentation, just keep the iron sights and use your attachment slot for something else entirely. Since fast response and reflexes become all the more important at short ranges, you need to further increase your ADS speed with the Serpent Wrap Rear Grip. Similarly, having to reload is all the more dangerous at close range, hence the 45 Rnd Drum - this is the extended mag that gets you the best balance between rounds and reload speed. You’ll see it being a returning element of our other loadouts too.
Long Range CARV.2 Loadout
You’re not going to be sniping anyone with the CARV.2, but it can still be a fearsome tool at long ranges with the right setup, but make sure to keep your enemies at a distance as this loadout suffers at close ranges.
Muzzle: Agency Silencer Barrel: 22.3” Cavalry Lancer Optic: Axial Arms 3x Underbarrel: Field Agent Foregrip Ammunition: 45 Rnd Drum
In terms of muzzle attachments, the Agency Silencer continues to outshine the competition with its powerful cocktail of damage range, bullet velocity and recoil mitigation bonuses as well as the obvious negation of your shots on enemy minimaps. The 22.3” Cavalry Lancer Barrel is another case of incorrect tooltip descriptions in-game. The attachment claims to increase vehicle damage, but this is nonsense - it grants you increased bullet velocity in practice, further increasing this loadout’s viability at long range. Axil Arms 3x gives you the kind of optical zoom needed to reliably land those shots at long range even with the higher recoil we’re dealing with here - something you can further decrease by using the Field Agent Foregrip Underbarrel, which mitigates both vertical and horizontal recoil. We’ve covered the benefits of using the 45 Rnd Drum earlier, so that should be pretty self explanatory. What you’ll need to pay attention to with this loadout is the recoil, which will be your biggest handicap when fighting at long range. This is not a spray and pray loadout - pick your targets carefully and shoot patiently.
Maximum Damage CARV.2 Loadout
If you absolutely, positively, definitely need to mow down opponents with little care for stats other than pure damage, this is the CARV.2 loadout for you. It’s usability is definitely… situational, but it can complement aggressive playstyles well despite its eccentricities.
Barrel: 18.9" Titanium Stock: Raider Pad Underbarrel: Field Agent Foregrip Rear Grip: Serpent Wrap Ammunition: 45 Rnd Drum
This particular combination of attachments will increase your rate of fire, ADS and movement speed at the expense of long-range effectivity. The Titanium barrel is what’s pushing up that RoF, while the Raider Pad and Serpent Wrap will help you stay mobile. The Field Agent Foregrip Underbarrel returns once again to help mitigate that wild recoil, and once again we meet our good friend, the 45 Rnd Drum. Some attachments you can really rely on in any situation. While the new Tactical Rifle didn’t upend the meta or dethrone the M16, with these loadouts you’ll be as competitive as anyone else in the game, and the CARV.2 in the right hands can be a winning gun. We’re interested to see how future balance tweaks will affect the rankings, but with a few key nerfs to other weapons, this futuristic looking gun might have a bright career ahead of it in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Warzone. For more loadout guides, click here.
