Post by acidsnow on Dec 10, 2009 13:54:52 GMT -5
Check out the pic at the bottom of this post!
Xbox 360
I've unlocked Extended Magazine for all the guns except the Snipers... Getting 40 FMJ kills with 23 different weapons, is a total of 920 kills - it's not easy when all you want is the 40 kills - just like "a watched pot ever boils." I'm not a huge fan of sniping so I'm saving them for last, but before I do that I wanted to make a topic to help others who are looking for some tips to unlock their e-mags. Before you read on, I want to bring to your attention that I'm probably one of the first gamers to unlock e-mags for every weapon, thus I consider myself a resident experts on all matter of penetration ;D. Note that I played low health Team Deathmatch where players only have 30HP to get most all of my penetration kills (pen-kills), but you can still get pen-kills in the normal gametypes, but it'll take a bit longer (especially with the SMGs). As a reference, once I unlocked FMJ (at 300 kills) it took me an average of 125 more kills to get the 40 needed pen-kills; that means 30% of my kills were pen-kills!
Extended Magazine magically adds 50% more bullets to your clip; but your overall ammo does not increase, just your clip size increases. So instead of having 2 extra mags of 30 ammo, you'll have one of 45.
Prologue
FMJ is very effective, in fact I use it in every game and on every weapon (except the SMGs). There's something awesome about killing someone who thinks their safe behind a brick wall, so before you read on I want start by describing how effective FMJ is.
Shotguns, SMGs, and Handguns (excluding the Magnum/DEagle) all have a low bullet penetration value. Assault Rifles, Sniper Rifles, and the Magnum/DEagle all have a high bullet penetration value. ...Naturally a higher pen-value means the weapon can shoot through thicker walls AND at a greater angle. Shooting at a wall straight on will yield the best bullet damage out the other side, and as you strafe [your character] left or right (but still aim at the same point) your angle of penetration increases - the result is lower damage out the other side as that angle increases, and eventually the angle will become so great that you'll no longer be able to penetrate the wall (essentially you've reached a point where the bullet would ricochet off [bullets don't actually ricochet, except off the Riot Shield]). Keep in mind that all glass windows have 100HP, and if you kill an enemy though a window it counts as a pen-kill (stopping power does not increase your damage to the glass).
STEP 1: weapon choice
The first step in learning how to penetrate walls is to understand how bullet damage is reduced when shooting though one (I'll get technical later)... Thus if you really want to learn how to penetrate walls then you first must get a 'feel' for which walls can be penetrated and which can't; the best way to get a feel for penetration is to use any of LMGs. The LMGs are a smart weapon class to start with due to their generous magazine size, they will give you the necessary amount of bullets to spray though a wall and get a feel for how many hits it takes to kill any opponent on the other side. Weapon choice is obviously important, and some weapons do more damage than others, thus from my experience I'll list them in order of penetrating ease, red is best yellow is average and green is poor (weapon damage courtesy of jlesaistu):
Assault Rifles
FAL: 55-35
TAR-21 : 40-30
AK-47: 40-30
Scar-H: 40-30
FAMAS: 40-30
M16: 40-30
M4: 30-20
F2000: 30-20
ACR: 30-20
SMG
UMP: 40-35
Mp5K: 40-20
P90: 30-20
UZI: 30-20
vector: 25-20
LMG
(damage when silenced)
RPD: 40-40 (30-30)
AUG: 40-40 (30-30)
L86: 40-40 (30-30)
MG4: 30-30 (20-20)
m240: 30-30 (20-20)
...As you can see there's a common theme in how I listed the weapons, higher damage is better than lower damage, and automatics are better than burst fire. The only exception is the FAL, which is a semi-auto; it was the last weapon I unlocked e-mags with, and oddly enough it seemed the most effective! I absolutely dominated with it, but then again I had unlocked 18 other weapons before it, so maybe I was just getting ridiculously good at getting pen-kills ;D
STEP 2: perks and weapon attachments
For Perk one I only used these three: Scavenger Pro, Slight of Hand Pro (SoH), and Bling Pro. Scavenger should be used with the SMGs or the Assault Rifles, there's no need for Scavenger with the LMGs, because you'll probably not run out of ammo before dying, but if you're just starting out [penetrating] and are still getting a 'feel' for how the bullets act, then it wouldn't hurt to use it to start with. I found using SoH with the LMGs was pretty useful, due to the faster aiming/reloading. I used Bling the least, but if you want to use it then I suggest you go FMJ/Silencer on the UMP and the Vector, because their max and min damage only vary by 5 points; so you're really not losing much overall effectiveness by silencing them. I personally used Bling with FMJ/Silencer on the RPD and the AUG, and when it comes time to use the L86 LSW, you will need a FMJ/Grip due to it's high recoil.
I found silencing my weapons to be a big help; because it removes the muzzle flash and when you're standing right in front of a wall and you don't have a Silencer on - that muzzle flash can sometimes disorientate you somewhat as it flashes like a strobe light... It's hard to explain, because you have to experience it to understand, but another benefit of a silenced FMJ gun is that your opponent will get so distracted by hearing the FMJ bullets hitting the walls around him he'll have no idea where you're firing from! Holographic/Red Dot Sight aren't needed on any weapon, and I don't recommend their use at all; once you get used to how your weapon fires, you should not ever need to use either sight (IMO they are always a waste of an attachment).
For Perk two I recommend Stopping Power for every weapon! Yes, you just read that correctly
Now before I get shot, let me explain: stopping power increases your damage by x1.4 so if your weapon deals 30 damage up close and 20 at a distance (like the M4A1) stopping power will increase that to 42 up close and 28 at a distance. ...Penetrating walls eventually becomes predictable, and after a few dozen-or-so kills though a particular wall with a particular weapon you'll begin to 'feel' how much you need to shoot to kill an opponent. ...The reason stopping power is so useful is because you never know at what angle you're going to be shooting though a wall to kill an opponent behind it; and it's always best to increase your damage with stopping power as much as possible to help counter the negative effects of 'off angle pen-kills.' Thus, when it comes to penetrating walls, stopping power is a no-brainer. However, if you play the low health gametypes, the FAL is the only weapon (other than the snipers) that doesn't need stopping power to be effective). Dealing 55 damage or more though a wall is usually a guaranteed one-hit-kill in the low health gametypes, because players only have 30HP. Dealing 40 damage will kill when aiming straight at a wall though most thin surfaces, but some brick walls may need 2 hits, that's why stopping power is so useful, because that 40 damage goes up to 56! It's a good rule that for any weapon dealing a max of 30 damage (in low health mode) you should use Stopping Power to make it a viable penetrater, but weapons that deal 40 can get by w/out it, because they will usually kill in 1 hit or possibly 2 hits (1 w/stopping power). ...SMG's always need stopping power when penetrating, otherwise it will take you a really long time to unlock e-mags.
For low health mode using FMJ bullets with high penetration (ARs):
20 damage: 2 hits straight though a standard brick wall, 3 at an angle
30 damage: 2 hits straight though a standard brick wall, 2 at an angle
40 damage: 1 hit straight though a standard brick wall, 2 at an angle
56 damage: 1 hit straight though a standard brick wall, 1 at an angle
For low health mode using FMJ bullets with low penetration (SMGs):
20 damage: 5 hits straight though a standard brick wall, 7 at an angle
30 damage: 4 hits straight though a standard brick wall, 6 at an angle
40 damage: 3 hits straight though a standard brick wall, 5 at an angle
56 damage: 2 hits straight though a standard brick wall, 4 at an angle
...From the above data, it's easy to see that SMG's are pretty terrible at penetrating a brick wall. Thus, you're better off not wasting FMJ as an attachment with the SMGs, except on very select-few maps.
For Perk three Ninja Pro is the best choice, especially if you play Search & Destroy, but Sitrep Pro is also a viable perk. Ninja Pro makes you invisible to enemy Heart Beat Sensors and your footsteps are 90% quieter. Sitrep Pro makes your footsteps, and those of your allies 75% quieter, and your enemies footsteps become 400% louder! I prefer Ninja over Sitrep because your own footsteps are 90% silent, and you're invisible to enemy HBSensors. I've noticed that after playing 34 days of CoD4 and 6 days of MW2 that the CoD community underestimates the power of Deep Impact and FMJ and rely on their eyes instead of their ears to get kills... Which is only natural, since most gamers don't have 5.1 surround sound. If you do happen to have 5.1 then you're in real luck, with a keen ear and an eye on your radar you should be able to determine where an enemy is [behind a wall] and kill him with some practice. I'd have to say that 5.1 is my secret to ownage with FMJ.
Equipment and Special Grenades
Because you'll probably be tactical loitering in particular parts of a map lying in wait for your next pen-kill it's a good idea to have Claymores to protect you from the direction you're not looking; even if your enemy destroys your claymore and he doesn't die, the explosion will still alert you to his presence and you can turn to kill him (this is where Scavenger comes in handy). I always used Flash Bang grenades because they have such a large area of effect that I'd throw them into a room and see if I get a hit marker, and if I do then I start spraying bullets - EZ kill!
Epilogue
As you can see from my stats, I'm a decent player, but my stats would be better if I hadn't used every single gun, and worked so hard to get the pen-kills. ...As you play for pen-kills you'll realize that there are certain parts of the maps you will always go to - because they have thinner walls. And sometimes those particular places in the maps aren't the easiest to defend, so death is inevitable. ...Recall from earlier how I said it takes me (on average) 125 kills with FMJ to get the 40 pen-kills, that's pretty remarkable if you think about it; I went to great lengths to unlock e-mags as fast as possible... Sometimes I'd do ridiculous stuff like put a "stop sing" in between my enemy and myself so I'd get the pen-kill. I recommend tactical loitering next to a wall that you know an enemy will come at you from behind, and just as you see him coming at you - strafe behind that wall and start shooting! Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't, I did some really crazy stuff to guarantee a pen-kill, and if you're eager to unlock e-mag for all your weapons, then you'll probably find yourself making a few sacrifices that you otherwise wouldn't.
And finally a list of the maps and how many pen-kills you can expect in each, I'll list them in order of penetrating ease, red is best and you can expect to average 7 pen-kills a map, yellow is average with 4 kills, and green is poor with a pitiful 1 pen-kill:
Favela, Scrapyard, Rundown, Skidrow, Karachi, Quarry, Invasion, Highrise, Underpass.
Sub Base, Estate, Derail.
Wasteland, Rust, Afghan.
As a final note it's worth mentioning that FMJ does NOT function on the SPAS-12 shotgun
I didn't prestige in CoD4 and I probably wont in MW2, there's no in-game benefit what-so-ever.
Xbox 360
I've unlocked Extended Magazine for all the guns except the Snipers... Getting 40 FMJ kills with 23 different weapons, is a total of 920 kills - it's not easy when all you want is the 40 kills - just like "a watched pot ever boils." I'm not a huge fan of sniping so I'm saving them for last, but before I do that I wanted to make a topic to help others who are looking for some tips to unlock their e-mags. Before you read on, I want to bring to your attention that I'm probably one of the first gamers to unlock e-mags for every weapon, thus I consider myself a resident experts on all matter of penetration ;D. Note that I played low health Team Deathmatch where players only have 30HP to get most all of my penetration kills (pen-kills), but you can still get pen-kills in the normal gametypes, but it'll take a bit longer (especially with the SMGs). As a reference, once I unlocked FMJ (at 300 kills) it took me an average of 125 more kills to get the 40 needed pen-kills; that means 30% of my kills were pen-kills!
Extended Magazine magically adds 50% more bullets to your clip; but your overall ammo does not increase, just your clip size increases. So instead of having 2 extra mags of 30 ammo, you'll have one of 45.
Prologue
FMJ is very effective, in fact I use it in every game and on every weapon (except the SMGs). There's something awesome about killing someone who thinks their safe behind a brick wall, so before you read on I want start by describing how effective FMJ is.
Shotguns, SMGs, and Handguns (excluding the Magnum/DEagle) all have a low bullet penetration value. Assault Rifles, Sniper Rifles, and the Magnum/DEagle all have a high bullet penetration value. ...Naturally a higher pen-value means the weapon can shoot through thicker walls AND at a greater angle. Shooting at a wall straight on will yield the best bullet damage out the other side, and as you strafe [your character] left or right (but still aim at the same point) your angle of penetration increases - the result is lower damage out the other side as that angle increases, and eventually the angle will become so great that you'll no longer be able to penetrate the wall (essentially you've reached a point where the bullet would ricochet off [bullets don't actually ricochet, except off the Riot Shield]). Keep in mind that all glass windows have 100HP, and if you kill an enemy though a window it counts as a pen-kill (stopping power does not increase your damage to the glass).
STEP 1: weapon choice
The first step in learning how to penetrate walls is to understand how bullet damage is reduced when shooting though one (I'll get technical later)... Thus if you really want to learn how to penetrate walls then you first must get a 'feel' for which walls can be penetrated and which can't; the best way to get a feel for penetration is to use any of LMGs. The LMGs are a smart weapon class to start with due to their generous magazine size, they will give you the necessary amount of bullets to spray though a wall and get a feel for how many hits it takes to kill any opponent on the other side. Weapon choice is obviously important, and some weapons do more damage than others, thus from my experience I'll list them in order of penetrating ease, red is best yellow is average and green is poor (weapon damage courtesy of jlesaistu):
Assault Rifles
FAL: 55-35
TAR-21 : 40-30
AK-47: 40-30
Scar-H: 40-30
FAMAS: 40-30
M16: 40-30
M4: 30-20
F2000: 30-20
ACR: 30-20
SMG
UMP: 40-35
Mp5K: 40-20
P90: 30-20
UZI: 30-20
vector: 25-20
LMG
(damage when silenced)
RPD: 40-40 (30-30)
AUG: 40-40 (30-30)
L86: 40-40 (30-30)
MG4: 30-30 (20-20)
m240: 30-30 (20-20)
...As you can see there's a common theme in how I listed the weapons, higher damage is better than lower damage, and automatics are better than burst fire. The only exception is the FAL, which is a semi-auto; it was the last weapon I unlocked e-mags with, and oddly enough it seemed the most effective! I absolutely dominated with it, but then again I had unlocked 18 other weapons before it, so maybe I was just getting ridiculously good at getting pen-kills ;D
STEP 2: perks and weapon attachments
For Perk one I only used these three: Scavenger Pro, Slight of Hand Pro (SoH), and Bling Pro. Scavenger should be used with the SMGs or the Assault Rifles, there's no need for Scavenger with the LMGs, because you'll probably not run out of ammo before dying, but if you're just starting out [penetrating] and are still getting a 'feel' for how the bullets act, then it wouldn't hurt to use it to start with. I found using SoH with the LMGs was pretty useful, due to the faster aiming/reloading. I used Bling the least, but if you want to use it then I suggest you go FMJ/Silencer on the UMP and the Vector, because their max and min damage only vary by 5 points; so you're really not losing much overall effectiveness by silencing them. I personally used Bling with FMJ/Silencer on the RPD and the AUG, and when it comes time to use the L86 LSW, you will need a FMJ/Grip due to it's high recoil.
I found silencing my weapons to be a big help; because it removes the muzzle flash and when you're standing right in front of a wall and you don't have a Silencer on - that muzzle flash can sometimes disorientate you somewhat as it flashes like a strobe light... It's hard to explain, because you have to experience it to understand, but another benefit of a silenced FMJ gun is that your opponent will get so distracted by hearing the FMJ bullets hitting the walls around him he'll have no idea where you're firing from! Holographic/Red Dot Sight aren't needed on any weapon, and I don't recommend their use at all; once you get used to how your weapon fires, you should not ever need to use either sight (IMO they are always a waste of an attachment).
For Perk two I recommend Stopping Power for every weapon! Yes, you just read that correctly
Now before I get shot, let me explain: stopping power increases your damage by x1.4 so if your weapon deals 30 damage up close and 20 at a distance (like the M4A1) stopping power will increase that to 42 up close and 28 at a distance. ...Penetrating walls eventually becomes predictable, and after a few dozen-or-so kills though a particular wall with a particular weapon you'll begin to 'feel' how much you need to shoot to kill an opponent. ...The reason stopping power is so useful is because you never know at what angle you're going to be shooting though a wall to kill an opponent behind it; and it's always best to increase your damage with stopping power as much as possible to help counter the negative effects of 'off angle pen-kills.' Thus, when it comes to penetrating walls, stopping power is a no-brainer. However, if you play the low health gametypes, the FAL is the only weapon (other than the snipers) that doesn't need stopping power to be effective). Dealing 55 damage or more though a wall is usually a guaranteed one-hit-kill in the low health gametypes, because players only have 30HP. Dealing 40 damage will kill when aiming straight at a wall though most thin surfaces, but some brick walls may need 2 hits, that's why stopping power is so useful, because that 40 damage goes up to 56! It's a good rule that for any weapon dealing a max of 30 damage (in low health mode) you should use Stopping Power to make it a viable penetrater, but weapons that deal 40 can get by w/out it, because they will usually kill in 1 hit or possibly 2 hits (1 w/stopping power). ...SMG's always need stopping power when penetrating, otherwise it will take you a really long time to unlock e-mags.For low health mode using FMJ bullets with high penetration (ARs):
20 damage: 2 hits straight though a standard brick wall, 3 at an angle
30 damage: 2 hits straight though a standard brick wall, 2 at an angle
40 damage: 1 hit straight though a standard brick wall, 2 at an angle
56 damage: 1 hit straight though a standard brick wall, 1 at an angle
For low health mode using FMJ bullets with low penetration (SMGs):
20 damage: 5 hits straight though a standard brick wall, 7 at an angle
30 damage: 4 hits straight though a standard brick wall, 6 at an angle
40 damage: 3 hits straight though a standard brick wall, 5 at an angle
56 damage: 2 hits straight though a standard brick wall, 4 at an angle
...From the above data, it's easy to see that SMG's are pretty terrible at penetrating a brick wall. Thus, you're better off not wasting FMJ as an attachment with the SMGs, except on very select-few maps.
For Perk three Ninja Pro is the best choice, especially if you play Search & Destroy, but Sitrep Pro is also a viable perk. Ninja Pro makes you invisible to enemy Heart Beat Sensors and your footsteps are 90% quieter. Sitrep Pro makes your footsteps, and those of your allies 75% quieter, and your enemies footsteps become 400% louder! I prefer Ninja over Sitrep because your own footsteps are 90% silent, and you're invisible to enemy HBSensors. I've noticed that after playing 34 days of CoD4 and 6 days of MW2 that the CoD community underestimates the power of Deep Impact and FMJ and rely on their eyes instead of their ears to get kills... Which is only natural, since most gamers don't have 5.1 surround sound. If you do happen to have 5.1 then you're in real luck, with a keen ear and an eye on your radar you should be able to determine where an enemy is [behind a wall] and kill him with some practice. I'd have to say that 5.1 is my secret to ownage with FMJ.
Equipment and Special Grenades
Because you'll probably be tactical loitering in particular parts of a map lying in wait for your next pen-kill it's a good idea to have Claymores to protect you from the direction you're not looking; even if your enemy destroys your claymore and he doesn't die, the explosion will still alert you to his presence and you can turn to kill him (this is where Scavenger comes in handy). I always used Flash Bang grenades because they have such a large area of effect that I'd throw them into a room and see if I get a hit marker, and if I do then I start spraying bullets - EZ kill!
Epilogue
As you can see from my stats, I'm a decent player, but my stats would be better if I hadn't used every single gun, and worked so hard to get the pen-kills. ...As you play for pen-kills you'll realize that there are certain parts of the maps you will always go to - because they have thinner walls. And sometimes those particular places in the maps aren't the easiest to defend, so death is inevitable. ...Recall from earlier how I said it takes me (on average) 125 kills with FMJ to get the 40 pen-kills, that's pretty remarkable if you think about it; I went to great lengths to unlock e-mags as fast as possible... Sometimes I'd do ridiculous stuff like put a "stop sing" in between my enemy and myself so I'd get the pen-kill. I recommend tactical loitering next to a wall that you know an enemy will come at you from behind, and just as you see him coming at you - strafe behind that wall and start shooting! Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't, I did some really crazy stuff to guarantee a pen-kill, and if you're eager to unlock e-mag for all your weapons, then you'll probably find yourself making a few sacrifices that you otherwise wouldn't.
And finally a list of the maps and how many pen-kills you can expect in each, I'll list them in order of penetrating ease, red is best and you can expect to average 7 pen-kills a map, yellow is average with 4 kills, and green is poor with a pitiful 1 pen-kill:
Favela, Scrapyard, Rundown, Skidrow, Karachi, Quarry, Invasion, Highrise, Underpass.
Sub Base, Estate, Derail.
Wasteland, Rust, Afghan.
As a final note it's worth mentioning that FMJ does NOT function on the SPAS-12 shotgun
I didn't prestige in CoD4 and I probably wont in MW2, there's no in-game benefit what-so-ever.
Attachments:
But it's not as useful as Ninja Pro. Especially in Search & Destroy gametypes.
