How to Become a Better Faster Smarter and More Lethal Call of Duty Player! Tutorial

How to Become a Better Faster Smarter and More Lethal Call of Duty Player!

I've been a fan player of shoot em ups as much as the next man, from the days of Streets of Rage and Double Dragon in the 80's to Golden Eye, Unreal Tournament and Quake in 90's. I used to play a lot of SOF and CS in the late 90's / early 2000's too. Suffice to say I enjoy playing FPS run and gun shoot em ups the most over any other game type or genre. I've played every COD game since 2003. COD 1/2/3. COD:4 Modern Warfare, World at War, MW2. Black Ops 1/2/3. COD: Ghosts, Advanced Warfare and probably Infinite Warfare when it's released.



The Call of Duty game franchise is one of the biggest games of any game franchise before it or since. It has more players playing COD games than any other game. Although numbers do drop down quite quickly because people get a bit bored of the game after a while (2-3 months) and then either stop playing it until a new map pack or game comes out...


So I've been playing COD for about 14 years now but whenever a new COD game comes out there are usually many new people that wish they knew how to play better and ask, how can I be a better Call of Duty player? Well here you can learn some tips on how to be a better, faster, smarter and much more lethal Call of Duty player!
You may have noticed that although with each new release of the game itself, something changes about it, whether it's the fighting style such as the new chain linked kills system enabling you to get more kills much quicker, or the weapons or gear or your players special abilities. Of course, it will help if you know how to use these systems, the weapons, gear and special abilities so you know how and when to use them depending on what situation you come across in the game or based on what the map or terrain you're fighting on is like.

Obvious examples include making sure to select the right loadout and choose the right type of weapons for the right type of map, terrain or environment. For instance, in large, wide open maps with a lot of space and high advantage points, you would probably do better with a marksman sniper rifle as your primary and pistol as your secondary. Where as on maps where there is not much open space and lots of corners and walls and building and things, you would be better choosing an assault or stealth loadout, with an assault rifle or sub-machine pistol as your primary and launcher or other lethal as your secondary with quick aim on.

Knowing the right loadout and weapons to use on the right map will put you one step ahead of your enemies that aren't. However you'll still need to be good using each loadout and some people do better using certain types of weapons and loadouts so really the best loadout and weapon for you will be the one you get the most kills in. Perhaps you're a distant and silent sniper killer, or you're the spray and pray AK47 warrior or you're Jason Bourne and you can use any weapon and loadout like you're a trained SAS soldier on steroids.

However despite all this, one thing remains and that is that you'll need to kill or be killed!

And like anything, the more you play it, the better you will become! The more you'll learn how to use your weapons and gear properly. The more you'll learn the maps you're playing on and become better on them. But of course to improve your play even more, here's some must have helpful COD fighting tips you can use and work on when playing to become a better, faster, smarter and more lethal player!

Map Knowledge and Awareness

Knowing the map you're playing on like the back of your hand will help loads! Knowing every crook and cranny, every hideout, vantage point, bottleneck and run throughs where there is action most the time will come in handy and help you to know what corners open up to exposure or places where ambush most likely happens. Or even knowing the best quiet spots where you can camp ahem, I mean, "defend" will all help on that map.

New players to any map, often get owned on that map by the players that have already learned and mastered it. Even the best COD players suffer from not having "the knowledge" on that map for a while at first! However new players also need to learn some map awareness and learn to use the tools you have to your advantage. Knowing where your enemies are is fine but knowing where your teammates are as well can help if you need backup or cover fire while you are running to deliver the flag or slam dunk the satellite! Knowing where they are means you can go that route and increase your chances of reaching your destination without getting murked!

One of the best ways to know who is where on the map is to use the Mini Map. It will always show on your screen (unless you're playing hardcore). And while you have an UAV up, the enemies will show as red dots and your teammates will show up as blue dots on the map. However one thing to note and say is that it only shows you where they were on the map during that UAV sweep (unless you have H.A.T.R. killstreak activated) in which case it will show everyone's exact location and direction they are heading.

Your Mini Map is the only thing you can use to see where the enemies are on the map so you should be using this and looking at this just as much as you're looking what's on your screen and in front of you or around you. You should use this like your life depends on it because it pretty much does! Many people don't look at it all the time and suffer because of it. But it pays to do so. And not just to see where your enemies are either. It pays to know where your teammates are too. Especially when playing capture the flag, demolition, domination or other such object based game mode.

Even for other game modes like Team Deathmatch, by checking the Mini Map you can see what parts of the map your teammates are covering and which they aren't. Then you can simply cover the parts of that map that aren't being covered and defended by them. This will increase your chances of getting a kill as you don't have any competition from your teammates!


It's annoying when other players don't check their Mini Map and cover the same areas on the map as I am. I end up moving away because usually I find they bait me up and get me killed lol. Plus it's better to make yourself more useful anyway and increase the amount of kills you can get rather than all fighting over and trying to shoot and kill the same guy.

Use Your Team Wisely!

Sticking with people helps! It's fun to run off on your own and go all commando but chances are you'll get dropped pretty quick the moment you turn a corner. What works better is sticking with your team. There is power in numbers so by sticking together there are more eyes covering more areas where enemies can appear from and you have much more chance of one of your teammates saving your life! What I sometimes like to do is trail people, so I'll cover them and stick near them. Sometimes this helps me avenge them as they were saw first giving me time to avenge my teammate and kill them before they can reload!

• Use your team wisely.
  
• Use them to your advantage.
  
• Play them at their own game.
  
• Hell, even use them as bait if you want like I do!
  

Another tip to increase your map awareness as well as helping your teammates to know where enemies are or are going to is to use call outs. You'll need to have a working mic for this and those other players will hear it when you talk. When you see an enemy run somewhere or they are engaging you, call them out and your location. If someone nearby hears it they could help you and save your life or even avenge you!

Now if you're playing solo as a lone wolf on your own and not with a group of friends in a squad or or a clan, this can still help. But if you're in a clan and you're all working together, one for all and all for one and all that, then you should be doing call outs all the time if you want your team to win the match. Most hardcore players will use call outs when playing. Whether playing on their own or with friends or a clan.

Weapon and Equipment Skills

Many COD players ask how can I get better gunskills? Or what is the best gun and lethal equipment to use? Which can you get the most kills with? Well like anything in life the more you use, the better you'll become at using it. However some people are more cut out for certain gun types over others. For example, some people are better cut out for using a fully automatic assault rifles, some people are better off using semi-autos and some people are better off using sniper rifles. What really matters and the way to know what the best weapon for you to use is the one you feel most comfortable with.

The best thing to do is try to stick with one gun type and learn and master that gun rather than cycling through lots of different weapons and not really getting used to each. It can take a fair while to get used to a gun and to become 'one' with it. My advice is to choose well rounded weapon like an assault rifle or sub-machine gun as these are good for almost any and every situation, map type and game mode.

How fast you move makes a real difference as well! How fast you look left or right or up and down. This can be adjusted using your control options sensitivity. The best and most recommended sensitivity setting is around 4-5. And more than this and you'll actually end up moving and turning too fast and that can knock you off target. Too slow and you'll take too long to turn or move or look down your scope and move or even hip fire.

Having the sensitivity just right is essential as too slow and you'll get shot before you even zero in and too fast and you'll be less accurate at hitting your mark.

There are many different secondary lethal weapons in COD BO3 now. From axes to crowbars to boxing gloves! Most earned from the Black Market or you can purchase them. There's a lot of default lethals though too like grenades, semtex, trip mines, thermite and C4. Including tactical equipment and gear like concussion and flash bangs, shock charges, smoke screens and EMP's and that Black Hat tool you can use to hack enemies scorestreaks with.

Knowing what equipment to use and when and on what map is going to come in handy. As is knowing what equipment your enemy might be using to counter these lethals and tactical gear with. Those wearing tactical masks and flak jackets aren't going to affected by your concussion and lethal grenades and other explosives. But if they're wearing that they are also vulnerable to other things like not having quick draw on!

Related video: Call of Duty THEN VS. NOW.
In this video Chuck goes over COD then vs now and the changes that have come including map packs/DLC, supply drops, DLC weapons and overall my opinion on each of the call of duty games and what they bring to the table.

Be Ready to Switch Classes

It's best to set up different classes with different weapons, gear and loadouts. You'll ideally want to have a class with a loadout on that is fast and lightweight, perhaps armed with a sub-machine gun and pistol with quick draw and fast reload. Along with dead silence on or Ghost so you are silent and hidden on the Mini Map. But you'll want to set up a class that has Flak Jacket on or Blind Eye so you can withstand everything the enemy throws or launches at you making you tougher to kill although possibly slower due to having some other defensive perk over being fast.

Stick To The Plan!

Whatever game mode or type you're playing. There will always be an objective. Whether it's just to get as many kills as possible or to do something like plant a bomb or capture a flag and return it to your zone. However there's a lot of players that go into games not sticking to the plan and playing it objectively as they should. When playing objective based games, don't just wander around the map looking for kills. You'll earn more XP and score that you can use to get skillstreaks with if you complete the objective of that game.

Mike's Ending Conclusion

Most highly skilled Call of Duty players follow these basic rules of play when doing so. They have their own skills, talents and abilities or unique style of play on the field. Those players that get the most kills and come top at the end of every match are the ones that consistently use these skills and tips when playing. There are many more tips and tricks that go into it, but if you can adopt at least some of these, you'll already have an advantage over your enemy players that don't and aren't. Throughout each franchise, these skills and tips can be applied in. So to go on and become a much better, faster, smarter and more lethal COD gamer. Know your Map Awareness, use your Teammates more effectively, know your Weapons and Equipment skills, stick to the plan and you will!

Thanks for reading. I hope you like it and will find these tips valuable!

Any comments, questions or anything just ask!

Thanks and good luck!

Mike.