Call of Duty: Weapon Attachment System Leaves Black Ops 6 Players Frustrated
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 has released and brought with it brand new weapons, maps, zombies, etc. The new title has been heavily looked forward to by fans after a successful beta test last month.
One of the most common ways players like to progress through Call of Duty titles is by getting their favorite weapons fully kitted out in the best attachments. Whether you're a brand new player or a seasoned veteran, unlocking all the attachments on your favorite weapon and figuring out the various ways to build it is a fun way to play the game.
However, Black Ops 6 has handled weapon progression in a strange manner. The design leaves a lot to be desired and alienates many players from being able to maximize their favorite guns potential.
Related Article: Every Perk & Combat Specialty in Black Ops 6 Explained
How Does Unlocking Attachments In Black Ops 6 Work?
Attachments are unlocked by leveling up your weapon's level. Each weapon has its own specific weapon level. To use the XM4 as an example, as you do things with the XM4, you gain XM4 experience and level it up. The XM4 has 48 total levels and you'll unlock various attachments for it while leveling it up. Overall, the weapon progression in Black Ops 6 works well and is far better than Infinity Ward's last offering in MW2 2022. However, it has one key flaw.
For added context to the screenshot above, it was taken while in the Gunsmith for the XM4 and NOT the AS VAL. This highlights the number the issue with weapon progression in Black Ops 6. Again, just using this as an example, to use the Kepler Microflex optic on the XM4, you need to level the AS VAL to weapon level 5.
That may not sound like a huge issue on the surface. It makes sense to incentivize players to try out other guns, and getting a weapon to level 5 doesn't take long. However, when you dive deeper you see how incredibly flawed this design choice is.
For instance, the XM4 is the default assault rifle made available to players from the get go. The AS VAL is the final assault rifle unlocked which isn't unlocked until level 55. In order to use this red dot sight on the default assault rifle, you have to grind to level 55 and then use the AS VAL until the attachment is unlocked.
This can be cheesed if you're able to pick up a certain weapon you need off a dead body enough to reach the level needed for whatever attachment you want, but that's obviously not consistent or the intended way of obtaining these attachments.
For some reason, this only applies to the optics attachments. Every other attachment slot is specific to each gun as it should be. Many of the optics in the game are mostly interchangeable. A red dot sight is just the same as any other red dot sight, and they have minimal impact on the stats of your weapon. Unless you're looking for a specific level of magnification, it mostly just comes down to which you find it easiest to find and track targets.
By no means is this game breaking. It's just an odd design choice that interrupts an otherwise satisfying weapon progression system that feels rewarding to go through. There are a decent amount of attachment options for each gun that's done in a way that feels more natural and less overbearing than previous CoD titles (such as MW2019 or MW2 2022).
What Do Attachments in Black Ops 6 Do?
Weapons have 4 main stats in Call of Duty Black Ops 6: Firepower, Accuracy, Mobility, and Handling. Each stat refers to something different and effects how the gun operates in a different way.
Firepower refers to have much damage each shot does and the bullet's velocity. Bullet velocity influences a weapon's falloff range or the distance it can be shot from before it starts dealing less damage. Accuracy refers to a weapon's bullet spread as well as its horizontal and vertical recoil. Mobility refers to how fast you are while running around with the weapon. Handling refers to the weapon's sprint-to-shoot speed.
Every attachment in Black Ops 6 does something from increasing bullet damage through walls, increasing the headshot multiplier, or making recoil more manageable. Not every attachment influences one of those four stats, but most do. Some attachments influence those stats in negative ways. When deciding whether or not to use an attachment or not, it's important to consider what your end goal is (all movement speed or all recoil control as examples) and whether or not the negatives of a specific attachment are worth dealing with for the positives.
