Keep running into my bullets - I might run out eventually.

As you can probably tell by now, I play a good bit of Call of Duty 4. While I've talked builds to death in here, builds really aren't supremely important in the big picture of playing and winning games. Things like strategy and teamwork are much more vital. I know serveral good people that I play with regularly, and we've learned how to work well together as a team as well as formulating effective strategies. When playing with a full team of 6 of these guys, losing a game is a very rare occurrence.

As far as strategy goes, I like to keep things as simple as possible. We want to have as much of an advantage over the enemy as possible. In Team Deathmatch this means gaining the lead and forcing the enemy to encounter us in situations where we are more likely to walk away with the kill.

Well, that sounds simple enough, but what does that mean?


Vacant Setup, stolen from CodeMonkey

Take the above image of a setup on the map 'Vacant' as an example. Red dots being the approximate location of our team members and white cones being their approximate fields of fire. Each person gets a small area to cover. When put together, these small areas cover every possible route out of the building. No matter which way the enemy comes, someone will be looking that way, which is an advantage for us.

When covering an area, I like to have a spot where I am:

- at least partially concealed by an object.
- a fair distance from where the enemy will become visible.
- or both.

These factors make it harder for the enemy to see me, and therefore, harder to kill me. To put things really simply: We sit in certain spots and wait for the enemy to run into our gun sights. This is commonly known as "camping". In practice, our strategy is a little more varied than this, but this is the main component of the strategy.

Now, is camping an unbeatable strategy? Not at all. However, countering a camping strategy DOES require thought and teamwork. Fortunately for us, these 2 things seem to be in short supply on Xbox Live, based on what I've seen.

This strategy works because the vast majority of the time, the enemy is extremely predictable and impatient. When I am watching a doorway and someone rushes blindly around the corner guns blazing only to get mowed down, the most common response I've seen (by far) is for them to try the exact same thing again, seemingly expecting a different result. The result is almost never different. When the game is over and the enemy has lost, I get to hear shrill and profane complaints about my camping.

I realize that I'm probably kind of a jerk, but I find it funny when people yell and complain at me because they were predictable. It's even funnier when you realize that someone who is camping is even more predictable. Yet, they've still failed to overcome that, and that somehow means there's something wrong with how I played the game. If I can rack up 15 kills and 0 deaths by sitting in one spot, that's not my fault, that's yours.

What the hell, Tofu?

While it's certainly true that not all builds are created equal in the world of Call of Duty 4, the balance of power between each weapon is very good, and Infinity Ward deserves great praise for that. The build featured in this post is an example of a rather sub-standard build. The fact that my friend Tofu created this build, and then proceeded to do well with it is testament to how good the weapon balance is in this game.

Now, while this definitely isn't a great build, it's far from the worst build you could possibly have. In fact, while I was writing this post, I started thinking about what the worst build I could possibly make would look like, and this is what I came up with:



Now you see why I chose to hide this abortion. Do not use this build. Ever.


As you can see, you really have to make an effort to make an outright terrible build in this game. The thing is, though, that no matter what choices you make in making a build, you'll probably still be able to get kills with your build if you play smart. Of course, you could make a bad build on purpose if you wanted to add some challenge to the game. I suppose there could be some fun in knowing you killed someone with the worst build ever.

Yelzan's (no longer) Weekly Call of Duty 4 'Ass' build #4

Yup, I figure there's no point in calling these things "weekly" if I can't keep myself on schedule. I'll just add more of these whenever instead of just not adhering to a schedule, so I'll never be 'late' again.

This build focuses on the M203 rifle-mounted grenade launcher. It's ability to kill not only with a direct hit, but by landing a shot near the enemy has earned it the nickname "n00b t00b" online, which is where I got the name of this build from. This build takes using the grenade launcher to the extreme, using overkill to carry another assault rifle, as well as another grenade launcher and the 2 extra grenades it comes with.

Now, with 4 grenade launcher shots every life at your disposal, you'll be able to lay down an impressive barrage of frustrating explosive death on the enemy. But if you do happen to get killed, martyrdom might catch the enemy off guard, and is always good for frustrating the opposition further. If you happen to run out of shots for the grenade launcher, I've chosen the G3 assault rifle to pick off enemies at mid to long range, and the M4 Carbine for close quarters situations.

The grenade launcher does not work well in close range situations unless you can score a direct hit. I would recommend keeping the M4 at the ready to shoot anyone who might get too close, and then switch to the grenade launcher to pop someone at optimal distance when the opportunity presents itself. Have fun, and happy t00bin'.

Yelzan's Weekly Call of Duty 4 'Ass' build #3

Better late than never, it's another CoD4 build meant to cause delicious rage and tears. The Stab build is not my own creation, but rather, a build that I have seen others use to great effect. "Run and Gun" style players need not apply; this build is all about patience and stealth. You have to be stealthy enough to get within melee range without being detected, and you have to be patient enough to know when to strike and when to lie still. Failing to be stealthy or patient enough will earn you nothing but a free lead salad.

First of all, it's not shown in the image, but your primary weapon for this build is going to be a sniper rifle. This gives you the benefit of having a ghillie suit on some maps, which will help greatly in concealing yourself. For the most part, you're going to have your silenced pistol out so that the enemy won't see a big rifle sticking out of the grass, and possibly to pick off enemies that are near impossible to approach without being detected (such as on a roof). The bomb squad perk is used to avoid explosive traps set by people who are usually camping beyond said trap. UAV Jammer is used to keep you from ever showing up on enemy radar. Dead Silence is used because chances are that the enemy will almost never stand still long enough for you to crawl up to them to stab them, so you'll have to stand up and charge them eventually, and it works a lot better if they don't hear you crashing through the grass behind them like a noisy-ass horse. The smoke grenade is used to provide you some additional cover if there is a particularly open area you'd like to cross without being seen.

In order to be effective, it's good to have some knowledge of the maps. Mostly, it's good to know the popular spots of the map where people hang out, and the routes people take to get there. Basically speaking, you want to lie prone in an area that will allow you to get close to the enemy without them seeing you. Wait until the enemy passes, and then strike them from behind. It is extremely important to not move at all while the enemy is looking in your direction, or chances are very high that you will be seen. If you want some more insight into this style of play, a friend of mine who has an (unhealthy?) obsession with this build wrote his own guide about it.

Yelzan's Weekly Call of Duty 4 'Ass' build #2

Another week, another Call of Duty 4 build to get your opponents mad enough at you to question your sexuality as loudly as they can. The Death Cannon is pretty much the complete opposite of last week's build. Instead of mowing people down in a hail of bullets, one precise shot is all that is needed to drop foes. Another unique weapon/attachment combination effect is to blame for this one. All snipers, including the M40A3, does 70 base damage per shot (In normal modes, everyone has 100 health). The ACOG scope, however, adds 5 damage to the M40A3, which pushes it over an important threshold: the point where stopping power will make a single shot do over 100 base damage. So, any shot to a non-juggernaut enemy will kill that enemy, no matter whether you hit them in the head or in the foot. The most important thing to remember when using this build is that sniper rifles with the ACOG scope attached should be treated more like an assault rifle; don't try to make extreme distance shots with this build. Really, the slot 1 and slot 3 perks are optional, but I just happen to prefer the claymores and the steady aim for an already accurate Desert Eagle, but you can pick what you want. And remember: one shot, one kill; because with a bolt-action rifle, you might not get a second shot.

Yelzan's Weekly Call of Duty 4 'Ass' build #1

Sometimes when I play Call of Duty 4, I feel like doing things differently. The old "M16, Red Dot, Stopping Power" builds get boring after a while, so I look for weapon/attachment and perk combinations that let me play the game a little bit differently and have a bit of fun. I call these builds 'Ass' builds because a lot of the time if these builds prove particularly effective against an opponent, said opponent will likely view you as 'an Ass' and may voice his displeasure at you. If this happens, I consider the build a success.

This week, I present to you the M249 P90. A purely 'Run and Gun' build. When a grip is added to the M249 SAW, it has the unique effect of increasing it's hip-fire accuracy. Combine this with the Steady Aim perk and you basically have a P90 with a 100 round magazine. Hold down the trigger and walk forward to mow down whatever stands in between you and your destination.

what?

There is nothing to see here. Move along.