The Striker’s time-to-kill speed doesn’t jump off the page, but the SMG’s reliability in medium-range engagements puts it a tier above other options in Warzone.
Warzone’s short-range meta has been in constant flux over the first few weeks of action. At first, MW2’s Fennec 45 separated itself from the rest of the pack, but Raven Software stepped in and nerfed the high-powered SMG’s damage as part of the Dec. 14 update.
That very same update paved a path for Akimbo snakeshot TYRs to take over the game’s short-range meta. Instead of nerfing the controversial weapon’s damage, the patch allowed players to take down enemies in one shot. The devs acted quickly and disabled snakeshot ammunition, but they weren’t out of the woods yet.
Warzone needed another emergency hot-fix to remove an attachment that transformed the Lockwood 300 into a one-shot killing machine. With weapons finally being in a balanced state, it’s opened the door for SMGs like the Striker to shine.
Striker dominates medium-range gunfights in Warzone
According to WZ Ranked, the Striker is the second most popular MW3 SMG in Warzone. CoD YouTuber JGOD dove into statistics to discover why the SMG has recently become so popular.
First, JGOD looked at the Striker’s TTK speed, and it surprisingly ranked dead last at 651 milliseconds compared to the best SMG at 600 milliseconds, but the YouTuber explained why that number is ‘
“deceptive.”
Using data provided by TrueGameData, JGOD used the shot location tool to finally uncover why players love the Striker so much.
While firing at an enemy between 6.3 and 19.5 meters away, the ISO 9mm is unforgiving because if you mistakingly hit an enemy’s legs twice instead of the chest or head, the weapon’s TTK suffers a drop-off.
“So although the ISO 9mm is good and has a 600ms TTK, it can have a bad TTK very quickly,” JGOD explained.
When you look at the Striker’s shot location chart from 6.3 to 19.5 meters away, hitting a headshot with just one of seven bullets improves the TTK speed, and the SMG doesn’t punish players for missing shots to any other extremity like other SMGs.
The Striker’s ability to shred through enemies in medium-range gunfights without punishing players for being inaccurate is what makes up for otherwise lackluster damage output.
Best Striker build in Warzone season one
Here is JGOD’s go-to Striker loadout.
- Muzzle: Sonic Suppressor
- Barrel: Striker Elite Long Barrel
- Underbarrel: XRK Edge BW-4 Handstop
- Magazine: 40 Round Mag
- Stock: Lachmann MK2 Light
This loadout improves horizontal recoil, so picking off enemies farther away is easy. If you are tired of your SMG suffering from glaring gun kick issues, give this Striker build a try.
