Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - Assault Killstreaks

The Assault Killstreak package when used right can be one of the best ways to consistently boost your kill-death ratio.

Why use the Assault Killstreak package?

Obviously it all comes down to preference, but from my experience you’ll more often than not get the best kill-death ratios from using the Assault Killstreak package in the correct way. The Specialist package whilst great once you reach your bonus, still leaves you vulnerable and you’ll die in the same amount of bullets. This means that if someone hits you with a few lucky shots or you’re not watching every direction and get agonisingly shot in the back then you have to start the whole process over again. With the Assault package once you get that Predator Missile or Attack Helicopter there’s no taking it away from you and you’ll still get the same result from using it regardless.

The Support Killstreak package whilst easy to obtain what you want from it and is great for helping your team mates in a game of Domination or Search and Destroy, it doesn’t possess the necessary equipment to rack up those kills – Stealth Bomber aside. So in short the Assault package is the one you want if you’re looking to do some serious damage and get those 25-0 Team Deathmatch games on a semi-regular basis.

What does each Killstreak do exactly?

Each kill should be reduced by one if using Hardline as your second perk, which I highly recommend. It’s also a good idea to work towards Hardline Pro as two assists counting towards one kill can be invaluable and make or break reaching your next target.

3 Kills – UAV
This shows up enemies on the minimap, excluding those using the Assassin perk. While this can be useful in locating enemies, more often than not one of your teammates will be running it and do the job for you. For me this isn’t really needed unless you’re playing a very cautious game.

4 Kills – Care Package
This drops a random Assault Killstreak for you. Obviously the chances of you getting an Osprey Gunner are a lot slimmer than you simply getting a UAV, and having to wait for it to drop leaves you vulnerable on the ground. Any subsequent kills you get from the package also don’t count towards any further Killstreaks, which is a bit stupid. I used to use these early on in my Modern Warfare 3 career, but soon realised they’re a lot more hassle than they’re worth.

5 Kills – IMS
This is a detonation device that blows up a maximum of four times when an enemy comes within its vicinity. It’s great for small tight maps, especially when you place them around corners. The only problem is when you’re in these high traffic areas you’re likely to get shot whilst placing them down, and they’re also pretty easy to take out with a single clip from most guns.

5 Kills – Predator Missile
This allows you to remote control a Predator Missile from the sky. For me this is the foundation of any Assault package you are using. This should always be in your first slot no matter what because with Hardline it only requires 4 kills and you usually always get an additional one to two kills with it – if you’re lucky even more – and that puts you well on your way to your next slot.

5 Kills – Sentry Gun
This gives you a placeable Sentry Gun that comes via a care package. As already discussed, airdrop packages leave you vulnerable and let the enemies know where you are. Then once you get the thing it’s easily destroyed by an EMP grenade or Flashbang grenade plus melee attack. A fun strategy is to run around placing it down when you see an enemy in front of you, but if not executed correctly you’ll die quickly. For me this is one to avoid.

6 Kills – Precision Air-strike
This calls in a directional airstrike on the map. These are great if you know the enemy is near a Domination point or are huddled in a certain area of the map, but are very much hit and miss. The best use of these is probably in Ground War where there are more targets and more chances to rack up those kills.

7 Kills – Attack Helicopter
This calls in a support helicopter that will take a designated flight path around the map and kill enemies that it encounters. These can usually bag you a few kills, depending on how adept the enemy team are at shooting them down. I personally always run an anti-air support class with a Stinger launcher that takes down these in a single shot.

9 Kills – Strafe Run
This sends five attack choppers across the map in the direction of your choosing. They will shoot down any enemy that crosses their path and then make a return journey back the way they came. For me this is the most pointless Assault Killstreak in the game, especially for a hefty 9 kills. Whenever the enemy uses this against me, I take out the entire 5 before they make one sweep. By shooting the second chopper to the left of the 5 this takes out the left 3, and then I finish them off by shooting one of the remaining two, which takes both down. Because they fly in a line, any you destroy will take out all adjacent choppers and allows the enemy to build up their own Killstreaks far too easily.

9 Kills – AH-6 Overwatch
This gives you personal air support from a guardian chopper and follows you around from above killing enemies that get in your path. The range is fairly decent and if you position yourself right on the map and avoid dying then it can become the most useful chopper in the game. The only hindrance is it gives away your position for all to see, so it’s your job to make sure your air support gets to them first.

9 Kills – Reaper
This lets you fire laser missiles remotely from the Reaper UAV. It can be tricky to handle at first, but if and when you get the hang of it you can guide these bad boy’s through windows of hard to reach places, under shelters and other hiding spots that the enemy thinks they’re safe in. The only problem is they can blow up friendly air support on their way down if you’re not careful and do more damage than good. The fact that they’re down after two missiles doesn’t help either.

10 Kills – Assault Drone
This airdrops an Assault Drone that you can remotely control and drive around the map. The Drone has a machine gun and a timed missile that can be fired every few seconds; it can also take a fair amount of damage. This is probably the only air-droppable Killstreak worth using and if you stay out of large groups of enemies then you can pick off a fair few players with this little guy.

12 Kills – AC-130
This puts you in control of a gunner on an AC-130 and lets you rain down misery on your enemies. If used correctly this is one of the most powerful weapons on the game. I use a combination of the most powerful shots and a few medium shots dotted around the map to rack up some serious collateral with this thing. Like the Reaper it can be shot down with two missiles, but if you’re vigilant enough in whose firing and where you can kill anti-air players and buy yourself some time.

12 Kills – Pavelow
This calls in a heavily armoured assault helicopter. The Pavelow is one of the more solid and reliable allies on the game. It usually takes two shots to take it down and because it seeks out enemies and kills them in next to no time at all you’re almost guaranteed a handful of kills with it.

15 Kills – Juggernaut Suit
This lets you receive advanced armour via care package. This Killstreak disappoints me somewhat, because not only do you have to hope nobody kills you and takes the airdrop from you, but when you have it you move that slow and show up on every radar in the game that it renders you pretty ineffective. If this is the Killstreak you’re adamant on using you better have a good strategy to back it up.

17 Kills – Osprey Gunner
This allows you to take control of a gunner that flies around the map from a point of your choosing and additionally drops care packages on the ground that you can protect for yourself or your teammates. For me, this is the best Killstreak on the game and allows you to seek out enemies from the air easily and with devastating effect. It may be huge and therefore shot down easily, but if you’re quick enough in killing anything that moves then they won’t stand a chance.

What should I take into consideration?

Now that you’ve had a breakdown of what is available and what each one is useful and not so useful at doing it’s time to plan a strategy. There are a few things to take into consideration when filling your three slots and these are: the map you’re playing on, the players you’re playing against, and the mode you’re playing in. Once all of these have been weighed up you can choose the appropriate package that is going to get you the best results possible and having these premade in your custom classes will save you a hell of a lot of time.

For example, if you’re playing on Lockdown, which is littered with building’s and places the enemy may find cover, you’re not going to want a Reaper in your selection as you’ll probably get very few kills from it. The Reaper is much more suited to maps like Mission and Village where there are very few places to hide. The same way as you’re not going to want to probably stick an Osprey Gunner on when playing Team Deathmatch as the games generally don’t go on that long and with six team members all going for those 75 kills it leaves very little room for error. The Osprey Gunner is much more suited to a game of Domination, which lasts a considerably longer time.

Lastly, who you’re playing should be a vital part of your decision-making process and is often overlooked. People usually stick to the strike package they have no matter what the circumstances and the majority of the time they’re wasted. You don’t want to be equipping the highest Killstreaks possible if you’re up against six 15^th prestige’s, all with kill-death ratios of 2.00 or above, because more often than not you’re going to get mowed down before you reach your goal, even if you take an overly cautious approach.

What 3 Killstreaks should I use?

If you couldn’t be bothered to read above or simply want a quick recap of the only real Assault Killstreaks that I believe you should be using then they are as follows: Predator Missile, Precision Air-strike, Attack Helicopter, AH-6 Overwatch, Reaper, Assault Drone, AC-130, Pavelow, and Osprey Gunner. Now all that’s left is to find an easy way to string them together. As stated above, I believe every first slot should be taken by your Predator Missile as a base to work off of.

Each kill should be reduced by one if using Hardline as your second perk, which I highly recommend. It’s also a good idea to work towards Hardline Pro as two assists counting towards one kill can be invaluable and make or break reaching your next target.

Bombardment

5 Kills – Predator Missile
6 Kills – Precision Air-strike
7 Kills – Attack Helicopter

This setup can be a pain in the backside for the enemy team and is particularly good for those who struggle to rack up a lot of kills or those who are up against some pretty capable players. Once you get your Predator then all you need is one kill for your Air-strike and so on. You may even get a double or more with your initial missile and have two streaks to use instantly. If you can stay out of harm’s way once this sequence has been started then you can keep it going for a pretty long time.

Reapin’ It Up

5 Kills – Predator Missile
7 Kills – Attack Helicopter
9 Kills – Reaper

This is a standard setup that a lot of people use because it’s only a two kill step to each Killstreak. Usually if you can get that Predator out in a safe place then a Double Kill is all you need to get your chopper out. Then as you remain in that safe place you can sit pretty until your chopper takes out a further two enemies and that’s when you can do some real damage with your star of the show – the Reaper.

Death From Above

5 Kills – Predator Missile
9 Kills – Reaper
12 Kills – AC-130

This is the current setup I use and while it’s tricky to get those four initial kills and then a few more after your Predator Missile, once that feat is achieved and you get hold of that Reaper you’re going to have the enemy team squirming. Three kills in your Reaper and you already have your AC-130 ready to roll once you’re finished and then it’s straight back into that to cause further chaos.

Get to the Chopper

5 Kills – Predator Missile
9 Kills – AH-6 Overwatch
12 Kills – Pavelow

Similar to the one above, but on maps where it’s hard to shoot down enemies with those Killstreaks this package does it for you. Depending on whether it’s a close quarter’s map or not you may want to swap out your Ah-6 for the Attack Helicopter. The best thing about this setup is once those choppers are out you can go on about your business without having to worry about being killed while your head is buried in a laptop.

The Big One

5 Kills – Predator Missile
10 Kills – Assault Drone
17 Kills – Osprey Gunner

Undoubtedly the toughest to pull off, but if you can manage it then you’ll be sitting pretty. There are two tough gaps to navigate here, the five kills needed to get your Assault Drone and then the seven for your Osprey, but if you stay out of large hoards of enemies but close enough to pick a good number off then at least five kills should come from your Drone. A bit of camping may be necessary when you’re one or two off each tier whether it gains your respect or not.

Additional Help

If you want any additional advice be sure to drop me an email to craig@noobfeed.com or leave a comment below. I don’t claim to be some Call of Duty guru, but I do get around online a fair bit and I believe what I’ve written to be very sound advice. Also, if you have any other good Assault setup’s you want to share feel free to do so and I may try them out and get back to you on what I think. For now, peace out and happy killing.

Craig Bryan, NoobFeed
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