Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 Best Builds: The AK-74

You must pick and choose wisely, because the AK-74 can only equip five attachments. For this build, we opted to enhance the rifle’s range and damage output, while primarily improving its horizontal recoil to ensure you hit your target mid-to-long-range.

• Muzzle: Compensator
• Magazine: Fast Mag I
• Fire Mods: Recoil Springs
• Barrel: Reinforced Barrel
• Underbarrel: Vertical Foregrip

If you prefer to put more rounds down range, swap the magazine attachment we’ve picked for the Extended Mag, increasing your magazine ammo count to 40 rounds. However, it’s highly recommended that you stick with the Compensator and Reinforced Barrel. The latter provides a noticeable boost to damage at range while increasing bullet velocity—conversely, the former works in tandem with the Vertical Foregrip to improve horizontal recoil.

The primary goal with these chosen attachments is to reduce horizontal and vertical recoil—the two greatest drawbacks of the AK-74.

Now that you have the best attachments for the AK-74, it’s time to consider the Perks, Wildcard, and Equipment to round out the loadout.

• Perk 1: Forward Intel (Increases minimap area and reveals directional indicators for enemies)
• Perk 2: Double Time (Significantly increases Tactical Spring duration)
• Perk 3: Gung-Ho (Reduces movement penalties while reloading or using Equipment)
• Specialty: Recon (Enemies appear through walls for a short period after respawn)
• Wildcard: Gunfighter (Allows for three additional weapon attachments)
• Lethal Equipment: Frag Grenade
• Tactical Equipment: Stim Shot
• Field Upgrade: Assault Pack

If you opt for Gunfighter, which unlocks additional weapon attachment slots, you can pick up Combat Stock, Commando Grip, and the Accu-Spot Reflex Optic.

How to unlock the AK-74 in Black Ops 6

Unlocking the AK-74 in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 isn’t a challenging endeavor. Upon achieving level 10, you’ll receive the AK-74. Ta-da.

If you prefer co-op, you can rank up quickly in Black Ops 6 by playing Zombies, as progression transfers across game modes. Suppose you’d like to stick with multiplayer? In that case, I suggest Team Deathmatch and Domination, as both provide ample opportunities to level quickly by killing enemies in a fast-paced environment, or completing objectives that count toward your XP.

While it’s certainly not the meta weapon that fans would hope for, considering its overall power potential, the AK-74 remains a viable choice. It’s lagging behind fast-firing submachine guns, like the C9, or low-TTK (time to kill) assault rifles, such as the AS VAL, but the iconic rifle retains a place near the top.

If you want to excel with the AK-74, here are a few tips:

• Don’t rush headlong into a fight. While the AK-74 holds its own in most encounters, it’s not an ideal close-range weapon. You’ll find that hip-firing isn’t overly accurate, and such situations wind up more frantic than controlled. Instead, stick to mid-range, aiming down the sights to deal accurate, on-target damage.
• The AK-74's slow rate of fire makes it a highly controllable assault rifle that’s perfect for both beginners and veteran players. The key is to learn its sights, as you’ll want to ADS for greater precision.
• For additional control and ammunition conservation, try firing in short bursts instead of unloading the entire magazine in a single spray. A few well-placed shots to the head or upper torso will down an enemy.

After playing with the AK-74 for countless rounds, you may wish to switch up your playstyle somewhat by choosing an alternative. A few recommendations include:

• AEK-973
• XM4
• AS VAL
• KSV

The first three are assault rifles that excel at mid to long-range encounters, with a low TTK and relatively easy-to-learn recoil. As for the KSV, it’s currently the game’s top SMG, dominating close-range encounters with astounding grace and power.

If you still want to use the AK-74, but find that multiplayer is a bit too frantic, progression tracks through the Zombies game mode, too. You’ll discover loot keys in Zombies that lead you to the best items in the round-based co-op mode, and we have a guide to help you use them!

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