Best Striker loadout, class build in Modern Warfare 3

This best Striker loadout in the Modern Warfare 3 beta will feel very familiar to anyone who is still playing Call of Duty, 14 years on from the original Modern Warfare 2 in 2009.

Much like with our MCW loadout, which is just the ACR, the Striker is essentially the UMP-45 with a little rebranding.

If you remember correctly, the UMP was quite good back then too. So much so, you’d rarely find players using anything else at times. Now, the Striker isn’t quite at that same level of power, but it is by far the best SMG in the MW3 beta, battling it out with the MCW for the crown of the best guns overall.

How to unlock the Striker in the Modern Warfare 3 beta

Unlocking the Striker in the Modern Warfare 3 beta requires you to reach level four, which is the point you’ll unlock create-a-class.

The Striker is the first gun you’ll have unlocked, alongside the MTZ-556 assault rifle, so you can start using it within just a couple of games.

Best Striker loadout in Modern Warfare 3

Image: Activision via Polygon

Here is our pick for the best Striker loadout in the Modern Warfare 3 beta:

• Barrel: Striker Recon Long Barrel
• Underbarrel: Kimura RYN-03 Vertical Grip
• Rear Grip: Sakin ZX Grip
• Stock: RB Crotalus Assault Stock
• Optic: Slate Reflector

This Striker build is focused on competing at mid-range alongside close-quarters combat, because even though it’s an SMG, the lack of recoil and consistent damage make it a force to be reckoned with. The optic is solely personal preference: the Slate Reflector doesn’t obstruct much and has reasonable zoom, but if you can put up with the iron sights, there’s room for an extra stat-buffing attachment on your gun.

The other four attachments here assist with reducing the amount of recoil the Striker has, while maintaining damage at range. The opposite is a viable build, but it’s much less jack-of-all-trades and more specialized towards tight corridors and small rooms, whereas we’ve had much more success kitting it out to compete with assault rifles when necessary.

Best Striker class in Modern Warfare 3

Here is the best class to use alongside the Striker in Modern Warfare 3:

• Vest: Engineer Vest
• Tactical: 2x Flash Grenade
• Field Equipment: ACS
• Gloves: Commando Gloves
• Boots: Stalker Boots
• Gear: EOD Padding
• Gear: Tac Mask

For this class, make sure you have the Engineer Vest selected. This will remove your lethal equipment in favor of having two gear slots and two tactical equipment, which isn’t completely vital, but you’ll naturally be a little more mobile with an SMG as opposed to posting up and defending one location. However, the biggest perk of the Engineer Vest is the ability to spot enemy equipment through walls, such as Guardians, ACS, and those pesky comms interference devices that stop you from using killstreaks. Shoot those on sight, because they are a right pain.

The two Flash Grenades will assist with clearing rooms, while the ACS can be thrown down on any capturable objectives – hardpoint zones and domination flags, for example. Commando Gloves permit reloading while sprinting, and Stalker Boots increase your strafe and ADS movement speed, which are both important when you’ve got an SMG in-hand. EOD Padding and Tac Mask are to keep you alive as long as possible, as they help protect against non-killstreak explosives and flash/stun effects respectively.