Many Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War players have a love-hate relationship with LMGs. While they tend to pack some of the highest damage with decent fire rates, they are cumbersome and slow compared to assault rifles and SMGs. Still, there is a hidden strength within Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's LMGs that the RPD displays quite easily.
The main two issues that Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War fans have with LMGs is their recoil and mobility. Anyone running these guns will have to carefully compensate for their shots, which can become quite difficult when paired with slow ADS and movement times. To be fair, traditional LMGs were meant as stationary weapons, and without mounting as an option in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War multiplayer, fans need to instead rely on attachments.
The RPD in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's armory is a full-auto light machine gun with good handling and a decent ammo capacity. Out of all the LMG options in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, the RPD has less recoil than the others during sustained fire. The weapon is designed to unleash tons of bullets at a target and continuously hit that general area throughout the entire clip. As a suppressive weapon, this gun can easily hold its ground, but loses the advantage while maneuvering to a new position.
RPD Loadout
- Muzzle - Muzzle Brake 7.62
- Barrel - 20.3" Task Force Barrel
- Underbarrel - Spetsnaz Grip
- Magazine - VDV 125 RND Fast Mag
- Handle - Spetsnaz Field Grip
The Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War loadout's main purpose is to lower the recoil even more and combine it with more ammo and faster reload speeds. Starting with the Muzzle Brake 7.62, this attachment will help manage vertical recoil by 4%, and when paired with the Spetsnaz Grip, this totals to a vertical recoil control increase of 10% and horizontal control of 20%. While this does impose a movement speed while shooting penalty of 26%, most players wielding LMGs are not going to be mobile in the first place.
The 20.3" Task Force Barrel will increase the gun's damage, damage range, and bullet velocity. This, paired with the recoil reduction, makes the gun high damage with barely any recoil. The Spetnaz Field Grip goes towards aiding ADS time, making the switch from sprinting to ADS a faster experience in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War multiplayer matches.
Still, the gun will be costing players tons of ammo while using it, so it is recommended to run a VDV 125 RND Fast Mag for both the ammo increase and faster reload speed. With these Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War attachments, the gun can take advantage of its strengths and become a stationary powerhouse on the battlefield.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.