Best MW4 Loadouts at Launch (2026)

If you unlock 1 AR and 1 SMG before Multiplayer opens on 23 October 2026, start with M4 and ISO Nightshade. Those 2 names still sit at the top of live hubs. Kastov 762 sits beside M4 on those same lists. Han 86 sits in that AR cluster.

This URL replaces /guides/mw4-beta-loadouts. The old slug lands here. Full class list: MW4 weapons list. Maps those guns will live on: 2026 maps.

Official pages print 0 launch tier list and 0 attachment codes you can paste. Gunsmith on a gun you own is the attachment source that matches the client.

The NEXT multiplayer blog prints the launch kit in 1 block.

• 33 weapons: 24 primary, 8 secondary, 1 melee. 22 of those 33 sat in the official test guide.
• 9 tacticals and 11 lethals. 11 field upgrades.
• 17 killstreaks. Operators and killstreaks sit inside each loadout.
• 18 perks. You pick 3. Ninja and Quick Fix return at launch.
• 28 Apex Attachments at launch. 19 of those 28 sat in the test. More than 500 standard attachments.

Apex Attachments are the final reward for maxing a weapon. They equip separately from standard Gunsmith pieces and do not consume an attachment slot. Gunny sits in Create-a-Class and builds from the attachments you already unlocked. Gunny offers Short Range, Long Range, and Balanced starting points.

Movement on official pages is boots-on-the-ground Modern Warfare: mantle slide and steer, supine slide, pipe climb, hang shimmy and lean, climbing jump. Official pages print 0 use of the word omnimovement.

Smartstreaks progress from kills plus objective play. Named test thresholds: Bomb Glider 4, Care Package 4, Impact Warhead 4, Combat Drone 5, Crossfire 6, Missile Salvo 7, Wheelson 8. Official MW4 pages print 0 tactical-nuke number. See the nuke guide.

Gunny is optional. Short for Gunnery Sergeant. A click assembles a build from attachments you already unlocked. Recommendations evolve as you unlock more pieces. Infinity Ward’s developers crafted the recommended builds. You can still edit every slot by hand.

The Firing Range is open any time you own the gun. Compare builds. Test attachments. Leave the match until the build matches the range.

Default-loadout guns, the launcher, and the Combat Knife sit outside Apex. Axion, Sang 9mm, and Wz. 55 Striga also sit outside Gunsmith. Supported guns unlock 1 unique Apex as the last Level.

An attachment unlocks once. Every other gun that uses that piece already has it. If a later Level would grant a piece you already own, that Level skips as a Bonus Level Up.

Gunsmith categories on the official guide: optics, lasers, barrels, muzzles, underbarrels, stocks, rear grips, ammunition, magazines. Lasers such as the 1mW and 5mW Canted Lasers unlock Canted Stance. The laser beam stays visible while you aim. Hollow Point returns: delayed healing and a blood trail on a critically injured Operator.

The official test guide named 22 guns in 9 classes. Axion and Sang 9mm sit on default-loadout only. Wz. 55 Striga sits on Campaign Mission only. ISO Nightshade is the full-auto 9×19mm SMG with a printed recoil signature and 56 Levels.

Live hubs refreshed on 20 September still put these names at the top of their lists:

• ISO Nightshade as the lead SMG
• M4 as the lead AR
• Kastov 762 as the AR beside M4
• Type 73 as the lead LMG
• X-58 Nyx as the SMG under ISO Nightshade
• Oris 8.6 as the lead marksman

Han 86, PPSh-41, Rezi 12, MAR-9, FiNN LMG, Signal .50, and KG-7 Vulcan sit in the band under that top row. A 29 August hub printed ISO Nightshade at 18.6% pick. Those shares describe a test window. They wait for a launch patch before anyone treats them as Season 1 law.

Infinity Ward posted a 22 August public note that mentioned weapon balance. The 27 August note was focused for Weekend 2. Neither post printed a 5-attachment recipe.

Open Gunsmith on a gun you own. Gunny will assemble a build from the attachments you already unlocked. Apex pieces wait until that gun is maxed. They sit off the slot, so leave the Apex decision until the max unlock exists.

Published test Levels on the official weapons guide, labelled Levels:

Han 86 68. M4 68. Hyeon Burst 64. Kastov 762 71. Patriot XMR 64. Axion 67. ISO Nightshade 56. PPSh-41 54. X-58 Nyx 47. Wz. 55 Striga 52. Rezi 12 60. FiNN 52. Type 73 57. MAR-9 67. Oris 8.6 68. KG-7 Vulcan 72. Signal .50 73. Karit P68 34. .50 GS 50. Sang 9mm 34. PILA 36. Combat Knife 30.

A player comment during the test said Type 73 took 3 to 4 hours to max and FiNN took 2 hours after that. That comment is a player clock. Official pages print 0 hour-to-max table.

Skip a 6v6 grind on Axion and Sang 9mm while they stay default-loadout only. Skip a 6v6 grind on Wz. 55 Striga while it stays Campaign Mission only. Campaign Early Access on 16 October (PT) is the Campaign. Multiplayer waits for 23 October.

The 11 launch names outside the 22 still print as 0 on official pages. Vault Signature platforms already sit inside the 22: Kastov 762, ISO Nightshade, Rezi 12, Oris 8.6, Combat Knife.

Named Apex on the official weapons guide, for the guns live hubs still open on:

• M4 Hurricane: top-loading high-capacity conversion, 5.7×28mm.
• ISO Trace: RFID rounds that tag a target and paint a red dot on the optic.
• Kastov 545: 5.45×39mm conversion. Kastov ARC: RF pulse barrel with an integrated optic.
• Type 73 Assault: top-mounted magazine of Explosive Rounds.
• X-58 Void: quieter report, hidden skulls, weaker directional hit markers.
• Oris 8.6 Razor: a pair of deployable kunai on the receiver.

Hyeon Burst prints 2 Apex names: Hyeon Auto and Hyeon Hyperburst. Kastov 762 also prints 2. Other supported test guns print 1. PILA and Combat Knife print Apex: None. Official pages print 0 Gunsmith on those 2.

On 23 October, open Gunsmith on M4, Kastov 762, Han 86, ISO Nightshade, or PPSh-41 if you own them. Type 73, X-58 Nyx, and Oris 8.6 now sit in the same live top band. Those 3 are fair 2nd unlocks. Pick attachments the client already gave you. Leave Apex until the gun is maxed.

Official pages print 0 launch-versus-August patch article, 0 ranked restricted list, and 0 damage table. When Activision prints those, this page copies the new lines.

Pistol spelling on official pages splits: the weapons guide heading is Karit P68, and the same card image is labelled Krait P68. This page uses Karit P68 from the heading list. X-58 Nyx also appears as X-58. Wz. 55 Striga also appears as WZ.55.

Patriot XMR is listed as a Battle Rifle on the official guide. Hyeon Burst is the burst AR. Rezi 12 is the named shotgun. FiNN and Type 73 are the named LMGs. MAR-9 and Oris 8.6 are the named marksmen. KG-7 Vulcan and Signal .50 are the named snipers.

Vault Signature you may already own: Kastov 762 / Voltspine. ISO Nightshade / La Sombra Venenosa. Rezi 12 / Shattered Code. Oris 8.6 / Volt-Edge. Combat Knife / Sombra Besada. Base plus blueprint plus Apex at launch. Warzone from Season 01. Those 5 sit inside the 22. BlackCell’s exclusive blueprint is a Season 1 Battle Pass grant. It waits for that pass to exist in the client.

Maps those classes will live on: 12 core 6v6. 6 of those 12 names sat in the August test. The other 6 arrive on 23 October. Hardcore variants exist for the starred respawn modes and Search and Destroy.

Reserve a max on weapon leveling. A pro starts when the servers open on 23 October. Cancel for a full refund any time before the session starts.

RICOCHET is listed as live in MW4. Permanent bans since Modern Warfare (2019) may be ineligible. A Battle.net permanent ban cannot buy on Battle.net and cannot play online even after a buy on another store. Hand-played or piloted, VPN-matched. If a suspension is on us, we re-do the session or refund it.

This page keeps the official kit counts and the live hub names honest until a launch patch exists. When Activision prints launch attachments or a ranked restriction list, the body updates. Until then, Gunsmith on a gun you own is the attachment source that matches the client.