Best AEK-973 Warzone loadout: Class setup, attachments, perks

A massive nerf impacted the AEK-973 in Black Ops 6 multiplayer, but the Marksman Rifle still shines in Warzone Season 1.

Until the Season 1 update, the AEK-973 was one of the best weapons in BO6. However, the Marksman Rifle suffered a significant recoil penalty and had its mobility nerfed. In addition, the weapon’s burst delay changed, which slowed down its ability to eliminate enemies.

Despite that, the AEK-973 still one-burst kills enemies in multiplayer, and performs just as well, if not better in Warzone Season 1.

Best Warzone AEK-973 loadout

Dexerto

• Optic: Jason Armory 2x
• Muzzle: Ported Compensator
• Barrel: Reinforced Barrel
• Underbarrel: Vertical Foregrip
• Magazine: Extended Mag I
• Rear Grip: Quickdraw Grip
• Stock: Balanced Stock
• Fire Mods: Rapid Fire

Optics come down to personal preference, but the Jason Armory 2x provides the cleanest line of sight for engagements from any range without being too far zoomed in or out.

The rest of our loadout focuses on improving bullet velocity, damage range, accuracy, and mobility. For some weapons, you can get away with just using five attachments. But if you want to go against other long-range meta weapons, you must use the Gunfighter Wildcard, which unlocks eight attachments instead of five.

We made full use of those extra attachments by focusing on improving the AEK-973’s bullet velocity damage, accuracy, and mobility.

The Ported Compensator and Vertical Foregrip address vertical and horizontal recoil. Meanwhile, Rapid Fire and the Reinforced Barrel improve bullet velocity and damage range.

Next, the Quickdraw Grip improves aim-down sight speed while the Balanced Stock addresses overall mobility.

To round out our loadout, it never hurts to have more ammunition to deal with multiple enemies simultaneously in Warzone, so we recommend using the Extended Mag I.

Best Perks, Equipment & Combat Specialty for AEK-973

Dexerto

• Perk 1: Survivor
• Perk 2: Quick Fix
• Perk 3: Alertness
• Wildcard: Gunfighter
• Lethal: Throwing Knife
• Tactical: Smoke Grenade

Dexterity has been the go-to Perk 1 choice for most of our loadout guides. However, after more time in the battle royale, we noticed that you hardly feel the benefit of decreased weapon motion while sliding, diving, and jumping.

As a result, Survivor becomes the next obvious choice as it reduces the time it takes for your teammate to revive you and improves health regeneration. This Perk is especially useful in Area 99, as time is imperative when enemies consistently bear down on you when attempting to complete a revive.

Next up, Quick Fix is a valuable ability because killing enemies or inserting armor plates immediately starts health regeneration. In addition, you can also insert armor plates one-handed, but we would still like to see the animation be quicker in a future update.

Dexerto

For the first few days of Warzone, I thought Tempered was the best Perk because it’s always hard to find plates around the map. However, on Area 99, at least, that has never really been an issue. So, with that in mind, Alertness is the best Perk 3 option because it gives you an on-screen notification when an enemy is looking at you outside of your view.

On Area 99, this Perk has saved me on more than one occasion and will do the same for you, especially given the current state of audio issues.

AEK-973 pros and cons

Where is the AEK-973 in the Warzone meta?

According to WZRanked, the AEK-973 is the 19th most popular weapon. This is a pretty good rank, considering there are 177 guns in Warzone Season 1. However, that doesn’t necessarily make it a top-tier meta weapon.

This weapon is lethal in the right hands and should be even higher on popularity lists. The ability to kill enemies in two bursts up close, three bursts in medium-range engagements, and even four bursts in 50-meter gunfights compete with the battle royale’s best weapons.

How to unlock AEK-973 in Warzone

The AEK-973 is unlocked once you reach Level 34. This means you will have to play for a bit before you get your hands on it. However, The AEK-973 is also featured on Page 13 of the Season 1 Battle Pass, and once you have an alternate skin, the gun is permanently unlocked.

Warzone AEK-973 alternatives

Burst weapons aren’t for everyone, so if you want something a little more traditional, the Model L and GPR 91 are both laser-accurate ARs capable of taking down enemies from any range.