Occasionally, while playing Modern Warfare 3, you’re going to be irritated or even terrorized by a singular player sprinting across the map at breakneck speed wielding a melee weapon. While they mostly hunt on smaller maps like Rust or Shipment, these knife-wielding predators can appear at any time or place.
What’s the point in only using a melee weapon in a game so dominated by guns like Call of Duty? Melee kills are a prominent part of several different challenges, and each melee has its own set of camo challenges as well. There’s also nothing more satisfying in MW3 than tilting a player by sticking them with the pointy end again and again, other than perhaps getting accused of being a cheater when you’re actually just on a heater.
Looking to let the blade or blunt object do the talking? Use our go-to melee/knife loadout and class setup to get up closer and personal in MW3.
Best melee and knife weapons in MW3
For your primary weapon, equip the Riot Shield. In your secondary weapon slot, the best choice is the Soulrender melee weapon due to its special ability that lets you ignore enemy Riot Shields. If you haven’t unlocked the Soulrender yet, the Gutter Knife is a solid stand-in option since it deals a high amount of damage, has slightly better range than the Karambit, and offers superior mobility and handling.
Most of the other MW3 and MW2 melee weapons are solid, except for the Tonfa. Its drastically lower damage value makes it a weapon to stay away from.
On small maps like Shipment, Meat, or Rust where enemies are always in close range, the Soulrender and shield combo is very powerful.
When playing melee in MW3, you’ll keep the Riot Shield on your back to potentially protect yourself against being shot from behind, and you’ll of course have your “secondary” melee weapon in hand.
Best loadout/class setup for melee and knife in MW3
- Vest: Infantry Vest or Engineer Vest
- Tactical: Stun Grenade or Flash Grenade
- Lethal: Throwing Knife (if wearing Infantry Vest)
- Field Equipment: Comm Scrambler
- Gloves: Quick-Grip Gloves
- Boots: Covert Sneakers
- Gear: Ghost T/V Camo
Easily the most important part of the melee loadout is the Covert Sneakers. Eliminating footstep audio is a must-have to close the distance on your opponents. Because you have those, you can equip the Comm Scrambler instead of Dead Silence in the Field Upgrade, making it easier to chase down opponents who wander into the scrambler’s range.
For your vest, it depends on your style: If you want to maximize sprinting and speed, take the Infantry Vest. If you want an extra stun or flash to disorient your opponents, then take the Engineer Vest. The Quick-Grip Gloves are really the only good gloves option for a melee build as they will let you swap to your Riot Shield faster if you’re spotted by your prey.
Finally, the Ghost T/V Camo gear makes it so UAV, enemy radar, and Heartbeat Sensors won’t detect you while you’re moving, making it even harder for enemies to see you coming.
I never played with only a melee/knife in Call of Duty before making this guide, but after one match of running around and slicing guys while giggling, I can see now why it’s so appealing. Maybe I’m the problem.
