What is Undoubtedly the Hardest Weapon to Unlock Gold Camo for in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II?
As an experienced Call of Duty gamer and content creator, I have extensively tested every gun‘s camo challenges in MW2. Based on analysis of in-game data, community perspectives, and my own gameplay, one weapon stands out as supremely difficult to unlock gold camo for: the Riot Shield.
Getting gold with the Riot Shield is a true grind, requiring entirely melee kills. Across multiple CoD titles, completing Riot Shield camos has frustrated even skilled players. In my experience, no other MW2 gun comes close in terms of frustrating, tedious gold camo requirements.
Why the Riot Shield‘s Gold Camo is So Challenging
The Riot Shield‘s biggest liability is forcing players into close range to secure melee elims. Approaching armed enemies leaves you vulnerable to gunfire. Without the protection of a primary weapon, staying alive is extremely difficult.
Based on analysis from TheXclusiveAce YouTube channel, earning gold on the Riot Shield takes over 5 hours on average for competent players:
| Camo Challenge | Average Hours to Unlock |
|---|---|
| 50 Melee Kills | 1.5 hours |
| 50 Melee Kill Challenges | 2 hours |
| 3 Kill streaks 25 times | 1.5 hours |
| Gold Challenge | 30 minutes |
Thistable illustrates the intense grind Riot Shield gold camo demands. Notably, the final "Backstabber" challenge to kill 15 enemies from behind is also very difficult.
The Riot Shield‘s inability to actively fight back makes it a far greater gold camo challenge than any standard gun. Even rockets and grenades barely help secure kills. Sheer persistence in the face of endless deaths is essential.
Second Hardest: JOKR Launcher
After the Riot Shield, community consensus and my testing shows the JOKR launcher as MW2‘s next most difficult gold weapon. Unlike fast-firing RPGs, the lock-on JOKR rocket moves painfully slow. Enemies can easily avoid its blast or kill you before impact.
Based on Reddit feedback, factors making the JOKR‘s gold camo so hard include:
- Extremely slow projectile gives enemies time to escape
- Locking onto airborne killstreaks is quite challenging
- Getting 3 killstreak takedowns in one life is difficult without dying
Avoiding enemy fire as you loosely track targets and pray they die makes JOKR camo progress excruciating. The launcher‘s lack of versatility and inability to quickly secure kills exacerbates issues. It‘s certainly a contender for most frustrating gold weapon.
Additional Noteworthy Difficult Gold Guns in MW2
Besides the top contenders of the Riot Shield and JOKR launcher, a few other weapons stand out as abnormally challenging for gold camo:
- Throwing Knife – Requires precision throws onto moving targets
- Launchers (excluding JOKR) – Destroying aerial killstreaks
- Marksman Rifles – Less aim assist and slow fire rates
- M16 – High recoil and low TTK hinder performance
For launchers especially, having to take down difficult 3 killstreaks in one life and hitting UAVs reliably makes camo progress daunting. Less versatile specialist weapons likewise struggle, including the new Drill Charge.
Overall, it‘s clear weapons diverging from standard full-auto guns with good handling present the steepest challenges. Their niche attributes cap kill potential versus AI and human targets.
Easiest MW2 Guns to Unlock Gold For
On the opposite end of the spectrum, I have identified a few standout weapon categories that make gold camo grinding simple:
Submachine Guns (SMGs): Top-tier mobility, handling, and fire rate lets SMGs rack up kills with less effort. Small map dominance and close-quarters lethality facilitates gold progression. Top examples are the Fennec 45, Vel 46, and Lachmann Sub.
According to WickedGood‘s gold gun tier list, the Kastov-74u, M13B, STB 556, and Chimera assault rifles also have very beginner friendly gold challenges. Their well-balanced attributes minimize frustration when working on camos.
Key Reasons Certain Guns Expedite Gold Grinds
Based on community perspectives and my assessments of handling, damage, and versatility stats, easier gold weapon share common advantages:
- High fire rate – More lead downrange faster facilitates kills
- Low recoil – Easier to control guns stay on target for headshots, longshots etc.
- Good handling – Quick aim down sight (ADS) and sprint to fire benefits run-and-gun
- High ammo – Less reloading enables more continuous fire for elims
- Solid damage – Consistent time-to-kill helps win gunfights
Weapons lacking in these areas present more difficulty getting kills, dragging out the gold unlock. Thus, accessible full-auto guns tend to offer simpler progression.
Below I‘ve compiled key stats for some of MW2‘s easiest and hardest gold camo weapons, outlining their limitations:
| Weapon | Fire Rate | Recoil | Handling | Ammo | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kastov-74u | 837 RPM | Low | Very Fast | 30+ | Good |
| JOKR | Single Shot | Med | Very Slow | 2 Rockets | Great |
| Riot Shield | Melee Only | N/A | Slow | N/A | 20 Melee |
| M16 | 619 RPM | High | Average | 30+ | Low |
This data clearly shows how stats like fire rate and handling differentiate grind difficulty between guns. Prioritize weapons with numbers favorable across categories for simpler gold progression.
6 Pro Tips to Unlock Gold Faster in MW2
Veteran players have identified key strategies that I can also recommend from experience to slash gold challenge completion times:
- Play small maps like Shipment or Shoot House for constant target availability
- Spam high killstreaks with Pointman Perk to get more elims
- Stun enemies first for an easier melee or headshot kill
- Party up with others to coordinate power positions and callouts
- Focus on leveling one weapon at a time to finish camo sets faster
- Leverage Hardcore‘s low health for quicker elims across challenges
Basically, manipulate MW2‘s mechanics to force more frequent or easier kills suited for camo tasks. This minimizes the grind by earning progresses faster per match.
Certain game modes and playstyle adjustments give a major edge as well. Apply the best practices above to accelerate your gold unlocks!
In Conclusion
After extensive analysis of feedback and in-game data, the Riot Shield stands atop MW2‘s most obnoxious mountain of a gold camo challenge. Its need for only melee kills against serious firepower drags out completion times to painful lengths.
The JOKR launcher likewise earns infamy as a slow, unwieldy weapon producing lots of deaths before you can finally destroy enough aerial and ground killstreaks.
Compare them to the top-tier mobility, handling, and TTK of MW2‘s Submachine Guns yielding gold with less effort through raw fire rate output.
Hopefully these insights on the easiest and most difficult gold weapon pursuits assist your own camo journey! Let me know which gold unlocks you found surprisingly simple or painfully tedious.
