What is the best Black Ops 6 AK-74 loadout? Few weapons are as instantly recognizable as the AK-74, with its wooden stock and distinctive silhouette, and thankfully for us, it’s back in Black Ops 6. The AK-74 has raw power straight out the gate, but the recoil can get a little out of hand, especially during sustained fire.
The Black Ops 6 meta hasn’t yet quite come to the surface, with many players still working their way through unlocking all of the Black Ops 6 weapons. The AK-74 is up there with the best Black Ops 6 loadouts, especially with our setup; we’ve reigned in the unruly gun kick and added range to the immense assault rifle to make it a deadly tool no matter the distance.
How to unlock the AK-74 in Black Ops 6
The AK-74 is unlocked at level ten, meaning that you’ll get your hands on this savage rifle fairly early on in your multiplayer career. You’ll likely have been making use of the XM4 and should notice a considerable difference in damage when you swap to the AK-74.
Best Black Ops 6 AK-74 loadout
- Optic: Volzhskiy Reflex
- Muzzle: Ported Compensator
- Barrel: Reinforced Barrel
- Underbarrel: Vertical Foregrip
- Magazine: Extended Mag I
- Rear Grip: Quickdraw Grip
- Stock: Infiltrator Stock
- Fire Mods: Recoil Springs
The Gunfighter Wildcard allows us to add an extra three attachments to the AK-74 – something that we believe adds a lot of extra value in rounding out the raw power of the assault rifle. The Ported Compensator, Vertical Foregrip, and Recoil Springs all play a part in reducing how wildly the gun jumps around during sustained fire and will allow you to keep up the pressure in hectic gunfights.
The Reinforced Barrel gives the AK-74 some extra range, and the Infiltrator Stock and Quickdraw Grip ensures that the assault rifle doesn’t feel too heavy to use, aiding in the snappy feel of aiming down sights. The Volzhskiy Reflex is a sight that keeps your peripherals clear so you can see if any additional threats want to join the party, even when aiming down sights.
Best Black Ops 6 AK-74 class build, gear, perks, and equipment
- Secondary weapon: Stryder .22
- Melee: Knife
- Tactical: Concussion
- Lethal: Semtex
- Field Upgrade: Spring Mine
- Perk 1: Ghost
- Perk 2: Forward Intel
- Perk 3: Cold Blooded
- Specialty: Recon
- Wildcard: Gunfighter
We’ve gone all-in on this AK-74 build, so while you’ll have a pistol secondary, you’ll be doing the bulk of your work with your primary weapon and not much else. Thankfully, our best AK-74 loadout shreds enemies with ease, so you won’t want to use anything else. Built for any type of engagement, this is a jack of all trades, and a master at killing.
Our class setup gears you up to be a one-person army. With the Recon specialty, you’ll be able to scope out nearby enemies whenever you spawn, and the rest of the Recon group, like Cold Blooded, will keep you off the map while you do your work. The Spring Mine is useful for blocking off lanes and defending objectives, with the Concussion tactical excellent for pushing enemy positions.
Low level Black Ops 6 AK-74 loadout
As you can see from our meta loadout, there are many things you’ll need to unlock to get the AK-74 fully up to speed. You’ll still have to use the assault rifle to level it up, though, we’ve provided you with the best loadout to rack up the XP.
Here is the best low level AK-74 loadout:
- Muzzle: Suppressor
- Barrel: Long Barrel
- Underbarrel: Vertical Foregrip
- Magazine: Extended Mag I
- Rear Grip: Assault Grip
The aim with this early build is ultimately the same as the meta one, although without Gunfighter we’re restricted to only five attachments. Thankfully, the iron sights on the AK-74 are minimal, and still offer a clean sight picture, so an optic isn’t absolutely necessary. The Suppressor will keep you off enemy minimaps, and the Extended Mag I ensures you can take on multiple opponents without having to reload.
The key elements of this early build are the underbarrel and rear grip attachments. The Vertical Foregrip reduces horizontal recoil, so you’ll only have to concentrate on pulling down when unloading your magazine, and the Assault Grip keeps that ADS snappy – you’ll feel especially nimble without an optic.
Black Ops 6 AK-74 recoil pattern
With our best loadout, you’ll notice quite a difference in the recoil right away, and this also applies to our early game AK-74 loadout. We’ve managed to reign in the horizontal recoil to a point where you only really have to worry about pulling down slightly when engaging in sustained fire. It will drift slightly to the right when unloading a full clip, but for multiplayer purposes, nobody will last that long.
Best Warzone AK-74 loadout
- Optic: Volzhskiy Reflex
- Muzzle: Compensator
- Barrel: Reinforced Barrel
- Underbarrel: Vertical Foregrip
- Magazine: Extended Mag III
The best AK-74 loadout for Warzone forgoes the extra spice afforded by Gunfighter in favor of a more modest five-attachment setup. Despite the loss of Recoil Springs from the BO6 multiplayer build, the AK-74 remains more than stable enough to get the job done at mid-range, though you will have to do more of the legwork to keep it in check.
For the optic, we’re sticking with the Volzhskiy Reflex, though you’re more than welcome to swap it out for something like the Kepler Microflex if you want something smaller, or the Jason Armory 2x if you want to amp up your target acquisition further afield. To offer the most possible recoil control without the springs, we’ve opted for the combination of the Compensator and Vertical Foregrip.
The Reinforced Barrel won’t quite give you the same raw range as the Long Barrel, but you’re not going to be beaming players at long range – we value the bonus bullet velocity much higher here. Finally, to ensure you always have enough rounds to fight off full squads, slap on the Extended Mag III and you’re good to go.
Best Warzone AK-74 class build
- Secondary weapon: PP-919
- Melee: Knife
- Tactical: Stim Shot
- Lethal: Semtex
- Perk 1: Dexterity
- Perk 2: Sprinter
- Perk 3: Tempered
- Wildcard: Overkill
While we trust the AK-74 to do most of the dirty work out in the field, keeping your options open is important when ammo’s at a premium. As we’ve set it up to excel at mid-range, there’s space for it to function either as a sniper support (though you’d want to use a Suppressor over the Compensator), or with an SMG in tow as part of an Overkill build. Here, we’ve gone with the latter in the form of the mighty PP-919. The best PP-919 loadout is a high-capacity mini-nuke that will clean up anything that gets too close.
As you’re going to be largely on the move, relying on your guns to do the talking, we can augment that with the Stim Shot. The Lethal slot’s down to personal preference, but we’ve been enjoying the Semtex and its explosive qualities lately so that’s our pick for now.
For perks, we’re not only staying mobile, but we’re improving our fighting power while flying about. Dexterity brings weapon stability when jumping, sliding, and diving. Sprinter allows you to sprint indefinitely. Meanwhile, Tempered gets you back into the fight quicker by dropping the maximum armor requirement from three plates to two.
Best AK-74 alternatives
We believe that the best alternative to the AK-74 is the best XM4 loadout: the default assault rifle at your disposal is highly controllable and absolutely deadly in the right hands. Its damage pales in comparison to that of the AK-74, but you’ll have more of a chance to hit with a fast rate of fire.
There you have our best Black Ops 6 AK-74 loadout. If you find that this devastating assault rifle is a little too impersonal, we have the best Marine SP loadout so you can get up close and personal with your opponents before dispatching them. Check out our Black Ops 6 prestige guide so you know what to expect as you rise through the ranks.