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The AEK-973 inCall Of Duty: Black Ops 6is a weapon with one of the best time-to-kills in the game, with easy one-burst potential to drop another player. But while the weapon can operate at a very high level, it can be difficult to squeeze everything you can out of it.
What makes the AEK more difficult to use than anything else is the burst-fire nature of the weapon. It can make dropping enemies moving horizontally to you difficult to consistently hit, and is a very punishing weapon to miss a shot with, because the follow-up is going to take a bit longer to come.
Building Your AEK-973 In The Gunsmith
The AEK has a bitless flexibilitythan some other weapons when it comes to building itin the Gunsmithin functionally different ways. Likely, this is going to further drop off a bit as well, considering the Rapid Fire mod currently seems to be bugged, increasing the rate of fire considerably more than it does on other weapons.
That said, youstill have options with the AEK. Primarily, you may lean into two different schools of thought with it:maximize the stabilityand embrace its longer mid-range potential, orincrease the fire rate and maneuverability, and make it a bit less punishing to use in closer ranges.
The Super-Stable Longer-Range AEK-973
TheKick Reset SpeedandFirst Shot Recoil Controlare going to be paramount in this build, with the AEK being a burst weapon. It resets every burst, meaning you’ll be back to default position quicker, and one-third of your shots are going to be first shots, making it much more useful on this than a full-auto weapon.
Optic of choice
Horizontal Recoil is the priorityto improve on most every weapon, but that’sespecially the case on a burst-fire weapon. This weapon can one-burst somebody on the chest if you hit all three shots, and it’s easy enough to keep all three of those shots on somebody’s chest when the weapon is kicking upwards.
It’s when the weapon starts kickingside to sidethat it becomesmore of an issue. You can’t compensate nearly as easily for that, and the follow-up burst is likely not going to happen before the enemy has dropped you.
SMG of choice OR Grekhova
Concussion OR Flashbang
Fast Hands OR Dispatcher
Wildcard
Overkill OR Danger Close
This particular AEK isnot going to be versatile, and the SMG (if you’re using Overkill) or Grekhova (if you aren’t) is going to be used quite a bit. Anythinginside medium rangeis going topresent a problemfor this AEK, where it’s more punishing to miss.
TheBlast Trapand possibleDanger CloseWildcard combo is going to help you watch your own back and maintain your distance from enemies, and theScrambler Field Upgradecombined withGhostis going to make it tougher for them to pin down your location.
The Versatile AEK-973
The idea with this AEK build is to enable it to beeffective in a wider variety of scenarios. You’ll be able to use this one more consistently in thecloser-medium fights, but it is still going to be usable further out, too. It’s not going to be quite as stable, but the rate of fire increase is going to make itfar less punishing to miss.
Keep in mind, the Rapid Fire fire mod may end up getting nerfed; even if it does,it’s still going to make a big difference. In closer ranges, in particular, missing one bullet in your burst ensures that someone with an AR or an SMG is going to easily finish you. The Rapid Fire mod is going to get thatsecond burst out quickerand save your life often.
Short Barrel OR Optic of choice
Ranger Foregrip
This build is going to improve yourAim Down Sight speedconsiderably and make you more maneuverable while you’ve got the AEK in your hands. Themore acrobaticyou can be, themore likely your enemy is to miss.And the more they miss, the less punishing it is for you to need that second burst to finish them.
Shotgun OR Sniper Rifle
Trophy System OR Spring Mine
Overkill
The purpose of bringingeither a Shotgunor a Sniper Rifle with the secondary weapon in this loadout is thehigh single-shot damage. This gives you a perfect option in the two extreme ranges when you need it, allowing you to get into the more comfortableclose-medium that this AEK is built for.
