The Nuke is the highest killstreak you can earn in MW3, so here’s the best loadout you can use to boost your chances of acquiring it.
There is no bigger achievement in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 than getting a Nuke. While you can crack 100 kills or go an entire match without dying, those accomplishments pale in comparison to calling in a killstreak that decimates an entire enemy team and ends your current match, regardless of the score.
Of course, getting a Nuke is one of the more difficult tasks to go for in MW3. It requires staying alive for potentially an entire match, having all the luck go your way, and possessing an incredible amount of skill and discipline. You can possibly brute force your way to a Nuke in MW3, but wouldn’t you rather use guns and other items that give you the best possible chance to call in the game-ending streak?
Below, you can find our picks for the best overall loadout to go for a Nuke in MW3.
How to get a Nuke in MW3
Before you can actually think about getting a Nuke, you need to know the requirements to earn one. In MW3, the only way to get a Nuke killstreak is to go on a 30 gunstreak. This means only kills from your weapon or equipment will be counted toward the streak. Killstreak kills, such as ones from a Chopper Gunner, Juggernaut, VTOL Jet, etc., will not count toward the 30 kills needed for a Nuke.
Any other kill will count, and you can keep track of your current killstreak by looking at the bottom of your screen every time you get a kill. There, it will state your current streak, so it’s important to look every so often so you know how close you are to 30 kills.
If you do manage to get to a 30 killstreak, then the Nuke will automatically appear on your HUD as an available streak. You don’t have to set the Nuke as an earnable killstreak in the main menu of MW3 multiplayer; it’s always active for every player regardless of your other three killstreaks you have equipped.
Best loadout for a Nuke in MW3
Now that you fully understand how to go for a Nuke in MW3, we can talk about how to set up your loadout to optimize the chances of staying alive and getting 30 kills. First and foremost, we recommend to use one of the stronger guns in multiplayer. While you’re free to use whatever gun you feel most comfortable with, stronger guns equals a higher chance of getting a kill on any given enemy.
The guns we suggest are the MCW, Holger 556, Rival-9, and BAS-B. These are the best four weapons currently in MW3 multiplayer and any of them are great picks for chasing a Nuke. Of course, if you go with the Rival-9 over the others, you want to ensure you’re challenging enemies at closer ranges, as it’s an SMG.
We put together four premier loadouts for all of those weapons below so you know exactly what attachments to run on all of them. If you’re a sniper, you can check out our best sniper loadouts in a previous guide.
MCW Loadout
- Muzzle: T51R Billeted Brake
- Barrel: 16.5″ Cyclone Long Barrel
- Optic: MK. 3 Reflector
- Stock: RB Regal Heavy Stock
- Rear Grip: RB Claw-PSL Grip
Holger 556 Loadout
- Muzzle: T51R Billeted Brake
- Barrel: Chrios-6 Match
- Optic: MK. 3 Reflector
- Stock: RB Addle Assault Stock
- Rear Grip: CT2000 Tactical Grip
Rival-9 Loadout
- Muzzle: Purifier Muzzle Brake S
- Barrel: Rival-C Clearshot Barrel
- Underbarrel: DR-6 Handstop
- Stock: MTZ Marauder Stock
- Rear Grip: Rival Vice Assault Grip
BAS-B Loadout
- Barrel: Wyvern’s Respite Long Barrel
- Optic: MK. 3 Reflector
- Underbarrel: XTEN Phantom-5 Handstop
- Magazine: 30 Round Mag
- Rear Grip: ST88 Grip
Now that you have the best attachments for the strongest guns in MW3, we can discuss the rest of your loadout. You need the most optimal equipment, vest, perks, killstreaks, and Field Upgrade to ensure you can stay alive, healthy, and get to 30 kills as efficiently as possible. You can find everything you need to equip below:
Perks
- Gloves: Scavenger Gloves
- Boots: Covert Sneakers
- Gear: Ghost T/V Camo
Vest
- Demolition Vest
Lethal and Tactical Equipment
- Lethal: Claymore
- Tactical: Stim
Field Upgrade
- Portable Radar
Killstreaks
- UAV
- Counter-UAV
- Advanced UAV
All of these loadout items were chosen for a specific reason. We chose Scavenger Gloves so you can continually resupply ammo from fallen enemies to ensure you always have a full magazine and don’t have to pick one up off the ground. Equip a strong secondary pistol so you have that as a backup if needed. As for the other perks, Covert Sneakers and Ghost T/V Camo ensure enemies can’t hear or see you coming.
The Demolition Vest recharges your equipment every 25 seconds. This is crucial as you will always have a stock of Claymores and Stims. Claymores help locking down an area so you can’t get flanked and contribute to your Nuke killstreak. Stims allow you to regain health instantly in case you come close to death.
Moving on, the Portable Radar is our Field Upgrade of choice so you can have your own mini UAV around an area. Speaking of the UAV, we have all three versions of it selected as the main killstreaks of choice. While you can only earn these once, they are vital to extending your killstreak to eventually get to a Nuke. This list of killstreaks differs from our previous guide on the best killstreaks to use in MW3, but it’s only because streak kills don’t count toward the Nuke.
And that wraps up our best Nuke loadout in MW3. Of course, this loadout will only get you so far, as you need to rely mostly on in-game knowledge and gunskill to pull off this massive accomplishment.
