Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3has radically changed the perk system with the introduction of vests, a sort of miniature class that dictates your build’s equipment and perk slots. It even influences which weapons you can use. With a dozen to choose from, it can be tough figuring out which vest is the right one for your build.
The good news is that every vest is at least viable thanks to the Season 5 balance changes, but there are still a few options that dwarf the rest of the roster. Today, we’ll be ranking all 12 vests from worst to best, covering everything from vest intrinsics to notable perk synergies that make some options shine above the rest.
How We Rank Vests
Vests are ranked based on their intrinsic benefits and opportunity costs associated with those benefits. Strong intrinsic benefits with minimal drawbacks (such as fewer perk slots) are ideal. Entries are also ranked for Core MP, emphasizing 6v6 respawn modes. Performance in one-life playlists is mentioned where relevant.
Perks
If you want to eliminate your enemies with Throwing Knives or Throwing Stars, then you can’t get much better than the Ninja Vest. This vest gives you a constant supply of Throwing Knives and Throwing Stars every 25 seconds. But unlike the Demolition Vest, the Ninja Vest actuallyUnl has useful neutral game perks.
Notably, you gain the S-tier Covert Sneakers perk for free. That frees up your boot slot for a more aggressive mobility option like Running Sneakers or Lightweight Boots. While that sounds strong on paper, there’s one problem: the Infantry Vest exists. That vest gives you Running Sneakers for free, arguably the best mobility perk in the game, and that vest gives you two gear slots; the Ninja Vest only has one.
You’ll also want to use Quick-Grip Gloves or Ordnance Gloves to throw your lethal equipment faster, limiting your build options.
Throwing Knife fans should absolutely give this vest a shot, but most other playstyles don’t benefit much from an additional boot perk. If you want to play aggressively, use the Infantry Vest and run Covert Sneakers. If there’s another boot perk you want to use, consider using any other vest with the Dead Silence Field Upgrade. There are simply better options for most builds.
The Demolition Vest’s unique effect ispassive equipment generationevery 25 seconds. While it can be somewhat useful in one-life modes like Search and Destroy, it is generally outclassed by the Modular Assault Rig. That vest allows you to scavenge equipment off dead players, allowing you to spam equipment much more frequently in 6v6 and 10v10 modes.
Beyond that, this is a decent vest all around. Two gear slots and two lethal charges are quite solid, but everything else here is average. It’s not an awful vest by any means, but compared to your other options in MW3, the Demolition Vest falls slightly behind.
Only two vests in MW3 allow for double primary loadouts: the Overkill Vest and the Gunner Vest. This vest gives you max ammo and Mag Holster as well, but you only have one gear slot to work with. That’s not an awful drawback to this vest, but it does limit your build options slightly. You’re also highly encouraged to run Quick-Grip Gloves to swap between your weapons quickly, a perk given to you for free on the Overkill Vest.
The main reason to run the Gunner Vest is to wield two primary weapons, but there aren’t many situations where a viable secondary can’t get the job done. Aftermarket Parts allow you toturn the Renetti into an SMG, the Tyr into a pocket sniper rifle, or the COR-45 into a burst rifle. A second primary surprisingly doesn’t open up many possibilities beyond wearing a Riot Shield on your back, but if you desperately need more firepower, the Gunner Vest has you covered.
No weapon restrictions are present on the Overkill Vest, allowing toequip any two weapons in the game, both primaries and secondaries. You also gain some useful quality-of-life glove perks for free, freeing up that slot for Assault or Scavenger Gloves.
Unfortunately, that’s about all the Overkill Vest has going for it. Double primary isn’t particularly useful unless you’re using a Riot Shield, and double secondary loadouts shouldalwaysuse the Gunslinger Vest. As with the Gunner Vest, the Overkill Vest doesn’t do enough to pull players away from meta options like the Infantry Vest and Compression Plate.
While we don’t have the Specialist killstreak system in MW3, we can mimic a fraction of that power with the Gunslinger Vest. Youdo not spawn with a primary weaponwith this vest, but you get two secondary weapons and a myriad of free perks to even the odds. Secondary weapons are fairly powerful in MW3 when you build them correctly, so the weapon restriction isn’t as severe as it sounds. You can also pick up primary weapons from dead players if you need a better gun.
In exchange for the limited arsenal, you gainfourperks for free: Mag Holster, Quick-Grip Gloves, Commando Gloves, and a stamina version of Compression Plate. You even get two gear slots with this vest, allowing you to benefit from a whopping eight perks. Throw on Dead Silence, and you can have upwards often perksaffecting your character in a single life.
Of course, not having a primary weapon is a fairly large downside for one-life modes and large-scale playlists. This vest is only really practical in small map playlists or certain 6v6 maps, but when you find yourself on a larger map like Wasteland, you had better hope you can pick up a dead player’s primary quickly. Or you can justglue the Torque 35or Tyr to your loadout forever. That works too.
It might be surprising to see the Mission Control Vest so high on the list, but that’s mainly due to how strong this vest can be in a coordinated team. In essence, the vest gives you a kill’s worth of score whenever you land two assists. You usually gain credit for assists by damaging an enemy, but you also gain assists from enemies tagged by your DDoS Field Upgrade or Riot Shield. This gets out of hand fast if you have scorestreaks enabled.
You also gain Mission Comlink for free with this vest, which reduces all scorestreak requirements by 125 points.
you may activate a single DDoS and earn upwards of 375 score from the vest alone, not including score earned from the assists. Pair your DDoS with a UAV or Counter UAV, and you can earn a Swarm killstreak within the first 90 seconds of a match with a good team. It requires strong teamwork to get going, but once you throw out your first DDoS, the match will quickly snowball in your team’s favor. Do not sleep on this vest.
The Engineer Vest was considered the strongest option when MW3 first came out, but various perk and vest changes over the game’s lifespan have made the Engineer Vest a less appealing option. Even still, this is a versatile option that suits most playstyles rather well.
Beyond the extra gear slot and tactical charge, the main appeal of the Engineer Vest is the faster Field Upgrade recharge rate. Your Field Upgrade comes back roughly 40% faster with this vest, giving you higher uptime on Dead Silence, the Med Box, and similar strong Field Upgrades. you may also spot enemy equipment through walls, useful if you hate dying to Claymores or Proximity Mines.
Ghost T/V Camo only works while your character is actively moving in MW3, making it a strong perk for more aggressive playstyles that flank opponents. More reserved players generally don’t get much use out of Ghost, but thanks to the Assassin Vest, you can now remain off enemy radar permanently. The Assassin Vest is clearly meant for a player who values stealth above all else. It’s a strong vest for one-life modes and tough SBMM lobbies.
However, if you aren’t fighting against the sweatiest CoD players imaginable and frequently move around, you’re typically better off using the Infantry Vest and equipping Ghost in your second gear slot. You only have one gear slot with the Assassin Vest, so you’re effectively trading a second gear perk for permanent Ghost. Is that worth the tradeoff? Probably not for more casual lobbies. Against tougher players, however, this vest can easily save your life.
Information is king in Multiplayer, and the CCT Comms Vest ensures that you always have the drop on the enemy team. This vest gives you the High-Gain Antenna and Data Jacker perks for free. Both perks have fairly dense descriptions, so here’s what they actually do:
Allies within 18 meters of you also get these benefits—excluding the data packet effect, although they can see your data packet pings if nearby. Strangely, this vest also gives you afree UAV sweep whenever the enemy calls in a UAV.This isn’t mentioned anywhere in the vest’s description, but it makes the CCT Comms Vest an absurdly powerful option for aggressive playstyles.
You are constantly fed the enemy’s position with this vest equipped, both with data packets and free UAV sweeps. The larger minimap makes it easier to track enemy locations, and the ample perk slots make it easy to tailor the CCT Comms Vest to your preferred playstyle. Trading your lethal equipment for a better minimap is absolutely worth it.
There isn’t a better vest for aggressive players than the Compression Carrier. This vest gives you Compression Plate and Tac Mask for free, two of the strongest gear perks in MW3. Kills immediately trigger HP regeneration, and you are highly resistant to most tactical equipment. This lets aggressive players shrug off Stun Grenades and win 1v2 or even 1v3 situations with good positioning. Fighting the entire enemy team by yourself is now a possibility.
Better yet, youstillhave a gear slot to spare with this vest, allowing you to run EOD + Tac Mask to become highly resistant to all enemy equipment. Not many loadouts can benefit from three gear perks simultaneously, let alone perks with this much synergy. You give up your Field Upgrade running this vest, but because of how aggressive the Compression Carrier lets you play, it’s nothing short of S-tier for respawn modes.
