Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (BO6) offers an extensive range of options for your loadouts. As you progress through the game, you’ll continuously unlock new items to experiment with, including various perks that will take some time to acquire.
At first glance, perks may appear disconnected from Combat Specialties, but they actually play a crucial role in determining whether or not you can use a Combat Specialty and which one you activate. These Combat Specialties can significantly influence your gameplay, and while they aren’t absolutely necessary, they are key elements in certain builds.
What Is A Combat Specialty?
Combat Specialties function as a powerful fourth perk. There are three different Combat Specialties that we’ll explain shortly, each offering unique advantages that enhance your gameplay experience.
How To Unlock Combat Specialties
Unlocking Combat Specialties is straightforward, yet it requires some strategic choices. Equipping a Combat Specialty involves more than just selecting one; you’ll need to choose three perks from specific categories: Recon, Enforcer, and Strategist.
Activating a Combat Specialty requires filling all three perk slots with perks from the same category.
This might mean that you’ll have to give up a perk you prefer to utilize a Combat Specialty. Some players may choose to focus on different perks from separate categories instead of opting for a Combat Specialty.
All Combat Specialties
Each of the three Combat Specialties enhances the capabilities of their corresponding perks, creating cohesive builds. Players will find that certain builds suit their gaming styles better than others, which means the Combat Specialty you focus on will depend on how you prefer to play.
Combat Specialty |
Description |
Strategy |
---|---|---|
Enforcer |
This provides a temporary speed and health regeneration boost whenever you take down enemies. |
This is the most all-or-nothing Combat Specialty available. If you stay active in battles and manage to secure kills, this will greatly benefit your gameplay. |
Recon |
This allows you to detect enemies through walls for a short duration after spawning, provides a visual alert when another player is watching you, and prevents you from leaving behind indicators on the map after getting kills. |
This Combat Specialty excels in intel gathering and denial. Knowing enemy positions when you respawn can lead to quick eliminations, and being aware of threats helps you find cover before being attacked. |
Strategist |
This boosts your score gains when completing objectives, allows you to deploy field upgrades and equipment faster, and reveals enemy upgrades and gear through walls. |
This Specialty helps you reach your Scorestreaks more reliably and makes acquiring high-cost Scorestreaks significantly easier. It also simplifies deploying Field Upgrades and helps avoid enemy traps. |
Effective Combat Specialty and Perk Combinations
Due to the restrictions on perks needed to unlock a Combat Specialty, your options for perk combinations are somewhat limited. Here are some of the top perk combinations that pair well with each Combat Specialty.
Omniscient (Recon)
This Ghost-focused build requires the Ghost perk in Perk Slot 1, the Tracker perk in Perk Slot 2, and the Vigilance perk in Perk Slot 3. With these perks, you become almost invisible to detection equipment and can track enemy movements through their footprints.
When you include this Combat Specialty, it enhances your ability to choose your attack angle upon respawning and alerts you when an enemy spots you.
Making the Most of Each Life (Enforcer)
This build focuses on maximizing your effectiveness in each match, incorporating Scavenger in Perk Slot 1, Assassin in Perk Slot 2, and Bankroll in Perk Slot 3. These perks make it easier to stay aggressive and reach your Scorestreaks more quickly.
With this setup, you’ll want to engage frequently, and the Combat Specialty enhances that approach. You’ll move faster than your opponents expect, heal swiftly, and consistently replenish your ammo.
Taking the Objective (Strategist)
This build is particularly effective in objective-based game modes, such as Hardpoint. It uses Flak Jacket in the first perk slot, Fast Hands in the second, and Guardian in the third. Together, these perks make it hard for enemies to dislodge you from objectives, allowing you to take reduced explosive damage and heal faster while holding the objective.
With the Strategist Combat Specialty, you’ll gain points rapidly while capturing objectives, making it easier to access your Scorestreaks. Set up in a strong position and challenge opponents to remove you. If played effectively, they will struggle to do so.