COD4-ShArK_CoDe24 TEAM

C4 MASTER GUIDE

2008-09-19T06:37:00.001-07:00

C4, or Composition-4, is a combination of various chemicals and explosive material, of which can only be detonated with high pressure, heat, or an electrical jolt. C4 has gained a lot of public notary due to its exposure in the media, such as movies and use in the military.

The advantages C4 has in the real world is that it can be molded or pressed into any desired shape. Specifically, it can be smashed into any sized gap or void to completely hide its presence to the enemy, particularly in cracks in buildings, bridges, or even machinery. Similarly, it can easily be inserted into everyday devices, like suitcases or packages, much like the kinds you see in Call of Duty 4. However, a flashing red light is usually not present in the real life counterpart.

In Call of Duty 4, C4 explosive packets are available in the first perk slot. Best used with close-quarter classes, in the right hands and with correct placement, C4 can be a devastating surprise to your enemy. It can be used tactically to engage really any situation and with its considerable range when thrown, C4 can wreak havoc on your enemies. Use it mainly to defend an objective or send an embarrassing Kill Cam to a camping sniper by tossing a packet of C4 on top of him!

Choosing Your Class

Use C4 packets with a class you are comfortable handling CQC (Close Quarters Combat) situations with. C4 is only truly effective at close range, so taking a weapon suited for this range will get you in a better location to use your C4. I recommend using an SMG or shotgun, in particular. Both of these weapon classes put you in a great position to toss your C4 and protect areas with them.

Where to Throw Your C4

Toss C4 packets into "hot spots" that receive a lot of traffic from enemies. Make sure to put it in a discrete spot so it isn't easily seen, but still will have the maximum potential blast radius. An example would be any of the four main entrances to the market in District. A great spot to hide the blinking red light of the C4 packet, which is usually the most obvious feature of the C4, is in tall grass, on a wall, or on the ceiling.

Putting it directly in a doorway or in the middle of the floor won't fool even a beginner, as shown in the picture below, so choose your placement wisely. Instead you might stick it on the shutters or in the tall grass to be more inconspicuous. Even if your target notices the flashing light, chances are he has already moved within range of the detonation

Make sure when tossing both packets of C4 that they are spread out from each other. If you place two packets nearly on top of each other you severely limit the potential blast radius of both packets. By placing two packets farther apart you double the blast radius causing more destruction over a larger area.

Use other explosives like cars and red barrels to your advantage. Place a packet of C4 on the side of or under a car to greatly increase the blast radius. As shown in the pictures above and below, it's better to place the C4 on the side opposite to where people travel so it's impossible for them to detect it.

Plant another packet of C4 on an adjacent car and you will have prepared a massive explosion covering such a large area that no one who even has the time to notice it will be able to escape. Anyone within striking distance of the detonation will not stand a chance

How To Throw Your C4

Throwing C4 at close range is easy for any level of player to do with accuracy. You can be waiting inconspicuously for someone to come around the corner, toss it in their face and detonate it before they can pull up for the shot.

Throwing it at long range can be more difficult with walls, buildings, and other obstacles that might might get in the way, not to mention getting the timing right. It's actually not hard to hit someone on the roof of a building, but when it comes to having to toss C4 through a window at distance, that's where it gets technical. However, it just takes practice getting the trajectory path right and leading a moving target correctly.

Protecting Objectives

C4 is the most effective in guarding and protecting objectives such as a Headquarters, a flag in Domination, or a bomb site in Sabotage or Search and Destroy. You have a couple of options when you decide to take up an objective and protect it:

Plant C4 in the surrounding areas

By doing this, you should plant your C4 in very inconspicuous areas. Like mentioned before, the walls and ceilings of buildings are great spots to hide your packets. You need to be sure you have a visual on the area that your C4 is protecting. If you see an enemy approaching your C4 make sure you time it correctly and detonate.

Plant C4 directly on the objective

This is better suited for a Sabotage or Search and Destroy match where the C4 packet can be hidden underneath the bomb. By lying prone next to a bomb site, C4 can be placed directly underneath and completely out of sight of the enemy. If you guard a bomb site closely, this can be an easy, fast way to eliminate an enemy bomb planter

Notice how in this image the C4 is not visible

Placing C4 on top of a Domination flag is also a very good way to defend in this game. Because it takes time to capture a flag, you have a warning when your flag is being captured by the enemy. Place C4 on your own objective and detonate it when you hear it is being lost. The best part of this tactic is you don't even have to be in the area; you can be on the other side of the map going after enemies and when you hear the sound just press the "Use" key. By doing this you allow for great defense of specific flags without having to camp on top of them.

HELICOPTER MASTER GUIDE

2008-09-19T05:40:00.000-07:00

The Helicopter always seems to have a love-hate relationship with the players of Call of Duty 4. You love it when it’s fighting for you, and hate it when it’s against you. Some consider the helicopter to be a game design element flaw, while others praise it as a creative addition. However, no matter what your stance is on the helicopter, there is no denying its powerful presence in the sky

AH-1 Cobra

The AH-1 Cobra is the primary attack helicopter that is seen for the U.S. Marines and S.A.S. in the game. Its slender cockpit and large weapons bay make it a very intimidating threat in the air. Similarly, the Mi-24 Hind helicopter is seen when called in by the Spetsnaz or OpFor teams. This is a much larger and bulkier aircraft in comparison to the Cobra. Both of these helicopters are treated identically in the game, however. They inflict and receive the same amount of damage, so treat both of these helicopters as such. The only advantage one has over the other is that the Cobra is slightly smaller, making it more difficult to hit with primary weapons.

Mi-24 Hind

The Chopper’s Vitals

The helicopter have two sources of "health". The primary source is the armor, the secondary being the actual health. These have numerical values set at 500 and 1100 respectively. Armor is decreased first when receiving damage; after its 500 armor has been depleted, the health begins to expire. After both the armor and health are gone, the helicopter is shot down. This will not happen, though, until it receives 1600 damage.There is a specific damage multiplier involved with the helicopter's armor. Every bullet that lands successfully receives a 0.3 multiplier. Now, don’t let the word "multiplier" confuse you. This is a bad multiplier. This actually reduces the damage that each bullet inflicts on the armor. For example, an M4 Carbine, which does 30 damage per round, will now only do 10 damage. So to successfully eliminate the armor from the helicopter you would need to land 50 bullets from the M4. After the armor is destroyed, normal bullet damages take effect on the remaining health of the helicopter.There are visual signals that the helicopter sends off to tell you how extensive its damage is. White smoke will being to appear after its armor is gone. When there is about 600 health left the white smoke turns a thin black, and with less than 300 health, thick black smoke beings to pour out of the engine block. Be alert to these signals, if you see this black smoke then put a clip into it, because it won’t take much more to bring it down. However, if you see very little smoke coming from it, you might want to find cover as it still has plenty of life left to target you

The "Eyes" In the Sky

There are several values that come into play when the chopper targets enemies. These include how far it can see, how far away it will engage an enemy from, and reload times.For the sake of argument, say the helicopter is already in the air. After spawning, you have 5 seconds until you become a target for the helicopter. After you become a target there are several statistics that come into play:

The chopper's magazine size is 40 rounds.
The time between targeting and firing is 0.75 seconds.
The time it takes to reload its magazine is 1.5 seconds.

As you can see by these numbers, the helicopter is a deadly force with its large capacity weapon, swift reload, and quick target acquisition. This leaves you very little time to try to maneuver the map while a helicopter is airborne. The best thing you can do once you have been prioritized and are under fire by a helicopter is hide. If more than 50% of your body is hidden it will no longer target you and you. However, it is important to note that smoke, tall grass, and relatively smaller objects does not effectively disguise you, same with a ghillie suit. The helicopter can see through all of that. The only way to be effectively hidden from the chopper is to be inside a secure building or under complete cover.

The helicopter also has the ability to penetrate walls, the same way the players can wall with their primary weapons. If you are hiding in a tin metal area, like the hangers in Countdown, for example, the chopper's rounds can slice through the thin metal with ease. Hiding in these hangers does not always guarantee you are safe from the helicopter. This is why choppers are so deadly on this map, among others like Bog or Creek. There are very few places to run for cover.

Helicopters can shoot through doors and windows and holes in the roof, so don’t think you are safe just because you are indoors. The construction area on Backlot or the exposed dry walls in Vacant are a great example of this. Just because there is a roof over your head doesn't mean the helicopter won't prioritize you.

Selecting Targets

While it may appear to be totally random, the helicopter has a very systematic "thought process" and prioritizes its available targets based on a number scale. These factors may change the way you play this game, so pay close attention to these. It may be shocking. Factors which increase or decrease your chance of being a target of the helicopter include distance from the chopper, your class, whether or not you are attacking the helicopter, and believe it or not, your score.

There is a "threat level" that the helicopter places on every single one of its enemies, and the higher the threat level, the more of a priority you are for the helicopter.Threat Level
A base number is first placed on a player by the distance it is from the helicopter. The closer you are, the higher the number, unless you are within 1000 units. At that point, you are not a target.
100 points are automatically added if you are attacking the helicopter.
200 points are added if you are using an Assault Rifle.
And the big one: your score is multiplied by 4 and added to the threat level.

So what does all this mean? It means if you are a good player using an AK-47 you hardly stand a chance! Unfortunately, in the helicopter's mind, an Assault Rifle is a bigger threat to it than an LMG. Why that is, I cannot answer. That is just how the game developers programmed the game.

Helicopter Elimination

So, you're tired of always being killed by the choppers? You want to fight back? Theis 7-Kill Streak air support is most effective in large game types like Free-for-all and Team Deathmatch, so if you find yourself dying more than once to enemy helicopters briefly switch to your "Helicopter Elimination" class to concentrate on taking it out. Make a specific class designated solely for taking it down for the sake of your team. Here are couple of sample classes which could be effective. Mix and match some of these to create the best set-up to suit your needs.

- M60 (Grip)

-- Pistol (Desert Eagle or USP)

-- Special Grenade

1. N/A

2. Stopping Power

3. Extreme Conditioning

The M60 is probably the best LMG for you to use. Its slow rate of fire allows you to shoot in bigger bursts (4-8 rounds) and with the grip equipped you have greater accuracy over range. Use LMG's when closer to the chopper than normal; in other words, don't go spraying at it heedlessly otherwise you'll give away your position to enemy players. Use Extreme Conditioning to get to cover quicker and Stopping Power to compensate for the M60's lack of damage

M16/M4 (RDS)

-- Pistol (Desert Eagle or USP)

-- Special Grenade

1. RPG's

2. Sonic Boom

3. Steady Aim

Using an Assault Rifle against choppers is sometimes more effective than Light Machine Guns. At long range they still retain a good amount of damage and the recoil is much more controllable, allowing you to hit the chopper with accuracy. The M16 and the M4 are both good examples of these advantages and should give you the best bet.

Rocket Propelled Grenades are by far the most effective weapon against helicopters, as they do an incredible 1000 damage to its vitals. Hitting a helicopter with two RPG's will take it down, guaranteed. Add Sonic Boom for increased damage

If you're having trouble using RPG's, check out TotW #27 - RPG's

There isn't a sweet spot that you need to hit when attacking a helicopter. Aim anywhere on its body, and so long as you see the X in your crosshairs, you are inflicting the same amount of damage. So unlike real life, you do not need to hit the tail rotor to successfully down the helicopter, just hit it full on with an RPG to get the job done.

Also, keep in mind the locations of mounted Machine Guns on certain maps. A mounted MG is the most effective way to destroy this air support when you don't want to waste ammo for your SMG/Assault Rifle. Their extremely high damage and unbelievable rate of fire makes them a helicopter's worst nightmare. Unless you're playing tactically and you need to hold a position, don't hesitate to head to the back of your side to use an MG

The Math

For those of you that are interested, here is the math that goes on behind the scenes, in the coding of the game, when attacking a helicopter.

An RPG does a base damage of 1000. Add the Sonic Boom multiplier (25%), and the RPG now does 1250 damage.

The helicopter armor is 500 with a multiplier of (x0.3). If you successfully land an RPG with Sonic Boom you inflict 375 damage to the armor. The remaining armor is 125.

Landing a second RPG will totally destroy the helicopter's armor and decrease the health so much that less than a half of a magazine from the M60 will destroy it.

Conclusion

If you really want to become a pr0 with your choppers there are a couple of things that you can do to get the most out of them.

Call your helicopter later in the match:

If you gain a helicopter in the opening minutes of a round, save it for a couple more minutes. Calling it in at the very beginning of a map will cause it to fly around aimlessly. Allow the opposing team to rack up some kills first, that way your helicopter has larger targets to prioritize based on their score and map position.

Save your helicopter until after you die:

Wait to call your helicopter in after you die. This way the kills that your helicopter gains will be stacking on to your next kill streak, getting you closer to an air strike, and ultimately another helicopter.

Becoming really pr0

If you want to become a real pr0 at calling in your helicopters, learn to anticipate your deaths. After you have a helicopter, push harder than you normally would at the opponents. When you're deep in enemy territory, call it in. Anticipating you will be killed by a rush of enemies, by the time you respawn, your helicopter will already be overhead the enemy side. This is especially useful in games like Domination.

Use it on offense:

Don't call your helicopter in while on defense of an objective game, such as Sabotage. Wait until your team has good control of the bomb and begin attacking the enemy. The helicopter support will weaken enemy lines allowing for a much easier bomb plant. In Domination, if you control the A and B flag early in the game and someone has a 7 Kill Streak, make a team push into C territory for said player to call in their helicopter and let it do the work

COD4-SILENCER MASTER GUIDE PT.2

2008-09-18T07:14:00.001-07:00

Some Guns Not to Use
You should not use the silencer on the AK-47 (even though it's commonly used), G3 and AK-74u. There are proven bugs present in the programming of the game, that cannot be avoided when playing, so wait for a new patch from Infinity Ward before doing so. If you equip a silencer on either of these weapons you lose considerable damage, knifing speed, and hip accuracy making it worse than it normally would with a silencer attached. The P90, MP5, and M4 are what I recommend attached with a silencer for AR and SMG players.

Range
The biggest drawback of using a silencer is that your combat effectiveness over range is reduced. So for silenced ARs, you won't be able to fire effectively over long range like you normally would without it. Medium to short range is where the silencer excels, so take advantage of the stealth factor and flank an enemy rather than shooting him upon sight

Flanking
Having a silencer attachment is great for flanking your opponents. Coming at them from either side, drawing them out of hiding spots and into a chokepoint, or eliminating them completely by surprise is both fun and effective. Flanking is not your only benefit either. Stay alive long enough to make your presence known to the enemies by giving away a fake position (as mentioned earlier) and shift their concentration from an objective or teammate to yourself. Taking their focus off not only off an attack plan they have, but also any objectives that may be present in the game, is the best advantage an experienced ghost player can give to a team. Being a flanker generally results in you dying early in the game, but not after making a huge impact--you can draw enemy players into a chokepoint with your teammates rotating into position to take them out subsequently. Remember, when playing as a team, you win as a team

Suggested Perks
Generally when you have a silencer attachment you want a perk or two to aid in the silenced package.
Perk 1: Bandolier - Because a silencer requires more bullets per target due to range reduction/bullet damage, taking Bandolier will give you extended kill streaks and longer life periods. Although knifing and using a secondary weapon would be preferable in objective games, most game modes will require this perk to be successful.
Perk 2: UAV Jammer – This is a must for every ghost player. Even when the enemy UAV is active you continue to be invisible to them. Without this perk, having the silencer would be ineffective as they'll see you anyways, so use this to your advantage!
Perk 3: Dead Silence – This will cut down on any noise that you make. Good players that play to their in-game sound can still detect you firing with a silencer, but if you cut down on spraying, they still can't hear you when jumping and sprinting, making knifing an even better opportunity

You Aren't Invincible
No matter what you may think now that you have a trusty silencer, you aren’t invincible. There are some things that you should keep in mind now that you have this attachment on your gun.Just because they can’t see you on the mini map doesn’t mean that they can’t find you. Experienced players can easily track you not only based on in-game sound and tracer fire, but enemy teams will be calling out your position so if you're not constantly moving around you'll be easily trapped and killed. And just because you’re camping and you killed the guy without him knowing doesn't mean that the Kill Cam doesn’t know where you are. So just keep in mind that using a silencer without proper practice and experience isn't what I've described it to be. You have to really know the ghost's pros and cons to win a game with a stealth class.

COD4-SILENCER MASTER GUIDE PT.1

2008-09-18T07:14:00.000-07:00

Suppressors are a more correct term for the commonly known Silencer as no weapon can be truly "silenced", however in this guide we'll refer to them as silencers for the use of the game. Silencers one of the available five attachments in Call of Duty 4 and is probably the second most used attachment next to the Red Dot Sight (RDS). Mostly seen on SMGs, but still found regularly on Assault Rifles, these are essential for maintaining a stealth approach in any type of class.The biggest reason for using a silencer is that your location is not given away by a red blip on an opponent's mini-map when you fire your weapon. Not being visible on the mini map is a crucial element to staying hidden, as detailed in Tip of the Week #29. Learning how to be an effective stealth player gives the player a huge advantage, such as staying behind enemy lines much longer. In addition to you being invisible on the mini-map, a reduction in muzzle flash and sound of the gun is also important in remaining undetected.

When Should I Use a Silencer?
I suggest using a silencer in Free-For-All (FFA) and Search and Destroy (SnD) the most. The reasons why are because in FFA you are just looking out for yourself. It's every man for himself so you have a much greater chance of being spotted by another player. In a stealth class, not being visually detected by someone else is the biggest aspect of staying alive, but the simple fact that someone checking their mini-map won't notice you is even more helpful.Because Search and Destroy is so tactical, going ghost adds even more protection to you and your team. As most of the time with a stealth class you'll be playing behind enemy lines, so to speak, you'll be staying in one spot for long periods of time making sure you won't be caught out in the open. When camping your main job in SnD is to either call enemy positions across the map or cover a teammate's back. So having the protection of not being detected by tracer fire or on the mini-map is a huge benefit with everyone constantly playing to their HUD. It should be mentioned that a good player can still hear you by in-game sound even with a silencer, but you'll be constantly moving so it's not always a disadvantage as you can fake your position, move away to a different spot and lie in wait for them. The best part of being a stealth player is being able to defend a bomb site with ease.

It is also important to note that when you have a silencer attachment you should also have your knife blade at the ready. Use it whenever you can to save ammunition because, often with a silencer you tend to have longer, extended kill streaks. Knifing someone instead of shooting them up with an SMG is more effective both at saving ammo and not being seen by your tracer fire.Modes to avoid using silencers are in Hardcore Mode (HC). This is because there is no mini-map by default. Unless the enemy gains a three kill streak, you are already invisible. So you can make as much noise as you want and still be generally undetected unless someone is good at playing to in-game sound. There is no real reason to put a silencer on your gun in HC

What Weapon Should I Silence?
Obviously with a silencer you need to use a gun that you are comfortable using the iron sights with. Since using a silencer removes the Red Dot Scope attachment, practice your targeting abilities both at long and medium range to and just get used to them. Doing so will give you more kills as you'll be much quicker with lining up the shot than when you're so used to an RDS.Some of the most popular silenced weapons are:
MP5
M4 Carbine
P90
AK-47