Modern Warfare 4 All Apex Attachments Explained

Modern Warfare 4 All Apex Attachments Explained Quick Overview:

• Apex attachments are the final weapon upgrades in Modern Warfare 4. They are unique to each individual weapon and can significantly change its characteristics.
• Some Apex attachments come at essentially no cost, while others require sacrificing a few upgrade slots to be used.
• Many of the Apex attachments offer either additional utility or a new playstyle, and aren’t always the right choice for every scenario.    

Like one of the Apex attachments but don’t want to spend too much time unlocking it? Skycoach’s MW4 Weapon Leveling can help you out in no time.

 

 

 

How Apex Attachments Work in Modern Warfare 4

Apex Attachments are unique upgrades that are different for each individual weapon in Modern Warfare 4. “Apex” isn’t just a cool word used to describe the category — these upgrades are only available once you’ve completed the entry weapon progression path.

While some of the Apex attachments might feel like direct improvements to the weapon, most are there to provide an alternative playstyle, with its own advantages and disadvantages. When you consider whether you should use one or not, remember that many Apex attachments block multiple other upgrade possibilities — so you should think of them not just on their own merits, but rather in the context of the opportunity cost.

If you ask me, I’d say that the devs did a solid job for most of the weapons, with only a few weird outliers here and there.  

All Assault Rifle Apex Attachments in Modern Warfare 4

Axion Reaver

Limitations: Blocks Optic, Laser, Underbarrel, Stock, and Rear Grip Attachments

Axion Apex attachment replaces your stock and pistol grip with a chainsaw rear grip configuration, turning your assault rifle into a hip-firing beast at the cost of basically every other attachment. If you’re all about jumping right into close-quarters combat, then you will probably appreciate the speed and mobility that comes with it.

The problem with this one is obvious, though — you take an all-around decent assault rifle and turn it into a highly specific weapon that is only good in certain scenarios. It can certainly be beneficial in many Multiplayer maps, but I’m not so sure about DMZ or Ground War, where range and versatility tend to matter a lot more.

Cronen Maelstrom

Limitations: Blocks Laser and Underbarrel Attachments.

Cronen Maelstrom adds an option to shoot a precision-guided missile and direct it using an ADS laser. I feel like these kinds of attachments are there to add versatility to your weapon, which is nice as long as you remember to use it and look for good opportunities to do so.

I’d recommend trying it out in open spaces to get the gist of it first, because it certainly requires a bit of practice (and luck). Remember that it is only really a valid option when you actually guide it — otherwise it’s just completely unreliable (or downright useless). So, once you launch it, you’ll have to dedicate a few moments to landing the shot, which might make you vulnerable.  

Han X20 Skybreaker

Limitations: Blocks Optics, Stock, and Barrel Attachments.

Han X20 Skybreaker comes with a unique optic and airburst launcher. If you land the shot, it will blow up quite nicely, but the key problem is that it’s really difficult to actually land it. Aiming the airburst shot takes several seconds, and if you’re up against a smaller target that is moving, it’s downright hopeless. The devs state that its best use case is flushing cover, and I think it’s 100% true, so treat it as a situational tactical tool.  

Hyeon Hyperburst

Hyeon Hyperburst does exactly what you expect — a super-fast three-round burst that is followed by a much slower, yet fully automatic, gunfire. The idea behind it is not for everyone, and it might take some time to get used to it. I find it neat, but I’m not necessarily convinced that everyone should choose hyperburst over the classic burst fire mode.

Kastov ARC

Limitations: Blocks Barrel Attachments.

Kastov ARC essentially adds a separate EMP system to your good old Kastov. When you fire it, it releases a big projectile that can incapacitate infantry, cripple electronics, and even affect vehicles. I’d say it’s a pretty good thing to get on any assault rifle, so there’s no reason to pass on some situational advantage.  

M4 Hurricane

Limitations: Blocks Barrel and Magazine Attachments.

M4 Hurricane moves its magazine on top of the weapon, changes its ammunition type, and increases both capacity and rate of fire. At this point, it does feel like an entirely different weapon, and I wouldn’t recommend it to those who like the M4 for what it is, especially considering the limitations that come with this version of it.

That said, it is a solid weapon on its own, and you should at least give it a shot before finalizing your decision.

Oden Sentinel

Limitations: Blocks Barrel and Muzzle Attachments.

Oden Sentinel is another major revamp option for an assault rifle. This time, you get to turn one into a semi-automatic sniper option that comes with a scope, bipod, and suppressor. At this point, I wonder why you wouldn’t just pick an actual sniper rifle? I don’t have a solid answer, even though I love this exact version of Oden for some reason.  

Patriot XMR Volt

Limitations: Blocks Barrel Attachments.

One of the most unusual Apex attachments, Patriot XMR Volt enables you to use a new underbarrel launcher filled with a bunch of non-lethal darts. The best way to describe it is an electric shotgun that paralyzes the enemy instead of killing them. You will still absolutely shoot them with your normal rounds after that, though.

I feel like switching to your underbarrel launcher might require time that you cannot afford in close-range combat, so you have to come around that corner with it loaded and ready. Landing a shot with this is not a problem, but knowing when to use this is certainly a skill that comes with practice.

All LMG Apex Attachments in Modern Warfare 4

APOC-338 Praetor

Limitations: Blocks Magazine Attachment.

APOC-338 Praetor replaces the box feed with a ten-round belt and locks the weapon in semi-auto mode. Essentially, you turn your LMG into a heavy-hitting rifle with low accuracy, a small magazine, and miserable fire rate.

Praetor gives me the vibes of Oden’s Apex attachment, because I feel like asking the same sort of question: why not just use a different weapon entirely at this point? It might be a bit of a hot take, but the difference here is that Oden Sentinel still feels like a decent option, while Praetor just doesn’t click for me at all.

Finn Adverse

Finn Adverse is a time travel machine that brings you back to the good old days of games with overheating stationary turrets. This Apex attachment unthrottles the weapon’s fire rate at the cost of making the weapon overheat when used for too long (approximately 50 rounds fired non-stop). If you do overheat it, it jams, and you won’t be able to fire it at all for a bit.

Is it a good attachment? I have no idea. But I do know that it is my second favorite one simply because of how badass it is.

Type 73 Assault

Limitations: Blocks Magazine and Ammunition Attachment.

Type 73 Assault limits you to 30 rounds per magazine, but it makes every shot count since these rounds are actually explosive. This feels like a balanced tradeoff. If you ask me, I see no reason not to pick this one purely because it hits like a truck, and I would rather land a few good shots than spend 60 rounds making my opponents feel scared to show up. Maybe that simply means I’m not a good LMG user, though.

All SMG Apex Attachments in Modern Warfare 4

ISO (Nightshade) Trace

Limitations: Blocks Optic and Ammunition Attachments.

ISO Trace enables you to shoot tracing bullets that help you know your enemy’s location. It sounds completely overpowered, but it’s not all that simple.

What the weapon actually does is provide you with a special optic display that creates a red dot indicating the enemy’s position relative to your scope. It might heavily depend on the player, but I found myself looking at this dot way more than I should, so it actually ended up impairing my awareness rather than enhancing it.

That said, you might be a better player than me. From what I can tell, this Apex attachment might be very helpful when you need to pin down enemies in larger areas with multiple exits and entry points.

PPSh-41 Ember

Limitations: Blocks Barrel, Underbarrel, and Magazine Attachments.

PPSh-41 Ember provides you with an underbarrel that shoots flaming pyrotechnic projectiles, covering a small area in flames for some time. While there is nothing wrong with this per se, this attachment’s usability heavily depends on the map: the smaller it is, the better it becomes. Considering how many sacrifices you have to make to use it, I’d suggest considering whether your favorite game mode is a good fit for this kind of utility.

Striga Rampage

Limitations: Blocks Optic, Stock, and Underbarrel Attachments.

Striga Rampage enables you to use two Strigas at the same time, Akimbo-style. The tradeoff is very clear: you miss out on multiple attachments as well as potential accuracy, but you get twice as many guns, meaning twice as many rounds shot per second. Good for smaller maps, but worse if you need to shoot someone at a reasonable distance.

VEL 46 Snap

Limitations: Blocks Stock Attachment.

VEL 46 Snap enables Quick Draw when it’s used with Overkill, providing very fast weapon switching when it’s needed. You sacrifice your Stock Attachment slot for it, but it’s a decent utility option, even if it seems a bit underwhelming at first.

X-58 (Nyx) Void

Limitations: Blocks Barrel and Ammunition Attachments.

The devs call X-58 Void “the pinnacle of stealth warfare”, and I’m inclined to agree with them. This Apex attachment silences your weapon, hides skulls on enemy deaths, and even minimizes directional hit indicators so that enemies cannot be certain where you’re attacking them from. It is one of the few attachments that really leans into a very particular playstyle that isn’t always viable, but it’s great on that front. If you’re a stealth player, pick it ASAP.

All Marksman Rifle Apex Attachments in Modern Warfare 4

Oris 8.6 Razor

Limitations: Blocks Underbarrel Attachments.

Oris 8.6 Razor provides you with an option to throw up to three compact blades. They won’t do much damage, and they have a rather bad flight trajectory, but they are quick and silent. I’m not sure that it’s necessarily better than switching to your sidearm, but I guess it depends on the situation. If you are all about that stealth, then you’ll probably like this one.

MAR-9 Auto

Limitations: Blocks the Trigger Action Attachment.

We’ve turned Assault Rifles into Marksman Rifles before, so why not do the opposite? MAR-9 Auto is a fully automatic version of the weapon with a higher fire rate. Same as always — if you’re really committed to MAR-9, give it a try. Even if you’ll find it less effective than actual Assault Rifles, at the very least you’ll get some Weapon XP.

Mosin Nagant Harpoon

Limitations: Blocks Barrel and Muzzle Attachments.

Mosin Nagant Harpoon is deliberately bold and weird, but I’m not sure if it goes too far — and I’m generally all up for some crazy designs. As you could guess from its name, what this Apex attachment does is provide Mosin with a literal harpoon that you can shoot at someone — and it is surprisingly effective even at rather long distances.

My biggest question here is why make it so effective at mid-range and so slow when it comes to close-range combat? I don’t think I’ll get an answer. Try it out and see if you find it useful.

All Pistol Apex Attachments in Modern Warfare 4

.50 GS Magna

Limitations: Blocks Trigger Action Attachments.

Turning your 7-round-per-magazine pistol full-auto is hilarious, but I genuinely think that it can be a very useful panic option. Boy, can you spend your mag quickly with this attachment!

Will you land more than one or two shots into anyone farther than a few meters? No, you won’t. But it’s basically impossible to match your speed at close range. If you are prone to getting surprised by your enemies, try this out and see if it improves your win rate — it just might.

Krait P68 Commando

Krait P68 Commando is badass because it allows you to walk around with a knife and a pistol in your hands, improving melee damage, lunge range, and recoil. Awesome. Literally no reason not to use it.

Mojave .357 Lawless

Limitations: Blocks Trigger Action Attachments.

Easily the coolest Apex attachment in the game, Lawless allows you to cosplay a cowboy by fanning the hammer to fire from your hip as quickly as you can pull the trigger. Is it better than a full-auto .50 GS? I don’t know, but it executes the same idea in a much more iconic and flashy way.

Sang Breach

Limitations: Blocks Laser Attachments.

Sang Breach gives you an option to shoot a single shotgun round from your underbarrel, and it’s a pretty cool thing to be able to do, especially when you really need that damage to determine who gets out alive from a close-range encounter.

 

 

All Shotgun Apex Attachments in Modern Warfare 4

Rezi 12 Enforcer

Rezi 12 Enforcer gives you the option to shoot explosive slugs, which adds some variety to how you typically use a shotgun. There’s no real reason not to use this Apex attachment, even if you won’t rely on it all that often.

Warlord Lumen

Limitations: Blocks Optic and Laser Attachments.

Warlord Lumen equips your shotgun with a blinding strobe pattern that, as soon as you aim down sights, affects every unlucky enemy in your vicinity. It does require a couple of seconds of cooldown before the next use, but its effect is so incredibly annoying and useful that I’m genuinely surprised the devs decided to add it to the game in the first place.

I think that it’s one of those cursed design decisions that players will perpetuate even if they hate it simply because of how efficient it is.

All Sniper Rifle Apex Attachments in Modern Warfare 4

Astaroth .57 Infiltrator

Limitations: Blocks Optic Attachments.

Astaroth .57 Infiltrator allows you to see through walls, which is incredible, even if it does so to a highly limited degree. It also reduces your magazine capacity to 1, so you’d better make that cheating shot count. I’d say that the payoff is worth it, especially if you aren’t familiar with your environment yet.

KG-9 Drillcharge

KG-9 Drillcharge side-mounts Drillcharge to the rifle, and each of these can drill into a surface and then detonate. The devs imply that you should use it to flush out enemies that sit behind their cover for too long. I’d recommend using it exactly like that as well.

Signal 50 Inferno

Limitations: Blocks Ammunition attachments.

Signal 50 Inferno lives up to its name, because all this Apex attachment really does is load your weapon with Incendiary Rounds. If you wanted your sniper rifle to be better at dealing with vehicles and Killstreaks, that one’s for you.

 

 

Read our other Modern Warfare 4 guides:

• How to get Divergence Camo
• DMZ Best Traits
• All Notes and Yellow Crates Locations

F.A.Q.