Overkill

From the Call of Duty Wiki

Overkill is a Tier 2 perk in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: World at War that allows the player to carry two primary weapons, instead of a primary weapon and sidearm (pistol). Overkill is unlocked at level 38 in Modern Warfare, and 56 in Call of Duty: World at War. Perks that affect weapons will affect both primary weapons a player carries. A player using Overkill will use an M9 during Last Stand in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, or an M1911 in Call of Duty: World at War. When using Overkill in Call of Duty 4, the first primary weapon determines your movement speed and character appearance, as it always does. The second weapon chosen when the perk is active cannot utilize any camouflage, and has no effect on mobility or appearance, with the exception of the gun being visible on the player's back. In Call of Duty: World at War, whatever weapon the player is holding determines movement speed.

[edit] Multiplayer Tactics

Choosing your primary weapon is very important, as that is what your character's appearance will depend on. In maps with ghillie suits, a sniper rifle (if you're going to have one) should be your primary weapon as you will be well camouflaged. On maps without ghillie suits (and Countdown), using a sniper as a primary weapon is not recommended. This perk is best used by equipping two weapons that make up for each others' deficiencies. A good example of this is a equipping a sniper rifle and an SMG. Sniper rifles are great for engaging long range targets but are not so good at medium range and terrible at close range, while SMGs are good for close to medium range but are not very good for long range. Hence, pairing them in one class will allow them to balance each other out. On the other hand, a poor use of this perk is to equip two weapons from the same class or that have similar capabilities, such as an M14 and an M21. They both have the same advantages and deficiencies so there is no major advantage to equipping them both, other than the increased ammo supply (but in that case you are better off using Bandolier and freeing up your second tier spot with something more potentially useful, like Stopping Power). Use Overkill with a shotgun and sniper, MG and sniper or MG and shotgun for the best damage.

In Call of Duty: World at War, Overkill is unlocked at rank 56, very late on in the game. However, it is still a useful perk, as this game is much less dependent on Stopping Power or Juggernaut. Picking your primary isn't much of a problem, unless you are in a Marine Raiders vs. Imperial Army map, where a bolt action rifle should be your primary, unless you don't actually want to use one. Note if you are using an M2 Flamethrower, that will determine your overall appearance, not your primary weapon!

Overkill should be based on five factors of advantages and disadvantages like: Damage, Range, Accuracy, Areas of Effectiveness (CQC, Long Range), Reload time, and rate of fire

In both games, there will be a slight delay when switching to your secondary weapon for the first time (just like if you pick up a weapon from a fallen player) where your character will pull back a bolt, fiddle with the weapon etc. , so it is normally ideal to take it out when you spawn and then change back (if you want to). Good specialization is very important, and it is a very good choice in Hardcore where perks such as Stopping Power and Juggernaut are not needed, as the guns do a lot of damage already. It is very common to see people with SMG/Sniper (usually PTRS-41) combination or Grenade Launcher/SMG combination. In COD5, a shotgun with a grip can be overkilled with a rifle grenade.Since both attachments share the first tier perk, this is highly advisable for shotgunners who insist on using grips.

You can also use a semi-automatic rifle with a rifle grenade and a high rate of fire as a primary weapon to use it to close and medium ranges and use a bolt-action rifle with a rifle grenade to use at extemely long ranges.This tactic has many advantages:You have a weapon to use in all cases,even into extremely short or long distance,and you have 4 rifle grenades per time you respawn!Also, the rifle grenady ussualy replaces the 1st tier perk,but you can overweight this by having 4 rifle grenades.

When the MP40 is used (as it normally is with overkill), the gun will still do high damage at close range (50 damage). In hardcore most people use the SMG/Sniper with a Thompson and M1 Garand with a Sniper Scope, which allows them to do high damage close up and at medium/long range. It is advised that you usually make both of your weapons a gun that can be used in all situations. A shotgun and machine gun combination would help because a shotgun lacks the rate of fire and range of a machine while the machine gun has weaker damage, but high accuracy and range. An SMG and rifle combination besides the STG-44 as the STG-44 can be used as a SMG and rifle. A good combination would be the m1 carbine, double-barreled shotgun with sawed off barrel, and the flamethrower; use this with a sticky grenade or molotov cocktail and tabun gas so that the carbine acts like a long range gun and sniper, the double-barreled shotgun is a CQC killer, the flamethrower can kill enemies when used with tabun gas, and the sticky grenade and molotovs will weaken the target as if not killing them and a third perk like extreme conditioning can help the guy get back into cover after killing a target. If you have a flamethrower, it is advised that you don't use a weapon like a PPSH-41 as you will find yourself out of ammo extremely quickly. It should be noted though that if you're using a carbine and flamethrower, but you have stopping power, then change to overkill as the pistol gets pretty useless as you go on.

It is advised (in both games) to use a high powered weapon to ensure that even without perks such as Stopping Power and Juggernaut you will still do a lot of damage. Overkill is also effective when combined with Bandolier, this allows the player to last longer in the battlefield with the specific weapon he/she has chosen.

[edit] Trivia

• Overkill does not return in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 due the introduction of secondary weapons.
• In CoD4 if an AK-47 is used with the four grenade launcher grenades trick it will have 2 grenades and the other weapon will have 2 grenades but if the AK is not used the Primary Weapon will have 3 grenades and the Secondary 1. This is most likely because the AK-47 uses the GP-25 and the other rifles use the M203.

Perks of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Tier 1 Perks	C4 x2 · Claymore x2 · RPG-7 x2 · Special Grenades x3 · Frag x3 · Bandolier · Bomb Squad
Tier 2 Perks	Stopping Power · Juggernaut · Sleight of Hand · Double Tap · Overkill · UAV Jammer · Sonic Boom
Tier 3 Perks	Extreme Conditioning · Steady Aim · Last Stand · Martyrdom · Deep Impact · Iron Lungs · Dead Silence · Eavesdrop
Kill Streak Perks	3: UAV Recon · 5: Airstrike · 7: Helicopter Support

Perks of Call of Duty: World at War
Tier 1 Perks	Special Grenades x3 · Satchel Charge x2 · M9A1 Bazooka x2 · Bomb Squad · Bouncing Betty x2 · Bandolier · Primary Grenades x2 · M2 Flamethrower
Tier 2 Perks	Stopping Power · Fireworks · Flak Jacket · Gas Mask · Juggernaut · Camouflage · Sleight of Hand · Shades · Double Tap · Overkill
Tier 3 Perks	Deep Impact · Extreme Conditioning · Steady Aim · Toss Back · Second Chance · Martyrdom · Fireproof · Dead Silence · Iron Lungs · Reconnaissance
Vehicle Perks	Water Cooler ·Greased Bearings ·Ordnance Training ·Leadfoot ·Coaxial Machine Gun
Kill Streak Perks	3: Recon Plane · 5: Artillery Strike · 7: Dogs