Best Rival-9 loadout and class build for Warzone and MW3

Warzone and MW3 Rival-9 best loadout and attachments

While we’ve opted for the Striker as our best SMG in Warzone and Modern Warfare 3, with the right loadout and attachments on the Rival-9, there’s still a lot of potential for this rapid-fire SMG.

Before we run through each attachment individually, these are the five we would recommend equipping to your Rival-9:

• Barrel: Rival-38E Fire Starter Barrel
• Underbarrel: XRK Edge BW-4 Handstop
• Rear Grip: Rival Vice Assault Grip
• Muzzle: Monolithic Suppressor S
• Magazine: 40 Round Mag

First up, the Rival 38-E Fire Starter Barrel. For a SMG that excels in close-range gunfights, this short barrel supports an aggressive offensive strategy with buffs to ADS, movement, Sprint-to-Fire, and sprint speed. For the boost in mobility though, you’ll sacrifice some recoil control, aiming idle sway, and firing aim stability. We’ll make up for this with our third attachment.

Before we get there, we’ve got more to bolster the speed in this build and that comes with the XRK Edge BW-4 Handstop Underbarrel. Here, you’ll be provided once again with an improved mobility across a large spectrum of the MW3 speed stats.

As mentioned our third attachment will help improve the steadiness of the gun that we sacrificed previously. The Rival Vice Assault Grip is equipped in your Rear Grip slot to provide major improvements to the Rival-9’s gun kick control, and a slight rise in firing aim stability and recoil control. All three of which we lost out on with the Barrel.

We’ve also opted for the Monolithic Suppressor Muzzle to prop up your recoil control and, very importantly, take you off the enemies’ radar. The ability to sneak a little closer to your opponents before unleashing the barrage of bullets on offer with the Rival-9 can be a devastating move with this build.

This leads us nicely onto the fifth and final attachment in our Rival-9 build, the upgrade to a 40 Round Mag. With a 30 Round Mag as standard on this SMG, 10 extra bullets can make all the difference. With higher Time-To-Kill in Modern Warfare 3 paired with the rapid ability of the Rival-9’s fire-rate, believe us when we tell you you’ll need these extra bullets.

You can also opt for the 50 Round Drum here, but, fair warning, it does add a heaviness to the build that’ll work against the hard work your previous attachments have put into upping your mobility and speed. It’s a totally personal preference if you decide you’d like a little more.

To equip all the attachments in this build, you’ll need to head to the Gunsmith in your weapon loadout to see how each one of these is unlocked. Find the attachment you’re after from the list above and you’ll be able to view the requirements for each there.

Warzone and MW3 Rival-9 best class build, perks, and equipment

With the Rival-9 SMG, you’ve got a gun that is geared up for running into a room full throttle and working to clear it out. For such a speed-heavy, close-range gun, we’ve opted for perks and equipment that will support these aspects.

It may also be a smart idea, depending on your playstyle, to enable two primary weapons so you can equip a gun that can handle any long-range situations you find yourself in. Or, if you just fancy switching up the pace now and again.

Whilst the MW3 version of this loadout would require equipping a specific vest to open up access to a second primary weapon, before delving into that, we'll be running through the best approach for Warzone.

Best Warzone Rival-9 Loadout

• Perk 1: Scavenger
• Perk 2: Double Time
• Perk 3: Stalker
• Perk 4: Flex
• Secondary: KV Inhibitor
• Tactical: Battle Rage
• Lethal: Frag Grenade or Player Preference

We'll discuss more about the lethal, tactical, and secondary weapon options in the MW3 selection below, though of course you're free to switch it up if you'd rather take a different approach to the recommendations we listed above.

As mentioned, we're looking to place an emphasis on the Rival-9's mobility and close-range gameplay, but you'll notice a slightly different approach in terms of perks when compared to our MW3 picks below.

Here, we're looking at equipping Scavenger to make sure you'll be able to replenish ammo, armour, and cash from defeated players, whilst our other perks are essentially focused on enhancing the snappiness of the gun and keeping us moving with some stealthier aspects to round it off.

Most notably, the extra mobility here is going to come from Double Time and Stalker - whilst the former buffs your Tac Sprint duration and reduces its cooldown time, the latter grants a nice boost to strafe and aim-down-sights movement speed.

As for the fourth perk, we're going with Flex, a passive ability that'll delay triggered explosives - like Claymores and Proximity Mines - while sprinting, warn of nearby enemy equipment, and reduce the amount of combat noise you make. A mixed bag, but a handy set nonetheless, and a nice way to complement the Monolithic Suppressor we recommended in our attachments.

When it comes to Modern Warfare 3, since there are more loadout slots to deal with, we've taken a slightly different approach to the build, one that'll best complement core MW3 Multiplayer matches - below is a rundown of all the perks and equipment we recommend for the best Rival-9 build in Modern Warfare 3 with explainers for each item.

Best Modern Warfare 3 Rival-9 Loadout

• Vest: Overkill Vest
• Perk 1 – Gloves: Quick-Grip Gloves
• Perk 2 – Gear: Bone Conduction Helmet
• Perk 3 - Boots: Lightweight Boots
• Secondary Weapon: KV Inhibitor
• Lethal: Frag Grenade
• Tactical: Battle Rage

As mentioned, we’re opting for the Overkill Vest to run with two primary weapons. More on the secondary we’ve chosen in a moment, but we must first also pay heed to the fact that this Vest will also boost your weapon swap speed and enable reloading while sprinting. All great perks to keep the pace high.

For the secondary, we’d recommend the KV Inhibitor Sniper Rifle that we voted best-in-class in the best guns in MW3. Most definitely down to personal preference and your choice of game mode as to whether you’ll want to run with a Sniper at all, but if you’re looking to switch up how impactful you are at long-range, this gun will help to wipe out enemies with one-shot kills.

With the Quick-Grip Gloves, you’ll enjoy an increased weapon swap speed, which is incredibly handy if someone sneaks up on you when you least expect it, or when you’re at the end of your ammo and need a quick change up. The Lightweight Boots also lean into this Rival-9 speed build by upping your movement across the map.

It’s all well and good having the speed to navigate gunfights, but a perk that’ll help you also play tactically before you unleash your barrage of bullets is the Bone Conduction Headset. By reducing the noise of combat, you’ll be able to hone into enemies’ footsteps and gunfire with more precision making locating them and surprising them that little bit easier.

Finally, when it comes to choosing your lethal and tactical equipment, we’ve mixed in the Battle Rage to regenerate health fast, continually refresh your Tac Sprint, and make you resistant to your opponent’s tactical equipment. Three excellent perks that work hard to keep you in contention.

We’ve paired this with the classic Frag Grenade to deal out some devastating damage in-between gunfire. Another great alternative would be the Semtex, but tweaking these items until you find a loadout you’re happy with to suit your playstyle is worth taking your time over.

How to unlock the Rival-9 in Warzone and MW3

There’s a variety of different ways to unlock all the weapons in Warzone and Modern Warfare 3 and they’re not just as simple as levelling up.

To be able to equip the Rival-9 in Warzone and MW3, you’ll need to reach player level 25 to open the Armory Unlocks feature. Within the Armory, you can then 'Activate' a weapon to make available for use after completing its associated Unlock Challenge. This will consist of completing three daily challenges, though thanks to an update prior to Season 1's launch, winning matches at any time now also counts towards Armory unlocks too.

You can have up to three items queued up to unlock, but can only progress one challenge at at any given time. If you happen to change your mind mid-unlock to focus on unlocking another gun, perk, streak, piece of equipment, or cosmetic, and already have two other items queued, your unlock progress will be saved, allowing you to pick up right where you left off when you return.

If you’re on the lookout for more loadout recommendations, look no further on our plentiful Warzone and MW3 guides for the Striker, SVA 545, MTZ-556, MCW, and more. Plus, for more on Warzone and MW3 Multiplayer, check out the best guns and current Season 1 meta guide for informed intel on weapon selection.