Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - How Does the New Gear System Work?

Ever since they were introduced in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Perks have been present in every multiplayer mode in the series and make up the backbone of any class that a player uses or creates. While the system has retain a similar DNA throughout all of its interactions, many titles have tried to tweak the formula to change how Perks are used and approached to and some variety to the many titles that have appeared over the last 20 years. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 continues that trend of introducing the Gear system, which will function very similarly to the classic Perk system but with some notable changes that players will want to understand before jumping into creating their own classes in the new FPS title. This guide will provide players with a full explanation of the Gear System and all of its Perks in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

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Gear System Explained In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Gear might be the new name for these Perks, but they function very similarly to many of their predecessors though there are a few notable differences that are important to know. There are a total of 4 different types of Gear: The Vest, Gloves, Boots, and Gear. They all come with a selection of Perks that can correspond to one of these items, with the Vests also including a passive effect that changes the overall class which we will delve into further in the guide. Players will be forced to select a Vest for their class and then will be able to pick one item for each of the different slots unless that piece of Gear is locked due to your Vest choice. Below we will break down each of these different slots and all of the Perks in them.

Vest

The Vest is what will define your entire class as it won’t just give you passive buffs but will also change what types of equipment you are able to equip. For example, some Vests will allow you to equip a second Perk from your Gear section and will give you a second Tactical by stopping you from equipping a Lethal Grenade while another one will give you take away your Boot Perk as a trade-off for being able to take in multiple Primary weapons. All of this will need to be taken into account as you build your class to really fit how you want to play.

Below is the full list of all of the Vests you can unlock in Modern Warfare 3 [NOTE: These are all items available in the Beta and will be updated when the full game releases]

Infantry Vest: Increases Tac Sprint duration and reduces refresh time (Will not stack this effect with Running Sneakers. If that Perk is equipped, this Vest will give you the effect of Lightweight Boots instead).
Engineer Vest: Spot enemy equipment, Field Upgrades, and Killstreaks through walls. Aiming down sights at these items will highlight them for your entire team. Faster Field Upgrade recharge.
- Passive Class Effect: Removes Lethal Grenade. Allows you to spawn with 2 Tactical Grenades at a time. Allows you to equip a second perk from the Gear section.
Gunner Vest: Deply with Max Ammo. Improved Reload Speed (Will not stack this effect with Mag Holster. If that Perk is equipped, this Vest will give you the effect of Mission Comlink instead).
- Passive Class Effect: Removes Boots slot. Allows you to equip with 2 Primary weapons.
Demolition Vest: Resupply Lethal and Tactical equipment every 25 seconds.
- Passive Class Effect: Allows you to spawn with 2 Lethal Grenades at a time.

Gloves

The Perks found in the Gloves section pertain to actions performed with your hands like performing improved reloads or picking up extra ammo from defeated enemies.

Below is the full list of all of the Gloves you can unlock in Modern Warfare 3 [NOTE: These are all items available in the Beta and will be updated when the full game releases]

Quick-Grip Gloves: Increase weapon swap speed.
Scavenger Gloves: Resupply Ammo and Throwing Knives from dead players.
Commando Gloves: Reload while sprinting.

Boots

Where Gloves look at the hands, Boots focuses on your movement with each item providing you some sort of benefit that will aid you in how you traverse the maps in multiplayer.

Below is the full list of all of the Boots you can unlock in Modern Warfare 3 [NOTE: These are all items available in the Beta and will be updated when the full game releases]

Lightweight Boots: Increase movement and swimming speed. Reduces noise while swimming.
Climbing Boots: Increased climbing and mantling speed. Reduces fall damage.
Stalker Boots: Increased strafe and ADS movement speed.
Tactical Pads: Increases slide distance and allows for full ADS while sliding. Increases stance transition speed and crouched movement speed.
Covert Sneakers: Eliminates footstep noise.

Gear

Gear is less tied together for a theme like the others focusing on movement and hand-based actions. This section of Perks focuses more on passive abilities that will aid you like the classic Hardline Perk which will decrease the amount of Kills/Points you need for Streaks or the High Alert Perk which notifies you when you are being aimed at by someone off-screen.

Below is the full list of all of the Gear you can unlock in Modern Warfare 3 [NOTE: These are all items available in the Beta and will be updated when the full game releases]

EOD Padding: Reduces damage from non-Killstreak explosives and fire
Tac Mask: Reduces the strength of enemy flash, stun, and gas grenades. Immunity to shock, EMP, and Snapshot Grenades.
Control Comlink: Reduce Killstreak cost by 1 Kill. Reduces Scorestreak cost by 125 Points.
Bon Conduction Headset: Reduces combat noise, allowing for improved identification of footsteps and gunshots.
L/R Detector: Warns of hostile laser and radiation sources (High Alert).
Ghost T/V Camo: While moving. blocks detection from UAVS, enemy radar sources, and Heartbeat Sensors.

Unlike the most recent entry in the series, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the Gear system will not be a timer before they become active like the tiered Perk system found in Infinity Ward’s latest outing. This means that all of the Perks from all of the Gear that you equip will be enabled throughout the the entire match.