Core to Hard Core

I have met some new people that I have been playing Forza 5 with and now they want to invite me to play some Ghosts. I am a core objective player in Ghosts and they are hardcore players. I am not setup for this and have some pre-work to do to be ready for this kind of fun. I was planning on making a couple of loadouts with an AR and an SMG with higher fire rates just to see if it works. Any suggestions would be appreciated. This is going to be quite a change.

ROT King III

With Hardcore game types you really do not need to worry about silencers much as there will be no minimap unless someone calls in a SatCom. That will also go with the stealth perks. Hardcore is also a faster paced game so you are going to want perks that will help you aim and reload faster. I usually play Hardcore Dom and my setups is as follows:

Remington or Honey Badger (Grip, Tracker Sight)
I.E.D.
Sleight of Hand, Marathon (or Agility if you do not want unlimited sprint), Scavenger, Hardline, Stalker
Support Strike Package (Ammo Crate*, Squad Mate, Oracle)
or
Assault Strike Package (Guard Dog, Hind, Helo Pilot)

*Drop the Ammo crate when you call in your squad mate and he will pick up a gun from the crate and provide better cover as he will no longer just have a handgun.

It all matters on what your strengths and weaknesses are in playing.

As a predominantly core player who recently switched to hardcore, here are a few things I've discovered that have helped me.
1) Incog is your friend. Many players in HC use infrared and tracker sights to get the first hit, incog will give you an edge. Also, your orange tag appearing over your head is often the only split second indicator of your status as enemy. I cannot tell you how many times I've shot someone who hesitated because my orange tag didn't show up. It also prevents AI callouts, which are huge in this game type, esp against non communicating randoms who rely on them.
2) Dead silence/amplify made a huge difference for me in my Ghosts game overall, but especially in hardcore. If you don't have headphones, at least run dead silence. Many players in hardcore soundwhore quite effectively.
3) For guns in HC, you are correct about handling/ROF>damage. I tried the k7 once in core and was mad that I had spent the points. It is my favorite SMG in HC though. High ROF and good handling, I run it with a grip and extended mags and it is a monster in HC. Same with the FAD. I disagree with the point made about silencers, I think that they provide some sound concealment from players using headphones. I know that I listen carefully to gunshots to find enemies firing at my teammates. Either way, play with guns you considered weak for core and you may find a new favorite.

Don't let the footsteps drive you crazy.

MOS102106 wrote:

Don't let the footsteps drive you crazy.

Good advice in general, especially when you are home alone.

I might need to friend you guys. I have played hardcore for years. Now everyone I played with are switching to core and I can't kill anything to save my life.

In BO2 all i wanted to play was HC but in Ghost's i just can't get into it, i mean 3 hitmarkers from my M27 with deadeye just to get a kill is redonkulous

Totally agree with the setup that's not what you want on core may do well in HC. Played strictly HC on BO2 since it came out only because of the zero spawn time and my setups are weak on core. Haven't tried HC on Ghosts yet. Is there a wait to spawn back in and what would be a good perk load out for speed???

I like hardcore better than core, much faster and easier to kill people.

I agree

A couple bullets opposed to whole clips.... im with hardcore 100%