Maelstrom is another Call of Duty attempt at making close-range combat a David vs Goliath type of scenario in Black Ops 6 and Warzone. However somehow, it’s a pretty well-balanced shotgun that doesn’t feel super OP like our cry days over the Haymaker meta in MW3 nor it’s as useless as the Marine SP in the current Warzone. So here we try to utilize the best loadout with the Maelstrom shogun in Black Ops 6 and Warzone, making a build that can beat the SMGs in close-quarter confrontations.
Best Maelstrom Loadout
- Muzzle: Full Choke or Suppressor
- Barrel: Reinforced Barrel
- Magazine: Extended Mag II
- Rear Grip: CQB Grip
- Stock: Lightweight Stock
Since Maelstrom is a balanced shotgun, we go for a balanced build for it here, boosting all its stats without penalties as much as possible. So the first thing we need is more range on the shotgun. If you install the long-range barrel, it will give you a 2.2m range with negative bullet velocity points. With the Reinforced barrel, however, you gain a 2.1 damage range with even more bullet velocity than usual.
Next up are the two mobility kings, the Lightweight Stock and the CQB Grip. The stock attachment adds more strafing and movement speed which are some of the key features you’d need for a shotgun, and the rear grip adds more slide to fire and sprint to fire speed to make the best Maelstrom loadout in Black Ops 6 and Warzone.
The slide-to-fire speed is the one golden vertical only available for the Black Ops 6 weapons, and that’s why if you use some of the MW3 guns in Warzone, you might just lose close-range combat to someone utilizing this ability. As for the final two attachments on this Maelstrom build, we’re going with the Extended Mag II and Suppressor muzzle.
Personally, I’d prefer not getting detected on the enemy’s mini-map over some accuracy. But if you’re a fan of precise hip fire shooting and don’t mind that, the Full Choke muzzle would better suit your playstyle. Now you might be wondering why there isn’t any Dragon Breath ammo or maybe Rapid Fire on this list, and I have good answers for them.
With the Dragon Breath ammo, you’ll need to take extra shots to take down the targets beyond 1 meter to take them down. It’d also block your choice of barrel, so it’s a downgrade overall. As for the Rapid Fire, it nerfs the damage range and bullet velocity to some extent and makes shooting faster pointless when you need to get extra hits for a kill.
This Maelstrom loadout is probably the best for Black Ops 6 Multiplayer face-off matches, but you can also enjoy using it in Zombies. It’s not an super OP shotgun, but it does get the job done. As for Warzone, it’s not recommended for the BR but it’s a good option if you’re dropping into the fast-paced Resurgence lobbies.
