Best AEK-973 loadout and class build for Black Ops 6

The AEK-973 in Black Ops 6 is a brand new Marksman Rifle that features a three-round burst.

One of its standout abilities is that it’ll often net you kills with just a single, well-placed burst making it a three-shot kill almost anywhere on the body, usually even at longer distances away too. As such, it's quickly become a favourite in Black Ops 6.

To delve more into what makes this gun tick, we’ll be running through the best AEK-973 attachments and build, the best class loadout, perks, and gear to pair with the gun, as well as how to unlock the AEK-973.

On this page:

• AEK-973 best attachments and build
• AEK-973 best class loadout, perks, gear, and equipment
• How to unlock the AEK-973

Black Ops 6 AEK-973 best attachments and build

In all honesty, even without attachments, the AEK-973 is a strong weapon, and quite the powerhouse regardless of range.

Of course, the further out an enemy is, the less chance that you’re going to take them out easily. Generally speaking, at most ranges you’ll likely encounter in Multiplayer matches, the AEK can take enemies down in a single burst, even if not hitting them directly in the chest and above.

With attachments however, the weapon only becomes more reliable and accurate.

Speaking of, here is our recommendation for the best AEK-973 attachments and build:

• Muzzle: Muzzle Break
• Barrel: Reinforced Barrel
• Rear Grip: Quickdraw Grip
• Stock: Balanced Stock
• Fire Mod: Rapid Fire

As mentioned, the AEK-973 is pretty solid on its own, but with these attachments, the gun becomes even more powerful - testing them out in the firing range had me aghast at just how fast the gun fires with Rapid Fire equipped.

As such, this might have been the attachment that had the most instant realisation of its power, and it was still managing to land one-burst kills at range.

Paired with other attachments like the Balanced Stock, you’re getting a gun intended for medium range combat feeling almost as snappy as some ARs and SMGs. With these two attachments together, you’re not only getting an increased fire rate, but also increased movement speed across hipfire, strafing, and aim-walking movement modes.

As for the other three attachments, Muzzle Brake is providing some extra recoil control on the opening shot, as well as a quicker reset to the gun’s recoil pattern. It results in even back-to-back attacks not causing the gun to kick much.

Even without this attatchment though, the gun is honestly quite stable in itself, so for me personally, I might end up just opting for one of the cleaner red dot sights instead - such as the Kepler Microflex.

To round up this build, we are also recommending the Reinforced Barrel for improved damage range and bullet velocity, as well as the Quickdraw Grip to make aiming faster thanks to a faster ADS time.

Feel free to change up the attachments on the gun as you see fit. Ultimately though, it doesn’t look like you can go too wrong with this one considering how strong it is.

Black Ops 6 AEK-973 best class loadout, perks, gear, and equipment

Whilst the AEK-973 is best suited to ranged combat, it does feel like it would be a weapon typically found within the assault rifle category. It’s interesting to note then that there are no burst-fire assault rifles in the game just yet, but with the AEK, that’s essentially what we’ve got.

You could go for more of a recon and support role with it - and there are solid perk combos that can help with that - but we’re going to lean towards unlocking the benefits of the Enforcer Combat Specialty with our loadout choices.

Speaking of, here’s our recommendation for the best Black Ops 6 AEK-973 class loadout:

Best Black Ops 6 AEK-973 loadout

• Secondary: Grekhova
• Tactical: Player preference
• Lethal: Player preference
• Field Upgrade: Spring Mine
• Perk 1: Dexterity
• Perk 2: Fast Hands
• Perk 3: Double Time
• Combat Specialty: Enforcer
• Wildcard: Perk Greed (w/ Gung-Ho)

We’re leaving the Tactical and Lethal choice up to you, though you can lean into a more defensive or support role here if you’d like, but for Field Upgrade, we’re going with the Spring Mine, just as a backup in case any enemies sneak up on you - primarily for any time you are holding down an objective or sightline. Feel free to choose something else though.

As for the secondary, we’re going for the Grekhova, primarily for its solid reliability as a backup pistol thanks to its high fire rate that’s a perfect complementary sidearm to go along with the more precise nature of the AEK that won’t be as effective at close range.

We had considered recommending Overkill and taking a shotgun, but that would require some rearranging of perks, so for this approach, we’re sticking to Perk Greed as our Wildcard.

With that in tow, you’re able to pick four perks. We’re going for three Enforcer perks, Dexterity, Double Time, and Gung-Ho, all of which are contributing to mobility, reducing fall damage and improving tactical spring speeds whilst using equipment and reloading, as well as its overall duration.

This grants us the Enforcer bonuses for extra movement speed and health regeneration bonuses, and we’ve also equipped Fast Hands so weapons can be swapped faster - handy for when needing to swap to your Grekhova in response to a close-quarters enemy attack.

As always, feel free to swap any of these perks or equipment out for something you find suits your playstyle and overall build best.

How to unlock the AEK-973 in Black Ops 6

The AEK-973 is unlocked fairly easily in Black Ops 6, though it will require a bit of investment.

Specifically, you’ll need to reach player Level 34.

You can do this by earning enough XP which can be racked up across Multiplayer and Zombies, as well as Warzone if you’re playing after the launch of Season 1.

Be sure to keep an eye out for any Double XP events, or even use a Double XP token if you have any available.

Keep in mind however that once you Prestige, the weapon will re-lock again until you reach the required level. Though if you have a blueprint for the weapon, or have a spare Permanent Unlock token, you’ll be able to keep it unlocked permanently.

Enjoy the AEK-973 in Black Ops 6!