Best Tanto 22 loadout and class build for Black Ops 6

The Tanto 22 is a brand new SMG added in Black Ops 6, and much like it did in pre-release environments, it’s back here again in the full game being a strong, meta pick.

Setting it apart from the rest of the SMG family is its markedly slower rate of fire that’ll no doubt take some getting used to if you’re typically focusing on Black Ops 6’s other, faster-firing guns in the class.

To help you find the best way to take your own customised version of the weapon into matches, we’ll be running through the best attachments and build for the Tanto 22, detailing the best loadout, perks, gear, and equipment you’ll want to pair with it, and how to unlock the Tanto 22.

On this page:

• Tanto 22 best attachments and build
• Tanto 22 best class loadout, perks, gear, and equipment
• How to unlock the Tanto 22

Black Ops 6 Tanto 22 best attachments and build

As mentioned, the Tanto 22 features a much slower rate of fire than what’s common for guns of its kind.

With that in mind, we’re choosing to lean more into this and the weapon’s overall strengths, putting the focus on mobility, evasion, and ensuring that recoil is controlled. In doing so, it allows us to turn this gun into even more of a solid close-medium range laser than it already is.

Below is our recommendation for the best Tanto 22 attachments and build:

• Muzzle: Suppressor
• Underbarrel: Vertical Foregrip
• Rear Grip: Ergonomic Grip
• Fire Mods: Rapid Fire
• Stock: No Stock OR Barrel: Long Barrel

First off, with the Suppressor having the ability to prevent your gunshots from revealing your location on enemy minimaps, we’re taking that for some cover of stealth to help for the mobile playstyle we’re going for.

Next up, we’re recommending the Vertical Foregrip for the underbarrel attachment slot to provide some additional horizontal recoil control that’ll help you stay on target.

To emphasise some of our focus on evasion, we’re picking the Ergonomic Grip to make the Tanto feel snappier. It does this by boosting the sprint-to-fire, dive-to-fire, and aim-down-sight speeds, letting you make use of all the game's Omnimovement capabilities and feel much more mobile and reactive in the process.

Whilst this does conflict with our recommendations for perks in the next section, this is still an option if you feel you want the extra attachments.

The last two attachments you pick are somewhat up in the air with our recommendations since you could go either way.

However, if you want to pick all three of our recommendations, you can use the Gunfighter Wildcard in your loadout which lets you equip up to eight attachments on your weapon, meaning you can have all six we recommend, and two of your choosing.

For those not picking the Wildcard, we’ll be recommending you take either the No Stock option for greater evasive manoeuvres, or the Long Barrel if you’d rather more range to take on enemies further afield.

Finally, since the gun does have a low rate of fire, we’re recommending the Rapid Fire mod since - whilst it does introduce more recoil and lower bullet velocity - it’ll help the Tanto feel more directly competitive with other SMGs in the class.

As always though, feel free to mix and match attachments to see what works best for you, and keep in mind the Gunfighter Wildcard if you want to deck your primary weapon out as much as possible.

Black Ops 6 Tanto 22 best class loadout, perks, gear, and equipment

With the Tanto 22 functioning somewhat like an assault rifle when it comes to its damage range and best-in-class firepower, we’re picking perks and equipment that bring some mobility and survivability.

That means perks to increase your speed, weapon handling, along with leaning into the new Combat Specialty feature for some additional bonuses.

Below is our recommendation for the best Black Ops 6 Tanto 22 class loadout:

Best Black Ops 6 Tanto 22 loadout

• Secondary: Player preference
• Tactical: Stim Shot
• Lethal: Semtex
• Field Upgrade: Player preference
• Perk 1: Tac Mask
• Perk 2: Dispatcher or Fast Hands
• Perk 3: Double Time or Quartermaster
• Perk 4: Flak Jacket (w/ Perk Greed Wildcard)
• Combat Specialty: Strategist
• Wildcard: Perk Greed

When it comes to secondary and Field Upgrade, you’re free to pick whichever suits you - for example, in terms of your Field Upgrade, you might want the Assault Pack for mid-match ammo refills, or the new 'War Cry' for example that improves nearby ally movement speed and health regeneration.

For the Tactical equipment, we’re leaning towards Stim Shot for access to a quick pick-me-up of health regen in the midst of combat, whilst for lethal we’re going with Semtex - though a Frag is a valid alternative, if you prefer.

As for the core of this loadout though, our perks are looking to boost survivability and handling - though which perks you pick will determine which way this leans more towards.

For the first slot, we’re going with Tac Mask alongside a bonus fourth perk Flak Jacket thanks to the Perk Greed Wildcard we're recommending you use. With both of those perks equipped, you’ll be more resilient to all manner of flash, stun, and explosive grenades thrown your way.

In the second slot, we’re looking at a choice between quicker weapon swap speeds with Fast Hands, or a reduced cost for non-lethal Scorestreaks with Dispatcher - the latter may ultimately prove to be more helpful in the long run, but we could still see viability for Fast Hands.

Regarding the final slot, we’re once again looking at a choice depending on which way you want to take this class.

On one hand, we can see how Double Time’s increased Tactical Sprint duration is a solid pick - and it’s ultimately the one we’re primarily recommending - but unlocking the ability for equipment to recharge overtime instead of needing ammo resupplies directly thanks to Quartermaster could be a perk worth taking as an alternative.

This is especially worth it if you’re looking for more equipment uses and haven't got the Assault Pack Field Upgrade equipped.

Out of these selections, if you’re following a similar recommendation to what we have listed here, you should end up with at least three perks of the Strategist 'Combat Specialty', unlocking even more benefits such as score bonuses for objective play, better awareness of enemy equipment, quicker deployment of your own gear, and more.

An alternative approach to all this is one more focused on mobility, whereby if you pick three 'Enforcer' perks (aka red perks) across the four slots, you’ll unlock the benefits of that Combat Specialty which includes a movement speed and health regen buff after netting a kill.

How to unlock the Tanto 22 in Black Ops 6

Whilst the Tanto 22 is one of the strongest weapons in the game, you’ll be happy to know you can get your hands on it very early on, simply by earning XP.

Specifically, to unlock the Tanto 22 SMG, you’ll need to reach player level 16.

You can do this by earning XP and increasing your core level, and no matter what you do in Black Ops 6 Multiplayer - or Zombies - you’ll be progressing towards this unlock.

There are also challenges, weapon unlocks, and much more that can boost you to 16 even quicker, but generally speaking it’s a fairly early game unlock that shouldn’t take you too much time to get from simply just playing Multiplayer or Zombies matches.

For more on Black Ops 6 weapons, be sure to check out our best guns guide, alongside several loadout pages just like this one discussing firearms like the XM4, or other SMG competitors like the C9 and Jackal PDW.