Best Ames 85 loadout and class build in Black Ops 6

With the Ames 85 assault rifle, Black Ops 6 continues the proud Call of Duty tradition of giving players a lower-power, high-accuracy weapon that can shred at almost every distance. It can hold its own up-close, too, and in a game this fast, that's invaluable.

If you're familiar with guns like the Galil from the first Black Ops, the SCAR-H from Black Ops 2, or the Krig 6 from Cold War, you'll know how the Ames feels to shoot. Its major weakness is its slower rate of fire, but it trades pure damage output for controllability, and that's a more than worthy concession.

The Ames is capable on its own, of course, but if you pair it with the right loadout and class setup, it becomes a monster that can easily carry you to the highest scorestreaks in the game. We'll go over how to unlock the Ames 85, the best attachments, perks, and class build perks to equip, and more here.

On this page:

• Best Ames 85 loadout
• Best Ames 85 class build, perks, gear and equipment
• How to unlock the Ames 85

Best Black Ops 6 Ames 85 loadout

Our goal with this Ames 85 build is to remove its main weaknesses and amplify its strengths. That means two things: improving its rate of fire and maintaining its accuracy advantage over other assault rifles like the XM4.

To ensure the best possible performance, we'll use the Gunfighter Wildcard to equip eight total attachments to the Ames 85. The selection revolves around the Rapid Fire Fire Mod attachment and using other attachments to offset its penalties.

You'll find that even with the debuffs Rapid Fire adds, with the right setup, the Ames can still laser enemies downrange. And in Black Ops 6, where long sightlines are in shorter supply? Let's just say damage falloff is not the biggest issue.

Here are our attachment recommendations for the Ames 85:

• Optic: Prismatech Reflex or persona preference
• Muzzle: Suppressor for quiet or Muzzle Break for loud
• Barrel: Gain-Twist Barrel
• Underbarrel: Precision Foregrip
• Magazine: Fast Mag I
• Rear Grip: Commando Grip
• Stock: Light Stock
• Fire Mod: Rapid Fire

Controllability and consistency are the key components of the best Ames 85 build, as the weapon is a five-shot kill from all but the longest distances. That means the attachments we choose don't care much about the weapon's damage range. Instead, we focus on reducing the gun's already low recoil and making it more responsive on the battlefield.

The Prismatech Reflex optic offers a clear sight picture without being overly obstructive at the edges, as the optic is relatively small on the weapon. If you prefer other options, don't let us stop you from using them.

Choosing between the Suppressor and Muzzle Break is a matter of preference and playstyle. If you like to flank and keep your enemies guessing where you'll be coming from, staying quiet with the Suppressor is the only choice. There is a lot of UAV spam in Black Ops 6, but as long as you keep moving, you can stay ahead of its minimap sweep.

Equipping the Muzzle Break will make you show up on the minimap with every shot you fire, but it also makes the Ames 85 one of the most accurate weapons in the game. You do, of course, still need to have solid aim to get the most out of the gun, but it's very forgiving otherwise.

The Gain-Twist Barrel vastly increases the Bullet Velocity of all fired rounds, essentially making the Ames a hitscan weapon. I've found that higher Bullet Velocity also helps with my hit detection even at mid-range, though that experience is anecdotal.

While the Ames 85 doesn't have too much recoil to start with, adding the Precision Foregrip not only reduces the idle sway while aiming down the sights but also reduces its horizontal recoil. Keeping any weapon's recoil pattern vertical helps with controlling its recoil, as it's easier only needing to pull down rather than fighting side-to-side drift.

Adding Fast Mag I to the Ames's slower-than-average reload acts as a solid middle-ground between its standard reload and the snappier Flip-Mag, losing only five bullets to Flip Mag's cost of 10.

The Omnimovement in Black Ops 6 means you'll almost always be sprinting, and the Commando Grip's combination of a sprint-to-fire and an aim down sight buff will ensure you're ready for any fight that comes your way.

With the Light Stock, our focus on speed and consistency continues, providing a bonus to hipfire and strafing movement speed, as well as a buff to your flat movement speed. Welcome improvements, all.

Last but not least is the Rapid Fire fire mod that worsens the Ames 85's Damage Range, Bullet Velocity, and both its horizontal and vertical recoil control stats. It also adds a small but significant increase to the gun's fire rate, taking it from 750 RPM to 833. For perspective, the XM4's default RPM is 800, so with Rapid Fire and the rest of our build, the Ames more than competes with the best gun in the game.

Bear in mind that this attachment list makes what we think is one of the most effective Ames 85 loadouts in Black Ops 6, but feel free to adjust it to your preferences. If you don't want to use the Gunfighter Wildcard and are limited to five attachments, you can lose the Stock, Foregrip, and the Magazine or Muzzle device without sacrificing too much performance.

Best Black Ops 6 Ames 85 class build, perks, gear and equipment

The setup we recommend using to supplement the Ames 85 is a lot like the one we recommend for the XM4, with a few tweaks. Our priority remains speed and combat consistency, so our Tactical equipment is different, as is our Field Upgrade. Gunfighter is, of course, present, too, as our Ames build doesn't work without it.

• Perk 1: Flak Jacket
• Perk 2: Dispatcher
• Perk 3: Quartermaster
• Combat Specialty: Strategist
• Secondary: Your pistol of choice
• Tactical: Stim Shot
• Lethal: Semtex
• Field Upgrade: Trophy System or Assault Pack
• Wildcard: Gunfighter

For the more patient and objective-minded player, the green Strategist perks are hard to beat. Flak Jacket lets you survive most explosives even if they land at your feet, and you gain increased resistance to fire damage. Dispatcher reduces non-lethal Scorestreak cost between 50-150 points depending on the streak, and Quartermaster puts your lethal equipment on a cooldown rather than being a one-and-done thing.

The bigger benefit here is the Strategist Combat Speciality, which gives you 50 extra score for every instance of objective play (capturing a point, picking up a tag, etc.) and extra score for destroying enemy equipment. You can even see enemy traps and such through walls from a fair distance. As a bonus, you can use equipment and field upgrades faster, though this benefit is the least of the three.

Rounding out the kit is the pistol of your choice and the Semtex grenade, Trophy System or Assault Pack Field Upgrades, and, most importantly, the Stim Shot. We're not using the red Enforcer Specialty, so we need another way to heal after a fight. Enter the Stim, a fast way to instantly get your health back to 100%. Stims also come with a cooldown by default, unaffected by Quartermaster, so you'll usually have one handy.

If you decide to go with another Wildcard, like Perk Greed, our recommendation would be either Bank Roll or Scavenger for easier Scorestreaks or to remove ammo issues, respectively.

How to unlock the Ames 85 in Black Ops 6

There's no special requirement or task to unlock the Ames 85. All you need to do is reach level 19 on any Prestige, and you'll add it to your armoury. If you spend a Prestige unlock on it at some point, you'll have it available immediately,though you're probably better off unlocking Wildcards and other later gear. Getting to level 19 only takes a few good matches.

Once unlocked, build your Ames 85 however you like, but remember that the setup here is one of the best in Black Ops 6.

Happy fragging!