Although the C9 is the starter SMG in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, it’s one of the most popular and powerful of the bunch. Like the XM4—the C9’s assault rifle counterpart—there’s often little reason to swap off this starting weapon in favour of later unlocks, especially once you’ve got the best Black Ops 6 C9 loadout ready to go.
Modified to reduce recoil and improve overall handling, this C9 build earns its place among the best Black Ops 6 weapon loadouts right now. Despite it being an SMG, you’d be surprised just how competitive the C9 can be at mid-ranges once you’ve got the recoil under control, without sacrificing its natural close-quarters lethality.
Best Black Ops 6 C9 loadout
The best Black Ops 6 C9 build is:
- Optic: Kepler Microflex
- Muzzle: Compensator
- Barrel: Long Barrel
- Underbarrel: Vertical Foregrip
- Rear Grip: Commando Grip
- Stock: No Stock
- Laser: Fast Motion Laser
- Fire Mods: Recoil Springs
With the C9 firmly in the close to mid-range SMG archetype, it’s highly adaptable to just about any playstyle. However, I find focusing on its versatility works best, improving recoil control and mobility equally. To do this, the Gunfighter Wildcard’s bonus attachment slots come in very handy.
First things first, you’ll want a clear optic. While this is largely down to personal preference, the Kepler Microflex is one of the most popular options, as are the Merlin Reflex, Merlin Mini, and Volzhskiy Reflex. These offer the most clear sightlines, which is crucial no matter the range. If you don’t care for an optic, then I’d recommend using this slot for Flip Mag instead.
The Compensator muzzle attachment is one of the most crucial parts of this build. This muzzle offers a three-point boost to vertical recoil control, letting you take better advantage of the C9’s accuracy and damage. When it comes to hitting those crucial headshots, you can never be too accurate, after all. You could swap this for a suppressor to better flank though keep in mind that SMGs like the Jackal and KSV are better suited to this role anyhow.
To further rein in the recoil, I recommend choosing the Vertical Foregrip and Recoil Springs. These two attachments feature in almost every meta loadout right now for good reason. Plus, there are very few competitive alternatives in their respective slots. The Vertical Foregrip improves horizontal recoil control by three points, which pairs perfectly with the Compensator. Likewise, the Recoil Springs boost both horizontal and vertical recoil control by two points. What’s not to like about that? While Rapid Fire is a strong alternative mod, its negative impact on recoil control is certainly noticeable.
Now that you’ve got the kick under control, slap on the Long Barrel. This attachment significantly increases the effective range to make the C9 a more consistent SMG and counter the C9’s sharp damage drop at range. Even better is that this hearty upgrade to your range comes with no downsides whatsoever (unlike in other recent Call of Duty games).
The last three attachment slots are best spent towards improving the handling of the weapon. The Commando Grip improves aim down sight and sprint to fire speed while the Fast Motion Laser boosts diving, sliding, and jumping hipfire spread. Lastly, the No Stock option provides noticeable bonuses to hipfire and strafing speed as well as overall movement speed.
C9 class setup
The best class setup to pair with the C9 is:
- Secondary: Grekhova
- Tactical: Stim Shot
- Lethal: Semtex/Impact Grenade
- Field Upgrade: Trophy System/Scrambler
- Perk 1: Gung-Ho
- Perk 2: Assassin
- Perk 3: Bankroll
- Specialty: Enforcer
- Wildcard: Gunfighter
Your secondary weapon is often down to personal preference, though I’d recommend the Grekhova specifically in this loadout since we’re not running a magazine attachment. The Grekhova is perfect for a frantic, close-range shootout, which it most likely will be if you’re drawing your sidearm.
Similarly, your Field Upgrade is very dependent on your playstyle—as well as the map and mode you’re playing on. I like to use the Trophy System on objective-based modes like Hardpoint (especially during Nukedown 24/7), while the Scrambler is perfect for just about everything else.
Other than that, this class setup is fairly standard for a run-and-gun playstyle. Stim Shot offers on-demand healing that can turn around a losing fight, while the Semtex or Impact Grenades are deadly explosives perfect for fast-paced action.
Unsurprisingly, this class setup also makes use of the Enforcer (red) perk specialty. The Enforcer combat specialty provides a temporary buff to movement speed and health regeneration after kills. Perfect for running head-first into the action, right? To activate this, you’ll need three red perks.
Gung-Ho is a great first pick simply for the added mobility while sprinting, which pairs nicely with the C9 build. Dexterity can also work well here if you find yourself jumping, sliding, and diving often.
For the second slot, Assassin is the clear winner as Bruiser is a melee-focused perk. With Assassin, you can earn bonus Score towards your Scorestreaks for collecting Bounty Packs dropped by enemies. If you’re running a UAV and Counter UAV, then it’s a great way to get the ball rolling.
Assassin goes hand in hand with Bankroll in the third slot, which makes it very easy to earn your streaks. As mentioned, this can easily snowball into long streaks once you’ve got recon in the air. If you don’t have any trouble getting your streak going, then Double Time is a great alternative.
Like the XM4, the C9 is a great place to start your Black Ops 6 Mastery Camo grind and this build makes it easy to quickly earn the 100 headshots you’ll need to get started.
