Modern Warfare 3 has hundreds of attachments (with many being virtual lookalikes that essentially do the same thing slightly differently), which makes building guns an incredibly confusing process! Looking up class setups online can be clouded by tons of clickbait and low-effort junk, so if you're looking for highly-researched and performance-tested class setups from an actual Call of Duty expert, you are in the right place! In this guide, we'll take a look at the best loadout and attachments for the Riveter on 6v6 maps.
Best Riveter Build & Attachments
The Riveter is fitted with the standard template of best-in-slot Muzzle and Underbarrel with an extended magazine and No Stock to counter the mobility penalties of that extended magazine; this formula simply works well. When it comes to a "regular" shotgun like this, the wildcard is always the fifth attachment; and in this case, it's the ammunition type. Maximized magazine capacity, tightened Pellet Spread, enhanced Hipfire performance, decent mobility and of course: blinding and disorienting Dragon's Breath Rounds.
Once again, the longest barrel would be a nice addition, but moving the first damage range from 3.6 to 4.8 just isn't big enough of a difference considering that the vast majority of engagements are going to occur in the second damage range (12 meters) anyway. It is worth mentioning that the Riveter with DB can 4-shot up to 20 meters - but that is with very lucky pellet spread and just because you can, doesn't mean you should try.
EOD does not reduce the direct damage your pellets deal but it does affect the burn damage. This is okay, because we aren't actually interested in the damage over time from the burn effect.
I am a bit upset that the Riveter of all Shotguns has alternate ammo types as equally worthless as the Lockwood and Haymaker specifically because it feels the most like an AR, and for this reason, I believe the "useless" ammo types must be glitched. I was especially excited at the possibility of a fully-auto Slug Shotgun, but it turns out nothing can use Slugs effectively.
Riveter: Alternate Ammo Types
- Slugs (12 Gauge and Explosive): Yet again, both equally worthless. They don't one-shot to the chest at anything outside of point-blank range, so considering both recenter and rechamber speed, there is no use-case. I suspect these to be glitched.
- .410 Gauge Ball: A compelling offering based on the Advanced Stats, but reducing the Pellet Count reduces your overall damage (as less pellets hit the target per shot), which is theoretically compensated for by increasing the damage on the remaining Pellets. I didn't observe performance different enough to warrant their use. Like the Bolo Shells on the Haymaker, this essentially appears to also be using an attachment slot for no real gain.
- Incendiary: This is included on the build not for its negligible Damage Range benefit, but for the combat advantage of blinding and disorienting your opponents.
Final Build: Riveter Attachments
- Muzzle: Crown Breaker Choke
- Stock: Demo D50 Buffer Tube
- Magazine: 30-Round Magazine
- Ammunition: .410 Gauge Incendiary
- Underbarrel: Bruen Bastion Angled Grip
Base | New | Base | New | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pellet Spread | 2.2° | 1.4° | Capacity | 15 rounds | 30 rounds |
Hipfire Min | 5.1° | 2.0° | Movement | 4.9 m/s | 4.8 m/s |
Hipfire Max | 7.2° | 4.5° | Sprint | 5.6 m/s | 5.5 m/s |
Sprint to Fire | 210ms | 182ms | TacSprint | 7.0 m/s | 6.9 m/s |
Our Testing Process: What does "Mathematically Optimized" mean?
It means that I have personally conducted over 30 hours of dedicated testing across the entire MW2 & 3 attachment set, endlessly consulted high-quality external resources and databases, and tirelessly tested performance across separate attachment combinations to produce what I believe to be the optimal build of a weapon for a specific purpose. Weapons are carefully crafted considering every possible detail - attempting to deliver the mathematically best possible performance in every category - mobility, handling, recoil, range, and accuracy.
With my builds, I believe you should see creative, never-before-seen uses of attachments that create incredible weapons. Do keep in mind that these weapons will not do the work for you - while they have all been precision-crafted to reduce horizontal recoil as much as possible, some of them still have quite noticeable vertical recoil, and it is on you to manage that vertical recoil correctly. I sincerely hope you enjoy reading about this build and every other build I have to offer on Fanbyte!
DISCLAIMER: If you test these in the Firing Range, please note that the Firing Range is currently glitched and shows more visual recoil and different damage performance than actually experienced in-game; it is best that you test these in a custom match or online.
