Best Longbow loadout and class setup for Warzone and MW3

Set yourself up for success with the best longbow loadout, a sniper rifle with a quick rate of fire, long range, and stopping power.

The best Modern Warfare 3 longbow loadout: the MW3 Longbow sniper rifle, with an operator and a tree in a snowy backdrop behind it.
Danielle Rose's Avatar

Published:

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 

What is the best Longbow loadout? For the best sniper rifle in Modern Warfare 2, you want something that you can use to take down enemies from across the map. While it might take some practice depending on your aim, this MW3 Longbow loadout can destroy enemies at massive range with just one chest or headshot and is up there with the best sniper rifles in the game.

Now Modern Warfare 3 is finally here, it’s time to start thinking about your best MW3 loadouts and, as part of that, the best MW3 guns. This incredible Modern Warfare 3 longbow loadout can be used at mid-range for instant downs, or up close if you have a quick trigger finger.

Best Longbow loadout: a long black rifle, with a large scope and a curved magazine.

Best Warzone Longbow loadout

  • Muzzle: VT-7 Spiritfire Suppressor
  • Barrel: Pro-99 Long Barrel
  • Stock: Smooth Fire Sniper Stock
  • Rear Grip: Citadel Grip
  • Ammunition: 7.62x39mm High Grain Rounds

Even though the Longbow is a bolt action sniper rifle, it can cycle a new round into the chamber so fast that it might as well be considered a semi-automatic weapon. With this fast fire rate, we wanted to push out the range and recoil control, with the VT-7 Spiritfire Suppressor and Pro-99 Long Barrel achieving this. The Smooth Fire Sniper Stock reduces gun kick, with the Citadel Grip performing a similar job. The High Grain Rounds increase bullet velocity, making targets at a distance much easier to hit.

The Gunsmoth preview of the best Longbow loadout in Modern Warfare 3.

Best Modern Warfare 3 Longbow loadout

  • Barrel: Pro-99 Long Barrel
  • Muzzle: HMRES Mod Suppressor
  • Optic: SZ Mini
  • Stock: No Stock
  • Rear grip: Citadel LV Tactical Grip

We have something a little different in mind with each of these attachments, but they come together to create an incredibly damaging sniper rifle. The most important factor is the long barrel, which significantly improves the range and damage range of the sniper, making it perfect for smaller 6v6 Modern Warfare 3 maps, Ground War, and Warzone. Since you might be holed up somewhere with this sniper, the HMRES Mod Suppressor is a nice addition to stay inconspicuous as long as possible. You could use a laser instead to improve ADS, but we think it’s better to stay stealthy.

Without a laser, we then added the SZ Mini optic to further increase that range and accuracy. You can pretty much choose whichever optic you prefer here, as it’s mostly personal preference, but we find the incredibly accurate small dot on the SZ Mini favorable over other, larger dots or more complex views. No Stock improves accuracy, as well as sprint-to-fire speed, which is helpful for both quick sniping and more methodical sniping from the perfect vantage point. Finally, the SL Skeletal vertical grip lets you aim from sprinting quicker.

Best MW3 Longbow loadout: The Covert Sneakers perk boots that can be equipped in the best Modern Warfare 3 longbow loadout.

Best MW3 Longbow perks and equipment

  • Lethal: Proximity mine
  • Tactical: Smoke Grenade
  • Field Upgrade: Munitions box
  • Vest: Demolition vest
  • Gloves: Quick-Grip Gloves
  • Boots: Covert Sneakers
  • Gear: Ghost T/V Camo

While your tactical and lethal can just be personal preference, we think the prox mine is perfect for setting yourself up by a window. Pop one down at an entrance behind you to reduce the chance of someone sneaking up. We’ve also chosen the Demolition vest for this reason, allowing you to carry more mines, and refill them every 25 seconds, offering even more protection when holed up in a room.

We did mention carrying an SMG alongside the Longbow, in which case you need to swap out the vest for the Gunner Vest and lose the Covert Sneakers. The flexibility of this Longbow loadout, though, means you can get by perfectly well with a handgun or even melee weapon as your secondary.

As we’ve gone for a stealthy build, Covert sneakers and Ghost camo keep you quiet, while Quick Grip gloves are essential for swapping to your shorter-range weapon (be that melee, handgun, or SMG) if you’re caught in close combat.

With this MW3 longbow loadout equipped, you can kill enemies with just one shot – as long as it hits their chest or head, so if you get off to a rough start with it, just stick with it and get that practice in. For your other weapon, we’ve recommended an SMG, so check out our favorite Modern Warfare 3 Striker loadout, which we’ve had a lot of success with combined with a sniper rifle, or the best Rival-9 loadout for a small but mighty SMG to dart around the map with.

As a guides writer at PCGamesN, Danielle knows what you’re looking for in a guide - mainly because she probably got stuck and asked the same question herself. You can usually find Danielle fighting for her life in Minecraft, Dead by Daylight, and Modern Warfare 2, so ask anything but her favorite game or genre. If you can’t tell from the list above, she can’t narrow it down. Before PCGN, Danielle wrote for WePC, but she studied music journalism so it may surprise you to find her writing to some baffling combination of Taylor Swift, Def Leppard, and Ghost.