Warzone Akimbo guide: the best Akimbo pistols in Warzone explained
Is Akimbo still worth trying?
The playerbase of Call Of Duty: Warzone has in recent times been captivated by the opportunities surrounding the Akimbo perk - an attachment specific to pistols which allows you to dual-wield a pistol, at the expense of losing the ability to aim down sights.
Our Warzone Akimbo guide will explain how to unlock the Akimbo perk for each pistol, before delving into stats and opinions on how to make the most of this unique pistol-only perk.
How to unlock the Akimbo perk in Warzone
Most weapon attachments in Call Of Duty: Warzone are unlocked just by earning experience with the weapon. But some, like the Akimbo perk, require you to complete specific challenges in order to unlock them.
Unlocking the Akimbo perk for a pistol in Warzone requires you to complete a challenge unique to that pistol. Here are the exact challenges for each type of pistol:
- X16: 3 kills each in 5 matches using Sleight of Hand perk. (Required Level: 20)
- 1911: 3 kills each in 5 matches using Mo' Money perk. (Required Level: 27)
- .357: 3 kills each in 5 matches using Recon perk. (Required Level: 34)
- M19: 3 kills each in 5 matches using Frangible - Wounding perk. (Required Level: 6)
- .50 GS: 3 kills each in 5 matches using FMJ perk. (Required Level: 20)
- Renetti: 3 kills each in 5 matches using Mo' Money perk. (Required Level: 36)
You'll need to have reached the required level in order to unlock the relevant perk before you can start the challenge. Once the challenge is complete, you'll be able to attach the Akimbo perk to that pistol using one of your five attachment slots, just like with any other attachment.
What is the best Akimbo pistol?
If you want the damage stats for Akimbo pistols in Warzone, all you need to do is double the original stats - because all you're doing is using two of that weapon at the same time. Check out the below table of pistol stats, taken from our Warzone weapon stats guide:
| Name | Damage | Shots To Kill | RPM | Mag | Reload | ADS | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| X16 | 72 | 42 | 36 | 33 | 2-5 | 3-7 | 3-9 | 4-11 | 280 | 13 | 1.68s | 100ms | |||
| 1911 (MW) | 72 | 42 | 36 | 33 | 2-5 | 3-7 | 3-9 | 4-11 | 270 | 7 | 1.64s | 107ms | |||
| .357 | 113 | 77 | 73 | 70 | 1-3 | 2-4 | 2-5 | 3-6 | 117 | 6 | 3.00s | 167ms | |||
| M19 | 72 | 42 | 36 | 33 | 2-5 | 3-7 | 3-9 | 4-11 | 312 | 17 | 2.14s | 100ms | |||
| .50 GS | 113 | 77 | 77 | 70 | 1-3 | 2-4 | 2-5 | 3-6 | 165 | 7 | 1.90s | 160ms | |||
| Renetti | 72 | 42 | 36 | 33 | 2-5 | 3-7 | 3-9 | 4-11 | 315 | 15 | 1.74s | 100ms | |||
| Sykov | 72 | 42 | 36 | 33 | 2-5 | 3-7 | 3-9 | 4-11 | 355 | 15 | 1.00s | 100ms | |||
| 1911 (CW) | 72 | 42 | 36 | 33 | 2-5 | 3-7 | 3-9 | 4-11 | 450 | 8 | 1.8s | 100ms | |||
| Magnum | 113 | 77 | 73 | 70 | 1-3 | 2-4 | 2-5 | 3-6 | 138 | 6 | 6.30s | 100ms | |||
| Diamatti | 37 | 37 | 29 | 29 | 3-5 | 5-8 | 6-9 | 7-11 | 1111 | 15 | 1.70s | 167ms | |||
| AMP63 | 42 | 39 | 30 | 30 | 3-5 | 4-7 | 5-9 | 6-11 | 637 | 15 | 1.42s | 225ms |
So, if you want to figure out how much damage you can deal with a single shot with two Akimbo .357s, you just need to double the damage value - so 226 for a headshot, 154 for a chest shot, and so on.
If you want to decide upon the best pistol to use Akimbo, then you'll need to look not only at the base stats but also the attachment options. For a while the .357 was by far the strongest Akimbo choice, because you could equip it with the Snakeshot ammo, turning it into a shotgun that really doesn't care about aiming down sights.
But nowadays this setup has been nerfed to near-oblivion, and the emerging king of Akimbo appears to be the Renetti. It shouldn't be that surprising; the Renetti is the top Warzone pistol in general at the moment thanks to its speed and handling. But more importantly, you can equip it with the Mk3 Burst Mod barrel, giving you access to a blisteringly quick and powerful 3-shot burst - doubled thanks to the Akimbo perk.
The best Akimbo setup in Warzone
So let's take a look at our pick for the very best possible Akimbo pistol setup in Warzone at the moment. We're using the Renetti, of course - and our first two slots are clear:
- Akimbo (Required Level: 36)
- Mk3 Burst Mod (Required Level: 46)
After that, there's another fairly clear choice for any Akimbo setup:
- 5mW Laser (Required Level: 27)
Hip-Fire accuracy is one of the most important things to boost when creating an Akimbo setup, and the 5mW Laser is the best of the best when it comes to this.
Two slots left, and one of them is definitely gonna go into extending our magazine capacity. We don't care about the reduction to ADS speed, because it's Akimbo! So:
- 27 Round Mags (Required Level: 37)
And for our final slot, it's a toss-up between the Monolithic Suppressor (because extra range is good, and suppression is really good) and the Lightweight Trigger for added fire rate. In the end, it's your choice; I'd probably go for:
- Lightweight Trigger (Required Level: 10)
Just because at these ranges, the most important thing is bursting down your opponent before they kill you - and the Lightweight Trigger will help with that.
And that's our Akimbo Renetti all ready to go! Give it a whirl in your next match: you'll be astonished at how viable a pair of pistols can be in the current Warzone meta.
With that, we'll wrap up this Warzone Akimbo guide. Hopefully you now have a firm grasp of how to unlock the Akimbo Perk, and what to do with it once it's unlocked. Now, why not also check out one of our other Warzone guides in the interim?