While most of the focus in Call of Duty: Warzone is currently on the new Vanguard weapons, one SMG in particular has quietly been on top for a while now. The OTs 9 was previously the king of SMGs and although it’s still excellent, the LAPA is better in many ways. It launched in October 2021, serving as the last Cold War SMG to be added to the game. For whatever reason, this weapon seems to have been overlooked by much of the community, as it’s quite rare to encounter a player using it. The thing is, it’s a versatile gun that can be built in a few different ways.
It’s an absolute beast of a weapon, especially on Rebirth Island. But how should you build it, and what kind of equipment should you bring along with it? These are the best loadouts for the LAPA SMG.
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LAPA overview
As always, let’s take a closer look at the LAPA, with details on how to use it effectively. The first thing to take into account is that the LAPA is highly effective past 11 meters, which is right around the distance that the OTs 9 stops being as effective. We’ll be comparing the LAPA to the OTs 9 a lot here, since it was previously the top dog of SMGs. Within 11 meters, the LAPA is still excellent and remains competitive against the OTs 9, with a negligible difference in time to kill (TTK) according to TrueGameData.
Aside from that, pretty much everything else about the LAPA is standard. It has a base reload time of 2.32 seconds, a base aim down sights (ADS) speed of 192ms, and a fire rate of 700RPM. The one other quirk with the LAPA is that its iron sights are pretty terrible, so you’ll always want to use an Optic of some kind unless you’re going with a hip-fire build. The iron sights tend to block much of the screen, which is a shame since it means you’ll almost always have to use an optic, but the rest of the weapon’s benefits make up for it.
These are the recommended builds.
Close-range
Recommended build:
| Muzzle | Sound Suppressor |
| Barrel | 7.9″ Rifled |
| Laser | SWAT 5mW Laser Sight |
| Underbarrel | Bruiser Grip |
| Magazine | STANAG 50 Rnd |
First, let’s touch on a fantastic close-range LAPA build, tailored around movement speed, sprint-to-fire speed, and hip-fire accuracy. Though the iron sights are atrocious with this weapon, you won’t need to use them since you’ll be mostly hip-firing with this build. That way, you can save the attachment slot to use for something else. With this being a hip-fire build, you’ll really only want to use it within 11 meters or so, and the closer you are to your target, the more likely you are to hit your shots.
Start off with the Sound Suppressor Muzzle with this build for suppression, keeping you off the enemy minimap when firing. It also boosts your sprint-to-fire speed, allowing you to start shooting faster after running, which is ideal for a hip-fire setup. Follow that up with the 7.9″ Rifled Barrel for a boost to fire rate. This is highly effective when used with an up-close loadout like this one, as it boosts the TTK. The Barrel does slightly penalize your damage range and bullet velocity, but that won’t matter with a close-quarters class.
With this being a hip-fire build, you’ll want to use the SWAT 5mW Laser Sight since it boosts hip-fire accuracy. It makes your ADS speeds slower, but again, this is a non-factor with a hip-fire setup. Next, go with the Bruiser Grip Underbarrel, which gives you extra hip-fire accuracy and movement speed with no penalties. Finish the build with the STANAG 50 Rnd Magazine for maximum ammo. You can also go with the Salvo 45 Rnd Fast Mag at the expense of five bullets, which can make or break certain gunfights. TThe faster reload speed is nice, though.
Perks
| Slot 1 | Quick Fix |
| Slot 2 | Ghost |
| Slot 3 | Amped |
Of course, perk selection comes down to playstyle and preference, but we highly recommend Quick Fix if you’re an aggressive player. This gives you immediate health regeneration, which will no doubt come in handy if you’re in the midst of an enemy squad. After that, it’s hard to recommend anything but Ghost since it’s so useful in many situations. Remember, Ghost keeps you from appearing during enemy UAVs, as well as Heartbeat Sensors. If you’re confident in your skills, you can go with High Alert, but for most players, we recommend Ghost. For perk 3, there are a few good options, but for this build, we like Amped. This allows you to swap to your secondary weapon even faster.
Equipment
| Lethal | Throwing Knife |
| Tactical | Stun Grenade |
When it comes to equipment, you have several options at your disposal, but it’s hard to pass up Throwing Knives in the Lethal category. This is because you can quickly throw one at a downed player to instantly eliminate them, saving you precious ammo. When you’re in the middle of fighting multiple enemies, this is huge. Though, if this isn’t your style, you can swap over to Semtex Grenades or even Molotov Cocktails. As for Tacticals, Stun Grenades are great for storming into a room, but the Heartbeat Sensor is fantastic as well.
Mid-range
Recommended build:
| Muzzle | Agency Suppressor |
| Barrel | 12.4″ M03 Reinforced |
| Optic | Microflex LED |
| Underbarrel | Field Agent Grip |
| Magazine | STANAG 50 Rnd |
Next, let’s cover a build that excels as a sniper support weapon — best used during mid-range firefights. Since the LAPA outclasses the likes of the MP5 (CW) and OTs 9 between 11 and 18 meters, it’s actually a solid option for a sniper support weapon. And of course, the LAPA holds its own within 11 meters, too, making it a fantastic choice alongside a sniper. Here’s the build.
For this loadout, swap over to the Agency Suppressor Muzzle, which keeps you from appearing on enemy UAVs, but also boosts your vertical recoil control, bullet velocity, and damage range. All of these benefits will help you out at mid-range. The regular Sound Suppressor should be skipped in this case, since it hurts your bullet velocity and range. Speaking of range, we recommend switching over to the 12.4″ M03 Reinforced Barrel for a boost to your effective damage range and fire rate. You’ll find the faster fire rate to be a bit more forgiving if you aren’t an accurate player.
Next, use the Optic of your choice, such as the Microflex LED or something similar. You don’t want to pick anything with zoom greater than 2.0x, since that’ll severely hurt your ADS speeds. Since this is a ranged setup, you’ll want to come equipped with the Field Agent Grip Underbarrel, which improves your vertical and horizontal recoil control. The weapon is already relatively easy to control, but this attachment makes it even more user-friendly, especially at range. Finish the build with the STANAG 50 Rnd Magazine to ensure you have plenty of rounds to secure eliminations from afar. It’ll take you more bullets to eliminate a player after the first damage drop-off, so the more ammo, the better.
Perks
| Slot 1 | Quick Fix |
| Slot 2 | Overkill |
| Slot 3 | Amped |
When it comes to Perks, you’ll mostly use the traditional ones we always recommend, though, there’s room for experimentation depending on playstyle. For slot 1, Quick Fix is still a solid option, as is E.O.D. Since this is a sniper class, you’ll want to use Overkill so you can bring the long-range weapon of your choice with you alongside the LAPA. We like the Swiss K31 or Kar98k. Finally, you’ll absolutely want to use Amped so you can swap between your two weapons faster.
Equipment
| Lethal | Claymores |
| Tactical | Heartbeat Sensor |
You won’t be running and gunning as much with this class, so if you plan on hanging around in one spot, it helps to have Claymores watching your back. This can save your life, especially if you start shooting the enemy while they’re damaged before they can apply shields. The same can be said about the Heartbeat Sensor, which shows non-Ghosted players within a 50-meter radius. This is practically essential when playing on Rebirth Island, as there’s an abundance of players who spawn in without perks.
All-around
Recommended build:
| Muzzle | Agency Suppressor |
| Laser | Tiger Team Spotlight |
| Optic | Microflex LED |
| Stock | Raider Stock |
| Magazine | STANAG 50 Rnd |
For the final build, let’s dive into a setup that works in a variety of situations. This all-around class is great for close-quarters, but performs well in mid-range situations and can even work well alongside a sniper. You won’t perform as well up close or from afar as you would with specific builds for those situations, but you will instead have the benefit of doing well enough in multiple scenarios.
For this one, keep the Agency Suppressor Muzzle for the benefits to range, recoil control, and bullet velocity. It will also remove you from the enemy minimap when firing. You can swap to the standard Sound Suppressor if you tend to get into close-ranged battles more, but typically, the Agency Suppressor should be your best bet here. From there, we actually advise skipping a barrel altogether with this one. Your weapon will still work decently at mid-range, so you should boost how well it performs up close instead. For that, we recommend the Tiger Team Spotlight Laser. This attachment boosts your hip-fire accuracy and effective damage range, which helps with the versatility.
Next, you’ll absolutely want to come equipped with an Optic, since the iron sights are so bad. We like the Microflex LED, but go with whatever you’re comfortable with. If you can stand the iron sights, more power to you — that frees up an attachment slot. Most players will likely need an Optic. To enhance performance up-close, go with the Raider Stock. This will boost your ADS firing move speed, your aim walking move speed, and your sprint-to-fire times. Finally, go with the STANAG 50 Rnd Magazine, as always.
Perks
| Slot 1 | Quick Fix |
| Slot 2 | Ghost |
| Slot 3 | Combat Scout |
Since this is a bit more of an aggressive loadout, you’ll definitely want to use Quick Fix to help you regenerate health faster after earning eliminations. For perk 2, Ghost is the go-to; however, High Alert works wonders on this class since your screen pulsates when an enemy looks at you. Though, sacrificing Ghost is tough. As for perk slot 3, Combat Scout is a great option so you can automatically ping enemies for your full squad when you damage them. This makes it easy to shoot through walls.
Equipment
| Lethal | Molotov Cocktails |
| Tactical | We know |
With this being an aggressive build, you should consider bringing Molotov Cocktails with you so you can use them to clear out a room and deal slight burn damage over time. Throwing Knives work well, too, so pick whichever suits your style. Finally, we like running Stims with this loadout since they give you a massive temporary speed boost. If you know how to use them, you can out-maneuver an opponent before they can even react.
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