Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Multiplayer beta confirmed what many fans hoped for: perks are back with major upgrades. Treyarch expanded the system this year, adding 27 perks at launch, new hybrid specialties, and a few necessary category changes that reshape the weapon builds. Most of the fundamentals remain the same as Black Ops 6, but there’s far more room for creative mixing now. Let’s discuss each perk tier in Black Ops 7, how the new specialties work, and which setups are worth building around.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 New Perk System
Perks are once again divided into three color-coded categories:
- Offense (Red) – speed, aggression, and kill potential.
- Stealth (Blue) – concealment, counter-surveillance, and survival.
- Support (Green) – survivability, team utility, and objective play.
You pick three perks, one from each tier. Equipping three of the same color activates a Combat Specialty, thus gives a passive buff connected to that perk type. Alternatively, two categories mix triggers Hybrid Specialties, which offer light but flexible bonuses.
All CoD: Black Ops 7 Perks
Tier 1 Perks
- Scavenger (Offense): A returning favorite for players who push long streaks. It lets you collect ammo and equipment from killed enemies, ideal for SMG and AR users who stay mobile.
- Lightweight (Offense): Grants quick sprint, jump, and slide speed, plus fast recovery after movement actions. This is perfect for rushing players because every fraction of a second matters in Black Ops 7’s rapid gunfights.
- Gung Ho (Offense): Allows firing with sprint and keeps your speed up during reload or gear use. If you prefer run-and-gun combat, this perk defines that style.
- Cold-Blooded (Stealth): Keeps you off thermal scopes, AI killstreaks, and prevents highlights from scorestreaks, a must to stay alive against automated threats.
- Ghost (Stealth): Prevents UAVs and Scout Pulse scans from revealing you while moving, planting, or defusing. It’s a classic pick for stealth players or anyone flanking behind enemy lines.
- Ninja (Stealth): Muffles footsteps and movement noise to move quickly. Important for close-quarters fighters and Search and Destroy specialists to keep audio profile silent.
- Tech Mask (Support): Protects against flashes, concussions, gas, EMPs, and hacking effects. If you hate getting disrupted by tactical gear, this one is the best BO7 perk.
- Flak Jacket (Support): Reduces explosive and fire damage, one of the strongest all-round perks for objective players who hold Hardpoints or control zones.
- Shadow (Support): Keeps you off enemy traps and mines; it works wonders on objective maps having proximity gadgets.
Tier 2 Perks
- Assassin (Offense): Highlights enemies on killstreaks and drops “bounty packs” when they die. Collecting them gives an extra score, a good pick for aggressive players to farm more streaks.
- Close Shave (Offense): Turns weapon melee attacks into full dedicated melees automatically, which is helpful for panic situations or to instantly finish someone.
- Hunter’s Instinct (Offense): Every kill briefly marks the direction of the nearest enemy on your minimap.
- Looper (Offense): Lets you re-earn scorestreaks within the same life — something default loadouts normally can’t do.
- Vigilance (Stealth): Shows a HUD alert whenever you appear on the enemy radar, while also giving immunity to CUAVs and jammers. Excellent for soldiers who want continuous awareness of when they’re being hunted.
- Blast Link (Stealth): Any explosive damage you cause pings enemies on the minimap for your whole team, rewarding score when they take follow-up damage.
- Engineer (Stealth): Reveals enemy traps, field upgrades, and scorestreaks through walls. You can even see streaks on the minimap, the best utility perk for strategic play.
- Fast Hands (Support): Speeds up weapon swaps and reloads, and lets you safely throw back grenades.
- Gearhead (Support): Gives two Field Upgrade charges and allows you to booby-trap Care Packages.
Tier 3 Perks
- Dexterity (Offense): Reduces weapon sway, allows full ADS while sliding or diving, and cuts fall damage and works perfectly with the game’s new omni-movement system.
- Tac Sprinter (Offense): Unlocks Tactical Sprint but slightly slows normal sprint speed. It’s worth it for players who rely on burst mobility to break lines of sight.
- Bankroll (Offense): Starts each life with +150 bonus score toward score streaks. This small head start can snowball into extra streaks across a match.
- Bruiser (Offense): Restores health and gives score after melee or finishing kills, a good one for brawlers or knife users.
- Tracker (Stealth): Shows enemy footprints and rough locations on your minimap. Aiming down sights automatically pings targets.
- Vendetta (Stealth): On respawn, your killer’s last known position highlights for a short period. Kill them for bonus score, a built-in revenge system that encourages tactical comebacks.
- Quartermaster (Support): Recharges equipment over time to keep you supplied in long objective holds.
- Charge Link (Support): Speeds up field upgrade cooldowns and gives the same bonus to nearby teammates.
- Guardian (Support): Fast heal and revive speed while holding objectives, one of the most team-focused perks in the roster, and best for support mains.
Combat Specialties (Core Bonuses)
Combat Specialties in Black Ops 7 are automatic bonuses triggered by equipping three perks of the same color.
- Enforcer (Equip 3 Offense (Red) Perks): Each kill gives a short buff to movement and health regen speed.
- Recon (Equip 3 Stealth (Blue) Perks): On respawn, your minimap shows the nearest enemy’s direction, and the edges of your HUD pulse for off-screen threats. You also leave no death skulls behind, which denies info to your enemies.
- Strategist (Equip 3 Support (Green) Perks): Increases score for objective and sabotage actions, deploys equipment faster, and briefly highlights enemy equipment through walls; excellent for support-oriented and tactical play.
Hybrid Combat Specialties
- Scout (Red + Blue): After a bullet kill, you disappear from the enemy minimap for five seconds. Additional kills reset the timer, rewarding consistent eliminations with extra stealth.
- Tactician (Red + Green): When you earn an assist, you gain bonus score from bullet kills for ten seconds.
- Operative (Blue + Green): Stealth kills either by suppressed weapons, melee, or attacks out of sight, recharge your Field Upgrade. Good speciality for flank and silent playstyles built around surprise attacks.
Best Perks to Prefer in Black Ops 7
Some perks are better than others early on. Flak Jacket, Shadow, and Tech Mask are always relevant for protection no matter the mode. Ninja and Ghost are good ones for stealth, and Dexterity is better for fluid combat movement and wall jumps. If you are an aggressive player, Lightweight, Gung Ho, and Dexterity offer top-tier mobility, which lets you outmaneuver most enemies.
Support players can run Flak Jacket, Fast Hands and Guardian for staying power around objectives. Last but not least, Scout and Operative hybrid builds are strong meta picks, which reward consistent kills or stealth play with passive bonuses. In the end, Black Ops 7’s new perk overhaul adds more depth without complicating the formula. It’s just in beta and we’ll have to wait to see what the developers cook up in the official Black Ops 7 release on November 14.
