Image: Activision via HGG / Justin Moniquette
Justin's foray into gaming started with classic Resident Evil 3 and has only expanded since then. He graduated from RIT in 2021 and aspires to have his name in the credits of a video game one day.
Reviewed by Benjamin Barr
The 9mm Daemon is the newest handgun to be added to the massive armory in Modern Warfare 2. Added in Season 5 Reloaded, the Daemon is a sleek and powerful sidearm that serves as a nice balanced secondary to a loadout. Seen as this game’s version of the popular M1911, this pistol is also the favored sidearms of Lara Croft, as seen with the Mach-5 variant of this weapon in her bundle. With that in mind, we’ll be going over the best 9mm Daemon loadout and build options in MW2.
Loadout #1: Akimbo Daemon
Our first 9mm Daemon loadout will be focused on running it akimbo-style for a weapon we can quickly kill with if we run out of ammo in our primary. We’re sacrificing accuracy for rapid firing, but it’s well worth it for when you’re up close and personal.
Attachments
- Rear Grip: Akimbo 9mm Daemon
- Magazine: 26 Round Mag
- Trigger: Rapid 30 Trigger
- Barrel: SA Longfire
- Laser: 1MW Pistol Laser
Our choice of Rear Grip is self-explanatory and necessary for swapping our single Daemons for Akimbo. The 26-Round Mag is a staple for this build as we’ll be firing a lot of bullets very quickly, and reloading during a firefight is a death sentence. Furthermore, there are very few scenarios where more bullets in a mag is a detriment. After that, we have the Rapid 30 Trigger to give us a nice, fast-fire speed that will help us lay down some hurt.
Moving on, we have the SA Longfire barrel. This barrel will help us maintain some accuracy when firing at longer distances. While this build is meant to work best in close quarters, we don’t want to be completely useless at range. Lastly, is the 1MW Pistol Laser. While the laser visibility hurts, the bonus to Hipfire recoil and accuracy are too good to pass up. Just be careful when ambushing an opponent.
Equipment
- Tactical: Stim
- Lethal: Throwing Knife
The Stim is my go-to tactical in game modes like DMZ and Warzone. While under sustained fire, it won’t change the outcome too much, but it can be the difference between life and death when running from gunfire.
And because we’re going to be close to our enemies anyway when we down them, I chose the Throwing Knife as our Lethal. A one-shot kill to anyone you down can save your life when you’re trying to secure a kill.
Perks
- Base Perk 1: Scavenger
- Base Perk 2: Double Time
- Bonus Perk: Fast Hands
- Ultimate Perk: Ghost
We choose Scavenger as our first base perk to ensure we always have ammo when we need it. As I said earlier, we’ll be spitting ammo out with this setup, so we need a way to recover some of it easily. Double Time allows us to increase our mobility and get in close when we need to. Since this setup isn’t the most accurate, there might be some times when you need to run into the fray.
Fast Hands is a staple for most of my builds, but especially for this one since we’ll be reloading a lot. The quicker you reload, the sooner you can get back in the fight after all. I also choose Ghost as the Ultimate Perk since it will help us get closer to our enemies without getting detected.
Loadout #2: Ranged Daemon
Our second loadout for the 9mm Daemon will focus more on ranged combat compared to the akimbo’s preference for being up close. This sidearm’s accuracy is already good without any attachments, but with some add-ons, we can make it a great ranged option if you decide to run a close-range weapon in your primary slot.
Attachments
- Barrel: SA Longfire
- Muzzle: Comp 905F Pistol
- Optic: Cronen Mini Pro
- Ammunition: 9mm High Velocity
- Magazine: 26 Round Mag
Everything here is used to improve this pistol at a longer range. The SA Longfire and 9mm High-Velocity ammunition help our damage range and bullet velocity to ensure our shots stay on target at a distance. The Cronen Mini Pro is there to ensure we’re not stuck with iron sights when engaging enemies from far away. I chose the Mini Pro because of how low profile it is and the fact that it doesn’t take up a lot of the screen.
We put the Comp 905F on our Daemon to help us control our recoil and keep our shots as accurate as possible. Lastly, we slap on the 26-Round Mag to reduce the number of times we need to reload between kills.
Equipment
- Tactical: Smoke Grenade
- Lethal: Drill Charge
The Smoke Grenade is incredibly helpful for when you find yourself in the open during a firefight. It also provides a good screen if you need to reposition or hide from snipers. For our Lethal option, we choose the Drill Charge, which is perfect for flushing enemies out of cover if they’ve hunkered down.
Perks
- Base Perk 1: Double Time
- Base Perk 2: Strong Arm
- Bonus Perk: Fast Hands
- Ultimate Perk: Ghost
We choose Double Time as our first perk to increase our mobility, allowing us to get out of sticky situations and reposition as necessary. Strong Arm allows us to throw our Smoke Grenade and Drill Charge farther and with more accuracy. This helps us with flushing enemies out of cover without getting too close or smoking an area without having to leave whatever cover you’re behind.
As I mentioned in the previous loadout, Fast Hands is a constant for my builds. The ability to quickly reload my weapons wins engagements. And with the number of UAVs that go up in any given game, Ghost will keep us nice and hidden until someone physically sees us.
Loadout #3: Quickdraw Daemon
Our third loadout with the 9mm Daemon will focus on its ability to be used as a great quick-draw weapon when you’re caught in a bad situation. Whether you’re caught mid-reload or need to switch to finish off a running enemy, this loadout will help.
Attachments
- Muzzle: FT Steel Fire
- Trigger Action: Rapid 30 Trigger
- Laser: 1MW Pistol Laser
- Magazine: 26 Round Mag
- Rear Grip: Daemon Hand
The FT Steel Fire is an excellent muzzle that offers a lot of nice bonuses to elevate this pistol. Recoil smoothness, bullet velocity, damage range, and sound suppression are all felt in the best way possible when adding this muzzle. The Rapid 30 Trigger will also give us a faster fire rate for when we’re panic shooting in close quarters or trying to finish off a fleeing opponent.
The 1MW laser gives us some strong buffs for hip firing as well as increasing our sprint-to-fire speed. This just increases our overall chances of winning a gunfight when up close or chasing people down. And like the previous loadouts, we chose the 26-round Mag because more bullets can never hurt.
Our choice of Rear Grip for this loadout is the Daemon Hand. This grip gives us buffs to sprint-to-fire speed and aim-down-sight speed, but the big draw is the pistol’s fast draw. This grip completes this build for the Daemon because it turns this weapon into a quickdraw pistol. In a situation where you and your opponent both run out of ammo in your primary, you can be sure you’ll be the first one firing when you switch to sidearms.
Equipment
- Tactical: Stun Grenade
- Lethal: Throwing Knife
The Stun Grenade is perfect for slowing the movements of someone you’re chasing, or priming a room full of enemies for quick takedowns. Toss this before entering a room you know has someone or to slow someone down if they attempt to run.
The throwing knife is there to finish off downed players quickly. You don’t want to get killed trying to confirm your kill, so throw the knife to finish them off in one hit and move on.
Perks
- Base Perk 1: Double Time
- Base Perk 2: Battle Hardened
- Bonus Perk: Fast Hands
- Ultimate Perk: Quick Fix
Just like before, we take Double Time to increase our mobility. If we’re chasing someone down or running from an ambush, we want to be faster than our opponents. We take Battle Hardened to make sure we aren’t stunned or affected by enemy tactical equipment for too long. Our strategy for hitting people with a stun grenade could always happen to us, and we won’t like that.
You should already know my thoughts on Fast Hands by this point. A faster reload means we get back in the fight faster. For our Ultimate Perk, however, we’ll be grabbing Quick Fix. With our Daemon geared for quick-draw close-quarters fights, chances are we’ll be taking a couple of hits ourselves.
Quick Fix will make sure that whenever we finish off whoever we’re fighting, we’ll start healing immediately. This can save lives. Especially if whoever you took out has teammates nearby or you get caught in a third party and need to be ready for another fight.
Conclusion
The 9mm Daemon is an incredibly fun addition to Modern Warfare 2’s weapon list. Not only does it look sleek and cool, it’s an incredibly versatile weapon capable of filling several different roles. What we’ve gone over are just a couple of loadout options for this excellent sidearm, but there are a lot more fun loadouts that can be made for 9mm Daemon with a little experimentation.
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