Call of Duty: Black Ops Perks (and Pro Abilities) Guide - Flak Jacket

Ask any current hardcore gamer, chances are they have at least tried playing the hottest first-person-shooter on the market - Call of Duty: Black Ops. Within it's first week of release the game had already generated over $1 Billion in revenue.

For the readers who don't understand what perks are, they are abilities that are selected by players. Each player can pick three perks from three different tiers (so, one perk from each tier). Each perk also has a "pro" version, which is obtained my completing certain challenges. Subsequent to completing these specific challenges players must also purchase the "pro" version with their CoD currency. The perk that this guide will be referring to, Flak Jacket, is a first tier perk.

Flak Jacket, while overlooked by many players, is a great perk overall. What Flak Jacket does is mitigate explosive damage inflicted on players that have equipped the perk. Any regular Black Ops player knows that explosives run rampant in this game, from grenades to launchers, they're all over the place. Explosives are especially prevalent in objective game types, where choke points and hot spots are more obvious, even without the assistance of a Spy Plane or a Blackbird killstreak. I cannot express how many times I've been trying to capture a Domination point, have it almost captured, but die because some player decided to chuck a frag grenade at the point. In most instances Flak Jacket would have saved me, which is why I now have a devoted class with Flak Jacket on it for capturing objectives.

The pro version of Flak Jacket reduces fire damage players take, making fire-based attacks almost worthless against these players. The pro version also resets timers on picked up frag grenades, allowing players to safely throw them back without having them blow up on them.

The following are some innovative ways players can use the Flak Jacket perk, as well as other perks that come when using Flak Jacket (and Pro):

Defense!
While it may constitute as "camping" to some players, actively defending and holding a specific objective point is extremely helpful to your team. Since you'll be in the immediate area of the objective, generally enemy players will barrage it with grenades prior to running in. By utilizing Flak Jacket you'll have a better chance of surviving these explosions, which will let you more successfully defend your point.

Offense!
Ok, defending isn't for everyone, but that was only one idea. Let's think about the complete opposite - offensive playing (also known as "rushing" in some instances). By using Flak Jacket you'll be able to plant bombs and conquer Domination points with significant ease. I've died too many times to count from grenades thrown from across the map, which Flak Jacket could have easily saved me from.

The Anti-Tube
There's no better defense from the "noobtubes" than Flak Jacket, which have become increasingly prevalent since the last Call of Duty game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. While explosives have become significantly weaker in Black Ops, they're still used, and it feels like they kill you at the worst times. Flak Jacket can save you from this hassle and allow you to keep your killstreak going.

RC-XD Redemption
When Black Ops was first released the RC-XD killstreak (a remote control car with C-4 strapped to it) caused havoc within the Black Ops realm. Many players abused the fact that it was a low-end killstreak, and could potentially be a 2-kill killstreak with the use of the perk "Hardline". With this in mind, many players walked the path of the Flak Jacket, making the RC-XD's almost useless. These days the RC-XD's aren't used nearly as much as they were before, probably because the feeling of novelty has diminished as they saturated the game, but they're still around.

PPE
Flak Jacket Pro allows players to resist fire damage at a high rate, making the flamethrower almost useless against these players. However, I can count on my hands the amount of times I've even encountered flamethrowers in this game, so that's not a huge problem, although it's a nice bonus. What fire-based attack is relatively prevalent in Black Ops is the Napalm Strike - a 5-kill killstreak. The Napalm Strike drops a load of fire onto the map, where it sits for 10-20 seconds thereafter, killing any enemy (or the user [or anyone in Hardcore game types]) that tries to walk through it. Usually players will die almost immediately after coming into contact with the fire, but Flak Jacket Pro fights against this and allows players to either make it through, or back away without dying. One problem when the game was released was that the fire from the Napalm Strike would disappear visually, but it would be there in the code, so players were dying regardless of the lack of visual fire - an annoying occurrence. Although this happens less often now, it does happen once in awhile, so Flak Jacket is great to combat this small annoyance.

Claymore Killer
Claymores are remotely-placed explosive devices that automatically explode when an enemy player runs through their trigger radius. Claymores can be very annoying, especially when you're running around getting a high killstreak and you run into one - there's no defense against a well-placed claymore, except Flak Jacket. Flak Jacket allows players to run through these claymores without dying, making Flak Jacket an anti-camping juggernaut of a perk. So next time you know there's a few campers, send in a guy or two with Flak Jacket before sending in the rest of the cavalry.

Tac-Jacket
Coupling the Flak Jacket perk with the Tactical Mask Pro perk is great for significant protection from all types of grenades. Tactical Mask renders players using it unaffected by Nova Gas - a grenade that releases a poisonous gas that diminishes a players health over time. The pro version of Tactical Mask renders players minimally affected by Flashbangs and Concussion Grenades. This is the ultimate perk combination for capturing Domination points and planting bombs in game types such as Demolition and Search and Destroy, as well as successfully defusing them.

Overall
Flak Jacket is a great perk for everyone to use, especially in games where grenades are being thrown around like baseballs. I suggest utilizing this perk for objective game types, as that's where you'll need it most. If you see a player, or players, using the bogus Hardline + RC-XD tactic, this will help you immensely, as they'll need to have the RC-XD touching you in order to kill you.

In order to get the Pro version of Flak Jacket you must complete the following challenges:

• Protected - Survive 10 explosions while using Flak Jacket.
• Demolished - Plant or defuse 10 bombs in Demolition, Sabotage, or Search & Destroy.
• Throwbacks - Throw back 5 enemy Frag grenades.