The FPS title Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and its free-to-play brethren of Warzone 2.0 and DMZ offers players almost unrivaled customization from characters to weapon platforms, and seemingly everything in between. When met with such a wide range of customization, sometimes it can help to get a leg up on ideal builds, especially when it comes to weaponry. The Kastov 545 is one such weapon, and can fare rather well in most situations with the proper loadout.

The Kastov 545 is the first weapon unlocked in the Season 1 Battle Pass of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2.0. A smaller caliber than its sister platform, the Kastov 762, the 545 offers increased range and accuracy with its variant build, The Orbiter, and more recoil control on a naked platform of the Kastov 545. Players can take this variant and customize it, however, offering even further flexibility within the large range of weaponry.

The Orbiter — Default Variant

The default Kastov 545 variant comes with a few unique pieces that excel the weapon platform beyond the sum of its parts. The Schlager Night View scope offers a 6x scope that performs well, even at close range, and the Ivanov ST-70 Rear Grip in particular are two attachments that help the weaponry reach a higher level. Smaller customizations are available — the variant only has four of five attachments, leaving room for a silencer or a larger mag, as you’re ultimately not doing tremendous damage.

Kastov 545 — SMG Variant

We can lean into the lower damage that the 545 offers by upping our handling and mobility in sacrifice for range, ultimately turning it into a faster firing (and harder hitting) SMG-type. It doesn’t make much sense to attempt to build a hard-hitting, slower variant as the Kastov 762 already comfortably handles that, so we want to try to ensure this is as lean as possible while still being able to control recoil. You’ll want to grind a little to unlock the True-Tac Grip, unlocked by getting the Vaznev-9K SMG to level 10.

Our customization ended as the following:

  • Optic — SZ MiniRear Grip — True-Tac GripMagazine — 60 Round MagBarrel — 342MM Sakin KlStock — Markeev R7 Stock

You can opt to use the ProLite TL3 Stock, unlocked by leveling the RPK to level 17, for a bit more of a mobility boost. In testing, we noted that this makes the recoil on longer sprays a bit too difficult to control, although it could ostensibly be mitigated with the gargantuan 60-round magazine. The Kastov-Rama offers a smaller boost to mobility (and thus a smaller impact to recoil control), but it didn’t noticeably increase our mobility to make the trade-off worthwhile.

Unfortunately, you’re also losing the gilded accents of the original variant, The Orbiter, but it’s easily solved by applying one of the dozens of available skins. It’s worthwhile to experiment with The Orbiter and the Kastov 762 to better understand the variants, and the strengths of an SMG-esque Kastov 545 over a different weapon like the Fennec 45. An ideal Ultimate Perk for this weapon is High Alert, as the weapon can be rapidly swung and used to effectively engage enemies from behind during a full spray.