FMJ, short for “Full Metal Jacket,” is a Call of Duty: Modern Warfare weapon perk that’s been causing no shortage of confusion amongst the game’s community. Many are slightly stumped about what its purpose is; the name seems to suggest it’s a defensive item at first glance, while the description contradicts that. The overriding question that most people have on their minds is this, however: Does FMJ increase damage in Modern Warfare 2019? Here’s what you need to know.
Does the FMJ perk increase your damage in Modern Warfare?
Firstly, forget any notion that you might have about the term FMJ (Full Metal Jacket) relating to a form of body armor or the Stanley Kubrick war film. In fact, it refers to a type of bullet that your chosen firearm will be kitted out with in order to offer increased penetration.
Here’s the full FMJ perk description:
Increases bullet penetration and damage against equipment and killstreaks.
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As it states, players with FMJ equipped will deal extra damage to the opposition’s equipment and killstreaks. This means that taking out annoying items like turrets and Trophy Systems will become easier, making it a great counter for coordinated enemy teams that make considered use of their streaks and tactical equipment.
FMJ will not, however, offer any kind of damage buff when firing directly upon other players. The one time it could help out in that area is if your opponent ducked behind penetrable cover, which FMJ grants you a greater capacity to shoot through and potentially secure damage on unseen enemies.
That isn’t necessarily a situation that’ll crop up every match, so it’s best only to equip FMJ if you’re looking to shut down enemy tactical equipment and killstreaks as quickly as possible. If it’s in your loadout because you believed it boosted all outgoing damage, you should probably switch it out for something more appropriate ASAP.