MW4 · Weapons
ISO Nightshade
This is the starting SMG. Most of its attachments unlock early, so it gets competitive quickly.
Overview
Built for close quarters, but it can still hold mid-range fights. A fast SMG for players who move around the map a lot, whether they’re chasing kills or playing objectives. Season 1 buffed it: max damage range went from 10.54m to 11.68m and minimum damage from 13 to 14. On Oct 28, its arm and hand multipliers went from 0.95 to 1.
Strengths
- High fire rate, dependable handling and recoil that's easy to control.
- Stays steady at close to mid range and keeps you mobile indoors.
- Fast to deploy and stable, and a heavy silencer keeps you off the minimap.
Weaknesses
- Damage falls off noticeably at longer distances.
- The range-focused meta build gives up a little handling and mobility.
Pro intel
PremiumBest loadouts
Adds range and stability for close-to-mid fights while keeping indoor mobility.
- Muzzle
- XRK Herder 40Lv 17+Suppressed−ADS
- Barrel
- ZLR Carbon-900Lv 41+Recoil+Velocity+Range−Stability−Move speed−Tac sprint−ADS move−ADS−Sprint-fire−Hip fire
- Underbarrel
- FSS TAC90 Grip
- Rear Grip
- Demo STP-1Lv 6+ADS−Recoil
- Laser
- Schlager VISIV-5
- Perks
- Ghost, Ninja, Battle Hardened
- Lethal
- Frag Grenade
- Tactical
- Flash Grenade
- Field upgrade
- Trophy System
Perk and equipment notes
Dexerto (cited, same build) and Gaming ProMax agree on the perks, Flash Grenade and Trophy System. The lethal conflicts: Dexerto lists Frag, GPM lists Semtex (= Sticky Grenade), and Dexerto's is kept. VGC and NoobFeed list no gun-specific perks. NoobFeed's generic SMG class is Ghost, Blood Rush, Battle Hardened.
Tracker sites' top build: cuts sway and adds the Apex's integrated optic and tagging.
- Muzzle
- XRK Herder 40Lv 17+Suppressed−ADS
- Stock
- Demo Kilo90 StockLv 47+Stability+Flinch−ADS move
- Underbarrel
- FSS Tac90 GripLv 55+Stability+Flinch
- Magazine
- 40 Round MagLv 10+Mag−Stability−Move speed−Tac sprint−ADS move−ADS−Reload
- Rear Grip
- ZLR Veloci Gen.2Lv 60+Stability+Hip fire+Flinch
- Apex
- ISO Trace
- Perks
- Ghost, Ninja, Battle Hardened
- Lethal
- Frag Grenade
- Tactical
- Flash Grenade
- Field upgrade
- Trophy System
Perk and equipment notes
The cited trackers show no perks. These come from Dexerto and Gaming ProMax, whose builds differ from this one. Both agree on perks, Flash Grenade and Trophy System. The lethal conflicts (Frag vs Semtex/Sticky), and Dexerto's is kept.
Attachments
- SZ Micro D-3OpticLv 3
- SZ Lonewolf HoloOpticLv 13
- Slimline EliteOpticLv 18
- GL K230OpticLv 20+Recoil−ADS move−ADS
- SZ Echelon HoloOpticLv 24
- IOTA-DOpticLv 26
- VLK TrimmerOpticLv 27
- Cronen R808OpticLv 29+Recoil−ADS move−ADS
- SZ Helios HoloOpticLv 32
- SZ Lonewolf FlipOpticLv 34+Recoil−ADS move−ADS
- SZ SRE-7OpticLv 36
- KV Corsac HoloOpticLv 42
- ZLR Type COpticLv 45
- Schlager Night View ProOpticLv 48+Recoil−ADS move−ADS
- SZ Prima-4 DotOpticLv 52
- FJX 708 PROOpticLv 54
- Bruen THRM-60 OpticOpticLv 56
- Corio BisectOpticLv 63+Recoil−ADS move−ADS
- FSS CrackdownMuzzleLv 4+Recoil+Velocity+Range+Suppressed−Stability−Move speed−ADS move−ADS
- TA Lightning R3MMuzzleLv 11+Recoil
- 212 LC40 CompMuzzleLv 15+Recoil−ADS
- XRK Herder 40MuzzleLv 17+Suppressed−ADS
- Haebang ORC70MuzzleLv 37+Recoil−ADS
- DEMO IronshadeMuzzleLv 40+Suppressed−Range
- Hanbit ChevronMuzzleLv 46
- TA TacPro-56MuzzleLv 58+Recoil−ADS
- ZLR Mag-Z 9"BarrelLv 2+Hip fire+Move speed
- RT Outride-X 8"BarrelLv 22+Move speed
- ZLR Carbon-900BarrelLv 41+Recoil+Velocity+Range−Stability−Move speed−Tac sprint−ADS move−ADS−Sprint-fire−Hip fire
- Mire-50 Tac GripUnderbarrelLv 7+Move speed−ADS
- FSS Fireline GripUnderbarrelLv 23+Recoil−ADS−Sprint-fire
- FSS Tac90 GripUnderbarrelLv 55+Stability+Flinch
- GW Domi-9UnderbarrelLv 62+Hip fire
- 40 Round MagMagazineLv 10+Mag−Stability−Move speed−Tac sprint−ADS move−ADS−Reload
- 50 Round Drum MagMagazineLv 53+Mag−Stability−Move speed−Tac sprint−ADS move−ADS−Reload
- Demo STP-1Rear GripLv 6+ADS−Recoil
- Bruen MOD3Rear GripLv 35+Recoil−ADS−Sprint-fire
- ZLR Veloci Gen.2Rear GripLv 60+Stability+Hip fire+Flinch
- EXP G2-44 StockStockLv 5+ADS−Recoil
- GI-80 MilSpec StockStockLv 16+Recoil−ADS
- No StockStockLv 28+Move speed+Tac sprint+ADS move+ADS+Sprint-fire+Hip fire−Recoil−Stability−Flinch
- Demo Kilo90 StockStockLv 47+Stability+Flinch−ADS move
- Pulse-MW LaserLaserLv 9+Hip fire
- FJX EVR7LaserLv 14+Stability+Move speed+ADS move+Hip fire
- Expedite Squad-304LaserLv 21+Hip fire−Stability
- XRK Clutch-LSLaserLv 33+ADS
- Schlager Visiv-5LaserLv 43+Stability+ADS+Sprint-fire
- Expedite 21 CFRLaserLv 51−Stability
- QFL-S4.5LaserLv 59+Sprint-fire+Hip fire
- 9mm Parabellum FrangibleAmmunitionLv 8
- 9mm Parabellum Armor PiercingAmmunitionLv 30
- 9mm Parabellum Hollow PointAmmunitionLv 39
- 9mm Parabellum OverpressuredAmmunitionLv 49
- 9mm Parabellum High VelocityAmmunitionLv 61+Velocity
No attachments match.
Apex: ISO Trace · Weapon level 64
Tier rankings
- Multiplayer
- S tier (top SMG) · dexerto.com, 2026-11-09
- Multiplayer
- #1 SMG, META, tagged as buffed in Season 1 · wzstats.gg, 2026-11-11
- Multiplayer
- Versatile build rated Absolute Meta · codmunity.gg, 2026-11-09
- Multiplayer
- S tier 'Absolute Meta', #7 for Versatile · warzoneloadout.games
- Warzone
- Close Range build rated Absolute Meta; 11.1% Warzone pick rate · codmunity.gg, 2026-11-09
Stats
- Fire rate
- 923 rpm
- Magazine
- 30 rounds
- Bullet velocity
- 530 m/s (Warzone)
- Head multiplier
- 1.3×
- ADS time
- 175 ms (Warzone)
- Sprint to fire
- 110 ms (Warzone)
- Reload
- 3.27 s
Time to kill
| Range | Damage | Shots | TTK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0–11.68 m | 21 | 5 | 260 ms |
| 11.68–20 m | 17 | 6 | 325 ms |
| 20–27 m | 15 | 7 | 390 ms |
| 27 m+ | 14 | 8 | 455 ms |
| Range | Damage | Shots | TTK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0–14 m | 34 | 9 | 520 ms |
| 14–23 m | 30 | 10 | 585 ms |
| 23 m+ | 23 | 14 | 845 ms |
Source notes
Top-level velocity/adsMs/sprintToFireMs are Warzone base values (CODMunity weapon page and GGRanked Warzone page agree exactly). rpm 923, magazine 30, reload 3267 agree across GGRanked, CODMunity, mw4field. MP brackets from GGRanked (0-11 / 12-20 / 21-27 / 28+ m); first end 11.68 m and minimum damage 14 match the Season 1 patch (10.54 -> 11.68 m; 13 -> 14); CODMunity TTK drops at 12/20/28 m agree. Season 1 also set arm/hand multipliers 0.95 -> 1. Head multiplier 1.3 is CODMunity's stats-table value only (low). MP ADS 240 ms per GGRanked (Warzone 175). Warzone profile is GGRanked only (low). DMZ profile is from GGRanked's DMZ page only; the page does not show which mode tab its stats block reflects, so treat as unconfirmed DMZ data. DMZ profile health is null: base health 150 is sourced (DMZ Codex) but armor per plate is not.
Sources mostly agree · checked 2026-11-11 · GGRanked - ISO Nightshade MW4 Multiplayer stats, GGRanked - ISO Nightshade Warzone stats, GGRanked - ISO Nightshade DMZ stats, CODMunity - ISO Nightshade MW4 weapon page (Warzone base stats, patch history), Dexerto - All weapon buffs and nerfs in MW4 & Warzone Season 1 (patch-note figures), mw4field - MW4 weapons table (RPM, magazine), CODMunity - MW4 TTK rankings (damage drop distances, build-based)
More stats
- Fire rate
- 923 RPM
- Magazine
- 30
- Max damage range (post-Season 1)
- 11.68 m (was 10.54 m)
- Minimum damage (post-Season 1)
- 14 (was 13)
- ADS / ADS-out (base, CODMunity Warzone stats)
- 175 ms / 185 ms
- Bullet velocity (CODMunity)
- 530 m/s
- Base Warzone TTK 0-10m (CODMunity)
- 585 ms
- Head multiplier (CODMunity)
- 1.3x
How to unlock
- Player level
- 4
- Details
- Unlocks at player level 4. VGC calls it the default SMG you start with.
- Apex attachment
- ISO Trace · Unlocked at the max weapon level, 64 (Apex is the final reward on the weapon track and uses its own slot). LFCarry says it fires rounds that tag and track the enemies you hit. CODMunity says it adds an integrated optic (+190% zoom).
Unlock it with Premium in the MW4 Guide app.
- 2 best loadouts with full attachments
- All 54 attachments with unlock levels and stat effects
- Tier rankings: Multiplayer, Warzone
- Stat sheet and time to kill at every range
- How to unlock it and its Apex attachment
Shared builds
See allBuilds other players run on the ISO Nightshade, ranked by votes. Scores are our estimate, worked out the same way as in the builder.
Patch history
- MW4 Season 1 patch notes: weapon buffs, nerfs and new contentBuffed · Nov 5, 2026
- MW4 weapon balance update (October 28, 2026)Buffed · Oct 28, 2026
Sources
- Dexerto (weapon tier list) (2026-11-09)
- Dexerto (SMG tier list) (2026-11-09)
- VGC (2026-10-26)
- NoobFeed
- Insider Gaming (2026-10-23)
- CODMunity (2026-11-09)
- warzoneloadout.games
- WZStats (2026-11-11)
- LFCarry (Apex) (2026-11-09)
- MP1st (S1 notes) (2026-11-06)
- gamerfuzion.com
- gamerfuzion.com