The Best Traits in DMZ in Modern Warfare 4

The best Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 DMZ traits will seriously elevate your operator into a beast in Hajin, because there are some ridiculously overpowered options available. However, it’s worth noting that only six traits per skill tree are fixed, indicated by the bigger symbols, so we’ll call them major traits. For every operator, the rest of the smaller traits (minor) are in a random order, although they are locked to their respective tree.

As a result, we cannot say you should get specific traits every time, because that’s impossible. However, if these traits come up, you should absolutely choose them. Here are the best traits in Modern Warfare 4’s DMZ mode.

Possum (Warfighter)

Possum is so strong in Modern Warfare 4, it’s almost undoubtedly at the top of the list for a potential nerf in a future update. It’s a major trait on the final row of the Warfighter path, and it essentially means that if you die, you can revive yourself. And I’m not just talking being able to get up if you’re downed.

Even if an enemy finishes you off entirely, you can bide your time and choose to activate Possum, which will put you back into the downed state, aka last stand. From here, if you have a healing item, you can patch up your wounds and move again. If another player has already looted your corpse then you’ll be fighting with very little equipment, but if they haven’t? You can take so many unsuspecting players by surprise. Nobody expects someone they’ve killed to get back up again.

Plate Speed (Scout)

Plate Speed is a minor trait, so whether you’ll find it or not in your Scout tree is random, but if you do, grab it. Using armor plates mid-combat is cumbersome, but with this upgrade, it’s considerably quicker and allows you to protect yourself on the fly, because the animation is sped up considerably.

Fast Learner (Warfighter)

Another minor trait, Fast Learner “slightly increases operator experience gain.” The exact increase is unknown, but when earning experience and gaining more traits is so important in DMZ, grabbing this is a no-brainer.

Overwatch (Scout)

A major trait in the Scout tree on the final row, Overwatch makes it so any UAV towers you activate in Hajin never expire. Now this has the obvious benefit of making it so you have a permanent UAV at any tower, so you can see enemy locations on your minimap, but it also has a psychological benefit against enemies.

Usually, an active UAV tower means a player is nearby, because they must have activated it recently. And for most players, that will be the case. So anyone who sees your active UAV tower will think you’re still hanging around, even if you’re long gone. It may seem a little pointless because why does it matter if an enemy decides to search a location you’re no longer in? It’s all about the mind games.

Expedited Extraction (Survivalist)

When you call in an exfil, the pilot says he’s 30 seconds away, but in reality, it’s closer to a minute because the flare itself has to go off first, then when the pilot arrives, he takes his sweet time descending to the ground. And even when you board, there’s another five-second countdown to contend with, followed by an ascension sequence where you can still, in theory, be shot down.

Expedited Extraction, a minor trait in the Survivalist tree, simply makes it so “extractions arrive much faster.” Time is money, after all.

Impact Smokes (Survivalist)

You’re going to get downed while playing DMZ, and Impact Smokes probably won’t help you if it’s just a one-on-one fight without any other chaos happening. However, if you’re playing with friends, or you’re duking it out 1v1 but your opponent is also under fire from PvE enemies, Impact Smokes (a major trait in the Survivalist tree) automatically deploys a smoke grenade as soon as you’re knocked down.

This means you can potentially crawl away while your opponent is distracted, either to a teammate to help revive you, or so you can tourniquet yourself and get up then heal before the enemy knows where you’ve gone.

Quick Knife (Survivalist)

You’ll often need to play stealthily in DMZ, and Quick Knife (a minor trait) is your friend in those instances. It means whenever you melee an enemy, instead of hitting them with the butt of your gun, you use your knife instead. It saves you the time of pulling out the knife itself and potentially being caught off-guard when you need to switch back mid-fight, because these PvE enemies in DMZ are painfully astute at detecting you.

Equipment Professional (Warfighter)

Got a go-to option for both your tactical and lethal equipment slots? Equipment Professional, found on the first row of major traits in the Warfighter category, makes it so your grenade slots automatically refill after use. This should help prevent mid-fight inventory management, and hoping that you stumble upon more of the same equipment while you’re deployed.