Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3: What is Tac-Stance?

Call of Duty's 2023 release brings a third installment in the retelling of Infinity Ward's legendary Modern Warfare story featuring Captain John Price, Sergeant John "Soap" Price, and fan-favorite character Lieutenant Simon Riley, AKA "Ghost." In addition to concluding the story of Task Force 141, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is packed full of new multiplayer mechanics and game modes like the 3v3v3 game Cutthroat, including the first-ever zombies mode to appear in a Modern Warfare game.

One of the biggest mechanical changes Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 gives players is the Tac-Stance, a new way to aim and carry a player-equipped weapon. This new feature gives players a huge boost in tactical variety and play style when it comes to approaching enemies and objectives on the battlefield. Here's what players need to know about it.

What is Tac-Stance?

Tac-Stance is an alternate fire mode available with most weapons that can be toggled when aiming down sights. Activating Tac-Stance will cause aiming down sights to engage a focused hip-fire that allows for increased mobility and better target acquisition at close range. When aiming with Tac-Stance, rather than looking down the top rail sights of the weapon, players will aim using a slanted hold that allows for improved use of equipped laser attachments. Because players are not fully aiming down sights, Tac-Stance gives players the ability to quickly transition from sprinting, sliding, or diving, to aiming and shooting.

Tac-Stance also introduces a new family of weapon attachment pros and cons, as Tac-Stance spread and sprint to fire time can be adjusted by certain weapon attachments. This will give players the opportunity to strategize and build loadouts that break standard conventions, as long-range weapons are no longer necessarily ineffective in close quarters. This beefed-up version of a canted optic or hybrid optic option will see a new generation of weapon customizations and loadout tactics not yet seen in a Call of Duty title.

Players will also be able to use the Tac-Stance feature while playing through Modern Warfare 3's main campaign. Players will not receive a prompt to switch to Tac-Stance but will be able to switch to this close quarters stance by pressing the Drop/Backpack button (typically the same input as Night Vision Goggles) with almost any weapon in any mission when aiming down sights.

If players have night vision goggles equipped, weapons with certain attachments like the infrared or thermal sights may not allow the use of the Tac-Stance, but most weapons can still use this more mobile aiming style even if the goggles are active.

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