Martyrdom

Martyrdom is a Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: World at War Tier 3 perk (and a Deathstreak in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2) that gives the player the ability to drop a live fragmentation grenade upon death. A Martyrdom grenade's fuse is 2.5 seconds (as opposed to the 5 second fuse of a non-Martyrdom grenade, and a grenade that is picked up with the Toss Back Perk, which is 3 seconds). The grenade cannot be considered "cooked" since a player would have to pick it up. A player with the Martyrdom perk who is killed cooking a grenade will drop both the grenade that was held and the Martyrdom grenade. An interesting fact is that enemies can be damaged by the grenade while it is falling, on rare occasions resulting in direct impact kills. During single player, some enemies will do a variation of this perk, they drop to the ground and actively pull the pin from a grenade before slumping over dead.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare


The perk is very useful in close quarters levels, as well as small rooms where it is difficult for the enemy to exit in time to escape the blast. In multiplayer, some servers on the PC version ban the use of Martyrdom, either for it being considered cheap, or that it can become annoying if many/all of the players on a server have it, though many also argue that the inclusion of this perk is simply part of the game and can be easily avoided by more experienced players.

Though it's not a reliable perk, Martyrdom can give the user a handful of additional kills. Most players now will assume that a player has Martyrdom and flee the area as soon as they achieve a kill. Confined areas and Sonic Boom makes this perk more effective. It should be noted that some servers will kick players using this perk in the PC version of Call of Duty 4. It is also frowned upon to use in Hardcore Team Deathmatch and Hardcore Search and Destroy, given that the dropped grenade can also kill teammates (thus it is far rarer on those modes). However, it can still be useful against enemy players because they won't be expecting martyrdom and there wont be any grenade indicators so players still sometimes use the perk in those modes, and due to decreased player health, the perk becomes much more effective if teamkills can be avoided.

Many players despise Martyrdom as it is considered to be cheap way to earn kills since there is usually absolutely no skill required, and one is basically rewarded for dying. However, Martyrdom can also be used tactically, such as a with an SMG. Some players even use Martyrdom as a suicide bomb by running into an enclosed area with enemies and allowing themselves to be killed in hopes of taking down one or more enemies. It is often thought that even having the fuse lengthened by a second would make it more fair.

If you are quick to react, it can be very advantageous to throw an enemy's Martyrdom grenade if the grenade was just dropped, so you do not need to run away and risk exposing yourself to fire, and you can get kills with it. However, be ready to sprint and/or move backward once an opponent is eliminated. If there is a threat of running toward more enemies then try move around a corner or go prone behind something. Turning completely around may take too long and there is a good possibility you will be hung up on another teammate.

There is also a tactic with martyrdom that can get quite "explosive" and is deadly with one person, but can be devastating with a full squad: Primary Grenades x3, Sonic Boom, Martyrdom.

This is a powerful tactic but this tactic is known as Grenade mortaring and is thought to be very "noobish" and should not be used on hardcore as it can be very easy to kill your teammates by mistake.

Call of Duty: World at War


Martyrdom reappears in Call of Duty: World at War just as it did in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. There is no superficial difference between the two perks from the two games, as both grenade times are 2.5 seconds. The only possible difference would be that the grenade indicator for Call of Duty: World at War dims down when you are further away from a live grenade (Treyarch developers have changed the effect of grenades). Thus, the dimmer the indicator, the less damage you will take. This is not true in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare as even if you are at the minimum range of the martyrdom, you would still get killed. Due to this fact, it is much easier to escape from Martyrdom in Call of Duty: World at War, as the player that killed the Martyrdom user will usually end up backpedaling. As with Juggernaut this is a considered a very "noobish perk", especially in Hardcore (due to the lack of grenade indicator). Some servers do kick players who use Martyrdom.

Note: The Martyrdom grenade on Call of Duty: World at War'' can be picked up and thrown away, causing little damage to you. However, it must be done within a very short period of time (2 seconds at the most) to ensure survival.''

In the Single Player campaign, if the player injures an enemy, and they go down, they are capable of several things, including Last Stand. Some enemies will actually pull the pin on a grenade and blow themselves up, and hope you get killed too. This is because some players may spray and not be aware of a dying German and will kill the player if in close proximity, even on Recruit.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Martyrdom is a Deathstreak in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. It requires four consecutive deaths before it can be used (three if using Hardline Pro), so it is seen far less frequently than it was in previous games. It is also weaker, as the grenade fuse time has been increased to that of a normal grenade and frag grenades were made weaker in Modern Warfare 2.

Tips

 * Martyrdom will become more effective if coupled with Sonic Boom, Fireworks or Danger Close (depending on the game) as this will increase the radius and damage of the explosion, making it more likely to do its job.
 * On World at War, an effective way of countering Martyrdom is to have the Flak Jacket and Toss Back perks equipped. With Flak Jacket you are far less likely to be killed by Martyrdom, and Toss Back resets the timer on the grenade, effectively granting you a free grenade which you can use to get kills of your own. In this manner, Martyrdom can actually become a detriment to the team using it.
 * Martyrdom is most effective on small maps, such as the Dome and Rust and/or in objective based games like Headquarters, Domination, and Capture the Flag as players will tend to congregate on those objectives.
 * It is possible to get a Killstreak reward using Martyrdom, but this will only count if it happens before you respawn. Watching the Kill Cam for 3 seconds should be sufficient.
 * Martyrdom is better suited for CQC, due to the proximity a player will be to the enemy. For that reason, having the Martyrdom perk with a Shotgun or SMG is probably more useful than with a Sniper Rifle.
 * In Modern Warfare 2, Martydom is a useful perk for people trying to achieve payback kills with grenades.

Trivia

 * If Martyrdom kills an enemy after respawning it will count towards a new kill streak.
 * In the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare multiplayer beta, the Martyrdom grenade fuse was 5 seconds; this proved problematic as players were readily able to pick up the Martyrdom grenade and throw it away.
 * The word martyr is used to describe a person who sacrifices their life for a cause, and martyrdom is the state of being a martyr.
 * In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, it is possible to use both the Last Stand perk and Martyrdom simultaneously. This is unwise if the player does not have Last Stand Pro; when Martyrdom is active, a player will enter Last Stand mode and simultaneously drop a grenade, killing the player within seconds and thereby depriving them of the benefits of Last Stand. However, with Last Stand Pro, players can throw the grenade away, both saving themselves and giving them a free grenade.
 * Using the Martyrdom perk with the Danger Close (Or Sonic Boom in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare or Fireworks in Call of Duty: World at War) perk can be a good way to clear a room upon death.
 * In Modern Warfare 2 if you kill an enemy with this perk you will get the title Martyr and a martyrdom emblem.
 * The word "martyrdom" is often mispronounced by players as "Mart-y-dom" (it is pronounced ˈmar-ter-dumb).
 * A player without Martyrdom can throw back a grenade dropped by Martyrdom to achieve challenges requiring the use of Martyrdom.
 * Martyrdom is especially effective in hardcore ricochet game types. The user's teammates will be unaffected, and so will the user, as he or she is already dead.
 * In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 ' s singleplayer campaign, badly wounded enemies will sometimes drop a live grenade before their final breath in order to kill the player.
 * Instead of using this as a deathstreak, many players will simply begin to cook a grenade before death, especially with Last Stand Pro. This can be even more effective, as it frees up the deathstreak slot, and as it allows the grenade to cook, it can be even more lethal as there is less warning time for enemies, without the need of dying 4 times in a row.
 * In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, on Hardcore Ricochet: HQ Pro, due to the nature of martyrdom grenades fuse timer and HQ Pro's instant respawn timer, it is possible for the player to respawn before the grenade goes off. If the grenade explodes next to a friendly after respawning, the player will be killed by the friendly fire ricochet and hence drop another martyrdom grenade (assuming the player got no kills in his few seconds of life). This can happen over and over, and theoretically, an infinite chain of unintentional suicide can occur. It has been seen in ranked console HQ matches for players to achieve well over 100 deaths in one game just by martyrdom. The effect is devastating on rust, although on rust there is a higher chance of the grenade killing an enemy also, ending the deathstreak.
 * It is unknown why Martyrdom was made into a Deathstreak, as with the nerfing of frag grenades it rarely kills. If it was retained as a third perk it would still lack potency and take the third perk slot from more useful perks.