Riot Shield

The Riot Shield is a primary weapon in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. It will absorb any bullets or explosives that hit it.

Usage
The Riot Shield is a primary weapon in Singleplayer, Multiplayer, and Special Ops. Players using the Riot Shield cannot hold a weapon, go prone, knife, or place a breach charge. The shield will deflect all enemy bullets, but the impacts will leave large cracks across the front of the shield, until the game reloads the image (It could overload the game eventually if it did not). The shield also greatly reduces explosive damage if pointed in the right direction, enabling the player to survive grenades and Claymores with little trouble. In some ways, it makes the Blast Shield unnecessary, although the Blast Shield is non-directional.

The Riot Shield will slow down movement at all times. Sprinting with the Riot Shield will shift it to the side, but this vulnerability can be circumvented by running at an angle. When not in use (i.e. using a secondary weapon) the shield is placed over the player's back, where it can still deflect bullets. When looking at a player that has a Riot Shield equipped, they appear to have additional pads/armor on them as well as a helmet. This is likely the real reason behind the very slow movement of players using Riot Shields, as the effect does not disappear when you drop the Riot Shield. This also explains why players who pick up Riot Shields are able to maneuver faster with them than those who begin with the Riot Shield as their primary weapon. However, the additional armor is purely for cosmetic reasons and players that spawn with their Riot Shield still take full damage when they do not have their Riot Shield.

The Riot Shield does have a number of offensive capabilities, such as a melee attack, in which the player bashes an enemy with the shield. Two melee attacks, or one melee attack in Hardcore, will kill the enemy. However, using this melee ability can expose the wielder. Bullets can also ricochet off the Riot Shield and kill enemies and so, it is advised to keep some distance against a shielded player. Deflecting enemy bullets with the shield will give a player bonus experience points, but the effect decreases over time to prevent abuse.

Unlike the enemies in Single Player or Special Ops, the player cannot use a weapon while wielding the shield. Switching to a secondary weapon places the shield on the wielder's back, which offers some limited protection. However, when engaging an enemy, switching from the Riot Shield to a secondary weapon takes a considerable amount of time and is one of the greatest risks of using Riot Shields. Players can throw grenades as per normal (exposing the player momentarily), and the Throwing Knife is particularly useful as a replaceable ranged attack.

It should also be noted that the Riot Shield can block several killstreaks including the Harrier, but the shield is useless against the Chopper Gunner and AC130 killstreaks. The user can even deflect an explosion created by a Predator Missile if pointed in the right direction.

Using the Riot Shield
Mastering the Riot Shield is hard because of the complex angle work involved - even minor exposure can mean death. And because the Riot Shield is transparent, players using the shield are vulnerable to flashbangs. However, being exposed to either a flashbang or stun grenade with the Riot Shield in multiplayer will not lower a shield. A useful tactic is to combine the Riot Shield with the Commando perk. This causes the player to charge people with the Riot Shield from a significantly longer distance. Players will also find it very helpful to be using Lightweight, as Riot Shields slow down a player's speed dramatically and Lightweight can be used to counteract this.

When bashing with the riot shield, one should also learn to melee cancel. After bashing someone with the riot shield, pressing the equipment button and then the switch weapon button will cancel the 'unusable' time of the shield and allow another bash as quickly as possible. This can only be used with equipment that can be cancelled, however, such as the throwing knife.

The shield is generally best used in tight spaces or doorways, as the user cannot be flanked as easily, minimizing the chance of them getting hit from the sides. Riot Shield users have to be careful, however, as skilled players will attempt to charge the shield to knife the user or otherwise circle around for a clear shot. To minimize damage from the sides, it is advised to cut down moving to the sides while under fire. Because of the way the shield is held, the player's left side tends to be more exposed than the right. Because of this, users should try to keep a wall or door frame on their left. Additionally, if a player is carrying the Throwing Knife, the optimal time to use the Throwing Knife with the Riot Shield is when an opposing player is seen reloading, preparing to throw a grenade, or when running directly at the Riot Shield user. As many skilled players will attempt to counter the Riot Shield by sprinting at it to knife the player, running in a straight line towards the player with the Riot Shield will leave them wide open for a Throwing Knife kill, as they can not shoot while sprinting or easily get out of the way. Players will also try to stick the riot shield with a Semtex. If under attack in melee range, always keep the shield pointed at the enemy and bash when the opportunity arises. Riot Shields take two hits to kill an enemy in normal gametypes and one hit in Hardcore gametypes, so take this into consideration.

Using the Riot Shield in conjunction with the Blast Shield will help the player survive most explosive attacks around the player and the player will most likely survive a Semtex stuck on the Riot Shield while donning the Blast Shield. Without a Blast Shield a player whose Riot Shield becomes stuck with a Semtex has a fairly low chance of survival from the blast. In the event that Semtex is attached to the shield, one counter-tactic is to charge the enemy so that the explosion kills the thrower. Changing the shield for another weapon that is on the floor (so not a secondary weapon) will drop the Semtex, giving one the opportunity to run away from it.

Riot Shields are effective with both Blast Shields and Stun Grenades. The Blast Shield grants the player immunity to Stun Grenades. Against multiple enemies, switching to a secondary weapon (such as akimbo handguns) after throwing the Stun Grenade will be more effective. Scavenger is a useful perk, as enemies you kill will replenish both your secondary weapon's ammunition as well as the user's Stun Grenades.

Some players will use the shield purely for rear defense while relying on a secondary weapon for offense, such as shotguns, Akimbo machine pistols, and Akimbo handguns. Just about any akimbo machine pistol is efficient in close quarters combat, but the Beretta M93Rs are more ideal due to their quick swap time and three-round burst - acting as a pseudo shotgun. Which also leads to the usage of akimbo handguns, out of the handguns the Akimbo Colt Anacondas are popular due to their sheer firepower, allowing for 2 shot kills in close quarters without having Stopping Power equipped. The SPAS-12 is one of the more popular shotguns wielded by Riot Shield users due to its power and reliability in close combat. But any shotgun would be deemed more than efficient, especially Akimbo Rangers due to their swapping time and immense firepower.

One preferred technique when facing the back of an enemy is bashing them with the shield instead of knifing or shooting them. This tactic also unlocks "Back-Smasher"; a multiplayer challenge.

An effective use of the shield is to hold objective locations, such as in Headquarters or Domination, in order to safely secure it or prevent enemies from capturing it. A wall of riot shields in search and destroy can be very daunting to opponents and can be very effective when supported with firearms. Another variation of the wall is the Turtle technique, where two or more players with Riot Shields and Blast shields walk back to back, which protects them from gunfire until they get to their destination, with the Blast Shields providing protection from Semtex grenades and Flashbangs, which should keep the group safe.

Also riot shields are good for capturing flags, as a player can crouch and slowly move towards the flag protected when the flag is taken the riot shield is swapped on the back then (while using marathon) the player can run away with the shield protecting the players back, which makes you very hard to shoot.

Lying down while the Riot Shield is on your back and wearing Blast Shield is a very good tactic for surviving splash damage from explosive weapons and airstrikes.

Using a handgun with a Tactical Knife as a secondary with the shield can be useful, because of the quick swap and melee, which can save a players' life in tight situations.

A new tactic involving the Riot Shield includes equipping the Scavenger and Danger Close perks as well as stun grenades and semtex. The Riot Shield user will engage an enemy and immediately toss a stun grenade followed by a semtex when the enemy is vulnerable. In the meantime, the Riot Shield user is protected by the shield during the delay before the explosive goes off. This tactic can even work against groups of people if the Riot Shield user has sufficient surprise, backup, or skill. Afterwards, the Riot Shield user can simply scavenge another pair of grenades from the fallen enemy, and if the tactic doesn't work the first time, the Riot Shield user can then rush the stunned opponent, quickly swap for their secondary weapon, or use the remaining stun grenade to facilitate the shield rush. Used correctly, this tactic can provide considerable offensive capabilities in Multiplayer, resulting in a relatively high volume of kills in contrast to more typical Riot Shield uses.

Facing the Riot Shield
If a player has C4, they could throw the C4 and wait for the enemy with the riot shield to run by, the player would then detonate the C4 killing the enemy with the riot shield. A player using the Riot Shield is vulnerable in a number of ways. The shield does not provide full-body coverage. When standing, the player's feet are exposed. The head or feet may also be exposed while crouched, depending on how the shield is positioned by the player. A keen shooter can exploit these openings, using carefully aimed shots to stop a shield-user in his tracks.

Explosives can be highly effective against the shield. For example, the Riot Shield can be stuck with a Semtex grenade, killing the user unless they have a Blast Shield as well. Explosives can also be tossed behind a player using a Riot Shield. However, enemy AI in single player and spec ops will attempt to back away when explosives are thrown behind them, usually denying a kill unless the grenade is well-cooked.

Yet another strategy is to use a throwing knife. If a person wielding one is standing up it is possible to bounce it off the ground and kill the person. It is also possible to bounce knives off other walls and behind the person into the wielder. Or, if the player is being charged by a sprinting riot shield wielder, it is possible to hit them as the back-and-forth movements of the Riot Shield expose their sides.

It is important to assess the threat of a Riot Shield when deciding how to engage. Shield users have limited offensive options and are often not a threat at all while at a distance. Be conscious of other enemies using the shield as a distraction and always focus on enemy shooters rather than the shield. Be mindful that an effective strategy for shielders is to get within Commando melee range, quickly switch to a pistol with Tactical Knife and kill players before they have a chance to react. This strategy is very fluid and depends on the victim underestimating its speed, so never pull a grenade or reload when they are capable of closing this distance.

Another strategy to take down a Riot Shield player is to equip a pistol with a Tactical Knife and rotate around the player while stabbing consecutively. Players will melee twice as fast as the shield user, and only need to find an opening once, while the shield user will need to land their melee twice. Throwing a stun grenade near the shield user is also effective, as this not only slows them down but prevents them from turning quickly enough to block a players attacks, allowing the player to run behind them and knife or shoot the shield-user in the back -- be mindful that if the stun grenade lands in front of the shield they will be unaffected. Players should not run directly at a stunned shield user, since they may decide to throw a knife at the player and kill them despite being stunned. Instead, players should run at shield users slightly to the left or right of where they are facing to prevent them from doing this.

A way to take down an aggressive Riot Shield user if no enemies but him are around, is to act like a bull fighter. The player lets the Shield-user charge at them, and run at him if the player desires. Players doing this should try to keep to his left if possible. Then let them get close enough, dodge to the left (or right, but left is favored), and while turning towards him, knife the shield user. This should stab him in the back, killing him. This takes practice, and a fair amount of timing, but works very efficiently.

Another method to deal with shield users is to rush them at speed while they are crouched. If there are no other enemies attacking the player, it is fairly easy to jump and stab the player in the head from the air. This method is best used with a tactical knife, since the player will still have the speed advantage if the shield user moves. Another way is to throw C4 at their feet and blow it up when they close the distance. Several strategies are employed by a Riot Shield user, so the quicker the player figures out which one they are using, the quicker the player can counter it. If they are charging, it's probably a knifer/shotgunner; if they stop mid-distance and wait, they are probably lining up a throwing knife. Identify the threat, and deal with it accordingly.

Also, it is possible to tell roughly how far away the charging shield user is. A player could then plant a claymore, and assuming that the player timed it correctly, the claymore should activate and catch the shield user off guard. If the user manages to see and avoid it, that should give the player the opportunity to stab them in the back while they are avoiding it.

Another useful strategy is to lead the shield user in a pursuit, abruptly turn about and shoot the shield using player in the feet, this will make the user unstable, exposing the back and head.

If a player has a light machine gun (L86 LSW, RPD, MG4, AUG HBAR, M-240), they could open fire around the area of the shield that the user's vision is. It can limit their vision, possibly making them switch weapons.

Single Player
The Riot Shield is used by the various enemies in certain parts of the campaign, such as Shadow Company and Russian forces in The Gulag. In addition, the shield features prominent in Spec Ops missions such as Terminal. If the Riot Shield is on the player's back in single player, it will not block anything. Unlike human players, all enemies can wield a weapon and a shield simultaneously (always an MP5K). Enemies will charge the player if they get too close; otherwise they will usually remain in formation, where they are protected from frontal attacks.

Using flashbangs will stun the enemy, providing an opening to shoot or engage in melee combat. An interesting tactic is to equip a Riot Shield and bash just as the enemy attacks. It takes two hits to kill someone with the shield. Frag grenades and the grenade launcher are also effective if aimed behind the shield wall.

Trivia

 * The Riot Shield users' static animations are taunting hand gestures. If a player using a different primary weapon picks up a Riot Shield, however, they will not perform these animations.
 * On the lower back area of the Riot Shield player model, there is a small sign that says, "Kick Me!" Juggernauts have the same sign.
 * The "pick up" icon for the Riot Shield isn't the same design as the Riot Shield used in game. When wielding the Riot Shield, it is the all plastic riot police shield. But the pick up icon resembles the military all-metal "body-bunker" shield.


 * A popular class setup for the Riot Shield is having a Riot Shield, an AA-12, C4, Stun Grenades, Scavenger, Danger Close, and Commando. When being rushed at by someone, you quickly pull out your AA-12. If the player you are facing runs away, you can stun him and use the C4 to blow him up. And of course, Commando for a longer lunge distance for your melee.