Call of Duty Wiki:Ask A Veteran/Camping

Camping is a popular, but often misinterpreted, tactic used throughout the Call of Duty Series, especially in competitive games.

Definition
Often seen as a cheap strategy, camping is frowned upon on most online levels. Campers are, however, misinterpreted as bad players who can't rush or play highly aggressively, when in a lot of cases, especially in objective gametypes (such as Demolition) they are playing the game as it should be.

In killing games, (Free-for-All and Team Deathmatch) camping is essentially waiting for enemies to pass by the player's position or area, rather than actively seeking them out, regularly for extended periods of time. Players usually camp in order to gain a tactical advantage over their opponents. Camping is a strategy that relies on a lack of patience in other players, especially when &quot;revenge-killers&quot; become angered by the enemy camping.

In several game types, camping is a legitimate style of play, often in defensive based games, comparable to 'turtling". In game types such as Capture the Flag, as well as Domination, it isn't nearly as detrimental to gameplay as it would be in game types such as Free-For-All and Team Deathmatch.

It often proves frustrating, particularly to new players, as it rewards those who are very familiar with the map. This is due to new players being unfamiliar with which areas are the best defensive positions and where the heavily trafficked areas exist.

Door to door camping
This method is really quite simple. One player will be camping near a door way with a high power close quarters weapon, usually a shotgun or Assault Rifle, and simply wait for unsuspecting victims to run by. Quite often they will go to the other side of the door every 2 or 3 kills to avoid players learning their positions. This works best in mainly indoor maps where there are lots of camping spots, such as Terminal, Skidrow, and Highrise where the majority of the fighting is in small, indoor pockets of the map, which can quite often result in the camper getting easy kills, and will often be found on Deathmatch, and FFA style modes. Like other forms of camping, they will often hide behind crates and walls that can protect them but still allow them to see players coming. There is a version of this camping on Rundown, teams can hold an entire side of the map by camping the three bridges connecting each side. An extreme form of this is where a 4th and 5th member camps the steps on each side of the river too.

Spawn camping
Spawn camping is a form of camping when a player assaults the position(s) where opposing players just enter or re-enter (respawn) the map. The camper has the advantage in that they are able to kill players before they have a chance to get their bearings and sometimes can shoot them in their back. This may be difficult due to random spawn points in some game types such as Free-For-All, as well as killcams showing the players who get killed by spawn campers the camper's location and let them prepare for their next respawn.

Spawn camping is considerably easier in Domination as the game prefers to spawn players near flags they already own thus limiting the possible spawn points available. Note that enemies will not spawn at a spawn point if the player is looking directly at the spawn point, though looking through a chain link fence or glass does not count as direct line of sight. If the player turns his/her back to the spawn point or blocks his/her view of the spawn point by say, crouching behind a crate, enemies will spawn again. Thus, spawn killing is easiest through chain link fences or by popping up and down behind a crate that has view of the enemy spawn.

Base Camping
The term Base Camping refers to camping at the base (or defensive objectives) of one's own team in Capture the Flag, Search and Destroy, and possibly other types of games. One would sit in one's team base and wait for the other team to come. Though hiding in one's own team base, especially if done by a large group, makes it easier to survive enemy attacks, it is sometimes criticized. The general acceptance of Base Camping mainly depends on the map and the kind of game played. Game types in which one team is to defend its base, or protect a flag, naturally encourage this tactic. One acceptable situation is in Search and Destroy, when there is only one player remaining versus several players on the opposing team. The single player will often camp for periods of play in a location that is easy to defend or has only one entry way, because this enhances their survivability when faced with superior opposition numbers. The other team will usually go into active hunting mode, expecting the single player to be hiding somewhere on the map. This type of camping is more accepted by gamers, because there is a valid reason for the outnumbered player to camp. By convention, when both teams are down to single players only, continued camping is frowned upon and both players are expected to come out and confront each other, otherwise the round will be lost by the attacking side.

Sniper Camping
Sniper Camping is a form of camping in which a player camps with a sniper rifle at a location where sniping is easiest, a "sniper spot" so to speak. Such areas normally have long, open lines of sight, or contain an objective or two. Ghost and [[Hardline] are the two most common perks when sniper camping.

Advantages
The camping player gains advantages in many ways:
 * Camping players often watch choke points from behind cover. Good choke points protect the camper's flanks and give them only one place to watch for enemies. The cover protects them and makes them harder to spot. Conversely, a player moving through the choke is forced to be in the open and look over a wide area for potential threats.
 * Campers often remain in ADS mode, giving them extra zoom and saving the time it normally takes to enter ADS. Enemies moving through the area are rarely in ADS as ADS slows moving players down and lessens their situational awareness.
 * Moving players are often sprinting. The camper, on the other hand, is in ADS with weapon drawn giving the sprinting player almost no chance to stop sprinting, pull out their weapon then raise it to ADS in order to accurately return fire.
 * Moving players are often forced to expose their flanks to fire. Unless moving with a team, certain map locations are simply impossible to "check the corners" in all directions. Campers, on the other hand, minimize this exposure.
 * Opposing players, due to their desire for revenge, will often repeatedly rush campers giving the camper multiple easy kills.
 * In Modern Warfare 2, since a camper usually aims one way they usually have a heartbeat sensor, this to see when the enemy is coming or in case of team-killing (Hardcore matches).
 * Camping can be a way to hold the best ground, especially on maps like Rundown on Modern Warfare 2,. If the player can keep in a good position where it makes it impossible for the enemy to get around can be advantageous in game modes like Search and Destroy, or stall for time in Demolition.
 * Camping helps out with getting more high-end killstreaks for players like Chopper Gunner, AC-130, EMP, or even the Tactical Nuke, however players may need to wait a while for that many kills. This method is quite popular, and has led to the "Camping for Killstreaks" term.
 * It promotes teamwork so the the team can have rushers, and campers to cover them.
 * Now in Black Ops they can use the camera spike to cover the flank, so killing campers gets harder as they see you sooner

Disadvantages

 * To get kills, players need patience.
 * Popular or well-known camping spots may easily become compromised if opponents know how to get around them.
 * Many players look down on camping, and may flame and spam the player for it.
 * Opponents who know the popular camping spots may throw a cooked grenade, or throw/shoot an explosive at the camping location as a precaution. It is usually difficult for a camper to avoid these.
 * Camping can become useless if all the good camping spots are already taken
 * Once people have been killed by the camper, they will probably come back for revenge, and while this may give lots of kills, the camper will eventually be killed by a better player.

Ways to beat Campers

 * Use Heartbeat Sensors and slowly move across the screen to see if the enemies move or not (players with the Ninja Perk on will not be detected).
 * If the player keeps getting killed by the same camper over and over in the corner, use explosives (Frag Grenade, Grenade Launcher/Thumper, Semtex, C4, AT4, RPG) on that enemy to kill him.
 * Use smoke grenades where the player always get killed to block the screen of the camper in that area and kill the camper quickly before the the smoke fades. A Heartbeat Sensor and/or a Thermal Sight can ruin this tactic.
 * Use Flashbang or Stun Grenades and do the same thing said above. Heartbeat sensor cannot negate this tactic although hip fire/blind fire can be successful.
 * Use the Steady Aim Perk to hip-fire more accurately that can cancel the need to aim down the sight, which takes a precious second and slows down movement while aiming, as well as gaining an advantage in Close Quarter Combat. Hip-Firing is often necessary, because campers generally spend long periods of time waiting in ADS for enemies to appear, so they will already have an advantage in this respect.
 * If a camper is known to be lurking behind a corner it is advisable to start spraying bullets at the exact moment (or perhaps even slightly before) the player must turn the corner to face them. Odds are this will take the camper completely by surprise, as they would no sooner be able to see the player appear than be faced by a hail storm of bullets. Odds are they will be dead before they can fire off a single shot in retaliation. This tactic is best used if the player has no more grenades available, or if the camper happens to be using Flak Jacket/Blast Shield, which would make grenades ineffective.
 * FMJ/Deep Impact/Hardened can be used in many cases to kill campers by simply shooting through the walls/cover they are hiding behind. If this strategy is to be employed, it is advised to use a Machine Gun if possible, because this combines both the penetrating power and high rate of fire to spray at a concealed opponent. SMGs can also work, but are less suitable due to their smaller penetrating capability. Sniper Rifles can work, but their extremely low rate of fire makes it difficult to hit unseen enemies through walls.
 * Ultimately it's not even necessary to even kill the camper in his camping spot, throwing enough explosives and flashbangs at him which results at barely surviving and then he has to choose between a hopeless fight or fleeing, and that's the moment to strike, just after the camper left his cover.
 * Many campers tend to use claymores, C4, or a combination of both (if they are using One Man Army. Another good way to find the general location of a camper is using SitRep. Typically the camper has close proximity to their equipment. After disabling or destroying the equipment proceed with caution to flush out the camper.
 * Travel in a group to kill the camper, however at the same time this can prove to be fatal as you will never know if the camper has changed spots which means easy kills for the camper.
 * Always watch your Kill Cam in situations where you do not know who killed you or where they were. The Kill Cam will allow you to view your demise from the eyes of the person who did it to you, and this can help you pin point exactly where they were located. This is especially useful in situations where the Camper is using suppressed weapons and/or stealth related perks, as they may never appear on the minimap as a red dot.
 * A new tactic in Black Ops for dealing with campers is to envelope the camper within the operational radius of a Jammer. This will make the camper's minimap unusable, possibly irritating them to a point where they may decide to leave the area. The Jammer also has the added benefit of disrupting any equipment the camper may have placed within that radius; this is a very useful effect because campers very often place equipment such as a Claymore, Motion Sensor, etc. near their camping site in order to protect their flanks. With a Jammer in place, this equipment will be rendered inoperable.
 * Above all else, try to avoid being killed by the Camper. Although this seems obvious, its very important because the more kills a camper receives the more and better killstreaks he/she can call in. This can be disastrous for your team's odds of winning. Logically speaking, vengeance is not worthwhile if you have to die multiple times in order to payback an enemy only once. Besides, many campers are well aware of the great lengths their opponents will go to in order to kill them, but consider it an acceptable price if it gives them a better kill/death ration after all is said and done. Try not to let your emotions get the better of you, because this is what they want.