Stopping Power

Stopping Power is a Tier Two perk in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: World at War, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 that increases the damage dealt by bullets fired from primary or secondary weapons by 40%.

Overview
The Juggernaut perk, featured in Call of Duty 4 and Call of Duty: World at War cancels out Stopping Power completely. Stopping Power does not affect the damage caused by explosives, for example the RPG-7 or Grenade Launcher - the power of such weapons is increased by Sonic Boom in Call of Duty 4, Fireworks in World at War, and Danger Close in Modern Warfare 2.

It is also of note that in Modern Warfare 2, there are no permanently effective perks which cancel out Stopping Power.

The perk also has little effect in Hardcore; as player health is reduced to 30, meaning very few guns benefit largely from Stopping Power.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
In Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Stopping Power is very popular with the M16A4 and most sniper rifles as it makes them usually pull off a one shot/burst kill, increasing their effectiveness. It is also the most commonly used perk in the game because of its extremely direct effect on combat. However, it is not advisable for use with shotguns, as they are already very powerful within their range without it. Stopping Power is also more ammunition efficient, as it decreases the number of shots required to kill a target. Stopping Power also makes it easier to kill with weapons that have high recoil: because less time is required to kill, the recoil will not have bounced the sights up as much.

Call of Duty: World at War
Stopping Power is completely unchanged from Call of Duty 4. It is very effective when combined with rifles (excluding the unscoped M1 Garand, where it has little effect) and bolt action rifles. When used on any bolt action rifle, one shot can kill an enemy if it hits them in the stomach or above, excluding arms, with or without a Sniper Scope. The perk also has some limited effect on the M2 Flamethrower, despite the stated effect of the perk being an increase to bullet damage.

Call of Duty: World at War is the only Call of Duty game in which Stopping Power is highly useful in Hardcore game modes. The MP40, which is one of the worst weapons in the game for Hardcore because it has high recoil, a fairly low rate of fire, and is likely a two shot kill, becomes very effective when used with Stopping Power because it becomes a one shot kill at any range. The PPSh-41, which is somewhat underpowered in Hardcore because it kills in two to three shots depending on range instead of one or two like other guns, becomes extremely potent with Stopping Power, which makes it a one to two shot kill with a very high rate of fire and low recoil. The FG42, which is already very effective in Hardcore due to its mobility, low recoil, high rate of fire, and fairly long one shot kill range, becomes a one shot kill at any range with Stopping Power. These are the only three weapons in the game that ostensibly benefit from Stopping Power in Hardcore.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Stopping Power made its return again in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. It again is found in the second tier and is unlocked from Level 4 online. It has an almost identical picture to that of the Call of Duty 4 Stopping Power picture except it has a brighter gradient in the background.

The Pro version of Stopping Power is unlocked after achieving 250 kills with a class using Stopping Power. It gives the user increased damage against enemy vehicles such as Harriers and Pave Lows. This also includes increased damage with all weapons when firing on air support. Including the RPG-7 and AT4-HS. For example, a single RPG can damage a harrier to very low life when using Stopping Power Pro. Follow it up with about 10 bullets with any gun and the harrier is destroyed. But the vehicles can still attack a player using any Tier 2 perk apart from Cold Blooded. However, the damage increase from Stopping Power Pro can greatly help in taking out UAVs and Counter-UAVs.

Using Stopping Power in conjunction with a silencer attachment on sniper rifles or LMGs will, for all intents and purposes, negate the other's effect on the weapon's damage. The silencer attachment on the aforementioned weapons will reduce their damage while Stopping Power will essentially bring it back up to normal levels. This is especially effective when playing in Hardcore modes with LMGs such as the M240, which has a base damage of 30, sufficient to kill with one bullet. However, LMGs with superior base damage such as the RPD or AUG HBAR, and all sniper rifles, when equipped with a silencer, do not benefit at all from stopping power in hardcore modes, killing with one bullet in any case, except when hitting a target behind cover.

In Hardcore game modes, using Stopping Power will make the Vector a one hit kill at close range, and make the USP .45 and M9 a one hit kill at all ranges. It also makes all weapons with a minimum damage of 20, a one-hit-kill headshot at all ranges, therefore having little usefulness.

Trivia

 * The perk was also one of four which carried throughout the aforementioned games; however it will not be featured in Call of Duty: Black Ops.