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 amount of damage of a user's primary or secondary weapons by 40%. In almost all situations, this means that one less bullet will be required for a kill. Because of this fact, Stopping Power is significantly more useful on weapons with low rates of fire, where one bullet can mean a lot. Inversely, it is relatively ineffective on weapons with high rates of fire because for these guns one bullet does not mean as much. The effects of this perk are canceled out by the Juggernaut perk. Stopping power will not increase the damage of explosives, such as C4, Satchel Charges, Bouncing Betties or Claymore Mines; as this is accomplished with the Sonic Boom perk.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Stopping power is most often used on an M16 and sniper rifles as it usually allows a one-hit-kill. It is also the most commonly used perk in the game. However, it is not advisable for use with shotguns as they are very powerful without it. Stopping Power is also more ammunition-efficient, as it decreases the number of shots required to kill a target (although this effect is less noticeable). One of the most overlooked guns, the M16 (due to it being the standard issue weapon), can also be one of the most effective. An M16 with Red Dot Sight (Reflex Scope), Bandolier & Stopping Power is a VERY deadly combo, as the M16 has triple shot bursts, a simple fire on a target will instantly kill those, and 1-2 taps will kill anyone on Juggernaut. Testing shows using this combination can massively increase your kill count (but deaths are still based on your situational awareness) meaning for anybody who plays in the 'Assassin' style can use this in CQB to rack up points when out their comfort zone. But BEWARE, having a high kill count, high points, or a good K/D spread (in a particular game) will mark you as one of the primary targets for a helicopter (See the 'Helicopters' section for more detail on being able to combat Helicopters).

Call of Duty: World at War
Stopping Power is used in the same way as in Call of Duty 4. Players will often use them with high rate of fire weapons like the Thompson or the PPSh-41, which is actually inadvisable because Stopping Power is much more effective on weapons with low rates of fire.

Stopping Power is very effective when combined with rifles and bolt action rifles. When used on any bolt action rifle, one shot can drop an opponent at the stomach or above, with or without a Scope.

The few downsides is that this perk is countered well by Juggernaut, and people with damage perks can't have a defensive perk, so they are easy targets if caught off-guard.



Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Stopping Power is to make its return again in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. It will be a tier two perk, as it has been in the previous games, it even has an almost identical icon from the original Modern Warfare. The Pro version of this perk will allow its user to do more bullet damage to killstreak rewards, such as helicopters and AC-130s.

Trivia

 * In real life Stopping Power is a term used to describe a gun's ballistic ability (ie: penetration capabilities)