- For the difficulty level, see Hardened (difficulty).
Hardened is a Tier 2 perk in Call of Duty: Black Ops. It is roughly equivalent to the Deep Impact perk and FMJ Attachment from past Call of Duty games. It also shares an effect with Stopping Power Pro from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and the Focus proficiency from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.
Call of Duty: Black Ops
It is one of the three perks in the game that is purchased by default. Hardened increases the surface penetration for any weapons fired by the user. This means that it reduces the damage decrease when firing through 'soft' surfaces (such as wood), while allowing projectiles to penetrate thicker or tougher surfaces (sheet metal and plywood/concrete).
Its Pro version increases the damage of bullets against killstreak equipment/vehicles by 25% and reduces the effects of flinching when damaged by 80%. In addition, the user will not see as much blood around the edge of the user's field of view when badly wounded.
The Pro version is extremely helpful for staying on target when under fire from enemies. Flinch can very easily stray a user's aim off target momentarily, and the effect magnifies at range, where more accuracy is needed. As such, Hardened Pro is extremely helpful for long range weaponry, such as Sniper Rifles, Light Machine Guns, and Assault Rifles, where said weapons can make great use of both effects Hardened Pro brings to the table. Hardened Pro is not as useful on close range weaponry like Submachine Guns and Shotguns, as not only are these weapons not built for shooting through walls, but they are most effective at ranges where flinch is much less of an issue. Explosive weaponry cannot penetrate surfaces whatsoever, so Hardened Pro isn't a good fit for Launchers.
Pro Challenges
- Penetration Kills - Get 10 kills using Hardened and shooting through walls.
- Bullets in Aircraft - Shoot 200 bullets into enemy aircraft.
- Equipment Shot - Destroy one piece of enemy equipment through a wall.
Trivia
- In the French version, the perk shares its name ("Impact Lourd") with that of the previous Deep Impact perk.
- For the first and third Pro challenges, shooting through any solid object will count as penetration, even if it's not technically a "wall."
- In the multiplayer overview trailer of Call of Duty: Black Ops, the perk is called "Deep Impact", the name of the similar perk in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: World at War.
- As with Deep Impact and Double Tap in Call of Duty: World at War, the perk icon shows the entire cartridge in flight, rather than just the bullet.
- Shooting through unbroken glass counts for the penetration kills challenge.
- The regular and pro version of the perks icon have the bullet crashing through the outer line of the icon itself.
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