What does ADS mean in Call of Duty?

Call of Duty as a franchise has been around long enough to be considered a household name. Even if you’re not a fan or a gamer in general, people usually know what it is. The games have coined words and phrases across the gaming world which people now use all the time. If you’re just getting into CoD, you may not be familiar with one of the most popular acronyms, ADS.

What does ADS mean?

When you hear or see the acronym ‘ADS’ in Call of Duty, it means ‘aim down sights.’ In other words, it refers to the action of aiming your gun by looking down the sights up close. More specifically, pressing the LT, L2, or right-click buttons while using default controls on a PS5, Xbox controller, or mouse, respectively. The term is even used as a word, pronounced as you’d say ‘ads’, instead of saying each letter individually.

Your ADS speed is essential when playing Call of Duty. Obviously, you’re much more accurate while ADSing in multiplayer or Warzone game modes. As a result, you’ll want to be able to use the function in a fight very quickly, at least as fast as your opposition. That’s where a few of the stats and buffs from attachments come in, ensuring your weapon is ready for battle.

Many optics, like large sniper scopes, significantly decrease ADS speed. As a result, it will feel like it takes a few too many seconds to look through your scope if the loadout isn’t optimized.

How to increase ADS speed in Call of Duty

Firstly, ADS speed is a regular stat on some attachments in Modern Warfare 3. It often comes on attachments found in the laser, rear grip, and stock categories. These provide a flat speed boost to how quickly your gun’s optic will raise to your eye.

Alternatively, stats like ‘sprint to fire speed’ help as well. This one does exactly what it says, it increases the speed at which your character can fire their weapon out of a full sprint. The time it takes to go from sprinting, to ADSing, to shooting can easily mean life or death.

Lastly, buffing hipfire accuracy is a way to eliminate ADS speed requirements altogether. Hipfiring is when you shoot your weapon without pressing the ADS button. Usually, it’s quite inaccurate and only useful up close. However, some SMGs and shotguns can be built with enough hipfire bonuses to be used without ever ADSing, which offers a leg up on most opponents.