Apex Legends is full of futuristic weapons. But which weapon is the best in each category and what does the tier list look like? And what do the upgrades do? Here you can find everything about the top weapons in Apex Legends.
Apex Legends is a new battle royale game with a variety of weapons. However, especially at the start of the game, many players are overwhelmed by the large selection. Since you can only carry two weapons, it is important to know which weapon to pick up and which one to leave behind.
This is how you ping weapons: Before we begin, here’s an important tip. You can use the ping function not only to indicate where you are going or where enemies are located. You can also ping weapons and let everyone on the team know where that weapon is located. Aim at the weapon and press the ping button.
Press the ping button now and everyone in the squad knows where this weapon is.
By the way, you can also use the ping in the inventory. Open the inventory and use the ping function on the equipped weapon to request ammunition. This also works with the attachments you want.
Pinging works in the inventory as well.
This is the current tier list of weapons
We have summarized the weapons from Apex Legends into a tier list. The higher a weapon is in the list, the better it is. S-tier stands for the best guns in the game. Up to tier C, everything is still okay; tier D falls a bit short of expectations.
In the following paragraphs, we will introduce all weapons by category and explain what the different attachments do for the weapons.
Upgrade: 11.02.2019: Added tier list.
The Assault Rifles
What are assault rifles? Assault rifles are reliable weapons that are usually effective at medium range and promise a good rate of fire and decent damage. The following weapons are available.
VK-47 Flatline
What can the Flatline? This fully automatic assault rifle is very accurate and can take down enemies particularly well at close to medium range. The large magazine is an advantage here and can be further upgraded. This way, you can also defeat enemies with full shields.
Damage: 16 (body)/32 (head)
Magazine: 20 (heavy)
Upgrades: Scope, magazine, stock
Hemlok Burst AR
What can the Hemlok? Here you get a burst assault rifle that fires 3-round bursts. Since it has low recoil, it is well suited for precise bursts of fire. If you hit well, you can effectively decimate enemies from a distance.
Damage: 18 (body)/34 (head) or 54 and 74 in burst mode
Magazine: 18 (heavy)
Upgrades: Scope, magazine, stock, barrel
R-301 Carbine
What can the R-301? This weapon is a good all-rounder. If you don’t find anything better, you can confidently take the R-301 with you. The weapon is mainly known for its good accuracy, but does not deal too much damage.
Damage: 14 (body)/28 (head)
Magazine: 18 (light)
Upgrades: Scope, magazine, stock, barrel
The Submachine Guns (SMGs)
What are submachine guns? These weapons fire quickly and are extremely deadly at close range. However, they consume a lot of ammunition and are often inaccurate at longer distances. The following weapons are available to you.
Prowler Burst PDW
What can the Prowler? This weapon is a kind of mini assault rifle that fires 5-round bursts. If you hit well, you can take down enemies very quickly. The weapon performs optimally at close to medium distances. It is the only SMG that uses heavy ammunition.
Damage: 14 (body)/21 (head) or 70 and 105 in burst mode
Magazine: 18 (heavy)
Upgrades: Scope, magazine, stock, hop-up (You can switch to automatic fire)
Alternator
What can the Alternator? This weapon behaves more like a fast-firing pistol and does not fire as rapidly as other SMGs. However, it is quite accurate even at medium range.
Damage: 13 (body)/19 (head)
Magazine: 16 (light)
Upgrades: Scope, magazine, stock, barrel
R-99
What can the R-99? This weapon is a true lead sprinkler that fires its 18-round magazine in a flash. So if you want to kill someone with it, get close and make sure you hit well.
Damage: 12 (body)/18 (head)
Magazine: 18 (light)
Upgrades: Scope, magazine, stock, barrel
The Light Machine Guns (LMGs)
What are light machine guns? These weapons are heavy guns that lay down suppressive fire at medium range with large magazines. Their rate of fire is usually good and they inflict significant damage. Currently, there are two LMGs in the game.
Devotion
What can the Devotion? Anyone who knows Titanfall 2 will certainly appreciate this weapon. The Devotion fires extremely fast and deals a lot of damage per bullet. It is also quite accurate. However, the Devotion has a disadvantage: it takes some time to reach its full firing speed. You have to shoot longer until it really revs up.
Damage: 17 (body)/34 (head)
Magazine: 44 (energy)
Upgrades: Scope, magazine, stock, barrel, hop up (shorter time to maximum fire rate)
M600 Spitfire
What can the Spitfire? The Spitfire is a solid and reliable LMG. It deals a lot of damage and is ideally suited to pierce multiple enemies with one magazine. The handling is also very good and you can lay down precise suppressive fire with it. But consider the long reload time of the magazine.
Damage: 20 (body)/40 (head)
Magazine: 35 (light)
Upgrades: Scope, magazine, stock, barrel
The Sniper Rifles
What are sniper rifles? Sniper rifles are extremely precise and deal significant damage at long range. They are ideal for headshots. However, they fire slowly and have limited ammunition in the magazine. Ideally, use them from cover. They are less suitable for quick firefights.
Kraber .50 CAL Sniper
What can the Kraber? This legendary and therefore rare weapon is a true killer! It already has all the necessary addons installed and offers a complete worry-free package. It fires powerful special ammunition that you probably won’t find separately in the game.
After the 8 shots loaded in 2 magazines, it’s over. However, it inflicts insane damage! Even body shots are often fatal. Headshots guarantee a kill. However, the rate of fire is very slow, so aim carefully and make sure every shot counts!
Damage: 125 (body)/250 (head)
Magazine: 4 (special ammunition, limited to 8 shots)
Upgrades: no additional
G7 Scout
What can the G7 Scout? With its mediocre damage values, this rifle is unfortunately not a killer. But it has a crucial advantage: it is semi-automatic and allows many shots in quick succession. This makes it ideal for players who are not master marksmen and occasionally miss. This weapon forgives mistakes!
Damage: 30 (body)/60 (head)
Magazine: 10 (light)
Upgrades: Scope, magazine, stock, barrel, hop-up
Longbow DMR
What can the Longbow? This rifle is a typical sniper rifle. It deals significant headshot damage that can potentially kill an enemy immediately. It also functions semi-automatically. Therefore, you can miss occasionally and make mistakes. However, don’t miss too many, as the Longbow has only a meager 5 shots in the magazine!
What can the Triple Take? This weapon is a kind of shotgun at a distance, as it fires three shots at once. However, they are very close together and deal a lot of damage if they all hit. Therefore, you should aim well and enjoy some serious headshot carnage.
What are shotguns? Shotguns fire a load of small pellets that spread further at long distances and therefore deal less damage. However, if all pellets hit, which usually happens at close range, they can inflict a lot of damage. Therefore, shotguns are ideal for brutal close-quarters combat.
Mastiff
What can the Mastiff? This monster is a legendary weapon and thus rare. If you have found it, even entire enemy squads shouldn’t be a problem. Because the Mastiff kills most enemies with body shots and headshots are usually fatal. The shotgun pellets fly in a horizontal line, not in a circle like other shotguns.
Currently, the Mastiff leads the top damage ranking. Since it is a legendary weapon, it is already fully equipped, so you cannot add any further upgrades.
Damage: 144 (body)/288 (head)
Magazine: 4 (shotgun)
Upgrades: no additional
EVA-8 Auto
What can the EVA-8? Here you get an excellent all-round shotgun. It inflicts less damage than other shotguns, but it fires quickly and has a large magazine. This allows you to clear rooms of enemies effectively.
Damage: 63 (body)/90 (head)
Magazine: 8 (shotgun)
Upgrades: Scope, magazine
Peacekeeper
What can the Peacekeeper? The Peacekeeper is a classic shotgun that somewhat resembles a Winchester rifle. You have to pump it after every shot, which slightly limits the rate of fire. But the shotgun hits really hard, especially headshots are easy to get and very deadly due to the large pellet load. With the hop-up attachment, it is surprisingly accurate even at a distance.
Damage: 110 (body)/165 (head)
Magazine: 6 (shotgun)
Upgrades: Scope, magazine, hop-up (less spread)
Mozambique Shotgun
What can the Mozambique? This curious weapon is a pistol that fires shotgun shells. However, you have to get quite close, as the weapon doesn’t deal much damage and has a small magazine with 3 shots. If you can hit reasonably well, you can kill enemies at close range with it.
Damage: 45 (body)/66 (head)
Magazine: 3 (shotgun)
Upgrades: Scope, magazine
The Pistols
What are pistols? Pistols are light weapons that serve primarily as a backup when you don’t find anything better. However, especially at the beginning of the game, pistols can often decide a fight.
Wingman
What can the Wingman? This weapon is the only pistol that is still worthwhile later in the game. It deals a lot of damage and can also be deadly at a distance with a bit of practice. This revolver also looks cool and is ideal for Western fans!
What can the P2020? This weapon is simply a pistol, nothing more. It is average in every way and does exactly what it is supposed to do: perforate enemies. If you don’t have anything better, grab it and start shooting.
Damage: 12 (body)/18 (head)
Magazine: 10 (light)
Upgrades: Scope, magazine
RE-45
What can the RE-45? This weapon is weak, but it fires automatically. This gives you a solid advantage in the chaotic close combat at the start of the game!
Damage: 11 (body)/16 (head)
Magazine: 15 (light)
Upgrades: Scope, magazine, barrel
These are the attachments
You can find upgrades for your weapons in the game, called attachments. They are automatically installed when you pick them up and have an appropriate weapon active. The upgrades come in rarities of “Common”, “Rare”, and “Epic.” For scopes, there are also legendary versions that outline enemies in red. The different upgrades are:
Scope: There are various versions, from holo sights for short distances to the powerful 10x zoom for snipers. Legendary versions highlight enemies in red.
Magazine: Increases ammunition in the magazine. Each quality level provides more extra ammunition, and rare and epic improve reload speed.
Barrel: Each level improves recoil and makes already very precise weapons even more accurate.
Stock: Each level improves aim deviation and handling. Here, you can further enhance the already well-balanced weapons.
Hop Up: This upgrade is not available for all weapons and has a special effect. We have noted that with the respective weapon.
Jürgen’s current favorites (as of 08.02.2019)
I currently use the Flatline often, as I like to control the rate of fire myself and don’t think much of burst weapons like the Hemlok. With a solid scope, it also performs well at distance when using short bursts.
However, an extended magazine is a must for the Flatline, as it otherwise needs to be reloaded too often.
As a secondary weapon, I also prefer a weapon with heavy ammunition, otherwise, looting at the end tends to turn into micromanagement, and the menu is somewhat annoyingly fiddly in my opinion.
That’s why I often have a sniper weapon like the Longbow. Alternatively, I also like to use the EVA-8, even though I have to stock up on shotgun shells then. At close range, the shotgun is simply a great weapon.
The best weapons are useless without a shooter. Here you can find the various characters in Apex Legends:
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