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Apex Legends Weapons Guide: Stats, Tiers & Tips

Oct 18, 2025 • by

Table of contents

Overview

Weapons are the primary way to deal damage in Apex Legends. Their performance can be enhanced with attachments that stabilize aim, expand magazines, improve optics, and more. In Battle Royale, Legends drop into the arena unarmed and must scavenge weapons from ground loot, supply bins, and other sources. In team modes like Control and Team Deathmatch, players select from predefined loadouts built for close, mid, or long-range encounters.

R-301 Carbine
The versatile R-301 Carbine is a staple assault rifle across skill levels.
Tip: Don’t sleep on attachments. A stabilizer or stock can dramatically tighten recoil and swap speeds, while the right optic can turn a decent gun into a laser at its ideal range.

Types

All weapons fall into seven categories. Within a category, guns share handling traits such as ADS (aim-down-sights) movement speed, reload timings, and compatible attachments.

  • Assault Rifles (ARs): Flexible mid-range anchors that can also hold their own up close with the right attachments.
  • Submachine Guns (SMGs): High DPS, fast-handling close-range shredders designed for aggressive plays and quick repositioning.
  • Light Machine Guns (LMGs): Large magazines and sustained fire for pressure at mid-range, with heavier handling costs.
  • Marksman Weapons: Efficient mid-to-long-range picks sitting between ARs and snipers for damage, fire rate, and reach.
  • Sniper Rifles: Long-range precision and high damage per shot; slower to cycle and weaker up close. Some shots can pierce multiple targets if they line up.
  • Shotguns: Close-quarters specialists with huge burst damage and minimal attachment needs—strong straight off the ground.
  • Pistols: Lightweight sidearms with best-in-class handling and movement, ideal as reliable backups.

List of weapons

AR

  • HAVOC Rifle
  • VK-47 Flatline
  • Hemlok Burst AR
  • R-301 Carbine
  • Nemesis Burst AR

SMGs

  • Alternator SMG
  • Prowler Burst PDW
  • R-99 SMG
  • Volt SMG
  • C.A.R. SMG

LMGs

  • Devotion LMG
  • L-STAR EMG
  • M600 Spitfire
  • Rampage LMG

Marksman

  • G7 Scout
  • Triple Take
  • 30-30 Repeater
  • Bocek Compound Bow

Snipers

  • Charge Rifle
  • Longbow DMR
  • Kraber .50-Cal Sniper
  • Sentinel

Shotguns

  • EVA-8 Auto
  • Mastiff Shotgun
  • Mozambique Shotgun
  • Peacekeeper

Pistols

  • RE-45 Auto
  • P2020
  • Wingman

Other weapons

Supply Drop Weapons

Mythic-tier weapons found only in neutral Care Packages. They come with limited ammo that cannot be replenished and include a fixed or replaceable optic (the Kraber’s 6x–10x is unique and non-removable).

Fully Kitted Weapons

These spawn pre-equipped with a full set of attachments, scaled by rarity from Common to Legendary. They’re excellent pickups for instantly viable loadouts without the attachment hunt.

Ordnance

Thrown explosives occupy inventory slots and are treated as consumables.

  • Arc Star
  • Frag Grenade
  • Thermite Grenade
Arc Star
Arc Star sticks to surfaces and enemies before it detonates.
Frag Grenade
Frag Grenade deals area damage with a timed fuse.
Thermite Grenade
Thermite creates a damaging line of fire, great for zoning.

Rampart’s Custom Modded Paintball Weapons

These are Fully Kitted weapons modified with Splatter Rounds. They reload faster and fire visually distinct paint rounds. Now vended via Rampart’s machines (one per player), they come in Rare, Epic, and Legendary variants.

Melee Weapon Skins

Legends normally punch or kick, but unlocking a Legend’s Heirloom Set lets you equip that Legend’s personalized melee weapon skin. These are cosmetic-only and do not change gameplay.

Gamemode-exclusive weapons

Certain limited-time or playlist-specific weapons appear only in their respective modes, such as the Throwing Knife and the Heart Stealer.

April Fools' weapons

Each year, playful weapon variants occasionally replace their standard counterparts—some are wildly overpowered or have quirky effects (one variant can even summon tiny “helpers”). Examples include several Mozambique-themed variants, Ol' Nessie, and special P2020 versions.

Ability weapons

Some abilities deploy actual weapons.

  • Rampart – Sheila (Mobile Minigun)
  • Vantage – A-13 Sentry (Sniper’s Mark)
Sheila Minigun
Sheila transforms a hold into a fortress when positioned well.

Statistics

Weapon stats define how a gun feels and performs. Many can be modified via attachments.

  • Ammo type & consumption: Determines ammo pool and how many rounds are spent per shot or burst.
  • Firing modes: Single, auto, or burst behavior. Some weapons can toggle modes.
  • Fire rate: Shots per second. Bolts and certain hop-ups can affect this.
  • Magazine size: Increased by extended mags (where applicable).
  • Head/leg multipliers: Headshots deal extra damage; legshots may suffer a penalty.
  • Reload timings: Tactical (with rounds left) vs. empty—stocks can help.
  • Swap/holster/raise times: How fast you equip, stow, and return to a weapon.
  • ADS timings and drift: Time to aim in/out and steady-scope behavior; optics and stocks can assist.
  • Recoil and spread: Affected by barrels and laser sights; varies by stance and movement.
  • Projectile properties: Speed, gravity, and passthrough behavior (on certain snipers).
Tip: Know your category ADS speed. Pistols keep full movement while ADS, whereas LMGs and snipers slow you more—plan your peeks accordingly.

Comparison

General

When comparing weapons, consider body damage, fire rate (RPM), DPS, magazine sizes (with and without attachments), reload times, and projectile speed (for projectile-based weapons). Shotguns are often calculated assuming a shotgun bolt. Some weapons (like the Devotion or Nemesis) ramp up to a higher fire rate during sustained fire.

TTK

Time-to-kill (TTK) assumes consistent body shots within effective range and no ability or perk modifiers. In practice, headshots, range falloff, armor levels, and movement can significantly shift outcomes—so treat TTK charts as guides, not absolutes.

Trivia

  • Most Apex Legends weapons originated in the Titanfall universe. Notable Apex-originals include the 30-30 Repeater, Bocek Compound Bow, HAVOC Rifle, Nemesis, Peacekeeper, Prowler, Rampage, and Sentinel.
  • Marksman weapons became their own category starting in Season 9; prior to that, the G7 and Triple Take were considered snipers.
  • The Mozambique is functionally both a shotgun and a pistol. It carries pistol-like ADS mobility but also interacts with shotgun-specific passives and challenges.
  • A Revved Up Rampage can destroy doors. The L-STAR originally aimed to break doors rather than merely opening them.
  • Several Legends have unique inspect or pickup animations tied to specific weapons (for example, Bangalore with the G7 Scout, Rampart with LMGs and Sheila, and Vantage with the Sentinel).

See also

  • Ammo
  • Attachments
  • Hop-Ups

Notes

  • The 30-30 Repeater and Mastiff use segmented reloads—rounds are inserted one at a time, so total reload time varies with how many you load.
  • The Bocek Bow does not reload in the traditional sense; arrows are consumed directly from your inventory.
  • Some TTK and damage values commonly referenced by players are based on testing or footage and may diverge slightly from internal numbers.
  • Nemesis TTK assumptions usually refer to the weapon at full charge.