The best weapons in Fortnite can help you get to the final Storm Circle and secure that sweet Victory Royale if you play your cards just right.
As there’s so many weapons and items constantly being added, vaulted, and unvaulted in Fortnite, we’ve made a tier list of the best weapons in the current Chapter 4 Season 3 update to help you secure eliminations, or avoid being downed yourself.
This is a guide for the Battle Royale mode of Fortnite, so the reasoning and stats for each weapon listed won’t apply if you’re playing on Save The World.
Our tier list of the best weapons in Fortnite will primarily focus on the offensive stats and capabilities of the various weapons found on the Battle Royale island.
Please keep in mind that just because we’ve listed a weapon higher than another, it does not mean you should only use those. Some of the better loot is harder to find, and how much you like using a weapon, or how good you are with one, should also factor in to what loadout you choose to go with.
We also won’t move a weapon up in our tier list if a sudden exploit becomes available, as these weapons are usually vaulted by Epic as soon as it is aware of the bug, then brought back when the item is balanced properly.
Inventory space is limited – so choose wisely when coming across the best weapons in Fortnite!
There are 28 weapons in the current Chapter 4 Season 3 version of Fortnite. While the Chug Cannon can technically be classified as a weapon, it doesn’t deal damage, so we’ve not included it on our weapon ranking.
Compared to the previous season, Season 3 has a much more focused loot pool, so what you pick might come down to personal preference, rather than damage numbers. Make sure to read the reasoning for each weapon below to see what we think of it!
Weapon
Tier
Rarities
Reasoning
Picture
Heisted Run N’ Gun SMG
SS-tier
Exotic
Deals large damage at close range, but the Heisted Run N’ Gun SMG is actually so good because of the Slap effect you get while holding it, and that it reloads while you’re sprinting. It’s one of the easiest deadly weapons for players to use.
Enhanced Drum Shotgun
SS-tier
Mythic
The Drum Shotgun is already an absolute beast, but the Enhanced Shotgun really ramps things up. The main difference is in the bullet spread, which is severely reduced in the upgraded version. You’ll see this from the much smaller reticle, allowing you to focus in and do quick, relentless headshot damage to an enemy. In terms of DPS, the Enhanced Drum Shotgun is in a class of its own. As long as you hit your shots, that is.
Relik’s MK-Alpha Assault Rifle
SS-tier
Mythic
This is best version of the MK-Alpha Assault Rifle in Fortnite. See the entry below for more details on why this weapon is so good.
MK-Alpha Assault Rifle
S-tier
CommonUncommonRareEpicLegendary
The MK-Alpha Assault Rifle was added shortly after the start of Season 3, having been swapped with the Red-Eye. This gun fires rapidly, and has extremely high stability and low recoil. Because of this, you can tap the fire button to fire semi-automatically with unmatched accuracy. It really is the best long-range gun in the game currently.
Mammoth Pistol
S-tier
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The Mammoth Pistol is quickly emerging as one of the best weapons in Fortnite. It does huge damage with headshots, and carries heavy ammo. It has absolutely no bullet drop either, meaning you can hit targets as long as you can see them. Many are running the Mammoth Pistol with the augment that lets pistols reload fast when empty. Given that this weapon only has one round, you’ll be making use of this boost with every reload.
Explosive Repeater Rifle
S-tier
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This powerful sniper rifle is similar to the Excalibur Rifle, as its bullets explode on impact. This means you don’t even need to hit an opponent directly to damage them, so you can also use it to lure them out of hiding and to destroy vehicles and structures as well. Add the fact that it’s incredibly easy to use, the Explosive Repeater Rifle is one of the best ordinary weapons in the game.
Havoc Pump Shotgun
S-tier
CommonUncommonRareEpicLegendary
This a very slow firing shotgun that should only be used at close range, but boy does it pack a powerful punch. Similar to the Thunder Shotgun, the damage numbers on the Havoc Pump are fantastic, but you really need to make sure you’re being accurate, due to it’s slow pull out and rate of fire.
Heisted Accelerant Shotgun
S-tier
Exotic
This is the Exotic version of the Maven Auto Shotgun, making it good at medium range as well as short range. It also has great recovery time between shots, making it more forgiving for players. However, this Heisted version gives your the Pepper effect when consistently fired, increasing your fire rate with each shot, turning it into something of a shotgun and SMG hybrid.
Bender’s Shiny Metal Raygun
S-tier
Mythic
Bender’s Shiny Metal Raygun was added as part of the recent Futurama collaboration. It has to be charged up, and then unleashes a laser beam that does swift and steady damage. It has unlimited ammo, and while it can be difficult to control, it’s great a mid-range.
Enhanced Flapjack Rifle
S-tier
Mythic
The Enhanced Flapjack Rifle can only be found in Vaults, meaning you’ll need to eliminate Highcard to get one. Once you have it, you’ll see just how useful it can be, especially in Build Mode. It absolutely shreds structures, and can be fired for an absurd amount of time before needing to be reloaded.
Tactical Pistol
S-tier
CommonUncommonRareEpicLegendary
With a 2x headshot multiplier, ease of use, decent range, and their abundance on the map, it’s hard to go wrong with the Tactical Pistol. It basically acts like an SMG, but with a lot of the perks that come with a pistol – including the Light Fingers Augment.
Combat SMG
S-tier
RareEpicLegendary
The Combat SMG is a must-use for those looking to put a fast-firing weapon in their second slot. It has a significantly higher DPS than the other SMG, with only a slightly longer reload. This can be shortened by using the Light Fingers Augment. What makes the Combat SMG so good is its stability. It’s recoil is relatively easy to control, meaning it can even be used at mid-range if you find yourself in a pinch.
Highcard’s Havoc Suppressed Assault Rifle
S-tier
Mythic
Highcard’s weapon is a Mythic version of the ordinary Havoc Suppressed Rifle, making it the best version of this excellent medium ranged silenced weapon available. Just like the regular variant, it does sacrifice some damage to add a silencer, meaning there is no red blip on the compass when it’s fired. However, as it’s a Mythic that’s easy to control, you’ll be dealing a lot of damage with it anyway regardless of the loss of damage numbers.
Havoc Suppressed Assault Rifle
A-tier
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This weapon sacrifices some damage to add a silencer, meaning there is no red blip on the compass when it’s fired. This makes it great for medium range combat where you can pick off targets as they try and determine where they’re being fired at. Keep in mind that there are better damage dealing weapons at medium range, but you’ll lose that helpful silencer.
Cybertron Cannon
A-tier
Mythic
The Cybertron Cannon is exceptional for dealing splash damage to groups of enemies, at pretty much any distance. There’s really no drop-off in terms of range, and while the shots do fire slowly, they deal 110 damage to enemies caught in the blast. If you need to flush a team out of cover, there’s really nothing better than the Cybertron Cannon.
Drum Shotgun
A-tier
CommonUncommonRareEpicLegendary
The Drum Shotgun is back, and it’s clear to see why it’s a fan-favourite. This is the fastest firing shotgun in the game, making it absolutely deadly at close-range. It pretty much negates the need to swap to an SMG after the first shot, as you can just hold down the trigger and blast away. The only knock against this weapon is in its damage output, which really drops off at range. This is to be expected for a shotgun, but given the fast firing rate, you can still do damage to fleeing enemies and those at mid-range. The Shotgun Siphon Augment really pairs well with the Drum Shotgun, so be sure to give it a try.
Flapjack Rifle
A-Tier
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This weapon primarily thrives in build mode, given that its massive clip size allows you to rain down extended fire on structures. It’s great for taking down vehicles as well, but can be tricky to control in terms of its recoil. It’s this that make it a great gun in some circumstances but not others. At mid-range, you can really punish enemies, but results start to drop off as targets get further away.
Heisted Breacher Shotgun
A-tier
Exotic
Like its Heavy Shotgun regular version, the Heisted Breacher Shotgun only fires a single bullet. This makes it good at medium range, but can also be effective at long range – which is an unusually good trait to have for a shotgun. However, we don’t recommend using it as your long range weapon unless you want to make some extra room in your inventory.
Submachine Gun
A-tier
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A great standard weapon to have in your arsenal for short-range fights, due to its fast rate of fire. Also good for damaging weak structures. If there weren’t better SMG options available, we’d rate this weapon even higher.
Sharp Tooth Shotgun
A-tier
UncommonRareEpicLegendary
Good damage at medium, but especially, short range. It’s a very powerful shotgun that can even kill with one headshot, but it’s also very slow. This means you need excellent accuracy to turn the Sharp Tooth Shotgun into the best it can be. Hit once then quickly switch to fast firing weapon if you’re no confident in your headshot abilities.
Thermal DMR
B-tier
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The Thermal DMR would have been a lot higher on this list had the MK-Alpha not just been added, but as it stands, the Thermal DMR does still have some upsides. The thermal scope is extremely useful for spotting enemies, especially in the new jungle biome. As a weapon, it’s perfectly alright, but its slow bullet velocity and drop-off can make it difficult to hit enemies at long range. Find one at the highest rarity however, and you’ll have a much better time. Just make sure to lead your shots heavily while tracking moving targets.
Shadow Tracker
B-tier
Exotic
A B-tier weapon for its good damage potential, but we rank it higher more so because of its ability to mark an enemy after landing a hit, which is particularly useful in Duos, Trios, and Squads.
Maven Auto Shotgun
B-tier
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Another shotgun that does good damage at medium range! Similar to the Combat shotgun, but tends to be more forgiving to those with less accuracy, due to its recovery time between shots.
Kinetic Boomerang
C-tier
Epic
The Kinetic Boomerang is back in Fortnite after having been vaulted for a couple of weeks. It’s a decent option at the start of the game, given that it has a slight lock-on, and does decent damage. Once you can pick up some better ranged weapons however, you’ll likely swap the boomerang out.
Lever-Action Shotgun
C-tier
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The Lever-Action Shotgun doesn’t really have many uses given the other shotguns that are in the game. It has decent damage at mid-range, but a low fire rate. It’s also not the easiest to control, but given that it’s easily the most common shotgun in the game right, you’ll want to get used to how it fires.
Firefly Jar
C-tier
Rare
If you like drawing your enemies out of structures or causing them to panic, then we recommend using some Firefly Jars! They probably won’t eliminate somebody unless they’re low on health and shields, but they’re great for chucking down and switching to another weapon to finish a fleeing / panicked enemy off.
Wildwasp Jar
C-tier
Rare
The Wildwasp Jar sounds good on paper, as they’re essentially tiny homing projectiles that will chip away at enemies. In practice however, they are much less useful, and currently seem to be pretty ineffective in most situations. For this reason Wildwasp Jars are best used to disorient enemies, and to draw them out of cover. Consider picking up the Wildwasp Weaponry augment to stack them up in your inventory. Sending five or six jars at a team can really send them into a panic.
Shockwave Grenade
C-tier
Epic
Good for knocking an enemy into the storm during the final circle, but its best used to boost yourself across the map quickly.
With a new Fortnite season comes a shakeup in the loot pool – for better and for worse. Some of your favourite weapons might no longer be playable on the current version of the ever-changing island, so we’ve compiled all the weapons below that got vaulted at the start of Chapter 4, Season 3.
The ODM Gear and Spider-Man Web Shooters were also vaulted near the end of Chapter 4 Season 2.
Now that you know all about the weapons in Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 3, you should check out our page on finding yourself a Cybertron Cannon. Elsewhere there’s deatils on how to unlock Purradise Meowscles, which is the special unlock skin for this season.
