Apex Legends™ guns and weapons guide

Updated 3 weeks ago1 min read

Yleiskatsaus

Find out about guns and weapons in Apex Legends, plus tips on where to start if you’re new to the Ring.

Table of Contents

Apex Legends gun types

Guns are the main type of weapon in Apex Legends. Here’s a quick guide on what to use different guns for.

Your best all-rounder weapon. They’re suitable for close and mid-range combat.
  • HAVOC rifle 
  • VK-47 Flatline 
  • Hemlock Burst AR
  • R-301 Carbine 
  • Nemesis Burst AR
The Apex Legends™ HAVOC assault rifle. The screen shows the player's weapon level, kills, headshots, and XP progress.

Best for quick combat. Their magazines carry higher amounts of ammo, so you can cause a lot of damage quickly.
  • Alternator SMG 
  • Prowler Burst PDW 
  • R-99 SMG 
  • Volt SMG
  • C.A.R. SMG
The Apex Legends™ R-99 submachine gun. The screen shows the player's weapon level, kills, headshots, and XP progress.

LMGs cause more damage than SMGs per shot, but are slower to use.
  • Devotion LMG 
  • L-STAR EMG
  • M600 Spitfire 
  • Rampage LMG
The Apex Legends™ Rampage light machine gun. The screen shows the player's weapon level, kills, headshots, and XP progress.

Marksman weapons are between ARs and sniper rifles. They can deal high damage, but are faster to use than snipers.
  • G7 Scout
  • Triple Take 
  • 30-30 Repeater 
  • Bocek 2.0
The Apex Legends™ 30-30 marksman gun. The screen shows the player's weapon level, kills, headshots, and XP progress.

Best for long-range combat. Use them to accurately fire at enemies when you’re far away.
  • Charge Rifle 
  • Longbow DMR 
  • Kraber .50-Cal Sniper 
  • Sentinel 
The Apex Legends™ Charge Rifle sniper rifle. The screen shows the player's weapon level, kills, headshots, and XP progress.

Highly powerful guns made for close-range combat.
  • EVA-8 Auto 
  • Mastiff 
  • Mozambique Shotgun
  • Peacekeeper 
The Apex Legends™ Peacekeeper shotgun. The screen shows the player's weapon level, kills, headshots, and XP progress.

Light, fast guns that don’t cause a lot of damage.
  • RE-45 Auto 
  • P2020 
  • Wingman 
The Apex Legends™ Wingman pistol. The screen shows the player's weapon level, kills, headshots, and XP progress.

Two matching guns that take up one weapon slot. Picking up an eligible pistol activates akimbo. 
  • P2020
  • Mozambique Shotgun 
The Apex Legends™ Mozambique pistol. The screen shows the player's weapon level, kills, headshots, and XP progress.

What are Care Package weapons? 

Care Package weapons (also known as supply drop weapons) are Mythic-tier weapons that can only be found in Care Packages.They come with a limited amount of ammo that can’t be replenished and are often equipped with their best attachments. Attachments can’t be removed.

What’s the best gun in Apex Legends?

Different types of guns have different strengths and weaknesses, like being faster to load, causing more damage, or being easier to control.Weapons also perform differently at different ranges. For example, you’ll want a sniper for long-range combat.Try to play with lots of weapons to find what you’re comfortable with and which guns work best in different scenarios. Remember, you might not always find the weapon you want. New to Apex Legends? Check out our tips for beginners.

What are the best weapons for beginners?

If you’re new to Apex Legends, try getting used to assault rifles and submachine guns first. 
  • Assault rifles are more well-rounded than other weapon types and can be used in different types of combat. 
    • Try the R-301 Carbine. This assault rifle uses Light Rounds, meaning it has a higher fire rate and a faster reload speed. 
  • Submachine guns fire fast and wide, meaning your aim doesn’t have to be as accurate. 
    • Try the Volt SMG. This weapon has a fast reload speed and uses Energy Rounds, which have a lower projectile drop (how much your bullet drops after you fire your weapon).

Weapon mastery 

Want to improve your weapon skills? You can see your weapon level for individual guns in the Legend Locker section under the Weapon tab. Here you’ll find stats on how you’ve used the weapon so far. Once you’ve reached level 20 on a weapon, you’ll unlock trials, which are objectives to complete to improve your weapon level.Complete all trials and reach weapon level 100 to become a weapon master and earn a special reward.

How to customize your weapons

You can add charms and skins to your weapons. You won’t start a match with your weapon, but this will customize how they appear in-game after you find and equip them.
  1. 1
    Go to the Loadout tab.
  2. 2
    Select the weapon type you want to customize. There will be a red dot indicating any new customizations you’ve unlocked.
  3. 3
    Select Charms to switch to looking at charms, then select Skins to switch back. 
  4. 4
    Scroll down and select the customization to try it on.
  5. 5
    Select Equip (or double-click) to customize the weapon, or Unlock to acquire it with Crafting Materials. 

What are hop-ups?

Hop-ups are attachments that significantly improve your weapon. How hop-ups work depend on the game mode you’re playing.
To learn more about what’s different between Core and Freestyle modes, check out our game mode guide.
In Core modes like Ranked and Unranked, hop-ups are automatically attached to weapons, but their effects aren’t active until you unlock them.

Dealing damage with a weapon, upgrading it at arsenals, crafting at Replicators, and dealing general damage will help you gain points that unlock hop-ups.

Once you’ve gained enough points, the hop-up will automatically unlock. Once a hop-up is unlocked, it’ll stay unlocked for anyone who picks up that weapon. 

Hop-ups can’t be transferred between weapons.

Ammo types

There are different types of ammo in Apex Legends with different qualities. Each weapon uses a specific type of ammo, and you need to have that ammo available to use your weapon. 
Light ammo Higher fire rate, but less damaging.
Heavy ammo Lower fire rate, but more damaging.
Energy ammo Bullets are faster and drop less after fire.
Shotgun shells Ammo used by shotguns.
Sniper ammo Ammo used by sniper rifles.
Mythic ammo Ammo used by Care Package weapons. This ammo only comes with the weapon and can’t be replenished or dropped.
ArrowsArrows can be picked up from the floor and used with specific bow weapons.

Melee weapons

Melee weapons in Apex Legends are cosmetic. No matter what melee weapon you’re using, your Legend will still punch or kick their enemy. 
  • Heirlooms change the skin of your melee weapon. 
  • Artifacts are a type of customizable melee weapon. 
You need Heirloom Shards to earn Heirlooms and Exotic Shards to customize your Artifact. Learn more about Apex Legends currencies.

Ordnance

Ordnance is a type of throwable weapon, like throwing stars and grenades. They take up a slot in your inventory. Make sure to keep some ordnance handy to get enemies out from cover, deal damage from afar, or buy yourself time if you need to retreat. 
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