Apex Legends weapons tier list and the best weapons for Season 19

Want the best weapons in Apex Legends? Respawn Entertainment Studios’ battle royale has a large arsenal of weaponry available to players. From sniper rifles to SMGs, there’s no shortage of ways to dispatch enemy teammates in this game. But not all weapons are made equal.

With an ever-changing meta, new seasons, Legend reworks like Revenant Reborn and a plethora of special events like the now concluded Death Dynasty event, or the just starting Halloween Doppelganger event, it can be pretty hard to keep track of the best options available. Here then, we’re going to go over the best weapons in Apex Legends at the moment, while also ranking the full arsenal in a tier list.

Apex Legends weapons tier list

Here’s a full breakdown of the best weapons in Apex Legends, ranked from S tier to D tier. Keep in mind that everything following is still our opinion. If you find that a certain weapon works well for you, don’t be afraid to use it!

Tier	Weapon Name	Weapon Class	Pros	Cons
S	R99	SMG	Fast fire rate, simple recoil, good handling speeds, excellent accuracy	Poor range
S	R-301 Carbine	Assault Rifle	High damage, good range, low recoil, fast fire rate, excellent accuracy	Poor ironsights
S	Volt	SMG	High damage, strong accuracy, low recoil, good ammo efficiency	Best suited for mid-range
S	Longbow	Sniper	Great accuracy, fast fire rate, good handling, good range	Low damage
S	Wingman	Pistol	High damage, high accuracy, high range	Slow fire rate
S	Nemesis	Assault Rifle	High accuracy, good range, good recoil, decent handling	High damage only on full or majority burst hit
A	Kraber 50.cal	Sniper	Exceptional damage, long range, great accuracy	Poor handling, slow fire rate
A	Charge Rifle	Sniper	High damage, high accuracy, high range	Long windup time, meagre handling
A	G7 Scout	Marksman Rifle	High accuracy, good handling, good range, good fire rate	Low damage, slow fire rate
A	Peacekeeper	Shotgun	High damage, great stopping power	Slow handling, slow fire rate
A	Mozambique	Shotgun	Great handling, high fire rate, good target acquisition	Poor stopping power, low damage
A	HAVOC	Assault Rifle	Great stopping power, high rate of fire, good ironsights	Slow windup, limited range
A	M600 Spitfire	LMG	Good range, good rate of fire, good damage	Poor iron sights, poor handling
A	C.A.R	SMG	Good damage, excellent rate of fire, good handling	Poor range, significant recoil
B	VK-47 Flatline	Assault Rifle	High damage, decent range	Poor fire rate, mediocre stability and handling
B	Rampage	LMG	Excellent damage, good range	Poor rate of fire, poor stability, poor handling
B	Triple Take	Marksman Rifle	Good damage, triple fire	Poor range for class, high recoil, slow reload
B	Sentinel	Sniper	High damage, excellent range	High recoil, slow rate of fire, small magazine
B	Mastiff	Shotgun	Excellent damage, good spread	Extremely slow rate of fire, poor handling, massive recoil
B	RE-45 Auto	Pistol	Fantastic rate of fire, great handling, good range	Low damage, small magazine
C	Hemlok Burst	Assault Rifle	Good stability, good accuracy	Fairly low damage, slow fire rate, mediocre handling, mediocre range
C	Devotion	LMG	Exceptional rate of fire, devastating spread	High recoil, poor handling, extremely slow spin-up
C	EVA-8 Auto	Shotgun	Great rate of fire, great handling	Poor range, mediocre spread, poor damage, significant recoil build-up
C	30-30 Repeater	Marksman Rifle	Good damage, good rate of fire	Poor iron sights, limited without upgrades, mediocre handling, significant recoil build-up
C	Alternator	SMG	Good rate of fire, decent damage	Slow handling, poor range, high damage falloff, small magazine
D	Prowler Burst PDW	SMG	Good accuracy, decent damage	Slow rate of fire, poor range, limited without upgrades, slow reload
D	Boeck Compound Bow	Marksman Rifle	Great precision, good damage	Very slow rate of fire, slow reload, slow target acquisition, limited range
D	L-STAR	LMG	Great fire rate, good sustained damage	Overheats easily, poor range, very poor stability, slow cooldown
D	P2020	Pistol	Good accuracy, good range	Poor damage, mediocre rate of fire, limited without upgrades, mediocre handling

A couple more things to keep in mind about our tier list here. First of all, the pros and cons for each weapon are relative to other weapons within that weapon class, rather than overall. Yes, a sniper rifle has a terrible rate of fire compared to an SMG, but that’s not relevant in the same way that the Longbow’s rate of fire relative to the Sentinel’s is.

Second, it’s worth reiterating that a gun being low on this list doesn’t mean you should necessarily avoid it. These are our picks for the best weapons in Apex Legends, but that hardly makes them law. While the EVA-8 shotgun might only be C-tier, in the hands of an experienced player, consecutive hits and fast movement can easily overpower someone wielding a Peacekeeper. You may yet find that different guns work for you, so use this as a guide, but do also experiment when you want to.

Next, let’s go over the best guns of every category, and explain what makes them the top of their classes.

Best guns in Apex Legends

Here, we’re going to give you a breakdown of the best guns in Apex Legends by weapon class. These are the weapons that, for new or even experienced players, carry the highest potential, best utility, or greatest versatility. Maybe even all three.

Best Apex SMG – R99

The R-99 is our pick for the best SMG, but it’s a pretty close category. SMG’s combine rate of fire with rapid handling, and in a game where speed remains the one universal meta, that means a lot.

The R-99 wins the top spot for a few reasons. First, its rate of fire is exceptional, even among SMGs. Next, its handling is top-tier, allowing players to respond rapidly in a crisis or ambush. What gives it the true edge though is its shocking accuracy and easy-to-manage recoil. Because the weapon is lightweight in nature, it doesn’t normally pack as much punch as, say, the Volt. But its astonishingly easy to hit and maintain head shots with the R-99, allowing it to overwhelm enemy shields and health bars in mere moments. All this gave it a deserving spot among our S tier weapons.

Best Apex Sniper Rifle – Longbow

Now let’s go to the opposite end of the weapon aisle. Snipers are slow, methodical pieces of gear, with exceptional range and little damage falloff. One could argue on a technicality that Vanguard’s ultimate sniper is better, but we’re looking at guns that everyone can have access to for this list – otherwise Rampage’s minigun Sheila would dominate this list.

The Longbow just wins out here. While the reworked Charge Rifle is now a force to be reckoned with, it still can’t quite compete with the rate of fire the Longbow offers. Multiple headshots with this thing can knock opponents easily, and it boasts just enough range and just enough rate of fire to make that happen before most enemies will be able to get to safety. Even if they do, a simple bodyshot does sufficient enough damage to weaken an opponent, setting them up for an easy kill if your team favours aggressive strategies. This makes it one of the deadliest and best weapons in Apex Legends.

Best Apex shotgun – Peacekeeper

Shotguns are a special breed of weapon in Apex. With opponents moving and acting so fast, a gun with true stopping power can completely upend the flow of combat in the right hands. If you’re the right hands, then the Peacekeeper is the weapon for you.

This shotgun isn’t fast, and that’s certainly a mark against it. But what it lacks in speed, it makes up for in firepower. Direct hits – and especially headshots – can deal devastating damage to an opponent. Even those with powerful shields won’t usually be able to take more than two perfect hits before going down. The Peacekeeper also boasts a reasonably wide spread, so even if you don’t score a direct hit, chances are you’ll still harm your enemy.

Best Assault Rifle – R-301 Carbine

Assault Rifles are the backbone of Apex Legends’ arsenal. They provide superior range and firepower over SMGs, making them well-suited for mid-range encounters. There’s little contest for this category though, as the R-301 dominates the competition.

It boasts high damage, excellent rate of fire, and surprisingly solid range for its weapon class. Like the R-99, it’s set apart by extremely low recoil and great stability, which makes precise shooting significantly easier, and overcomes any and all DPS shortcomings. On top of all that, the R-301 has pretty solid handling. While it does struggle at seriously long ranges, it actually holds up quite well in close range engagements. All this makes the Carbine one of the most versatile weapons in the game. This is a statistic that cannot be overstated in importance as the current meta begins to shift back towards a middle ground between attack and defence.

Best Apex Marksman Rifle – G-7 Scout

Marksman Rifles are a midpoint between your regular ARs and your Sniper Rifles. Their improved versatility comes at the cost of damage, but that often means they can excel in static mid-range combat or counter-assault scenarios. The G-7 arguably does this the best.

It’s a decently well-rounded gun, with strong damage, little falloff, and great accuracy. Though it struggles severely in close combat, it shines when utilised at any distance beyond 12 metres or so. It also benefits immensely from upgrades, with a purple attachment G7 able to fire two-pulse rounds as well. Though it requires skill, the G7 is even versatile enough to perform in Sniper Rifle ranges, to a certain capacity.

Best Apex LMG – M600 Spitfire

Generally speaking, LMGs aren’t often the best option in the current meta when looking for the best weapons in Apex Legends. With half the roster consisting of powerful defensive Legends, and the other half of fast, aggressive ones, the sluggish nature of LMGs combined with their ineffective potential to bring opponents down in an instant leaves them better suited to a support role, laying down suppressive fire to slow enemy advances or cover points of access.

To this end at least, the M600 Spitfire is well-suited. It’s got a pretty good range for an LMG, and though its recoil is significant, it remains manageable. Put together with a large magazine capacity, and great damage, and the M600 is a good option. You’ll probably find most kills come in sustained, team-on-team combat, as this is the only theatre of conditions where the real ability of the weapon can shine.

Best Apex pistol – Wingman

Pistols are a harder category to rank than it might initially seem, boasting some of the greatest variety and versatility of any weapon class in Apex Legends. Despite this, we’d put our money on the Wingman for the top of this category.

The wingman isn’t a fast firing pistol, and it’s not good at close range. On the face of it, that might put it at odds with the design philosophy for these guns and it’d be luck to find itself in b-tier. What makes it the best of the best instead is that the Wingman is effectively a miniaturised Sniper Rifle.

It’s got incredible range and accuracy for its size, and packs an enormous punch, dealing damage that far surpasses any other pistol. While this makes it harder to use at close range, pistols are often at a disadvantage here anyway, since SMGs, ARs and Shotguns are easily encountered in the early game. The Wingman however offers a viable mid-range option, that benefits from far greater handling, speed and rate of fire than similar guns.

As of Apex Legends Season 19 however, the Wingman is now so powerful it’s directly shaping the Season 19 meta. That’s because it’s rotated into the Care Package pool, making it a red-grade weapon. It now comes with a Digital Threat holosight, and two new attachments. The Skull Piercer Elite completely ignores damage reduction bonuses provided by helmets. The Boosted Loader attachment boosts reload speed and overflows the magazine if you reload while the current clip is almost empty. These bonuses will allow the Wingman to dominate even more so than usual.

What’s the best gun in Apex?

If, after all this, you’re looking for one single weapon in Apex Legends that reigns above them all, we’ve got your answer. Or as close to a good answer as you can get. With so many weapons and weapon classes, it needs acknowledging that no one gun is truly superior to all the others. Every class and weapon will find situations and circumstances where it’s utility shines.

If we had to pick one favourite, it’d probably be the R-301 Carbine. ARs boast a great balance between damage and rate of fire. The R-301 has both, but also carries long range, low recoil, and handling bonuses that make it one of the most versatile and deadly weapons in Apex.

That covers everything we’ve got for the best weapons in Apex Legends. Remember though that the gun alone doesn’t determine your success. If you want a breakdown of the best Legends in Apex to determine which characters are right for you, or a closer look at the newest character on the scene, Apex Legend Conduit, we’ve got you covered.

What’s the best gun class in Apex Legends?

Assault rifles are arguably the best gun class in Apex Legends, as they strike an excellent middle ground between damage, range, magazine size, recoil, and handling. This makes them highly versatile.

How many guns are there in Apex Legends?

There are a total of 29 guns in Apex Legends, as of Season 18.

What’s the best sniper rifle in Apex Legends?

The best sniper rifle for beginners is the Longbow, due to its high rate of fire and good handling. For more experienced players with good accuracy, the best sniper rifle is the Kraber 50.cal, due to its immensely high damage and impact.