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We’ve picked the best weapons based on what we believe are truly effective, not strictly by category, but based on overall usefulness. Out of the hundreds of weapons available, only a few stand out as must-haves for any new agent.
This list is not definitive and remains subjective, but based on our experience and testing, we’ve selected the weapons that most players will likely agree are the most powerful or useful.
Recommended Weapons List
Best Overall Assault Rifle
St. Elmo's Engine (Exotic)
This weapon is easy to handle, very accurate, and offers excellent stability at both short and long distances. It has a 70-round magazine and is part of the general loot pool, meaning every new player can obtain it by targeting assault rifles in Countdown mode. It’s one weapon every new player should have. The talent isn’t the best, but it is still useful.
Good Assault Rifle
Lexington (Named)
This weapon is basically the same as St. Elmo’s Engine, but it has higher base damage and a smaller magazine size. The main advantage is that you can swap the talent because it isn’t an exotic. With a good talent, you can get a similar experience while dealing higher damage.
Useful Pistol
Quick Step (Named)
This weapon is useful because of its talent rather than its damage. The pistol has a talent that increases your movement speed by 20%, which helps in every part of the game where you need to move from point A to point B. It’s great for open-world activities and speed-running, and it’s very useful for both new players and veterans.
Best Marksmen Rifle
Model 700 (High-End)
This is the best marksman rifle if you are using the Determined talent because it has the highest base damage of all marksman rifles. While exotics have higher base damage, you cannot change their talents. Because of this, it’s the best choice for marksman rifle builds that rely on the Determined talent. If you are not using Determined, then the Shroud exotic rifle is the better option.
Best Light Machine Gun
Stoner LAMG (High-End)
The Stoner LAMG is the best LMG due to its high base damage and large magazine size. It is also very accurate and stable, making it enjoyable to use even while moving and shooting. Although its rate of fire is low, you can use the Measured talent, add 5% rate of fire as the third attribute, and equip the named holster Salvo for an additional 5%. This setup mitigates Measured’s negative effects and turns the Stoner LAMG into one of the best weapons in the game.
Useful Assault Rifle
Capacitor (Exotic)
The Capacitor is designed for hybrid and skill builds. It has an excellent talent and strong stats, granting 7.5% weapon damage per skill tier and up to 60% skill damage at max stacks. If you are using a turret or striker drone, this weapon is a must-have for any skill damage build.
Best Submachine Gun
Ouroboros (Exotic)
Ouroboros is the best SMG despite its low base damage, as its very high rate of fire more than makes up for it. The talent isn’t particularly useful, but the weapon is still recommended and considered the best because of its fire rate. With a Striker build, you can build stacks extremely fast, and it’s especially great for solo play and armor regeneration builds.
Best Shotgun
Lefty (Named)
This shotgun is mainly used as a secondary weapon in Striker builds because it allows you to gain stacks quickly before switching to your primary to deal damage. The Lefty variant of the AC-12 shotgun comes with the Perfect Sledgehammer talent, making it great for dealing with bosses in raids and incursions.