Apex Legends best guns and damage stats list: Our recommendations for the best Apex Legends weapons Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Apex Legends best guns and damage stats list: Our recommendations for the best Apex Legends weapons Which Apex Legends weapons are best, and why? Guide by Aimee Hart Contributor Updated on 15 May 2020 Apex Legends weapon damage stats are one of the most important things to consider as you start to take the game a bit more seriously - or if you just want to lord it over your squadmates with a bit of extra knowledge. On this page you'll find essential weapon stats and our picks for the best Apex Legends guns in each category. Before we get to that, we also run through a quick explanation of all the most exciting stuff like methodology and genuinely good-to-know things before you go diving into the numbers. You'll be an expert at Apex Legends guns before you know it! On this page: Apex Legends weapons and weapon damage explained Best Sniper Rifle in Apex Legends recommendation Kraber 050-Cal Best SMG in Apex Legends recommendation Prowler Best Assault Rifle in Apex Legends recommendation R-301 Best LMG in Apex Legends recommendation L-Star Best Shotgun in Apex Legends recommendation Peacekeeper Best Pistol in Apex Legends recommendation Wingman Latest Update - May 13th: As Apex players will know, fully-kitted golden weapons get rotated each new Season. Season 5 Includes changes to the Longbow DMR, Hemlok, Spitfire, EVA-8, Peacekeeper and RE-45, which have all been changed to a Special aka golden weapon. Apex Legends weapons and weapon damage explained Apex Legends has a huge swath of weapons from you to choose from, and it all depends on your style. Do you prefer to snipe people at a distance, or do you want to be up, close and personal? Regardless, below you'll find a breakdown of weapon by category featuring all the numbers we know so far. Apex Legends updates quite consistently with new nerfs and buffs of weapons, so these may change over time. You can inspect your gun (and maybe twirl it around a bit) by holding Left on the D-pad or N on the keyboard. We have a general idea of fire rate which we take into account in our section on personal picks for the best Apex Legends weapons, but if you want to make a decision for yourself, you can browse through the weapon stats charts with the raw data underneath each recommendation. There are also a few other things to know before diving into the lovely pile of numbers below - here's a quick rundown: Maximum HP for any character is 200 - 100 base health plus 25 health for each level of shield (up to four, for Purple/Gold shields). Helmets don't add HP, but they make you more resistant to headshot damage depending on which helmet you have equipped. A change since release is Sniper rifles have their own ammo now - it's just called sniper ammo, and is a blue colour. In the damage stat tables below, if a weapon does burst damage we've noted the damage of one bullet from that burst fire, the same as it's one bullet's worth of damage for full-auto weapons. Similarly, for 'spread' weapons like shotguns or the Triple Take, we've counted the damage for if all projectiles hit the target successfully. Many - but not all - weapons can expand their magazine size with attachments found from looting, which makes a significant difference to their viability - so it's worth searching for extended magazines, in particular! You can view weapon damage as you're fighting in-game - there are different settings for it in the menus, but the default shows the total damage from all your hits in a burst, with a single damage number updating as you land another hit (from 16, to 32, to 48, etc.). This damage is also colour-coded, according to your enemy's armour, which is good to know - yellow for headshots, purple for purple/gold shields, blue for blue shields, white for common shields, and red for true damage when their shields are down. There's also a shattering sound when you smash through their shields in combat, too. Weapons get rotated each season. For example, the Peacekeeper in season 4 is a regular weapon and to echo that sentiment, had regular stats. In season 5, it's now been rotated to appear in care packages, with its stats increasing to reflect that. With those little bits of housekeeping out of the way, here are all the numbers and details we've confirmed for weapons so far - from our own testing in-game - and our Apex Legends weapon recommendations in each category. Watch on YouTube Best Sniper Rifle in Apex Legends recommendation Kraber 050-Cal Before we said the Sentinel was the best sniper rifle, due to it being able to strip the enemy team of their shields and hit straight at their health. However, the Kraber's headshot damage is no joke - just one hit and you're completely knocked down. We'd hate to go against that! Apex Legends Sniper Rifle damage stats: Sniper RifleAmmo TypeFire Rate TypeMag SizeBody DamageHeadshot DamageAvailability Kraber .50-CalSpecialBolt-Action4145297Supply Pods Triple TakeSniperSingle569138Standard Longbow DMRSniperSingle555118Standard Charge RifleSniperSingle490116Standard SentinelSniperSingle465130Standard Best SMG in Apex Legends recommendation Prowler While the R-99 and Alternator both have an auto fire-rate type that's fire-rate is decent, both of them pale in comparison to the Prowler. The Prowler's recoil isn't the greatest, but it's burst of 5 fire rate is incredibly powerful no matter if the distance is far or medium. The body damage is also excellent, especially for those players - aka us - who aren't that great at getting headshots during the heat of battle. Apex Legends SMG damage stats: SMGAmmo TypeFire Rate TypeMag SizeBody DamageHeadshot DamageAvailability ProwlerHeavyBurst of 5201421Standard AlternatorLightAuto191322Standard R-99LightAuto181118Standard Best Assault Rifle in Apex Legends recommendation R-301 The R-301 is a weapon that you just can't go wrong with. It's great both at a medium distance or up close, and has a drop-off rate that won't leave you hankering to find a sniper rifle fast. It's got consistent damage, and even if you're only firing from the hip, enemies can be downed with ease if your aim is on point. Apex Legends Assault Rifle damage stats: Assault RifleAmmo TypeFire Rate TypeMag SizeBody DamageHeadshot DamageAvailability G7 ScoutLightSingle103468Standard Hemlok Burst ARHeavyBurst / Single182244Standard R-301LightAuto / Single181422Standard VK-47 FlatlineHeavyAuto / Single201938Standard DevotionSpecialAuto541734Supply Pods Best LMG in Apex Legends recommendation L-Star The L-Star used to be a special weapon, which meant unique ammo and an availability that relied on supply pods. That made it a good LMG, but the best? That title used to belong to the Spitfire. With the L-Star replacing The Devotion as an Energy weapon, you'll be able to deal damage at such a fast rate that it puts the L-Star way ahead of other LMG weapons. Apex Legends LMG damage stats: LMGAmmo TypeFire Rate TypeMag SizeBody DamageHeadshot DamageAvailability M600 SpitfireHeavyAuto351836Standard L-StarEnergyAuto401836Standard DevotionSpecialAuto541734Supply Pods Best Shotgun in Apex Legends recommendation Peacekeeper Now that the Mastiff has been put down to a simple standard weapon, it's lost a lot of damage, but makes up for it with having more mags. However, that's left room for the Peacekeeper to take its place, and by George, it's a beautiful weapon with consistently high damage no matter where you aim. Apex Legends Shotgun damage stats: ShotgunAmmo TypeFire Rate TypeMag SizeBody DamageHeadshot DamageAvailability MastiffSpecialSingle66596Supply Pods PeacekeeperShotgunPump action5110143Supply Pods EVA-8 AutoShotgunAuto86380Standard Apex Legends Season 14 is here! Our other guides include a Heirloom Shards explainer as well as a whopping list of Apex Legends tips and tricks. Best Pistol in Apex Legends recommendation Wingman The Wingman has always been a pistol that would make anyone in their right mind run off in the other direction, and that still hasn't changed even with its most recent changes. It's rate of fire is slow, but the damage is incredible and if going against someone with a steady hand... Well, we're sure the game was good while it lasted. Apex Legends Pistol damage stats: PistolAmmo TypeFire Rate TypeMag SizeBody DamageHeadshot DamageAvailability WingmanHeavySingle64590Standard MozambiqueShotgunPump action34566Standard P2020LightAuto101319Standard RE-45 AutoLightAuto161116Standard That's it for our Apex Legends weapons explainer! We also have some advice on another big choice when playing - which Apex Legends character you should choose. 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