Weapon recommendation: What are the best weapons in the game? What about the most fun to use? With or w/o DLC

[FireDrake]

Honestly I saw somewhere that the SA was really good, so I've leveled it up and I'd say it's both great and fun, but soon I'll start playing OVK difficulty and I wondered if there are weapons that will make the transition easier in terms of power.

However, I also wouldn't like to miss out on weapons that, while not very viable on OVK, are genuinely fun to play with on VH difficulty or below. I've been loving the double barrel shotgun, despite not seeing recommendations for it.

I don't have DLC right now (except the free Houston one), but I'd also like to know DLC options, to have an idea of which would be good to buy.

[It's Adam Lazlow]

Last update they buffed the ammo pickup rates for every single weapon in the game. Right now, you cannot run out of ammo unless you intentionally try to.

Ammo pickup used to be a major factor for how good a weapon was. Now, whether you want to use the weapon that can 1-shot kill to the head, or need several shots, slow or fast, it's up to your liking.

The VF7S and the A114 are the best headshot weapons in the game, they can both reliably 1-shot kill enemies with high armor penetration values. The assault rifle is better in close-range and automatic, but the A114 has better range and overall recoil.

For SMGs, the ZIV Commando is the best in the game, the others are useful as well but they shoot slower and deal less damage each shot.

The Double Barreled shotgun is the best basegame shotgun avaliable. You will need the Ammo Funnel and Replenish skills because of the slow reload speeds, shooting the mosconi infinitely without reloading is a lot of fun tho.

The Reinfeld unfortunately sucks, it is pump action so it's slow, it cannot 1 shot Heavy Swats in the head, and even struggles with Light Swats if you miss a few pellets.

This is about it for the base game weapons, but note that every single one of them are viable because of the insanely high ammo pickups we have right now. Some weapons like the Northwest-B9 (Chinese assault rifle) used to be the worst in the game, but now they are viable to use, depending how you like your guns.

For pistols, the 1911 is probably the best, it can 2 shot heavy swats in the head, but the Tribune machine pistol is also very powerful, it can shred enemies with a hail of bullets, but you'll need to aim for the head and land 4-5 shots. Still, it shoots a lot and it's fun to play with.

[Rein]

If you want the absolute best guns (it's subjective but I find it very hard to contest at the moment), you pick Adelig/A114 and Deagle and obliterate almost every single enemy with a single headshot (bonus points if you get the perk from Sharpshooter tree for distance modifiers). Deagle one-shots Shields through their visor and drops Dozers with a single mag to the face allowing you to be a bit more lenient. You probably want to build for it appropriately if trying this strategy on higher difficulties.

EDIT: VF7S loses to Adelig as far as I am aware because the former double taps even with the Edge on, whereas Adelig flat out oneshots every common enemy to the head with Edge on.
Deagle is strong to the point you can reliably use it as your main weapon and annihilates almost every other option there is in terms of secondary. I used to think Bullkick is a nice contester for a top tier DLC secondary, but Bullkick fires slower (making it unviable for taking down dozers) and is harder to control in general, though it does one-shot common enemies to the body, if that's what you are after.

[Altina]

M7 for shotgun Tas-12 is good too
i pick Car-4 over Adelig because long ass reload time
All smg is good except War-45
Pistol deagle or Jackknife, Tribune is trash imo if u don't use heavy hipfire

[FireDrake]

Ty a lot for your answers until now! I'll check out your recommendations. Still waiting for more answers!

Originally posted by It's Adam Lazlow:

Last update they buffed the ammo pickup rates for every single weapon in the game. Right now, you cannot run out of ammo unless you intentionally try to.

Ammo pickup used to be a major factor for how good a weapon was. Now, whether you want to use the weapon that can 1-shot kill to the head, or need several shots, slow or fast, it's up to your liking.

The VF7S and the A114 are the best headshot weapons in the game, they can both reliably 1-shot kill enemies with high armor penetration values. The assault rifle is better in close-range and automatic, but the A114 has better range and overall recoil.

For SMGs, the ZIV Commando is the best in the game, the others are useful as well but they shoot slower and deal less damage each shot.

The Double Barreled shotgun is the best basegame shotgun avaliable. You will need the Ammo Funnel and Replenish skills because of the slow reload speeds, shooting the mosconi infinitely without reloading is a lot of fun tho.

The Reinfeld unfortunately sucks, it is pump action so it's slow, it cannot 1 shot Heavy Swats in the head, and even struggles with Light Swats if you miss a few pellets.

This is about it for the base game weapons, but note that every single one of them are viable because of the insanely high ammo pickups we have right now. Some weapons like the Northwest-B9 (Chinese assault rifle) used to be the worst in the game, but now they are viable to use, depending how you like your guns.

For pistols, the 1911 is probably the best, it can 2 shot heavy swats in the head, but the Tribune machine pistol is also very powerful, it can shred enemies with a hail of bullets, but you'll need to aim for the head and land 4-5 shots. Still, it shoots a lot and it's fun to play with.

Hello Lazlow! It's been a while, haven't seen much from you since back when I frequented the Payday 2 forums. Ty a lot for your recommendations without DLC! A couple of those guns I already use and love, I'll be sure to check out the others!

Originally posted by Versusia:

If you want the absolute best guns (it's subjective but I find it very hard to contest at the moment), you pick Adelig/A114 and Deagle and obliterate almost every single enemy with a single headshot (bonus points if you get the perk from Sharpshooter tree for distance modifiers). Deagle one-shots Shields through their visor and drops Dozers with a single mag to the face allowing you to be a bit more lenient. You probably want to build for it appropriately if trying this strategy on higher difficulties.

EDIT: VF7S loses to Adelig as far as I am aware because the former double taps even with the Edge on, whereas Adelig flat out oneshots every common enemy to the head with Edge on.
Deagle is strong to the point you can reliably use it as your main weapon and annihilates almost every other option there is in terms of secondary. I used to think Bullkick is a nice contester for a top tier DLC secondary, but Bullkick fires slower (making it unviable for taking down dozers) and is harder to control in general, though it does one-shot common enemies to the body, if that's what you are after.

Ty for the answers! I see powerful per shot weapons are really good! From this, I guess the Boys in Blue and the Fear and Greed weapon packs are the ones with the best weapons?

Originally posted by Altina:

M7 for shotgun Tas-12 is good too
i pick Car-4 over Adelig because long ass reload time
All smg is good except War-45
Pistol deagle or Jackknife, Tribune is trash imo if u don't use heavy hipfire

Interesting weapon choices, and ty for the warnings about the worst ones!

[Rein]

Originally posted by FireDrake:

Ty a lot for your answers until now! I'll check out your recommendations. Still waiting for more answers!

Originally posted by Versusia:

If you want the absolute best guns (it's subjective but I find it very hard to contest at the moment), you pick Adelig/A114 and Deagle and obliterate almost every single enemy with a single headshot (bonus points if you get the perk from Sharpshooter tree for distance modifiers). Deagle one-shots Shields through their visor and drops Dozers with a single mag to the face allowing you to be a bit more lenient. You probably want to build for it appropriately if trying this strategy on higher difficulties.

EDIT: VF7S loses to Adelig as far as I am aware because the former double taps even with the Edge on, whereas Adelig flat out oneshots every common enemy to the head with Edge on.
Deagle is strong to the point you can reliably use it as your main weapon and annihilates almost every other option there is in terms of secondary. I used to think Bullkick is a nice contester for a top tier DLC secondary, but Bullkick fires slower (making it unviable for taking down dozers) and is harder to control in general, though it does one-shot common enemies to the body, if that's what you are after.

Ty for the answers! I see powerful per shot weapons are really good! From this, I guess the Boys in Blue and the Fear and Greed weapon packs are the ones with the best weapons?

Yes, I recommend them because of their exceptionally fast TTK. If you do not mind sticking to A114, you can instead prioritize Fear and Greed DLC for Deagle, which might be a better long-term investment provided they do not nerf it. If I recall, Armor update is in December, so 1 chunk Assassin builds will probably feel a lot more fun with the silenced Deagle.

[RobyG]

You can also try this website: https://puppy-girl.github.io/payday-weapon-bench/

Shows you every exact value of each weapon and how it performs overall

[FireDrake]

Originally posted by Versusia:

Yes, I recommend them because of their exceptionally fast TTK. If you do not mind sticking to A114, you can instead prioritize Fear and Greed DLC for Deagle, which might be a better long-term investment provided they do not nerf it. If I recall, Armor update is in December, so 1 chunk Assassin builds will probably feel a lot more fun with the silenced Deagle.

I see. It's gonna be a while until it's decently discounted, though, but maybe I'll pick it up early if the Deagle doesn't get nerfed. It definitely is on my wishlist though. And yeah, I love the A144, but I like experimenting with my builds, so I'll pick up the Boys in Blue weapon pack and heist as soon as possible, since their weapons seem to be favored too by most people, and they probably will be better discounted earlier.

Originally posted by RobyG:

You can also try this website: https://puppy-girl.github.io/payday-weapon-bench/

Shows you every exact value of each weapon and how it performs overall

Ty a lot for the link! Definitely a great tool. I was looking for overall recommendations of a weapon in general, but this is great to plan how to build mine, especially with all modifications unlocked!

[RobyG]

Originally posted by FireDrake:

Originally posted by Versusia:

Yes, I recommend them because of their exceptionally fast TTK. If you do not mind sticking to A114, you can instead prioritize Fear and Greed DLC for Deagle, which might be a better long-term investment provided they do not nerf it. If I recall, Armor update is in December, so 1 chunk Assassin builds will probably feel a lot more fun with the silenced Deagle.

I see. It's gonna be a while until it's decently discounted, though, but maybe I'll pick it up early if the Deagle doesn't get nerfed. It definitely is on my wishlist though. And yeah, I love the A144, but I like experimenting with my builds, so I'll pick up the Boys in Blue weapon pack and heist as soon as possible, since their weapons seem to be favored too by most people, and they probably will be better discounted earlier.

Originally posted by RobyG:

You can also try this website: https://puppy-girl.github.io/payday-weapon-bench/

Shows you every exact value of each weapon and how it performs overall

Ty a lot for the link! Definitely a great tool. I was looking for overall recommendations of a weapon in general, but this is great to plan how to build mine, especially with all modifications unlocked!

Glad to be of service! A quick tip tho. Northwest 9 is still bad lmao

[FireDrake]

So basically, in summary, from what I'm getting from the comments:

Top: VF7S, A144, Adelig, Deagle
Great: ZIV, Double Barrel Shotgun, 1911, Bullkick, M7, TAS-12, Jackknife
Heard both good and bad about: Tribune
Bad: Mosconi shotgun, Northwest, WAR-45
And basically every other weapon is decently good with the balance changes.

Is that right? I also would like more info about the Tribune's quality, or disagreements with this summary

[RobyG]

https://imgur.com/a/oI5DDOM

Made a tier list based on my hours, builds and of course personal opinion on every gun (i did however test every gun with edge and ONLY edge since thats the most common damage buff people have. Tested on overkill with normal swats, armored swats and dozers)

I still advice to test yourself to see what catches your eye. And of course with the use of
https://puppy-girl.github.io/payday-weapon-bench/

To anyone that wants to use it of course.

[the lunch line of kamurocho]

i've been running the ku-59 and jackknife se5 a lot these days. they're both very reliable and not too hard to control when modded.

[dvdzombie211 The warden griefer]

the best weapons in pd3 is the lmg the full auto pistol and the minigun

[RobyG]

Originally posted by dvdzombie211 The warden griefer:

the best weapons in pd3 is the lmg the full auto pistol and the minigun

Full auto pistol does 17 dmg per shot so... thats a no. The lmg is alright, the minigun is strong yet leaves you very vulnerable

[B〄F Altonator]

Originally posted by It's Adam Lazlow:

The Reinfeld unfortunately sucks, it is pump action so it's slow, it cannot 1 shot Heavy Swats in the head, and even struggles with Light Swats if you miss a few pellets.

I actually prefer the pump shotgun over the double barrel one. It's easy to keep edge and grit refreshed with this weapon and does decent enough damage imo.

[H077AND]

The new deagle is by far most boss. Garstini Viper from F&G dlc