The Far Cry 5 Weapons Guide

Since New Dawn is on sale and I'm starting my 4th New Game+ playthrough, I figured it's finally time I got around to it and talk about guns in this game and why my opinion is right and why yours doesn't matter.

The Best Weapons are the Fun Weapons

In Far Cry 5, you get 3 holster slots to fill with anything your heart desires, and another slot to fill with any weapon from the sidearm category. These slots can often feel limiting when engaging in the wide variety of enemies throughout Hope County. So if you came here looking for the best loudout to take to make sure you're always prepared for anything the cult can throw at you, here you go.

- BZ19
- SA-50
- RAT4
- Literally any semi-automatic suppressed pistol

In my opinion the best loudout for doing just about anything against the cult in Montana. (And yes, my opinion is right). RAT4 can be swapped for RPG7 if that's more your cup of tea or for Recurve Bow if REALLY want those extra skins from killing wildlife, otherwise here you go.

However, once you use 'meta' loudouts like these, they become dull and you'll be left searching for new guns to use. So the primary point of this guide is to give you the reader information about weapons within Far Cry and which I enjoy using the most and hopefully, you can get some more good moments out of this joke of a game.

Melee

Well, since Melee weapons in this game feel primarily like a funny after thought and there is only one 'meta' choice, I'll make this brisk.

Melee weapons have two ways they can be used. You can smack someone with them, or you can throw them at someone. 99% of the time you're going to throw them because the normal melee just tickles the enemies in this game. This fact is clearer no where else than when you find yourself wildly swinging a socket pipe at a cultist only to have said cultist slap you on your ass with the stock of their rifle.

When you're thowing a weapon you can either use a) any melee weapon which will fly in a wide arc, if it touches any prop throughout this arc it will fall to the ground or b) use the shovel.
The shovel when thrown will still fly in an arc but flies faster, further, and can more consistently one shot enemies than any other melee weapon. In fact, it's so superior that Ubi even gave the shovel an RPG launcher to make it the single most dominant melee weapon in the game, just as a massive middle finger to the barbed bat users all across Montana.

However, when it comes to fun choices, the shovel is not the only option. Granted, shovels are extraordinarily fun to use, there is a certain appeal to stunlocking a group of Angels by spam throwing Bamboo Poles at them.

Oh yeah, I forgot about the Brass Knuckles. Umm, yeah you don't need them. I got them and made them pink, they're only useful because now I can down or kill a civilian when I punch them in the mouth rather just scare them. I have yet to use them in combat because normally, trying to punch a cultist is like trying to hit them with a melee weapon, but somehow worse.

Sidearms

Sidearms have always been within an interesting role within Far Cry games. You are required to always have one with you and they receive a dedicated holster slot within the weapon wheel. As such, your sidearm of choice will have a large effect on the way you play Far Cry, but doesn't have to dictate it. Also because of this, sidearms receive more weapon variety than any other weapon class, rivaling that of the Special category. (I'm not including Featured here, ♥♥♥♥ you commenter)

Within the sidearm category, there are 4 subcategories to further divide the weapon class:
- Handguns
- Hand Cannons
- Machine Pistols
- Other

Handguns
Handguns are what you'd expect out of the sidearm class of weapons. Simple, reliable, pistols that can function stealthily for outposts. Handguns include the 1911, P226, M9, P08, P08L. Despite minor statistical differences, they all feel more or less the same to use. Generally slapping a suppressor, reflex sight, and extended mag on, you'll have a trusty sidearm for getting headshots at close range, though you might find yourself wanting more.

Hand Cannons
Hand Cannons serve a bit more of a unique role than the Handguns do in the Sidearms category. Hand Cannons are more setup to be loud, lethal and precise firearms able to take out cultist from further range than Handguns. Hand Cannons include .44 Magnum, .44 Magnum L,.44 Magnum "Sixer", .44 Magnum "Cannon". Creative Right? Generally, I would advise from staying away from all of these. They cannot take suppressors, making them useless for stealth, and generally they won't one-shot cultists, ruining your Marty Robbins impression. In general, this weapon class is very unappealing unless you really want that long range scope.

"BUT GUMPY!" I hear you cry "WHAT ABOUT THE DEAGLE"

The Deagle (or D50) is the sole redeeming weapon of the Hand Cannon subclass. It still cannot take a suppressor, but it can fortunately one shot all non-heavy enemies. The price of this is however, it does not take pistol ammo, but rather .50 Sniper Ammo, cutting into your reserves for a separate class. Despite this, the Deagle is one of my favorite Sidearms within Far Cry. It's sexy, lethal, and is fun to use. The iron sights are nice and you wont need extended mags during fights unless you wiff an entire mag against a likely stationary cultist (You absolute bot). The D50 honestly works well straight out of the box and I highly recommend picking it up.

Machine Pistols
Machine Pistols are my favorite Sidearm Weapon Subclass by far. With high firerates and recoil, Ubi took a note from Seige for these guns, they are headshots machines with a little control and skill. The Machine Pistols in Far Cry 5 are the SMG-11, The Skorpion, and the A-99 (Tec 9). Each one of these guns are extremely fun to use, and are quite lethal once you get comfortable with them. Personally I use the A-99 because of that sexy-ass Black and Blue skin. Though slap on a suppressor, extended mag and Optical Sight and you'd be hard pressed to find better alternatives within the Sidearm class. The one downside of these bullet hoses is the take ammo from the SMG class of weapons, so you'll be forced to pick between your BZ19 or your SMG-11. (Or your MP40 if you're a Nazi, you fascist).

Other
The following 2 firearms exist solely to provide more versatility to your loudouts are generally aren't recommended. The two sidearms that find themselves within Other are the D2 (Sawed Off) and the M-79 (Grenade Launcher). The D2 is just a cut down version of the SBS shotgun, and as such, suffers from reduced range and accuracy, which were the only two benefits of the SBS in the first place. Neither shotgun can take a suppressor so generally I would advise staying away from the D2 as the SBS is better and usually more fun to use. The M-79 however, is an interesting weapon. I didn't touch it until I had to get 10 kills with it for a Perk Point challenge and honestly, it's underwhelming, it usually takes 2 rounds to kill an enemy or blow up a vehicle, but it does have a rather nice ragdoll effect. The iron sights are ♥♥♥♥ so I advise hipfiring, try it and complete the challenge with it, but no one will blame you for not playing with it.

Shotguns

I'll start things off simple with the shotguns, with the exception of the SBS, they all feel pretty much the same in game. When using the M133 (the shotgun the cultists use and you can steal from the start of the game) to using the 1887-T (The prestige $7,200 shotgun), they all feel the same. Pump or lever action, put the enhanced ranger on them for that range boost and enjoy racking up kills. The shotguns in Far Cry are neither under nor over powered. They sit at a happy medium where you'll often find yourself using two rounds to kill an opponent unless you hit em in the head.

There are however, two shotguns that handle quite differently from the rest, those being the SPAS-12 and the SBS. The SPAS-12's claim to uniqueness comes from it's semi-automatic fire rate when compared to the pump and lever actions of the other shotguns. This allows you to have quicker follow up shots for clearing crowds of enemies. In most circumstances this wont make much difference, however, it makes headshots and clearing bunkers easier in my experience. The SBS however is much different from the other shotguns. The SBS has the longest range of any shotgun in Far Cry (♥♥♥♥ you Lost on Mars, those aren't shotguns) which allows you to get one shot kills from further away. The disadvantage of the SBS is evident through its 2 shell capacity. So you'll find yourself reloading constantly, but the reload is not long so it's not miserable.

Ultimately, using shotguns can be fun, particularly when running slugs or incendiary ammunition, but they require proper positioning in order to be used to their full potential. I will say though, I have never felt more badass in a Far Cry game than when I did flying through the air down towards two enemies, shooting on in the head with a shotgun, then moments later landing on the other enemies and performing an aerial takedown.

Submachine Guns

Oh boy, the SMG's, I know I'm gonna ruffle some feathers here so let's just get right into it.

The SMGs are not good within Far Cry 5.

They exist as this weird in between stage where rather than double down upon the aspects that make the Machine Pistols good, they sit at a sort of half way point between Machine Pistols and Automatic Rifles. Because of this they generally are less fun to use than Machine Pistols, but are less effective than Automatic Rifles. Unless you really want that MP5 to roleplay for favorite GIGN defender, I would advise avoiding the SMG class.

That is, unless you go for the Vector. The Vector .45 ACP in my infallible opinion, is the SMG that Ubi got right. It emulates the characteristic of the Machine Pistols but improves upon them. It has the high bullet hose right of fire we are familiar with from the Machine Pistols, but has removed almost all of the recoil making this gun pretty much perfect for getting headshots, even at medium to long ranges. With these benefits it is a very strong candidate to take in a majority of situations, particularly if you do not already have a Machine Pistol.

Rifles

Oh the Rifle category, the staple of all open world shooter games. The most used weapons that everyone just seems to have an opinion on. Well, let's get into subcategories shall we.

When it comes to rifles, there are two subcategories:

- Semi-Automatic
- Automatic

Semi-Automatic
Semi-Automatic Rifles are interesting within Far Cry, there are two primary rifles. The 45/70 and the MS16. each of each have Trooper variant (or T cause Ubi can't keep suffixes consistent) which reduce the weapon's accuracy stat while increasing the handling stat. Honestly, I cannot think of a reason this tradeoff would ever be worth it. Handling supposedly is the "Speed" stat, but the only thing it seems to affect is the how sensitive the mouse is when ADS, and even then, it's insignificant. Both firearms are subpar when compared to the easy alternative, the AR-CL. The supposed strengths of the Semi-Automatic rifles (accuracy and damage) are both met by the AR-CL, but the sniper also has better scope options for sniping, and the option to shoot fully automatic. The 45/70, according to the wiki, has better damage than the AR-CL and rivals that of the .50 snipers, which is true, but in practice, you'll only really feel this differences at 150m+ ranges. At that those distances you'll need the scope of the legitmate snipers either way.

In all, try to avoid the semi-automatic rifles as they can easily be overshadowed by the proper snipers.

Automatic
The automatic subcategory of rifles, what's not to love? A deadly mix of accuracy, damage, and firerate. The 4 rifles that find themselves within this category are the AR-C, AK-47, AK-M(S), and the BP-2. There is much debate about which is best automatic rifle, the king of kings if you will. Some argue the AR-C because of the higher firerate that makes headshots easier. Others argue the AK's are better because of their higher damage and lower firerate makes headshots easier. Every now and then you'll see someone say the BP-2 is the best as it's a nice middle ground between the automatic rifles. Ultimately, the choice between the AR-C, AK's, or BP-2 come down to preference and skill. The AK's are 'easier' to use effectively when compared to the AR-C, but that doesn't mean the AR-C is better than the AK, just the AR-C has a higher skill cap.

Another debate with the automatic rifles is the debate between the AK's, that being the AK-47 and the AK-M(S). Through my testing (yes I am actually testing these guns), the one difference I've found between the two AK's is that the AK-47 has more horizontal recoil, while the AK-M(S) has more vertical recoil. This means that the AK-M(S) will be easier to use for most players as vertical recoil is more consistent than horizontal recoil.

Ultimately, regardless of which Automatic rifle you choose you can't really pick wrong, throw on an optical sight or tactical scope, and you'll have a firearm that will serve you faithfully and effectively.

Snipers

Snipers are a confusing weapon class, even after playing with them extensively they still feel like they'll work differently each day and then when you factor in the semi-automatic rifles, it becomes a confusing muddled mess.

Let's keep things simple, snipers are intended for hitting body shots and having a one shot kill capability. Snipers can also be divided into two distinct categories:

- Rifle Ammo Snipers
- .50 Ammo Snipers

Rifle Ammo Snipers
Rifle Ammo Snipers include the AR-CL and the 308 Carbine. The AR-CL is probably one of the most underrated weapons within the game. The gun can one shot to the body at medium ranges and has the capability to fire burst and automatic giving it more versatility than any other Sniper. Because of this, the AR-CL overshadows the 308 Carbine in most respects, while the 308 does have higher damage, enabling slightly longer one shot kill distances, it's firerate is restricted by it's bolt action. If you're going for long range snipes, just upgrade to the .50 ammo.

.50 Ammo Snipers
The two .50 snipers are the MBP .50 and the SA-50. There's not much to be said here, the guns are practically identical in practice short of the semi-automatic vs. bolt action. Both weapons can one shot at just about any range you can render an enemy from. The weapons are big and lethal, nothing wrong with that, but they can make taking outposts slightly boring unless you really like Sniper Elite 3.

For this reason I often don't run any sniper, not because they are bad, but because it can often be more fun just to go for takedowns.

Special

The Special category is just the catch 22 category for any weapons that can't fit into any other weapon class (Why they didn't just call it heavy and add the bows to the sniper class, I'm not sure) but here we go none the less. The Special category can be divided into 5 weapon categories:

- Machine Guns
- Bows
- Launchers
- Special Weapons
- Fishing Rods (I'm not covering these here, go read a fishing guide or something)

Machine Guns
Machine Guns! Hell yes! Machine Guns are amazing! Ubi did quite well with this category, large magazines, respectable damage and manageable recoil. The Machine Guns are arguably the most powerful weapon category throughout all of Far Cry 5. There are three machine guns in Far Cry 5, the M60, M249, and MG42. The guns are strong enough to one shot to the chest in most situations, and the only difference between the machine guns is firerate. Think of of it as a linear graph starting with "Wow that's not bad" with the M60 to "A10 Warthog wannabe" with the MG42. The Machine Guns are also highly lethal against vehicles and can handle choppers without too much sweat, but can leave something to be desired if you're looking for immediate explosions.

Bows
Bows are the ultimate weapons in stealth. They are the quietest weapons in Far Cry 5 and (in my experience) won't alert enemies to your shooting, something even suppressed guns will if you're too close. You have three choices within the bow category. The Compound, The Recurve, and the Slingshot. The Compound and Recurve feel the same but the Recurve does have a slightly higher firerate than the Compound. Ironically, the slingshot is the most written off bow but has identical stats to the Recurve and objectively provides more ulitily than the Recurve with the ability the throw rocks further than you could by yourself. This has actually helped me take stealth outposts before. Anyways, bows are good for stealth and their extra utility arrows can make for some fun moments so I highly recommend them.

Launchers
Launchers are the bane of vehicles within Far Cry 5. The RPG-7 is fast, reliable, and easy to use. The RAT4 has a lock-on capability that isn't as good as it first sounds, but it does have the ability to carpet bomb an area in a method similar to a mortar round. Generally, the only reason I ever take the RAT4 is for this carpet bomb ability, the rest of the time the RPG-7 is easier and more intuitive to use.

I'm also going to be throwing in the shovel launcher here because I'm not doing a dedicated section for it. It's an RPG that shoots a shovel instead of a explosive, further proving that shovels are the dominant melee weapon. Otherwise it's just a fun gun to use if you want to have some fun one shotting all tiers of enemies and watching their ragdolls fly. It's not 'good', but it's not supposed to be, and that's okay.

Special Weapons
There are two special weapons, the Flamethrower and the Magnopulser. Both are great ways to get yourself killed, but they can be fun to use in the process. The Flamethrower is not a good weapon at all. Allow to illustrate why.

The flamethrower has a very limited range, as such, you need to get up to almost melee range in order to hit a target. Once you do get within range to fire, 80% of the time you'll end up setting yourself on fire and will have to do an animation to ensure you don't burn to death and then can try to light another enemy on fire. Honestly, because Ubi removed syringes to make you immune to fire, the flamethrower is hard to use and great way to get yourself killed. If you really wanna fight with fire use molotovs. They're much more fun, easier, and lethal than flamethrowers.

Then there's the Magnopulser. This quest reward is just plain weird. It has the ability to one shot at close range, and anything further than that it will simply ragdoll enemies and do trace amounts of damage. Also did I mention that it will literally just turn enemies into blood splatters if you kill them with it? It's a unique weapon that can be fun to use at first but quickly lost it's charm for me. Use it as a shotgun alternative and lemme know how that goes for you.

So what's the most fun?

Well, I've shown you my expert opinion on the best weapons in Far Cry 5 and now that you're informed you can only use the most meta loudouts from here on out.

Jokes aside, what are the most fun guns to use in Far Cry 5? Well, it really depends on what you're doing, generally though, I like to run an LMG, Slingshot, SBS, and A-99 because that's just dumb fun. But I'm never disappointed swapping some of them out for the AR-CL or AK-M. At the end of the day, regardless of how correct I am, you'll use what you want, I just hope this guide will encourage you to play around with the guns some more and encourage people to stop putting the semi-automatic rifles in their Arcade Maps.

Also I'm not including the DLC weapons because they are gay as hell and if you use them unironically I hate you. If you really want a DLC weapons guide leave a comment and I might make one.

[theosda]

I do find it difficult to use the M/79 though, because I rather enjoy the semi-auto pistols in this game. Medium range headshots with the 1911s and P226 are fun.

[theosda]

I use the semi-auto rifles because I like their ammo efficiency. Also, I'm miffed that Ubisoft gave the MS16(M1A) 5 damage and the AKs 6 damage. The above is stupid because the M1A fires .308, and the AK fires 7.62x39, the latter of which has less powder despite being the same caliber, and thus cannot achieve the same velocities(and velocity is actually even more important than bullet weight/diameter when it comes to maximizing available energy to do damage) unless you underfill the .308... Yada yada, but if the M1A is realistically consigned to semi-auto anyway, and is actually American in a game set in America, who made that decision???
The M/79 may not be the best on Normal difficulty and above(it does actually one shot trucks on easy), but when you're driving, it's a great tool against boats especially, and has incendiary rounds if you need fire. Just don't use it on the one mission where you're stuck using your sidearm unless you're playing with a friend.

[Kwasi007]

The BZ 19 is a DLC weapon tho

[hes rotting you know]

DLC weapons are just pay to win, i think we all can except that

[Sunrie]

The best auto rifle in the game is the one you get from the Whitetails and is an AK. Period.

[sardonique369]

"(And yes, my opinion is right)"

LMAO....maybe for your play-style...but, not everyone plays like you do.

[ShoggothCultist]

I personally enjoy the mars dlc laser pointer weapon just so then i can screw around and kill people with a laser pointer

[Haffey]

░░░░▄█▌▀▄▓▓▄▄▄▄▀▀▀▄▓▓▓▓▓▌█ Doge
░░░▄█▀▀▄▓█▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▀░▓▌█ Take
░░█▀▄▓▓▓███▓▓▓███▓▓▓▄░░▄▓▐█▌ Over
░█▌▓▓▓▀▀▓▓▓▓███▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▄▀▓▓▐█ Steam
▐█▐██▐░▄▓▓▓▓▓▀▄░▀▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▌█▌ Copy
█▌███▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▐░░▄▓▓███▓▓▓▄▀▐█ And
█▐█▓▀░░▀▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓██████▓▓▓▓▐█ Paste
▌▓▄▌▀░▀░▐▀█▄▓▓██████████▓▓▓▌█▌it
▌▓▓▓▄▄▀▀▓▓▓▀▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓█▓█▓█▓▓▌█▌ DO IT.
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[CIEGOSORDOYMUDO]

the akm with the whitetail skin is the best weapon. fuck everything else

[Jay]

I still enjoy the M-16 just 'cause of its classic design over the modern AR-C. Dragonov is fun too for it's unique reticle and style, even if it's a commie gun. Wish these were better implemented. I don't understand what the point of the PB is... It has a unique silencer? But lowest damage of any weapon in the game except maybe for rocks.