Weapons are the primary method for dealing damage and eliminating opponents in Fortnite: Battle Royale. Weapons are scattered across the map and can be obtained through various methods, in different modes. They span across different categories and rarities.
Overview
Weaponry is not a strictly defined category in Battle Royale, but it can be inferred from different categories of items in the game. As a general rule, a weapon must:
- Be able to impact other players, whether it be damaging them, or interrupting their movement or actions.
- Have the ability to either fire a bullet, a projectile of some sort, or attack opponents directly.
However, an item is always classed as a weapon if it can:
- Reload, whether it be internal ammunition, or ammunition found as a pickup.
- Aim down sights, either with a scope, or a zoom.
- Deal damage to players directly.
- Be classed as one by the game via its category name.
As of Chapter 5: Season 1, some weapons can be modified in the form of adding attachments which enhances the functionality of a weapon.
Categories
Weapon Categories are not strictly defined by the game. However, there are categories which are definitively weapon categories, as the contents of the category, fit established weapon rules. Other categories have items which may be classed as weapons, but also contain some which are ambiguous, or not weapons at all (these will be specified).
Category Name | Icon | Rarity Range | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Definitive Categories | |||
Assault Weapons | Common | Medium- to long-ranged weapons with small- to large-sized magazines. | |
Uncommon | |||
Rare | |||
Epic | |||
Legendary | |||
Mythic | |||
Exotic | |||
Bows | Common | Medium- to long-ranged weapons, firing fast-moving, arcing projectiles from a single-shot magazine that often have special effects on impact. | |
Uncommon | |||
Rare | |||
Epic | |||
Legendary | |||
Mythic | |||
Exotic | |||
Crossbows | Common | Medium- to long-ranged weapons, firing fast-moving, arcing projectiles from a small magazine. | |
Uncommon | |||
Rare | |||
Epic | |||
Legendary | |||
Mythic | |||
Explosive Weapons | Common | Weapons that large amounts of damage in a large radius, often dealing extreme damage to structures via large, slow-moving projectiles. Sometimes can be thrown. | |
Uncommon | |||
Rare | |||
Epic | |||
Legendary | |||
Mythic | |||
Exotic | |||
Marksman Rifles | Common | Medium- to long-ranged weapon with a scope, firing fast-moving projectile. | |
Uncommon | |||
Rare | |||
Epic | |||
Legendary | |||
Mythic | |||
Pistols | Common | Short- to medium-ranged weapons with small magazines. | |
Uncommon | |||
Rare | |||
Epic | |||
Legendary | |||
Mythic | |||
Exotic | |||
Shotguns | Common | Short-ranged weapons with small magazines. Often fire multiple pellets and sometimes reload multiple shots at once. | |
Uncommon | |||
Rare | |||
Epic | |||
Legendary | |||
Mythic | |||
Exotic | |||
Sniper Rifles | Common | Long-ranged weapons with small magazines. Fire a fast moving projectile which arcs over distance. Headshots can usually kill an enemy instantly. | |
Uncommon | |||
Rare | |||
Epic | |||
Legendary | |||
Mythic | |||
Exotic | |||
Submachine Guns | Common | Short-ranged, fast-firing weapons with medium-sized magazines. | |
Uncommon | |||
Rare | |||
Epic | |||
Legendary | |||
Mythic | |||
Exotic | |||
Melee Weapons | Common | Close-ranged weapons which do not fire anything - the weapon itself is used to attack.
May include an alternate attack in place of aiming down sights. Do not use Ammo. | |
Uncommon | |||
Rare | |||
Epic | |||
Legendary | |||
Mythic | |||
Non-Definitive Categories | |||
Ranged Weapons | Rare | Ranged weapons can affect players some distance away from the user. Some ranged weapons are used to deal damage, but some heal players. | |
Epic | |||
Legendary | |||
Mythic | |||
Exotic | |||
Uncategorized Items | Uncommon | Some uncategorized items function like weapons, but require other methods to deal damage. | |
Rare | |||
Epic | |||
Legendary | |||
Mythic | |||
Powers | Epic | Powers are abilities based off those in other media from Collaborations. Many powers are used to deal damage, but some are used purely for movement or healing functions. | |
Mythic | |||
Utility | Common | Utility items provide a beneficial effect on use. Some utility items function almost identically to weapons, in that they reload and fire shots. | |
Uncommon | |||
Rare | |||
Epic | |||
Legendary | |||
Mythic | |||
Ranged Consumable | Common | Ranged consumables are items that have an effect at range, typically other than damage. Some ranged consumables function almost identically to weapons, in that they reload and fire shots. | |
Rare | |||
Epic | |||
Legendary | |||
Mythic | |||
Exotic | |||
Ranged Fuel | Common | Ranged Fuel items have a magazine and are drained by pressing the fire button, but cannot directly damage players. | |
Consumables | Common | Consumables are items that have an effect, then disappear. Many consumables are used to deal direct damage to players, in a similar vein to some Explosive Weapons, and many heal Health and/or Shields. | |
Uncommon | |||
Rare | |||
Epic | |||
Legendary | |||
Mythic | |||
Exotic |
Statistics
Statistic | Example | Description | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Listed Statistics | |||
Rarity | Common | The power of a weapon and its drop chance, compared to weapons the same as themselves. | The higher the rarity, the more powerful the weapon. An Uncommon weapon of one type, may not be more powerful or harder to find than a Common version of another.
Some weapons have significantly different stats or models depending or rarity. |
Damage | 25 | How much HP is taken away from an opponent or vehicle when attacked. | Damage is not the same as Structure Damage, which can be different to the damage weapons deal to opponents. |
Fire Rate | 10 | How many times a weapon attacks in one second. | Even if the weapon doesn't fire anything, the stat is still used to note times the weapon attacks per second. |
Damage per second | 250 | Damage multiplied by Fire Rate. | Damage per second (DPS) ignores reload times. Weapons with 1 shot in their magazine will still have a set DPS which is not actually applicable in game. |
Magazine Size | 30 | How much ammo can be fired before the weapon needs a reload. | Weapons which use a cooldown or do not use ammo have this stat listed as infinite (∞). |
Reload Time | 2.5s | The time it takes to fully restock the weapon's magazine, or how long the weapon takes to cooldown (if applicable). | Although many shotguns do not need to be fully reloaded to fire, they still have their Reload Time listed as a full reload from an empty magazine. |
Structure Damage | 20 | How much damage is dealt to structures. | Most weapons do not have a different Structure Damage, though Explosives typically deal increased Structure Damage. |
Critical Hit Multiplier | 2,0x | The multiplier applied to the damage of the weapon if it hits the head hitbox of an opponent. | A specific noise is played when a critical hit is landed, and the damage number is larger (and yellow if the opponent has no shield left). |
Ammo Type | Medium Bullets | The ammo used by the weapon, internal or external. | Some weapons do not use ammo pickups, instead having an internal ammunition which cannot be regained through a pickup. |
Extra Statistics | |||
Bullet Type | Hitscan | The type of bullet fired, such as its speed and gravity. | Bullets can be hitscan (which is an instant connection) or a projectile, which moves at a set speed with a physical object in the world. |
Damage Fall-off | Damage falls off 50% at 50m | The amount of damage which a weapon does over a set amount of distance. | Some weapons deal less damage over long distance, especially ones which are hitscan. |
Drop Rate | 0.3% as Floor Loot. | The chance the weapon can be found in a specific situation. | A certain Common weapon may not be easier to find than an Uncommon version of another weapon. |
Recoil | Vertical Kick. | The amount a weapon physically kicks when fired repeatedly. | Most weapons do not have recoil, and ones that do usually have less weapon spread to compromise. |
Weapon Spread | 3° | The amount of randomised spread a weapon has when fired repeatedly. | Weapon spread is decreased when crouching or aiming down sights, and increased when moving or jumping. Scopes have no weapon spread, |
First Shot Accuracy | Weapon has First Shot Accuracy. | If the weapon fires at 100% accuracy after a short cooldown of not firing. | Scoped weapons are always accurate on every shot, ignoring the kick of the weapon. |
Zoom Level | 1.5x | The amount a weapon scope zooms in when aimed. | Scoped weapons have a certain magnification for the scope. |
Impact Area | 5m | The size of the splash radius of an Explosive Weapon. | Only applies to Explosive Weapons, as regular weapons do not deal splash damage. |
Weapon Switch Cooldown | 1s | How long it takes to fire the weapon after switching. | Only applies to Shotguns, as switching between them grants a cooldown to avoid abuse. |
Spin Up Time | 0.5s | How long it takes to spin up the weapon before firing. | Only applies to the Minigun and Kymera Ray Gun. |
Projectile Drop | Affected by Gravity | If the weapon's projectile is affected by gravity. | Mainly applies to the bullets fired by Sniper Rifles and Marksman Rifles and the arrows fired by Bows. |
Ammunition
Main Article: Ammunition
Ammunition is used to reload many types of weapons. Ammunition can either be internal or external, with external ammunition being the most common. External ammunition is found as Floor Loot and used to reload weapons which use the corresponding ammo type:
- Medium Bullets: Used for weapons which deal a medium amount of damage per shot, such as most Assault Weapons and some Pistols.
- Light Bullets: Used for weapons which deal a small amount of damage per shot, such as Submachine Guns and some Pistols.
- Shells: Used for all Shotguns and some Bows.
- Arrows: Used for most Bows.
- Heavy Bullets: Used for weapons which deal a high amount of damage per shot, like most Sniper Rifles and some Pistols.
- Rockets: Used for Explosive Weapons which reload and use external ammunition.
Internal Ammunition is used for weapons which do not reload via a pickup:
- Junk Ammo: Used by the Recycler, obtained by destroying props and structures with the weapon.
- Scanner Ammo: Used by the Recon Scanner, recharges over time.
- Fire: Used by the Flare Gun and Firework Flare Gun.
- Hooks: Used by Grapplers and the Harpoon Gun.
- Plasma Ammo: Used by the Plasma Cannon.
- Energy Ammo: Used by the Kymera Ray Gun and other weapons.
- Med Mist: Used by Med-Mist.
- Gas: Used by the Gas Can.
- Saws: Used by the Ripsaw Launcher.
Naming Conventions
Some weapons have prefixes which dictate how they will function:
Statistic | Weapon Icon Example | Description | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Listed Effect | The effect listed will affect how the weapon functions. | Many Exotic items have the listed effect as a prefix. | |
Listed Owner | The item is dropped from a specific Boss or AI. | Listed Owner items are always Mythic. | |
Burst | The item fires multiple shots with one tap of the fire button. | Burst weapons can also be fully automatic, meaning they fire their ammo in burst, rather than a continuous stream. | |
Dual | The user holds two weapons at once. | Most dual weapons fire one weapon after the other, with some continuously firing whilst the button is held down. | |
Suppressed | The weapon makes no blip on the compass and is audibly quieter. | The Shadow Tracker is also suppressed, despite the name not mentioning this. | |
Scoped | The weapon has a zoomed in scope, which is seen in first person. | Some weapons with a scope do not have the name, such as the Striker Burst Rifle, and many Sniper Rifles. | |
Thermal | The weapon's scope has a thermal overlay. | The Night Hawk also has a Thermal Scope, despite the name not mentioning this. | |
Heavy | The weapon deals more damage and fires slower than a standard version of the weapon (mostly). | The Heavy Shotgun does not follow this rule. | |
Dragon's Breath | The weapon fires a shot which will ignite wooden structures. | Dragon's Breath weapons will not ignite other materials, or deal any extra damage to a player. | |
Makeshift | Lower damage and less accurate version of a Primal Weapon. | Makeshift weapons are used to upgrade to Primal or Regular weaponry. | |
Primal | Higher damage, and still less accurate than a standard weapon. | Primal weapons are not strictly defined, but they are always the upgraded (via crafting) version of Makeshift weapons. | |
Sideways | Can be upgraded using Cube Monster Parts. | Sideways weapons are also defined by their ability to be upgraded into Mythic. | |
Automatic or
Semi-Automatic |
Automatic means the weapon fires continuously when the fire button is held, Semi-Automatic means it does not. | Only used to define weapons which in their own category, are not usually Automatic or Semi-Automatic. Also shortened to Auto. | |
Combat | Tight weapon spread and higher damage, but strong recoil resulting in less accurate shots after the first. | The Combat Shotgun only has a tight weapon spread, this is because it was introduced before the Combat prefix was officially defined. | |
Twin Mag | Two magazines attached making every other reload faster. | The ammo counter for both magazines are visible near the reticle. |
Trivia
- Tactical is a prefix applied to several weapons, but ultimately means very little.
- For example, the Tactical SMG, Tactical Assault Rifle and Tactical Shotgun have very little similarities, or differences between their regular counterparts. As such, it is only used to differentiate weapons within their individual classes.
- Lever-Action is a prefix applied to several weapons, but it only dictates the animation of the weapon, and has no real bearing on gameplay.