Weapons are the primary method for dealing damage and eliminating players in Fortnite: Battle Royale. Weaponry is found scattered across the map, and the types of weapons available to the player span across all ranges and rarities.
Statistics and Function
Rarity
While exploring the map, players can discover weapons, each with a varying level of rarity. Statistics depend on rarity, ranging from Common to Legendary, with unique weapons being Mythic or Exotic. Rarity and it's corresponding color, from weakest to strongest, goes as follows:
Please note that Mythic and Exotic are tied for strength, as their power is subjective and depends upon the weapon. Often Mythic weapons have better statistics, but Exotic weapons have more unique abilities and functions.
| Weapon Rarity | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Common |
Uncommon |
Rare |
Epic |
Legendary |
Mythic |
Exotic |
Function
Weaponry in Battle Royale comes in two categories: Ranged and Melee. Ranged weapons are by far the most common, with almost every weapon, aside from a handful being ranged. Ranged weapons allow the player to attack at distance, whereas Melee weapons require up close attacks. The following list includes every statistic for each weapon in the game, alongside its application to ranged or melee weaponry.
| Statistic | Description | Measurement | Weapon Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rarity | The chance the weapon can be found, alongside its uniqueness. | Label | Both | Rarity is normally associated with Drop Rate, but oftentimes it only affects the unique weapon. For example, a Common Assault Rifle will drop more frequently than an Uncommon one, but may drop less frequently than a Rare Pistol. |
| Damage | The amount of health taken away from an opponent, when attacked with the specified weapon. | Number | Both | Damage is only a measurement of damage to opponents. It does not account for damage dealt to structures, nor does it account for headshot multipliers, or falloff damage. |
| Fire Rate | The amount of times a weapon can attack in one second. | Number per second | Ranged only | Fire rate is a general term applied to attacks per second, the weapon doesn't need to actually 'fire' anything for this stat to be calculated.
Weapons with a Magazine Size of 1 will reload after every attack, but still have a set Fire Rate, even though it is inapplicable to the actual weapon. |
| Damage per Second | The fire rate of a weapon, multiplied by its damage. | Number (Sometimes Decimal) | Both | Damage per second is only calculated with Damage and Fire Rate, it does not include Reload Times. As such, weapons with a Magazine Size of 1 will have a higher Damage per Second than it does in practicality. |
| Magazine Size | How much ammo can be fired before needing to reload the weapon. | Number | Both | For weapons which do not reload, such as Melee weapons or those with cool-downs, the statistic is listed as infinite, or just missing entirely. |
| Reload Time | The time it takes to fully reload the weapon. | Seconds | Ranged only | Reload Time is applied to weapons which have a cooldown mechanic, such as the Minigun. Although the cooldown can be avoided by withholding sustained fire, it is the closest thing present to a reload time.
Reload Time for shotguns is calculated by a full dry reload. Many shotguns reload one or more shells at a time, meaning a full reload isn't needed to fire the weapon. However, for the sake of consistency, reload time for shotguns is for reloading every bullet. |
| Structure Damage | How much damage the weapon will deal to structures. | Number | Both | Structure Damage for a majority of weapons is the same as their regular damage outputs. As such, it is often not included. |
| Bullet Type | The type of bullet fired, such as if it will instantly connect to a target, its speed, how it is affected by gravity. | Label | Ranged only | Bullets can range from Hitscan (The bullets connect instantly with the target), to a Beam Type (Continuous beam fire, similar to hitscan), to Projectiles (Bullet is a physical object, and takes an amount of time to connect with a target). Some bullets such as those fired from many Sniper Rifles, will be affected by Gravity, |
| Max Stack | How many of the item can fit in a single item slot. | Number | Both | This statistic only applies to items, as all weapons will only stack to one. However, some weapons such as the Bandage Bazooka technically have a Max Stack less than one, as they take up multiple inventory slots. |
| Ammo Type | The ammo type used by the weapon. | Label | Ranged only | Weapons with infinite ammo still use an ammo type, but do not need to reload using it. |
| Damage Falloff | If the weapons attacks deal less damage at longer ranges | Binary | Ranged only | Damage falloff is commonly only applied to Hitscan weapons, to balance their effectiveness at long ranges. As such, all ranged weapons have essentially infinite range. |
| Headshot Multiplier | The damage multiplier applied to the attack from a weapon, if the attack hits the head hitbox of an opponent. | Number (Sometimes Decimal) | Both | Instead of listing the multiplier of a weapon which cannot Critical Hit as 1.0x, it is listed as being unable. This is because the Critical Hit sound and yellow colored numbers must appear to cause a Critical Hit. |
| Drop Rate | The chance the weapon can be found in specific scenarios | Percentage | Both | The chance a weapon is found is often tied to Rarity, but is not exclusive to it. |
| Weapon Spread | The area in which bullets will be randomly placed, in relation to size of the crosshair. | Visual Indicator | Ranged only | Shotguns use this stat differently, spreading 10 pellets at once in a random arrangement, versus each shot having one randomly placed bullet. |
| First Shot Accuracy | If the weapon's first shot after a small cooldown, will be 100% accurate. | Binary, with timer | Ranged only | Scoped weapons are always accurate on every shot, ignoring the kick of the weapon. |
There are also prefixes which apply to certain weapons. The weapons that use these prefixes often have similar functionality and statistics. As a rule of thumb, prefixes are only applied to differentiate similar weapons from one another:
| Statistic | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic | The weapon will continuously fire once the attack button has been pressed. | This prefix only applies to the Automatic Sniper Rifle. This is because no other Sniper Rifle fires automatically, and so adding it to the names of other weapons is redundant. |
| Burst | The weapon fires several bullets with one press of the attack button. | Holding down the attack button still fires automatically, but tapping the button will fire multiple shots. |
| Dual | Two weapons are present, each one fires once when the attack button is pressed. | Dual weapons act similar to burst weapons, but always fire only two bullets, and are not automatic. |
| Suppressed | The weapon will not show as a Blip on an enemy player's compass. | Not all suppressed weapons are labelled as such. The Shadow Tracker does not have the prefix, but is suppressed. Suppressed Weapons often deal less damage per shot. |
| Semi-Automatic | The weapon fires only a single bullet when the attack button is pressed. | Many weapons are Semi Automatic but are not named as such. Only the Semi-Automatic Sniper Rifle has this prefix, as it was included at a time when no other Sniper Rifle had this trait. |
| Scoped | The weapon forces the player into a first person scope view when aiming | Scoped is only applied to weapons which are not Sniper Rifles or Crossbows, as Scopes are common on those types of weapons. |
| Thermal | The weapon uses thermal imaging when scoped. | This prefix only applies to the Thermal Scoped Assault Rifle, to differentiate it from the Scoped Assault Rifle. |
| Heavy | The weapon attacks slower than its regular counterpart, but deals more damage. | Heavy is only added to a weapon's name if it is a version of an existing weapon (Heavy Assault Rifle versus Assault Rifle). |
| 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. |
| Dragon's Breath | Bullets fired will ignite wooden structures. | Dragon's Breath weapons will not ignite other materials, or deal any extra damage to a player. |
| Lever Action | Inconsistent, may indicate a slower fire rate | The Lever Action Rifle and Shotgun both use this prefix, but do not share many similarities other than animations. |
| Tactical | Unclear and Inconsistent | Tactical weapons have no clear connections, as each tactical weapon functions differently from a regular version. It is purely used to differentiate weapons from one another, within a class. |
| Listed Effect | Exotic weapons vary in their unique uses. | Many Exotic weapons include a prefix to show their effects, such as the Marksman Six Shooter, implying it requires accuracy to be efficiently used. |
| Listed Owner | Mythic weapons vary in their unique uses. | Many Mythic weapons include the name of which AI drops the weapon on elimination. It does not have a bearing on how the item functions. |
There are still other factors which are applied to a weapon, that are not listed in the statistics of it:
- Zoom Level: Some weapons, such as the High Tier Burst Assault Rifle have a higher level of zoom when aiming with the weapon.
- Weapon Switch Cooldown: All Shotguns have a short cooldown between switching to another Shotgun after firing.
