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The Complete Fortnite Weapons Guide: Assault Rifles/Machine Guns

The Complete Fortnite Weapons Guide: Assault Rifles/Machine Guns
Alex LaFreniere

Alex LaFreniere

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Fortnite: Battle Royale is a chaotic fight for survival against as many as 100 ruthless opponents. If you hope to survive and achieve the coveted Victory Royale, you need to make sure that you’re better equipped than the competition. With a huge arsenal of weapons to choose from, it can be tough to make split-second decisions about what to take with you and what to leave behind. We’ll do the work so that you don’t have to, with an in-depth examination of each weapon in Fortnite. For this guide, we’ll be looking at assault rifles and light machine guns.

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One overarching rule to remember when it comes to Fortnite’s weapons: all guns in the game are available in varying levels of rarity, ranked based on a color system. Refer to the list below to see each level, and make sure you go for rare guns whenever you find them.

Common- Grey

Uncommon- Green

Rare- Blue

Epic- Purple

Legendary- Orange

Assault Rifle

Rarities: Common/Uncommon/Rare

Damage Per Shot: 30/31/33

Ammo Type: Medium Bullets

Magazine Capacity: 30

Description: The Assault Rifle is like the four-door sedan you inherited from your parents: simple, reliable, but not particularly stylish or flashy. It’s a well-rounded weapon in pretty much every aspect, excelling at every range and doing a respectable amount of damage with each shot. It’s got good accuracy, good mag capacity, and a decent fire rate.

Though the Assault Rifle may seem painfully average, this is why it excels. It’s not the most exotic gun, but it’s just about the perfect weapon for any situation. It’s never a bad idea to grab an Assault Rifle, and you don’t need to second-guess before picking one up. This gun is the brick and mortar that should be the foundation of every Fortnite player’s arsenal.

Assault Rifle (Rare)

Fortnite Assault Rifle Rare

Rarities: Epic/Legendary

Damage Per Shot: 35/36

Ammo Type: Medium Bullets

Magazine Capacity: 30

Description: At higher rarity levels, the Assault Rifle gets a makeover, upgrading from the venerable M4 to the more exotic SCAR. In most respects, the SCAR is exactly the same as the standard rifle: same magazine capacity, same fire rate, and similar accuracy. When it comes to damage, though, the SCAR is the leader of the pack. It boasts one of the highest per-shot damages of any weapon in the category, and if you come across this rare weapon, grabbing one should be a no-brainer.

Burst Rifle

Fortnite Burst Rifle

Rarities: Common/Uncommon/Rare

Damage Per Shot: 27/29/30

Ammo Type: Medium Bullets

Magazine Capacity: 30

Description: The Burst Rifle is a niche weapon that strikes a balance between accuracy and fire rate. Each pull of the trigger fires a quick burst of three rounds. These bursts are highly accurate, and landing all three rounds on target can quickly do some serious damage.

The time between bursts can be a killer, though, meaning that you have to be fairly accurate to use this rifle effectively. If your opponent is fast and quickly jumping around to dodge your shots, you won’t be able to just hold down the trigger to keep firing. The Burst Rifle can best be described as a sort of cross between a submachine gun and a sniper rifle. Though it does have advantages in certain situations, the drawbacks are also significant.

Burst Rifle (Rare)

Fortnite Burst Rifle Rare

Rarities: Epic/Legendary

Damage Per Shot: 32/33

Ammo Type: Medium Bullets

Magazine Capacity: 30

Description: Like the standard Assault Rifle, the Burst Rifle also receives a cosmetic upgrade at higher rarity levels. Also like the Assault Rifle, it shares most of its attributes with the standard Burst Rifle with the exception of its higher damage. This higher damage does a lot to make up for the Burst Rifle’s serious drawbacks, but those drawbacks still remain. It’ll take some practice to use the Burst Rifle in an effective way, but it can be a dangerous tool for players that get the hang of it.

Scoped Assault Rifle

Fortnite Scoped Assault Rifle

Rarities: Rare/Epic

Damage Per Shot: 23/24

Ammo Type: Medium Bullets

Magazine Capacity: 20

Description: The Scoped AR feels more like a variant to the Semi-Auto Sniper Rifle than any kind of Assault Rifle. Its main feature is a high powered scope, allowing you to engage opponents at longer ranges than a typical assault rifle. This extended range is a definite plus, but its low damage, slow fire rate, and low mag capacity compared to other rifles leave the Scoped AR at a distinct disadvantage compared to other weapons in the class. Players can find a use for it as a stopgap weapon to use in place of a sniper rifle, but overall, there are better choices in both the assault rifle and sniper rifle categories to devote inventory space to.

Thermal Scoped Assault Rifle

Fortnite Thermal Scoped Assault Rifle

Rarities: Epic/Legendary

Damage Per Shot: 36/37

Ammo Type: Medium Bullets

Magazine Capacity: 15

Description: The Thermal Scoped rifle is an interesting oddity of a weapon. Surprisingly enough, it’s a much more practical choice than it’s standard scoped counterpart. This is mostly due to its significantly higher damage, comparable to the SCAR. The rifle’s fire rate, however, is exceedingly slow, almost on par with a semi-automatic rifle. It’s also got a smaller magazine capacity.

The key is thinking of this weapon as a sniper rifle rather than an assault rifle. Reserve this one for long range engagements only, as it’s a pretty terrible choice for close and medium range fighting. The thermal scope takes some getting used to, but is perfect for finding hidden enemies and keeping on target with far-away opponents.

Light Machine Gun

Fortnite Light Machine Gun

Rarities: Rare/Epic

Damage Per Shot: 25/26

Ammo Type: Medium Bullets

Magazine Capacity: 100

Description: The classic light machine gun is a perfect automatic weapon. Though certainly not as high-damage as many other automatics, its 100 round magazine means you can keep firing to your heart’s content, and not have to worry about reloading. The reload process is quite lengthy, though, and you should make sure you aren’t caught in a situation where you have to reload in the middle of a firefight. There’s nothing more frustrating than having an opponent flank you and take you out while you’re in the midst of a reload.

Minigun

Fortnite Minigun

Rarities: Epic/Legendary

Damage Per Shot: 18/19

Ammo Type: Light Bullets

Magazine Capacity: N/A

Description: The Minigun has been a battlefield mainstay every since it exploded onto the big screen in “Predator.” This is less of a gun and more of a bullet hose, letting you become a walking turret that rains death and destruction upon your enemies.

The Minigun is unique in that it doesn’t feed from a traditional magazine. Instead, it draws from your reserve bullets, meaning you can fire until your completely out of ammo. It excels at doing damage to structures, making enemy defenses all but meaningless. It’s a perfect tool for fort demolition, and once the walls go down you can just keep on firing to take out the enemies hiding inside.

Players should be mindful that the minigun takes a moment to spool up before the shooting starts, so you won’t be able to open fire in a split-second situation. Once that minigun starts roaring though, you don’t have to stop until everything in your path is gone.

Assault rifles and machine guns are the mainstays of combat and should also be the mainstay of every Fortnite player. It’s the weapon class with the most variants to offer, meaning there’s a rifle for every playstyle. Though may take some trial and error to find the rifle that’s right for you, once you find that favorite, you’ll be an unstoppable force.

Fortnite Assault Rifle

Alex LaFreniere

Alex LaFreniere

Alex's first experience with video games came at the tender young age of 12, when his parents gave him and his brothers a PlayStation 2 for Christmas. They’ve probably been regretting that mistake ever since, because as soon he finished his first lap in Gran Turismo 3, Alex was hooked for life. In addition to writing for Softonic, Alex has turned that love of games into a voice acting career, and has voiced everything from grizzled old soldiers to vampire lords. When he's not gaming or getting behind the microphone, Alex can probably be found wandering the woods around Boston or putting together some new culinary delight in his kitchen.

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