The best weapons and loadouts in Fortnite Battle Royale and Zero Build

Fortnite's bug-themed Chapter 6 Season 4, Shock 'n Awesome, has added a pile of new weapons, many with unusual mechanics. They're mixed with returning favourites such as the Sentinel Pump shotgun to create an interesting, varied loot pool—with some standouts.

If you want a victory crown in Battle Royale or Zero Build, you'll need to know what to drop, what to carry, and what to lean on in a tough situation.

Below I'll lay out the best rifles, shotguns, and other weapons to carry this season, including a tier list. I've got a separate section on the new exotic and mythic weapons, and then I'll discuss the best mobility and healing items to carry, including the Shockwave launcher and the joyful Flowberry Fizz.

If you just want to know my best five-item loadout, I'd pick the O.X.R. rifle as my primary weapon alongside the Wrecker revolver and the Swarmstrike rocket launcher. Then, I'd carry the Shockwave launcher for mobility and any healing item I find, but ideally the legendary Slurp Juice or the Flowberry Fizz (with bonus anti-gravity fun).

My alternative loadout is the same, except it swaps the Swarmstrike for the Sentinel Pump. You can quick-switch between the Sentinel Pump and the Wrecker revolver and fire immediately, which is a dangerous combo.

Fortnite best weapons tier list

The Wrecker revolver and the Swarmstrike are the best weapons in Fortnite right now—even after a recent patch to reduce their potency. The revolver is basically a shotgun with absurd range, while the Swarmstrike is a rocket launcher that can obliterate opponents, especially if you're airborne.

The O.X.R. rifle edges out the Hammer and Fury as the best assault rifle because of its accuracy, reliable hip fire, and 1.75x headshot multiplier (the others have 1.5x).

But there are other viable weapons: use this list as a rough guide, but make sure to test different guns for yourself and find your favorites.

S-tier

Wrecker revolver

Think of it as a shotgun that can deal 150-damage headshots up close, but also a reliable 60 per shot at mid-range. It's incredibly versatile, with a decent firing rate and a tight bullet spread when you aim down sights, which you'll want to do most of the time. The Sentinel Pump will do more damage with a single shot up close, but the Wrecker is better in basically every other scenario.

When the season released, you could 'double pump' these revolvers, switching between them with no delay between firing. An update on August 11 fixed that, but this is still a must-carry weapon.

Swarmstrike rocket launcher

A skilled player with shockwaves and one of these launchers is a menace. It fires a swarm of seven rockets, and one salvo can kill a 200HP enemy in build mode (and leave a zero-build player with a slither of health). You can shoot from the hip or right-click for a laser sight that guides your missiles after you've fired them.

If you can grab mobility items and get airborne so that you're firing on opponents from above, they don't stand a chance. The only downside to this weapon is that you can hurt yourself with splash damage, so don't get too close.

A-tier

Sentinel Pump Shotgun

The old reliable. This is a high-damage, slow-firing shotgun that’s perfect for landing those 100-HP kill shots. You need to be close to your enemies, so chip away from afar with a rifle, use mobility items to close the gap, and finish them off. It's not as good as the Wrecker revolver, but it's still a fantastic finishing weapon.

O.X.R. rifle

The best rifle this season. It's accurate whether you shoot from the hip or aim in, and it deals solid damage from mid-to-long range with manageable recoil. Both the Fury assault rifle and the Hammer assault rifle are still solid picks, but they both kick more than the O.X.R, making them harder to handle at longer ranges. It's also the only rifle with a 1.75x headshot multiplier, which can be the difference between life and death.

B-tier

Hammer assault rifle

Deals less damage than the O.X.R., but fires faster. Once you learn its recoil—up and to the right—you'll be able to melt opponents at mid range. Its 20-round magazine means you'll be reloading a lot, so be ready to swap to your secondary if you get in a sticky spot.

Fury assault rifle

The Fury has been a staple of Fortnite Chapter 6, and it's a reliable assault rifle for short and medium-range fights. It only deals 22 damage per bodyshot at the base rarity, so chipping away at enemies from long range is futile. Built for aggressive playstyles.

DMR

It's high up this list because it's the only rifle with a proper scope, which will suit some players: if you like picking off enemies from afar, give it a go. It deals roughly 50 damage per body shot, which is the highest for any rifle. Just make sure you practice to get used to the projectile travel time and bullet drop.

Leadspitter 3000

Fantastic at dealing with Queen mini-bosses and bug zones in general, but I wouldn't recommend it as a primary weapon for most fights because you move slowly when you're firing it. If you're stuffing all 12 of your barrels in an enemy's face and holding the trigger you will melt them—once you take a step back you have to deal with recoil. Thankfully, a post-launch update has made the recoil more manageable at mid-range.

Bug blaster

This is probably never going to be your go-to weapon, but this explosive blaster hits surprisingly hard and you never need to reload it. Uncharged shots deal 50 damage and charged shots 100, and its generous area of effect makes it easy to aim. It deals 3x damage against vehicles, and 2.7x damage against bugs—that's useful when you're hunting Queens to collect medallions, which you absolutely should be doing.

C-tier

Hyperburst pistol

A sneaky powerful pistol that can rip through health bars, especially if you land head shots, but you can only fire six times before you need to reload. It was higher up my list last season, but in Season 4 there are simply better options for both short and mid-range fights.

Stinger SMG

SMGs are in a particularly weird place this season: three solid assault rifles, two brilliant shotguns, and an overpowered missile launcher leaves no room in your inventory for the Stinger. It fires fast and can pump out tons of damage up close, but it's not versatile enough for me to recommend carrying it beyond the first 30 seconds of a round.

Veiled Precision SMG

If you love red-dot scopes then this SMG might appeal, but there are simply better options at every range. I hope Epic reworks this weapon soon.

Auto shotgun

The Auto shotgun got a buff earlier in Chapter 6 and it now deals chunks of damage up close: even the base variant will do more than 80 damage to the body, and you can hold left click to fire it rapidly. It's nowhere near as good as the Wrecker or the Sentinel Pump, but it's arguably more forgiving if your aim isn't on point.

D-tier

Sweeper shotgun

This season's dud. Its horizontal fire pattern makes it nearly impossible to land high-damage shots. In a world with the Wrecker revolver and the Sentinel Pump, there is currently no reason to carry this weapon.

Exotic weapons

Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 4: Exotics from O.X.R. bunkers

Once you've killed enough enemies and smushed enough bugs to reach O.X.R. rank A, a bunker icon will appear on your map (it looks like a big sliding rectangular door). Unlock a bunker and you're treated to a random exotic weapon from a selection of five. They're all worth picking up, and give you a reason to race to rank A—but there are a couple of caveats.

• Eradicator O.X.R. rifle: Landing shots in a row increases this rifle's damage by 5, up to a cap of 20 extra damage. It's a no-brainer upgrade on the regular O.X.R. rifle, although its base damage is lower than the mythic variant of the O.X.R.—personally, I'd stick with the mythic.
• Double Trouble: Two exotics for the price of one. These powerful shotguns can be 'double pumped', which means you can switch between them without any delay in firing. They're only worth carrying if you can spare two inventory slots, and keep in mind they only work up close, so you'll still need a weapon for handling mid-range skirmishes.
• Shock n' Slow Shockwave launcher: Works like the regular Shockwave launcher except you travel slower through the air. Fantastic if you're carrying the Swarmstrike rocket launcher, because it gives you longer to rain down terror from above, but the slow movement also makes you more vulnerable.
• Exotic Slap Berry Fizz: This season's best healing item. It sprays liquid over you and nearby teammates that replenishes both health and shield, and heals for 300 rather than the 200 of the regular Flowberry Fizz.
• Eradicator Marksman Wrecker revolver: This exotic does less damage per shot than even the most common Wrecker revolver—but it fires a lot faster from the hip and it has a 3x headshot multiplier, dealing 180 damage. A beast in the right hands.

Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 4: Mythics from reaching S+ rank

As well as the Exotics, this season also has several powerful Mythic weapons. The less exciting ones are just regular guns with slightly better stats—but the more exciting ones are unique weapons found in a drop pod when you reach S+ O.X.R. rank, which is extremely difficult to do.

The more boring ones are worth picking up to replace the regular versions of these weapons. There's the Mythic Leadspitter 3000, which you can get from the rift pod that spawns in the mid-late game (you get a "rift pod incoming" message). The others are obtained by defeating the Queen mini-bosses: the Queen at the Hive drops the Mythic enhanced Wrecker revolver, the queen at Ranger's Ruin drops the Mythic Sweeper Shotgun (don't bother), and the Queen at Demon's Debris drops the Mythic O.X.R. rifle (the single best rifle in the game).

Now for those S+ drop pods. They drop one of three weapons:

• Enhanced Havoc Pump Shotgun: A short-range monster. If you land a meaty bodyshot you'll deal 138 damage—or more than 270 for a headshot, enough to one-tap an enemy in zero build. It only has six shells, it fires slowly, and takes an age to reload, but your opponent will be dead within a few shots anyway. Just make sure you keep a rifle for mid-range fights.
• Enhanced assault rifle: The legendary SCAR returns. It's simply a fantastic assault rifle whether you're playing builds or zero builds. High damage, solid fire rate, pinpoint accuracy and a 30-round magazine.
• Overclocked Pulse rifle: The ultimate versatile weapon. Fire it from the hip and it feels like an accurate high-damage SMG—aim down sights and it fires slower, but hits harder. The only limitation is its 20-round magazine.

Best Fortnite items

So, you’ve picked your favorite guns. What else should you carry?

This season you’ll want a mix of heals and mobility. The number of slots you have to fill depends on what weapons you're carrying: if you're carrying three weapons (ideally three of the O.X.R. rifle, the Wrecker revolver, the Sentinel Pump and the Swarmstrike launcher), you'll want one healing item and one mobility item. If you're only carrying two weapons, I recommend doubling down on mobility.

I'd also really, really recommend going for the medallions by defeating Queen bugs, particularly the two mobility medallions: the Springleg medallion from Demon's Debris and the Surge medallion from the Hive. The Springleg grants you a bouncy double-jump that's immune from fall damage, while the Surge speeds up your overall movement and gives you a boost while sliding.

Heals: Anything will do

The best items are the legendary Slurp juice, which you get from Queen boss fights or from the rift pod, and the exotic Slap Berry Fizz—but because they're hard to obtain, you'll be using something else most of the time.

The Flowberry Fizz reduces gravity and pairs brilliantly with mobility, so that's what I like using, but it only heals shields, not health. The Chug Splash is particularly good in teams because you can heal multiple people at once, both health and shields. But remember: anything will do. If your health is low then a Med Kit works in a pinch.

One tip: look for Slurp Barrels in the early game, and break them rather than wasting your healing items, which you can save for later.

Mobility: Shockwave mastery

We're not spoilt for mobility this season, but what we have is more than enough to get you around the map.

We'll discuss shockwaves in a second, but first, there are two other items worth picking up: the new launch pad and the Crash Pad Jr.

The launch pad bounces you high above the map and deploys your glider. It's ideal for mid-round rotations, or for reaching faraway O.X.R. bunkers. If you're playing in a team, consider carrying one between you so it's on hand when you need it. If you're solo, I wouldn't recommend carrying it: instead, just use it when you find it if the timing is right. Spray your Flowberry Fizz before jumping for extra height.

The Crash Pad Jrs are bouncy inflatables that launch you in whatever direction you're running in. If you don't have shockwaves to hand, they'll get you around the map fine, but they're less versatile than shockwaves.

When it comes to shockwaves, you have two options: either you can use Shockwave grenades or the Shockwave launcher.

Shockwave grenades are a fantastic item, and work in every situation: escaping enemies, chasing a weakened foe down, or travelling large distances by chaining them together.

But I'd argue the Shockwave launcher is the one you really want here, for a few reasons.

You can only carry six shockwave grenades per slot—but the launcher uses regular rocket ammo, and you can carry up to 18. Dead enemies also drop their own rocket ammo, so if you're playing aggressively you'll have more ammo than you can burn through.

The only downside of the launcher is that you can only shoot three before needing to reload. Most of the time, three is enough—just make sure you're reloading it whenever you can so that when you panic-swap to it, you have three ready to go.

Load into a creative map and practice with shockwaves and the launcher until you get used to their mechanics—20 minutes should be fine. My advice is to fire directly at the ground, run forward, and jump before they detonate for maximum distance.

Finally, I'll repeat what I said about the medallions: go after them! Combining the mobility of the medallions with shockwave makes you a movement demon.

Fortnite loadout tips

Experiment to find your perfect loadout

Now you have a feel for all the weapons and items, here are some simple tips for picking your ideal combo:

• Play to your strengths: Everyone’s playstyle is different. If you’re good at closing distances with shifty movement, you could ditch a longer-range assault rifle and double up on shotguns (the Wrecker revolvers and the Sentinel Pump, for example). Test different combos until you find some you enjoy.
• Pick weapons that synergise: Ideally, that means something short-range and something for mid-range fights. Also think about your weapons’ strengths and weaknesses, and how they fit together. The slow-firing DMR is useless up close, so if you’re only carrying one other weapon, you’ll need something that can deal sustained damage at short-range. A weapon with a larger magazine (the Twinfire Auto Shotgun or the Fury Assault Rifle, for example) might work better than a Sentinel Pump.
• Consider swapping to a worse weapon of higher rarity: The O.X.R. rifle is the best rifle for me, but given the choice between a common (grey) one and an epic (purple) Hammer assault rifle, I'll leave the O.X.R. behind.
• Remember, there are no rules: Find a loadout you enjoy and stick with it, or vary it up every match depending on your mood.