Fortnite best weapons tier list for Chapter 5 Season 4

The best weapons in Fortnite can help you get to the final Storm Circle and secure that sweet Victory Royale if you play your cards just right.

As there's so many weapons and items constantly being added, vaulted, and unvaulted in Fortnite, we've made a tier list of the best weapons in the current Chapter 5 Season 4 update, to help you secure eliminations or avoid being downed yourself.

We also have a list of Fortnite Reload weapons below, to help you plan your future loadouts in this bonus mode and map, as it has a completely different loot pool.

Please note that this is a guide for the Battle Royale mode of Fortnite, so the reasoning and stats for each weapon listed won't apply if you're playing on Save The World.

On this page:

• Tier list for best weapons in Chapter 5 Season 4
• List of weapons in Fortnite Reload
• List of vaulted weapons from Chapter 5 Season 3
• Best weapons explained

Tier list for best weapons in Chapter 5 Season 4

There are 21 weapons in the current Chapter 5 Season 4 version of Fortnite.

You can still mod weapons at Weapon Mod Benches, so keep in mind that when you find a weapon as loot, it probably already has a mod attached to it. If it's of Uncommon rarity, it'll already have one mod. If it's of Rare rarity, it'll have two mods. Epic rarity, three mods. And Legendary, four.

Lastly, remember that you can remove mods at Weapon Mod stations, and that not every mod works with every weapon!

Excluding utility weapons that don't deal damage, here's our Fortnite best weapons tier list for Chapter 5 Season 4:

Weapon	Tier	Rarities	Reasoning	Picture
Captain America's Shield	SS-tier	Epic	Captain America's Shield is in a league of its own this season when you're using it in close-range to mid-range combat scenarios. Very fun and easy to use when you're the one controlling it, yet incredibly hard to counter when you're on the receiving end of repeated shield throws. As a bonus, it's also very useful for destroying structures, and blocking attacks. We highly recommend picking one up to keep in your loadout at all times.
Dual Micro SMGs	S-tier	Common Uncommon Rare Epic Legendary	An incredibly fast way to melt your opponents, if you like using SMGs, it's hard to go wrong with this Dual Micro variety, especially when using them for close-range combat.
Hyper SMG	S-tier	Common Uncommon Rare Epic Legendary	The Hyper SMG has a very speedy rate of fire, but suffers from annoying vertical recoil because of this. Adding just one mod to reduce this recoil fixes the only real problem with the Hyper SMG. Adding even more mods makes the Hyper SMG one of yhe best short-range weapons in the current season, that can also hold its own at medium range.
Doctor Doom's Arcane Gauntlets	S-tier	Mythic	A cool weapon that shoots cool projectiles effective at short and medium-range, with unlimited ammo. What's not to love? There's nothing really wrong with the gauntlets really, it's just inconvenient that you have to defeat Doctor Doom to get them, and become less desirable if you have Captain America's Shield.
War Machine's Auto Turret	S-tier	Epic	Just pop it on your back and let the Auto Turret do its job of automatically firing targets within range! It's a very handy, passive weapon to have, that also doubles up as a way to spot an enemy's location easier, but it can be annoying if you're trying to keep your position hidden. Still, for most people, War Machine's Auto Turret is an excellent weapon for boosting your damage.
War Machine's Arsenal	S-tier	Epic	A very easy and effective weapon to use at almost all ranges, War Machine's Arsenal is particularly effective if you also have the Auto Turret and Hover Jets to use with it. You're pretty much a one-person army with all three equipped. Even on its own, these gloves deal some great damage, and are also brilliant for destroying structures,
Doctor Doom's Monarch Pistol	S-tier	Mythic	There's not much more to say about this weapon, other than it's just a souped-up version of the regular Monarch Pistol - which makes it a fantastic pick for your medium-ranged encounters. See the regular entry right below for more details.
Monarch Pistol	A-tier	Common Uncommon Rare Epic Legendary	The Monarch Pistol is a fully automatic pistol that's very similar to the Pulse Rifle, and it's a fantastic, forgiving pick for medium-range encounters. Just remember that you actually fire faster when not aiming down the sights and you'll get even more out of this very useful weapon.
Striker AR	A-tier	Common Uncommon Rare Epic Legendary	If you could guarantee getting one with a scope mod, the Striker AR would be even higher on our list. That said, it's still a fantastic general use assault rifle, especially at medium range, with a high rate of fire. It can also hold its own at long-range, especially if you have a scope.
Enforcer AR	A-tier	Common Uncommon Rare Epic Legendary	The standard AR is a slow-firing medium-range weapon, but it makes up for this by being incredibly powerful. You can even turn it into more of a Sniper if a scope is attached at a mod station, meaning you can make your own Sniper Rifle if there isn't one available.
Gatekeeper Shotgun	A-tier	Common Uncommon Rare Epic Legendary	The only thing wrong with the Gatekeeper Shotgun is that its Mythic version exists! It's the best type of shotgun in the current season, as it's fast firing and lets you reload all shells at once, making it great for close-range battles. We still recommend using and SMG over a shotgun as close-range if you can, but the Gatekeeper is an excellent alternative if you don't have an SMG, or prefer the feel of a shotgun.
Ranger Pistol	A-tier	Common Uncommon Rare Epic Legendary	It may be classified as a pistol, but the Ranger Pistol is more like an SMG due to its speedy rate of fire. It really shines when you add the full set of mods to it, however, as the Legendary version of the Ranger Pistol can eliminate enemies at incredible speeds, even if they have full health and shields.
Combat Assault Rifle	A-tier	Common Rare Epic Legendary	The Combat Assault Rifle is back! It's one of the best regular weapons in the current season, but you need to account for its huge kickback to fully take advantage of it. We highly recommend modding the Vertical Foregrip and Muzzle Brake to help with the recoil in order to make the Combat Assault Rifle more manageable. One you do, it's perfect for medium-range combat scenarios, and we only recommend swapping it out for the Mythic version should you be lucky enough to get it.
Emma Frost's Striker Burst AR	B-tier	Mythic	Emma's Mythic version of the Striker Burst Rifle comes with the Red Eye Sight mod, reduced recoil, increased loading speed, and increases movement while aiming. This makes it an excellent pick for your mid-range encounters. It's better than the regular Striker Burst Rifle for sure, but it's not so good when compared to other weapons this season that we'd go out of the way to defeat Emma for it. Otherwise, we'd rank it as S-tier
Striker Burst Rifle	B-tier	Common Uncommon Rare Epic Legendary	A very accurate two round burst weapon that can be used at medium range, and long range if you get a scope for it. It's a great pick for those confident in their airming abilities, but for those whose aim tends to sway, you might want to swap it it for a more forgiving weapon.
Warforged Assault Rifle	B-tier	Common Uncommon Rare Epic Legendary	The Warforged Assault Rifle is a great standard medium-range weapon to have, and it's fairly similar to the Striker AR featured in previous seasons. Just like the Striker AR, the Warforged Assault Rifle needs mods to stabilise its recoil to fully take advantage of its power. If you want more of a long-range weapon, then we also recommend modding a scope to the Warforged Assault Rifle - but balancing its recoil should be the priority for most players.
Firefly Jar	B-tier	Rare	If you like drawing your enemies out of structures or causing them to panic, then we recommend using some Firefly Jars! They probably won't eliminate somebody unless they're low on health and shields, but they're great for chucking down and switching to another weapon to finish a fleeing ot panicked enemy off.
Sovereign Shotgun	C-tier	Common Uncommon Rare Epic Legendary	A more forgiving, speedy shotgun, but less effective at close-range due to this. It's decent at medium-range encounters if you don't have much else, but we recommend going for an assault rifle over it when you find one, and an SMG (or Cap's shield) for an easier time in close-range battles.
Mysterio's Sovereign Shotgun	C-tier	Mythic	Just like its regular version, Mysterio's Sovereign Shotgun is a more forgiving, speedy shotgun, but less effective at close-range due to this. Although this Mythic version is far better than the regular variety, it's not really worth going out of your way to kill Mysterio for it, otherwise we'd rank it as B-tier.
Hammer Pump Shotgun	C-tier	Common Uncommon Rare Epic Legendary	It's best to go for a Hammer Pump Shotgun with no scope if you really want to get the most out of it. The Hammer Pump Shotgun isn't bad, but an SMG is far better at short and medium-range.
Impulse Grenade	C-tier	Rare	Good for knocking an enemy into the storm during the final circle, or boosting yourself across the map - but there's not really any other uses for it.

List of weapons in Fortnite Reload

The Fortnite Reload map has a completely different loot pool than the regular mode, so we've separated it out into its own list below to help you see what's on offer while exploring the new (old..?) map.

As of writing, there are 38 weapons and utility items available in the Fortnite Reload mode. Including the utility items, here's a list of all weapons in Fortnite Reload:

• Assault Rifle
• Bolt-Action Sniper Rifle
• Burst Assault Rifle
• Charge Shotgun
• Crash Pad Jr.
• Grappler
• Gunnar's Stinger SMG
• Hammer Assault Rifle
• Heavy Shotgun
• Heisted Accelerant Shotgun
• Heisted Blink Mag SMG
• Heisted Breacher Shotgun
• Heisted Explosive Assault Rifle
• Heisted Run 'N' Gun SMG
• Hunting Rifle
• Jules' Glider Gun
• Lever Action Rifle
• Mammoth Pistol
• Midas' Drum Gun
• Mythic Goldfish
• Ocean's Bottomless Chug Jug
• Ocean's Burst Assault Rifle
• Pistol
• Port-A-Bunker
• Pump Shotgun
• Ranger Shotgun
• Rapid Fire SMG
• Revolver
• Rocket Launcher
• Shield Bubble Jr.
• Shockwave Grenade
• Skye's Assault Rifle
• Slone's Burst Assault Rifle
• Slone's Striker Burst Rifle
• Submachine Gun
• Tactical Shotgun
• The Foundation's MK-Seven Assault Rifle
• Twin Mag SMG

We hope one of your favourites has made a return! We're personally very excited to get our hands on the Heisted guns again.

List of vaulted weapons from Chapter 5 Season 3

With a new Fortnite season comes a shakeup in the loot pool - for better and for worse. Some of your favourite weapons might no longer be playable on the current version of the ever-changing island, so we've compiled all the weapons below that got vaulted at the start of Chapter 5 Season 4.

Here's a list of vaulted weapons from Chapter 5 Season 3 in Fortnite:

• Boom Bolt
• Cerberus' Gatekeeper Shotgun
• Combat Shotgun
• Conductor Hand Cannon
• Flint-Knock Pistol
• Hand Cannon
• Harbinger SMG
• Heavy Impact Sniper Rifle
• Huntress DMR
• Magneto Power
• Megalo Don's Combat Shotgun
• Megalo Don's Nitro Fists
• Minigun
• Nitro Fists
• Oscar's Frenzy Auto Shotgun
• Remote Explosive
• Ringmaster's Boom Bolt
• Tactical Assault Rifle
• The Machinist's Combat Assault Rifle
• Thunder Burst SMG
• Tri-Beam Laser Rifle

Best weapons explained

Our tier list for the best weapons in Fortnite will primarily focus on the offensive stats and capabilities of the various weapons found on the Battle Royale island.

Please keep in mind that just because we've listed a weapon higher than another, it doesn't mean you should only use those. Some of the best loot is hard to find, and how much you like using a weapon, or how good you are with one, should also factor in to what loadout you choose to go with.

We also won't move a weapon up in our tier list if a sudden exploit becomes available, as these weapons are usually vaulted by Epic as soon as it is aware of the bug, then brought back when the item is balanced properly.

Inventory space is limited - so choose wisely when coming across the best weapons in Fortnite!

Now that you know all about the weapons in Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 4, you can check out our page on the new victory umbrella.