The weapons in Gears of War are diverse and have many different utilities. From beams of energy raining down from an orbiting satellite, to pistol with a high rate of fire, to a powerful shotgun, there are certain times to use certain weapons. The different weapons also cater to different styles of play for different types of gamers. If gamers like to sit back and snipe, the Longshot and Torque Bow are valid options. If gamers like close-quarters combat, the Gnasher shotgun is the best weapon to have. For the roles of fire support and assaulting, the Lancer, Hammerburst, and pistols are more practical options. For weapons with a lot of fire power, the Boom Shot and Hammer of Dawn will vibrate a few controllers.

But in a normal gaming situation, which weapons are the best? By best I mean which weapons are the most versatile? Sure, certain weapons will work great at certain times. But which weapons will work most of the time and in critical situations when you absolutely need them?

I have made a chart that ranks each weapon in categories that I think are important during gameplay. Weapons were ranked from “1” to “10” with “10” being the more desirable score. The higher the score, the more value a weapon has. See charts below:

(Before weighted categories)

(After weighted categories)

So, the results are (in order of "best" to "worst"):

1 – Hammerburst (two shots to down and has a melee)
2 – Gnasher (deadly blasts with a melee but at close range only)
3 – Lancer (great mid-range weapon with pleny of ammo)
4 – Snub Gun (great mid-range weapon with melee and zoom)
5 – Torque Bow (hitting the body results in a death)
6 – Longshot (only a headshot will result in a death)
7 – Boltok Pistol (slow fire hurts this powerful pistol)
8 - Boom Shot (once it’s empty you can melee)
9 – Frag grenades (once they’re gone, you're done)
10 – Hammer of Dawn (useful in rare occasions on few maps)

#1 - Hammerburst

As you can see, I ranked the Hammerburst as the most versatile weapon in the game. Two complete bursts to the body results in a down. It carries a lot of rounds (300) and has a quick melee which makes it lethal in hand-to-hand combat. This weapon is accurate at medium ranges, is very effective against close-range targets, and has a quick active reload. It fires six stinging rounds during each burst. Because you can down an enemy quickly at medium and short ranges, its high rate of fire, and melee power, I consider this weapon the most versatile weapon in the game.

Max ammo: 300
Full mag: 60
Base damage: 56
Short: 100%
Med: 100%
Long: 60% damage
ROF: 1250 r/min
Reload: 2.5 seconds
Melee: 120%

#2 – Gnasher

This shotgun has the strongest non-explosive round in the game. This weapon is only good a close range (within 8-ft) but those close blasts can lead to 1-shot kills. Fortunately for Gnasher lovers, Gears of War is about the “cover system” which encourages close combat. When an enemy is down, one blast from the shotgun leads to a quick, instant kill. Of course, the shotgun has a melee feature which is great for finishing off a downed enemy or putting said enemy down. Two melees results in a down. In close combat situations, and there are plenty in Gears of War multiplayer, this weapon is dominant due to its powerful blast and melee. You can also pick up plenty of ammo for this weapon from the dead players in the game since everyone spawns with this weapon. Headshots are possible with this weapon.

Max ammo: 24 rounds
Full mag: 8 rounds
Base damage: 270
Short: 275% damage
Medium: 175% damage
Long: 50% damage
Reload: 3 seconds
Rate of fire: 60 rounds per minute
Melee: 300% damage

#3 – Lancer

With this weapon you can get three downs without reloading if you are perfectly accurate. It carries a ton of rounds and there is plenty of ammo on maps after enemy/friendly deaths. This weapon is effective at medium and close ranges. Its chainsaw shouldn’t be used in most all situations since the animation is loud (can be heard by the enemy) and takes a couple of seconds to complete (leaving you exposed). So, you are left without a melee. This weapon has an average active reloading time. Because you can down an enemy so quickly with the weapon and because you can down several enemies without reloading, this is a highly effective weapon if you can get the reticle on your enemy. Two friendlies firing on the same enemy at medium range results in very quick downs.

Max Ammo: 300 rounds
Full Mag: 60 rounds
Base damage: 42
Short: 100% damage
Med: 100% damage
Long: 60% damage
ROF: 850 rounds
Reload: 2.5 seconds

#4 – Snub gun

This weapon is good at medium to short range. Seven rounds can put an enemy down or blow off his head with a headshot on the 7th shot. This weapon is the first weapon on my list that has a zoom feature which increases accuracy. It has a 2x scope. The pistol also has a melee which makes it a decent weapon at close range. This weapon will fire at a very high rate (as fast as you can pull the trigger it seems). Like the Gnasher and Lancer, we all spawn with this weapon.

Max ammo: 48 rounds
Full mag: 12 rounds
Base damage: 90
Short: 100% damage
Medium: 100% damage
Long: 60% damage
Reload: 2 seconds
Rate of fire: 700 rounds per minute
Melee: 120% damage

#5 - Torque Bow

This weapon is found in only a few maps by default. It is effective at medium and long ranges with its laser pointing assisting your aim. This weapon makes noise when the bow is being tensioned. The enemies can hear that noise. More importantly, this weapon takes about 2 seconds to build up enough tension so that the round doesn’t ricochet off its target. So, at close range, a (slow) melee is its only practical defense. It takes too long to stretch the bow and fire a round for it to be effective. If you don’t get enough tension on the bow, your round will simply bounce off of whatever it was aimed at. Embed this round in an enemy (anywhere on the enemy’s body) and the round will explode as will the enemy. This round also produces some splash damage (more so than the Boom Shot, in my findings) meaning that you can kill more than one enemy with a single round. Perform a perfect reload for 30% faster aiming.

Max ammo: 6
Full mag: 1
Base damage: 640
Short: 100%
Med: 100%
Long: 60% damage
ROF: 60 r/min
Reload: 3.0 seconds
Melee: 120%

#6 – Longshot

This weapon has a 6x zoom. The only way to instantly kill an enemy with the Longshot is by getting a headshot. Online, you have to adjust for the shooter’s lag or be standing still to hit what you are aiming at. Two non-actively reloaded shots will down an enemy. Additionally, one actively reloaded round will down an enemy with a a shot to any location on his body. A sniper can generally focus on one downed enemy and keep him down until a teammate is close enough the finish the job. The melee of the sniper appears to have a longer reach than most weapons, however, in my tests it has the same reach as other weapons. The sniper melee is fast. Two melees and the enemy will die. In close-range situations, the melee is the most practical way to attack an enemy because a missed shot triggers the Longshot's long reload animation, and if you’re not actively reloaded, the enemy isn’t going down anyway. Because this weapon doesn’t shoot where it is aimed when playing on someone else’s host it is very hard to get headshots on moving enemies. Also, leaving a man back to snipe most often puts your team at a disadvantage in assaulting firepower.

Max ammo: 11 rounds
Full mag: 1 round
Base damage: 350
Short: 120%
Med: 100%
Long: 100% damage
ROF: 60 rounds per minute
Reload: 3.0 seconds
Melee: 120%

#7 – Boltok Pistol

Two shots at close range will put an enemy down. However, the rounds are the slowest in the game and because of this, it is very hard to hit a moving enemy. Like the Snub Gun, this weapon has a 2x zoom and its melee is just as powerful as the Snub pistol. Because the rounds travel so slowly and because this gun has a low rate of fire, I wouldn’t recommend carrying this weapon over the Snub pistol unless you are going to be in situations where you encounter still or slow moving enemies. The risk is that this weapon fires extremely slow rounds. The reward is that only two hits are required to down the enemy.

Max Ammo: 12
Full Mag: 6
Base damage: 270
Short: 100%
Med: 100%
Long: 60% damage
ROF: 60 r/min
Reload: 2.0 seconds
Melee: 120%

#8 – Frag Grenades

Once someone is stuck with a frag grenade, the fuse will detonate two seconds later and the person that was “tagged” will explode. The frag grenades can be thrown quite a distance, especially if the thrower has elevation. Using the left-trigger trajectory aiming technique makes for accurate grenade tosses. The frags have quite a blast radius. Enemies near the explosion will either die (because the frags are very near them) or be stunned (just out of death range). While an enemy is stunned, they can’t move. Use this time to light them up with a Hammerburst, Lancer, or Snub Gun. There are a limited number of frag grenades on the multiplayer maps. You can only carry two grenades at a time. Since the “tagging” distance is shorter now and since the blast radius is large, it is very common that the enemy takes out the “tagger” after a tag. Suicides are extremely common with this weapon at close range. Also, team kills are a real possibility when throwing this item near friendlies (assuming friendly fire is ON).

#9 – Boom Shot

The Boom Shot is a powerful weapon akin to a rocket launcher. It can wipe out three and even four enemies with one shot. However, it only carries two rounds and takes 2.5 seconds to reload if you miss the active reload. It has a melee which may be your only savior at close range. Due to the lag involved in online play, this weapon usually isn’t effective while you or your enemy is moving. Also, this weapon seems to have a small blast radius, smaller than the frags and Torque Bow. This weapon is probably the most difficult weapon to use. The risk is a slow reload and it only carries two rounds. The reward is an instant kill if the round hits the enemy.

Max ammo: 2
Full mag: 1
Base damage: 335
Short: 100%
Med: 100%
Long: 60% damage
ROF: 60 r/min
Reload: 2.5 seconds
Melee: 120%

#10 – The Hammer of Dawn

The last weapon on the list is the Hammer of Dawn. This is the worst weapon in the game. It’s only effective at targets that are within line-of-sight of the satellites above. So, this weapon can’t be used on targets that are indoors or undercover. This weapon is also only available in certain maps. After the Hammer of Dawn has been fired, a short rest period of a few seconds is required for the HoD and satellite to recharge. The Hammer also makes a loud clicking or beeping sound when it is about to fire energy from the satellite above. Enemies will always know that the satellite is about to release energy and can move to cover because they hear these sounds. The Hammer of Dawn is powerful--the most powerful weapon in the game. It can kill an entire enemy team with one shot. But, because this weapon can only be used outside, when the satellite is charged, and makes noise when being used, I rarely see this weapon being useful. With the Hammer of Dawn you are more likely to get kills by meleeing an enemy to death versus shooting them.

Quick studies

Hammerburst vs Lancer

The Hammerburst is a better weapon than the Lancer. The main reason that a Hammerburst is better than a Lancer is because the Hammerburst has a (rather quick) melee. In place of a melee the Lancer has a Chainsaw. The Chainsaw is slow and loud. While you are locked in your Chainsaw animation, you are vulnerable. Also, you can not quickly execute en enemy with the Lancer (unless you are on top of them and firing at their head or if you use the Chainsaw). The Hammerburst’s melee is powerful (two melees will put an enemy down). The melee will also quickly execute the enemy, versus having to wait for the Chainsaw animation to play. On top of all of this, the Hammerburst can put an enemy down with two bursts fired. It packs more of a punch and can do more damage to an enemy per trigger-pull than the Lancer. The downside to the Hammerburst is that you don’t spawn with it. You have to go out of your way to find it. If you can afford to pick up a Hammerburst, then do it.

(rapture’s take: There are two Hammerbursts in Escalation. One is at the very top in the spawn area. Most of the time, everyone runs right past it. By the time you pick up the Hammerburst and rush to the level above the other Hammerburst spawn, you can be there waiting on the enemy to come up to grenade that level. Two accurate bursts will put the enemy down.)

Torque Bow versus Longshot

The only advantage the Longshot has over the Torque Bow is that it offers a more powerful zoom. They both have powerful melees and can shoot to long distances. But with the Torque Bow, a body shot anywhere on the enemy’s body will kill him. A body shot with a Longshot will only hurt the enemy. An actively reloaded shot will only down an enemy. As a matter of fact, the only way to kill an enemy at a distance with the Longshot is by hitting the enemy in the head (headshot). The Longshot zoom is not realistic if you are shooting while moving. That leads many players to see the sniper round’s trail going through the target without taking damage away from the target. With the Torque Bow, you always hit the target you are aimed at. One downside to the Torque Bow is that it takes 1.5 seconds for the bow to be stretched tight enough for the round to embed in its target. Else, the round will bounce off of its target and not be effective.

(rapture’s take: over 95% of all kills that I’ve seen with a Longshot are from melees battles. Because you can’t be moving to really hit what you’re aimed at while shooting, headshots are extremely rare. Because almost every other weapon has a melee and because almost all of the melees are equally powerful (according to our studies), why use the sniper rifle? Use the Torque for mid-to-long range kills. At least you’ll get a kill when you hit someone in the chest. Keep your Gnasher and Lancer. Use the Gnasher or Snub Gun for melees at close range. Teamshooting is very important in this game with the GoW weapons.)

Explanation for categories

Close range: This is the effectiveness of a weapon on enemies that are within 8-feet of the gun. Some weapons aren’t good at close range, like the Torque Bow. Others are great, like the Gnasher. Because of the nature of gameplay in Gears and because you generally need to be close to an enemy to finish them off,

Mid range: This is the effectiveness of a weapon on enemies that are within 8- to 50-feet. Some weapons have little effect on someone that far away, like the Gnasher. Others have zoom capabilities or higher rates of fire that allow for a “spraying” of the enemy, like the Lancer.

Long range: This is a distance of 50-feet and beyond. The weapons that can kill an enemy at that range are the Longshot, Hammer of Dawn, Torque Bow, and Boom Shot.

Melee: This is the weapon’s ability to melee

Reload: This is the weapon’s abilitiy to reload

Rate of fire: This is how fast the weapon fires successive rounds

Max ammo: This is the amount of ammo the weapon carries

Suicide or Teamkill likelyness: Propensity to hurt yourself or your teammates.

Sound during use: How loud the weapon is during use

Execution: Ability for the weapon to perform a quick execution

Ammo on map: Likeliness that additional ammo for that weapon is available on the map

Lag penalty: How not having host affects this weapon

Killability: Ability for that weapon to kill the enemy

Skill to use: How hard the weapon is to use

Shots to down: How fast this weapon can down an enemy

Faults in my rankings:

Mind you, that if the rate of fire for a Gnasher were, say, 1 round per minute (meaning if could only be used one time every mintue) then that weapon wouldn’t have much value at all and it would throw off my results. I would have to rate the Gnasher with the lowest value possible, “1”, it could still rank well in other categories, like killability. So, in my chart, a weapon could be useless most of the time, yet still rank higher than other weapons. To try to get around that glitch in my rankings, I have weighted each category with a multiplier that makes that category more or less important.
Because not all categories are equal, I weighted the categories with a multiplier of either 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, or 2.0.

2.0 (most important) categories:
Melee – needed to finish an enemy or in close combat
Lag penalty – what you see isn't what you get
Skill of use – if you can't handle it, then you are not effective

1.5 categories:
Close range – you’ll kill, damage, and defending at close range
Reload – quicker the reloads, the better the gun
Execution – how you do it is important
Killability – the ultimate reward for using this weapon
Shots to down – how fast someone goes down

0.5 (least important) categories:
Rate of fire – if you are accurate, this is less important
Suicide/TK – if you’re careful, this isn’t a major factor
Sound – sometimes you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do
 

Things to take away:

Hammerburst > Lancer because:

• Hammerburst has melee
• Hammerburst requires only 2 bursts to down
• Lancer has no quick execution
• Lancer Chainsaw is loud

Torque Bow > Longshot because:

• Torque Bow aiming works while moving
• Body shot with Torque Bow results in kill

Gnasher is best hand-to-hand weapon because:

• It has a melee
• One well placed shot will kill the enemy

So, what do you think? Disagree with my rankings? Sound off in the comments section. I definitely intend to revise my spreadsheet rankings after I hear your input.