Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 1 has brought along a whole new wave of weapons and even introduced a range of gun attachments to modify them with. If you’re struggling to work out which are the best to use, then here’s a complete Fortnite guns tier list to help you.
Fortnite has unleashed tonnes of fresh content into the game with the Chapter 5 Season 1 update. This included a brand new island, the return of the popular faction-based theme with 11 new POIs and more. Players are now able to visit these POIs and battle against The Society or The Underground while at the same time carrying out a heist on a moving Train.
While these are all new additions, perhaps the most notable is the loot pool full of unvaulted and new weapons now at your disposal. With the introduction of the new Weapon Mods system, players can now equip from a range of attachments to their guns in the game.
With so many new features and modifications introduced by this update, many players are likely to be confused about which weapons are the best and which are the worst.
However, if you still are getting used to weapon mods and want to make out the most of your default loadout, here’s a Fortnite weapons tier list that should make your decision-making a little bit simpler.
Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 1 best weapons ranked
The latest Chapter 5 changes the loot pool drastically by adding modded weapons.
These are the best weapons currently available to use in Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 1
- Hyper SMG
- Striker AR
- Enforcer AR
- Frenzy Auto Shotgun
- Ballistic Shield
- Reaper Sniper Rifle
Our ranking has been formed by taking into account stats, community feedback, and our own in-game experiences with these Fortnite guns since Chapter 5 Season 1 launched in December 2023.
Below, you’ll find each weapon separated into tiers, as well as stats and a description of how well they all perform. The S Tier represents the best in class, while the C Tier should probably be avoided.
All of the stats included are based on the highest-rarity versions available right now.
Fortnite S Tier Weapons
| Weapon | DPS | Reload Time | Mag Size | Image |
| Hyper SMG | 192 | 1.8 seconds | 30 | |
| Striker AR | 243 | 2.88 seconds | 25 | |
| Enforcer AR | 154.05 | 1.98 seconds | 25 | |
| Frenzy Auto Shotgun | 187.5 | 4.23 seconds | 8 |
The newly added Hyper SMG is one of the best submachine guns to ever exist in Fortnite. The weapon has an insanely quick fire rate and reload time which makes it a perfect weapon for those run-n-gun encounters in the game.
The Striker AR is a heavy-hitting Assault Rifle in Chapter 5 Season 1 that has a lower fire rate but is perfect for mid-range combat. It deals some serious damage and has a lower bullet spread, thus increasing its overall accuracy when scope attachments are used.
The Enforcer AR is a brand-new medium to long-range Assault Rifle that mimics popular marksman rifles like the DMR but is fully automatic. Use it with 2x optic weapon mod and you’re all set to hit your opponents at a distance and deal lethal damage on them.
Finally, we couldn’t round off our S Tier without the Frenzy Auto Shotgun, one of the trusty shotguns this season which is perfect for close-range combat – especially in its highest rarity available to eliminate your opponents with multiple heavy-hitting shots. Pair the weapon up with a Red-Dot scope and you now have an overpowered shotgun in your loadout.
Fortnite A Tier Weapons
| Weapon | DPS | Reload Time | Mag Size | Image |
| Reaper Sniper Rifle | 64.13 | 3.15 seconds | 3 | |
| Nemesis AR | 175 | 2.25 seconds | 28 | |
| Ranger Pistol | 184.8 | 1.35 seconds | 15 |
While we miss the classic sniper and other marksman rifles in Fortnite, the brand-new Reaper Sniper makes up for the amount of damage it deals to opponents. Since its fire rate is fairly faster and has a magazine size of three rounds as compared to other snipers, players can also use the weapon without a mod in close to mid-range combat.
The next weapon on the list is the Nemesis AR which is a brand new model of the AK rifle which was earlier the Heavy AR in the game. The new weapon is an upgraded version of the classic AK as it fires rounds at a similar speed and inflicts heavy damage on opponents, but works great when used with mods.
This season, Fortnite introduced a brand new Ranger Pistol which is a quick heavy hitting sidearm that players respawn with once they’re rebooted back on the island. However, the rate of fire and damage of this specific pistol is higher than the infamous Tactical Pistol, since its mythic variant is perfect for quick combat scenarios.
Fortnite B Tier Weapons
| Weapon | DPS | Reload Time | Mag Size | Image |
| Hammer Pump Shotgun | 72.1 | 4.73 seconds | 6 | |
| Ballistic Shield | 50 Bash Damage | Infinite Health | One Stack Size | |
| Thunder Burst SMG | 192.27 | 2.03 seconds | 24 |
The latest Hammer Pump Shotgun is an underwhelming weapon in its category as its slower than a standard Pump Shotgun and has a first-person recoil animation. However, the Mythic variant of this weapon equipped with mods can be a one-shot disaster for opponents, but still can be a bit hard to get used to.
The Ballistic Shield is more of an item than a weapon but comes equipped with the Ranger Pistol for players to shoot at their opponents while blocking incoming fire. It comes useful in close range combat when your opponent is using a powerful weapon to which you can easily block their shots and even deal bash damage at them.
Lastly, the Thunder Burst SMG is a decent rapid fire weapon which can be used for more accurate shots in close combat scenarios. The gun works perfectly well with an optic and an underbarrel modded, however standalone it falls low.
Fortnite C Tier Weapons
| Weapon | DPS | Reload Time | Mag Size | Image |
| Grapple Blade | – | 13 seconds | 4 | |
| Cluster Clinger | – | – | – |
The Grapple Blade might look an attractive item in the loot pool but it lacks the offensive quality it promised players in the gameplay trailer for Chapter 5 Season 1. Hence, we’d recommend you only use it as a traversal item and not trust its slashing abilities.
On the other hand, Cluster Clinger is an underwhelming explosive item that deals little damage to opponents but is great at breaking down builds or structures.
As always, this ranking could end up shifting around as Epic Games rolls out Fortnite patch updates with new weapons and old classics throughout the season. But for now, this is how the state of play looks.
We’ll be sure to update this ranking when more weapons get vaulted or unvaulted as Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 1 progresses, so check back soon to make sure you’re using the very best weapons on offer.
That’s it for our Chapter 5 Season 1 weapons tier list. The addition of new Fortnite guns has left things looking quite different from previous seasons, and there are more to come as the season progresses.