Fortnite Weapons Tier List – Best New Chapter 5 S4 Weapons

The weapons have had some huge changes this season. Superhero powers are everywhere… and they’re pretty disruptive. But the best Fortnite weapons are still key. The top guns have plenty of reasons to be carried this season.

In a Fortnite Chapter 5 weapons tier list, there’s been a lot of change. This is how things balance out over the current season of Fortnite.

Best Fortnite Weapons – Fortnite Chapter 5 Weapons Tier list

S Tier – Fortnite Weapons Tier List Highlights

Gatekeeper Shotgun

The Gatekeeper might be Chapter 5’s greatest achievement. It’s stuck around as one of the top picks in the Fortnite Chapter 5 weapons tier list for three seasons in a row.

Not a lot needs to be said about the Gatekeeper. It has the power and accuracy of a pump with the speed of an Auto. It’s the best of both worlds.

Cerberus might be gone, but these shotguns are still everywhere. They’re still the best ones to run this season. Compared to the other shotguns (even the new C5 S4 weapons), it’s much more balanced.

It actually deals damage, unlike the sovereign. And it’s not a gun for a snail-like the Pump. The Gatekeeper gets it done, it’s the must-carry out of the shotguns.

The Gatekeeper Shotgun will likely remain the best shotgun for this season. Hopefully, between the indestructible shields and portable personal mechs, there’ll still be some time for some real shotgun fights this season with the Gatekeeper.

Shockwave Grenades

Shockwave Grenades aren’t typically thought of as weapons. However, they’re undisputedly one of the best Fortnite weapons this season.

There’s a lot going on in firefights right now. players get absolutely crushed by rockets and a machine gun auto-firing all at once, shields are blocking all fire, it’s kind of chaos. The War Machine weapons don’t even seem to be slowed down when you build and the shield goes right through them.

If you’ve got a Shockwave Grenade though, you actually have a chance at getting out. It’s a lower mobility season until you find a jetpack, so these shockwaves are a vital part of loadouts if you want to win Fortnite games this season.

Dual Micro SMGs

The next actual gun that’s one of the best Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 4 weapons, is the Dual Micro SMGs. These are twin SMGs that work best up close. They do incredible damage.

Even with the admittedly rough recoil, they’re best used up close which means that isn’t a huge issue. Used properly they can kill before you need to reload.

The Dual Micro SMGs are a fantastic part of the loot pool. Like other guns, the big problem is guns aren’t that important in the overall meta right now. They have their use in higher-skill lobbies though.

Captain America’s Shield

We get to a weapon that could be a menace in this season’s loot pool, the shield. Captain America’s shield is here. Its first use is to block fire, which it does substantially better than the old Riot Shield. It has no downsides as a shield.

It’s second is that you can chuck it at people. Only deals 60 damage, but works fairly quickly. Where this gets so disruptive though is the amount of end games that are just players spam, shielding all damage off them. Only throwing the shield out when there’s an opening.

It’s a very different way to play Fortnite. What’s more, there’s a secondary use secifically for countering builds that might not even be intended.

Throw it at a person who has boxed up and it’ll damage the builds and return. A day into the season though, players figured out the return function works kind of weirdly.

Once the shield is returning to you, nothing will stop it. A player, a wall, an armored wall with incredible health, it doesn’t matter. If a player has boxed up, you can throw, move, and get the shield to return by blasting through the box. You don’t need an aim trainer to excel with the shield.

This might not be an intended use, but it’s made sure the Shield is one of the best Fortnite weapons.

War Machine’s Arsenal

Maybe the craziest new items on the surface are the War Machine items. These are essentially a three-piece armored suit that turns you from a normal player, wearing whatever Fortnite skin you want, to a mech.

War Machine’s Arsenal is the weapons. On your left click, you’ve got rockets. Do great damage to builds, splash damage to people on top of normal hits, and seem to replenish nearly instantly. Oh, and they have infinite ammo. Rocket ammo isn’t back, these are just free.

Next is the machine gun arm attack. This is the main fire. This shoots out small bullets at essentially the pace of a minigun and can do intense damage on its own. When paired, you can destroy builds faster than players can build them while dealing damage in between.

Firing both together essentially gives you the weaponry of Season X’s mechs, but without most of the drawbacks.

Striker Burst Assault Rifle

The Striker Burst Assault Rifle is new this season! Although, it’s very similar to the previous version that was held by Sloane. It’s one of the more traditional unvaulted Fortnite weapons.

The Striker is a very accurate Assault Rifle. It fires in bursts, which means a much more accurate and responsive recoil pattern. It’s great for directly hitting your tactics, lethal in skilled hands.

The major issue with the Striker Burst is all the other stuff in the loot pool right now. if you actually want to play Fortnite with guns, it’s really good though.

A Tier – Fortnite Chapter 5 Weapons Tier List
Doom’s Arcane Gauntlets
First in the A tier is Doctor Doom’s Arcane Gauntlet, a returning item from Chapter 2. Although they were incredible back then, they don’t quite make the top of the Fortnite weapons tier list this time.

Doctor Doom’s Gauntlets are still great weapons. Both types of attacks do good damage. Although, with the other powers they’re just outgunned. They’re still worth using, but there’s others that might be preferred.

Combat Assault Rifle

Striker Assault Rifle

Along with the Burst, a standard Striker has been added. Like with the Combat, there’s an element of personal preference here. Although, in a season with this wackiness it does feel like overkill to have so many ARs when most aren’t even carrying one.

There isn’t anything wrong with the default Striker. It’s a little less accurate and more random than the Burst, but if you prefer constant firing ARs then the standard one is the better choice.

War Machine’s Hover Jets

The only other mobility item outside of shocks is the hover jets. These are a better version of the old Jet Pack. As one of two mobility options, they’re pretty useful. Easily countered by another Hover Jet, but little else.

One thing to know is that the little trick to jump forward is important for these. It can recreate the blink effects of better past mobility and doesn’t use too much fuel.

Hyper SMG
The Hyper SMG is a pretty solid inclusion. Like a lot of other items though a big problem is that the loot pool is too crowded with stuff.

The Hyper SMG doesn’t have a real problem, outside of not being the Duel SMGs instead. The gun won’t get as much play considering everything else this season though. It might have a role in Fortnite esports though.

Monarch Pistol

A fun accurate and hard-hitting Pistol. Its biggest problem is what always faces pistols, there’s just better weapons. This one is absolutely worth carrying though, especially in its Mythic form.

B Tier – Not Quite the Best Fortnite Chapter 5 Weapons

Hammer Pump Shotgun – This has had a hard fall from grace. Good for some build fights but not a match for the Gatekeep.

War Machine’s Auto Turret – A nice part of the build-up for the full machine, but doesn’t do enough damage on its own. The laser finding enemies for you is surprisingly useful though.

C Tier Fortnite Chapter 5 Weapons

Sovereign Shotgun – New addition. A weak shotgun with inconsistent pellets. Fast, but just not worth carrying on its own.

Ranger Pistol – Not that bad, but just not as useful as other gun categories. Especially since there’s a better pistol in the game now.

That’s how stuff weighs out for Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 4. It’s not a very gun-focused season. However, there are plenty of interesting C5 S4 map changes and places to get the special weapons in each game.

Ashley is a dedicated Fortnite player, in hour 3,000 of trying to finish above 90th.