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Call of Duty: Black Ops 4: The best guns in Blackout

These guns will literally blow away the competition in Black Ops 4's Blackout

Gabe Gurwin
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Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is the first game in the series to feature a battle royale mode, inspiring the spin-off title Warzone to improve upon that foundation. Blackout mode drops you and 87-99 other players onto an enormous map to fight to the death. There are a ton of different weapons at your disposal, but it can be difficult to determine what you should use when you’re new to the mode and its stealth-oriented approach to combat. Cold War didn’t bring back this mode, leaving Blackout as the only Black Ops specific version of a Call of Duty battle royale.

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The best guns in Blackout

For this list, we’ve chosen 10 weapons that you’ll have great success with in Blackout mode. These include light machine guns, assault rifles, shotguns, and pistols. We’ve left out sniper rifles, as they’re more likely to get you spotted and killed than anything else, and specialty weapons because they’re difficult to find. These are all great mid-tier choices that won’t require an immense amount of effort to find and won’t put you at risk of being killed. These are the best guns you can use in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s Blackout.

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1. RK 7 Garrison

Black Ops RK 7 Garrison
Image used with permission by copyright holder

You won’t last very long in a full Blackout match if you use a pistol the entire time, but the RK 7 Garrison is a great option for when you first touch down from your parachute. With burst-fire rather than a traditional semi-automatic mode, the RK 7 Garrison can take enemies – even armored ones – down fairly quickly, and buy you the time you need to find something a little beefier.

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2. SG12

Black Ops SG12
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There are a few different shotguns available in Blackout, but they aren’t all created equal. The pump-action MOG-12 shotgun is unreliable, even at very close range, to kill a target armed with something like a submachine gun or assault rifle. The semi-automatic SG12, on the other hand, can fire a few shots before your enemy is able to respond, and it’s the perfect weapon for guarding a small room against invaders.

3. Spitfire

Black Ops Spitfire
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If you need to absolutely light a room up with your bullets, we’d consider a lamp instead, but the Spitfire is also a great choice. With a ridiculous rate of fire and .45 caliber ammunition capable of stopping targets better than some of the other submachine guns, it’s ideal for those who stick primarily to indoor areas in Blackout, and it serves well in conjunction with a tactical rifle.

4. GKS

Black Ops GKS
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A more well-rounded submachine gun than the Spitfire, the GKS is accurate and functions well in both indoor and outdoor areas, and can essentially take the place of an assault rifle in your loadout. This gives you room for a specialty weapon for taking out helicopters or ground vehicles – just make sure you keep plenty of reserve ammunition in stock.

5. VAPR-XKG

Black Ops VAPR-XKG
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Reliable for indoor and outdoor firefights, the VAPR-XKG is a balanced and powerful rifle that you can count on in nearly any engagement. It has enough range to take on enemies wielding tactical rifles, and its rate of fire and damage are plenty high enough to compete with smaller weapons. Using 5.56 ammunition, you’ll have no problem keeping it firing, and several attachments can be added to further improve its efficiency.

6. Hellion Salvo

Black Ops Hellion Salvo
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See a helicopter flying through the air or a truck driving on the road? Want to see it explode? Then the Hellion Salvo is the weapon you’re looking for. You won’t run into the launcher too often, but its rockets allow you to quickly destroy enemy vehicles, throwing a wrench into a potential escape plan. It also has lock-on for hitting mobile vehicles, but you will have to fire a couple of shots to take out a truck coming directly toward you.

7. Zweihänder

Black Ops Zweihänder
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This gun. This gun. The Zweihänder falls into the category of super-special guns you aren’t going to usually find roaming around on the map, but there are usually a ton of them on the floor of the Asylum to the east. More accurate than it has any right to be and packing a huge punch, the Zweihänder will win nearly any battle it’s thrown into, against either a human or a pack of zombies.

8. Swordfish

Black Ops Swordfish
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A burst-fire tactical rifle, the Swordfish excels in medium-range encounters, and you’ll be able to take out most assault-rifle-wielding enemies you see out in the open. It won’t replace the efficiency of an assault rifle, shotgun, or submachine gun for closer engagements, but you can quickly spit out bullets in a hurry in the event that you are surprised by another player in a building.

9. Titan

Black Ops Titan
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Titan light machine gun is the perfect weapon for holding down a position, especially toward the end of a match when you’re likely defending yourself outside. Putting out an absurd amount of damage and using 7.62 ammunition that is readily available, it can easily be your main weapon during a Blackout match, though its accuracy is significantly reduced at longer distances.

10. Rampart 17

Black Ops Rampart 17
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Technically an assault rifle because of its automatic fire, the Rampart 17 is nevertheless a tremendous option for medium-long engagements. The weapon does considerably more damage than most other automatic weapons, and though it has a slower rate of fire as a tradeoff, it only takes a few hits to kill an enemy.

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Gabe Gurwin
Gabe Gurwin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
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