Apex Legends is one of the most revered FPS games with intense, satisfying gunplay and smooth movement. The game has a diverse range of weapons featuring multiple SMGs, LMGs, Assault Rifles, Sniper Rifles, Shotguns, and even a bow. It's well known for being a higher skill-ceiling game than other Battle Royale games because of its longer TTK (time to kill). This gives the game a strong presence in the competitive scene because skilled gunplay takes a while to master with the longer TTK. Enemies don't go down easy, and there are situations where players have to make sure their movement is constant while their shots count.

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The developers at Respawn Entertainment do a great job balancing the weapons and playable characters, but there's a constantly rotated meta that sees some weapons perform better than others. For players that can land their shots consistently, weapons with a faster TTK tend to be far more valuable than others. Ideally, TTK or Time-To-Kill for a weapon is calculated by taking its rate of fire and bullet damage into consideration, with the assumption that every shot connects. Some weapons can kill faster because they fire their bullets faster, while others compensate for it by dealing higher damage for every bullet that hits its target. Weapons that strike the right balance between these two factors are the strongest in the game.

7 Flatline AR

Apex Legends Flatline AR

The Flatline is among the most consistent and hardest-hitting assault rifles in Apex Legends. It's got a very forgiving recoil pattern, and while its rate of fire is noticeably slower than the other ARs, it makes up for it with a consistent rain of fully automatic bullets that hit like a truck. The Flatline's description in the Apex Legends wiki is "Full-auto with a punch," and it fits that description perfectly. Like the Spitfire, the Flatline uses heavy ammo, which slows a target's movement speed quite a bit, making them easier to track and control recoil with more ease.

The Flatline deals 18 damage per bullet and 32 damage on a headshot. With a TTK of 1.1 seconds, the Flatline isn't much slower than lighter, faster firing ARs at killing opponents because it only takes around 9-12 bullets to knock a fully equipped opponent.

6 R-301 Carbine

Apex Legends R301 AR

The R-301 is affectionately referred to as "the ol' reliable" of Apex Legends. It's a carbine rifle that uses light ammo and has one of the most consistent recoil patterns in the game. It's got the fastest rate of fire out of all the Assault Rifles in the game and is the go-to weapon for one-clipping enemies with consistency and ease. The gun's damage per bullet is comparable to some SMGs in-game, but its rate of fire and accuracy make up for that. Any player with an R-301 is a force to be reckoned with.

The R-301 deals 14 damage per body shot and 25 damage per headshot and has a TTK of 1.04s. In order to knock an opponent, it takes around 11-15 bullets from an R-301, but with the gun's recoil pattern, that is very achievable.

5 R99 SMG

Apex Legends R99 SMG

The R99 SMG is one of the most popular SMGs in the game, considered overpowered by the player-base at a certain point. The gun's strength is its rapid rate of fire, an absolutely monstrous 1080 rounds per minute. It's the only gun in the game that exceeds 1000 rounds per minute, making it the fastest firing gun in the game. While the R99 lacks bullet damage, its rate of fire more than makes up for that.

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The R99 has a TTK of just one 1s. Players will need to keep in mind, though, that they need to land between 14-19 bullets to kill an opponent. The R99's got a decent recoil pattern, but the rate of fire can make it a bit challenging at times.

4 Havoc Rifle

Apex Legends Havoc Rifle

The Havoc Rifle is one of the more nuanced weapons on this list. It's an Assault Rifle that uses Energy Ammo, and it comes with a quirk. There's a short delay between the trigger being pulled and the gun firing at a target. This requires some skill in mastering the delay timing and adjusting to it. This delay can be removed when players mount the "Turbocharger" hop-up, which can be found. While the gun fires, it has a competent rate of fire but a difficult recoil pattern to master. The bullet damage also matches the Flatline, and it uses Energy Ammo which has a very low projectile drop across range.

The Havoc deals 18 damage per bullet and 32 headshot damage. It takes about 9-12 bullets from the Havoc to kill an opponent, but it's got a fast rate of fire, surpassed only by the R-301, giving it an extremely fast TTK time of 0.98s.

3 CAR SMG

Apex Legends CAR SMG

The CAR SMG is the latest SMG to join Apex Legends, and it features a unique party trick. It can take both heavy and light ammo, allowing players to be versatile with it. It's an extremely versatile SMG with a rate of fire that nearly matches the R-99 while dealing more damage. Players will want to be wary about its awkward recoil pattern, though, which isn't the easiest to master.

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The CAR SMG deals 13 damage per bullet and 20 damage per headshot. This, combined with a brilliantly fast rate of fire of 930 rounds per minute, means the CAR SMG has the fastest TTK of any non-care package weapon in Apex Legends at 0.97s.

2 Volt SMG

Apex Legends Volt SMG

The Volt SMG was added to the game as an SMG that uses Energy Ammo and has since been upgraded to a care package weapon. These care package weapons are clutch weapons that are considered the best ones in the game. The Volt has a rate of fire of 720 rounds per minute, making it one of the fastest firing guns in the game, behind only the R99, CAR SMG, RE-45, and R-301. It also has a forgiving recoil pattern that is easy to master, along with a low bullet drop-down range.

The Volt deals 17 damage per body shot and 26 damage per headshot, giving it an insane TTK of just 0.92s. It takes only around 6-11 bullets from a Volt to kill an opponent.

1 Mastiff Shotgun

Apex Legends Mastiff Shotgun

The Mastiff Shotgun was originally the most powerful shotgun in the game, being among the list of care package weapons when the game was first launched. The gun was available as ground loot for a while but is now back in the care package as a Red Tier Weapon. The Mastiff has regained its position in season 13 as the best shotgun in the game.

The Mastiff deals 14 damage per pellet and fires 8 pellets in a tight horizontal spread every time the gun is fired. This gives it a very high potential damage of 114 damage per shot and 144 damage per headshot (18 damage per pellet headshot). The result is an insanely low TTK of just 0.83s, giving it the fastest TTK in the game.

Apex Legends is out now on PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Android, and iOS.

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