Black Ops 3 Best Weapons, Attachments and Equipment Guide

Weapons and equipment are everything in a Call of Duty game. Well, maybe not everything, as skills and game-sense also count for a lot, but one cannot deny the importance of the arsenal the game provides.

Black Ops 3 combines futuristic warfare with familiar first-person shooter mechanics, and the same pretty much applies to the large set of weapons available in the game.

For more help on Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, read our Specialists Guide, Shadows of Evil Easter Egg Steps and Shadows of Evil Strategy Guide.

Black Ops 3 Best Weapons, Attachments and Equipment

Each weapon, attachment, and equipment is different from the other, and it’s usually up to the player which one suits their needs.

Nevertheless, it’s never too bad to get yourself educated with the huge set of arsenal in the game. This guide will cover Primary Weapons, Secondary Weapons, Attachments, Lethal Weaponry, Tactical Items and more.

Primary Weapons

Assault Rifles

Assault Rifles are the standard of infantry warfare, offering great balance of power, range, and accuracy that attracts just about everyone. They are highly customizable for both short and long ranged combat in Black Ops 3.

The versatility of Assault Rifles is counter-balanced by the lack of specialization. Such weapons tend to work best in medium range, and although they can be used in both long and short ranges, they aren’t as effective as specialized close or long range weapons.

Another downside to the Assault Rifles is relatively reduced mobility.

KN-44
This is a well-rounded assault rifle that is inspired by the infamous AK-47. It has a three-shot kill potential at short to medium ranges, and is a fully automatic weapon with moderate recoil.

Adding CQC attachments can make this weapon perform exceptionally well at close-quarters, provided you can handle the recoil.

HVK-30
The HVK-30 is an assault rifle that sacrifices damage for high-fire rate.

Adding Rate of Fire perks like Rapid Fire and High Caliber can make this weapon perform better as far as kill effectiveness is concerned.

The weapon’s higher fire rate also harms its long-ranged effectiveness slightly, so make sure to fire in bursts.

ICR-1
The ICR-1 is not as powerful as the KN-44, nor does it have the rapid fire-rate of the HVK-30, but it does have incredible accuracy thanks to a surprisingly stable recoil. This makes the ICR-1 an excellent choice for medium to long ranged, especially with the Grip attachment.

Man-O-War
The Man-O-War is a powerful, high damage fully automatic assault rifle with a slow fire-rate. It has the ability to kill with three shots at a long distance, but is almost completely ineffective at close-range, especially when against an SMG equipped enemy.

The recoil is quite high, but it’s predictable and in one direction, making it easy to adjust once you’ve got the hang of the weapon.

XR-2
The XR-2 is a fully-automatic three-round burst assault rifle. It’s one of the coolest looking weapons in the game, but its effectiveness is primarily restricted to long range due to the burst.

The XR-2 deals high damage, capable of killing opponents with a single burst at long range.

The recoil on the XR-2 can be challenging to counter as it is both left and right. This though is compensated with increased maneuverability compared to other ARs, as well as quicker reload speeds.

M8A7
The M8A7 is a four-round semi-auto burst rifle with a high cycling rate of fire and almost no recoil. Its incredible accuracy allows players to kill any stationary opponent from distance with a single burst.

The weapon is an excellent substitute for sniper rifles, especially against stationary targets at a distance.

Sheiva
The Sheiva is a powerful marksman Assault Rifle that can kill enemies with two shots. It’s essentially a cut-down sniper rifle. Adding a High Caliber attachment can make this weapon powerful enough to kill with a single headshot.

The counter-balance of the Sheiva’s immense power is its handling. It’s heavy, slow, with lethargic reloads, and has a considerable recoil. Just make sure your enemies are at a tolerable range when you use this weapon.

Light Machine Guns (LMGs)

LMGs are powerful, heavy automatic weapons with high-capacity magazines, high damage, and excellent penetration.

They are excellent ‘siege’ infantry weapons, ideal for suppressing enemies and killing through walls, but are extremely heavy, with slow handling, poor hip-fire accuracy, and large reload times.

BRM
The BRM is a fully-automatic, powerful LMG that can kill with three shots at very long range. Despite being an LMG, its recoil is still largely manageable, allowing you to get shots on target reliably.

The BRM excels at medium to long range, but is extremely ineffective against SMGs due to its weight and poor hip-fire accuracy.

Dingo
This beastly weapon has a very high rate of fire, but pays by requiring extra shots to kill. With the high-rate of fire is also a significantly larger recoil, and a smaller magazine size than the BRM.

Unlike the BRM, the Dingo is actually very good at short to medium range instead of long-range due to its high fire-rate.

48 Dredge
The Dredge is a six-round auto-burst machine gun with an automatic burst cycle. Within each burst, the fire rate is very high, but its vertical recoil makes the weapon difficult to master.

Once you learn how to manage the muzzle climb, the Dredge can become an extremely reliable killing machine.

Gorgon
The Gorgon is the hardest hitting automatic in the game. It can kill with two shots even at extremely long range, and tends to remain its pinpoint accuracy due to its low fire-rate. It’s an extremely heavy weapon, and a great substitute for sniper rifles.

The low fire-rate is its biggest downside, and makes it practically useless at CQC when up against Assault Rifles and SMGs.

Sub-machine Guns (SMGs)

SMGs have traditionally occupied the CQC role in Call of Duty, and largely retain it in Black Ops 3. They grant the highest mobility out of any weapon category, and have very high rate of fire, fast reload times, and very accurate hip-fire accuracy.

The biggest downside to SMGs though is long-range. They have a significant damage fall-off at range that often make them weaker than pistols. Their high rate of fire can also be difficult to manage, as it requires reloading quite often.

Kuda
The all-around performing, lightweight and moderate-firing Kuda is arguably the strongest SMG at short range in the game, as it has a three-shot kill potential, and maintains a four-shot kill potential at medium range.

The moderate-firing rate makes Kuda an easily controllable weapon. However, due to this reason, it can be out-done by other more rapid-firing SMGs at close range, which means that Kuda often remains second-best at close-range, and optimum at medium-ish range.

Razorback
This awesome looking SMG has the best accuracy in the class, making it more than viable for mid-ranged combat. Its stability, particularly with the Grip attachment, make it a weapon of choice for many SMG enthusiasts.

It does pay for its accuracy with its kill-times, but players who are good at staying mobile and moving from cover to cover would thrive with this weapon.

Vesper
The small, light-weight Vesper has the fastest fire rate in the class. It’s practically a bullet hose and has the best kill-time at close range. It suffers greatly at medium range though, and the biggest issue with the weapon is the requirement to reload very frequently.

Attaching a suppressor with this weapon and using it in closed maps is a good way to maximize its strengths.

VMP
The VMP is a more grounded version of the Vesper, with a stronger damage output but a lower firing rate. It also has a significantly smaller magazine size, making frequent reloads a real issue.

The strong recoil makes it a poor weapon at medium to long range, but its excellent hip-fire and sheer stopping power make it an asset in CQC.

Weevil
The Weevil is a highly balanced SMG weapon, being a jack-of-all trades in the SMG class. It’s still more intense than the Kuda or Razorback, but it doesn’t have the tendency to go out of control at medium or long range like the Vesper and VMP.

The Weevil’s best attribute is its large magazine, which can allow you to engage multiple targets without the need to reload as frequently as the Vesper or VMP.

Pharo
The Pharo takes inspiration from the infamous Uzi, with a similar form-factor and performance. However, unlike the Uzi, it has a four-round auto-burst instead of being full-automatic.

The damage and accuracy of the weapon is fairly reliable, and has good kill-times even at a distance.

Shotguns

Shotguns are specialized close-quarter combat weapons with one-shot kills, high mobility, and excellent handling. They are however completely restricted to combat at arm’s length, and practically useless at any other range.

Shotguns tend to reward high-risk, in-your-face gameplay, so emphasizing on sneaking and creating a build that encourages stealth is the right way to go if you want to use one.

Haymaker 12
The Haymaker 12 is a bullet hose of a shotgun that trades of lethality for excessively easy usage. The weapon requires absolutely no training or practice to use, as its fully-automatic function and fast fire rate make it easy for you to drop enemies quickly.

KRM-262
The KRM-262 is more or less a conventional pump-action shotgun. It has a one-hit kill against enemies at arm’s length. It pays for its power and ease of use by having the largest spread, and hence the lowest reliable range for one-shot kills.

Unlike the other shotguns, the KRM-262 is reloaded one slug at a time. This can be both beneficial and harmful; the benefit comes from the ability to cancel the reload, while the downside is that it takes a long time to get the weapon fully reloaded in one go.

Argus
This is a level-action shotgun that has a highly accurate buckshot spread that is extremely effective while aiming down the sight. This weapon has the best range out of any shotgun.

205 Brecci
The 205 Brecci is a semi-auto shotgun with a high damage and decent range. It’s a mix between the KRM-262 and the Argus, giving high power with good range. Pages: 1 2