Fortnite Season 6 Weapons guide

Fortnite’s latest Season makes it feel like a brand new game. There are loads of new mechanics, like animals running around, a new map, even a crafting system. One of the weirdest changes though is the weapon pool. For some reason, Epic has thrown out the system of weapons that has been in place since launch and replaced it wholesale. Walking around the game, you’re gonna see a lot of new weapons and few of your old favorites around. There are also complete re-workings of existing weapons. This Fortnite Season 6 weapons guide covers everything you need to know.

While there are plenty of new additions to the game, there are some conditions to that. Some of the weapons are slightly reworked versions of old ones. These have new names to suit the crafting system, but it isn’t all as new and strange as it might feel. This guide covers all of the weapons, new and old, along with which are the top ones for this season:

Fortnite Season 6 Weapons Guide

The Fortnite Season 6 weapon pool isn’t too much bigger than in the previous seasons. However, it is divided up differently. This time around, the weapons are in a couple of categories which determine how you can actually use them. More specifically though, it divides them into two halves so you can upgrade and craft them. There are Primal Weapons which are made from animal bones, and mechanical weapons which are made from mechanical parts.

The Season 6 weapons are composed of some of the classic weapon pool, in the mechanical category. Then there are new Primal weapons. These have new apparences and icons, but many are the same as older weapons from the game. Then there are some that just sit outside of this divide. There are bows which work like makeshift or primal weapons. Then there are some excotic weapons still in the game which are completely separate. These are all of the Fortnite Season 6 weapons:

Fortnite Season 6 Weapons – ARs

There are a few less ARs in the new season than last season. However, they are a bit more diverse than before. These are the currently active ones:

Makeshift Rifle – This is just the baseline rifle for the season. From here, you can upgrade it into either a Primal or Mechanical Option. It is available in grey, green, and blue. However, you’re unlikely to both with the blue when there’s better options for upgrades.
Assault Rifle – This is the standard Assault than players are used to in the game! It goes from green rarity through to orange. This AR is the classic choice, and it largely sits above the new option in usability.
Primal Rifle – This is the alternative to the regular AR. It comes in green through legendary tiers. While it suffers a bit compared to the standard AR, you can make do with it if you can’t get access to the right crafting materials.

Shotguns

The Shotgun area of the game this Season is definitely a big improvement. Compared to the other types of weapons, players have a lot less to get used to here. A classic weapon has made its return, and largely sits on the top of the tier list. These are the shotguns available in the Fortnite Season 6 weapons:

Makeshift Shotgun – This is the baseline shotgun for the weapons. Unlike the Makeshift rifle though, this has some advantages. It actually beats the Pump in the green tier. This one is grey through blue rarity too.
Pump Shotgun – The Pump is the classic favorite shotgun of Fortnite pro players. It deals great damage, little slow but kills in one shot. This is one of the best Fortnite Season 6 weapons, especially if you’re confident in close-quarters combat.
Primal Shotgun – This is the new Shotgun, but it feels a bit more like the drum shotgun than anything else. A nerf is probably coming, but this is a rare shotgun that can compete with the Pump.

Fortnite Season 6 Weapons – SMGS

SMGs aren’t a huge part of Fortnite, when compared to a game like Warzone. However, with two great shotguns back in the game there is a lot of competition. Thankfully, the high tier p60s are also back, which are a great option for players looking to avoid a shotgun. These are your options for the Fortnite Season 6 weapons in SMGs:

Makeshift SMG – The Makeshift weapon is available in the bottom three tiers, and it doesn’t work great. It’s rate of fire is poor, which makes it a pretty poor SMG.
Mechanical SMG – This is the better SMG, in high tiers it is the P60 which most players are going to remember.
Primal SMG – Kind of just a watered down alternative. Probably best to avoid, unless the crafting mechanic leaves you in a bad palace.

Pistols

Pistols aren’t the most exciting part of the game, and none of the Fortnite season 6 weapons really stand up to the crowd. There are three types just like the other weapons, but none of them are exactly worth using. These are the options still:

Makeshift Pistol – Starting level. You’re probably going to use this if you have a bad drop, but don’t hold onto it.
Primal Pistol – A little wider in use than the other pistols, but it isn’t the best choice for a weapon.
Mechanical Pistol – The standard pistol works okay at the higher tiers but not great.

Fortnite Season 6 Weapons – Bows

Bows are new in the game. There’s quite a lot of options and here you can really have fun with the crafting system. The bows basically feels like Epic has only just played Breath of the Wild. These are the choices:

Makeshift Bow – This is the standard one, does fairly good damage. It’s really more of a canvas.
Mechanical Bow – This is the next upgrade for the mechanical side.
Primal Bow – This is the other option. It is pretty much the same, it can be upgraded into something more specialist though.
Explosive Bow – Combine a bow with grenades to give the arrows an explosion on impact.
Shockwave Bow – The Shockwave bow explodes as a shockwave grenade.
Flame Bow – This comes from jars of fireflies. It starts fires when it hits things. This is great for combating builds or wooden buildings like houses.
Stink Bow – You can get this weapon by combining a bow with a stink sac. It creates poison gas when it hits.

Non Crafting Weapons

Most of the weapons in the current meta are divided into the two crafting categories. However, there are some which function just as normal! These are the Fortnite Season 6 weapons which don’t need to be built from things you find laying around:

Rocket Launcher – Available in Orange and Purple. This is a fantastic endgame tool and it’s more widely available again.
Hoprock Dualies – The Hop Rock dualies are sticking around in the game. They give you a hop rock effect when firing. Great for rotation.
Dub – A kind of shotgun pistol hybrid. Weird, but if you can master it then it really can work well.
Night Hawk Pistol – Another odd weapon. Bit too specialist to really get a lot out of it, too circumstantial.

Those are all of the Fortnite Season 6 weapons. There are clear standouts, but most of the time you’re going to be at the mercy of the crafting system. The distribution of crafting materials really isn’t equal so which weapons you get is going to depend on landing spots more than ever. Our other guides to Fortnite cover where to land, and everything else you’ll need to know: