Gears of War: E-Day Best Weapons Tier List

Gears of War: E-Day Best Weapons Tier List Quick Summary:

• Gears of War: E-Day’s meta is currently defined by the Gnasher shotgun and its effectiveness.
• Gnasher is the most popular pick for close-range encounters, while Longshot is the go-to choice for long-range combat.
• All of the weapons in the game are viable and can be used in both PvP and PvE.

If you want to max your classes without unnecessary grind, you can get E-Day Class Leveling at Skycoach and save your time.

 

 

 

Gears of War: E-Day Gun Tier List

Before I share my tier list with you, I have to share a few thoughts so that you better understand where I come from when I assign a certain ranking to a certain weapon.

First of all, while it wouldn’t be fair to call Gears of War: E-Day a perfectly balanced game, it would be fair to say that the gap between weapon viability is not particularly wide, especially compared to some truly unbalanced online shooters. This is why I couldn’t bring myself to put any weapon below the B tier, which stands for “average”.

Any weapon listed above that is either more versatile, offers something impressive and unique, or just genuinely great numbers-wise. That doesn’t make any of the weapons in the B-tier unviable — in fact, there are many people who would argue with me on the Hammerburst, and maybe even convince me to change my mind.

Secondly, this weapon ranking treats individual weapons as representatives of their class rather than just on their own. I truly love Snub’s usability, but it obviously doesn’t outperform Lancer Mk1 — they are different weapons with different utility.

Lastly, this tier list is based on my experience, and there are no publicly available stats to prove or disprove any claims. Your experience may vary to some extent, but I think we will still agree that Gnasher is a problem on a meta-level.      

Tier	Weapons
S-Tier	Gnasher, Longshot, Snub
A-Tier	Incinerator, Prototype Lancer, Gut-Puncher, Torque Bow, Ripper
B-Tier	Lancer Mk1, Hammerburst, Breechshot, Striga

S-Tier Weapons

Gnasher

The iconic Gnasher is by far the most popular gun in the game, both PvP and PvE, to the point where it seems that the entire meta is built around it and its users. You can clearly see why that’s the case if you literally just try using it once.

​Gnasher is addictive from every point of view: sound design, visuals, effectiveness, and playstyle. I have to actively avoid using it so that I can experience everything the game has to offer, because otherwise I would just play Gnasher Simulator, and it would feel very rewarding.    

​I believe that an overpowered shotgun is far better for any game than an overpowered sniper rifle. But in the case of Gnasher, I am not sure if it is actually overpowered at all. Its popularity could be easily explained by just how good it feels. No matter what the actual answer is, putting Gnasher anywhere below S tier would feel wrong, so there you go.

Longshot

Longshot is probably as good a weapon as a developer could make a classic sniper rifle work in a game like Gears. It does feel like a proper sniper rifle — crazy damage, slow, heavy, highly accurate, bad at suppressive fire and at close range. The issue is that E-Day isn’t exactly a perfect fit for that type of weapon.

​Breechshot overcomes this by adding a massive axe to the mix, but it is a compromise that comes at a cost of flavor and this idea of being a true sharpshooter. Longshot, in contrast, fully commits to the bit, and its identity is very clear, with every aspect of it cranked to 11.

​Unfortunately, I have to say that Longshot feels like a specialist weapon. There is nothing wrong with it per se, but its design is rather limiting in the meta. Longshot requires a lot of commitment and dedication for a game where most people want to just come straight at you and shoot you out of your boots — which tends to be a more fun way to play in general.

Snub

A small pistol called Snub doesn’t have any right to be this good. Either a deliberate joke by developers or a balancing oversight, Snub is everything you could ask from a sidearm, and more. Its accuracy feels like cheating, and it’s also extremely versatile and quick. Even the damage is far beyond what you would expect from, well, a Snub.

​There is a good reason why most players keep it as their sidearm of choice, and I would recommend it too.

A-Tier Weapons

Incinerator

First, let’s give credit where credit is due: Incinerator is a cool and fun take on a shotgun as a concept. Unlike Gnasher, it uses Imulsion as ammo and requires a little bit of charge time before shooting. However, once you shoot someone with a fully charged blast in close range, it is a one-shot kill.

​This alone makes it a very controversial weapon by design. No one likes being one-shotted with little to no counterplay (myself included). You might think that the counterbalancing downside is right there — what if your opponent wasn’t able to fully charge the Incinerator and just shot at whoever was in their proximity ASAP? It wouldn’t be nearly as good, right? Well, the problem is Incinerator actually has an axe attached to it, so they can immediately go melee to compensate for it.

​That makes playing against Incinerator specialists in PvP feel very unfair, especially in a game where the meta is clearly skewed towards close and mid-range combat. You cannot really keep them at range most of the time, and you also cannot scout the map since you can die right away when one of them jumps out of their random corner.

​In PvE, charge time actually starts mattering more when you’re getting swarmed, and having someone on your team using it feels just fine.

​Overall, if you know what you’re doing, it’s a very good choice. However, most people still prefer Gnasher for its reliability.

Prototype Lancer

Prototype Lancer is a version of Mk1 with an increased magazine, higher fire rate, improved recoil, and a massive chainsaw replacing the bayonet. It sounds like an overall better deal, and, for the most part, it kind of is, which makes it a bit of a balancing outlier. It doesn’t make Mk1 any worse, but it still doesn’t quite feel right.

​Overall, Prototype Lance fulfills its purpose of being a good and consistent assault rifle option, and I don’t feel like nitpicking it would do a good service to any Gears players. Take it, shoot it as you like, hope they don’t nerf it later, and have a good time.

Gut-Puncher

Gut-Puncher is a grenade launcher that allows you to detonate your rounds at any moment — even mid-flight — which actually makes it one of the most creative and fun weapons you can try out in the game. It is also decently powerful, but its true potential mostly lies in punishing enemies hiding behind various cover points as well as dealing damage to multiple targets in a small radius.

​I personally find Gut-Puncher the coolest gun in E-Day, and I would love to only use it. There’s nothing wrong with it on its own — it’s just that it exists among many weapons that are much more straightforward and consistent. If anything, it is probably a bit overtuned in PvP, but there aren’t that many people who can show its full potential, and despite my adoration for the design, I am certainly not one of them.

Ripper

Like many other weapons in Gears, Ripper lives up to its name. It is a light machine gun that uses a unique firing mechanic to distinguish itself from the rest of the arsenal. Essentially, the longer you hold the button, the more accurate the spray will be.

​This is where I have to immediately note that this whole schtick is very counterintuitive for most new players, and you really have to rewire your neural connections to use it effectively. Still, I bet that you will attempt to burst fire every once in a while as you would with a normal assault rifle, and every single time your hubris will lead to your downfall.

​I can’t deny that it is fun to fully commit to this berserker-esque lifestyle: simply pull the trigger and never let go until either you or your enemies are dead. I wish it were like that the whole time, but your clip ends very fast, and then comes the reload.

​It doesn’t get much worse than this in E-Day. Sometimes it feels like you spend 50% of your playtime shooting only to spend the other half reloading your Ripper and hoping no one finds you.

Torque Bow

It is always difficult to rate weapons that are clearly designed to appeal to a small subset of highly skilled specialist players. Torque Bow can be among the most powerful weapons in the game if you are really, really good with it, but being really good with it demands a lot. A lot of times, it feels like you only get one shot before being killed, so you’re always in this high-risk, high-reward scenario.

​I totally get why people choose this weapon, since it scratches an itch that no other weapon in the game can. However, you cannot just play around with it and expect good things to happen. Torque Bow is about full commitment to mastering its ways.

​A good Torque Bow player can be very valuable in PvE, and hearing its sound effect in PvP can send shivers down your spine. But most of us will probably have much better results with other guns, which is why I cannot rate it in accordance with its peak potential.

 

 

B-Tier Weapons

Lancer Mk1

The way I see it, Lancer Mk1 sets the game’s standard of what a weapon is supposed to be.

Think of it as a Swiss Army Knife option. I firmly believe that you could play E-Day using just that in every mode, and it would still be fun and enjoyable.

​You can shoot it in single rounds, burst, or full auto depending on your own inputs. You have enough firepower to pose a serious threat at mid- and close range, and your bayonet is very fun and rewarding to use. Pick it, and there won’t be any moment where you would regret that decision.

​That said, the weapon is balanced by its accuracy and recoil issues, so you cannot fully rely on it at long range. But since most of the game is balanced around medium-range combat, these issues aren’t as noticeable. Essentially, the game itself is kind of stacked in your favor.

Hammerburst

Hammerburst is a specialist weapon that can be impressive if you truly master the timings and know how to get the best out of your fixed firing patterns. In the right hands, it can be The Mid-Range Gun thanks to its accuracy and damage, but there are many reasons why most players stick with Mk1 variations.

​First of all, burst patterns are simply not for everyone, and I am certainly among the people who prefer fully controlling my weapon’s output. It might be fun to experiment a bit, but you never feel as constricted as when you’re holding Hammerburst.

​This is partially a matter of preference, true, but these constrictions still matter: once the situation gets out of control and you get rushed at by several enemies, Hammerburst is about the worst assault rifle you can have in your hands. The same goes for facing opponents packed with Gnasher in PvP — and, from my experience, Gnasher is basically the only weapon most players use when they’re trying to win.

​So, Hammerburst is a weapon that is designed with a self-fulfilling prophecy in mind: it is the best at helping you stay methodical so that you can keep everything under control, and it only really works as long as you actually can keep things in check. The problem is, you might heavily overestimate the limits of what you can control in a hectic game like E-Day.

Breechshot

Breechshot is a devastating precision rifle weapon with high accuracy, making it perfect for mid- and long-range encounters. You would think that its user gets fully countered at close range, but Breechshot can actually surprise your opponents thanks to its built-in axe, making them reconsider their life choices.

​The damage is where Breechshot stands out, and you’ll feel it immediately — whether by shooting someone or by being shot unexpectedly. Overall, Breechshot is a reliable sniper option with some issues that aren’t as pronounced as you would expect them to be.

 

 

Striga

Striga is somewhat like a mini-Incinerator, which probably puts it among the most counterintuitive designs in the game: a sidearm that features a noticeable charge time requirement. Think of how you usually use sideguns in this game, and you will immediately understand the problem.

​Sidearms are mostly panic-mode tools that are there so that you can do something when you’re out of ammo or can’t afford a reload. So you pull out your Striga, and now you have to wait a bit before shooting it, all while your enemy is probably dealing damage to you. So, not a good sidearm.

​At the same time, if you look at Striga as a weapon, it certainly has its advantages and can absolutely pack a punch. I have mixed feelings about this little thing. On the one hand, I see no reason to choose it over the incredible Snub. On the other hand, there might be some untapped potential if you change your entire approach to how a sidearm weapon should be used.  

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