Post by RedCaesar97 on Oct 24, 2016 3:06:15 GMT
ATTENTION: This weapon ranking guide was originally created by Athenau on the old Bioware Social Network (BSN) forums. I am recreating it here so it does not disappear when the old BSN forums shut down. "Post-patch" means the weapon damage changes after ME3 patch 5 which changed a bunch of single player weapon stats to match their multiplayer counterparts.
Since the patch really shook up the game's arsenal, I thought it would be interesting to see what you all thought of the new and improved weaponry. I'll start with my personal ranking.
Broken Tier:
M-11 Suppressor
Reegar Carbine
Venom Shotgun
These are weapons that are so overpowered that they trivialize the game. Fun initially, but facerolling stuff gets boring pretty quick.
S-Tier:
M-90 Indra
Black Widow
N7 Valiant
M-11 Wraith
AT-12 Raider
N7 Pirahna
Cerberus Harrier
N7 Typhoon
M-7 Lancer
Adas
M-358 Talon
Acolyte
Arc Pistol
Blood Pack Punisher
N7 Hurricane
S-tier weapons are weapons that are outstanding in one particular area and good otherwise, or simply very good at everything. There's a pretty wide selection here, which is nice to see.
A-Tier:
Javelin
M-99 Saber
N7 Valkyrie
M-96 Mattock
M-25 Hornet
Geth Plasma SMG
M-6 Carnifex
M-77 Paladin
N7 Eagle
Executioner Pistol
M-300 Claymore
N7 Crusader
Geth Plasma Shotgun
A-tier weapons are either outstanding in a niche role (a particular combination of class, powers, and/or loadout) or merely good all around. Generally, I wouldn't bother with weapons below this tier unless you're doing a novelty run.
Some comments on particular weapons:
M-90 Indra:
This one deserves special mention. Statistically, the first thing you notice about the Indra is the unmatched power/weight ratio, which makes it an awesome caster weapon. However, that doesn't tell the whole story by half. The next thing you need to know about the Indra is that it's a high-accuracy automatic weapon where firing doesn't degrade the spread, at all. There's minor recoil, but actual accuracy is unaffected. The second thing is that this is an automatic sniper rifle with a sniper rifle's high base chance to cause hit reactions (staggers and the like) and (on a related note, since ammo proc chance seems to be related to hit reactions) it's very good at proccing ammo powers. So if you like tech combos, this weapon's for you. The third thing is that it has a low power scope, so the scope actually becomes an advantage rather than a hindrance on most maps. It also makes quickscoping to avoid the hipfire penalty less annoying.
All in all this is a beastly weapon. It does high dps, is easy to use, is incredibly light, offers good crowd control and synergy with abilities, and it benefits immensely from the stacked weapon damage and headshot damage bonuses that the soldier/infiltrator get since it isn't affected much by shield gate. A sniper-specced infiltrator can two-shot mooks out of cloak and four-shot shielded enemies with headshots. If you can aim this weapon becomes an extraordinary infantry killer, better than any of the other sniper rifles.
So yeah, it's good. Don't sleep on it.
Black Widow:
The BW is as deadly as ever in this patch. The Indra is better at killing infantry (shield gate hurts the BW a lot) but the BW is no slouch, and it offers sick boss killing dps with innate cover penetration (which means no damage penalty when shooting through walls). The main drawbacks are the weight and the annoying high-power sniper scope. It's also one of the few weapons with extra synergy with tactical cloak--you can fire three shots in the cloak damage window, reload cancel and cloak should be ready again by the time you finish reloading, so technically you can get the cloak bonus for every shot.
Javelin:
The only sniper rifle that can one shot infantry with disruptor ammo (but only in the hands of a sniper-specced infiltrator with fortification). That alone makes it an S-tier weapon, even accounting for the annoying charge-up and extreme weight.
M-300 Claymore:
Ahh, good old claymore. It got a mild buff in the patch which puts its damage at a chart topping 1648 damage per shot at rank X. It's a shotgun, so you can one-shot infantry all day through shield gate. With smart choke has decent accuracy (slightly above average for shotguns), unmatched burst damage, and very good sustained dps (if you can reload cancel reliably). It also has amazing synergy with weapon damage classes. Soldiers get the claymore double-tap with adrenaline rush instant reload, and like the BW, the Claymore is one of those weapons that can get the cloak damage bonus on every shot (two reload-canceled shots in the cloak damage window and by the time you're ready to fire again cloak's recharged).
The downsides are the enormous weight and the reliance on reload canceling. The latter makes this much better on the PC imo, on consoles I think it's A-tier at best.
M-11 Wraith:
On paper, this does almost everything better than the Claymore. It retains the Claymore's ability to one-shot almost any infantry unit, with better accuracy and much lower weight. In practice, I still prefer the Claymore on weapon classes. The Claymore's higher damage means that fewer pellets need to land, which translates to being able to more reliably one shot things at range. The Claymore also has better synergy with cloak and adrenaline rush. Also the Claymore makes an AWESOME, FACEWRECKING SOUND every time you fire it whereas the Wraith sounds like a pop-gun.
Still, there's no denying this is a superior weapon, especially for casters.
M-358 Talon:
This is one of the game's premiere caster weapons, as pretty much any MP veteran knows. Low weight, burst damage, dps, good accuracy, mitigates shield gate, this weapon does it all. Also that tasty 1.5x multipler to shields/barriers. Also, this is another weapon with perfect synergy with cloak. You can fire all four shots under the cloak bonus, reload cancel, and have cloak off cooldown. Don't overlook it.
Acolyte:
Near weightless defense stripping (more like annhilation), staggers, and ammo procs. A specialist weapon, but what it does it does VERY well.
M-99 Saber:
Makes an AWESOME FACEWRECKING SOUND (even more awesome than the Claymore) and a soldier with extended mags will never have to reload this weapon ever with the adrenaline rush instant reload. The patch bumped its dps to a respectable level (766), it one shots mooks, two shots elites, staggers reliably, always procs ammo powers, and is incredibly ammo-efficient. In the hands of a soldier I can even see this as S-tier still.
N7-Crusader:
Stats-wise this is an S-tier weapon, no questions asked. Perfect accuracy, innate penetration, sick dps, ultra quick reload, good ROF, this weapon has it all. But man, that firing delay just _ruins_ it. It's just immensely frustrating to use in any sort of high pressure situation. Maybe if you abuse staggers its worthwhile, so I'm leaving it in the A-tier.
Geth Plasma SMG:
This is the only game in town if you want a weightless (with ULM), high accuracy backup weapon with decent dps (~660 ramped up). Also pretty good at proccing ammo effects. I especially like it as a supplement to a Claymore. Surprisingly good!
Arc Pistol:
This is a hitscan weapon that hits as hard as a shotgun, can one shot shielded enemies, and has pistol accuracy (unlike the Talon) and access to the superior pistol mods. The downside? You need to charge it. Charge weapons have some interesting mechanics, like the ability to fire on the move or to release a charged shot together with a power or release a shot without breaking cloak, but they can be awkward to use. Easily S-tier if you can abuse right-hand advantage and charge safely, but getting into that position requires some work.
Since the patch really shook up the game's arsenal, I thought it would be interesting to see what you all thought of the new and improved weaponry. I'll start with my personal ranking.
Broken Tier:
M-11 Suppressor
Reegar Carbine
Venom Shotgun
These are weapons that are so overpowered that they trivialize the game. Fun initially, but facerolling stuff gets boring pretty quick.
S-Tier:
M-90 Indra
Black Widow
N7 Valiant
M-11 Wraith
AT-12 Raider
N7 Pirahna
Cerberus Harrier
N7 Typhoon
M-7 Lancer
Adas
M-358 Talon
Acolyte
Arc Pistol
Blood Pack Punisher
N7 Hurricane
S-tier weapons are weapons that are outstanding in one particular area and good otherwise, or simply very good at everything. There's a pretty wide selection here, which is nice to see.
A-Tier:
Javelin
M-99 Saber
N7 Valkyrie
M-96 Mattock
M-25 Hornet
Geth Plasma SMG
M-6 Carnifex
M-77 Paladin
N7 Eagle
Executioner Pistol
M-300 Claymore
N7 Crusader
Geth Plasma Shotgun
A-tier weapons are either outstanding in a niche role (a particular combination of class, powers, and/or loadout) or merely good all around. Generally, I wouldn't bother with weapons below this tier unless you're doing a novelty run.
Some comments on particular weapons:
M-90 Indra:
This one deserves special mention. Statistically, the first thing you notice about the Indra is the unmatched power/weight ratio, which makes it an awesome caster weapon. However, that doesn't tell the whole story by half. The next thing you need to know about the Indra is that it's a high-accuracy automatic weapon where firing doesn't degrade the spread, at all. There's minor recoil, but actual accuracy is unaffected. The second thing is that this is an automatic sniper rifle with a sniper rifle's high base chance to cause hit reactions (staggers and the like) and (on a related note, since ammo proc chance seems to be related to hit reactions) it's very good at proccing ammo powers. So if you like tech combos, this weapon's for you. The third thing is that it has a low power scope, so the scope actually becomes an advantage rather than a hindrance on most maps. It also makes quickscoping to avoid the hipfire penalty less annoying.
All in all this is a beastly weapon. It does high dps, is easy to use, is incredibly light, offers good crowd control and synergy with abilities, and it benefits immensely from the stacked weapon damage and headshot damage bonuses that the soldier/infiltrator get since it isn't affected much by shield gate. A sniper-specced infiltrator can two-shot mooks out of cloak and four-shot shielded enemies with headshots. If you can aim this weapon becomes an extraordinary infantry killer, better than any of the other sniper rifles.
So yeah, it's good. Don't sleep on it.
Black Widow:
The BW is as deadly as ever in this patch. The Indra is better at killing infantry (shield gate hurts the BW a lot) but the BW is no slouch, and it offers sick boss killing dps with innate cover penetration (which means no damage penalty when shooting through walls). The main drawbacks are the weight and the annoying high-power sniper scope. It's also one of the few weapons with extra synergy with tactical cloak--you can fire three shots in the cloak damage window, reload cancel and cloak should be ready again by the time you finish reloading, so technically you can get the cloak bonus for every shot.
Javelin:
The only sniper rifle that can one shot infantry with disruptor ammo (but only in the hands of a sniper-specced infiltrator with fortification). That alone makes it an S-tier weapon, even accounting for the annoying charge-up and extreme weight.
M-300 Claymore:
Ahh, good old claymore. It got a mild buff in the patch which puts its damage at a chart topping 1648 damage per shot at rank X. It's a shotgun, so you can one-shot infantry all day through shield gate. With smart choke has decent accuracy (slightly above average for shotguns), unmatched burst damage, and very good sustained dps (if you can reload cancel reliably). It also has amazing synergy with weapon damage classes. Soldiers get the claymore double-tap with adrenaline rush instant reload, and like the BW, the Claymore is one of those weapons that can get the cloak damage bonus on every shot (two reload-canceled shots in the cloak damage window and by the time you're ready to fire again cloak's recharged).
The downsides are the enormous weight and the reliance on reload canceling. The latter makes this much better on the PC imo, on consoles I think it's A-tier at best.
M-11 Wraith:
On paper, this does almost everything better than the Claymore. It retains the Claymore's ability to one-shot almost any infantry unit, with better accuracy and much lower weight. In practice, I still prefer the Claymore on weapon classes. The Claymore's higher damage means that fewer pellets need to land, which translates to being able to more reliably one shot things at range. The Claymore also has better synergy with cloak and adrenaline rush. Also the Claymore makes an AWESOME, FACEWRECKING SOUND every time you fire it whereas the Wraith sounds like a pop-gun.
Still, there's no denying this is a superior weapon, especially for casters.
M-358 Talon:
This is one of the game's premiere caster weapons, as pretty much any MP veteran knows. Low weight, burst damage, dps, good accuracy, mitigates shield gate, this weapon does it all. Also that tasty 1.5x multipler to shields/barriers. Also, this is another weapon with perfect synergy with cloak. You can fire all four shots under the cloak bonus, reload cancel, and have cloak off cooldown. Don't overlook it.
Acolyte:
Near weightless defense stripping (more like annhilation), staggers, and ammo procs. A specialist weapon, but what it does it does VERY well.
M-99 Saber:
Makes an AWESOME FACEWRECKING SOUND (even more awesome than the Claymore) and a soldier with extended mags will never have to reload this weapon ever with the adrenaline rush instant reload. The patch bumped its dps to a respectable level (766), it one shots mooks, two shots elites, staggers reliably, always procs ammo powers, and is incredibly ammo-efficient. In the hands of a soldier I can even see this as S-tier still.
N7-Crusader:
Stats-wise this is an S-tier weapon, no questions asked. Perfect accuracy, innate penetration, sick dps, ultra quick reload, good ROF, this weapon has it all. But man, that firing delay just _ruins_ it. It's just immensely frustrating to use in any sort of high pressure situation. Maybe if you abuse staggers its worthwhile, so I'm leaving it in the A-tier.
Geth Plasma SMG:
This is the only game in town if you want a weightless (with ULM), high accuracy backup weapon with decent dps (~660 ramped up). Also pretty good at proccing ammo effects. I especially like it as a supplement to a Claymore. Surprisingly good!
Arc Pistol:
This is a hitscan weapon that hits as hard as a shotgun, can one shot shielded enemies, and has pistol accuracy (unlike the Talon) and access to the superior pistol mods. The downside? You need to charge it. Charge weapons have some interesting mechanics, like the ability to fire on the move or to release a charged shot together with a power or release a shot without breaking cloak, but they can be awkward to use. Easily S-tier if you can abuse right-hand advantage and charge safely, but getting into that position requires some work.
