GunZ: The Duel Best Weapons & Loadouts
Pick a Loadout by How You Play
Slots are two ranged weapons plus a melee weapon and items. Find your row, take the loadout,
then learn the technique linked in the last column — the loadout only works once the
movement does.
| Your situation | Loadout | Why it works | Learn first |
|---|
| I want to duel 1v1 and learn K-Style | Shotgun + Shotgun + Sword | Two spike weapons swap-shot through slash-shot cancels; sword blocks and dashes | Butterfly first |
| I am new and keep dying mid-air | Shotgun + Revolver + Sword | Revolver pokes at mid range while your cancels are still slow; sword keeps block | How to play |
| I aim well but move poorly | Revolver x2 + Sword | Highest per-shot damage and critical rate of the ranged weapons; rewards flicks over movement | Match your sens |
| I want raw speed and close range | Dagger + Shotgun | Lowest weight, continuous attacks while dashing; cannot block or slash-cancel, so the shotgun does the killing | D-Style notes |
| Gladiator rooms (swords only) | Sword or Kodachi | Kodachi slashes in faster 4-hit combos and its weight stops mattering without guns; sword hits harder | Double butterfly |
| Team deathmatch with many targets | Rifle or SMG + Shotgun + Sword | Continuous-damage weapons win crowded fights where you can hold a target for half a second | Class matrix |
| Quest / PvE waves and bosses | Machine gun or Rifle + Medkits | Machine guns carry 120 rounds, the most in the game; sustained fire beats burst against boss HP pools | Modes |
Last updated: 2026-08-14
Classic loadout archetypes that defined competitive GunZ, ready to use in the remaster. Slots: two weapons + melee + items. Specific shop stats are still settling post-launch, so these are ranked by role, not by individual item numbers.
S Tier
| Name | Role | Why |
| Double Shotgun + Sword | K-Style duels | The classic duel set: alternate shotguns through slash-shot cancels to skip reloads. What most 1v1 rooms expect. |
| Shotgun + Revolver + Sword | Versatile PvP | Trades the second shotgun for mid-range poke. Strongest all-rounder while you are still learning cancels. |
A Tier
| Name | Role | Why |
| Dagger Rush Set | Mobility dueling | Dagger movement plus a shotgun for burst. A respected specialist style — brutal learning curve, terrifying in good hands. |
| Sword-Only (Gladiator) | Melee rooms | Gladiator-rule rooms ban guns entirely. Pure blocking, feints and massives — the community's classic honor duel format. |
B Tier
| Name | Role | Why |
| Rifle + Medkits | Quest / PvE | Sustained fire and healing items carry Quest mode waves where duel-style burst matters less than uptime. |
Balance and Patch Timeline (Official Notes)
Every combat-relevant line from Masangsoft's patch notes since launch, dated as published.
As of the 2026-09-01 notes, no patch has changed a weapon's damage,
delay, spread or ammo — the rankings on this page still rest on the classic balance,
and this table is where a change will appear first.
| Date | Area | Change | Affects | Stat impact |
|---|
| 2026-09-01 | Combat UI | HP/AP, boss HP and remaining-ammo bars fixed on certain GPU models; HP below 1 no longer shows as 0 (from Aug 24). | All weapons (readability only) | No weapon stat change |
| 2026-08-24 | Daggers | Female character dagger animation no longer interrupted when jump-attacking after a charged dagger attack. | Dagger rush sets | Animation fix, damage unchanged |
| 2026-08-24 | Modes | Clan Scrum Match added (designated clans practice clan battles); tutorial-mode key-help UI added. | Loadout choice for clan play | No weapon stat change |
| 2026-08-18 | Economy | Bounty item exploit closed; abnormally purchased items retrieved. | Shop weapons bought with Bounty | No weapon stat change |
| 2026-08-13 | Launch | Remaster ships with classic weapon roster: shotguns, revolvers, pistols, SMGs, rifles, machine guns, rocket launchers, swords, kodachis, daggers, grenades. | Everything | Baseline |
Questions Players Ask
The exact searches that bring people to this page, answered directly.
- What is the best shotgun in GunZ: The Duel?
- In the classic roster the Breaker line (Breaker 5 at level 10, Breaker 6 at 15, Breaker 7 at 30) is the standard progression, with the Avenger series as the high-level alternative — StrategyWiki's buy order lists Breaker 6 as "high priority" at level 15. No remaster patch has changed shotgun stats (see the timeline), so the pick is still the highest-level Breaker or Avenger you can equip, and two of them.
- What is the best loadout for a beginner?
- Shotgun + Revolver + Sword. It keeps a block, gives you a mid-range answer while your slash-shots are slow, and still teaches the shotgun timing you will need for double-shotgun duels later.
- What are the best weapons overall?
- Shotguns and swords are S tier because every K-Style technique routes through them; revolvers and daggers are A tier as specialist picks. Rifles, SMGs, machine guns and launchers win team modes and Quest but lose duels to burst cancels.
Not sure which class to build around? Check the class tier list first.