Black Ops 4 Blackout's best guns are always going to be a contentious topic, especially as there are no hard, datamined stats to go from just yet in Blackout mode - meaning so far it's good old fashioned personal experience and taste that decides that list.

That said, we do have some stats from the community for weapons in multiplayer, and so we've listed those full Black Ops 4 weapon damage stats for multiplayer below.

For Blackout meanwhile, we've put some time into both the beta and the full launch of the Black Ops 4 battle royale mode, and scoured the community for their opinions on personal favourites, too. Below, you'll find our picks for the best weapons and guns in Blackout so far, and why.

As we mentioned above there aren't any hard stats for Blackout mode just yet, but we do have these stats below for regular Multiplayer mode, thanks to the hard work of community members like Kitsunekinder on the Black Ops 4 reddit, for instance, who was one of our sources for the info below.

Black Ops 4 Blackout best guns and weapons

While Black Ops 4's weapons can seem pretty similar at first, at least compared to most other battle royales, there are of course plenty of things that make one weapon stand out over another.

Below, we've plucked out a selection of weapons that we think are generally the best for you to build around when kitting up in battle royale. That means they're not crate or zombie exclusive - they're all available to just be picked up in the standard way, albeit at differring levels of rarity - and using them won't leave you too heavily skewed towards one specialism like long or close-range damage.

SDM

Category: DMR

Rarity: Rare

Fire Mode: Single (Semi-Automatic)

As a DMR, the SDM can't be used as a fully automatic weapon, but that doesn't mean it isn't still useful in medium range encounters. In fact, it's fantastic, with a higher damage than the already satisfaying Auger and a solid rate of fire if you fast-tap the fire button.

It's particularly effective at medium-to-long range, where you'd be tying to single-tap your assault rifles anyway, and with solid attachments its a fantastic, flexible alternative to a sniper rifle.

Spitfire

Category: SMG

Rarity: Uncommon

Fire Mode: Full Auto

Great for coupling with a DMR or Assault Rifle, the Spitfire is our pick of Blackout's SMGs. It has the highest rate of fire out of all of them, but still a good amount of damage per bullet. There's some recoil, but in close-quarters play at the start or very end of a game that's less of an issue than at longer distances - plus, Call of Duty's recoil is considerably lower than in other battle royales in general.

It's not so hot at anything but short ranges though, so only use it in gunfights at less than about 80 metres' range.

Vapr-XKG

Category: Assault Rifle

Rarity: Uncommon

Fire Mode: Full Auto

Arguably the best Assault Rifle, and with Assault Rifles being the most versatile weapons that makes it arguably one of the best all-round weapons too. It's had a damage nerf from the beta, it seems, but still kicks out a solid punch and handles very nicely. Our pick of the games various ARs.

KN-57

Category: Assault Rifle

Rarity: Uncommon

Fire Mode: Full Auto

An alternative Assault Rifle, the KN-57 is Call of Duty's version of an AK-47. If you're used to the AKM of PUBG you'll know what that means - a slower rate of fire than most ARs, but higher damage per hit. It's noticably higher in the KN-57's case, so if you prefer a harder-hitting but slower-firing rifle this is the one for you, and a very solid option all-round.

Paladin

Category: Sniper Rifle

Rarity: Rare

Fire Mode: Bolt Action

Sniper Rifles are extremely reliant on your own skill - but if you're good, they're the best you can get. The Paladin is the community's choice for the best of the bunch, and ours too, with its slow bolt action more than made up for with enormous damage and minimal drop-off at range. The bullet speed also seems to be extremely fast - we don't have official numbers, but the amount you need to 'lead' your shots by at range doesn't seem to be as far as Sniping in other battle royales, which again makes your life easier.

It's rare though, and you'll need to couple it with something more flexible like an Assault Rifle, but it's worth it if you can make your shots count.