Gears 5 is pretty light in the new weapons department. It does feature a wide range of returning weapons from the series past — including the awesome Markza Rifle that was first introduced in Gears of War: Judgement. There are five totally new weapons, and at least of few of these guns are completely awesome. Some of them don’t really qualify as ‘guns’ — but they’re all killer for specific situations.
The five weapons are; the Lancer GL, the Claw, the Flashbang, the Cryo Cannon and the Breaker Mace. The Breaker Mace might feel familiar to Halo fans looking for some close-range mace action, while the Flashbang is a variation on the always-handy Smoke Grenade. The Claw is a new Horde gun that’s a wild (and wildly inconsistent) Light Machine Gun, while the Lancer GL is just straight-up awesome. See how we rank these weapons below.
More Gears 5 guides:
- Gears 5: All Collectibles Locations | ‘It’s Not Hoarding If Your Stuff Is Cool’ Guide
- Gears 5: Crush Your Enemies With The Fish-On-A-Stick Easter Egg Weapon
- Gears 5: Where To Find All 17 Relic Weapons | Locations Guide
- Gears 5: Condor Crash Site Locations | ‘Pennies From Heaven’ Guide
- Gears 5: All Jack Ultimate Upgrades | Locations Guide
- Gears 5: How To Defeat Every Boss | Matriarch & Kraken Guide
All The New Weapons Ranked From Best To Worst | Guns Guide
There are five new weapons in Gears 5 — Lancer GL, Flashbang, Claw, Cryo Cannon and Breaker Mace. These are 100% new additions to the arsenal, which hardly compares to the massive collection of fresh guns that were introduced in Gears 4. I’ve been testing these weapons out in multiplayer and singleplayer, and here’s my definitive ranking. Which guns are the absolutely top-tier, and which are useless.
Before we begin, I want to acknowledge that all of these weapons have specific uses. There are no useless weapons — so even the ‘worst’ weapons aren’t bad. They’re just more limited than others in your arsenal.
#1: Lancer GL (The Best)
The Lancer GL is the obvious standout here. It’s an awesome, modern reimagining of the famous Lancer. Like the Retro Lancer, the Lancer GL marries an awesome design with new functionality that will hopefully make the Lancer GL a permanent addition to the GoW series.
What makes it so cool? The Lancer GL carries three grenades that you can launch by holding [RB]. Target where you want to launch, and a grenade will fly up into the air before splitting into a bunch of micro-missiles that carpet an area. It’s perfect for splattering groups of enemies or killing opponents hiding behind cover.
It’s also a great all-around weapon. It shoots faster and with better accuracy than the standard Lancer, making it a great choice for medium-range encounters. You can refill the grenades by collecting explosive ammo caches — just don’t try to launch grenades at close-range.
#2: Breaker Mace
The best medium-range weapon is great when paired with my second favorite weapon in Gears 5. The Breaker Mace is a limited-use melee weapon that you can equip to one of your primary slots. This isn’t a heavy weapon, but it hits like one — instantly gibbing opponents when you whip it out. The trick here is to use a standard weapon, then swap to the Breaker Mace to take your close-range enemies by surprise.
The Breaker Mace has a wide swing, or a devastating ground slam that can kill multiple scurrying enemies. It’s a powerful weapon in PVE modes, and it’s pretty good for PVP too.
#3: Claw LMG
The Claw LMG might seem lame at first, but I’ve grown to love this medium-range bullet-spewer. The Claw LMG is an unstable weapon designed by the Horde, so it’s incredibly inaccurate for the first few shots of a burst, before slowing becoming more accurate and firing faster. After a short burst of accuracy, it starts to slow down again.
Getting used to the unique cadence of the Claw is a challenge, but each bullet is surprisingly powerful. You can shred enemies much faster with the Claw than with the Lancer if you’ve learned how to use it. It also has a long reload, and a massive magazine — that huge magazine of bullets makes it an ideal weapon for the bullet-sponge mini-boss enemies you’ll encounter in Horde or Escape.
#4: Flashbang
The Flashbang is a slight variation on the Smoke Grenade. Instead of denying an area, the Flashbang stuns enemies that are caught in the initial blast. It takes longer to explode, and if you’re stunned, you’ll be knocked out of cover and be unable to shoot for a short time. Basically, the flashbang ferrets enemies or players out of cover, making them easy targets.
The flashbang also pops much faster, and unlike smoke, you can’t simply leave the area-of-effect. The trick is, the blast radius is pretty small. You can’t easily drop one to escape an encounter without practice.
#5: Cryo Cannon (The ‘Worst’)
This Heavy Weapon is extremely limited in my opinion. It’s basically a cold version of the Scorcher, but it’s a heavy weapon, so you can’t simply put it away when you’re not using it.
The Cryo Cannon takes way too long to freeze enemies — and while enemies are basically dead after being frozen, you still have to shatter them. In my opinion, the Cryo Cannon is only useful for taking care of mini-boss enemies in PVE modes. You can freeze them, then deal enhanced damage while they’re stuck. Not a highly recommended weapon at all.
That’s just my opinion on the best new weapons in Gears 5. In the coming weeks, balancing and player strategies might make this ranking completely obsolete. For now, here’s my opinion — here’s hoping it’s completely invalidated soon.
