How guns work
- Every shot is instant. A round hits the first zombie on its line, as far as the gun’s range. Guns that pass through keep going into the next one, losing a quarter of their damage each time (the magnum only a tenth).
- Magazine and reserve. You fire the magazine, then reload from your reserve. Reload early, in a lull, not when one is at the door. Phone: the reload button or tap the ammo. Keyboard: R. Gamepad: X.
- Ammo. Each gun’s reserve refills from the shop between waves (its “ammo” line), and from the ammo boxes zombies drop, which top up every gun you carry by half.
- Switching. You carry every gun you own. Swap with the swap button or the weapon chips on a phone, Q, the mouse wheel or 1–6 on a keyboard, Y or RB on a gamepad.
- Knockback. Hits shove zombies back. Heavy guns shove harder, which buys you steps at a doorway.
The pistol: your gun that never runs dry
Free · everyone starts with it · 22 damage · 5 shots/s · 12-round magazine · 1.1 s reload · 75 sustained DPS
The pistol has endless reserve ammo. You still reload every 12 shots, but you can never run out, which is why you never sell it or forget it.
- Early waves: it’s enough. Walkers take a few rounds; aim for the front of the pack and back up while you shoot.
- When everything else is empty: swap to the pistol instead of standing there reloading a big gun with an empty reserve.
- Accurate: it has the tightest spread of the cheap guns, so it’s the gun for picking off a spitter at range.
- Carrying something heavy in Missions (a car battery, a ladder) leaves you the pistol only: keep it in mind before you pick one up.
It doesn’t pass through, so a crowd at the door needs something heavier. That’s your first purchase.
Every other weapon
Magnum
$700 · level 2 · 125 damage · 2.5 shots/s · 6-round magazine · 1.3 s reload · 203 sustained DPS · hits up to 5 in a line
A hand cannon. Every round drops a walker outright, carries on through a line of them, and staggers whatever it hits for a moment, cancelling a big zombie’s swing or a spitter’s spit. Slow to fire, so aim each shot. The best mid-game buy for a player who can aim.
In Explore and Missions it turns up in police lockers.
Bat
$150 · from the start · 42 damage a swing, 1.8 swings a second, hits up to 5 at once
A swing hits everything in front of you, up to five at once, and knocks them back hard. Never reloads, never runs out. Good as a backup for a crowd at your feet; poor against anything at range.
In Explore and Missions it turns up in crates and bodies.
SMG
$450 · from the start · 16 damage · 12 shots/s · 32-round magazine · 1.4 s reload · 126 sustained DPS
Fast and cheap, with a lot of rounds. Spread is wide, so it’s best at short to middle range. The usual first purchase after wave 1 or 2.
In Explore and Missions it turns up in cars and police lockers.
Assault rifle
$900 · level 1 · 30 damage · 9 shots/s · 30-round magazine · 1.8 s reload · 175 sustained DPS · hits up to 2 in a line
The all-rounder: good damage, long range, accurate, and every round passes through a second zombie. Comfortable at any range; the gun most players carry into the late waves.
In Explore and Missions it turns up in police lockers.
Shotgun
$800 · from the start · 17 × 8 pellets damage · 1.4 shots/s · 6-round magazine · 2.4 s reload · 122 sustained DPS
Eight pellets in a cone: devastating at the door, almost nothing at range. Slow to reload, so it suits the player holding one choke point while others cover the rest.
In Explore and Missions it turns up in police lockers.
Auto shotgun
$1,800 · level 4 · 15 × 7 pellets damage · 4 shots/s · 12-round magazine · 2.8 s reload · 217 sustained DPS
The shotgun, four shots a second. Clears a doorway in moments and chews through big zombies at close range. Needs ammo money: its reserve empties fast.
It isn’t lying around in Explore or Missions: buy it in Survival.
Machine gun
$2,600 · level 6 · 34 damage · 13 shots/s · 100-round magazine · 3.6 s reload · 301 sustained DPS · hits up to 3 in a line
A hundred-round belt of heavy rounds that pass through three zombies. It holds a corridor on its own. The reload is long, so call it out and have a teammate cover you.
It isn’t lying around in Explore or Missions: buy it in Survival.
Grenades
Not a gun, but they share the fight. You start a Survival game with two. Throw with the nade button on a phone, G or right click on a keyboard, LB on a gamepad. A grenade bounces, rolls and goes off a moment later in a wide blast that kills a pack of walkers. More in the items and gear guide.
Questions
Does the pistol run out of ammo in The Last Flare?
No. The pistol has endless reserve ammo: you reload every 12 shots, but you can never run dry.
What does stagger do?
The magnum’s hits stagger a zombie for a moment: it stops its swing or spit. Bosses shrug it off.
How do I get more ammo?
Buy each gun’s ammo in the shop between waves, or pick up the ammo boxes zombies drop, which top up every gun you carry. In Explore and Missions, search cabinets, crates, cars, lockers and bodies.
Which guns pass through zombies?
A round from the assault rifle hits up to 2 zombies in a line, the machine gun 3 and the magnum 5; the bat’s swing hits up to 5 around you. The pistol, SMG and shotguns stop at the first zombie.
