We gave Days Gone, the new PS4 exclusive from Sony’s Bend Studio, an 8/10 in our full review, but one of the main questions that’s cropped up in the days since release is about the variety of weapons in the game. Well, we’ve been working on bringing you the latest on Days Gone’s selection of guns, and we’re here with our top five picks on what weapons you should keep an eye out for as you play Days Gone.

Spoiler warning: there are some mild Days Gone spoilers below. While I won’t spoil any story details, there will be information about weapons and camps you won’t unlock until later in the story. Consider this your warning.

The top five weapons you need to keep an eye out for in Days Gone

Number one: the MWS

I’m going to go in order, based on the order in which you will unlock camps with new weapons to purchase. The second camp you will come across in Days Gone is the Hot Springs camp, run by the fearsome Ada Tucker. The MWS is a great early upgrade. It has a large magazine, good stopping power, and a high rate of fire. Make sure to give it a try if you want something more powerful for Deacon in the early game.

Number two: the Hot Springs SAP9

While the Hot Springs SAP9 isn’t an excellent pistol by Days Gone’s standards, it’s still a considerable upgrade over your starting 9mm. And, crucially, you can buy it very early in the game. Sidearms become less important as you progress through the campaign, so this is my only recommendation in this piece for sidearms. It has a good range, accuracy, and a decent rate of fire.

Number three: the Crowdbreaker

In order to get the Crowdbreaker, you need to unlock Iron Mike’s camp. I recommend doing only story missions until you come to Iron Mike’s, then beginning side quests to raise your reputation for this camp until you can buy the Crowdbreaker. It will take a while to unlock, but it is very much worth it.

Let me be clear: this is the most important weapon to obtain on this list. It is a huge upgrade over the main weapons you’ll find before it. The Crowdbreaker shotgun is one of the best weapons in the game, and I only stopped using it when I obtained another shotgun much later in the game. I won’t put that weapon on that list, because it’s only obtained at the very end of the story and you’ll know it when you see it. But the Crowdbreaker is absolutely essential: it has huge damage, decent range, massive stopping power, and a large magazine. It makes taking down swarms of freakers so much easier. Get this gun as soon as possible.

Number four: the Talon 7

Here’s another pick for Iron Mike’s camp that will take work to acquire, but is hugely rewarding when you do. It’s the Talon 7 sniper, and it’s the first Special Weapon on this list. Huge damage, extremely long range, pinpoint accuracy, and massive penetration and stopping power make this sniper rifle an essential buy until the late game when you can obtain the last weapon on our list.

Number five: the .50 BFG

Oh yeah: this thing is an absolute beast. It’s the best sniper rifle in the game, and you won’t be able to obtain it until you’ve reached Wizard Island. Once again, do as many side quests as you can until you get to buy this phenomenal sniper rifle. It’s basically perfect: top tier damage, range, accuracy, penetration, and stopping power.

Pretty much nothing else comes close to this monster of a sniper rifle. You won’t be able to obtain it until more than halfway through the campaign, but don’t hesitate to put the campaign on hold once Wizard Island opens up and focus on unlocking this behemoth.

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