There are quite a few different weapons in Rainbow Six Siege, and until you've played for a while, it's going to be pretty tough to tell which weapon is good and which needs to be left behind. The huge skill gap in Siege is partly the reason for this; no matter how good your weapon, when you're starting out players are just going to be winning gunfights against you because of their knowledge of the game. That also doesn't mean that weapons not on this list can't be perfectly effective, of course. But in a scenario where everything is even, weapons on this list are likely to win out against weapons that aren't.
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These weapons are not just ranked by their possible damage output, but also by their ease of use. It doesn't matter if a weapon has incredible damage-per-second if it's nearly impossible to keep your shots on target. So without further ado, here are the 15 best weapons available in Rainbow Six Siege, not in any particular order.
Updated May 16th, 2021 by Ritwik Mitra: Rainbow Six Siege is easily one of the most tactical squad-based first-person shooters around, with rounds ending extremely quickly as teams try to apply the best strategies possible in combat in order to secure victory. So, it only goes without saying that players would ideally want to be kitted out with the best weapons possible in order to increase their chances of survival in a firefight. Keeping this in mind, here are the best weapons in Rainbow Six Siege that can help turn the tide of battle in an instant if used correctly.
15 Type-89
Damage: 40
Rate of Fire: 850 RPM
Mobility: 50
Magazine Size: 20+1
Introduced in the Operation Red Crow expansion pack, the Type-89 is a fairly reliable gun wielded by Hibana that will help players in a tight spot during matches... although it certainly has its drawbacks that can turn any situation into an unfavorable one in a heartbeat.
While the fire rate and high damage of this weapon is certainly a boon, the criminally small magazine size means that players can quickly find themselves out of ammo in a firefight, which can spell doom for their fate in the match.
14 F2
Damage: 37
Rate of Fire: 980 RPM
Mobility: 50
Magazine Size: 25+1
Starting this list off with a bang is Twitch's F2. Though this weapon has received a very recent nerf, knocking down the magazine size to 25 from 30, it's still an absolute monster and one of the very best weapons in the game.
For a long time, the debate around Twitch, and possibly the reason her drone has been nerfed so often, is not only because the drone was effective, but because she has incredible fragging potential with the F2. People who pick Twitch are getting an Operator that's good at just about everything, making her a pretty good pick no matter the objective site or the map.
13 R4-C
Damage: 39
Rate of Fire: 860 RPM
Mobility: 50
Magazine Size: 30+1
Another weapon that's received a nerf (though this nerf is much less recent), the R4C is an incredible weapon, even without an ACOG sight. Ash's primary role as an entry fragger requires her to have a pretty stellar weapon, and the R4C more than fills that role.
It has a nice fire rate and very manageable recoil. Because Ash typically moves around the map with some serious speed, having a consistent weapon like the R4C you can run-and-gun with is perfect.
12 D-50
Damage: 71
Rate of Fire: 550 RPM
Mobility: 50
Magazine Size: 7+1
Easily the best handgun in the game by a country mile, the D-50 is such a powerful weapon that it only takes two shots from this devastating weapon to take out any unlucky player who happens to fall within its line of fire.
Being a handgun with extreme power, it's only a given that the recoil of this weapon can be quite detrimental at times. However, using the Muzzle Brake will help contain the recoil of this weapon, turning it into an extremely effective offensive tool in combat.
11 MP7
Damage: 32
Rate of Fire: 900 RPM
Mobility: 50
Magazine Size: 30+1
One of the greatest SMGs in the game by a country mile, the MP7 boasts a massive rate of fire that makes it an ideal weapon to decimate enemies in close quarters.
Keep in mind that the recoil of the MP7 is massive, making it quite hard to fire in long bursts and hit enemies that are a bit far off. However, players who manage to take these detriments into account will find themselves enjoying one of the most fun weapons in the entire game. Ripping through an enemy with the high fire rate of this brilliant SMG never gets tiresome, no matter how frequently the player might use this weapon.
10 C7E
Damage: 42
Rate of Fire: 800 RPM
Mobility: 50
Magazine Size: 25+1
While Jackal may not necessarily be an Operator than anybody gets to play very often due to his current ban rate, if the stars aline and he's actually available to snag for a match, his C7E is a fantastic choice to bring along with him. A term that's going to get used a lot on this list, the C7E is just a consistent weapon with a good fire rate and easy-to-predict recoil.
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Many times Jackal is going to come upon enemies that are expecting his presence since he's been scanning their footsteps, so he needs to be able to win those 50/50 gunfights consistently; the C7E helps immensely in that regard.
9 M4
Damage: 44
Rate of Fire: 750 RPM
Mobility: 50
Magazine Size: 30+1
Maverick's M4 is, flat out, an absolute machine. Maverick's utility creates a lot of situations where you'll be in a gunfight with a very small angle to see through, so it's definitely necessary for him to have a weapon that stays pretty stable.
The M4 is not only great in that regard, but it also has a very good damage-per-bullet and rate of fire, exceeding the middle of the pack in both regards. While his utility may not be the best for every scenario, his weaponry makes him a great option for a fragger.
8 416-C Carbine
Damage: 38
Rate of Fire: 740 RPM
Mobility: 50
Magazine Size: 25+1
This weapon is absolutely nuts, and it's insane to think that this weapon used to be equipped with an ACOG, too. Jager's 416-C Carbine has a pretty solid damage-per-bullet and rate of fire, but where this weapon really comes into its own is the stability it has.
This weapon, for all intents and purposes, in the hands of any human who's ever played a first-person-shooter in their lives, has absolutely no recoil. Like, none. Whatsoever. This thing is a laser and is one of the easiest weapons to grab those all-important headshots with.
7 Vector .45 ACP
Damage: 23
Rate of Fire: 1200 RPM
Mobility: 50
Magazine Size: 25+1
The Vector is almost the anti-416-C Carbine when it comes to recoil, but because of it's damage-per-second and the situations in which Mira is typically going to be using it, it still makes this list. Most Mira's are going to be in situations where they're in a gunfight that is entirely skewed in her favor, whether it be because she lined up a shot with one of her Black Mirrors, or because she's holding a hard angle as an anchor.
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But in these kinds of situations, you want to be able to drop the enemy as quickly as possible, and the DPS combined with the fact that the Vector kicks almost entirely vertically rendering it a headshot machine, makes it a superb weapon to bring with Mira into battle.
6 AK-12
Damage: 45
Rate of Fire: 850 RPM
Mobility: 50
Magazine Size: 30+1
The AK-12 has long been, statistically, the best weapon in the game, and that's by a pretty decent margin, too. Likely the only the reason it hasn't been nerfed is that it's in the hands of an Operator that really just isn't that good. While Fuze can be a fun time and, on the right team or in the perfect situation, can be somewhat effective, overall he is definitely lacking.
But because he has an utterly sublime weapon in the AK-12, he can hold in own in gunfights, making up somewhat for the fact that he's 1-speed and has some mostly useless utility.
5 MP5
Damage: 27
Rate of Fire: 800 RPM
Mobility: 50
Magazine Size: 30+1
One of the few weapons on Defense with access to the ACOG, the MP5 isn't only useful because of the zoom; it's a very good weapon in its own right. While the argument can certainly be made for using the P90, especially if you plan on playing entirely in close-range, the MP5 beats it in all-around performance.
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The MP5 has some great stability and a very nice rate of fire, making it pretty easy to get headshots at any range, thanks in part to that ACOG.
4 9x19VSN
Damage: 34
Rate of Fire: 750 RPM
Mobility: 50
Magazine Size: 30+1
Another weapon that has absolutely ludicrous stability, the 9x19 VSN available on both the Lord himself: Tachanka, and Kapkan, is a great weapon capable of crazy amounts of destruction.
This weapon has a somewhat lackluster damage-per-second, but because of its ability to keep all shots on target, (and because the Spetsnaz have access to some really great open scopes), the 9x19 VSN is one of the easiest weapons to use.
3 M762
Damage: 45
Rate of Fire: 730 RPM
Mobility: 50
Magazine Size: 30+1
Easily establishing itself as one of the deadliest and most powerful assault rifles in the entire game, any player who decides to control Zofia will find themselves enjoying a weapon that is extremely effective at any range... although players should keep the distance down to 25 meters in order to unleash the full offensive potential of this brilliant weapon.
What makes the M762 even better is that the gun's recoil is easily manageable with the proper attachments, turning any player with a properly modified M762 into an offensive tank that can potentially take out opponents in just three shots.
2 M870
Damage: 60 (x8)
Rate of Fire: 100 RPM
Mobility: 50
Magazine Size: 6+1
Easily one of the best weapons in the game by a country mile, any fan of pump-action shotguns will find themselves right at home with the M870 — a terrifying weapon that will strike fear in the hearts of any player who sees either Jäger or Bandit in the opposing team.
The power of this shotgun is so immense that a single well-placed shot at close range will be more than enough to take care of most Operators. This, coupled with the relatively fast pump-action of this shotgun, turns this weapon into a killing machine in the hands of the right player.
1 ALDA 5.56
Damage: 35
Rate of Fire: 900 RPM
Mobility: 50
Magazine Size: 80+1
The only LMG on this list, the Alda 5.56 available with Maestro cements his place as one of, if not the absolute best, Anchor in the game. Maestro's invaluable gadget alone would cement him as one of the best Anchors, but combined with the Alda 5.56's great ammo capacity, its ACOG sight, and the fact that it kicks almost exclusively vertically, Maestro has incredible value in almost any situation.
As long as you can keep the weapon down, the Alda 5.56 is going to win you a lot of engagements, and win your team a lot of rounds.