When it comes to loadouts, each class has its own set of distinct weapons to use. Light classes utilize a mix of melee weapons, throwables, and guns that focus on high damage with a low magazine, while Heavies have much higher magazine sizes and lower damage that works well with their inherently slower speed. Mediums, on the other hand, are somewhere in the middle, so here are all Medium weapons ranked worst to best in The Finals.
6. Riot Shield
The Riot Shield is the only melee weapon in the Medium’s arsenal. As such, it may be tempting to use after seeing how well Light and Heavy melee weapons have been doing. Unfortunately, I can’t recommend the Riot Shield over anything else because of its lackluster features. Case in point, when you block with the riot shield (which does protect from bullets, but not melee or explosions—lame) your feet and arm will still be out of cover. Anyone with a modicum of skill will be able to delete you regardless of whether you’re holding the shield up or not.
As for its damage, the baton it comes with can two-hit a Light, three-hit a Medium, and… five-hit a Heavy. Even with the built-in minor lunge distance of the attack, you’re going to be fish food for someone who knows how to outmaneuver you. Simply put, if you want to melee, choose one of the other classes.
5. FCAR
The FCAR is a gun I really wanted to like. I immediately gravitated to it when the game first dropped. Red dot sight on tacticool assault rifle? Yes, please. Unfortunately, between the abysmal 20-round magazine and its horrid recoil, you will struggle to put down Mediums and Heavies unless you somehow just don’t miss. Because to take a Heavy down with the FCAR you will need to land around half the magazine in head shots, or 75% of the mag in body shots.
The two-second reload speed and slightly more damage than the AKM doesn’t make up for its weaknesses I’ve outlined.
4. CL-40
The Medium class’s grenade launcher is where I start feeling like weapons become viable. This is because the CL-40 serves multiple purposes. Not only does the grenade launcher’s impact grenades do halfway decent splash damage, but they destroy any floor and wall you desire on demand. This can be especially useful when playing cash out and you want to sink enemy teams in a building’s rubble.
Unfortunately, what holds this gun back from higher greatness is its small magazine size of 4 rounds and a reload of time of slightly over two seconds. There are better options when it takes the entire mag to down a Heavy.
3. Model 1887
Now we’re getting into the good stuff. The Model 1887 harkens back to olden days before pump action became standard. In The Finals, the 1887 does a very good job of downing Lights and Mediums in two shots from close range at 128 damage each shot if all 8 pellets land. Thankfully, the gun has a fairly tight spread so you can likely even land some shots at mid-range too.
The magazine size of 6 shots is respectable ensuring high overall damage. Weirdly enough, the three-second reload does take a little getting used to which can make the gun feel clunky compared to the next two options.
2. AKM
When you boot up the Medium class, the first thing you’ll get your hands on is this trusty, iron-sight AKM. You don’t want to immediately dismiss it either, because this bad boy’s mag size of 36, reasonable reload time, lower recoil, and decent damage will ensure you can tackle almost any 1v1 engagement. What really makes this weapon a strong go-to for most is that it can down a Heavy from full with only half its mag to the body (12 if all to the head).
The AKM is great at most ranges too. And while it won’t be as good as the FCAR when it comes to range, if you pace your shots, you will have 36 chances to pick away at an enemy’s health from a very respectable distance.
1. R.357
Finally, the best on this list, the double-action .357 Magnum Revolver. This is the gun you want to use if you’re a crack shot and can reliably click people on the noggin. Why? because you can two-shot Lights AND Mediums (if you hit headshots), and three-shot Heavies (2 head, 1 body minimum). With 6 rounds in the cartridge and a 2.15 second reload time you won’t have as many opportunities to down someone like you would with the AKM.
However, I firmly believe that in the right hands that the R.357 is your best bet against auto-shotty Heavies and double-barrel invis Lights. The fact that this revolver excels at nearly all ranges is icing on the cake at this point, you just need the accuracy.
The Medium remains a solid all-around choice for players who don’t want to commit to the low health of Lights, and the molasses-like movement of the Heavy. And yet, the guns every Medium has access give the class a certain flexibility that other classes aren’t as privy to.
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