Warzone Pacific AR tier list - Every assault rifle ranked from best to worst for Season 1

Warzone Pacific Season 1 introduces some of the biggest changes in the history of Call of Duty's battle royale game. For the first time ever the legendary Verdansk map will not be available in the game, which is now replaced with the sunny island of Caldera.

The Caldera map offers a completely new experience with over 15 distinctive areas, featuring hundreds of new POIs, new vehicles, new gameplay mechanics, and much more.

And if a brand new map isn't enough, integration with Vanguard has brought over 40 new weapons to the battle royale, meaning that the meta will be more diverse than ever before as people will have more options at their disposal.

Things are getting particularly interesting in the assault rifle category as the already popular class is now getting richer for eight new rifles added to the mix.

Picking the right assault rifle for Caldera will be crucial during the first few weeks of the new map, as things are still new and no one really knows what will be the best choice here.

And while our previous experience with these guns is important, what's even more important is to understand how will these rifles fit into Caldera and all possible combat situations the map offers.

We've tested the guns and did extensive research on the new map, and based on these and other aspects, we now present you with the best assault rifles to use on Caldera.

Warzone Pacific assault rifle tier list for Caldera

The Verdansk era ended with 23 assault rifles, and now with the start of the Warzone Pacific era, the game will feature 31 AR in total, with the eight new WW2 rifles coming from Vanguard, including the Cooper Carbine, which is being added with the release of Season 1.

Before we continue with our tier list, keep in mind that we do our best to make highly accurate tier lists, but right now we are at the start of the new Warzone Pacific cycle, where everything is new and the meta will not settle down for at least a month before everyone figures out what are the undoubtedly the best guns and strategies on the new map.

With that being said, let's jump to our AR tier list.

Description of the tiers

• S-Tier: The best of the best. Even with mediocre attachments, these guns are powerhouses that will blast enemies into smithereens.
• A-Tier: These weapons are incredibly powerful and may closely rival weapons in the S-Tier if paired with the right attachments.
• B-Tier: The middle of the pack ARs for Warzone Pacific. Using the perfect loadout allows you to compete with players boasting the A-Tier weapons. These are great for specific situations or playstyles. 
• C-Tier: These ARs shouldn't be your primary weapon and should be used circumstantially with another weapon or require adept level skill to shine.
• D-Tier: This is labelled the "trash tier" weapons list. You should not include ARs in this tier in your loadout at all.

S-Tier

• AK-47 (CW)
• STG 44
• XM4
• FARA 83
• M4A1
• Krig 6
• Grau 5.56

The STG 44 joins our S-Tier in Warzone Pacific as one of the strongest Vanguard guns, which will shine on Caldera as well due to its high bullet velocity and accuracy, making it a perfect weapon for a wide variety of combat ranges on the new map.

The AK-46, XM4, and FARA 83 all remain strong contenders for the best AR as well, as their versatility and all-around reliability work well on the new map.

A-Tier

• EM2
• C58
• Grav 
• M13
• Volk
• Cooper Carbine
• BAR

We are not yet 100% certain about the Cooper Carbine, but the newest assault rifle has proven to be useful in our initial testings.

On the other hand, the Volk and BAR are exceptional rifles that can easily make their way to S-Tier as the meta settles down and things become more clear.

The EM2 and C58 were dominating the meta a few seasons ago until a wave of nerfs made them less oppressive, but they still remain powerful in the right hands

B-Tier

• FFAR 1
• RAM-7
• QBZ-83
• CR-56 AMAX
• AS VAL
• Kilo 141
• ITRA Burst
• Fedorov Avtomat

Each of these rifles is not bad on its own, but are just not making the cut for the upper tiers. The CR-56 AMAX was a powerhouse weapon, but nerfs resulted in significantly less potency and that is especially apparent on Caldera. The FFAR 1 is a similar case. It got heavily nerfed in spring and it failed to re-emerge in the meta since then.
The Fedorov Avtomat (Automaton) boasts high accuracy and low recoil, which could be of great use on Caldera, especially if you tweak the weapon proper attachments to output more damage.

C-Tier

• AN-94
• NZ-41
• Groza
• FN Scar 17
• FAL (Assault Rifle Bravo)
• AS44

These assault rifles are not something we would recommend for the current meta unless you are really confident playing with them. They are either inherently weak or their design doesn't suit the Caldera map, and we expect developers to make some adjustments in the near future in order to make them more viable in Warzone Pacific.

D-Tier

• Oden
• FR 5.56
• AK-47 (MW)

Just skip these. They've been in the trash tier for a couple of seasons now, and we don't see that suddenly changing on Caldera. They lack damage, they are unreliable, and they are simply not fun to play with. 

And that's it, we've come to the end of our assault rifle tier list for Warzone Pacific Season 1. As we continue playing in Season 1, we will make proper changes and adjustments if needed, especially when it comes to Vanguard guns.

• Read more: Best weapons in Vanguard Royale - The strongest and most broken guns

Excited about Caldera? Check out our dedicated Call of Duty: Warzone hub for all the latest news and guides.

Featured image courtesy of Activision Blizzard.

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