Warzone solos — The best guns to use in one-on-one

When queueing for Call of Duty: Warzone most people tend to lean towards duos, trios, and squads. After all, one of the most exciting parts of any battle royale is bringing home a win alongside your friends. But Warzone does have a solos mode that often goes underappreciated. There’s a certain thrill about being the last man standing in a lobby where everyone is fighting for themselves. But what are the best guns to use for solo Warzone?

The solos game mode has a very different feel and meta to the other game modes. Gunfights are more often close range and are far more frequent. Also, since most gunfights are one versus one, the smaller magazine limitations of some weapons no longer matter. Generally speaking, many more guns are viable in solos.

FFAR 1

Over the last month or so the FFAR 1 has risen to prominence in the Warzone meta. Its damage profile of 33-27 combined with its rapid-fire rate of 900 rounds per minute make it extremely competitive. Within 36 meters, the FFAR 1 has a theoretical time to kill of just 467 ms. That makes it the second-fastest killing assault rifle in Warzone, and one of the best guns for solos.

Even after its damage falloff is taken into account beyond 36 meters, you can still net a competitive time to kill of 600 ms. That’s similar to the M4A1 and CR-56 AMAX. And best of all, its recoil is surprisingly manageable. It does kick a fair bit vertically but the lack of horizontal bounce makes it easy enough to control on a mouse. Controller players may find this gun a little too hard to use as it’ll require you to be constantly pulling down on your right analog stick. In addition, at extreme ranges, you might begin to struggle against other more accurate weapons so be careful when picking your fights. But, if you do stay within your effective range, the FFAR 1 is a very primary weapon.

AS Val

The AS VAL is one of the most interesting weapons in Warzone. You won’t see this featured too often in trio and squads because of its limited magazine capacity.  Even with the largest magazine attached, the AS VAL can only store up to 30 rounds in a clip. That’s less than just about every usable automatic weapon Warzone. This makes it a poor choice against larger teams as you’ll end up reloading multiple times in a team fight.

However, in Warzone solos that restriction no longer matters as your priority is winning a one on one gunfight. And with the AS Val’s best in slot time to kill at just 407 ms up to 32 meters, nothing shreds as hard as this gun. It’s not even out of the question that a good AS VAL build can outgun a shotgun or submachine gun up close. If this beast is coupled with a suitable long-range weapon you will never be in a situation where you aren’t competitive.

Gallo SA-12

It’s a given that shotguns excel in Warzone solos. After all, there is no gun better designed for winning a one on one gunfight. However, I did have a bit of difficulty deciding which shotgun to put on this list. The Origin-12, R9-0, and Streetsweeper all have their own merits but if I had to pick one shotgun to run, it’d be the Gallo SA-12.

The R9-0 hits the hardest but you’re dead if you don’t kill in those initial first two shots. The Streetsweeper and Origin-12 are more consistent but lack range and often get outperformed by the meta submachineguns as a result. In comparison, I feel as though the Gallo SA-12 is a better-rounded shotgun that can remain competitive in more scenarios. Perhaps its stand-out characteristic is how forgiving it is when compared to the R9-0. Missing a shot or aiming slightly off-target doesn’t slow down your time to kill too much. This makes it a fantastic switch for a suitable long-range weapon to deal with flankers and fighting in close quarters.

Cold War MP5

It doesn’t matter what game mode or season you’re playing, the MP5 has always been meta. But the power creep introduced with the Cold War weapons expansion did hurt the Modern Warfare MP5. At this point, there are three submachine guns I’d recommend over it: the Mac-10, MP7, and the Cold War MP5.

In terms of handling and ammo capacity, the Cold War variant of the MP5 performs similarly to its big brother. But it has a better time to kill at all ranges, including the best close range time to kill of any submachine gun. It even outperforms the Fennec which is supposed to be a harder to handle, fast killing niche SMG. And yet the Cold War MP5 is easy to control, provides plenty of mobility, and still kills extremely quickly. Warzone has always had its fair share of gun balance issues. Some players may prefer the Mac-10 for its forgiveness but if you want the best SMG possible for Warzone solos, the Cold War MP5 is a no-brainer.

Kar98k

Even with the fast pace of solos, snipers most definitely still have a place in the meta. Certain regions of Verdansk will always favor long-range weapons so having a switch that can kill in one shot at all ranges is invaluable. When it comes to viable snipers, there’s plenty of choices. The HDR is an effective hitscan making it easier to use at long range at the cost of its slow aim down sights time. Alternatively, the Pelington 703 doesn’t produce a glint with many of its optics which can be incredibly overpowered.

But Warzone solos tend to favor the most rounded guns that can perform well in a variety of scenarios. After all, you never know when a random enemy could jump you. And when it comes to versatility, none of the other snipers even come close to the Kar98k — an easy pick for one of the best guns in solo Warzone. Its aim down sight time of just 382 ms is extremely fast for a sniper rifle. Plus, its bullet velocity of 1000 meters per second is actually not that much slower than the much heavier SP-R 208 and HDR. If that’s not enough to convince you, I’d even argue that the Kar98k has the clearest optic in the game making it easier to line up shots accurately.