Zombie Army 4 guide: The best weapons, upgrades, perks, and leveling tips

Zombie Army 4’s best weapon loadouts and upgrades

Sniper Rifle: Gewehr 43

There are three sniper rifles in Zombie Army 4, but the Gewehr 43 is the optimal choice. This semi-automatic sniper rifle isn’t as powerful compared to the Mosin-Nagant M91/30 — a bolt-action variant — but you won’t leave yourself out in the open after each shot.

The other semi-automatic choice is the M1 Garand. However, the M1 Garand can only have a maximum of 16 bullets per clip when upgraded compared to the Gewehr’s 30 shots. Likewise, the Garand can only be upgraded to have incendiary bullets. These aren’t as effective as the Gewehr’s electrified shots that can stun groups of enemies.

Note: All sniper rifles can be upgraded to have a Vampir Scope which returns health after each critical hit. It’s very helpful if it procs, though it automatically gives your scoped vision a blood-red tinge.

Secondary weapon: Trench Gun

Zombie Army 4 has a few choices for your secondary weapons. For SMGs, you’ve got the MP44 and Thompson, and neither of these pack a punch compared to shotguns like the M30 Drilling and Trench Gun. Shotguns are absolutely crucial for add-clearing, and you’ll be doing a lot of that in the game.

The reason why we’re going with the Trench Gun is because, when upgraded, it can have up to eight shells compared to the Drilling’s three — and the Drilling has no upgrades to increase its ammo capacity. Also, like the Gewehr 43, the Trench Gun can fire electric shots that can arc to nearby enemies.

Pistol: M1911

The other choices for this category are the C96 Pistol and Webley MKVI. The former can have a 30 bullets in the clip, but it lacks stopping power and only does incendiary shots. The latter is a slow-firing revolver that can have explosive rounds, though it only has six shots.

The M1911 edges out the other handguns since it can have up to 12 shots and it has moderate stopping power. Also, its upgrade to have divine rounds lets bullets deal double damage.

Upgrading your weapons

You can find Weapon Upgrade Kits while going through Zombie Army 4‘s missions. Each one is used to unlock a new upgrade for your chosen weapon. Weapon Upgrade Kits can be earned via:

• hidden pickups during missions
• “Gold Medal” completions (aka. reaching the highest score)
• completing the challenges
• obtaining all collectibles
• completing a Sticker Album Page (stickers are earned by getting kills with specific weapons or by killing specific enemy types)
• reaching certain ranks/levels

Note 1: Zombie Army 4 also features the “Weapon Mastery” mechanic. When you unlock all of a specific weapon’s upgrade nodes, you’ll earn a unique skin as well as gain bonus damage for that weapon’s class. As much as possible, you should focus on one weapon to upgrade first just to get the bonus.

Note 2: If you need help finding all Weapon Upgrade Kits in missions, you can check out this video from Rebellion’s official YouTube channel:

Melee attacks

There are four special melee attacks in the game and you can only choose one each mission. By default, you have the Machete Slash. More melee attack types and additional effects are unlocked as you level up.

For instance, the Divine Blast is unlocked at level 18. It’s an AoE ground pound that stuns nearby enemies while healing you and allies. Reaching levels 48 and 73 increase the radius of its effects.

Zombie Takedowns

Although not a weapon per se, the Zombie Takedown is an important ability to take note of especially in higher difficulties. You need 10 kills to get this activated. Using it (default “E”) leads to a close-combat barrage that instantly annihilates your target, giving you a health boost in return. A perk called “Takedown Frequency” reduces the number of kills required for the ability to be activated.

Heavy weapons

Additional weapons can be acquired some missions. These include the Preacher double-barreled shotgun, the Panzerschreck rocket launcher, flamethrower, and heavy machine gun. These have limited ammo and, once depleted, they can no longer be used. You may also detach machine gun turrets and bring them with you if you have the “Heavy” perk (which, coincidentally, increases their ammo).

Anyway, let’s talk about the perks in Zombie Army 4.