Best weapons and ammo for each stage and armor tier

Carry the round whose AP level reaches the enemy’s armor value; the gun matters less. A DT MDR-556 firing standard AR rounds deals 31% of its damage to Vida’s Lv.5 Heavy Body Armor and needs 47 body hits; the same rifle with Advanced AP Bullet (AR) deals 83% and needs 18. AP rounds do not hit harder than standard rounds against unarmored targets, so switch to them only where enemies wear armor.

Loadout by stage

Shots to kill are body hits with a 15-damage rifle (DT MDR-556 or QBZ-191) at 100% enemy health, the Survival preset, without crits. Balanced sets enemy health to 80%, so it needs about a fifth fewer.

Stage	Enemy armor	Carry	Unlock for purchase	Hits to kill the boss
Ground Zero	Pato Chapo: Lv.3 Body Armor (3)	AK-74U with standard S rounds; his dropped AK-47	AK-74U: Xavier’s Parts Wholesale (level 4)	Pato Chapo, 160 health: 22 standard, 11 AP
Warehouse Area	Lordon and the Speedy Group Commander: Lv.3 (3)	Any AR rifle with AP Bullet (AR)	AP Bullet (AR): Jeff’s Extract Fuel (four tank trucks in the Warehouse Area)	Lordon, 190: 26 standard, 13 AP
Farm Town	Security Captain and Mad Bomber: Lv.4 Heavy (4.3); Vida: Lv.5 Heavy (5.4)	AK-103 or DT MDR-556 with Advanced AP Bullet (AR)	Advanced AP (AR): Jeff’s Weapon Test: AK-103, three Farm Town mercenary kills with the AK-103 that the Security Captain always drops	Vida, 220: 47 standard, 33 AP, 18 advanced AP
J-Lab	Roadblock: Lv.4 Body Armor (4)	Advanced AP (AR); carry two full magazines more than you expect	Same quest	Roadblock, 400: 67 standard, 40 AP, 27 advanced AP
Lab Area 37	Killa: 6B13 Killa (5.6); Goofy Goose: Lv.4 Heavy (4.3)	QBZ-191 with Advanced AP (AR), or special AP rounds	Xavier’s Out of Thin Air: Lab Area 37 pays 300 Advanced AP (AR)	Killa, 415: 92 standard, 36 advanced AP, 30 advanced AP from a QBZ-191

The QBZ-191 and MPX add 0.5 AP to any round (update 2.3.18). With Advanced AP that makes 5.5, enough to ignore Vida’s 5.4 armor entirely and to deal 95% through Killa’s 5.6. The QBZ-191 comes from the Island Challenge’s Final Boss quest, which also unlocks its blueprint.

Other rounds and when they unlock

Round	AP	Unlocked by
AP Bullet (L)	3	Jeff’s Clear the Lumber Mill (level 6; includes killing Triple-Shot Man)
AP Bullet (S)	3	Xavier’s Never-Ending Foes (level 11; Bizon-2 headshot kills)
Advanced AP Bullet (L)	5	Jeff’s Eye for an Eye (level 25), which also unlocks the MCX Spear
Advanced AP Bullet (S)	5	Xavier’s Valuable Eyes (level 15; kill Mine Manager without a headshot)
AP Sniper Bullet	2	Orange’s Official Sniper (level 12; Lordon headshot with an StG 77)
Advanced AP Sniper Bullet	4	Orange’s Role Model for Snipers (level 19); its blueprint is also in the J-Lab red card room
Advanced AP Bullet (MAG)	4	Orange’s Golden Sniper (level 21), which also unlocks the M107
Special AP rounds	6	Blueprints dropped by the Storm Area bosses (25–34% each)

Body armor to wear against the same enemies: Lv.3 Body Armor and the SWAT Helmet from Orange’s Seclusion (level 11; Supply Route hands you one set earlier), Lv.4 from Clean Up the School (level 14), and Lv.5 from Xiaoming’s Purification (level 20).

Guns by role

Two published tier lists from October 2025 (GamerBlurb and allthings.how) agree on the same four top picks. Raw DPS below is damage × shots per second from the game data, before reloads, armor and range.

Role	Gun	Raw DPS	Why	Shop unlock
All-rounder	DT MDR-556	195	AR calibre; its 2.0 s reload is the fastest of any 30-round rifle; both lists rank it first	No quest unlock; a loot find
Long range, bosses	M107	75	50 damage per shot, 42.6 range; 14 kg	Golden Sniper
Long range, light	SV98	21	65% crit chance with a 2.7× crit multiplier; 3.8 kg	Orange’s Proof of Strength II (level 17)
Rooms and corridors	MP-155 ULTIMA	–	10 shells, 0.25 s reload, 5 pellets	No quest unlock; a loot find
Armor piercing on any round	QBZ-191	188	+0.5 AP	Island Challenge Final Boss blueprint
Early budget	AK-74U	144	Cheapest automatic in the shop; S rounds	Parts Wholesale
Late automatic	MCX Spear	263	L calibre, 21 damage	Jeff’s Eye for an Eye (level 25)

The weapon table sorts all 127 guns by these numbers. Below 50% durability a gun loses damage and accuracy, so repair before a boss run.

Damage types against bosses

Some bosses take reduced bullet (physical) damage and more from an element. The element comes from the gun, and its description says which:

Element	Guns	Strong against
Space	Space Glick: Xiaoming’s Soul Infusion trades three Glicks for one	Lordon, Pato Chapo, Speedy Group Commander, Shotgunner (×2); Koko Koko (×1.3)
Ice	Frost SR-3M, RPD-Winter, BSG-I, Tundra Recurve Bow	Pala Pala (×1.35), Roadblock (×1.35), Shotgunner (×1.5), Igny (×1.3), Billy Billy (×1.2)
Fire	BSG-F, TOZ-66 Dragon’s Breath	Vida, Alex and Misel (×1.5), Fleeze (×1.3)
Electric	Electrified MP7 (Speedy Group Commander’s drop)	Rampaging Arcade (×2), Pulu Pulu (×1.1); Billy Billy is immune
Poison	MF-Venom, Gulu Gun	Speedy Group Commander (×2); Gulu Gulu and Fly Captain are immune

The boss guide lists every resistance with the fight itself.

When your hits still do nothing

• Out of range: Steam players report that guns deal half damage beyond their effective range, and that the same rule protects you from distant enemies. A rifle at 25.6 range loses to Lordon’s sniper at his preferred distance; close in behind cover.
• Wrong round loaded: press T to cycle ammo types; a magazine of standard rounds keeps firing after you buy AP.
• Your own armor: Lv.5 armor halves damage from AP (3) rounds and does nothing against Advanced AP (5). The Aegis II totem adds 0.7 armor, and Aegis III adds 1.2 but raises elemental damage taken by 15%; see the totem list.
• Raw DPS is not time to kill: the AS Val (raw 280) and VSS fire fast but carry 20-round magazines; against armor the round’s AP matters more than either number.