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Warzone Assault Rifle Tier List December 2020

By James A. Bassett

A typical Grau Loadout in Call of Duty: Warzone
A typical Grau Loadout in Call of Duty: Warzone / Photo from Activision/Infinity Ward, Republic World

With the integration of Call of Duty: Warzone into Call of Duty: Cold War fast approaching, we thought that we ought to give all you operators out there a little bit of a heads up on what weapons are still viable for you to run. So without further ado, here is our up to date Assault Rifle Tier list going into the month of December.

S Tier: The God Slayers

  • Grau 5.56
  • FAL

The Grau is still the most dominant Assault Rifle in Warzone. Despite Infinity Ward's best attempts to make the weapon more balanced back in Season 4, it remains an overpowered nightmare for those unfortunate enough to cross paths with it. Although it takes a few more shots at long range than it did when Warzone first came online at the beginning of the year, the Grau is still the go-to weapon of choice for many of the top Warzone players out there. If you are looking for a good Grau setup then make sure to check out our guide for the weapon here. And then there is the FAL.

The FAL is a monster of a weapon. Since its huge damage buff back in Season 4, the FAL went from being a weapon that people would pick up on occasion, to a feed machine that everyone would be scrambling to get once they dropped into Verdansk. Despite being a semi-auto weapon, in the right hands it can be turned into a full-auto weapon sure to send enemy players running for the hills if they even look at you funny.

A Tier: Lethal Weapons

  • Kilo 141
  • M13
  • Oden

The Kilo is a fan favorite among Warzone players, and for good reason. It has just about all of the perks that the Grau has with the addition of having huge magazine sizes in the form of the drum mag attachment, which makes it slightly more mobile LMG. It is for that reason however that puts it in A tier instead of S tier due to its slightly lower mobility as well as it not being as effective at range as the Grau is despite the nerf it received.

The M13 and the Oden are both very capable weapons to have in Warzone, but they both suffer from slightly similar issues that prevent them from rising into S Tier: their individual range stats. While the Oden was clearly designed for more medium to long range engagements with its steady fire rate, it is rather ineffective at countering short range engagements. The opposite can be said for the M13, which benefits from having a ridiculously high fire rate -- making it lethal in short to medium range fights, but not so effective in the long range fights that the Kilo and Oden are capable of winning.

B Tier: Aiming High

  • M4A1
  • CR-56 AMAX
  • AS VAL

This area was certainly difficult to distinguish among the rest of the pack. While the M4 was an unstoppable force at one time, it has long since passed its prime with all of the nerfs that it has received over the last few months. But its highly customizable loadout options still give it the ability to make your opponent's life shear misery.

The AMAX and the VAL are two of the better DLC weapons to have graced Modern Warfare this year and are both capable of going the distance in the late game. However the thing that holds the AMAX back from being in A-Tier is its high recoil, but if you can get past that then it will certainly prove to be lethal in the right hands.

C Tier: In The Neighborhood

  • RAM-7
  • AN-94
  • AK-47

All three weapons listed in this tier suffer from pretty much the same weakness. They are just average. While an argument could made for the AN-94 and the especially for the RAM-7 for being higher up on this list, they do have one two many drawbacks that prevent them from reaching the promised land. The RAM-7 after all is nothing more than a SMG masquerading as an AR with its ludicrous fire rate and high mobility. But when it is in the same category as the vastly superior M13, it is going to struggle to make ends meat, especially in the late game.

Everything Else:

  • FR 5.56
  • FN SCAR 17

There really isn't much to say on these two guns that hasn't already been said. The FR and the SCAR are straight up un-usable in Warzone. While the SCAR can deal some damage in the right hands, its high recoil and low magazine size makes it less than ideal for engaging enemy teams in Verdansk. Though when you are dropping back in from the Gulag in solos it might not be a bad idea to pick one up when you see it, since no one else likely will.

The same cannot be said however for the FR 5.56. While its Cold War counterpart the FFAR has been making headlines for all of the right reasons, the FR has proven to be less than impactful in both the Modern Warfare multiplayer as well as in the Warzone mode. You would think that having a burst-fire weapon would give you an instant advantage especially at the start when everyone is dropping into the start of a game, but the FR's slow fire rate and ineffectiveness at close range make it a less than ideal weapon to possess. Especially when you are heading into late game, match-winning scenarios.

If you have to choose between having the SCAR or the FR then I would recommend sticking with your pistol. Because at least with that you might stand a chance of surviving until you can find a better weapon.