The best weapons in Escape From Duckov means choosing from dozens of armaments. As tempting as it is to say “It’s the AK-103, case closed,” Escape From Duckov doesn’t actually let you pick one weapon and coast through the entire game with it.
This is in part because each weapon has its own strengths and weaknesses, so the best gun depends on the context in which you’re using it. But more importantly, Escape From Duckov quite literally does not let you use one weapon forever, so you’ll need to learn to improvise!
The best weapon types in Escape From Duckov
Overall, Assault Rifles (AR caliber) are your most reliable pick. These generally boast plenty of damage and solid accuracy, letting you hit targets from a healthy distance away. Most of the community agrees that the AK-103 is one of the best midgame guns you can use, thanks to its high damage and 6 slots for weapon attachments. Many enemies also use Assault Rifles, meaning you can soak up spare ammo relatively fast.
SMGs (automatic guns that use the S caliber ammo) are a good backup, especially if you need to shoot from the hip in tense firefights. You’ll also accumulate a lot of this ammo type through natural play, especially in the early game. That said, the Glick is a surprisingly solid pistol that can appear very early for new players.
Shotguns and Sniper Rifles are generally better in the late game. This is generally due to the types of guns that will drop for you in the early game, but they’re also a bit more context specific. A good shotgun can tear through a boss, and Sniper Rifles need to be built around with totems. If you know what you’re about to be up against, consider using one of these guns.
Finally, while the “L” caliber weapons are a little more niche than Assault Rifles and SMGs, the MCX Spear is very strong if you get the opportunity to snag one.
How gun ammo works in Escape From Duckov
Escape From Duckov categorizes each weapon by the type of ammo it can use. Starting out, you’ll be using “S” caliber bullets, which are used by pistols and SMGs. However, if you pick up a Shotgun, you’ll need Shotgun shells, so those S bullets aren’t going to help you out. Without a healthy reserve of the right ammo type, you could find yourself cornered and outgunned in combat.
While each type of ammo comes in different grades, better guns don’t necessarily demand better ammo. A big benefit of higher quality bullets is that they drain your gun’s durability slower, so you should still save your best ammo for your best guns. Also, some base upgrades do require stacks of certain types of bullets, so make sure to earmark those if you need to stock up. If you're confused by which bullets a specific weapon uses, hover your mouse over the weapon and look for “Caliber” above the “DMG” listing.
The main way you’ll get bullets is from defeating enemy ducks, so common weapon types have an inherent advantage over specialized armaments like Rocket Launchers or Poop Guns (yes, that’s really a thing). To take the ammo out of a gun you’ve found, right-click on the weapon and select “Unload Ammo” (pictured above). Don’t let free bullets pass you by!
How weapon durability works in Escape From Duckov
Yes, Escape From Duckov has weapon durability, and you’ll have to learn its quirks. Each weapon has a limit on how much you can use it, represented by the blue bar beneath the weapon in your inventory menu. If that blue bar runs out completely, the weapon will cease working.
It is possible to repair weapons once you build a workshop, but this also comes with a catch. Not only do repairs cost a chunk of change (something which will matter less as you grow your money coffers), each repair reduces a weapon’s max durability. This loss of durability is shown by the red bar that you might have noticed next to those blue bars underneath your guns. So not only does each repair mean your weapon will wear out faster, eventually you just won’t be able to repair it at all. All that left to do then is dismantle the weapon, which will fortunately salvage any attachments you had put on it.
Even if you do decide to repair a weapon as much as you can, you’ll start noticing some side effects pop up. If a weapon falls under 50% of its max durability, it will take a hit in its overall performance. According to analysis by the game’s community, it seems low durability mainly affects a gun’s accuracy, meaning you’ll miss more and waste more bullets. Keep in mind that “max durability” counts both the blue and red bars, meaning that a barely used gun can still fall under this threshold if the red bar is long enough.
In other words, if there’s a weapon you really, really like, it’s a good idea to hoard a few backups of it to keep in your base. You’ll just have to switch guns eventually, whether you like it or not.
Use mods to help you find good weapons in Escape From Duckov
To help you figure out which weapons you should use, there are a few mods that go a long way in making your inventory make sense. You can install these by clicking “Subscribe” on each mod page using your Steam account, and you can activate them in-game by clicking on the “Mods” option on the main menu. These are only cosmetic mods, so they won’t change the gameplay or disable Steam achievements.
The Item Value Rarity Display & Search Sounds mod is one of the most popular for the game as of writing. It color codes the guns you pick up by their rarity a la Diablo or Borderlands, making it easier to separate the gems from the common stuff. This isn’t to say that guns listed as common are all bad, but this will give you a better sense of which weapons are better at a glance.
Also, the Durability Warning Indicator will make it obvious when a gun falls below its 50% durability threshold, which can also help you figure out when to repair or when to switch to a different gun. It’s as simple as that, and it works seamlessly with the Rarity Display mod as well.
More quality-of-life mods like these are bound to show up as the game’s playerbase grows, but these two will give you a good head start for now. Best of luck, duckling!
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