Plasma Cutter

The Plasma Cutter is the first secondary weapon you unlock, getting it right from the start. It holds 10 rounds and is semi-automatic, meaning you will go through ammunition fairly quickly. The upgrade at level 14 eliminates this problem. The damage on the plasma cutter is decent, and the shock factor is ok, especially compared to the Pulse Rifle. It can take out a pack in one shot usually, though they are hard to hit with it once they get in close. While it’s not as useful as some, the secondary fire (rotate the reticle 90 degrees) makes taking out enemies at a distance much easier to do. Still, this weapon is most effective in the hands of someone who can carefully line up their shots. Using stasis prior to opening fire helps as well.

• High damage
  
• Medium Shock Factor
  
• Effective at Medium-Long range
  
• Effective vs. AI Necromorphs
  
• Ineffective vs. Packs
  
• Average vs. Lurkers
  
• Effective vs. Pukers
  
• Effective vs. Spitters
  
• Very ineffective vs. Objectives
  

Line Gun

Unlocked at level 7, the Line Gun is the best crowd control weapon the multiplayer has to offer. It passes through multiple targets with a wide radius, and a high damage. The trade off for this is a low magazine capacity of 5 rounds, and a slow reload time. Unfortunately, with friendly fire enabled, this also makes it nearly useless for shooting necromorphs off of your allies. All of this set aside, both damage and shock value are extremely high-even before the damage upgrade, it can take out packs and lurkers in a single shot. Unfortunately, the rounds you fire travel at very slow speeds, making long range combat difficult to engage in. You also have to remember that this weapon can only fire horizontally-lurkers on the wall can be hard to take out. You can also use its alt-fire to shoot a timed explosive onto the ground. After a few seconds, it detonates. While the time until detonation is too long to allow it to be used as an effective weapon, firing this in the path of one or more necromorphs can actually split up their forces, or create a ‘barricade’ that they have to wait to cross. This buys your team the time they may need to get that much closer to the objective.

• High Damage
  
• High Shock Factor
  
• Effective at Close
  
• Medium Range
  
• Best Crowd Control Option
  
• Very Effective vs. AI Necromorphs
  
• Effective vs. Packs (Aim carefully)
  
• Effective vs. Lurkers (Ineffective when they are wall walking)
  
• Average vs. Pukers (High health)-Average vs. Spitters (High health)
  
• Very ineffective vs. Objectives
  

Javelin Gun

The last weapon you unlock at level 28, the Javelin Gun is a high damage, very high shock factor weapon. It fires a javelin at your opponent at a high (but visible) speed, impaling them. Given the speed of the projectile, the effectiveness drops at longer ranges, but for medium-range combat, this weapon is tops. The alt fire allows it to be used as a sort of remote-detonated shock mine, making it a good tool for walling off hallways from necromorphs.

• Very high damage
  
• Very high shock factor
  
• VERY effective at medium range
  
• Very effective vs. AI Necromorphs
  
• Average vs. Packs
  
• Ineffective vs. Lurkers
  
• Very effective vs. Pukers
  
• Effective vs. Spitters
  
• Very ineffective vs. Objectives
  

Pulse Rifle

The pulse rifle is your basic, fully automatic rifle. It holds 50 rounds before you have to reload, and you start each life with one hundred rounds. It’s a decent weapon in terms of damage and rate of fire, with a reasonably quick reload time. However, shock value is low, and when firing the weapon, accuracy quickly drops, and thus it is very important to fire this weapon in bursts at mid-long range. You can also use the secondary fire grenade launcher to eat up 25 rounds. The damage isn’t as high as it should be, but it knocks smaller Necromorphs off of their feet, giving you a window to take out any more immediate threats.

• Medium Damage
  
• Low Shock Factor
  
• Effective at all ranges
  
• Very Effective vs. AI Necromorphs
  
• Average vs. Packs
  
• Average vs. Lurkers
  
• Ineffective vs. Pukers
  
• Average vs. Spitters
  
• Very Effective vs. Objectives
  

Seeker Rifle

Unlocked at level 17, the Seeker Rifle is a beast of a weapon. It has very high damage, range, accuracy and shock value, with a low rate of fire and magazine size. It is Dead Space’s sniper rifle. Extremely effective at medium-long range, this high-damage rifle takes out Spitters and Pukers like there’s no tomorrow. The only reason it’s not a full blown 10/10 is the low firing rate and magazine size. That, combined with its pinpoint accuracy, makes it difficult to take out Packs when they’re swarming you. Same goes for fast moving lurkers. If you can see your opponent at a distance, however, take ‘em out! It is good to ALWAYS have at least one team mate with this weapon.

• Very high damage
  
• Very high shock factor
  
• Effective at medium range, VERY effective at long range.
  
• Effective vs. AI Necromorphs
  
• Average vs. Packs (hard to hit, still a one hit kill)
  
• Effective vs. Lurkers
  
• Very effective vs. Pukers
  
• Very effective vs. Spitters.
  
• Very ineffective vs. Objectives.
  

Force Gun

Unlocked at level 11, the force gun is one of the game’s less useful weapons. Its primary fire is essentially a shotgun-it fires a burst of energy in front of you, doing more damage to closer foes. This is only really useful when you’re being swarmed by packs, as the damage is very low. The alt fire does decent damage, but the fact that the projectile moves slowly combined with the charge time before firing makes hitting targets difficult. It can do decent damage if it hits the target, and it goes through targets just like the line gun, but as I said-the rate of fire and charge-before-firing make in impractical in most scenarios.

• Low damage primary, High damage alt
  
• Very high shock factor
  
• Effective at Close-Medium Range
  
• Average vs. AI Necromorphs
  
• Effective vs. Packs
  
• Very Ineffective vs. Lurkers
  
• Average vs. Pukers
  
• Ineffective vs. Spitters