Essential weapons for new Free Fire players

When dropping into Garena Free Fire's Battle Royale mode, you'll probably have to make do with whatever weapons you can find. But that doesn't mean that you can't keep an eye out for your weapon of choice. Each of the 11 main weapon types has a tonne of potential in the right hands, but these are the 6 best options for new players.

The 'rifle' class in Free Fire refers to a standard-issue assault rifle. They're decently powerful, have good range and deal enough damage for a newer player to feel effective. There are more rifles in Free Fire than any other weapon type, so you'll have plenty of choice when selecting the best rifle for you.

Marksman rifles find themselves in a middle ground between sniper rifles and standard assault rifles. They have a bit more range than their assault counterparts, but they also won't be able to land a headshot from 300 metres away. Marksman rifles are for the careful player who likes to observe the terrain and begin firing at enemies as soon as they're seen.

This weapon type thrives in close-quarters combat, as shotguns deal incredible damage to opponents when they're being fired face to face. The tradeoff is that shotguns take a long time to reload, and some of them only have two shots per 'magazine', so there's a good chance that you could be stuck reloading in the middle of a firefight. Avoid that, and this is a great option.

Submachine guns – or SMGs – are for players who prefer some speed in their games. These are quick, lightweight weapons that can fire many bullets at once, but they cause less damage and have fewer rounds per reload than other weapons. Like the Shotguns, SMGs perform best with a short distance between combatants, although they don't need to be as close as Shotguns in order to be effective.

You may think that melee weapons are a fast track to early elimination, but that's not exactly true in Free Fire. While fists aren't going to win any firefights, there are a few melee weapons that can deal plenty of damage in a short amount of time, provided that you can get close enough to your enemy. For a beginner, melee weapons should be a last resort, but they can be valuable in a pinch.

Machine guns in Free Fire are essentially the 'light machine guns' or 'LMGs' of other shooters; these are guns that fire rounds as quickly as possible with massive damage. While this combined with their large magazines and solid range sound like the total package on paper, these are best for more seasoned players, as their long reload times and middling accuracy can be challenging for newcomers.