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Far Cry 5
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Far Cry 5 is the fifth main installment in the Far Cry series, developed by Ubisoft Montreal and Ubisoft Toronto and released on March 27th 2018 for PS4, Xbox One and Windows PC. Like the previous two numbered Far Cry games, the plot is not directly connected to previous entries in the series but the game is supposed to take place in the same world, with side-characters such as Willis Huntley returning for side-missions. The game is the first in the series to feature player-controllable armed airplanes and helicopters.
Far Cry 5 is the first entry to take place in the United States, and sees the player take on the role of an unnamed Junior Sheriff's Deputy (only ever called "Deputy" or "Rookie," and whose appearance and sex can be chosen by the player) in the fictional county of Hope, Montana. There, the Deputy finds him or herself in conflict with The Project at Eden's Gate (due to their acronym PEG, known as "Peggies" by the locals), a militarized doomsday cult led by radical preacher Joseph Seed who styles himself as "The Father." His sister and two brothers serve as his subordinate "Heralds," each controlling an area of the valley which encircles Hope County. After an attempt to arrest Joseph Seed for kidnapping goes predictably wrong, the Deputy is divided from the rest of the police unit and must join the resistance in Hope County with the ultimate goal of rescuing the other officers and bringing Joseph in.
The season pass content was three additional storylines which were more or less whole other games: one is set during the Vietnam War (Hours of Darkness, released on June 5th 2018), a second has side-characters Nick Rye and Hurk fighting alien arachnids on Mars (Lost on Mars, released July 17th 2018), and the third is framed as a series of zombie movie pitches by the character Guy Marvel (Dead Living Zombies, released August 28th 2018). The former two have new sets of weapons associated with them, though Lost on Mars only has sci-fi space guns not based on any real-life firearm: the final DLC uses mostly existing assets, adding only one gun and unlocking another in the base game. Each of these releases also included a new pack of assets for the map builder, Far Cry Arcade, which also includes assets from Far Cry 4 and Primal, Watch_Dogs, Assassin's Creed Unity and Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.
Far Cry New Dawn is a spin-off released on February 15th 2019 for PC, PS4 and Xbox One. It takes place seventeen years after the original game. In those seventeen years, the only new weapon anyone has invented is a sawblade launcher: all of the other weapons are minor model variations of those listed below, with various straps and bits of metal added and words like "rusty" and "makeshift" appended to their names. The only notable difference in weapons aside from the aesthetics (and game stats) is that many of them received new animations.
The following weapons appear in the video games Far Cry 5 and Far Cry New Dawn:
Overview
Far Cry 5 substantially alters the systems of previous games, with some improvements and some rather strange omissions. The player character starts off able to carry two firearms: one slot is fixed to a "sidearm" that can be used in vehicles, while the other can be any weapon the player desires. The two additional slots are unlocked via a perk system (as the system of crafting inventory-expanding items from animal skins has been completely removed: skins are now exclusively to sell for money), with points in this system gained by completing in-game challenges to do a thing a certain number of times, or by finding survivalist manuals that are worth one perk point each. The inventory also has three slots for throwing equipment each of which has three options: the arsenal includes molotovs, remote and proximity C4 charges, fragmentation grenades, dynamite, pipe bombs, throwing knives, smoke grenades, and "bait" for drawing animals to a specific location. All of these are assigned a single generic "throw" button, so some fiddling around can be necessary to locate the right one. Some of these weapons can be crafted from items found in the game world, but most can only be picked up. A secondary "utility" menu contains items such as the fishing rod, repair tool, craftable "homeopathic" boosts which are certainly not drugs, and so on. Oddly, the health restoring syrettes are now medkits, and it is impossible to craft more while on the go: as compensation the player character's entire health bar will now regenerate rather than it being divided into segments.
As before, ammunition is determined by weapon subtypes, not necessarily by what the weapon would actually fire, so the 5.56mm AR-C shares ammunition with the 7.62x39mm AKM and 7.62x51mm SOCOM 16. There is some crossover between types, however: for example, the "AR-CL" (classified as a sniper rifle) still uses rifle ammo. One limitation in the game is related specifically to ammunition: only some weapons can damage aircraft with their standard ammunition, these groups including the .50 cal weapons (.50 cal is a distinct ammo type), machine guns and mounted weapons.
Weapons are gained from stores or travelling gun sellers who act as stores, and can be acquired in one of two ways; either bought with currency, or unlocked by picking them up from enemies. Store purchases are locked based on a level system tied to how much progress the rebels have made in the three main areas of the campaign, which is increased by completing side-missions and story objectives. Unlike in prior games, only finding weapons in the game world will unlock them for free (aside from mission and Live Event rewards, preorder bonuses and other DLC, and the MP5K unlocked via uPlay): gaining the relevant level simply allows a weapon to be bought.
Once a weapon is purchased or unlocked, it can be equipped an unlimited number of times for no further fee. Guns in the game have up to three accessory points, but these are now simplified: at most a gun can mount an extended magazine (which does not alter the weapon model), a scope, and a suppressor. There is no arbitrary limit to how many of these slots can be filled. As before, accessories must be purchased for individual weapons and cannot be transferred between them. While types of accessories are cut down a little, almost every weapon can mount something and many weapons have options beyond what one would normally expect, such as being able to mount suppressors and telescopic sights on shotguns. Many weapons now also have selectable fire modes, and most can fire at least one additional type of ammunition from a reserve more limited than the weapon's standard ammo type. Special ammo is very occasionally found in the game world or on enemies, but the main source is unlocking the "black market" perk which allows it to be purchased from the items menu at stores.
The "Signature" weapon category no longer really exists, instead there are "Prestige" weapons. These guns are bought at the store, some after satisfying specific conditions. Unlike prior games, they do not have fixed modifications, only their color scheme being locked. They do not seem to have any special bonuses either, just being a variant with a unique look (though they count as a different weapon and so need their own accessories bought). These weapons (and similar "prestige" vehicles and even clothing items) can also be unlocked using a second currency, "silver bars," which can be found in small quantities after liberating enemy bases, gained in small quantities by completing uPlay's weekly "club challenges" and levelling up in Far Cry Arcade, or purchased in bulk using real money from the online store. However, there is nothing in the game that can only be acquired using silver bars. Following release, a series of weekly "Live Event" challenges starting on Tuesdays and lasting until the following Tuesday, offered exclusive rewards which included new weaponry: in general, the Live Event itself rewards a free version of the weapon with a special color scheme, with a regular version of that weapon becoming permanently available to buy in the store with normal currency or silver bars after the event concludes.
Hours of Darkness has no such system: guns are simply picked up from enemies or found in the world, with no means of customizing them. Suppressed weapons can often be found squirrelled away in Vietcong bases. The guns from Hours of Darkness do, however, unlock in the main game's store with their own custom options (along with a new helicopter, a selection of Vietcong trucks and some VC and GI outfits). Lost on Mars instead only has a store with weapons not found in the game world, but there is no upgrade system for guns. Dead Living Zombies is the same as Hours of Darkness, save for it being rare to encounter armed enemies since most opponents are zombies: weapons are mostly found lying around in the world, with better ones found off the beaten track. "Super" versions of weapons with ridiculously large magazines and multiple accessories can be found, too.
Oddly, the game defaults to an offset aiming mode where the crosshair is in the lower part of the screen rather than centered, and the weapon models are correspondingly lower down. The screenshots on this page reflect the game with a centered crosshair.
Pistols
All pistols count as sidearms and aside from the Desert Eagle (which somehow fires .50 BMG) use a generic type of pistol ammunition that is apparently simultaneously .45 ACP, 9mm and .44 Magnum. There is a special armor-piercing variety available too.
Beretta 92FS
A Prestige "Red Flag" Beretta 92FS, referred to as an M9, was added to the game during the sixth Live Event as a reward for playing featured maps in Arcade for 40 minutes: it features an Eden's Gate themed skin complete with SINNER printed on top of the barrel. In terms of stats the weapon is identical to the SIG-Sauer P226R: also like the P226R, it defaults to a reduced capacity 10-round magazine (it may not be a coincidence that Berettas and P226s are sold with 10-round magazines in Canada, where the game was made) which certainly would not belong in a military M9. This increases to a still too-small 12 with the extended magazine upgrade.
While the default paint scheme for the Beretta released after the Live Event is an odd variation on the theme of Inox, the "How I Like My Coffee" scheme creates a standard black 92FS.
In the base game the Beretta 92FS is only present as an icon that appears in the pictured weapon selection menu on both perk menu entries for extra weapon slots.
Beretta 92FS Inox
The default paint scheme for the "M9" that was unlocked following the sixth Live Event makes it a customized Beretta 92FS Inox with a stainless frame and barrel but a standard slide. More curiously, it also has a stainless magazine with this paint scheme.
Beretta 93R "Auto 9"
In one side-mission a director making a movie based on Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is encountered: near the set is a board with the cover art for the game, showing Rex Power Colt holding his Beretta 93R "Auto 9". The gun is made playable in New Dawn, and named AJM9 like in its Blood Dragon incarnation.
IMI Desert Eagle Mark XIX
The tenth weekly Live Event awarded a reworked version of Far Cry 4's Desert Eagle Mark XIX, meaning Far Cry 5 is no longer the only numbered Far Cry game to not include one: this Live Event was later repeated in the week beginning the 14th of August 2018. The new model is a current-production variant with a railed barrel and the newer safety catch, and comes with a more than a little impossible 10-round magazine. It still goes by the name "D50" with the reward version called "Sovereign." This was awarded for killing and looting four bears using only handguns, which for once provided a legitimate use for the ability to equip four .44 Magnum revolvers at the same time. Per the usual standards, a normal variant was added to the store at the end of the Live Event: this version defaults to a standard black frame with a grime-stained chrome slide and barrel.
It has the same damage rating as the RPG-7, but comes with the ludicrous drawback, both in terms of gameplay and reality, of using the .50 caliber ammo pool for sniper rifles instead of using pistol ammo, presumably meaning the developers have confused .50 AE with .50 BMG. When it was added to the game, switching ammo types made it fire armor-piercing pistol ammo instead of armor-piercing .50 cal ammo: something of a benefit since this was cheaper and had a much larger ammo cap. Unfortunately this was "corrected" in the 1.9 patch on August 8th 2018, and it now uses armor-piercing .50 cal ammo as its alternate ammo. It has the additional drawback of being the only semi-automatic pistol that cannot mount a suppressor.
Luger P08
Pre-release trailers briefly showed the Deputy using a Luger P08, but it did not appear in the base game, with only references to a weapon called "P08" remaining in the game files. The patch notes for version 1.7 (released June 14th 2018) included "Fixed an issue with missing SFX when reloading the P08 in certain situations," which strongly suggested it would be released soon.
Sure enough, the weapon was added as the reward in the thirteenth Live Event starting on July 3rd 2018, with the "Pastel Power" Prestige variant being awarded for recovering an "animal heart" item from animals killed by the cougar or bear animal companions. Due to some kind of server-side shenanigans, the regular version was not available until the following Thursday, July 12th. The game ultimately solves the thorny problem of how on Earth the P08 should mount optics with a simple solution: it can't mount any. The weapon can best be described as "bog-standard:" it lacks any real stand-out features compared to the existing semi-auto pistols, save for how large the two suppressors are when they are mounted on it. It correctly has a standard capacity of 8 rounds, though the extended mag upgrade increases this to an incorrect 10. It would make more sense (and provide some actual benefit to the weapon) if it were able to use the 32-round Trommelmagazin 08 from the "Artillery" variant of the Luger, though this would require it to become the only weapon in the game with a modelled alternative magazine.
Luger P08 Carbine
A stockless and slightly too-short Luger P08 carbine called the "P08-L" was added to the game in Title Update 11 on September 27th 2018. It is essentially the same as the regular P08 save for having one less point in the "handling" stat, with the main benefit being that this variant can mount optics.
Makarov PB
The Makarov PB, as in previous games using its GRAU designation "6P9," was added to the main game's store as part of the Dead Living Zombies DLC, despite that it does not seem to actually appear in the DLC. Like the Luger, it cannot mount optics: its only attachment options are an extended magazine (increasing the capacity from 8 to 10 rounds) and a unique suppressor, both of which are unlocked for free along with the weapon. As before, the integral rear suppressor does not function. However, unlike the PB from previous games, the attachable suppressor has a unique model that more closely resembles the real PB suppressor. It is free in the shop if the player owns the DLC, and is something of an oddity, sporting the highest base accuracy and handling of any pistol, but a comically low damage rating of 2.
SIG-Sauer P226R
The SIG-Sauer P226R appears in game as the "P226," and is unlocked after achieving a resistance level of 1. It fires faster than the SW1911, with the downside that it is weaker and costs money since it cannot be acquired for free from enemies. Since it is extremely easy to pick up an M11/9 from a sniper or rocket launcher cultist before even getting a resistance level, it is not a weapon that is likely to see all that much use.
As with the Beretta 92FS, by default the P226R only has a 10-round magazine, which increases to 12 with the extended magazine upgrade.
Smith & Wesson Model 29
All variants of the revolver default to a blued finish and the first two are therefore Smith & Wesson Model 29s rather than 629s as before. The first is unlocked to buy by default and is also used as a sidearm by some cultists, looks to have a 4" barrel and is simply called the ".44 Magnum," while the second is 6" or so, requires a resistance level of 3 to unlock, and is called the ".44 Magnum L." The Digital Deluxe Pack included with the Deluxe, Gold, The Father and Hope County MT editions of the game (and which post-release can be purchased as paid DLC) also included a free variant of the 6" version called the ".44 Magnum Steel & Ivory," which features a wavy Damascus-style finish on the metal parts.
The barrels of these variants are rather chunky and have an incorrect extractor rod housing with a flat vertical front. The new front sight appears to have been referenced from a Model 17 rather than a Model 29. All of the Model 29 and 629 variants will have a rail added to the top of the frame and part of the barrel if an optic is equipped.
The six-inch model is also one of the available sidearms in Hours of Darkness.
Smith & Wesson Model 629
The two highest-level variants of the ".44 Magnum" variants are based on the Smith & Wesson Model 629 "Stealth Hunter" as before. The lower-level model is called the "Sixer," unlocks at a resistance level of 5, and has a thinner barrel than the normal Stealth Hunter with a compensator. The normal Stealth Hunter is the last to unlock at a resistance level of 9, and is called the "Cannon."
Smith & Wesson SW1911
An M1911A1-style pistol, mostly modeled after the Smith & Wesson SW1911, appears as the "1911". Though Far Cry 3 and Far Cry 4 also used the "1911" name, they instead featured the Kimber Warrior. The base variant is relatively uncustomized, but extensive modification is available. By default, it is equipped with an 8-round magazine. It strangely has a 1911A1-style trigger, instead of the three hole trigger that the SW1911 normally has, and also does not have the SW1911's external extractor.
The 1911 is the first weapon acquired unless the player goes out of their way to avoid it, and is the favored sidearm of both generic allied resistance members and hostile cultists. The 1911 also appears to be the standard sidearm of the Hope County Sheriff's Department being carried by all of its officers, and one is also (inaccurately) carried by US Marshal Burke in the first segment of the game (the United States Marshals Service issues Glock handguns in .40 S&W - no M1911 variants were authorized as service weapons at the time of the game’s release.). Amusingly, during the intro when it is stated that the cult "don't respect badges," Marshal Burke grumbles that "they'll respect a nine millimeter," making it seem like the problem is that he bought a .45.
The pistol returns in Hours of Darkness as the main sidearm for most enemies and allies, and like the base game is usually the first firearm acquired (there is a Smith & Wesson Model 29 hidden before it). The model is unchanged and is thus anachronistic for the period that the DLC is set. Additionally, its appearance as the standard sidearm for Vietcong soldiers is odd - while North Vietnamese troops did on occasion make use of M1911-style pistols (including handmade copies), Soviet-designed firearms such as the Tokarev TT-33 and Makarov PM were infinitely more common.
Submachine Guns
Submachine guns now all run on "SMG ammo" rather than the TEC-9 using pistol ammo as in Far Cry 4: this is in spite of the fact that all of the SMGs in the game using 9x19mm or .45 ACP ammo as the pistols do. A special armor-piercing variety is also available.
SMG ammo is noticeably rarer in Far Cry 5, as there are no longer any enemy classes that solely wield SMGs (Far Cry 3 and 4 had SMG troops called "Chargers" armed with PP-19 Bizons), but SMG ammo can still be acquired from the M11/9s carried by snipers and rocket troops.
Cobray M11/9
The "SMG-11" in this game, rather than being a MAC-10 as in several other recent Ubisoft titles, is a Cobray M11/9, or to be more exact an SWD M11/9 since it is select-fire and has the correct pin placements and fire selector location. It is incorrectly called "MAC-11" in Far Cry Arcade. It can be distinguished from an Ingram-made MAC by the almost symmetrical length of the receiver forward and rear of the pistol grip, as opposed to the shorter rear of a MAC. It has a taller MAC-style charging handle with a notch cut into it so it does not disrupt the weapon's sightline: this type of charging handle is available for an M11/9. It also has a MAC-style stock, though it would only take about two minutes with a hacksaw to remove the extra wire loop from the Cobray stock.
In the initial Far Cry 5 demos it was called the "M11A1," which is a name more commonly applied to the MAC-11 rather than the M11/9. Markings on the M11/9 correctly give the caliber as 9x19mm: though it defaults to a capacity of 24 rounds, the extended magazine upgrade gives it the correct 32.
Like the real gun, it has semi and fully automatic fire modes. Unlike the real gun, it is very controllable in fullauto. As with the low-level SMGs in the previous Far Cry games, it is the default sidearm for enemies with sniper rifles or rocket launchers. Willis Huntley also uses one in the side-mission he is encountered in.
CZ Skorpion Vz.61
The Sa. Vz.61 Skorpion returns in Far Cry 5 as the "Skorpion." Like the M11/9, it is part of the "sidearm" class of weapons, allowing it to be fired while the deputy is driving a vehicle or on a zipline. The weapon utilizes the game's new select-fire capability, but in an unusual way - fully automatic fire and a three-round burst are the only options, while semi-automatic is not. Obviously this is not how the Skorpion actually operates. Interestingly, there is actually an animation for this, with the fire selector visibly changing position, though it simply does so by itself rather than requiring any encouragement from the player character.
The Skorpion unlocks at a resistance level of 2.
A suppressed version can anachronistically be found in Hours of Darkness. While older Vz. 61 Skorpions did see use in the Vietnam War, the updated CZ Vz. 61 E that Far Cry 5's Skorpion is based on was not produced until the 1990s.
Heckler & Koch MP5A3
The same Heckler & Koch MP5A3 from Far Cry 3 and 4 with the unusual vented handguard reappears in Far Cry 5. This time, the weird rear sight has been replaced with the normal diopter rear sight. The reload is now correct; instead of the motorized cocking handle from the previous two games that locked back on its own during an empty reload, the Deputy now locks back the bolt handle themselves: the charging handle also does not reciprocate when the weapon is fired as it did in the last two games. Despite having an S-E-F lower, the MP5 has auto, semi and burst modes, defaulting to burst for some reason. It is unlocked to purchase for achieving a resistance level of 1.
As with the Skorpion, the fire selector on the MP5s actually moves to show the current fire mode. Strangely, rather than just inventing an extra fire selector position or having no "safe" position, the MP5s all use the fully up position (actually "safe") for both burst and auto, and the middle position as semi.
Heckler & Koch MP5K
The Heckler & Koch MP5K appears as the "MP5K". It is one of the "Club Rewards" for using Ubisoft's uPlay service, and costs 20 points to unlock. Oddly, it still counts as a full-size weapon and cannot be equipped to the sidearm slot. It has the same fire selector options as the MP5A3 and MP5SD3.
A Prestige variant, "American Muscle," was added on May 8th 2018 as part of the "Care Package," a pack provided free to Season Pass holders and available as paid DLC outside this.
Heckler & Koch MP5SD3
Rounding out the MP5 family, the Heckler & Koch MP5SD is also available in the submachine gun arsenal as the "MP5SD:" it last appeared in the series in Far Cry 2. While interesting from a variety standpoint, there is no tangible benefit to actually using the MP5SD3 in the campaign, as the regular MP5A3, unlocked significantly sooner (at resistance level 1 rather than 8), can itself be equipped with a suppressor to make it completely identical stat-wise and only slightly more expensive. It has the same fire selector options as the MP5A3 and MP5K.
The Hours of Darkness DLC unlocks a Prestige variant, rather unimaginatively named the "Hours of Darkness" variant adorned with gold inlaid flowers and scales as well as a South Vietnamese flag tricolor red bars on the mag.
Intratec TEC-9
Returning from Far Cry 4, the Intratec TEC-9 again reappears as the "A-99." As with the Vz. 61 and the M11/9, it is classified as a sidearm alongside the handguns, which allows it to be used from a vehicle or while zip-lining. It inaccurately has auto and semi-auto fire modes, a feature which never existed on the TEC-9: auto-converted TEC-9s are auto-only, not select-fire.
Oddly, despite that a modelled drum magazine already existed in Far Cry 4, the Far Cry 5 TEC uses the same straight magazine even if the capacity is upgraded. In addition, the ELCAN-style tube reflex sight's quick-release lever clips partway through the TEC's charging handle, which it did not do in the previous game.
It is the last of the automatic weapons in the sidearm class to unlock, requiring a resistance level of 5.
Izhmash PP-19 Bizon-2
The Izhmash PP-19 Bizon is added to the main game's store as part of the Dead Living Zombies DLC, keeping its "BZ19" moniker from previous games, as well as its left-handedness. As in previous games it is a very powerful weapon, boasting a 64-round magazine, the same damage as the .45 ACP Vector, and a slower rate of fire more conducive to accurate shooting. Equipping an extended magazine increases the weapon's capacity to an absurd 84 rounds (though still less than Far Cry 4's version, which held an even more impossible 100 rounds when upgraded). Oddly, as well as being given for free if the DLC is owned, the Bizon also comes with the ACOG sight, ELCAN-style tube reflex sight, both suppressors and the extended magazine already unlocked. Like most of the SMGs it starts out in three-round burst mode, which is not a feature on any real version of the Bizon. The PP-19 isn't very common in the United States; a more setting-appropriate choice would have been a Calico M960 or American-180.
A "super" version of the Bizon appears as the special weapon for the Dead Living Zombies mission Escape from the Rooftop. This special version comes with a suppressor, tube reflex sight and 96-round magazine.
MP34
A Prestige "Rye & Sons" version of the Steyr MP34 from Far Cry 4 (with added pointless MAC grip strap) was the reward for completing the eighth Live Event by having AI companions kill at least ten enemies: it was later offered again during the first repeat Live Event starting on August 7th 2018. It has more or less the same stats as the MP40, with just the rate of fire and handling swapped around. The MP34, like the MP40, is locked to full auto, though true Steyr MP34s were select-fire weapons. Like its Far Cry 4 counterpart, it is inaccurately depicted as a closed-bolt weapon.
The standard version had a rather odd release: rather than being added once the Live Event finished, it was first added to the Far Cry Arcade map editor on May 25th 2018 as part of the 1.6 patch update. The standard version was released May 29th 2018: unlike most of the other standard variants of Live Event guns, it only has a single default paint scheme.
MP40
The MP40 also appears - like most of the game's weapons, it has extensive customization options available, including (rather strangely) the addition of a MIL-STD-1913 rail and modernized optics. A rather unusual weapon for the Montana setting, where an American M3 "Grease Gun" or Thompson would make more sense. Some modern MP40 replicas are also available in the United States from importer German Sport Guns, though these models usually have a faux suppressor or lack the stock and don't function in open-bolt, while the in-game weapon clearly does. The MP40 is the only SMG to lack selective-fire (being locked to fully automatic), which is accurate to the real gun. It will grow an aftermarket RIS rail if one is required.
The MP40 unlocks at a resistance level of 4: this is rather strange since the MP5 unlocks much earlier and all of its stats are either the same or better.
Oddly, it is the main submachine gun used by the Vietcong in Hours of Darkness. While they did use MP40s supplied to them by the Soviets or captured from the French during the Indochina War, they chiefly used Soviet SMGs such as the PPSh-41 or PPS-43.
TDI Vector
The second of the weekly club challenges was the first to add a new weapon, a TDI Vector in a very 80s color scheme called "4 Color Fun." The Vector had already been found to be in the game files by enterprising hackers, and several PC players reported having the weapon fully unlocked to buy in the store (called "Vector .45 ACP Classic") before it was removed by a patch. The "Classic" version was re-added to the store in the patch for the third weekly Live Event as a Prestige weapon, with the minor qualifier that it costs $7,200. At the time it was the only Prestige weapon which had multiple paint schemes.
The Vector features an extremely high rate of fire, and like the MP5 it curiously defaults to burst fire mode. By default it has a 30-round magazine (reflecting the alleged capacity of the "MagEx 30" extended magazine before it had to be changed to "MagEx 25+" over quality control issues), which increases to an incorrect 40 with an extended mag upgrade. The model is slightly reworked from Far Cry 4, in particular deleting the old model's unusable flashlight. The unlock condition for it was to play Far Cry Arcade maps for 40 minutes.
Shotguns
All shotguns have three ammunition types: normal buckshot, incendiary buckshot, and slugs.
Baikal MP-133
The Baikal MP-133 returns as the "M133", the principal pump-action shotgun in Far Cry 5. While MP-133s can still be found in the US, they are far less common than domestically produced pump-actions from Remington, Ithaca or Mossberg, making it somewhat strange. There is a standard length variant with wood furniture (including as before a forend from a Remington 870), a pistol-grip version with synthetic furnishings, and a shorty variant. The full-length version is commonly found being used by both enemies and allied NPCs, and is used by Deputy Hudson in the introduction.
The MP-133 has a capacity of 7, which is actually correctly implemented on an empty reload by having the Deputy load a single shell into the action before loading the magazine tube. Unfortunately this same animation is also used when switching ammo types, without any animation for unloading the shotgun first.
The basic MP-133 is unlocked by default, while the "M" version requires a level of 2. The "MS" requires a slightly ludicrous 7, though why anyone would use it when they have already unlocked the much better SPAS is not clear.
A reworked version of the full-length Baikal is the only shotgun in Hours of Darkness. Among other things it has the vented barrel rib and RIS rail removed, a shorter 4-round magazine tube, and an Ithaca-style forend. The MP-133 is anachronistic since it entered production nearly three decades after the Vietnam War. The Vietcong did not commonly use shotguns, so it would be more appropriate to either use the existing double-barrel shotgun (reflecting an irregular soldier's hunting shotgun), the very common Stevens Model 77E used by South Vietnamese forces, or one of the shotguns used by the US Marine Corps or US Army like the Remington 870 or one of the various Winchester pump-actions.
Double Barrel Shotgun
A Double Barrel Shotgun appears as the "SBS" (presumably "side-by-side" since it is certainly not a short-barrel shotgun). It has superior range to the MP-133, making it more suitable for use with slug ammunition, has a tighter spread when firing buckshot and switches ammunition types faster than the tube magazine shotguns, though it is a little curious that the pump-action shotgun is unlocked before the break-open one since the former is still superior in most situations. The "SBS" is also the only weapon in the shotgun category that cannot accept a suppressor (the "D2" is classified as a sidearm). It is unlocked at a resistance level of 4.
Sawed-Off Double Barrel Shotgun
A Sawed-Off Double Barrel Shotgun appears under the same "D2" name used in Far Cry 4: as in that game, it is classified as a sidearm rather than a shotgun. This time around, it's an actual shotgun and not a cut-down .700 Nitro elephant rifle. It also appears to have been manufactured as a short barrel shotgun: while it has a plate that suggests the grip is cut down, it has a front sight. Thus, it is actually just a short double-barrel shotgun with a pistol grip rather than a true "sawed-off." It is unlocked at a resistance level of 5.
Unlike in the other games, the Deputy does not fire both barrels at once: instead they fire one at a time (the left one first), and like with the double rifle in the previous game, there is a different reload animation for the weapon if only one barrel has been fired.
A Prestige variant, "Sin Eater," is granted for free as a reward for defeating Faith Seed. A second Prestige variant, the "Outlaw," was added on May 8th 2018 as part of the "Care Package," a pack provided free to Season Pass holders and available as paid DLC outside this.
Franchi SPAS-12
A left-handed Franchi SPAS-12 is featured once again with the same odd RIS rear sight: it is second-to-last shotgun to unlock at a resistance level of 6, and the only one which is semi-automatic. As before it has no stock, but it now features a full-length barrel and magazine tube. It now has a slightly-more correct reload than previous incarnations: rather than pumping the forend during the reload which is not possible when the weapon is in semi-auto, the side mounted charging handle is used. The empty reload has the Deputy load a shell into the chamber first and then ride the charging handle forward before loading the rest into the magazine tube, explaining the 7-round capacity.
Of course nothing explains the "super shotgun" version in Dead Living Zombies' level Fields of Terror, which can load 24 shells at a time. Nor is anything supposed to, since Dead Living Zombies takes place entirely within the imagination of the person Guy Marvel is talking to.
Winchester Model 1887
The Winchester Model 1887 was added to the game as a part of its fifteenth Live Event on July 17, 2018 (also the release day for the Lost on Mars DLC). Like the TDI Vector and VHS-D2 from previous live events, the 1887 was awarded for playing in the game's Arcade mode for 40 minutes: the reward version, "Arcade West," has a similarly gaudy color scheme to the reward versions of those two weapons. It is largely the same as it was in Far Cry 4, though it now boasts a new empty reload animation where the Deputy will place one shell in the breech before loading the magazine tube. This doesn't quite explain how it ends up with a capacity of 7 rounds when the tubular magazine only holds 5. As before, it always has a small section of rail ahead of the rear sight for mounting optics.
Sawed-off Winchester Model 1887
Sometime in late July 2018 a sawed-off version of the Winchester Model 1887 called the "1887-T" (for "Tactical") was added to the game, though it had been found in the game files some time before this. It features decreased accuracy but improved handling, and has the same accessory options as the regular weapon. Unlike the "87" in the previous game it does not count as a sidearm, and so sadly does not have a special spin-cocking animation when fired while driving. It is heavily reworked from the Far Cry 4 weapon model, now sporting a full-length RIS rail mounted on half-shroud resembling a heat shield. It has the same incorrect 7-round capacity as the regular version.
Assault & Battle Rifles
All rifles use a single common type of ammunition, of which there are normal and armor-piercing types.
"AR-C"
A fictional custom rifle known as the "AR-C" is available. It is the standard weapon for most enemies and allies, and is fast-firing in fully automatic mode and fairly accurate when firing single shots or short bursts, but deals relatively puny damage. While the name would imply it is supposed to be a Remington ACR it only superficially resembles one, and includes a number of features which show it to be an AR-pattern rifle such as an AR bolt release paddle (that is never used when reloading, the Deputy opting instead to rack the charging handle). The delineation between upper and lower is clearly AR-based, though the rear does not come together in quite the same way: the receiver appears to have been based on a Mega Arms MATEN ambi .308 upper and lower set (hence the lack of a forward assist), swapping the magwell for one from a 5.56mm lower.
It has an M-LOK carbine handguard which is attached using Daniel Defense's patented "Bolt-Up" mounting system, wherein the handguard is attached using hex bolts that pass through a plate clamped around a modified barrel nut. It uses the older Bolt-Up system with six bolts: the current version only has four, deleting the two at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions. Presumably the handguard is supposed to be a Daniel Defense MFR M-LOK, though the spacing of the holes in it is completely incorrect for that. Rounding things out is a stainless steel SureFire SOCOM muzzle brake, a Battle Arms Development Enhanced Single-Side fire selector, a Radian Weapons Raptor ambidextrous charging handle and a stock which is an amalgamation of a Magpul UBR and ACS.
The weapon has semi, auto, and three-round burst fire modes available, even though the selector only has three positions (in practice this means semi is depicted correctly but burst and auto both have the selector in the auto position), and has HK-style white and red fire mode markings. It feeds from 30-round PMAGs with Ranger Plates: the grip ribs on these are rather shallow and get into the realm of complete fiction towards the rear. Its rate of fire is absurdly fast for an AR-type rifle, approaching that of some SMGs. The rear sight has two V-notch settings, only one of which can actually be used. While Picatinny rear sights with a notch in place of the large aperture exist, a sight with both settings as notches is extremely unusual and may well be completely fictional.
A "super" variant with a 50-round magazine, suppressor and red dot sight appears as a special weapon in Dead Living Zombies.
AK-47
In the hand-drawn intro of Hours of Darkness, Vietcong soldiers are shown holding AK-47s, with both slab-sided and ribbed magazines. They use the game's regular AKM during actual gameplay.
AK-103
While the strange AK-103 that appeared in Far Cry 3 and 4 has now been replaced with an AKM, the old model is briefly seen in phone footage that the Deputy views in the game's opening cutscene.
AKM
An AKM missing its optic mounting bracket replaces the strange AK-103 rifle seen in the previous two installments. The default AKM appears under the usual "AK-47" moniker, while a tactical version appears as the "AK-M", taking the "modernized" factor (M in 'AKM') to a whole new level. Like the AR-C, it has a fire selector with full auto, semi-auto, and three round burst modes available. While AK variants with four-setting fire selectors do exist, the AKM is not one of these. The selector on the model only has the normal AK setting stops, and does not move to reflect the firemodes anyway: it is always in the fully down (semi auto) position.
The "AK-M" variant features a rather interesting rail layout: rather than using a rail-top handguard, it has a half-handguard with side and underside rails, a railed gas tube, and a part-length rail on top of the receiver cover extending back from a standard rear sight block, which appears to be a fictional part-length version of the Parabellum Armament AKARS rail. It has a "birdcage" style flash hider rather than a standard AK version, an illuminated front sight pin, an AR-style stock adaptor with a stock heavily based on a Mission First Tactical Battlelink Minimalist AR stock, and uses magazines that seem to be a sort of halfway house between Magpul and Tapco AK mags.
The two "prestige" AK variants both use the name "AK-MS" which should mean they have underfolding stocks, but neither does. Instead, their main feature is barrels shortened to the point the front sight is mounted directly in front of the gas block: it could be assumed the "S" in these names is supposed to stand for "short" rather than "Skladnoy" ("Collapsible" or "Folding" in Russian, used to denote weapons with folding or retractable stocks. "Ukorrochenniy" or "Shortened" would denote a shorter weapon.) One called "The Whitetailer" features an AR stock adaptor like the regular "AK-M," while the other, the "Warrior," has no stock at all. The latter is vaguely reminiscent of the shortened AKMS from Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.
Oddly the AK is the highest-level weapon in the rifle category, requiring a resistance level of 5 for the basic AKM and six for the custom version. It also somehow has a higher damage rating than the M14 and SOCOM 16, despite the latter being 7.62x51mm NATO battle rifles.
The default wood-furnished AKM with a slightly tweaked skin to make it look more weathered is used by Vietcong soldiers in the Hours of Darkness DLC. In real life, it was far more common for the Vietcong to use the actual AK-47 or Chinese Type 56.
Colt M16A1
Hours of Darkness introduces an M16A1 as one of the available weapons: it has a forward assist, the correct "birdcage" flash hider, and a triangular handguard, and has a tape-and-string handling loop on the magazine. It is very obviously a reskin of the base game's "AR-C," featuring the ridiculous fire rate and completely identical stats to the 1.6 version, unchanged sound effects and animations, and allowing semi, burst, and auto despite having a conventional three-position fire selector. The M16A1, like some of the DLC's other weapons, was also made available in the main campaign store, unlocked for free just by owning the DLC. Strangely, it is referred to as the "MK16" when viewed on the weapon wheel in Hours of Darkness (which is a very misleading "derived name" because it is the USSOCOM designation for the SCAR-L), but is appropriately named "M-16" when viewed in the main game's store.
The M16A1 is mostly found in the later stages of the DLC (and seldom so), offering few advantages besides rate of fire over the AKM. However, an M16A1 with a suppressor is the first suppressed rifle the player is likely to find, offering some utility for stealth. Wendell's buddy Joker also uses an M16A1 if the player manages to rescue him from captivity and selects him as an AI companion.
Like the other weapons from Hours of Darkness, the M16A1 only has a single default paint scheme in the main game.
HS Produkt VHS-D2
The HS Produkt VHS-D2, referred to in-game as the "BP-2" (presumably for "Bullpup-2"), was added as a reward in its eleventh weekly update. The Live Event reward variant, known as "Infinite Fun," was earned as a reward for playing on featured maps in the game's Arcade mode. The color scheme for the prestige variant is the same theme as the "4 Color Fun" skin for the Live Event reward TDI Vector, which was awarded for similar accomplishments in Arcade. The VHS is the first Live Event weapon to have never appeared in any previous Far Cry game.
It has the same stats as the "AR-C" as of the 1.7 update, save having one less point in rate of fire. Interestingly, it is not just a reskin of Far Cry 4's FAMAS, since it has totally different animations.
As usual, a standard version was released the following Tuesday, with the default paint scheme an all-over black with HK-style fire selector markings like the real weapon. Unsurprisingly, the developers did not want to deal with modelling translucent magazines, and so all of the paint schemes use an opaque magazine the same color as the gun.
M4 Carbine
In the group photo that appears at the end of Hours of Darkness reflecting what side-objectives the player has completed, picking up enough cigarette lighters from downed American pilots will result in either one or two carbines with helmets on their stocks being shown: a soldier will also be holding one of these rifles if some condition or other has been fulfilled. These appear to be M4 Carbines, as they have mounting screws on their carry handles and the standing soldier's gun has a step in the barrel. These should not be present, as the M4 did not exist until the mid-nineties: a Colt Model 629 (XM177E2 Carbine) would fit if it is assumed the game takes place at the very end of the war (no date is ever given). The gun on the left is also mirrored from the one on the right: an odd decision since the standing soldier holds his rifle with the right side facing the camera and it is shown correctly. The weapon never appears in the game itself.
Marlin Model 1894
What appears to be a Marlin Model 1894 appears as the "45/70," a caliber (.45-70 Government) the Model 1894 was never actually manufactured in. It is placed in the rifle category, and unlocks at a resistance level of 1. It could be presumed that perhaps the developers were thinking of the Marlin Model 1895, but the gun in the game has a square bolt rather than the round bolt and cutout ejection port of the 1895. It features an odd short magazine tube, which is at least reflected in a capacity of just 4 rounds, rather than the 6, 9 or 10 of the real weapon: there was originally also no extended magazine upgrade for it, though the 1.6 patch added one which increases capacity from 4 to 6. Unlike the MP-133 and SPAS-12, the empty reload does not include any animation of chambering a round at all, with the animation just showing the Deputy inserting rounds into the loading port. Originally, the damage was fairly mediocre, more in line with the revolver cartridges the 1894 is actually chambered for rather than the extremely powerful .45-70 Government: the 1.5 balance patch increased this to be at least somewhat respectable.
A second variant, the "45/70-T," is a "mare's leg" length version that unlocks at a resistance level of 3. This variant was originally just a cosmetic change to the standard version with the same stats, though it was changed drastically in the 1.5 patch. Unlike the cut-down Winchester Model 1887 in Far Cry 4, it does not have any special cocking animations and does not count as a sidearm. Like the "D2," its design reflects a purpose-built weapon rather than a cut-down one, since the barrel still has a front iron sight.
M14 Rifle
The "MS16" returns from the last two games, though this time the vanilla version is a left-handed M14 Rifle. It is semi-auto only despite clearly having a military fire selector, making up for this by being more powerful per shot than the "AR-C," though bizarrely it is less powerful per shot than the AK. As with the SOCOM 16 in previous games, it defaults to an incorrect capacity of 15 rounds, which increases to the correct 20 if the extended magazine upgrade is equipped. It unlocks at a resistance level of 2.
Even more bizarrely, and completely incorrectly, it plays a stock M1 Garand "ping" sound when the last shot in the magazine is fired.
The weapon also appears in Hours of Darkness, where it is still called the MS16 and still restricted to semi-auto.
Mosin Nagant
One of the propaganda posters in Hours of Darkness shows a soldier with a bolt-action rifle which appears to be a Mosin Nagant.
Mosin Nagant M44 Carbine
During the intro to Hours of Darkness, one Vietcong soldier is shown carrying what appears to be a somewhat poorly-rendered Mosin Nagant M44 Carbine with a misshapen magazine and the bayonet too short and on the wrong side. It does not appear in the game itself.
Springfield Armory SOCOM 16
The "MS16 Trooper" is a reworked version of the left-handed SOCOM 16 model from the previous games, though it now also has a military fire selector added, something a SOCOM 16 should not have. Like the M14 it defaults to a magazine capacity of 15, which increases to the correct 20 with the extended magazine upgrade. It unlocks at a resistance level of 3.
Sniper Rifles
Sniper rifles fire either standard rifle ammo or .50 cal ammo: both types have an alternative armor-piercing special ammo type. While previous Far Cry games have used scope reticles unique to each sniper rifle, in 5 the reticle is instead dictated by the scope that is mounted on the rifle.
"AR-CL"
A longer-barrel DMR version of the "AR-C," known as the "AR-CL," is classified as a sniper rifle. Like the AR-C, it is based on a Mega Arms MATEN .308 ambi billet receiver set, with a 5.56mm magwell replacing the .308 one. The handguard is based on a Daniel Defense MFR M-LOK handguard and uses the older 6-bolt "Bolt-Up" mounting system, and it has a stainless steel SureFire SOCOM muzzle brake, a Battle Arms Development Enhanced Single-Side fire selector, a Radian Weapons Raptor ambidextrous charging handle and a stock one parent of which was a Magpul UBR and the other a Magpul ACS.
Strangely, it is still select-fire like its cousin: it defaults to semi-auto, but still has the same full-auto and burst modes. For balance reasons rather than due to any kind of logic, it has more recoil than the normal "AR-C" and only holds ten rounds despite using the same 30-round mutant PMAG as the regular version: even the extended magazine only ups this to 12. It is the replacement for the SVD in the previous games as the lowest-tier sniper rifle, and benefits from drawing from the plentiful assault rifle ammo pool, though per-shot power is not particularly high. It has most of the same customization options as the "AR-C." By default it comes with the "Enhanced Ranger" scope, which is the top-level scope that the basic "AR-C" can mount, and has the option to mount high-power telescopic sights that the "AR-C" cannot.
In line with the videogame tradition of snipers being very sporting people who would never hide from anyone, NPC snipers have a laser sight on their rifles, which somehow comes out of the scope. Enemies have red laser sights, while on PC friendly NPCs have green ones: this appears to be different on consoles.
CZ 527
A rifle mostly based on the CZ 527 appears as the "308 Carbine." The CZ 527 was never chambered in .308 Winchester, so the name is either a simple mistake or an attempt at referencing the fact that the CZ 527 can be chambered for 7.62x39mm Russian ammunition (though the latter does not match the round shown in the weapon's magazine model). It is shown with a 3-round flush-fit magazine, which of course contains five rounds, or ten with the extended magazine upgrade. Since the game's only explicit type of sniper rifle ammo is for the .50 cals, the CZ 527 runs on rifle ammo just like the "AR-CL."
The CZ527 is the second sniper rifle to unlock, requiring a resistance level of 3, and the only one which does not come with a scope by default. It is a little strange that the weapons unlock in this order, given the CZ 527's damage boost over the "AR-CL" is relatively puny and it has the downside of being bolt-action instead of select-fire.
It also anachronistically appears as the upper-tier sniper rifle in Hours of Darkness, almost always equipped with a suppressor and with a unique reskin with cloth wrapped around the scope, along with a new simple crosshair reticle. More accurate choices of bolt-action sniper rifles used during the Vietnam War would be the Remington Model 700 or the Winchester Model 70, or if the weapon is assumed to be Vietcong, a Soviet-surplus Mosin Nagant M91/30 Sniper Rifle.
Desert Tactical Hard Target Interdiction
A Desert Tactical Hard Target Interdiction with a somewhat shortened handguard appears as the "MBP .50:" it is not clear what this stands for, though given the GM6 becomes the "SA-50" it is probably something like "manual bolt pull." Oddly, though, the name for the DLC pack containing the pre-order bonus version on the Uplay launcher is "HTI .50 Sniper Rifle With Unique Skin." It is the second highest-rated sniper rifle in the game after the GM6 Lynx. As with the heavier sniper rifles in Far Cry 4, it can pierce cover, though this ability has been neutered somewhat and only the special armor-piercing ammo replicates the old heavy sniper rifles' ability to kill any target which has already been highlighted more or less regardless of what is in the way. Default ammo is still fairly powerful and can, for example, shoot through the entire length of a truck to kill the driver. A gold-plated version is added to the player's inventory as a bonus for pre-ordering the Gold edition, and is also added for purchasing the Season Pass.
Oddly, the two .50 cal rifles have a much more limited range of accessories than the other two sniper rifles: they can mount the extended mag and the two suppressors as normal, but can only upgrade their default scope to a "long-range scope" that adds a zoom function: it is not possible to use them with any of the shorter-range optics that are available for the lighter sniper rifles.
The Hard Target Interdiction is unlocked at a resistance level of 5, while the "Jacob's Rifle" version requires the player to defeat Jacob Seed in the North region.
Gepard GM6 Lynx
The Gepard GM6 Lynx returns from Far Cry 4 as the "SA-50" (presumably "semi-automatic 50") and is once again the most powerful sniper rifle and the last to unlock. It is roughly equal to the Hard Target Interdiction in terms of per-shot power, but has the significant advantage of being semi-automatic. It has the same limited range of add-ons, and the same ability to penetrate cover.
GM6s are not incredibly common in the United States, as they only started to be imported in early 2018: any other semi-auto .50 cal rifle such as a Barrett M82 would make more sense. As with the 10-round pistol mags, it is perhaps not a coincidence that the GM6 is one of the only commercially available semi-auto .50 BMG rifles in Canada where the game was developed, following the by-name banning of the Barrett M82 and M90 series.
The GM6 is unlocked at a resistance level of 6, though the Prestige version can be purchased at any time.
SVD Dragunov
The classic left-handed SVD Dragunov from Far Cry 3 and Far Cry 4 makes a return in Hours of Darkness, where it is the most common sniper rifle and is used by Vietcong snipers. Like the other sniper rifles that are not .50 cals, it uses the same ammo pool as the assault rifles: it is otherwise the same as prior incarnations, including its half-loaded 10-round magazine, though it can now at least be upgraded with an illuminated scope, suppressor or "extended" magazine (which actually just loads the magazine with the correct 10 rounds). Strangely, in the main game, the SVD's selection icon does not actually fit properly into the grid menu. Interestingly, it also shows the SVD without a scope, something not currently possible in the game.
Like the other Hours of Darkness weapons, the SVD only has one default paint scheme in the main game. At release it also made no noise whatsoever when fired with a suppressor in the main campaign, as no suppressed firing sound was associated with it, and its kills counted as being made with an assault rifle rather than a sniper rifle: these were fixed in the 1.7 patch.
Machine Guns
All of the weapons in this category that are currently in the game fire "LMG" ammunition, even though only one of them is actually a light machine gun. They can use either standard or armor-piercing ammunition.
M249 SAW
An M249 SAW with a para stock is Far Cry 5's new light machine gun, apparently replacing the weird FN Minimi variant "MKG" from previous titles. It is shown with many modern standard-issue M249 parts, but still mounts the old paratrooper stock: it is not a paratrooper version, however, since it has a full-length barrel. It uses a 200-round green plastic belt box.
The M249 is unlocked at a resistance level of 4, though the Prestige version can be purchased at any time. Up to patch 1.5 it dealt less damage than the M60, with the upshot being that it fired faster: after the 1.5 patch, it does the same damage but is significantly less accurate. The 1.6 patch knocked this back down to it doing one point less damage.
M60
Hours of Darkness introduces a proper M60 Machine Gun as the only machine gun: strangely it is shown being used by Vietcong heavies, who would be much more likely to use an RPD or some variant of the Degtyaryov machine gun (since at the time the PK machine gun was brand-new). It is also used by Wendell's buddy Moses if the player rescues him and selects him as an AI companion. The M60 has the exact same stats as the M60E4 in the base game and is for all intents and purposes a reskin. Like several other weapons, the M60 was unlocked in the main campaign's weapon shop for free for any DLC owner, appearing as the "M60-V" (standing for "M60-Vietnam," because the M60E4 had already decided to be called the M60).
In the regular Far Cry 5 campaign, the M60 can use all of the same attachments as the M60E4, including the oversized suppressors. Like all the Hours of Darkness weapons in the main campaign, it only has a single default paint scheme.
M60E4
An M60E4 with a missing foregrip replaces the PKM from previous games as the low-end machine gun, and it is used by cult heavies. Oddly, the handheld M60 has no belt box mount and is never shown with a box, instead just having a short belt of ammo that hangs in a curve for no apparent reason, other than possibly following the same school-of-thought that Ubisoft Massive did with the M60 variants in The Division. It is not really noticeable in first-person view, but its absence is fully visible in third person. When mounting optics the front sight is removed, the rear folded down, and a RIS rail added to the receiver cover. The M60 can also be upgraded with an extension to its nonexistent belt box, and rather more curiously can mount a suppressor. It is unlocked to purchase from the beginning of the game, and does not require any resistance level.
A strange modified variant of the M60E4 which does have a belt box appears mounted on some vehicles.
MG42
An MG42 was added as the fourteenth Live Event's reward, with the Prestige "Buzzkill" version for some reason unlocked by killing ten enemies with shotgun slugs. It is essentially the same as the version in Far Cry 4, including the curious side-mounted grip, loose ammunition belt, and lack of a buttstock, though it has somewhat heavier recoil. For the usual "balance reasons," it has the same damage rating as the 5.56mm SAW, despite being a full-size GPMG firing a rifle cartridge: it also cannot mount a suppressor, unlike the other machine guns. It defaults to a 100-round belt, with the upgrade increasing this to to 200.
Launchers
All launchers are placed in the "special" sub-menu along with the machine guns and a sci-fi shotgun-like microwave gun called the "Magnopulser," and fire a variety of ammunition types. Also in this menu are two types of bow, a slower compound bow and a faster reflex bow from the previous games, which can both fire normal, incendiary or explosive arrows. New to the bow category is a slingshot, which by default may seem like a useless gimmick since it is just a longer-ranged way to fire zero-damage stones that distract enemies, but bizarrely it can also be used to fire all three types of arrow and fires faster than the compound bow.
RPG-2
One of the North Vietnamese propaganda posters in Hours of Darkness clearly depicts a PAVN soldier wielding an RPG-2. The poster itself is not real propaganda from the conflict, but the artwork is almost directly copied from an actual propaganda poster made during the war.
Hybrid RPG-7
A hybrid of the Airtronic RPG-7 and recent Bazalt RPG-7 appears in Far Cry 5 as the "RPG-7," reworked from the regular RPG-7 of the previous games. The Airtronic RPG would actually be appropriate for the setting, and arguably more so than even the original Soviet variant, as it is an American-produced weapon. Unlike other entries in the series it can actually be upgraded, though only by swapping out the Far Cry 2-style side-mounted iron sights for a single type of optic. Unlike earlier games, the rockets have propellant vent holes and the reload animation shows the player character cocking the RPG-7 on-screen (by pushing down the lever-like device at the rear of the front grip, which is actually the spur of a revolver-style hammer that strikes upwards: this was previously not an issue because the older games tended to hide the RPG-7's front grip and thus whether this was happening or not) before readying it. Sadly the reload is not all roses as the rocket being inserted is just a rocket: previous games had the rocket's tail assembly attached but no booster charge around it, but this time around even that is missing.
The two rocket launchers each have their own unique behaviour when used with the special "cluster" ammo (explosive and incendiary): on the RPG-7, this switches it to use a round which more closely resembles the TBG-7V thermobaric rocket. The RPG-7's special rockets fly in a long arc and seem to try to detonate a set distance above the ground, firing a ridiculous shotgun-like blast of explosive or explosive incendiary submunitions diagonally forward. If the round hits a target before doing this, it will explode like a standard rocket.
The fifth Live Event added a special variant of the RPG-7, the "Shovel Launcher:" this was acquired for killing and skinning 10 wolves, apparently to gather their collars. It is not particularly difficult to guess what this variant does, particularly when the "aimed" fire mode for the shovel melee weapon already throws it like a javelin. It runs on special "shovel rounds" and functions rather like the Harpoon Gun from the previous game, including the use of ridiculous knockback physics and allowing the recovery of fired shovels in the same manner as arrows. When the challenge ended a Prestige version called "Big Farma" (see what they did there?) was added to the store.
RPG-7
Oddly, the RPG-7 model from Far Cry 4 can also be found in the game, using the updated rocket model from 5 with exhaust vent holes, and the new version's reload animation. It is found in Holland Valley at the entrance to a blocked tunnel near the Lamb of God Church. It is somewhat oddly coded and is probably a placeholder that was not replaced: on the store menu it has no entry, does not count as the same weapon as the hybrid RPG-7 (since selecting that RPG-7 will pull up the assign screen rather than the customize menu), and the game will refer to the slot containing it as empty when assigning weapons. Its quick-select menu icon is missing from the game files: the selection slot containing it will instead show the icon for whatever weapon was in that slot before it was picked up (below it appears to have an icon because it was picked up to replace game's "normal" RPG-7).
The game files and map editor listed the hybrid RPG-7 as the "RPG 7 Modern," possibly indicating some intention to use the old RPG-7 model in some capacity in the future. Sure enough, it is the model used for the RPG-7 in Hours of Darkness.
Carl Gustav M4
The Carl Gustav M4 (M3E1 in current US trials) is the game's high-level rocket launcher, unlocking at a resistance level of 4 (thought it can be acquired before this if the player completes the mission to recruit Hurk as a buddy and then kills him while he is holding it afterwards), and is referred to as the "RAT4" (presumably "Recoilless, Anti Tank"). The M2 version was previously featured as the high-level rocket launcher in Far Cry 2 and an M3 appeared as a weapon icon in the fourth game.
The in-game version swaps the front and rear grips, presumably so that the third-person hand positions for the RPG-7 can be re-used. By default it will launch dumbfire rockets when not aimed and extremely manoeuvrable line-of-sight guided missiles when using the sights. By applying the single optional scope upgrade it gains the additional ability to lock on to vehicles, most usefully aircraft: it is a little fiddly since the lock-on time is quite long and the target box in the scope fairly small. If a missile is fired while locked on it is fire-and-forget, and cannot be redirected in-flight.
Firing special ammunition works like the RPG-7, but firing it while using the scope changes it to use the top-attack mode of the special "LK-1018" launcher from Far Cry 4: as in that game, the fired missile immediately goes vertical, flies up to a set height and then noses over to descend vertically over the point of aim, unleashing its submunitions above the target and carpeting a huge area around it in explosions and / or fire.
LPO-50 Flamethrower
The artistically licensed LPO-50 flamethrower from Far Cry 3 and 4 returns in the fifth installment, totally identical to its predecessors both in model and in gameplay performance. It has no mods other than colour schemes, though there is a Prestige version called "Flames On Flames." An LPO-50 is not something that would really be found in Montana; any American-made flamethrower would be a better fit, though it would be more likely that the cult would simply fabricate their own home-made flamethrowers rather than going to the trouble of acquiring purpose-built military-grade ones.
As in previous games it is a built-up fictional configuration with a single detachable fuel tank that fires a constant stream. The real LPO-50 does not work like this at all, since rather than using gas to pressurize its fuel, it uses explosive compression charges. As a result each fuel tank is a fired as a fixed-duration 2-3 second "shot" which is ignited by one of the three pyrotechnic igniter cartridges at the muzzle. Oddly, flamethrower heavies wear an M2 Flamethrower backpack along with it: there is no connection between this and the LPO-50, and it seems to be filled with dynamite given the spectacular detonation that results from hitting it.
The first Live Event, which challenged players to set fire to animals without using molotovs or a flamethrower (or the repair torch, which can ignite flammable objects and seems to count as a flamethrower despite requiring the player character be physically touching their target), gave a free Prestige flamethrower called "Flamebearer" for 20 such kills. Far Cry players being Far Cry players, the 1-week all-players goal of 50,000 such kills in total for some other unlocks was exceeded five times over within a day.
Yet another Prestige flamethrower, the "Cleansing Fire," seems to have been added in the update for the second weekly challenge.
It also appears in Hours of Darkness where it is used by Vietcong heavies and can sometimes be founds hidden in camps.
M79 Grenade Launcher
The M79 grenade launcher returns from Far Cry 4 with its stock sawed off and barrel cut down slightly to remove the front sight: as before this is probably based on the cut-down "pirate gun" M79 used by US Special Forces, though the latter is a much more drastic modification with the barrel cut down to just in front of the rear sight bracket, the rear sight removed, and a small reflex sight fitted to the barrel just in front of the breech.
It retains the mystical machinery that allows its front sight to magically flip up on its own whenever the user aims down its sights. Like its previous iteration, the game classifies it as a sidearm, thus allowing it to be fired one-handed while driving a vehicle without fixed weapons or using a zip line. The "sidearm takedown" now uses the Deputy's sidearm rather than pulling an M1911 or Desert Eagle from nowhere, which can have some, shall we say, unfortunate results if the sidearm in question is the M79. It is thus far the only grenade launcher in the game.
It is somewhat depowered compared to the previous game, with per-shot power more comparable to Far Cry 4's QLZ-87, and is certainly nothing compared to the explode-everything-in-one-hit weapon from Far Cry 2. It unlocks at a resistance level of 6.
It also appears as a hidden weapon in Hours of Darkness.
Explosives
C4
Two types of C4 explosives can be acquired, both of which seem to be flattened-out M112 demolition charges (though the lettering is obscured) with various bits and pieces added to them to represent detonator circuitry. Remote C4 curiously only seems to allow the placement of one block at a time since throw and detonate use the same button, while proximity C4 charges can be placed freely. The Deputy cannot set off proximity charges they have placed themselves, and both types of C4 can be picked up again if desired.
Dynamite
Standard 8-inch, 8oz sticks of dynamite are available as thrown explosives, thrown in the same manner as grenades. Dynamite has a longer fuse than grenades, but also creates a much larger explosion, and is especially effective at destroying vehicles. Like grenades, the fuse on dynamite can be "cooked" by holding the throw button (this is fairly easy since the fuse visibly burns), and like all thrown weapons it can still be thrown while driving a vehicle. Making dynamite with the crafting system requires two units of "nitro," and more questionably two "casings" and two "fasteners." It is not clear precisely what the Deputy uses the latter two components for.
M18 Smoke Grenade
An M18 smoke grenade that incorrectly produces grey smoke can be used for screening or to confuse enemies: enemies have also developed a disturbing fondness for throwing smoke grenades directly at the player character or in front of themselves if no cover is near them when they are attacked. White / grey smoke should make it an AN/M8 or M83 smoke grenade, but the in-game grenade is marked "smoke, grey" rather than "smoke, HC" or "smoke, TA" respectively. Old habits have sadly returned and the thrown and pickup model of the M18 are the same, meaning that when thrown it still has the pin and spoon attached.
The M18 is incorrectly depicted as a bursting-type smoke grenade with the casing vanishing entirely when it detonates and the smoke cloud instantly reaching its full size: the M18 is actually a burning-type grenade and continues to create smoke for 50-90 seconds.
M26 Hand Grenade
The M26 Hand Grenade is, as in the previous games, the main fragmentation grenade used by the Deputy and enemies, and retains the egg-timer ticking sound heard when thrown in the previous two games. It is a little less common for the player to actually end up using the M26, since unlike the dynamite it cannot be crafted.
Pipe Bomb
Another tool in the rather needless variety of explosives are pipe bombs, which use a burning fuse like the Dynamite. Despite being more or less the poster child for improvised explosives, pipe bombs cannot be crafted.
Mounted Weapons
Oddly, all mounted machine guns are considered to be part of the "LMG" category of weapons for purposes of in-game challenges, even though they are general-purpose or heavy machine guns.
Browning M2HB
Replacing the DShK from Far Cry 3 and 4, the Browning M2HB appears as the game's standard heavy machine gun, mounted on both cultist trucks and in static positions. As has become standard for mounted guns in Far Cry games, they have infinite ammunition and never need to be reloaded, and are instead governed by a heat gauge. The Deputy still subscribes to the patented Jason Brody method of dealing with heat build-up, and will pull the charging handle to make it not hot if it overheats.
They are also seen thoughout Hours of Darkness being used by the Vietcong: this is a little strange since Far Cry 4 had a DShK model that could have been given a fresh coat of paint and used instead.
Browning M2 Aircraft
Several ground and air vehicles in the game are shown armed with Browning M2 Aircraft machine guns, which are fitted with the muzzle booster cap of a Browning M3. These M2s, aside from those internally mounted in the wings of the old fighter planes, are always in the spade-grip "flexible" configuration, which was intended to be manned directly by support gunners inside aircraft. The "fixed" configuration would be more appropriate for most of them, and precisely how some of them are actually fired is unclear.
Fictional rotary gun
For reasons that are not entirely clear, in the final game Nick Rye's plane "Carmina" switches from having twin underwing Browning M2 Aircraft machine guns as was shown in previews to a chin-mounted rotary gun: this looks like an oversized M134 Minigun. The mounting has no room to fit a drive mechanism and there is no obvious ammunition source or ejection port on the cannon fairing. More bizarrely, the muzzle clamp seems to be a solid version of the one from a General Electric GAU-8/A Avenger rather than the flash hider of a minigun.
Presumably this was done to make the missions in Nick's plane easier than they would be if it had the slower-firing wing-mounted guns that the other variants have.
KS-19 antiaircraft gun
During the game's 1.6 update, several assets from the then-upcoming DLC Hours of Darkness were made available in the Arcade map editor for use. Among them is a KS-19 antiaircraft gun. In the actual DLC these guns form a side-objective: until they are destroyed, Wendell cannot call in airstrikes, and when they are destroyed he receives a "recon plane" which adds local areas of interest to the map in a similar manner to the old radio towers. The KS-19 is shown as if it is a rapid-fire cannon during the scene that introduces AA sites as an objective, which it is not: while it does have a semi-automatic mechanism with an autoloading tray and automatic rammer, the rate of fire was on average about 15 rounds per minute with a 15-man crew. With the one-man crew the guns tend to be shown with, the rate of fire would be rather closer to zero rounds per minute.
The guns are never shown firing while they are on screen: even if the player is in the "Action Movie" mode unlocked after completing the game once which allows airstrikes to be called in at any time, they will not even try to engage aircraft that are targeting them directly.
Mounted M60E4
The game's handheld M60E4 also exists in a very unusual configuration as a mounted weapon, with spade grips attached to the back of the stock. This appears to have been created by someone who had seen an M60D but did not quite understand what they were looking at: the most obvious proof of this is that the in-game weapon has no linkage between the spade grips and the trigger mechanism.
Mounted versions have infinite ammo and are governed by a heat gauge. In the M60's case, if it is allowed to overheat, just hitting it a couple of times seems sufficient to banish the warmth from it and get it working again.
The same mounted M60E4 model is also used in Hours of Darkness: this is highly anachronistic, since the M60E4 did not exist until the 1990s.
M120 Mortar
The same M120 mortars seen in Far Cry 4 are found around the map. As before, they are relatively difficult to use since there is no tutorial for how they are supposed to work and unlike Far Cry 2 the weapon has no range indicator when not using the sights. Surreally, the sight appears to be linked to a geosynchronous satellite, providing a high overhead view, now with the reticle illuminated in green.
In 5, there seem to be two types of M120, though it is not visually clear what type a given mortar is. One is the same as before, firing an extremely powerful submunition round seemingly based around the same non-conservation-of-mass technology usually seen in videogame depictions of white phosphorous; this rains bomblets over a wide area and can destroy anything it hits. This type is extremely rare: one appears at the end of the storyline mission "The Cleansing" in the southern area, Holland Valley. The standard type fires a single-warhead point-detonating explosive round, and is harder to use due to the decreased area of effect.
To make enemy mortars less frustrating than their hard-to-find Far Cry 2 counterparts, there is an indicator similar to the grenade indicator for incoming mortar rounds, and enemies will loudly declare "I'm going for the mortar!" to nobody in particular if they intend to use one. Mortars tend to fire at greater range than in Far Cry 4, since they are now much easier to evade.
It also appears in Hours of Darkness where it is used by the Vietcong: like several other weapons carried over from the main game, the M120 is only a couple of decades old and would not have been present at the time. North Vietnamese Army forces typically used Soviet infantry mortars or the Type 31, a Chinese copy of the American M2 60mm mortar, while the VC, when not using stolen American equipment, mostly used a bizarre home-made 50mm mortar made from wire-wrapped two-inch gauge metal water pipes known as the "Sky Horse." They still have their inexplicable personal satellite uplink targeting system.
Cover Weapons
The game's extended cover artwork (an obvious reference to Da Vinci's mural The Last Supper) features a large number of weapons, some of which are taken directly from the game and others which are different in game or simply do not appear at all.
