Project Zomboid offers multiple weapons to kill zombies, with the choice clearly defined by either melee or a ranged approach. As we know, melee combat is cool and all on paper, but it also allows for the risk of a zombie grabbing a hold of you and inevitably perishing, which leaves the ranged option. While throwables and noisemakers are a thing in the game, we all know that in a zombie apocalypse, ranged attacks are simply guns in our vocabulary of zombie survival.
Guns in this game take up a bulk of the medium and late game benefits, allowing you to kill the danger, without being in front of said danger. You have a limited choice in the base game, which can be expanded upon if you add mods, but for that vanilla experience, and for parity of gameplay with anyone playing this game on single player, we’ll look at the choices naturally offered by the game in its one- and two-handed forms and name which gun is best for your situation.
For this list, the list is made at the time of the games’ latest version (ver. 41.78 Steam) and is based on my experience in a friend-hosted multiplayer server, and items listed are from the vanilla version of the game, meaning no mod items are included. Guns other than those listed will be mentioned or referenced as similar guns may be grouped, given the nature of the looting system and the stats of weapons in Project Zomboid. This is a subjective list and the entries are in no particular order
5. Shotguns
Why is the Shotgun Great?
While there are 4 shotguns in the vanilla game, all will prove equal in terms of usage and general purpose in your survival, heavy clearing. That’s its initial importance, but for such a straightforward weapon, the benefits, for this game at least, expand to the following.
- Spread shots – Allows for multiple zombies to be hit at a certain range
- Easy aiming levels – Leveling your aiming is easier when hitting as many zombies as possible
- Consistent carry weight and knockback – All the shotguns have the same 4.0 carry weight
For the most part, the shotgun, in any model, is a perfect scenario for a few blasts to take over a zombie run house, establishment, or point of interest given its spread shot capabilities. If you pair it up with the fact that leveling your aim is easier with it, then you should have guaranteed success. The carry weight may be off-putting as it’s heavy, but a heavy weapon is the drawback of a heavy-duty gun. So why is it that the shotgun isn’t the perfect weapon here? Simple, it’s loud. Too loud.
The moment you decide that it’s time to whip out the shells, you’ll be inviting every undead in a large radius, making you overrun if you are in a busy area such as the city. It cannot be overstated enough that this is more of a last resort type of deal, and in the likelihood of being the main course, it’s better to keep the shotgun infrequently used, under the supervision of someone with another gun, or as a last resort.
Shotgun Details:
- Damage: 1-2.5
- Weight: 4.0
- Weapon Type: Two-handed
How to Get the Shotgun:
- Army Surpluses
- Hardware store
- Zombie’s inventory
4. M36/M625 Revolvers
Why is the Shotgun Great?
With a choice of quieter or more powerful variants, you have the chance to get either when you loot. Whether you loot the reliable, movie-like revolver or the irony of the gun variant being quiet as a benefit, it still provides the same quality of life any revolver provides, like the following.
- Quieter ammo (M36) – .38 ammo is the more silent ammo for a revolver
- More common ammo (M625) - .45 is a common ammo round to find
- No jamming – Having no magazine is a plus for not jamming the gun
- No magazine – You’ll only need ammo as the bullets are fed to the chamber
The revolver does not jam nor requires a magazine to function. All you got to do is aim, fire, and reload, with no mashing of the X key if the gun starts to jam and cease firing. While that is a nice thing to benefit from, the same can be said towards its downsides.
To begin with, the range disadvantage for those in lower aiming levels as this gun isn’t exactly going to gunsling a kill a whole block away, meaning you’ll take zombies on at more upfront range than other guns. The next difference, at least for the M625 variant, is a different gun with a classic 6-shot loader versus the 5 on the M36, all the while using more potent .45-caliber rounds vs the rarer .38 rounds on the M36.
Both are good in their own right, but with the randomness that is the loot system of Project Zomboid, you should be able to hold your own with either one, and start channeling every cowboy in the west to kill the zombies in record time.
M36 Revolver Details:
Damage: 1.2
Weight: 1.5
Weapon Type: One-handed
M625 Revolver Details:
Damage: 1.6
Weight: 1.75
Weapon Type: One-handed
How to Get the M36/M625 Revolver:
- Army Surpluses
- Police Stations
- Zombie’s inventory
3. Beretta M9
Why is the Beretta M9 Great?
A very good gun with some serious firepower, this pistol is your best friend for spread out combats with the undead. While sound will attract zombies to your area, should you gamble with it, or at least, have no choice but to use it, you have something that has far more capacity for clearing more zombies, or at the very least enabling a better chance of killing them. While we talk benefits, let’s go over the other things this pistol does well below.
- Easily acquirable ammo – 9x19mm bullets are more common to drop in the game, depending on server settings
- Lower sound radius – Firing it has relatively low sound radius for its damage
- Larger capacity – Capacity is higher on a standard magazine at 15+1 rounds
Having a chance to fire more ammo per magazine is one of the better reasons to pick this, and in my case, it’s a nice gun to have a beginner step up to once they get a level or two in aiming, graduating from the more silent. Speaking of bullets, the 9mm bullets that this gun uses are plenty, if you are willing to search for them in police stations and military surpluses
Beretta M9 Details:
- Damage: 1-2.5
- Weight: 2.0
- Weapon Type: One-handed
How to Get the Beretta M9:
- Army Surpluses
- Hardware store
- Houses
2. D.E. Pistol
Why is the D.E Pistol Great?
Tied with the Magnum revolver, this is one of the more powerful handguns in the game. The D.E Pistol is the more likely choice of the two for the reasons as important as the following.
- High range – Can kill enemies from afar
- Powerful ammo rounds – Using the same .44 magnum rounds gives this gun its distinct sound and damage
- Fair capacity – Capacity is higher on a standard magazine at 8+1 rounds
Despite having the same .44 Magnum round in use, this stores more of them with the D.E being two more rounds of ammo, with the possibility of having a lot of magazines, reducing reload and weapon downtime. Granted, this can jam, as with many magazine-based guns, but with every bit of capacity being a bonus, an extra two shots over an extended fight just adds more survivability.
Speaking of survivability, the gun has an absolutely insane range, only being second to the Magnum at 10 vs. 11, but it’s still plenty good for what it does. While that’s the benefit of the survivability portion, this does cost you something important, sound.
This gun is loud, even matching shotgun levels of loud, and that will have the good or bad trait of drawing more zombies towards you. This is okay if your goal is to keep the zombies away from a friend, but completely bad if you’re in bad shape and want to run from 50 or more zombies. Either way, this gun is high-risk, high-reward, and you should prepare to shoot when your life depends on it, which is always.
D.E. Pistol Details:
- Damage: 1
- Weight: 1.5
- Weapon Type: One-handed
How to Get the D.E. Pistol:
- Army Surpluses
- Police Station
- Military Bases
1. M14/16
Why is the M14/16 Great?
This is a great gun for the strategic ones, and for the best chance of one-hitting a zombie to death, you choose either one of these rifles based on which you value most. Both are excellent guns to bring to any mob fight, so you’ll still benefit from these things below, even if you choose one or the other.
- Multi-shot – As an automatic gun, it can cut a zombie hoard to size in a few seconds
- Long-range – Can fire farther when aiming is leveled up
- Damage – High caliber rounds make for better damage overall
A big thing to note about these guns is that you’re trading capacity or damage with one another, making it a relatively subjective choice. If you choose to have more reliable damage, you take the M14. If you want more bullets to save you, then the M16 will be a better choice. Either gun you choose, make sure you don’t jam the gun when firing at 20/30 bullets per clip, so make sure you have the X key ready to quickly unjam and fire at will again.
These guns are usually found in the more important areas of the game, but they can be found in even the dinkiest of police stations if you’re lucky enough. Either way, these two models are the hottest endgame guns to get, and you’ll be shooting equally hot lead towards the undead when death is looming.
M14/16 Details:
- Attack Speed: 4
- Damage: 1-2.5
- Axe Type: Two-handed
How to Get the M14/16:
- Army Surpluses
- Police Station
- Military Bases
