Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 sorts its guns into five families in the Collection screen: Rifle, Precision, CQW (close-quarters weapons), Handgun and Heavy. You earn new weapons through mission rewards, Hidden Caches and the armory run by Wrench aboard the ship, and every gun you carry levels itself up to four stars simply by being used. Below is every weapon named so far, how each one unlocks, and what the October patch changed about the perks that make them hit harder.
We checked this against Cold Iron Studios' class showcases and patch notes on Steam, the PS5 trophy list, GamingBolt's hands-on preview and the AvP Central weapon catalog in November 2026.
How the Arsenal Is Organized
Every loadout in the sequel is built around a kit, the game's name for a class, and each kit has its own signature weapons plus a pool of guns it can share with the others. On top of the main weapon slots there is a customizable sidearm slot, so a Duelist running a heavy rifle can still carry a pistol or the short-barrel riot gun for emergencies. The Specialist kit is the exception to the usual rules: Cold Iron describes it as a class with access to every unlocked class ability and perk, and its showcase pairs the L56A3 Smartgun with the M41A2 Pulse Rifle as its signature weapons.
The category you pick matters more than raw damage numbers. Rifles carry most missions, Precision weapons handle elites and weak points, CQW guns clear the sudden Drone ambushes that come out of vents, Handguns back you up when a primary overheats, and Heavy weapons are what the official Xenomorph dossier tells you to bring against Strikers. Each family also has its own branch of weapon perks (Training, Expertise and Mastery), which is why a gun can feel very different once its matching perks are slotted on your kit's perk board.
If you play other co-op class shooters, the logic will feel familiar. Our Space Marine 2 weapons breakdown works the same way: the best gun is the one that fits your class's role and the enemy mix in front of you, not one universal pick. The kit side of that equation is covered in our Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 classes guide.
Every Named Weapon by Category
Cold Iron has not published an official master list, so the table below combines the weapons named in the developer's class showcases with the fan-run AvP Central catalog, which was last updated in mid-September 2026. The in-game Collection screen is the final word, and it may contain guns that neither source has named yet.
| Category | Weapons |
|---|---|
| Rifle | M41A "Classic" Pulse Rifle, F44A Pulse Rifle, BD-16 Begho, BD-14 Gecho, BD-48 Daittyo Heavy Rifle, L36 Halberd Mk.2, EV-87 Zvezda Plasma Rifle Mk.2 |
| Precision | M42A2 Scout Rifle, HNT-1 E1 Alamein Revolver Rifle, BD-03 Djinn Personal Railgun, L33 Pike, Type 102 Directed Force Sniper |
| CQW | M37A3 Pump Shotgun, BD-55 Jokk Burst Shotgun, Type 21 Tactical Shotgun Mk.2, EDS-93 Zadak Plasma Discharger Mk.2, M39A2 Submachine Gun, BD-21 Khokosh SMG, LEM MP11 Stormsurge Mk.2, X43A Barrage Flechette SMG, Type 99 Incinerator Mk.2, X1 Fireball |
| Handgun | M4 Service Pistol, Frontier Revolver, M10 Auto Pistol, Kramer Short-Barrel |
| Heavy | L56A3 Smartgun, L59 Minigun Mk.2, SMB-94 Zephyr Plasma Emitter, P.649 Hel Mk.2, M12A1 Rocket Launcher, Type 111 Directed Particle Emitter, OCAP-91 Volcan |
A few names on that list behave in ways worth knowing before you spend currency on them. The Zadak Plasma Discharger overcharges its blast if you hold the trigger, the Khokosh SMG lets you change its rate of fire at the cost of extra recoil, the Djinn railgun has a charged shot, and the Volcan is a short-range heavy flamethrower. The Pike is built around single huge hits, which matters for the Jackpot perk change covered further down.
How to Unlock New Weapons
There are three routes to new guns, and most players use all of them without thinking about it. The first is simply playing: missions hand out rewards at the end, and the unlock crates you find mid-mission now lean toward gameplay items. Cold Iron's Patch #3 notes from 22 October 2026 say unlock crates "now primarily give you gameplay rewards instead of only cosmetics", which was a common complaint in the first weeks after launch.
The second route is Hidden Caches. Missions tuck optional caches away from the main objective, and the patch notes confirm they can contain unlocks (the same patch fixed emotes from caches not being added to inventories and repaired a cache in "Synth Headache" that did not work like the others). Checking side rooms is worth the extra minute, especially on your first pass through a campaign.
The third route is Wrench, the armorer in the ship hub. According to GamingBolt's preview, Wrench sells weapons and attachments for Requisition Credits, the currency you collect from caches and mission rewards. Optics, the same preview notes, open up after you finish the first campaign, so do not worry if your early rifles look bare.
- Augments, major items and some perks only drop on Intense difficulty or higher, but Patch #3 confirms they can still be bought in the store.
- Higher difficulties pay out better rewards, so moving up from Casual as soon as your Combat Rating allows speeds up the whole collection.
- Horde Mode is now available to new characters immediately (Patch #3 removed its campaign lock), and its waves are another steady source of rewards.
Weapon Stars, Traits and Attachments
Every gun earns experience as you use it and climbs to a maximum of four stars. The PS5 trophy list confirms that ceiling: "Hell and Back" asks you to level a weapon to four stars, and "Well Stocked Arsenal" asks for ten weapons at two stars or better. Leveling a weapon is what opens its sidearm attachment options, decal slots and Augment slots, so a fresh gun always feels weaker than the one you have been carrying for a week.
Weapon Traits arrive at one star. GamingBolt's hands-on preview describes them as stat bonuses you can swap between different weapon types, with examples such as a 15 percent aim assist boost on the Smartgun and 10 percent less recoil on the M41A2. Treat those numbers as preview values, since balance has moved since August, but the system itself is unchanged.
Attachments are the other half of a gun's power. The categories you will see most are magazines, muzzles, optics, underbarrels and Augments (Augments are the special modules that add effects such as electric or cryo ammunition). Five trophies hang off this menu, from putting a single attachment on a sidearm to filling every slot on one gun with an Augment included, so tinkering early ticks boxes without extra effort. Our Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 trophy guide lists the full set with rarity figures.
All of this feeds your Combat Rating, the number each mission recommends before you deploy. GamingBolt reports that it is calculated from weapon upgrades, attachments, Augment slots, perks, modifiers, grenades and pistol upgrades rather than gear tiers, so upgrading your favorite gun is one of the fastest ways to raise it.
Signature Weapons for Each Kit
Cold Iron's six class showcases each named two signature weapons, and they are a reliable guide to what each kit was designed around:
- Marauder: M12A1 Rocket Launcher and OCAP-91 Volcan, for crowd damage and close-range burning.
- Duelist: BD-48 Daittyo Heavy Rifle and HNT-1 E1 Alamein Revolver Rifle, a sustained-fire gun and a precision follow-up.
- Machinist: SMB-94 Zephyr Plasma Emitter and EDS-93 Zadak Plasma Discharger Mk.2, energy weapons that pair with the Sentry Turret.
- Hunter: BD-03 Djinn Personal Railgun and Type 111 Directed Particle Emitter, both built for picking off high-value targets.
- Medic: X1 Fireball and Type 21 Tactical Shotgun Mk.II, short-range tools that keep the Medic near the team.
- Specialist: L56A3 Smartgun and M41A2 Pulse Rifle, the classic Aliens pairing.
Matching the gun to the threat matters as much as matching it to the kit. The official Xenomorph dossier says the Crusher's frontal armor makes head-on fights a losing proposition (flank it), that Strikers call for rockets, grenades and heavy machine guns, and that Facehuggers can be burned with a flamethrower. A squad that brings one Heavy weapon, one Precision weapon and one CQW gun covers almost every encounter type. Teams that coordinate across platforms should read our crossplay and co-op guide before planning loadouts together.
What Patch #3 Changed for Weapons
The 22 October patch is the biggest weapon update so far, and most of it fixed perks that were not doing what their tooltips promised. If your build felt flat in September, it is worth testing again. As of November 2026 these are the changes that matter most for gun choice:
- Jackpot: killing an elite still fully reloads your weapon and clears all heat, but killing a Special now reloads 50 percent of the magazine (heat weapons lose 25 percent of max heat instead), and one-shot weapons such as the Pike get a full reload every two kills.
- Handgun perks: Handgun Weapon Training now increases stopping power instead of weak point damage, and the M4 Pistol is finally affected by handgun perks.
- CQW and Precision Expertise: both no longer make handling worse for every weapon, and their handling bonus rose from 15 to 20 percent.
- Heavy Weapon Expertise: its radius bonus dropped from 15 to 10 percent, but it now adds stopping power and boosts explosion and damage-over-time effects, not just bullets.
- Type 111 thermal beam Augment: the bug that made beam damage last indefinitely is gone; the extra 20 DPS fire effect was removed and replaced with a 10 percent stopping power bonus.
One known issue remains listed in the notes: bonuses that trigger on an empty magazine only work for the host, not for other players. Hotfix #3.5 on 5 November focused on performance and cutscene skipping and did not change weapon balance.
Skipping the Weapon Grind
Four stars on one gun is quick, but four stars across the whole collection, plus every attachment and Augment, is a long project. If you would rather start at the end of it, the Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 Mega Modded Save lists the weapon collection at Max Rank with four stars, every attachment unlocked (93 of 93 magazines, 35 of 35 muzzles and 61 of 61 Augments), all six kits at Max Rank and Prestige Rank 100. It covers PS5 and PC (not Xbox), you need to own the game already, and it replaces your current save, so back up anything you want to keep first; our explainer on how PS5 cloud saves and backups work walks through that. Trophies and achievements are not included.
The Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 services page lists the save alongside the PS5 platinum trophy service.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many weapons are in Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2?
Cold Iron has not published an official total. Fan catalogs list more than 30 named guns across Rifle, Precision, CQW, Handgun and Heavy, and the in-game Collection screen is the definitive count for your copy.
How do you unlock all weapons in Fireteam Elite 2?
Play missions for end-of-mission rewards and unlock crates, search for Hidden Caches, and buy the rest from Wrench with Requisition Credits. Higher difficulties pay better, and some items only drop on Intense or above.
What is the max weapon level?
Four stars. The "Hell and Back" trophy asks you to level a weapon to four stars, and weapons gain experience simply by being used in missions and Horde Mode.
How do you get the flamethrower?
There are two flame weapons: the compact Type 99 Incinerator Mk.2 in the CQW category and the OCAP-91 Volcan heavy flamethrower, a Marauder signature weapon. The Marauder's Blast Cannon can also be modified into a Thermal Cannon.
Where do Augments come from?
Augments drop only on Intense difficulty or higher, according to Patch #3, but they can also be bought in the in-game store. Weapons must be leveled before their Augment slots open.
Can every class use every weapon?
No. Each kit has signature weapons and its own weapon pool, while sidearms are shared. The Specialist is the flexible one, since it can draw on abilities and perks from the other kits.