In a game like The Division 2 where loot drops so frequently, it can become difficult to know what items are keepers and what’s nothing more than vendor trash. Weapons, for example, not only roll with three random weapon talents that can decide its usefulness, but also a raw damage stat that’s inside a range for that weapon
Let’s say you pick up your favourite Assault Rifle. It’s rolled with three very good talents and it’s gearscore 500. It’s a keeper, right? Equipping it right away? Slow down!
Regardless of it’s talents and gearscore, that Assault Rifle might not be as good as you think it is. That’s because of its random damage roll. Each weapon that drops and every crafted weapon—including exotics—has a damage range.
Let’s use the example of our favourite Assault Rifle again. It’s damage ranges from 11.5k to 14k. That means that this particular weapon can drop with a damage roll anywhere between those two numbers. A weapon dropping with a low damage roll will mostly likely be trash.
Knowing these damage ranges is only half the problem, however. The Division 2 does a horrible job of allowing you to view a weapons raw damage, because the damage numbers are calculated on screen with your gear, talents, and specialization stats included. Essentially, the average player won’t have a clue if the weapon that’s just dropped is good or not, as their stats screen will show a completely different number which is normally a lot higher.
Thankfully, there are a few simple workarounds that will have you searching for the very best weapons in no time. In this guide, I’ll be detailing the damage ranges for all the top weapons in every weapon category. I’ll also give you some helpful workarounds so that you can actually see how much base damage these weapons do, thus knowing if it’s rolled at the higher or lower end of the range.
Assault Rifles
| Weapon | Min damage | Max damage |
|---|---|---|
| Eagle Bearer | 14061 | 17186 |
| Eagle Bearer | 14061 | 17186 |
| Police M4 | 9374 | 11457 |
| Mk16 | 12304 | 15038 |
| AK-M (all variants) | 13358 | 16327 |
| FAMAS 2010 | 9960 | 12173 |
| Military P416 | 11132 | 13605 |
| Custom P416 G3 | 11718 | 14322 |
| G36 (all variants) | 10546 | 12889 |
| CTAR-21 | 8788 | 10741 |
| Mk16 (all variants) | 12304 | 15038 |
| ACR | 11718 | 14322 |
LMG
| Weapon | Min damage | Max damage |
|---|---|---|
| MG5 | 10546 | 12889 |
| M249 | 14647 | 17902 |
| Pestilence | 11718 | 14322 |
| M60 | 16405 | 20050 |
| RPK-74 | 11718 | 14322 |
| L86 | 12889 | 15754 |
MMR
| Weapon | Min damage | Max damage |
|---|---|---|
| M700 (all variants) | 72650 | 88794 |
| Model 700 | 86711 | 105979 |
| SVD (all variants) | 41012 | 50125 |
| Nemesis | 257789 | 315074 |
| Mk20 | 32810 | 40100 |
| SR-1 | 70892 | 86645 |
SMG
| Weapon | Min damage | Max damage |
|---|---|---|
| SMG-9 | 10546 | 12889 |
| Tactical Vector SBR 9mm | 14061 | 17186 |
| Vector SBR 9mm | 7031 | 8593 |
| Vector SBR .45 ACP | 7031 | 8593 |
| The Chatterbox | 11132 | 3605 |
| T821 (all variants) | 15233 | 18618 |
| AUG (all variants) | 11718 | 14322 |
| MP5 (all variants) | 10546 | 12889 |
| MP7 | 8788 | 10741 |
| MPX | 9374 | 11457 |
Rifle
| Weapon | Min damage | Max damage |
|---|---|---|
| ACR | 18748 | 22914 |
| Ruthless/Merciless | 21092 | 25779 |
| MDR | 22264 | 27211 |
| MK17 | 28122 | 34372 |
| M4 | 21092 | 25779 |
| LVOA-C | 19920 | 24347 |
| Classic M1A | 42184 | 51558 |
| Socom M1A/M1A CQB | 26951 | 32940 |
| M16A2 | 11132 | 13605 |
Shotgun
| Weapon | Min damage | Max damage |
|---|---|---|
| ACS-12 | 32810 | 40100 |
| SASG-12 (all variants) | 42184 | 51558 |
| Super 90 (all variants) | 56245 | 68743 |
| M870 (all variants) | 103116 | 126030 |
| SPAS-12 (all variants) | 112490 | 137487 |
| Lullaby/Sweet Dreams | 135925 | 166130 |
| Double Barrel (all variants) | 121864 | 148944 |
| Socom M1A/M1A CQB | 26951 | 32940 |
Pistols
| Weapon | Min damage | Max damage |
|---|---|---|
| Desert Eagle/D50 | 46871 | 57286 |
| Liberty | 52144 | 63731 |
| M1911/M45A1 (all variants) | 27185 | 33226 |
| Diceros (all variants) | 39840 | 48693 |
| PF45 (all variants) | 18162 | 22198 |
| Px4 Storm (all variants) | 19920 | 24347 |
So, those are the damage ranges for all of the noteworthy weapons in the game. These ranges are for High-End gearscore 500 versions of the weapons. The lower the gear score, the lower the range.
So now we know what we’re looking for, how do we go about viewing this information? Like I said previously, The Division 2 makes it difficult to view the damage a weapon has due to gear, talents, and specializations. So why not remove those factors completely!
One of the easiest ways to view a weapons damage is to create a new character—one with the grey gear that you start with—and then just move the weapons you want to check the damage for into the shared stash. The level 1 ‘damage range mule’, as I like to call it, can then hold the weapons and you are available to view the damage numbers without having the stats altered. You don’t need to be able to equip the weapon to view it’s damage, meaning you can scroll through all of the weapons that you’ve transferred, viewing where in the damage range it rolled.
The best part of this method is that creating a character and progressing to the White House only takes a few minutes. You can even play through the first mission and gather a couple of SHD Tech to increase your inventory should you wish to hold on to more weapons.
If creating a new character just isn’t for you, or you can’t be bothered to keep switching between your main and your mule, then we can also apply math to work out our weapons damage.
Let’s use my Military AK-M as an example.
First, you want to equip the weapon you want to check the damage of in the primary weapon slot.
Next, head to the stat screen, as shown below, making a note of the weapon damage (24,303) All weapon damage (26.0%) and Assault Rifle (or whatever weapon type you’re using) Damage Bonus (24.0%)
Now, add the weapon damage and the Assault Rifle Damage together.
26% + 24% = 50%
Then, divide the total by 100 and add 1
50% ÷ 100 = 0.5
+1 = 1.5
Finally, divide that number into your weapon damage
24,303 ÷ 1.5 = 16.202
So my Military AK-M has 16.202 damage.
Let’s now check to see where that ranks using the table above.
AK-M (all variants): 13358 – 16327
As you can see, my AK-M has an almost perfect damage roll!
Lucky me.
In the future I hope that Massive releases a patch so that the weapon damage ranges can be easier for players to view. Until then, I hope you found this guide and the methods explained here useful. Fingers crossed that the next P416 that drops for you rolls with both good talents and high damage!
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