Highlights
- GTA Online has a wide range of weapons, but some expensive options aren't worth the price. The Military Rifle and Unholy Hellbringer are examples of weapons that don't offer good value for their high prices.
- The Widowmaker and Precision Rifle are other weapons that players should skip. The Widowmaker's laser gives away players' positions and limits movement, while the Precision Rifle lacks a scope and is ineffective for long-distance shots.
GTA Online still has many weapons that players should skip, even though it has been running successfully for quite a few years now. The developer has continued to add more content since the game’s inception way back on the last-gen hardware, especially firearms and cars, to keep its live-service nature truly alive. The title naturally comes with the guns available in the offline Story Mode. While those made available through the offline campaign resemble the real-world models, the later additions in the Online Mode lean more towards a sci-fi, fantasy nature.
Although there is an exhaustive number of guns to choose from, their ultra-premium prices usually drive newcomers away. While many players do buy the expensive options, they soon end up forgoing them for better alternatives. This article explores weapons in GTA Online that players should skip because they come with a premium price, but aren’t worth it. Almost all of them can be acquired from the Gun Van. Going through that route will reduce the asking price when they're under the spotlight, but they're not worthy of the cash even then.
7 Military Rifle
The Military Rifle can be bought from Ammu-Nation, Gun Van, or Agency Armor, and it is another weapon that players should avoid. Its cost is exorbitant at a base price of $397,500, and the crutch is that its gameplay performance isn’t at par with the asking price. The gap rises even further when it’s fully kitted out, which is something that almost every player will do in GTA Online.
At the same price or even around $100 more for a fully fleshed-out build, the Mk II weapons offer a much better deal. Not only do they offer better accuracy, range, and damage stats, but they also come in with various specialized rounds - like Incendiary, Armor Piercing, Full Metal Jacket, etc. With these, they provide a much better cost-to-performance benefit than the Military Rifle. Essentially, this weapon is not worth its asking price.
6 Unholy Hellbringer
The Unholy Hellbringer was released with the Arena War update in 2019 and is one of the sci-fi weapons in GTA Online that players should skip. The point of contention with this particular firearm is that its price is way more than the effectiveness it has for players. Since its stats are similar to the Combat MG, its base asking price of $449,000 is a bit too rich. It does offer an “unlimited” ammunition capacity of 9,999, but it does not come with any favorable attachments.
The massive capacity rarely comes into play since gamers get gunned down in a few seconds. This weapon is alluring for newcomers, who should especially save their money to grow their businesses. Those who wish to collect every firearm should stick to buying more useful options first.
5 The Widowmaker
The Widowmaker shows Rockstar Games is a dab at hand at naming weapons, even if not original, but not at making useful different variants of the same gun (excluding Mk II models). This particular firearm is almost the same as the Minigun, with the difference being that it fires a laser instead of bullets. This laser comes with the benefit of almost unlimited range, but there are drawbacks present that make it a weapon that GTA Online players should skip.
While players can acquire it no matter their rank, the base asking price of $499,000 from the Gun Van is ludicrous. The Widowmaker’s laser also gives away players' positions, which makes sneak attacks almost impossible. To top it off, it retains the Mingun’s flaws: players cannot take cover, run, or dodge attacks at all. This makes its usage scenario very selective, and even in those cases, other weapons like RPGs serve the purpose better.
4 Precision Rifle
The Precision Rifle can be bought from Ammu-Nation, Gun Van, or Agency Armory at a base price of $450,000. Also, it may just be the most ineffective sniper in GTA Online. A good sniper rifle must check three boxes: clear, long-distance scope, good range, and a high damage stat. While this particular gun may have decent stopping power, its range is suspect, especially keeping the scope’s absence in mind.
Since there is no scope, players are forced to depend on the dot crosshair to land long-distance shots, which naturally becomes increasingly difficult the farther away the target is. As such, the Precision Rifle’s design makes shots imprecise. Since this is fundamental, it’s generally advised that players skip this particular gun. Moreover, its kitted-out asking price is way too high, which makes this sniper rifle an unsuitable choice all around.
3 The Railgun
The Railgun is one of the most expensive but should-be-skipped weapons in GTA Online. It is quite a complicated design in the game’s arsenal. Its damage is quite high, just like a top-notch sniper rifle, but its range is far less. Further, there’s no scope, which makes missing shots quite easy, especially at a distance. Its reload speed is quite slow as well, making its use in close-quarter combat just as unviable.
While higher-skilled players may be able to use it effectively, there are better weapons present. Further, it can only be obtained from the Gun Van. Since its price can vary anywhere from $600,000-$730,000, with no attachments available, it’s not worth it at all.
2 Compact EMP Launcher
The Compact EMP Launcher can be obtained from the Gun Van or the Agency Armory for a base price of $525,000. It offers perhaps the most skewed price-to-effectiveness ratio there is in the game and is a weapon that players should skip. Its usage is similar to its counterpart, the Compact Grenade Launcher, but its impact is way less. Essentially, it stops cars for a few seconds, instead of blowing them up. Since GTA Online is a game that thrives on players’ aggressive nature, having a weapon that only disables vehicles for a short duration is not worth using.
To exacerbate matters, enemies can still use weapons even if their car is disabled, which renders the operation moot. So even if players get whims of non-violence for a couple of days out of the month, their money is better spent on the good old knuckle dusters.
1 Orbital Cannon
The Orbital Cannon can certainly come in handy, yes, but when its price is put up against its effectiveness, it falls short. Players can target any part of the map and any person with this weapon. However, the $900,000 for installation at their Facility, and the $500,000 manual shot or the $750,000 automatic shot is a ridiculous asking price. This is but one factor that makes it a weapon that GTA Online players should skip.
Further, it is not foolproof as the attack can be avoided. Players can use underground structures; special vehicles like the Kosatka, the Mobile Operations Center, the Avenger, the Terrorbyte, yacht; and a couple of other methods to survive. Further, if the attack misses altogether, their money doesn’t get refunded. This is especially frustrating with the Automatic Firing option.
GTA Online is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.