Fortnite Pistols Guide: Dual Pistols, Flint-Knock, Six Shooter, More

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Cody Perez

Cody is a writer who has been with Fortnite since the day it launched in early access. He adores the battle royale genre and Fortnite represents the bulk of his time in the space. Cody does not just play the regular battle royale modes but also spends loads of time in Creative modes that the community has come up with. Cody has been in the video game business as part of media and content creation for more than 10 years. During that time, he has contributed and even led some of the largest sites in the world dedicated to gaming and entertainment. He has also dabbled some in PR and was a tester for Activision in the past working on the Call of Duty series. When not playing games or writing about them, he enjoys cooking, sharpening his Japanese skills, and watching the latest anime shows.

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Fortnite has a lot of different weapons for players to use, and pistols are one of them. The Fortnite pistols guide is all about explaining this particular group of guns. Pistols are some of the most well-known weapons in Fortnite, but that does not mean they are popular.

The Fortnite pistols guide will explain why these weapons are primarily unpopular in the community. In addition, we will break down the use of every single pistol to ever be released. For more details about all of the handguns in Fortnite’s history, let’s get started.

Bottom Line Up Front

The pistol is one of the most common but despised weapons in Fortnite’s arsenal. Usually meant for close-range to medium-range fights, guns are not that useful. Most of the time, other weapons are much better than them in battle. That said, they are ubiquitous and great starter weapons at the beginning of a match. Some pistols, though, are exciting and powerful like the revolver. While most are not great, there is no denying the unmatched diversity of the pistol category. Here are all of the pistols to ever be released in Fortnite:

• Pistol
• Suppressed Pistol
• Dual Suppressed Pistols
• Combat Pistol
• Dual Pistols
• Hand Cannon
• Deadpool’s Dual Hand Cannons
• Flashlight Pistol
• Flint-Knock Pistol
• Lazar’s Flight-Knock Pistol
• Hop Rock Dualies
• Night Hawk
• Makeshift Revolver
• Primal Pistol
• Revolver
• Scoped Revolver
• Shadow Tracker
• Sidearm Pistol
• Six Shooter
• Marksman Six Shooter

Fortnite Pistols Explained

The Fortnite pistol is a handgun that you can find relatively quickly in the game. Pistols are some of the most common weapons in the entire weapon pool. This is because they are, typically, not super useful in most combat scenarios. This is due to the lack of utility that these guns have.

That said, you would be hard-pressed to visit a location and not find a pistol of some kind there. Their frequent appearances make them the weapon of choice when you have nothing else to use. After all, a gun will be a much better weapon in your hands than just your pickaxe or an empty gun.

It is worth noting, though, that not all pistols are useless. Some are potent weapon allies. This comes down to the best trait of this weapon category: its diversity. The pistols group is the most varied group of weapons that you will find in the entirety of Fortnite.

While the assault rifles and SMGs out there mostly stick to the same general idea, pistols can vary greatly. Some pistols might be the standard semi-automatic handgun that you expect, but others could be powerful, slow, and accurate revolvers.

The sky is the limit for what a pistol can do in Fortnite. As such, Epic Games regularly puts out new models of the gun category that focus on a different aspect. There are even some dual-wielding pistols that are fan favorites for many players. Though firearms are not too popular, they are one of the essential parts of this battle royale game.

What Ammo Pistols Use

As mentioned, there is a lot of variety for pistols in the game. As such, there is a good bit of diversity in terms of ammo, too. For the most part, the most common ammo type that you will find for pistols is light ammo. That said, there are other ones that you can encounter, too.

The second most popular ammo type is the medium ammo for pistols. There are several guns in the category that use this one. This is interesting as the medium ammo is mainly meant for assault rifles. It can give you an idea of some of the best weapons in the category that use this ammo.

There is even a pistol that uses heavy ammo, which is typically for sniper rifles. There are very few exceptions to that rule for heavy ammo, but there is a handgun that uses it. It is pretty impressive all the different kinds of ammo types you can find in the game for pistols that show just how versatile this underrated category is.

Are Pistols Useful Weapons?

As a whole, pistols are not that useful. For the most part, a gun is best used at close to mid-range. The problem with this is that there are weapons that handle much better in both of those cases. If you are in a close combat fight, you are better off just using a shotgun or SMG, depending on your playstyle.

The shotgun is much more potent while having a somewhat similar speed to a pistol. On the other hand, you have the less accurate but faster SMG, which is nice. These weapon categories will put the pistol to shame most of the time and with most guns.

From there, you go over to the mid-range. The assault rifle is the king of the medium-range fight. There are some other weapons out there that also can do mid-range, but the AR is the best. Pistols can sometimes be decent at mid-range, but they will almost always be pale than an assault rifle.

That said, the pistols in Fortnite are not useless. There are a few gun types that we will cover in this Fortnite pistols guide that is worth your time. These particular guns are better than some shotguns, SMGs, and assault rifles in some cases.

But they are few and far between. For the most part, the primary use of a pistol is for the beginning of a match. When you first land, the goal should be to grab whatever gun you can find. This will allow you to survive those initial fights where someone else may either also have cruddy weapons or none at all.

In general, you should be switching from a pistol to another gun as soon as possible in a match.

All Pistols in Fortnite

To help you get to know the pistols category in Fortnite, we will go over all of them. Every single gun in this rather large category will be broken down. We will go over if this weapon is still in the game, its uses, and how it works. Here are all of the pistols that were ever released in Fortnite.

Pistol

The very primary gun in this category is the regular pistol. It was one of the first weapons ever in Fortnite. It came out before even the first season of the game was released. It is the baseline for most pistols in this category, which also means that it is the epitome of the problems.

The regular pistol is a semi-automatic handgun that is most useful in mid-range fights. That said, it is outdone by other guns in a similar vein. Pistols are widespread weapons that can be found just about anywhere on the island.

For the most part, the basic pistol is only helpful in the starting rounds of a match. It is recommended that you drop this gun as soon as you find something more powerful and useful for you. While the pistol initially came out before the first season, it has been around in most seasons. However, it is not currently available in Chapter 3.

Suppressed Pistol

The slightly different version of the regular pistol is the suppressed pistol. This one is mainly similar to the original but with a notable change. It is suppressed, so it will not show up on the compass when you are firing at enemies.

In addition, it will be silenced the farther an enemy is away. Even if someone does hear you firing this gun, they may not immediately know what direction you are in. This can make the suppressed pistol a little more helpful in battle than the regular one.

The suppressed pistol made its debut in the first Season 2 of Fortnite. It has appeared at various times throughout the game’s history but not nearly as often as the base pistol. It is not currently in the game at this time, with its last appearance being in Chapter 2, Season 7.

Dual Pistols

While I’m not a massive fan of the regular pistol on its own, there is a way to make it worthwhile for me, and that is to add a second one. You take two common pistols and put one in each hand with the dual pistols. This is a much better way of handling this essential weapon.

The dual pistol lets you fire off a round of each pistol in quick succession. This added speed allows it to be essentially twice as fast as the regular pistol. Suddenly, the slower-firing nature of that primary weapon is not as much of an issue.

The damage is pretty decent with the dual pistols, especially if you are accurate and land your shots. The dual pistols weapon has been in the game multiple times. Unfortunately, it is not available with its last entry being Chapter 2, Season 6.

Dual Suppressed Pistols

The dual suppressed pistols take the idea of the dual pistols and add some suppression to it. It is the best version of the dual pistols and my favorite gun in this category. It takes the same general idea of having a sidearm in each hand of the player.

You can quickly fire each one-off, allowing for more rapid attacks in battle and decent range. The suppression added to the dual pistols helps to elevate them even further. You can be a bit more sneaky in combat, keeping your location somewhat hidden. The dual suppressed pistols are some of the best guns in this category, in my opinion.

Unfortunately, they are very rarely ever in the game. They only really show up for limited-time event modes. Such was the case in its two minor appearances in Chapter 2, Season 2 and Season 5. Here’s hoping that the dual suppressed pistols make a comeback shortly.

Combat Pistol

The combat pistol sits in a rather weird place in the pistol category. It is similar in some ways to the regular pistol but expanded upon. How it works is that it is meant for longer-range fights. Rather than just close to mid-range, it is more of a mid to long-range pistol companion.

This is unique in this category since most weapons have a shorter range to them. In many ways, it is similar to the regular pistol, but it does have lamer power. It makes up for this because it is highly accurate and has an excellent damage range.

The combat pistol is helpful for players looking to zoom in on enemies far away, but there are better weapons out there for that. The combat pistol is one of the newest weapons in this category, only released in Chapter 2, Season 8. It is no longer in the game.

Hand Cannon

The hand cannon is one of the most powerful pistols in the game. It has high damage, both against players and structures alike. The downside to this is that the hand cannon is very slow. This makes it a difficult choice for most players as you need to be highly accurate with it.

The hand cannon is also a staple in the Fortnite scene, first released in the original Season 3. It has appeared multiple times through the game’s seasons. Its final appearance was in Chapter 2, Season 7. It is no longer in the game but I would not be surprised if comes back soon.

Deadpool’s Dual Hand Cannons

Taking the same idea of the hand cannon, we have Deadpool’s dual hand cannons. This weapon takes the sheer strength of the hand cannon gun and gives you two of them to use in battle. With this, though, came a few notable qualities to this weapon.

While the Deadpool dual hand cannons is a phenomenal weapon, it is one that many players never even touched. This is due to the fact that it is a mythic weapon and there was only one in each match at the time. It first was released in Chapter 2, Season 2.

During this season, Deadpool arrived on the island. He came as a skin and an NPC boss at The Yacht. Deadpool was the only character to have this unique weapon. If you were able to defeat him, you would be able to pick up this mythic gun and use it yourself.

They are strong guns that can be fired in a quicker succession than the regular hand cannon due to having two of them. That said, the downside was its accuracy. What helped was that it could give you back health if you were able to land shots with it. These unique traits and its tie to Deadpool mean that it was only in Chapter 2, Season 2.

Flashlight Pistol

Another pistol in Fortnite that you may have never seen before is the flashlight pistol. This is because it is not actually in battle royale at all. In fact, it has never appeared in that game mode. Instead, the flashlight pistol is an exclusive handgun in the Creative mode in Fortnite.

In most cases, it is very similar to the original pistol. It has similar stats and focus with its semi-auto nature. That said, where the flashlight pistol stands out is in its flashlight. This, of course, allows the player to use it in darker environments and see where they are going.

The flashlight pistol is likely not in battle royale because it is unnecessary. There are few dark parts of the island at this time, even at night. That said, in Creative mode, players can create whatever they want. This leads to creepy horror-like game modes where the flashlight pistol is welcome.

Flint-Knock Pistol

The flint-knock pistol is one of the strangest creations from Epic in Fortnite. In some ways, it is similar to the hand cannon in its strength and lower speed. However, there is a unique catch to this gun that lets it do some strange things on the battlefield.

The flint-knock pistol is so powerful that it knocks the player shooting it and their target backwards. This can even create fall damage if the person is shot off a cliff, for instance. This bizarre element to the flint-knock pistol makes it a popular gun when it was in the game.

The only way to prevent the knockback element of this gun is to crouch. This works for both players shooting and being targeted by it. It was first released in the game in Chapter 1, Season 8. It was a fairly common gun at the time and has appeared multiple times since. It is no longer in the game now but was recently available in Chapter 2, Season 8.

Lazar’s Flight-Knock Pistol

The flint-knock pistol has its own special variant in the Lazar’s flight-knock pistol. Only available during a single event, this special version has the same knockback feature. This means that using it in battle will cause both the player shooting and the target to get shot back in the direction opposite to what they are facing.

What makes this version of the gun special is that it has a much higher knockback element. Players on either side of the gun will be knocked back even further than with the regular gun.

Hop Rock Dualies

As I mentioned previously, the dual pistols is one of my favorite guns. There is an exotic version of them that is known as the hop rock dualies. This weapon has almost the same function as the regular dual pistols and stats. You can fire off the two weapons one after another.

The catch is that the hop rock dualies have a buff for the player when used. While firing the gun, it will reduce the gravity for the player like with hop rocks; hence the name. This gives you the advantage of a fast and strong weapon along with low gravity. The hop rock dualies were an exotic weapon in Chapter 2, Season 5. They were available in Chapter 3 but have been since removed.

Makeshift Revolver

In Chapter 2, Season 6, the Primal season happened. During this time, crafting weapons began in Fortnite. The makeshift revolver was one of the most basic weapons that you could find in that season. The main purpose of it was to be crafted.

On its own, it was a revolver gun but with wild recoil and painfully slow speed. That is why it was best to use this gun for crafting. Players could choose to craft the makeshift revolver into a regular revolver or a primal pistol. It was only available in Season 6.

Primal Pistol

The primal pistol was another weapon that was only available in Chapter 2, Season 6. The upgraded version of the makeshift revolver, it had some similarities to it. It had the raw power of the revolver but with a two-shot burst functionality.

This almost made it like a dual pistol in a way. However, its power was marred by the fact that it was hard to handle in battle. But if you were able to master it, you could down a player in almost no time.

Revolver

The basic revolver is one of the oldest guns in Fortnite’s history. It arrived prior to the start of the first season. With only six bullets per clip, the revolver is your classic slow-firing, heavy hitter. It has solid range that makes it great for mid-range fights.

The revolver is hard to handle, though, and has some difficult recoil. If a player is able to learn to control that recoil, though, they can win fights in just a few bullets from afar. The revolver’s most recent appearance in Fortnite was briefly in Chapter 2, Season 8. It is vaulted for now.

Scoped Revolver

The scoped revolver is a variant of the regular six-round pistol. Like the regular revolver, it has a slow speed but high damage. The difference here is that it has a scope that is attached to it. This scope creates a lot of possibilities that make it much more useful than the normal revolver.

The scoped revolver can be zoomed in similar to how sniper rifles work. This negates some of the issues that the regular revolver has with inaccuracy and recoil. With the scope, you can ensure that your shots are landing where you want them to.

The scoped revolver is one of the better pistols in the category and a favorite for some players. Unfortunately, it is not too common in the game. It was only available in Chapter 1, Seasons 7 and 8.

Night Hawk

The Night Hawk is the exotic variant of the scoped revolver. Only available for a period of time, it offered the best version of this gun. It could shoot accurately from afar and deal loads of damage. The difference came from the scope itself.

Instead of a standard scope like its predecessor, it had a thermal scope. This allows the user to zoom in and see other players’ heat signatures. This can be great at night in the game or when you think someone is hiding behind something. The Night Hawk was only available Chapter 2, Season 5 and Season 7.

Shadow Tracker

The shadow tracker is the exotic version of the suppressed pistol. With a special design and functionality, it was a great companion weapon in Chapter 2. Its stats and suppression capabilities are largely similar to the suppressed pistol so nothing unusual there.

Where it differs, though, is when it comes to the unique feature that it has. The shadow tracker marks any enemy that it hits. If you fire at an enemy, it will mark them for a few seconds for everyone in your party to see. This made it great for moments where someone tries to run away or revive their teammate. It is still available in Chapter 3 at this time.

Sidearm Pistol

The sidearm pistol is the newest addition to this category. Introduced in Chapter 3, Season 1, it is still available for the foreseeable future. For the most part, it is just like the original pistol. However, it is basically a slightly better replacement for it.

It has the same quirks of being best for close to mid-range and semi-auto. However, where it gets better is with its damage stats. This makes it a slightly better version of the original pistol but still not great.

Six Shooter

The six shooter is a highly powerful revolver-style weapon. It is a hybrid that can switch at will from a faster, more unwieldy gun to a more accurate and slower weapon. It was available only in Chapter 1.

Marksman Six Shooter

The marksman six shooter is the exotic version. It retains the two hybrid firing modes but slightly better stat-wise. The marksman six shooter came out in Chapter 2, Season 6 and is still available in the game as of Chapter 3.

FAQs

Conclusion

The Fortnite pistols guide was, hopefully, helpful in letting you know about every gun in this category. This way, you know exactly which ones you want to use the next time you’re in a match. And even if you find yourself in a tough situation, hopefully, you will know the limits of the pistol you have.

That said, pistols are only one part of the entire Fortnite weapons arsenal. Check out that previous guide for a look at all of the different gun types in the battle royale game. We already broke down each of them and what you should know about their utility in battle.