"Black Ops 3" Arsenal Associator (DLC) Quiz

Answer: Secondary Weapons

This was an extremely interesting way to begin the DLC season. The NX Shadowclaw is a semi automatic crossbow with a six round magazine. It became the very first weapon in all of "Black Ops 3" to guarantee a one shot kill anywhere on the body, regardless of the range. As such, this was a scary weapon to go up against. You can even dual wield them, placing two one-shot weapons in your hands!

In Zombies, the NX Shadowclaw is sadly nowhere near as lethal, and deals genuinely horrible damage. However, when Pack-a-Punched, it gains a unique feature: if you shoot a downed ally with the PaPed Shadowclaw, it will revive them. This could be absolutely critical during the Gorod Krovi boss fight, which is sadly the only map the Shadowclaw is available out of the Mystery Box on.

Answer: Assault Rifles

Hilariously enough, despite having made numerous WWII themed games, this was the first time the classic M1 Garand was actually mechanically accurate to its real world counterpart. Like the real M1 Garand, you cannot reload the MX Garand without first emptying its magazine entirely. In past "Call of Duty" games, you have been able to, which is not possible in real life.

In Multiplayer, this is a clean two-shot to the chest and up at a generously long range. Not being able to reload flexibly is its defining drawback, but makes the weapon well balanced for the mode at that.

In Zombies, this weapon is available from the Mystery Box on Zetsubou No Shima, as well as every single Chronicles map. Like Multiplayer, it cannot be reloaded without first fully emptying the magazine. That is thankfully not as detrimental here, and the weapon is quite a sturdy choice as a result.

Answer: Secondary Weapons

This gun is reminiscent of the classic Ranger from "Modern Warfare 2" and functions identically. It is a pistol firing shotgun shells. It is break action, meaning it must be reloaded after every single shot. In return, this thing absolutely nukes health bars in close quarters. It is a clean one shot kill to the waist and up within 5 meters, chest up in 10 meters, and beyond 10 meters, you may as well simply throw the gun at the opponent, as the shot will now do pitiful damage. You can dual wield the Marshal 16, letting it put an iron clamp down on a single room the player may want to defend.

In Zombies, this weapon is sadly only available out of the Mystery Box on Zetsubou No Shima. Here, at least, it's a fantastic choice due to boasting neer peerless raw power up close. Fights with the undead constantly take place up close, and that suits the Marshal 16 perfectly.

Answer: Submachine Guns

This is basically a futuristic version of the classic MP40 which, at the time, hadn't been seen since "World at War". In that game, the MP40 utterly dominated the bullet meta. How would its newer, younger cousin fare?

Sadly, not well at all. The HG40, compared to the MP40 of old, was nerfed at a scorched earth, cataclysmic, apocalyptic level. Every aspect of it was nerfed, from damage to fire rate to accuracy, even down to reload speed and sprint to fire speed! This may be a futuristic version of the classic submachine gun, but this is definitely an instance where you should respect your elders. Respect them by not wielding a deliberately inferior version of them.

In Zombies, this is available out of the Mystery Box in Zetsubou No Shima, Gorod Krovi, Nacht der Untoten, Verruckt and Shi no Numa. It is, again, an underwhelming choice due to low damage output combined with not being a wall buy weapon.

The weapon overall looks super cool visually, but its performance in this game absolutely besmirched the good name of the MP40.

Answer: Sniper Rifles

This was a futuristic version of the classic Cheytach Intervention from the "Modern Warfare" series. Sadly, like the HG40, it failed to fill the deep shoes it was designed to fill. It is bolt action like its inspiration, but it does not share the damage output or handling speed of the Intervention. It is very notably a bolt action sniper rifle which cannot reliably one shot to the chest and up in Multiplayer. There is no reason whatsoever to use this over the Locus for anything other than maybe nostalgia.

This weapon does not have any presence in Zombies.

Answer: Assault Rifles

This is the classic, fan favorite Famas from "Black Ops 1". Fortunately, this is a pretty faithful emulation that avoided being randomly nerfed into the ground unlike the HG40. Although it wasn't as dominant as its "BO1" counterpart, this is more because competing guns are simply far, far better than it is because of any FFAR shortcoming.

This weapon is available out of the Mystery Box on Gorod Krovi, Nacht der Untoten, Kino der Toten, Shangri-La, Ascension and Moon. This is where the FFAR made massive strides compared to the "BO1" Famas. The Famas is weak in "BO1" Zombies because it isn't very strong and does not come with much ammunition. The FFAR solidly improves on both of those aspects massively, and is a lot better as a result.

Answer: Secondary Weapons

This is a double-barreled rocket launcher with some character. It is a guaranteed one shot on direct impact from any distance in Multiplayer, and since it fires quickly, it makes for an exciting trump card to pull out to win difficult gun fights.

In Zombies, this thing is near peerless at doing one thing: obliterating mini-boss zombies such as the Panzersoldat or Mangler. Mini-bosses are big enemies, so they are easy to land direct impact shots against. The L4 Siege, turned into the L4 Circus on Pack-a-Punch, carries over its extreme lethality on direct impact shots.

The L4 Siege is available out of the Mystery Box in Gorod Krovi, Revelations and every single Chronicles map.

Answer: Shotguns

Calling this thing a 'shotgun' is pretty debatable, as this thing is hardly a shotgun at all. It does not fire shells or slugs, instead firing gobs of plasma. This plasma is a guaranteed one-shot kill from literally any range, and since the Banshii has six round clips, it can be pretty intimidating to go against. This is all balanced from the fact that plasma moves way, way slower than shells or slugs. Often, the player will need to 'lead' their shots, firing where they anticipate their opponent will be one second from now rather than firing where their opponent is actively standing. This gives the Banshii a pretty big skill curve, but because it deals infinite damage, the return on investment learning it is certainly there.

In Zombies, this weapon is available out of the Mystery Box on Revelations. Sadly, it does not one shot Zombies endlessly as it does in Multiplayer. Here, it is genuinely inferior to every other "shotgun" available on the map.

Answer: Secondary Weapons

For the first time, simply labeling it a 'secondary weapon' and not having a dedicated 'pistol' category makes perfect sense. This is literally a handgun in the sense that it is held in one hand. Similarly to the Banshii, the Rift E9 does not fire bullets, instead firing plasma. This gun's plasma does not deal infinite damage like the Banshii, but it still hits like a truck with an easy two-shot chest and up kill at any range. Like the Banshii, the catch is that plasma travels way slower than bullets. The player must 'lead' their shots, firing where they expect their opponent to move to rather than where they are actively standing in the moment.

Like the Banshii, the Rift E9 can be acquired from the Mystery Box on Revelations. And like the Banshii, it loses basically all of its Multiplayer lethality in this setting.

Answer: Assault Rifles

This was a clear callback to the very first Peacekeeper which, in "Black Ops 2", became the very first DLC weapon in all of "Call of Duty" history. It isn't quite as amazing as its "Black Ops 2" counterpart, but quite frankly, nothing may ever reach the unbelievable peak that the original Peacekeeper achieved, so that's hardly a negative. In Multiplayer, this is a frankly incredible weapon with no drawbacks.

In Zombies, this weapon is available from the Mystery Box on Revelations. Here, it's a pretty sturdy gun that, again, has no real weaknesses. It can be confidently Pack-a-Punched and used to reach high rounds or do the Easter Egg Main Quest with if desired.

Answer: Light Machine Guns

This may very well go down in history as the #1 single quirkiest idea for a weapon in all of "Call of Duty" history. This is a gun which 3D Prints its own ammo. It starts with 50 rounds. When the player fires it, it will slowly begin to reproduce the ammo used until reaching the 50 round cap. Therefore, it is technically impossible to truly run out of ammunition with this thing, as it will endlessly print its own ammunition as long as it isn't holding the 50 round capacity.

Sadly, this thing did not appear in Zombies. A weapon which prints its own ammunition would basically break the game, so that's not very surprising.

Answer: Secondary Weapons

This is a literal fully automatic nail gun. That concept may sound funny yet harmless, but it actually ended up being a very strong weapon. Like the plasma guns, the nails are fired far slower than bullets, but they are faster than plasma, so the player doesn't have to 'lead' their shots as much. It is a sturdy two shot kill in close quarters and a three shot at any sort of significant distance. It has absolutely no visual recoil and good fire rate though, so even this is very threatening.

Sadly, this gun does not appear in Zombies. Blasting away the undead with a literal nail gun would have been quality entertainment on any map.

Answer: Secondary Weapons

This is a break action gun which fires literal saw blades. The blade ricochets off of any surface it touches once, and is a guaranteed one shot kill to any part of the body. That said, the blade has very low range and fired extremely slowly, so it isn't as brainless to use as it may seem. Furthermore, the ricochet does not happen if the blade travels too far without hitting a surface. That said, the one shot kill potential is highly valuable, making it worth working through the shortcomings.

Unfortunately, this weapon does not have a presence in Zombies.

Answer: Submachine Guns

This was a quirky, unfortunately terrible, SMG. For whatever reason, Treyarch opted to 'balance' this gun by forcing it to undergo a half-second spooling animation before the player can ever fire it. As an SMG, this is insufficient. This weapon class wants to play aggressively and dominate close quarters, which it can't really do if it can't fire immediately on contact.

If anything, the HLX 4 is more of an assault rifle in the body of an SMG. It is bullpup and slightly heavier than most SMGs, with damage output akin to an AR. The spooling mechanic makes it unwieldy and ultimately not worth using.

The HLX 4 does not appear in Zombies.

Answer: Submachine Guns

Although it can't hold a candle to its eternally iconic "World at War" counterpart, the PPSh was pretty fantastic in this game. One thing it did beat its elder in was pure accuracy, as this thing has virtually no visual recoil to speak of. The only downside this weapon has somewhat is in damage output, as it is only a four shot kill in close quarters. However, its fast fire rate and laser accuracy make these four shots fairly easy to hit quickly, so this isn't too bad of a deficiency.

In Zombies, this weapon is available from the Mystery Box on Gorod Krovi. It is a pretty fantastic weapon in this context and can be easily used to go to high rounds or do the Easter Egg Main Quest.

Answer: Assault Rifles

The M16 has appeared in many "Call of Duty" titles over the years, and is an iconic American rifle in real life. That said, this game may yet have been its single greatest performance ever. It is utterly dominant at a mid range with a practically guaranteed one burst kill at all ranges. The cycle speed may be slow, but the cycle speed is irrelevant if the target gets dropped on the very first burst.

In Zombies, this weapon is out of the Mystery Box on Kino der Toten, Ascension, Shangri-La and Moon. It is not as dominant as it is in Multiplayer, but it is a very sturdy choice.

Answer: Assault Rifles

The fan favorite Galil is just as strong in Multiplayer as ever. It features excellent damage, high clip sizes and average or above average everything else.

In Zombies, this gun is available from the Mystery Box on all Chronicles maps. As always, it is an excellent weapon that can deal excellent damage, especially when Pack-a-Punched as the iconic Lamentation.

Answer: Submachine Guns

This SMG has appeared in many "Call of Duty" titles. Sadly, this appearance in this game was arguably its single worst. In Multiplayer, on top of having steeper competition than ever, this thing cannot guarantee a three shot kill at any range and has below average fire rate.

In Zombies, this gun is available on all Chronicles maps. Sadly, because it is no longer a wall buy weapon, it is a relatively mediocre choice.

Answer: Secondary Weapons

The 1911 has appeared in many, many "Call of Duty" titles over the years. This was the second time it made an appearance in a game as a DLC weapon. In "Advanced Warfare" where it had done this previously, it dominated the pistol meta and was one of the better guns, period, in the game. And it was right back to destroying Multiplayer in this game. This was the only pistol other than the Marshal 16 to guarantee a two shot kill in close or even mid range. It fired quickly with a fast reload speed and great handling, making it very capable.

Funnily enough, this weapon did not originally have an appearance in Zombies. Even when Chronicles maps came to the game, the MR6 remained the starter pistol of choice. After progressively louder outcry from the community, a patch all the way in 2018, two years after the Chronicles maps launched, changed this. The M1911 would now replace the MR6 on Chronicles maps. It was statistically and functionally the exact same pistol, but the aesthetic change alone was very well received.

Answer: Assault Rifles

The very name of this weapon itself is baffling. This is basically a futuristic version of the AN-94 from "Black Ops 2". But the AN-94 is an assault rifle and fires 7.62mm rifle ammunition, not 9mm ammunition. The existence of '9mm' in the name is a bit of a mystery.

What's also a mystery is trying to figure out why the "AN-94" was nerfed to a massive degree coming into this game. In this game, it deals underwhelming damage with merely average stats beyond the low damage. It is a genuinely mediocre weapon in this game that has no real reason to see use.

This weapon does not appear in Zombies.

Answer: Secondary Weapons

This isn't even a futuristic version of the China Lake from "Black Ops 1", it's basically a straight up copy/paste of that weapon. A Vietnam war era weapon being used in a game based in the year 2065 looks pretty hilarious.

Mercifully, the China Lake was notoriously awful in "BO1" but was actually pretty great in this game. It was a near one shot on dealing merely splash damage, so if the player even grazed their opponent, they could pull this out, close their eyes, pull the trigger and blast their opponent away. It was a one shot on direct impact too, so it could be used that way.

This weapon does not appear in Zombies.

Answer: Submachine Guns

This was basically a copy/paste of the iconic MSMC from "Black Ops 2". The MSMC was pretty good, but the XMC is even better. It absolutely shreds in close quarters with two-shot kill potential, and it even has the stability to at least attempt to compete at a mid range with assault rifles and LMGs.

Unfortunately, like the MSMC, the XMC does not appear in Zombies.

Answer: Sniper Rifles

This is a copy/paste of the XPR-50 of "Black Ops 2", which was a pretty strong sniper rifle. For whatever reason, it was giga buffed to the one hundredth degree in this game. It's recoil, which wasn't even that bad in "BO2", was basically eliminated, making it very spammable. For as spammable as it is, you'd think it would suffer in the damage department, but this too was buffed. The XPR-50 is not a super reliable one shot to the chest and up, but even tiny chip damage will make this happen, and since it fires so quickly, recording a two shot is not even all that difficult.

Unfortunately, this weapon does not appear in Zombies.

Answer: Light Machine Guns

The RPK was a fan favorite in "Black Ops 1" and, in this game, it was massively buffed. The RPK became debatably the single best LMG in the entire game for Multiplayer. It had amazing damage, super sturdy accuracy and above average reload speed. Handling was a bit rough, but not to the point a simple Grip attachment couldn't solve the problem.

This weapon is available out of the Mystery Box on The Giant, Revelations and all Chronicles maps. Here, it once again turned into debatably the game's best LMG. The high damage and above average reload speed make it so really only the Gorgon and Dingo pose as competitors.

Answer: Shotguns

Like the China Lake/MAX-GL, the Olympia was pretty horrible in "Black Ops 1" but was massively buffed and made to be pretty good in this game. It is a double barreled shotgun; those do not have the best history in Multiplayer. Thankfully, featuring reliable one shot kill potential, the Olympia was able to break the mold in this game.

Unfortunately, this weapon does not appear in Zombies. This was a bit tragic, as the Olympia has always been intentionally bad in Zombies. Seeing how a buffed Olympia fared would have been pretty entertaining.