Gears of War: E-Day Weapons Guide – Confirmed Stats, Changes & Weapon Mods

Gears of War: E-Day changes several familiar weapons while adding a full Weapon Mod system to Campaign and Horde Siege.

The table below only includes stats and behavior that are publicly confirmed. Exact damage values, RPM figures and complete recoil/spread numbers are not included yet because a reliable full launch stat sheet has not been published.

Confirmed Weapon Changes

Weapon	Confirmed E-Day detail
Prototype Lancer	Higher rate of fire and a deeper magazine than recent Lancers; positioned as an all-round rifle.
Lancer MK1 / Retro	Strong recoil, very dangerous at close range and still usable farther out with recoil control.
Gnasher	6-shell capacity with a new round-by-round Active Reload system.
Hammerburst	Fires an accurate 6-round burst; Perfect Active Reload increases rate of fire.
Breechshot	Round-by-round reload; one-shot headshot in PvP; includes axe executions.
Snub	Fires as quickly as you can pull the trigger and has very fast draw/stow handling.
Prototype Heavy Boomshot	Treated as a Heavy Weapon with heavier movement handling and strong kick.

Projectile Ballistics Are Different

E-Day uses simulated projectile travel rather than treating every shot like an instant hit.

At longer distances you may need to lead moving targets, and the tracer/hit visuals are tied to the underlying projectile simulation.

This matters most with precision weapons and automatic rifles outside their ideal range.

Gnasher Changes

The Gnasher now holds six shells instead of eight.

It also uses the new round-by-round Active Reload system. You can load only the shells you need and return to the fight instead of always committing to a full reload cycle.

That makes partial reload timing much more important in close-range fights.

Hammerburst

The E-Day Hammerburst is closer to the original game's design.

It fires a six-round burst, and hitting a Perfect Active Reload increases its firing rate. It is built around accurate burst placement rather than spraying continuously.

Prototype Lancer vs Lancer MK1

The Prototype Lancer is the faster-firing all-round option with the deeper magazine.

The Lancer MK1, often called the Retro, hits its intended role closer to Gears 3: powerful at close range but harder to control because of its recoil.

The Campaign also covers the origin of the Prototype Chainsaw Lancer.

Breechshot

The Breechshot returns as a precision rifle with a round-by-round reload.

In PvP, a headshot is a one-shot kill. It also has an axe attachment used for executions.

Snub

The Snub is tuned closer to the early Gears games.

It fires as fast as you can press the trigger and swaps quickly, making it useful as a clean-up sidearm when an enemy survives your main weapon.

Heavy Weapons

Most movement actions are still available while carrying a Heavy Weapon, although movement is slower.

Heavy weapons can also be ripped from turret mounts. This is particularly important in Horde Siege, where a turret can become a portable Heavy when the situation changes.

The Prototype Heavy Boomshot appears as a Heavy Weapon in E-Day.

Weapon Mods

Weapon Mods exist in both Campaign and Horde Siege.

In Horde Siege, mods are unlocked through class progression and then purchased using Weapon Parts. Weapon customization is shared between classes when the same weapon is available.

For the full progression system, see How Weapon Mods and Weapon Parts Work.

Exact Damage and RPM Stats

We are intentionally not publishing a made-up damage spreadsheet.

A few capacities and weapon behaviors are officially confirmed, but a complete verified set of launch damage, RPM, reload time and spread values is not yet available from a source we trust enough to publish as fact.

Once those values can be measured or cross-checked from the live build, this page can be expanded into a full stat table.