Ares

The Ares is the budget half of the heavy weapons tier: a 50-round magazine and the fastest fire rate of any weapon in that category at 13 rounds per second, but noticeably lower per-shot damage (75 headshot within 30 meters, 70 beyond it) than the Odin. Neither headshot value one-taps an unarmored target, so the Ares wins fights purely through volume of fire rather than any single shot mattering much on its own.

It shares the Odin's High wall penetration and heavy movement penalty, but at roughly half the price — a real spray-and-suppress weapon for teams that want the heavy-weapon playstyle without the heavy-weapon cost.

Like the Odin, it benefits from the same spin-up behavior on sustained fire, so its effective damage output over a multi-second burst is meaningfully better than what its raw per-shot numbers suggest in isolation.

At 1,600 credits, the Ares is genuinely affordable for what it offers: real automatic damage output, High wall penetration for punishing common hiding spots, and enough magazine capacity to hold an angle through a multi-person push without reloading. It also has a well-known spin-up mechanic where sustained fire ramps up in effectiveness, rewarding a player willing to commit to holding the trigger rather than tapping.

The lower per-shot damage than the Odin means it needs more landed shots to secure a kill, and the same run-speed penalty applies — this isn't a weapon for peeking multiple angles quickly. It also loses straight duels against any actual rifle at range, where the Ares' damage falls off relative to a Vandal or Phantom's one-tap potential.

The 50-round magazine, while generous, is also half of what the Odin carries, so an extended multi-person engagement can still run it dry — it's a meaningful upgrade over a rifle's magazine size, not an unlimited one the way the Odin practically is.

The Ares fills the gap between a force-buy SMG round and a full rifle buy — cheap enough to grab on a mixed-economy round while still giving a real damage upgrade over pistols and most SMGs against a team that might also be under-bought. It's a common eco-breaker pick specifically because of the magazine size and wall penetration.

It's a weaker choice once your team can comfortably afford full rifles — the fire-rate advantage over an Ares-priced SMG is real, but a Vandal or Phantom's superior per-shot damage generally wins the trade once the economy allows it.

It's also a reasonable pick specifically on rounds where your team expects to be significantly outnumbered in a single engagement — the magazine size and sustained output matter more in a 1-vs-3 hold than in an even-numbered duel, where a precision rifle's one-tap potential is usually worth more.

Similar to the Odin, the Ares rewards holding a single angle and committing to sustained fire rather than peeking and repositioning — the spin-up mechanic specifically punishes short taps, so a player who holds the trigger through a full engagement gets meaningfully more value than one firing in bursts.

It's best used defensively, locking down a chokepoint on a round where the team economy doesn't support full rifles for everyone but still wants real stopping power in one key spot.

Pre-firing through likely hiding spots as a team pushes into a room is also a reasonable use of the Ares' wall penetration and magazine size, since a missed shot costs comparatively little relative to the ammunition available.

It also rewards staying aware of the magazine count during a long hold — with 50 rounds it's generous but not limitless the way the Odin's is, and running dry mid-fight against a rifle leaves no good options.

Against rifles at range, the Ares is clearly behind — the lack of a one-tap means a Vandal or Phantom player who lands a clean headshot ends the fight before the Ares' volume advantage matters. It's not the right tool for contesting an open long-range duel.

Against SMGs and sidearms on a similarly-priced force round, the Ares' magazine size and wall penetration give it a real edge, particularly in a fight where either side might be shooting through partial cover rather than a fully open sightline.

It performs best of all against a team pushing as a group through a single chokepoint, where the combination of magazine size and spin-up damage can threaten multiple attackers in sequence in a way a rifle's smaller magazine cannot.

Like the Odin, the Ares rewards maps and positions with one clear chokepoint to hold rather than several open angles — a defensive anchor position covering a single entrance gets far more value from the magazine size than a role that needs to rotate frequently.

It's also a reasonable pick for a player expecting to hold a spot with partial cover nearby, since High wall penetration lets it threaten an enemy who thinks they're safely out of sight behind thin material.