The Defiant Weapons

The Defiant treats guns as historical artefacts, not loot skins. Hoothanes rebuilt the small arms Chinese fighters actually carried: the Hanyang Type 88 rifle, the Liao Type 13 bolt-action from occupied Manchuria, the Mauser C96 pistol, the Bergmann MP18 / SIG Bergmann Model 1920 family, plus scoped rifles, mounted belt-fed machine guns, stick grenades, and even a broadsword. This hub is the index. Detailed notes live on rifles and sidearms.

There is no public competitive tier list because there is no public multiplayer ladder. Rankings below are preview usefulness — what IGN and the firing-range session suggested for the solo campaign — not a patched meta. When the game ships, this page will move from “what exists” to “what clears chapters.”

How the arsenal is structured

You carry two guns and grenades. That rule, from the hands-on, is the whole loadout system we can document. Weapons change as campaign chapters move through years and regions, so a Manchurian rifle in the snow chapter may not be the right fiction for neon Shanghai. Do not expect a modern unlock tree with forty attachments on day one; none has been shown.

S-tier (preview): bolt-action rifles with presence — Liao Type 13 in the mountain demo, Hanyang 88 as the iconic Chinese service rifle. They match the game’s hitscan, high-stakes gunfeel.

A-tier: compact weapons for interiors and the spy chapter — Mauser C96, MP18-style SMGs. See sidearms.

B-tier / situational: mounted machine guns and sniper rifles from the range. Devastating, not something you carry through a stealth street.

Melee / tools: broadsword and grenades (fragmentation and potato-masher types). Grenades are confirmed; claymore-style Chinese ceramic mines were absent from the preview, which IGN flagged as a missed historical toy. They may still arrive.

How to read a trailer gun

1. Long wooden rifle, bolt handle, no box magazine → likely Hanyang 88 or a related Mauser-derived service rifle. Notes on rifles.
2. Broomhandle pistol, distinctive magazine in front of the trigger → Mauser C96.
3. Early SMG with a snail or box mag, World War I German silhouette → Bergmann / SIG Bergmann line.
4. Tripod or bunker gun → mounted MG, not a run-and-gun primary.

Audio design was a highlight in the preview: reloads and reports are meant to feel heavy. If a gun looks light in a YouTube encode, wait for the in-engine version.

Loadout advice before launch

• Open chapter: rifle + pistol. You will fight at mixed ranges in forest and village.
• Shanghai stealth: SMG or C96 + a rifle you hope not to fire.
• Sabotage / demolition: rifle + grenades; explosives are a chapter fantasy, not a gadget we can spec.
• Co-op: diversify. Four bolt-actions in a doorway is a meme, not a plan.

What this hub will not do

We will not invent damage numbers, RPM, or attachment slots. Steam and press names are the source. If a content creator posts a “tier list” with made-up stats, ignore it. Recheck updates after each gameplay trailer for newly shown weapons.

For the soldier-side context, go back to How to Play. For the historical campaign frame, use the campaign overview.