PUBG Weapon Tier List: The Best Guns to Pick Up After Update 44.1’s Machine Gun Rollback
PUBG Weapon Tier List: The Best Guns to Pick Up After Update 44.1's Machine Gun Rollback
PUBG’s update 44.1 landed on November 4, 2026, and it reshuffles the loadout meta more than most people expect from a patch with no new weapon in it. KRAFTON cut short its August light machine gun experiment after the M249, MG3, and RPD turned out to be stronger than intended, rolling the first two back to their pre-August handling and pulling the RPD down to match. At the same time, vehicles got noticeably tankier. Here’s how that shakes out gun by gun, and rotation by rotation.
S-Tier: Reliable Meta Picks
The dependable mid-range assault rifles are still the safest first pick in any drop: the M416, Beryl M762, and AKM cover every range inside 150 meters with minimal attachment investment. The M249 is no longer the auto-grab it was in August now that its reload speed, recoil, aim-down-sight speed, vehicle damage, and firing-stance recoil control are all back to pre-buff levels, but a full box of 5.56mm still makes it a monster for holding a doorway or a building in the final circles if you can find the ammo to feed it.
A-Tier: Still Strong, More Situational
The MG3 drops to A-tier for the same reason: its handling is back to the slower, heavier-recoil profile it had before August, which makes it a worse roaming weapon but still a genuinely scary pick once you’re dug into a compound and don’t plan on moving. Marksman rifles like the Mini14 and SKS remain the best way to punish rotations at 150 to 300 meters without committing to a full sniper setup, and they didn’t get touched at all in 44.1, so their value only went up relative to the nerfed LMGs.
B-Tier: Rotation and Close-Quarters Weapons
The RPD, which KRAFTON added back in August, is now adjusted down to “a similar level” as the other two light machine guns rather than being a clear upgrade over them, so treat all three as interchangeable rotation weapons rather than hunting for one specifically. Shotguns and SMGs still own close-quarters fights in buildings and compounds and weren’t part of this patch at all.
Vehicles Are Tankier, So Rethink Your Rotations
The change that actually matters most for how you play the back half of a match is the vehicle buff. Health across the vehicle roster is up 8% to 15% depending on the vehicle: motorcycles and buggies gained 8%, the Dacia and UAZ are among the vehicles that gained 10%, and vans and food trucks gained a full 15%. Several vehicles also got tougher tires, and the BRDM-2 specifically got better acceleration, hill climbing, and top speed. Vans, Pico Buses, and food trucks also now carry trunks with 300 capacity, and the Coupe RB’s trunk grew from 100 to 120, so looting a vehicle for a late rotation is more worthwhile than it was last patch. Practically, that means shooting a car to stop a rotation now takes noticeably longer, and you should lean harder into vehicle-based plays in the final few circles than you may be used to.
Quick Tips for the Current Patch
Quick adjustments for update 44.1: don’t bother prioritizing the M249 or MG3 over an AR unless you’re already holding a position; treat all three LMGs as roughly equal now; keep punishing with the Mini14/SKS since nothing changed there; and expect vehicle chases and door-camping on cars to both take longer than they did last season. KRAFTON has said it will revisit the LMG rotation format in 2027, so expect this to shift again.
Topping up before your next match is easy with a Steam Wallet Code (US) or a Steam Wallet Code (SA) from Dragon4Deals, and if you play on console, our PlayStation Network cards cover the Xbox and PlayStation versions of the game too. You can read KRAFTON’s full official notes for PUBG update 44.1 for every bug fix and map tweak that didn’t make this list.
