Weapons overview

The information was taken from official Deus Ex readme file, written by Ion Storm.

General

There are 14 different weapons in Deus Ex multiplayer, not counting grenades. Most of them just deal damage, but a few have additional extra uses, and all of them have certain situations in which they are more effective than in others. Since you can only carry three weapons at a time, and since you often won't be equally skilled with all weapons, deciding what weapons to carry can be a tough choice. Generally you want to carry weapons that have different uses. Carrying two weapons that do almost exactly the same thing (such as carrying both shotguns) is a waste of valuable inventory space.

Accuracy

Unlike singleplayer, most weapons in multiplayer are perfectly accurate. They shoot exactly where you point. That doesn't mean they always hit, since your opponents may be moving as well, but you can count on your shots to go where you aim. This is not true of some multiple shot weapons.

Ammo considerations

With the exception of the nano sword and the combat knife, all weapons need ammo. Generally they carry about three clips worth. There are three ways to get more ammo for a weapon. The easiest is to use an ammo crate. This will replenish the ammo for the weapons you are carrying. Note that this will not replenish throwing knives if you have used all of them, since when you use your last throwing knife, you are no longer carrying that weapon. The next is to pick up another copy of the same weapon from a weapon rack. This will replenish your ammo with that weapon. Finally, if you search a corpse, and that corpse was carrying a weapon that you are carrying, your ammo will be replenished with that weapon. None of these methods restore alternate ammo (20 millimeter grenades or WP rockets). You must pick up more of that kind of ammo by finding the ammo itself. This ammo is usually stored in locked cabinets.

Hit Locations

There are three hit locations in Deus Ex Multiplayer. Legs, Torso, and Head. All of them have the same number of health points. The torso is the easiest to hit, and taking it out kills your opponent. Destroying your opponents legs slows him down greatly and leaves him crouched and unable to jump. Destroying your opponents head will kill him, and head shots count for double damage.

Reloading

Reloading is generally faster in multiplayer than it was in the singleplayer game. In addition, if you put a weapon away, it automatically reloads itself. This is not faster than the automatic reload when you expend your current clip, but it means that if you equip a weapon and have ammo left, that ammo will be loaded.

Skills

Weapons require different skills to use. In the basic team deathmatch game, all weapons skills are at maximum level. In other gametypes, weapon skills may start a lower levels and you may need to spend skill points to buy them up. The effect of a higher weapon skill varies from weapon to weapon, but in all cases, a higher skill means more damage.

Rifle Weapons

The rifle skill affects the Sniper rifle, the Assault rifle, the Assault shotgun, and the Sawed off shotgun.

Sniper Rifle

Advantages
The sniper rifle is one of the most useful long range weapons. Bullets travel instantaneously to point of impact, and at master skill level, a head shot taken with a zoomed in sniper rifle will kill. Even torso shots will do a significant amount of damage. The vision augmentation is very handy with this weapon, since it helps you find enemies more easily.

Disadvantages
The sniper rifle does significantly less damage if the scope is not in use. It also has a fairly slow rate of fire, reloading after every shot. While zoomed in, you can't see a lot of the world around you, making you a prime target for being attacked from behind. Due to its slow reload time and need to be zoomed in, it is almost impossible to use this weapon effectively at close range.

Opposing
Ballistic defense protects somewhat against the sniper rifle. It is also very hard for someone to snipe at you if you have the speed augmentation on and are running. The cloak augmentation provides near perfect protection; since the distances involved in a sniper attack are generally much greater than the distance at which the vision augmentation perceives cloaked people, snipers will almost never be able to see cloaked people. If you don't have these augmentations, try dashing from cover to cover. Snipers have to be able to see you to shoot you. Closing very quickly with a sniper is often a good way to kill one, since his weapon is next to useless at close range.

Assault Rifle

Advantages
The assault rifle is a fairly versatile weapon. It works at both close and medium ranges, and does a fair amount of damage. Unlike most multiplayer weapons, it is not perfectly accurate. When unskilled, it is actually fairly inaccurate, although because it has burst fire, it tends to wound the opponent some anyway. Standing still or buying higher skill levels increases this accuracy, but not to perfect accuracy. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage. It makes it easier to hit a target with some of the bullets, but makes it harder to hit with all of them. The alternate ammo, 20 millimeter, is one of the most powerful ammo types in the game. The 20 millimeter grenades arc, and can therefore be used to shoot over obstacles with indirect fire. They are also highly explosive, and can be used as splash damage weapons.

Disadvantages
This gun is useless at long range when loaded with bullets. It is also not perfectly accurate, and when firing, can burn through a clip pretty quickly. The 20 mm ammo is very useful at longer ranges, but the arcing, although useful for indirect fire, can take a lot of getting used to. You must also be careful not to hit yourself with the 20 mm with a stray shot into a nearby wall.

Opposing
Staying far away from your opponent helps, as the gun is useless at long ranges. If you can force your opponent to keep moving and firing, he will be less accurate and may run out of ammo quickly. Ballistic protection also protects well against this weapon, protecting you against both ammo types. The aggressive defense augmentation will stop the 20 mm, and, if you are close enough to your enemy, may even cause him to injure himself.

Assault Shotgun

Advantages
The assault shotgun has a high rate of fire and does decent damage. It works at short to moderate ranges. Since it fires five pellets, it is fairly easy to hit opponents with at least one of them. If you are right up next to your enemy, you can often hit with all five pellets. Unlike the singleplayer game, higher accuracy will not reduce the spread of the pellets. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage. It is an advantage in that it makes it easier to hit enemies, but a disadvantage in that those hits are less likely to be from all pellets.

Disadvantages
It doesn't work at longer ranges, and unless you are right next to your enemy, you're not going to get any one shot kills, since the pellets spread out.

Opposing
If you keep moving around, your opponent will find it very difficult to tag you with more than one or two pellets a shot.

Sawed-off Shotgun

Advantages
The sawed off shotgun does a lot of damage, almost twice as much as the assault shotgun. Like the assault shotgun, it works better at closer ranges, and the pellets always spread at least somewhat. Unlike the assault shotgun, it is much easier to get one shot kills. A full load of all five pellets, with skill level 3 and the targeting aug will kill someone if all pellets hit the torso.

Disadvantages
It has a slow refire rate, and doesn't hold much ammo in a clip. Although very dangerous at short ranges, this isn't a very dangerous weapon at longer ranges, even at ranges where the assault shotgun might still be effective.

Opposing
Much as with the assault shotgun, try to stay out of close range. If you must be in close range, take advantage of the slow refire rate to circle around your opponent with a much faster firing weapon.

Pistol Weapons

The pistol skill affects the Pistol, the Stealth pistol, and the Mini-crossbow.

Pistol

Advantages
This weapon is a good middle-of-the-road weapon. It does a fair amount of damage, fires moderately quickly, and has a decent range. It lends itself well to a number of fast, aimed shots at a target.

Disadvantages
The pistol has no obvious disadvantages, but neither does it have any clear advantages. For any given purpose, there is probably another weapon that is more effective because of specialization.

Opposing
Escaping this weapon's most dangerous middle range is the most effect defense against it - either close quickly or get out of range.

Stealth Pistol

Advantages
This weapon features a very quick refire rate as its main strength. It is used best on unsuspecting targets, as the quiet nature of the weapon makes eliminates one of the main cues that players use to find their attacker. In addition, it works well on stationary targets where you can land a number of shots before they have time to react.

Disadvantages
The relatively short range of this weapon makes it useless for most sniping uses, and it's moderate damage and fast-but-not-rapid refire rate makes it both difficult to do snap shots and impossible to hose down an area.

Opposing
Escaping this weapon's most dangerous middle range is the most effect defense against it - either close quickly or get out of range.

Mini-Crossbow

Advantages
This weapon does a decent amount of damage, in addition to poisoning your target. Poisoned targets have blurred vision and continue to take damage for a short time. In fact, poison from crossbows kills more often than the actual dart impacts. This weapon also works underwater.

Disadvantages
The darts have limited range, and, since they are not instant hit weapons, often miss their targets.

Opposing
Stay a moderate distance away from your opponent and he can't hit you with the darts. If you have environmental resistance, the greatest threat (the poison) will be nullified.

Heavy Weapons

The heavy weapons skill affects the GEP gun, the Plasma rifle, the Flamethrower, and the LAW.

GEP Gun

Advantages
This is a great long-range weapon. It is very useful for suppressing fire, forcing people to stay behind cover. Its locking capability is also very useful, and has been enhanced from the singleplayer version. At short to mid ranges, it is more useful than the sniper rifle is at similar ranges. It also has an alternate ammo type, the WP rocket. The WP rocket does less damage, but has a much larger blast radius, and anyone caught in the blast radius gets set on fire. The GEP comes with a sniper scope attached by default.

Disadvantages
There are a number of drawbacks to the GEP. First, more than any other weapon, this weapon relies on higher skill. With the GEP out, you cannot jump as high, run as fast, or turn as quickly. Skill reduces this somewhat, but does not completely eliminate it. The GEP can be almost completely stopped by the aggressive defense augmentation. It has a slow refire rate, and while you're waiting to reload, enemies can trace the trail of smoke back to figure out where you are. Also, because it causes explosions, this is not a good weapon to use at closer ranges if you have the vision aug on.

Locking
It is generally easier to get a lock than it was in the singleplayer game. To get a lock, try to hold your crosshair over the target. If it moves off a little bit, your lock will start slipping away, but won't go away instantly. If you generally keep it on the target, you should get a lock. Time to lock varies from 1.5 seconds to 0.25 seconds, depending on skill level. After the ammo counter indicates that you are locked, you will hear a tone. While you are getting the tone and the ammo counter indicates that you are locked, you are. If you have a lock and move your crosshairs off of the target, you have about a second to move them back on before the lock is lost.

For the curious, here is how a locked on GEP chases a target:

1. If the GEP rocket has a line of sight to the center of the target, it aims for that point. If it does not:
2. If the GEP rocket has a line of sight to the target's head, it aims for that point. If it does not: 
3. The rocket heads for the last place where it had a line of sight to one of those two points on the target.
   

The GEP rocket slows down a bit for turns, but it still has a significant turn radius, so it doesn't corner exceptionally well. It doesn't cheat, it only updates targeting information if it has a line of sight to the target.

Opposing
The cloak augmentation prevents locking. It is also very hard for someone to get a lock on you if you are moving around erratically. If a GEP round is incoming, moving out of the way when it gets close often causes it to miss, even if locked, as it has a minimum turn radius. Aggressive defense almost completely stops GEP rounds, and ballistic protection helps. Also, the rocket leaves a large smoke trail that indicates from where it was fired.

Plasma Rifle

Advantages
The plasma rifle is an excellent suppressive-fire weapon. Fires three plasma bolts that explode on impact. It has a fairly good rate of fire and good range. If you want to force someone to keep his head down, this works very well. It is generally best employed by shooting at the ground near your opponent's feet.

Disadvantages
The energy shield greatly reduces the effectiveness of this weapon. The splash damage can also hurt you if you are firing too close to yourself, and it can be dangerous to teammates. The energy shield helps reduce the penalties of self inflicted wounds.

Opposing
Jumping helps to avoid splash damage from bolts hitting the floor. The energy shield is very effective at stopping this weapon.

Flamethrower

Advantages
This weapon has a very high rate of fire, and, if you back someone into a corner, you can kill him with it very quickly. It also sets people on fire when it hits them. This doesn't do a lot of damage, but it makes them easy to spot, even if they are cloaked. The flamethrower can function as a sort of alternate vision augmentation. If you hear footsteps nearby but don't see anyone, spraying the area with the flamethrower may set your opponent on fire, making him easy to shoot.

Disadvantages
This weapon has very limited range, and the energy shield is very effective at blocking it.

Opposing
The energy shield is extremely effective at blocking the flamethrower. If you have the energy shield, you don't need to worry too much about the flamethrower. If you get set on fire, jump in the water or use a medkit to put it out.

LAW

Advantages
Does massive damage in a wide area. Will even do a significant amount of damage if the other person has aggressive defense up.

Disadvantages
Only one shot, but it takes up a whole weapon slot. It also requires lockpicks to get.

Opposing
There isn't a lot you can do when one is actually coming at you. Aggressive defense alone won't prevent you from taking a lot of damage. Aggressive defense combined with ballistic protection generally works fairly well. Ducking behind cover will also reduce the damage. All of these help, but if someone shoots a LAW at the ground near you, expect to take at least some damage.

Low-tech Weapons

The Low-tech skill affects the Nano sword, the Combat knife, and the Throwing knives. All of the low-tech weapons are short range, all of them work underwater, and combat strength helps with all of them. The speed, cloak, and combat strength augmentations are all helpful when trying to use these.

Nano Sword

Advantages
The nano sword does a lot of damage and has a fairly high rate of fire. In addition, unlike the singleplayer game, it has a fairly high swing arc. The closer your opponents are to you and to the center of your screen, the more damage the sword does, but you can still hit people at the ends of the arc. This weapon also works under water. Combat strength greatly enhances the damage it does.

Disadvantages
The weapon is fairly short range. It is also very obvious when someone is using it. Equipping it makes a very distinct sound, and it emits a blue glow around you

Opposing
The best defense is to stay out of reach. This isn't very hard. If you have the speed aug on, your opponent will find it very difficult to hit you with the sword, even if he has the speed aug himself. If you hear the sound of the sword being drawn, move out of the way. It might be someone uncloaking behind you with the sword. Often someone attacking you with the sword is relying on the speed augmentation. Take that out and it is pretty easy to defeat him.

Combat Knife

Advantages
A decent amount of damage and a high rate of fire. Works underwater. Combat strength greatly enhances the damage it does. Unlike the nano sword, equipping it doesn't advertise your presence.

Disadvantages
Unlike the nano sword, it does not have an enhanced swing arc. Your opponent needs to be right in front of you at fairly short range.

Opposing
Stay out of range. If your opponent is relying on the speed aug, EMP him to eliminate that advantage.

Throwing Knife

Advantages
The throwing knife does a lot of damage and has a high rate of fire. It works at greater ranges than the other lowtech weapons. It works underwater, and combat strength makes it do more damage.

Disadvantages
Limited ammo. Unlike the other lowtech weapons, you can run out of ammo with this weapon. Once you run out of ammo, the weapon is gone, and using an ammo crate won't restore your ammo. It is also not instant-hit, and therefore it can be difficult to hit with it.

Opposing
Back up and dodge around. Your opponent will most likely run out of ammo quickly.

Grenades

Grenades are affected by the demolitions skill. They include the EMP grenade, the Gas grenade, and the LAM.

General

Advantages
Grenades are fairly handy weapons. They don't take up slots that would be used by something else; each grenade has its own belt slot. They can be placed on walls as defense systems, or thrown at enemies as an attack. Each grenade has a very different effect on an enemy, making the demolitions skill fairly versatile. The screen of the player who planted or threw a grenade will flash an appropriate color (blue for EMP, green for Gas, white for LAM) when the grenade detonates. This is useful for knowing when grenades you have planted are being detonated.

Disadvantages
You can only carry three grenades of each type at any time, and many of the grenades are locked up. Also, thrown grenades will blow up if an explosion goes off nearby. The two most common ways this can happen are throwing a second LAM too soon after throwing the first, or by throwing a grenade when someone is shooting a plasma rifle at you.

Opposing
Placed grenades can be neutralized in several ways. Radar transparency allows you to walk past them without setting them off. You can then pick them up off of the wall and place them again. This leaves them in essentially the same place, but on your side. Many enemies will assume the grenade is still friendly. If you have a higher demolitions skill than the person placing the grenade, you have some time to locate and disarm it after you hear the beeping sound. EMP explosions will disable nearby grenades, and regular explosions will set them off. Since explosions penetrate a short distance through walls, one tactic when assaulting an enemy base is to blow up a rocket on the outside of the entrance, thereby exploding any grenades inside the entrance. The explosions from the grenades may injure the defending team. The best way to deal with thrown grenades is to dodge them. Thrown grenades make distinctive noises when they bounce along the ground. If you move quickly you can avoid most of the blast.

Placing
When placing a grenade, remember that the targeting augmentation enhances your skill, and thus the damage done. It will make the grenade more effective when it actually goes off. Try not to place EMP grenades near other grenades, or else the explosion from your EMP grenade may disable the other grenades. The best place to place a grenade is in a location where, when your opponent comes into range to set them off, he can't quickly get away. One prime example is on the inside of a door. When he opens the door, he will often sit there for a second waiting for the door to open. During that time, the grenade can go off and kill him. On the other hand, if you place grenades where people expect them, they can blow them up or disable them and use them against you.

EMP Grenade

Advantages
EMP grenades are one of the only two ways in the game to do EMP damage. If you hit an enemy with one of these, he will most likely run out of energy and be at a significant disadvantage.

Disadvantages
If placed too near other grenades, an opponent may set one of these off before your other placed grenades, thus disabling your other grenades. Also, if your opponent was already out of bio energy, then this attack will do nothing.

Opposing
The EMP shield provides a lot of protection against these. When you do have the EMP shield, it often allows you to catch your opponents at a disadvantage. They expect you to have run out of bioenergy, but the shield has prevented you from running out. Carrying biocells around also helps lessen the negative effects.

Gas Grenade

Advantages
Gas grenades are a fairly safe way to slow down your opponents. They are unlikely to injure you or your opponent overmuch, but the vision blurring effect can help you run away. When combined with environmental resistance, they can be used much like flashbangs. You can toss one into a room and then charge in, immune to the gas. These grenades are also handy to place near friendly turrets. An enemy that sets off the grenade will be stumbling around while the turret fires.

Disadvantages
They don't do a lot of damage, and the gas clouds move unpredictably. Often you will hit yourself at least a little with these if you are not very careful.

Opposing
Environmental resistance works well if turned on before you get hit by any poison gas. The gas also isn't that dangerous, if your opponent is badly wounded and you are not, it can be worth pursuing him through the gas to finish him off.

LAM

Advantages
Very dangerous as a hurled explosive. Unlike the other two grenades, the LAM deals a lot of direct damage. If a LAM explosion goes off near an enemy, either from a preplaced LAM or a well thrown one, it will most likely kill your opponent.

Disadvantages
They can be fairly dangerous as well. If you throw one and it blows up in midair (due to a nearby explosion) before it gets very far away from you, you are likely to kill yourself.

Opposing
Ballistic protection helps protect against the damage, dodging is best.

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