Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas/Basics/Weapons and Fighting

All weapons aim better when CJ is crouched so most of your time fighting will be in the crouch position. This also allows CJ to do combat rolls in and out of cover, allowing time to reload.

By far the best weapons in the game are the Chainsaw, the SMG and the AK-47. All other weapons are likely to only be used in passing and when available. The chainsaw is devastating because it "locks" characters in place and does so much damage that apart from special characters it is a one hit kill. It also requires no ammo.

The SMG is versatile as it can be used in drive-bys while when crouched its range and accuracy is comparable to the assault rifles.

The AK-47 and the M4 are very similar apart from their ammo clip sizes but the AK-47 is more readily available and therefore you are more likely to make Hitman with it.

These are the only three weapons you need to carry out most of the missions and the Turf Wars.

Stealth Weapons

The two stealth weapons are the knife and the silenced pistol. In a couple of missions these are the only weapons you have access to.

The knife is a ordinary melee weapon but has a special attack mode. If you target an unaware opponent (for example approaching them from behind) and attack you should slit the target's throat killing them instantly.

The silenced pistol is the same as a normal pistol except that when fired it seems to not increase the Wanted Level as rapidly as other weapons. In stealth missions the silenced pistol allows silent kills at a distance but it is important to use a head shot kill as otherwise the target can shoot back and set the alert level in the mission.

Heavy Weapons

The Heavy Weapons in the game include the Chaingun (also known as the Minigun), Flamethrower and the RPG/Heat Seeking Rocket Launcher.

Out of all of these the most useful are the Chaingun and the RPG. The Chaingun is effectively a monster machine gun with a huge rate of fire. It also needs to be "spun" up by being aimed. It is probably the best weapon for dealing with large numbers of spawned enemies such as cops at Wanted Level 5 and gang members in Turf War.

The RPG can destroy virtually all vehicles in the game with a decent shot so is handy for causing mayhem or getting the police helicopter off your back. It can also be used as a vastly more accurate equivalent of the grenades or Molotov cocktails.

The Heat Seeking Rocket Launcher is practically the same as the RPG except that when aimed it also shows a targetting symbol. This is usually placed on the vehicle roughly in the centre of the aimed view. When the launcher is fired the rocket will then home on the target. This is not all that useful on land vehicles but is the best way of bringing down aircraft and helicopters.

The flamethrower is in many ways a great weapon as it is the only practical area-effect weapon in the game and causes a great deal of chaos by setting pedestrians and passing vehicle on fire. Since any area it touches continues to burn for a while after it also effectively allows you to stop people moving through an area. The weapon has two major weaknesses: firstly since it creates a burning area wherever it is fired it is only possible to move backwards when using the flamethrower; secondly it is difficult to control what will be affected by the flamethrower and using it on a busy street is likely to rapidly up your wanted level and make you a target for pedestrians.

Thrown Weapons

The hand grenade can be useful if expensive. A down-side is that it tends to tie you to the spot. You might try it to initiate gang or turf wars and it can also be used to dissuade pursuing rival gang members before resorting to side- or long-arms.

The Molotov becomes quite handy once you've completed the Firefighter mission to become fireproof. You can kill a half dozen assailants (like gang members in a turf war in close proximity) instantly, without fear of having it backfire. Be careful though, because vehicles set on fire will explode a few seconds later, and being fireproof doesn't mean you're immune to the concussive force of an explosion.