A max-level Rattler isn’t “broken” in a cheap or overpowered way.
But in my testing, once it’s fully upgraded, it transforms from a joke weapon into a top-tier monster that can clear maps. This post shows that its bad reputation comes from its rough early levels and painful reload.
The fully upgraded version is a reliable close-range shredder that can absolutely carry you in the endgame, if you build it right and play to its strengths.
From Worst to First: The Experiment
The Rattler is often called the most hated, least-used gun in the game. Even after 100+ hours, I’ve never looted a fully kitted Level 4 Rattler from another player’s body. That made me wonder: is everyone sleeping on a gun that only gets good at the very top end?
Here was my test:
Level 1 Rattler (cheap, with grey mods) on Dam Battleground.
Level 2 Rattler (green attachments) on Buried City.
Level 3 Rattler (blue attachments) on Spaceport.
Level 4 Rattler (full purple/epic attachments).
Maxed Level 4 Rattler (with a legendary attachment) in Stella Montis.
The rules were strict: I could only use the Rattler and had to stay until the very last exfil point, forcing myself to survive full raids. If the Level 4 was only better on paper but still clunky to use, this challenge would expose it—especially in tough PvP lobbies.
Level 1: This Is Why Everyone Hates It
The Dam Battleground run with the basic Rattler shows you exactly why it’s so hated. You get a tiny 10-round magazine, a brutally slow reload, and it just doesn’t feel impactful in fights.
The main problems:
That 10-round mag forces you to reload constantly in the middle of a fight.
The reload speed is… something else. In a bad way. Every missed shot hurts.
The damage per magazine is so low that you have to play scared and overly cautious.
On Dam, my playstyle said it all: I relied on positioning and turrets, avoided PvP, and basically babysat the gun like it was a liability. At Level 1, it’s not broken—it’s a handicap.
Level 2: Starting to Breathe
Moving to Buried City at night with the Level 2 Rattler and green attachments, things immediately feel better. Going from 10 to 14 rounds sounds small, but it changes everything.
What improved:
The 14-round mag means you reload less often and can actually finish a target in one clip.
Better attachments smooth out the recoil, so gunfights feel more in your control.
My playstyle became more confident. I started making temporary alliances and taking fights I would have run from before.
Level 3: Where It Becomes Actually Good
The Spaceport run with the Level 3 Rattler (blue attachments) is where the weapon crosses over from “usable” to “genuinely good.” I kept saying it “feels good” to use now.
What stood out:
The time-to-kill and consistency in duels got much better. I won messy fights that the Level 1 version would have lost.
I started playing the “sheriff,” saving other players and escorting them to exfil—something you can’t do if your gun is weak.
Even though the jump from green to blue mods isn’t huge, the Level 3 is a clear upgrade overall.
The key takeaway here? The Rattler becomes a legitimately strong weapon at Level 3, but it’s not oppressive. You still have to play smart, use good positioning, and pick your fights. It’s good, not godly.
Level 4 (Purple): The Power Shift
The first real test was with the purple-attachment Level 4 Rattler, worth about 24,000 coins. I loaded into Stella Montis in duos, and the pressure was on.
Honestly, Stella is a scary place to bring such an expensive gun, and there were a couple of times I thought I might lose it for good. Just feeling that risk shows how much I had invested in this build.
Once the purple Rattler was in my hands, a few things changed:
I teamed up with a friend, Pac-Man, who also brought a Rattler. I was confident that two of these guns could handle even this tough map.
I focused on close-range fights and chose a suppressor. This let me use the Rattler’s strength as a close-range laser without shouting my location to everyone.
In the early fights, I pushed teams aggressively, jumped into messy brawls, and still came out on top, all while teaming up with random squads (my “Avengers”).
Even at this purple level, I wouldn’t call it broken. It’s clearly powerful, but a lot of my success came from other factors:
Smart flanks and positioning (like sneaking around towers).
Having a numbers advantage by teaming up with 6–9 other players.
Using grenades and teamwork, not just the gun’s raw stats.
So, at purple Level 4, the Rattler is finally “good enough for the top tier,” but it’s not carrying the game by itself.
Level 4 (Legendary): The 28,000-Coin Monster
This is the final form: a Level 4 Rattler with a legendary attachment, costing about 28,000 coins—the most expensive version you can build. This is the gun the title calls “broken,” and here’s where it comes closest to feeling that way.
What stood out in this legendary run:
I kept winning fights where I was at a disadvantage, like pushing enemy teams who were dug into towers with high ground.
The Rattler’s damage and stability let me melt players who refused to join our big team; they’d go down before they could react.
The gun performed consistently through a long, chaotic raid full of robots, snipers, and shifting player alliances.
Even maxed out, the gun isn’t doing anything crazy like killing you in one frame from across the map. But a clear pattern emerged:
Close/Mid-Range: The legendary Rattler feels oppressive if you get the jump on someone or use cover well.
Long Fights: The magazine size and damage finally make up for the slow reload. I stopped feeling like I died because of the gun.
Value: I played entire maps without losing this incredibly expensive weapon.
In practice, the legendary Rattler let me control the pace of the raid. I wasn’t avoiding fights; I was starting them, building my “Avengers” squad, and using the Rattler as the reliable backbone of my whole strategy.
So, Is It Actually Broken?
Looking at the whole journey, calling it “broken” in a strict balance sense is too strong. But as a way to describe how insane the maxed version feels compared to the Level 1 trash gun, it fits.
Why it feels broken at Level 4:
The Power Jump: Going from the useless 10-round Level 1 to this enemy-deleting Level 4 is a night-and-day difference. It goes from worst to endgame-ready.
Raid Impact: On Stella Montis, this gun helped me survive massive brawls, take out campers, and lead a team through the chaos. It enables a super aggressive playstyle.
Reliability: Once it’s fully built, you stop worrying about its weaknesses. You just feel confident in every fight.
Why it’s not truly broken:
Skill Still Matters: I was constantly flanking, using cover, and picking my fights. I wasn’t just running straight at snipers and winning because of the gun.
Teamwork is Key: My best moments happened when I had 4–9 players team-firing with me. The gun alone didn’t do that.
The Grind is Real: Most players will never bother grinding through the awful early levels to reach this legendary version, so you rarely see it in matches.
The Final Verdict:
Level 1 Rattler: Straight-up bad. This is why people hate it.
Level 2–3 Rattler: Perfectly solid and usable with green and blue attachments.
Level 4 Rattler (Purple/Legendary): Extremely strong. On a tough map like Stella Montis, it’s a close-range powerhouse that can carry a raid in the right hands.
So, is the Level 4 Rattler “actually broken”?
If you mean is it unfairly overpowered in a way that breaks the game’s balance? No. It still requires good positioning and skill, and my success was a mix of shooting and smart social play.
But if you’re asking, “Is it a secretly crazy-strong gun that feels insane once you pay the price and master it?” Then yes, absolutely. The 28,000-coin, fully-kitted Level 4 Rattler is a massively underrated monster. Compared to its own terrible early version and its bad reputation, it absolutely feels broken.
