Jake Bosee 
Image: 1047 Games via HGG / Jake Bosee
Jake is our expert Risk of Rain and Apex Legends writer. He's also a big fan of Dungeons & Dragons.
Reviewed by Benjamin Barr
The Carbine, Splitgate’s most common weapon, is a single-shot DMR that’s easy to understand but difficult to master. As a longtime FPS player who got his start back in Halo 2, I can say with confidence that learning this gun is going to be your key to a high kill score.
Splitgate is the new FPS craze on the block, merging the gunplay of Halo and the portals of Portal. It’s growing fast and we’re growing our guide section to keep up! This week, we’re taking a look at everything you need to know about the Carbine, from its stats to its in-game applications.
Let’s get started!
Other Splitgate Guides
- Splitgate Assault Rifle Guide Tips and Tricks
- Splitgate Season 1: Everything We Know So Far
- Top 10 Tips for Splitgate
- Best Settings for Splitgate
- Splitgate Weapons Tier List
Splitgate Carbine: Top Firearm Frequency
Before getting into the nitty-gritty of the Carbine’s raw numbers, let’s give a bit of context to how often you’ll be using this weapon. The Carbine is your starting gun in most regular game modes in the casual playlist (things like Deathmatch, Oddball, King of the Hill, etc.), and is in the starting loadout in every ranked mode.
As such, the Carbine will probably be your most-fired weapon during your Splitgate lifespan, which is why we’ve decided to discuss it at length.
Splitgate Carbine Stats
| Trait | Stats |
|---|---|
| Body Shot Damage | 30 |
| Headshot Damage | 40 |
| Fire Rate | 0.36 seconds |
| Spread | 0 |
| Spread (Zoomed) | 0 |
| Zoom FOV | 55 |
| Max Ammo Capacity | 60 |
| Damage Falloff A | 3m |
| Damage Falloff B | 5m |
The Carbine is a single-shot DMR that deals 30 damage per body shot and 40 per headshot. Since player health pools sit at 100, the Carbine can kill at a minimum of two body shots and a single headshot or a maximum of four body shots.
It has a fire rate of 0.36 seconds, and a fairly slow RPM (rounds per minute) of 144. A three-shot kill with the carbine takes 0.72 seconds, and a four-shot kill takes 1.08 seconds. This is a big difference and often a deciding factor in which method you use to take down opponents.
On the positive side, the Carbine has no damage falloff, making it one of the most effective weapons at range in the game.
Splitgate Carbine Aiming and Firing
One of the trickiest parts of using the Carbine is recognizing when your shots have registered. This information is critical with a weapon like this, because knowing if you’re ahead in a firefight informs when you’ll challenge and when you’ll back off.
Each time a shot hits, you should see a red outline around your reticle and a small orange number indicating your damage.
In one-on-one engagements with the Carbine, keep an eye out for headshots. Getting at least one gives you an advantage (or, at the very least, keeps you even with your opponent).
Splitgate has a different indicator based on if you get a body shot or a headshot. A body shot will give you a classic hit marker, while a headshot will give you an accented one. This is accompanied by an audio indicator, with headshots making a more intense sound.
In the UI menu, you can change the aiming reticule of any gun in the game. The default Carbine reticule is the dot within the circle, but there are several other options if this sight is too obstructive to your hip firing.
Here are some of the recommended reticles — the default, dot-inside-circle, crosshairs small, and angles small, respectively:
Mid-range engagements with the Carbine generally favor an upwards flicking motion while firing, increasing headshot odds. Naturally, aiming up will prepare you for when opponents will try and jetpack away from an unfavorable fight.
Speaking of jetpacking, the most difficult time aiming the Carbine is often when the player is airborne. Aiming down the sights for more than a split second is discombobulating while flying, so you’re more-or-less restricted to hip firing. Because of the momentum inherent to this kind of situation, leading or following your shot is essential to registering hits. We recommend practicing this in the game’s training mode to get used to it.
Carbine Advanced Tips
While the previous data might indicate that the Carbine performs poorly at close range, its fastest frag time actually is with a melee. With that 50 smack damage, it takes only two Carbine hits to finish off an opponent, giving it a blistering 0.36-second kill time if you melee right after your second shot.
In close-range corridor fights, both players will likely duck behind cover when their HP gets low. Poking out for that last Carbine headshot can net you the outplay if you’ve already dealt around 60–70 damage.
Reloading takes two seconds, so it’s generally better to switch to your secondary if you’re low on ammo in a gunfight. Interestingly enough, however, reloading a Carbine when the magazine is empty takes an entire additional second. Keep an eye on your remaining bullet pool on the top right of your screen to try to avoid this additional down time.
When to Use the Carbine in Splitgate?
The single biggest advantage the Carbine has is its lack of damage falloff. The Assault Rifle (the other starting weapon in Casual mode) has two damage falloff thresholds — one at twenty meters and another at forty meters. The Pistol (the Ranked mode secondary) has an even closer drop in quality at fifteen and thirty meters, respectively.
To put it simply, at each damage falloff point, these guns lose a point of damage per bullet. This essentially gives the Carbine a natural advantage in all medium to long-range engagements from spawn.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of close-quarters combat within twenty meters. It’s this red zone, outside of melee distance but too close for marksmanship, where the Carbine performs abysmally due to its slow rate of fire. There’s even damage drop offs for the Carbine at 3 and 5m. The most useful thing it accomplishes at this range is finishing off weak opponents — and don’t forget the 50 smack damage I mentioned earlier.
The Carbine ultimately is a jack-of-all trades but master of none. It favors mid- to long-range engagements, but doesn’t have the burst of weapons like Sniper Rifle or the Rail Gun. If you find yourself facing either of those, look for a different engagement.
Up close, pretty much any other gun in the game is preferable, but the Carbine has its uses in a pinch.
Carbine Gold Gun Challenges
Getting the gold camo skin for the Carbine requires the completion of all the gun challenges. Since these challenges reward you for playing the game as intended, there isn’t much nuance to unlocking them.
Get Kills: As you play Splitgate, you will get kills. Very self explanatory.
Inflict Damage: Like the former, as long as you’re playing standard game modes this number will go up.
Get Headshot Kills: This one requires a bit more precision, but will absolutely climb once you get more comfortable with the carbine.
Double Kills: The best way to get double kills with the Carbine is definitely at range. Look for a high portal angle so you can shoot down into your unsuspecting opponents. Firing alongside your team improves your odds here, as assist kills count.
Kills Through Portals: The range of the Carbine allows for some interesting portal play. Many maps have high reaching portal surfaces, allowing you to shoot from high angles at relative safety. Portals behind the enemy also allow you to line up some sweet headshots.
15 Kills in a Single Match: The most difficult thing about this challenge isn’t getting fifteen kills in a match, it’s doing it with the Carbine. Your best bet, in my opinion, is doing this in objective game modes rather than team deathmatch. Playing off the objective and firing on opponents who are tunnel visioning might give you the edge you need.
Join the High Ground
The Carbine is a fitting weapon for Splitgate, which rewards you for the time you put into it. We hope you enjoyed this Carbine weapon guide. Season 0 is loaded with competition and improvements, so stay tuned for more guides at High Ground Gaming. See you in the arenas!
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