On March 10, 2026, Garena published something it rarely hands to the public: official usage data for Free Fire’s assault rifle class, broken down by mode. The result did something community tier lists almost never manage — it agreed with itself. Three rifles, the AK47, the XM8, and the Groza, appeared on both the Battle Royale and the Clash Squad most-used lists. Everything else stayed politely in its own lane. Is that a coincidence? Not when the same weapon wins a twenty-five-minute battle royale match and a three-minute Clash Squad round. That is raw efficiency, not player sentiment.
Garena’s split by mode matters more than it first appears. Battle Royale rewards flexibility: mid-range stability, enough range to contest airdrops, and enough accuracy to survive sustained firefights. Clash Squad rewards burst — the ability to end a fight inside the first two seconds, before the opponent’s economy can recover and buy back in. Two different optimization problems, one shared answer sheet.
📊 The Official Lists, As Published
Battle Royale most-used ARs (March 2026):
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SCAR
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XM8
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AK47
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Groza
Clash Squad most-used ARs (March 2026):
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AK47
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Groza
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XM8
The SCAR leads Battle Royale, which is the least surprising finding in the entire dataset. What actually raises eyebrows is that the SCAR does not appear on the Clash Squad list at all. That single omission draws the line between “safe” and “optimal.” The SCAR is safe. Optimal is a different word entirely.
🔢 What the Numbers Actually Say
All figures below reflect OB52 values, verified against community damage calculators updated March 12, 2026, and Garena’s official patch notes.
| Metric | AK47 | XM8 | Groza | SCAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base damage | 61 | 57 | 61 | 53 |
| Raw DPS | 569 | 570 | — | — |
| Headshot multiplier | 2.27x | 2.00x | — | — |
| Magazine size | 30 | 25 | — | — |
| Armored TTK (Lv. 3) | 0.54s | 0.50s | — | 0.59s |
| Shots to kill (Lv. 3 armor) | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
The DPS figures are close enough to be functionally identical, so the real differentiation sits in two places: headshot multiplier and armor penetration. The AK47’s 2.27x headshot multiplier is the highest in the group. At maximum level, a headshot one-shots an unarmored target. Against Level 3 armor, the Groza’s newly added +10% armor penetration from OB52 narrows the gap it once had against armored opponents.
🛡️ Why the SCAR Stays Home in Clash Squad
The SCAR’s 53 base damage is the lowest of the four. In Clash Squad, players begin with Level 2 armor minimum and upgrade to Level 3 almost immediately. The SCAR’s armored TTK sits at 0.59 seconds — 18% slower than the XM8’s 0.50s and 9% slower than the AK47’s 0.54s in the same scenario. It needs seven shots to kill a Level 3 armored opponent where the other three need six.
In a mode where fights are decided inside a single second of reaction time, one extra shot is a structural disadvantage, not a skill issue. The SCAR earns its Battle Royale slot through low recoil and consistent mid-range performance. Clash Squad simply punishes its stat floor too hard.
🎁 The Groza Problem: Great Gun, Terrible Availability
The Groza was already an airdrop-tier weapon before OB52. January’s patch buffed it further with +3% damage, +10% armor penetration, and +8% range. The armor penetration increase is the meaningful one. Armor penetration reduces the effective damage reduction of enemy vests, so a +10% boost means the Groza now cuts through Level 3 armor faster than any common AR. Combined with its 61 base damage, the post-OB52 Groza genuinely threatens armored targets more quickly than it did before.
The trade-off never changed: access. Nobody buys a Groza in the Clash Squad store, and nobody guarantees looting one in Battle Royale. It appears in high-tier airdrops and the Arsenal. Its presence on both usage lists reflects how aggressively top Diamond-plus players prioritize airdrop control — a playstyle decision the statistics confirm rather than create.
⚔️ AK47 vs. XM8: The Decision That Actually Matters
For most ranked lobbies, the Groza is a fantasy and the SCAR is a compromise. The real choice is AK47 or XM8, and the usage data shows them nearly tied on both lists. The raw DPS gap is effectively zero: 569 versus 570. The close-range TTK difference is 0.02 seconds, which sits below the human reaction threshold.
Where the AK47 wins:
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2.27x headshot multiplier versus the XM8’s 2.00x — roughly 13.5% higher headshot damage
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A 30-round magazine versus 25, meaning 20% more shots per reload
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A higher damage floor: 61 base against 57
Where the XM8 wins:
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A built-in 2x scope that consumes no attachment slot
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600 RPM versus 560, so missed shots cost less
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A 0.50s armored TTK against the AK47’s 0.54s
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Better sustained accuracy thanks to a gentler inherent recoil pattern
The AK47 rewards headshot precision. The XM8 forgives inconsistent aim. At Diamond rank and above, where headshot rates climb meaningfully, the AK47’s multiplier generates more value than the XM8’s recoil assistance. Below Diamond, the XM8 wins for precisely the opposite reason.
🏆 The Verdict and What Comes Next
The Groza sits at S-tier with an asterisk that has always existed: availability. No one builds a consistent ranked strategy around a weapon found in one out of five matches. The AK47 leads Clash Squad largely because 30 rounds frequently decide a round without a reload, while XM8 users with 25 rounds sometimes eat that penalty mid-fight. In a mode with no health regeneration between rounds, that efficiency compounds at every price point in the buy phase.
OB53 is confirmed for April 8, 2026. Pre-advance server leaks hint that the Woodpecker may receive a recoil stabilization buff pushing it toward marksman relevance, and there are unconfirmed whispers about Clash Squad economy adjustments. If weapon prices shift, the AK47’s grip on that mode could loosen toward the XM8 on pure cost-efficiency per round.
Nothing there is confirmed yet. What is confirmed: the OB52 assault rifle meta is the AK47, the XM8, and the Groza according to Garena’s own data, and the stat profiles explain exactly why those three cleared the field. The SCAR is fine. Fine, unfortunately, does not lead usage charts. 🔫