Autogun

Lore & Background

In the grim darkness of the far future, elegance is a luxury and reliability is a virtue. The autogun embodies that virtue in the most literal sense: a short-barreled, full-automatic sidearm produced in staggering quantities by the manufactorums of a hundred worlds. It is not the finest weapon a Techmarine might carry, nor the most devastating in a Guardsman's kit, but it is the one that will still fire when the bolt pistol jams, when the laspistol's cell dies, and when the exotic plasma round you were saving for the boss has already been spent on a rat. Within the hive-city setting of Darktide, the autogun occupies the same cultural niche it does across the Imperium — the weapon of the working class, the underhive, the person who cannot afford a dedicated weapon and must make do with what the company issues or what they scavenge from a corpse in the gutters. It is unglamorous. It is not inscribed with the name of a saint or blessed by a Tech-Priest in a cathedral of gears. It is a gun that goes *brrr* and keeps going, and in the claustrophobic, close-quarters corridors of the hive, that is more than enough. For the agents of Darktide, the autogun is the safety net. You will outgrow it. You will swap it for a bolt pistol, a heavy laspistol, a plasma sidearm, or whatever exotic contraption the loot table blesses you with. But on that first contract, when the lights flicker and the first wave of enemies pours out of a maintenance shaft, the autogun in your hand is the only thing standing between you and the dark. And it will not let you down. It is, in the most unpoetic way possible, the Imperium in a holster.

In Their Own Story

The corridor smelled of ozone and old blood. Kael checked the magazine one more time — three rounds, maybe four. The autogun's polymer grip was slick with sweat, the barrel warm from the last burst he'd fired into the face of a thing that had no business having a face. Around him, the hive groaned, metal on metal, the deep mechanical respiration of a city that had been breathing for ten thousand years. He didn't have a bolt pistol. He didn't have a laspistol. He had this. The same gun a Guardsman on Cadia would have tucked behind his belt, the same gun a clerk in the Administratum would keep in a desk drawer under a stack of requisition forms. Unremarkable. Unblessed. Uninscribed. The door at the end of the corridor shuddered. Something hit it. Something else hit it. The hinges screamed. Kael raised the autogun, braced his elbow against the wall, and squeezed. The report was flat, mechanical, utterly without ceremony. The first round punched through the door's weakened frame. The second took the thing in the throat. The third went wide, sparking off the far wall. Three rounds. Maybe four. He checked the magazine again. "Right then," he muttered, and went looking for another gun. But not before the autogun had done the one thing it was made to do: keep him breathing.

Reader's Guide

The Autogun is your default sidearm in Darktide, available to every agent from the very first contract with no unlock requirements or agent restrictions. It is a common-rarity, full-automatic pistol that fires in rapid bursts, making it a dependable close-range option when you don't have a dedicated sidearm in your loadout. Stat-wise, the Autogun delivers moderate per-round damage at a high rate of fire, with a small magazine. It excels in tight spaces and against clustered, lower-HP enemies where you can lay down a quick burst before repositioning. Against heavily armored or high-HP targets, it will feel underwhelming compared to a bolt pistol or a heavy laspistol, but it will never leave you empty-handed. How to obtain: It is pre-loaded into every agent's starting kit. You will also encounter it as common loot in the hive, and it can appear in vendor stock. There is no crafting recipe or quest chain — it simply exists, in every drawer and every corpse. Agent synergy: Because it is universal, the Autogun pairs well with any agent as a backup or filler slot. Agents who rely heavily on their primary weapon (e.g., a Gunslinger or a dedicated heavy-weapons user) may find the Autogun a perfectly adequate sidearm for the moments between reloads. It has no unique synergy with any single agent; its value is in its universality and the fact that you will always have one. Practical tip: Do not let the Autogun's commonness fool you. In a pinch, a full-auto burst into a cluster of enemies is more than enough to buy you the seconds you need to swap to your real weapon. It is the Imperium's answer to the question 'what if I run out of everything else?' And the answer, every time, is: you still have the autogun.

Did You Know?

• The Autogun is the only weapon in Darktide that is guaranteed to be in your loadout from the very first contract, regardless of agent, difficulty, or progression — you literally cannot start the game without one.
• In the wider Warhammer 40,000 setting, the autogun is depicted as the most common sidearm in the entire Imperium, carried by billions of soldiers, administrators, and civilians across countless worlds.
• Despite being the most basic weapon in Darktide, the Autogun's full-auto firing mode makes it surprisingly effective in close-quarters hive corridors where enemies appear in tight clusters, rewarding quick burst control
• The Autogun's design philosophy mirrors the 40K aesthetic of grim, functional mass-production: no ornate engravings, no saintly blessings, no exotic power cells — just a reliable gun that fires when you pull the trigger.