Every figure shows its source. Where a source is missing, the number is a placeholder — and it is never written as fact.

By GamGem ResearchLast updated 23 Sept 2026

Act 5 · Patch 13.06

Ares

Machine Gun · Auto · 1600 credits

Through a heavy shield at close range, Ares needs 5 body shots.

A wall of bullets for a choke you cannot see through. Bands published to 50 m · magazine 50 · reload 3.25s · wall penetration high.

Shots to kill

RangeNo shieldLight shieldHeavy shield
HBLHBLHBL
0–30 m244255256
30–50 m245256367

Damage by band

RangeHeadBodyLeg
0–30 m753025.5
30–50 m702823.800001

The duel, in numbers

Body shots, heavy shield
5
Head shots, heavy shield
2
That burst takes
0.31 s at 13 / s
Best band
0–30 m

The burst time counts the gaps between shots, not the shots — the first bullet leaves at zero. It is how long the burst lasts, never how fast you react.

What else this money buys

Ares balance history

Riot's notes from patch 1.01 to 13.06 change Ares in 2 patches. The latest is patch 9.05, published 2024-09-10.

  1. Patch 9.052024-09-10

    • Revert crouch benefits nerf from standard 25% back to 40%
    • Crouching is better again and is now the same as Odin.
    • Headshot multiplier adjusted from2.4to2.5
    • This makes an Ares kill in 2 headshots while within 30m when previously it would have done 144 damage.

  2. Patch 4.012022-01-19

    • Price increased from1550to1600

    Pitch recoil increased

    • Spread changed from .8to.7 after 10 bullets to 1.0 >>> .7 after 13 bullets
    • Crouch benefits spread and recoil reduced from40%to25%
    • MELEE (but for real this time)
    • Bonus: Knifing walls now have instant feedback when slicing up walls (predicted on the client side)
    Why, in Riot's words

    The Patch 4.0 changes to the Ares made the weapon noticeably stronger, and we were happy to see it show up more in-game. However, it's overall tuning made it too easy to control and the lack of spin up removed some of what made the weapon unique. We love the benefits that the adjusted fire rate provided in terms of how the Ares felt to use, so we want to keep that. However, the adjustments below should make the weapon more difficult to control and bring back some of the weapon’s character by including a more prominent inverse accuracy.

    Targets closer to the center of your knife attacks will get hit first, so you still have precision if you need it.

Every Ares skin (46)

Riot's catalog lists 46 skins for the Ares. 10 of them upgrade through more than one level; the rest are a single finish.

  • 9 Lives Ares — Riot's render9 Lives AresRazeReynaViper
  • Aquatica Ares — Riot's renderAquatica Ares
  • Aristocrat Ares — Riot's renderAristocrat Ares
  • Blackspyre Ares — Riot's renderBlackspyre Ares4 levelsPurpleRedWhite
  • Bumble Brigade Ares — Riot's renderBumble Brigade Ares
  • Celestial Ares — Riot's renderCelestial Ares
  • Digihex Ares — Riot's renderDigihex AresRedGreenGold
  • Divine Swine Ares — Riot's renderDivine Swine Ares
  • Doodle Buds Ares — Riot's renderDoodle Buds Ares2 levelsTactifriendsLeague of Legends
  • Dragon Gate Ares — Riot's renderDragon Gate Ares
  • Endeavour Ares — Riot's renderEndeavour Ares
  • Gaia's Vengeance Ares — Riot's renderGaia's Vengeance Ares4 levelsBlueGreenOrange
  • Goldwing Ares — Riot's renderGoldwing Ares
  • Gourmand Ares — Riot's renderGourmand Ares
  • Haloform Ares — Riot's renderHaloform Ares
  • Hi-DR0 Ares — Riot's renderHi-DR0 Ares
  • Hieroscape Ares — Riot's renderHieroscape Ares
  • Hivemind Ares — Riot's renderHivemind Ares
  • Infantry Ares — Riot's renderInfantry Ares
  • Ion Ares — Riot's renderIon Ares4 levelsGreenYellowBlue
Show the other 26 skins
  • Jigsaw Ares — Riot's renderJigsaw AresKilljoyAstraYoru
  • Keys to Elysium Ares — Riot's renderKeys to Elysium AresGreenRedPurple
  • Magepunk Ares — Riot's renderMagepunk Ares4 levelsGreenPinkOrange
  • Minima Ares — Riot's renderMinima Ares
  • Monstrocity Ares — Riot's renderMonstrocity AresBrownBlueYellow
  • Montage Ares — Riot's renderMontage AresPinkPurple
  • Mystbloom Ares — Riot's renderMystbloom Ares4 levelsBlueOrangePurple
  • Nebula Ares — Riot's renderNebula Ares
  • Nunca Olvidados Ares — Riot's renderNunca Olvidados AresLivingEternal
  • Oni Ares — Riot's renderOni Ares4 levelsKumoHanaTsubame
  • Outpost Ares — Riot's renderOutpost Ares
  • POLYfrog Ares — Riot's renderPOLYfrog Ares
  • Premiere Collision Ares — Riot's renderPremiere Collision Ares
  • Prism Ares — Riot's renderPrism Ares
  • Rush Ares — Riot's renderRush Ares
  • Sakura Ares — Riot's renderSakura Ares
  • Sentinels of Light Ares — Riot's renderSentinels of Light Ares4 levelsPinkRed/GreenBlue/Purple
  • Silhouette Ares — Riot's renderSilhouette Ares
  • Singularity Ares — Riot's renderSingularity Ares4 levelsBlueRedPurple
  • Snowfall Ares — Riot's renderSnowfall Ares
  • Space Piercer Ares — Riot's renderSpace Piercer Ares
  • Spitfire Ares — Riot's renderSpitfire Ares
  • Titanmail Ares — Riot's renderTitanmail Ares
  • Valiant Hero Ares — Riot's renderValiant Hero Ares4 levelsSunsetDuskNight
  • VALORANT GO! Vol. 2 Ares — Riot's renderVALORANT GO! Vol. 2 Ares
  • Yoonseul Ares — Riot's renderYoonseul Ares

In other languages Riot's client prints the Ares as آريز (Arabic) · アレス (Japanese) · 아레스 (Korean) · 战神 (Chinese (Simplified)) · 戰神 (Chinese (Traditional)).

What this page will not print

  • Recoil pattern
  • First-shot deviation
  • Bloom per shot
  • Wallbang % per surface
  • Sample size

Riot publishes a single wall-penetration level and no recoil figures at all. This weapon’s level is High — the rest of that column would be invented to fill the shape of a drawing.

All weapons