A sidearm is a handgun worn in a holster for quick access. Typically used as backup or last resort weapons, sidearms are very accurate at short range (less than 20 meters) but feature a wide range of controllability (against recoil) and rates of fire, and also inflict varying amounts of ballistic trauma.
Semi-automatic pistols are the sidearms most commonly used by Division agents. These handguns are reloaded via magazines that automatically feed single rounds into the chamber, firing one shot per trigger pull. Semi-automatics have the best range and stability amongst sidearm weapons but inflict lower ballistic trauma to targets.
Revolvers are more powerful repeating handguns with revolving chambers on a cylinder that spins ammo up to the single barrel to fire one bullet per trigger pull. Revolvers have less range and stability but pack a bigger punch per hit.
Sawed-off shotguns are break-action double-barreled shotguns that have been modified to significantly truncate their overall length, shortening the barrels and reshaping the stock into a simple pistol grip. While difficult to control, they are extremely deadly at close range.
If the player performs a melee hit while holding a sidearm, the agent will perform one of three animations:
If out of combat, the agent will flip the gun over, grab it by the barrel and perform an wide uppercut swing.
If in combat, the agent will swiftly lift the sidearm and slam the weapon down.
