Company of Heroes 3 Equipment Guide

Equipment in Company of Heroes 3 refers to upgrades and gear assigned to individual units — extending their capabilities beyond base stats. Unlike battlegroups which are faction-wide command trees, equipment is unit-specific: one rifle squad can carry different gear than another. Understanding equipment options helps you spend Munitions efficiently and tailor unit roles to your strategy.

This guide covers equipment for infantry, vehicles, and team weapons across all four factions — US Forces, British Forces, Wehrmacht, and Afrikakorps — based on community-ranked lists and patch-adjusted viability.

How equipment works

Equipment is purchased with Munitions at appropriate structures or via battlegroup nodes. Each piece of equipment changes one unit’s stats or adds an ability. Equipment choices are made per-squad — you might equip one rifle squad with BARs and another with grenade packages depending on the combat phase.

Key rules:

• Equipment consumes Munitions income — budget accordingly per Resource Management
• Some equipment requires veterancy or battlegroup nodes to unlock
• Equipment does not persist between matches — every game starts fresh
• Patch changes to equipment cost or stats appear in Balance & Meta and Updates

INFANTRY TIER LIST - Company of Heroes 3

Equipment by role

Anti-infantry infantry gear

Riflemen close-combat upgrades — BARs (US), Bren Guns (British), MP40/StG44 (Wehrmacht), etc. These increase close-range DPS at the cost of squad survivability and Munitions. Prioritize on assault squads; skip on reserve or support units.

Grenade packages — Fragmentation, incendiary, or smoke grenades issued per squad. Useful for pushing entrenched positions or blinding MG lines. See Cover and Combat for grenade timing.

Vehicle equipment

Gun upgrades — AP or HE ammunition switches, additional machine guns, smoke launchers. Vehicle equipment is particularly cost-sensitive — always verify the upgrade cost against the expected trades on your preferred maps.

Survivability upgrades — Extra armor plates, tracks, or reactive defenses. Worth it on tanks that survive to use them; wasteful on vehicles that die before the upgrade pays off.

Team weapon equipment

MG upgrades — Belt extensions, tripod stabilization, AP ammunition for machine gun teams. British and Wehrmacht MG teams benefit most from early upgrades since their suppression value compounds across the match.

Mortar upgrades — Spotting scopes, HE vs smoke ammunition selection, traverse upgrades. Mortar equipment pays off in long matches where repositioning is frequent.

Faction-specific equipment

Faction	Signature equipment	Notes
US Forces	BARs, Thompson SMG, M1919 LMG	Balanced close-range upgrades
British Forces	Bren guns, PIAT, Bren carrier upgrades	Defensive specialization
Wehrmacht	MP40, STG44, G43	Early infantry upgrades
Afrikakorps	Beretta SMGs, Spanishcket upgrades	Mobile vehicle focus

Equipment tier guide

Based on community testing and EarlyGuides equipment rankings:

S Tier equipment — High cost-efficiency, applicable to most game states:

• US Forces BAR package — reliable DPS boost
• Wehrmacht STG44 — best-in-class infantry damage upgrade
• British Bren gun — accuracy and DPS balance

A Tier equipment — Strong but situational:

• Grenade packages — excellent for pushing but eaten by suppression
• Vehicle smoke launchers — survival tool on exposed maps
• MG tripod stabilizers — suppression efficiency on long engagements

B Tier equipment — Conditional value:

• Late-game luxury upgrades — only when economy floats
• Niche counter equipment — specific matchups only

Equipment vs battlegroup choices

Equipment is per-unit; battlegroups are per-faction. A strong player aligns both — equipping assault infantry with damage upgrades while the battlegroup provides area-denial or defensive support. See Battlegroup Tier List for how battlegroup synergy affects equipment priority.

When to buy equipment

Equipment timing follows a simple rule: buy when the unit will survive to use it. Upgrading a squad that is about to die wastes Munitions. Ideal equipment windows:

1. After a successful fight — surviving squads reinforce and upgrade
2. During lulls in combat — production-free window to equip reserves
3. Before major pushes — assault squads get grenades or close-combat upgrades

Never upgrade during active enemy pressure — retreat first, then equip.

Map-dependent equipment

Open desert maps — Vehicle survivability upgrades rise; infantry equipment that requires set-up time loses value.

Urban choke maps — Grenade packages and close-combat upgrades dominate; smoke for MG blindage.

Large team maps — Mortar and artillery equipment scales with match length; vehicle upgrades for Armor divisions.

See Multiplayer Maps for how equipment priorities shift by layout.

Equipment and the Final Stand meta

Final Stand (~July 29, 2026) introduces horde-specific equipment scaling — wave defense amplifies AoE equipment value since blobs of enemies cluster naturally. Monitor Final Stand-specific tier lists post-launch for horde equipment recommendations.

Common mistakes

• Upgrading everything — Munitions is finite; prioritize assault and core fighting units
• Equipment on doomed units — If a squad is below half health and under fire, retreat first
• Ignoring veteran requirements — Some equipment unlocks at veterancy thresholds; plan ahead
• Copying enemy equipment blindly — Counter-equipment is situational; scout first

Related pages

• Unit Tier List — equipment priority context
• Resource Management — Munitions budgeting
• Tier List: Battlegroups — faction-wide synergy
• Cover and Combat — when equipment wins fights
• Build Order Planner — equipment timing checkpoints

Equipment is the final layer of unit optimization — fundamentals of positioning, cover, and retreat discipline come first; equipment amplifies what already works.