Yes, I know. It sounds obvious, but knowing how to switch weapons in Anthem actually isn’t as straightforward as you might hope, especially if you’re jumping into the game for the first time on console and have nothing but your muscle memory to rely on. There’s also another reason why you can’t use secondary weapons in Anthem immediately, which we’ll explain in just a jiffy. And, before you ask: No, the answer isn’t to tap triangle. Because that would be obvious.
How to switch weapons in Anthem
Common logic would dictate that either a quick tap of triangle or Y would make you switch weapons in Anthem and, failing that, use of the d-pad or some other menu would eventually bring up a way to switch weapons on the fly. However, that isn’t so. Whether it’s a weird button mapping choice or something else entirely, you actually have to hold down the reload button to switch weapons in Anthem.
On PC, that’s the Tab key by default; Xbox One you’re looking at holding down X to switch weapons, and on PS4 it’s a case of pressing square in for two or three seconds.
Why can’t I switch weapons in Anthem?
If the above method(s) don’t work, then don’t freak out! There’s actually a perfectly reasonable explanation as to why you can’t switch weapons: it’s because you’ve not unlocked the ability to do so yet.
No, it’s not something hidden behind a paywall or hours of grinding. You get it within the first hour, but you must complete the game’s prologue tutorial and reach level 3; you can’t equip more than one gun before then. Once you’ve done that, you can prep your loadout in the Forge and equip your secondary weapon so you can switch over to it in the heat of combat.
