The Desert - 5 is a heavy semi-automatic pistol featured in the Uncharted series. Even more powerful than the Wes - 44, this magnum pistol outperforms most other weapons thanks to its .50 AE round, at the cost of a slightly slower rate of fire and lower ammo capacity.
A rare but valuable find, the Desert - 5 features exclusively in a few select chapters and is generally available in key areas where enemies are present in large numbers, to help even the odds. Ammo supply is always very limited in order to preserve gameplay balance; a single shot being enough to kill most enemies no matter where they are hit.
Enemies that use the Desert - 5 always come with a laser sight, granting instant kills if given too long to aim. Nate could not make use of said laser functionality.
The Desert - 5 is also the preferred sidearm of characters such as Harry Flynn, Atoq Navarro, Jason Dante and Eddy Raja, the latter using a unique gold-plated gun as his signature weapon.
History[]
Eye of Indra[]
The gun also makes an appearance in the Eye of Indra motion comic series. Eddy aims his gold Desert - 5 at Drake when he finds out he slept with his sister, Rika Raja, and he also uses the weapon to shoot Daniel Pinkerton's henchmen that guard his mansion while he and Drake try to steal one of the Indra artifacts. Eddy's gun is used to kill Pinkerton by Rika at the end of the motion comic series, who then takes it with her.
Drake's Fortune[]
The Desert - 5 was the primary weapon used by the sniper mercenaries in Drake's Fortune. They were first encountered in "Sanctuary?", as well as a handful of other chapters that took place in the monastery.
Eddy Raja was also seen waving his gold Desert - 5 around in multiple scenes, and used it on Nate during his prison escape at the end of "Unlocking the Past", and again while defending against the attacking descendants in "The Heart of the Vault".
Among Thieves[]
The Desert - 5 is most notably Harry Flynn's signature weapon. The pistol is first seen in the chapter "Breaking and Entering", when Flynn turns on Nate and holds his former partner at gunpoint. The Desert - 5 is then briefly seen in "The Dig" and "Keep Moving", where Harry Flynn used it to hold Nate and his friends at gunpoint once more. Later on in "Tunnel Vision" he used it to shoot Nate, nearly killing him. He was last seen using it to attack the Shambhala guardians in "The Road to Shambhala".
Zoran Lazarević's soldiers also made use of the magnum pistol, equipped with the laser sight. Said soldiers were only encountered in the chapters taking place in Tibet, such as in the Tibetan village and the monastery.
The Desert - 5 is a rare find and cannot be used before the chapter "Train-wrecked". It is one of the most powerful weapons in the game, very useful to take down Armored units and even the Shambala Guardians with a few well-placed shots. It can be unlocked in the game's rewards menu once the 100 treasures are collected, allowing the player to use it at will.
A Thief's End[]
The Desert - 5 was a DLC Weapon added to A Thief's End's multiplayer. It was released alongside the Survival gamemode update. The weapon can be dropped through a DLC Gameplay Chest or be purchased for 250 Uncharted Points. As the Desert - 5 is a heavy weapon, it cannot be modified.
The Lost Legacy[]
The Desert - 5 returned in The Lost Legacy, replacing the Barok .44 from A Thief's End as the game's heavy pistol sidearm. It has very few changes from the Uncharted 4 version, but now has only 7 rounds in its magazine.
Medals and trophies[]
Scoring 20 kills with the Desert - 5 will unlock the medal, worth 10 points, and bronze trophy "20 Kills: Desert - 5" in Drake's Fortune and Drake's Fortune Remastered. Scoring 30 kills with the Desert - 5 will unlock the medal, worth $10,000, and bronze trophy "30 Kills: Desert - 5" in Among Thieves and Among Thieves Remastered. Golden Abyss also features an identical bronze trophy.
Eddy's Golden Gun[]
Eddy Raja has a personal gun called Eddy's Golden Gun, which is a unique gold plated Desert - 5 with diamonds embedded in the trigger, complemented by ivory grips adorned with a crimson dragon. It shares the same characteristics as its classic counterpart.
In Drake's Fortune and Among Thieves, Eddy's Golden Gun can be unlocked in the rewards menu in exchange for 900 medal points and $20,000 respectively. However, The Nathan Drake Collection changed the requirement to completing the games on Brutal.
Strangely, kills using this weapon are not taken into consideration in the stats, as the game considers Eddy's Golden Gun to be a different weapon than the Desert - 5. Moreover, it is not possible to use Desert - 5 ammunition in order to reload Eddy's gun.
The official markings on the pistol read "Santa Monica, CA" which hints to the location of Naughty Dog's headquarters in California. The marking ".44" suggests that Eddy's gun is chambered in .44 Magnum, while it is in reality a .50 Action Express much like the standard Desert - 5.