Dalek weaponry

Dalek weaponry was predictably (and regrettably) advanced and lethal. The Daleks appear to have used a number of different weapon systems in their travel machines, in addition to the other more powerful weapons.

Personal Weapons

Gunstick

This was the usual personal weapon used the Daleks.

Physical effects

The effect of the weapon mounted in the standard Dalek casing remained standard throughout most of the history of the race. The discharge beam appeared blue with a trademark "negative effect". On occasions this exposed the skeletal structure of the victim.

Early sources of information about the Daleks described being hit by theweapon as being akin to being struck by lightning, suggesting the energy involved was roughly analogous to an electric charge. Sometimes victims of the weapons appeared charred (DW: The Daleks' Master Plan).

Rachel Jensen, examining the body of a Human killed by the discharge of a Renegade Dalek beam during the Shoreditch Incident said the lethal damage appeared to her like, massive internal disruption... his insides were scrambled which may suggest a different kind of weapon had been used on this occasion. (DW: Remembrance of the Daleks) She later theorised that they might be using plasma weapons. (DW: Remembrance of the Daleks (novelisation))

The Dalek Factions present in the area at this time were using what appeared to be slightly different weapons, in that they fired bolts of energy rather than beams (and the weapons of the Imperial Daleks discharged yellow-orange rather than blue). (DW: Remembrance of the Daleks)

During the massacre inside the GeoComTex Vault, the Dalek involved was able to use conductive substances such as metal and water to considerably extend the effect of its gunstick, strongly suggesting this was the case here also. (DW: Dalek)

Settings

This weapon had a non-lethal setting which paralysed the target. The Daleks said that repeated exposure to the paralysis effect would result in permanent neural damage. (DW: The Daleks)

Other Weapons

The manipulator arm of the casing could also serve as a very effective short-range weapon, with the traction field it generated more than capable of crushing a human skull or ripping through sheet metal. (DW: Dalek, TDA: I Am a Dalek)

The arm could also be replaced by a pyro-flame, essentially a flame-thrower, although given that the main gun had a limited area effect used for defoliation. (DW: The Daleks' Master Plan)

With their main energy weapons rendered inoperative on the planet Exxilon, the Daleks replaced them with a projectile-firing percussion weapon. This weapon was effective against the primitive natives of the planet but less so against the sophisticated support and defence systems of the City of the Exxilons. (DW: Death to the Daleks)

This weapon is commonly referred to as a machine gun but its relatively slow rate of fire strongly indicates it was not in fact fully automatic.

Individual Daleks were quite willing to expend their own lives for the advancement of the race, operating as suicide bombers if required. During the attempt to retrieve Davros in the Dalek-Movellan War, the Daleks improvised explosives using mining charges, strapping them about their casings. (DW: Destiny of the Daleks)

By the Last Great Time War, the Daleks had incorporated a very destructive set of explosives into the lower section of their casings, which could be used to self-destruct, utterly obliterating the Dalek. It is not not known if these charges could be used more offensively, although the explosions seemed to be contained within a force field surrounded by the Dalek "bumps", so it seems unlikely. (DW: Dalek)

Heavy Weapons

The Daleks routinely made little use of dedicated heavy weapons units, probably because the destructive power of a basic Dalek soldier made them unnecessary. However, during the Dalek Civil War, at least one Special Weapons Dalek was seen in action. This Dalek had a vastly oversized and overpowered version of the standard casing weapon. (DW: Remembrance of the Daleks)

Weapons of Mass Destruction

Bacteriological weapons

Dalek vessels mounted a varied armament, some of them simple energy weapons. However they were also equipped with missiles, many of which had specialised warheads. The Daleks appeared to favour bacteriological warfare, as during the 22nd century Dalek invasion of Earth. (DW: The Dalek Invasion of Earth) They were prepared to use missiles to spread plague across planets they either wished to conquer or wanted to prevent others from visiting.(DW: Death to the Daleks)

Other armaments

During the Dalek Civil War, the Imperial Daleks had planet-busting weapons mounted on their flagship (DW: The Dalek Invasion of Earth, Death to the Daleks, Remembrance of the Daleks), however, during and after the Last Great Time War, the flagship used explosive missiles, and instead the smaller flying saucers used weapons which could melt whole continents. (DW: The Parting of the Ways)

Time weapons

One of the most deadly weapon ever constructed by the Daleks was the Time Destructor. (DW: The Daleks' Master Plan)