RimWorld – What Are the Best Weapons? (Tier Lists)

RimWorld is an incredibly hostile game that will do its best to destroy every last colonist you have. This is the main attraction that keeps bringing players back to this game.

However, there are a lot of weapons that your pawns can use to combat all the raiders, insects, and mechanoids. Some are better, while some can be a lot worse.

Recommended Read: How to Do Quests in RimWorld

The best weapons in RimWorld are, by far, guns. But there are a lot of different guns and some melee weapons that also hold their ground.

Here are all the best weapons (melee, ranged, and explosives) in RimWorld that you can use to keep your colony safe from constant attacks.

Table of Contents

Best Melee Weapons in RimWorld

To make everything easier, we have compiled a tier list of the best and worst melee weapons in RimWorld, to let you see the differences between them.

After that, you can find a detailed explanation for the best weapons in the game:

There are two types of damage that you can deal with melee weapons in RimWorld: Sharp and Blunt. Due to this, there are two melee weapons that can be considered the best in RimWorld, and each one is part of the other category.

Both of them are only available if you have Royalty DLC. However, we have also listed the second-best weapons, which are accessible to vanilla RimWorld, without the DLC.

You should also know that these weapons are persona weapons, which means that they bond with their user. Only one person may use a persona weapon, and only when they die can the owner change.

Due to this special requirement, persona weapons tend to be a lot more powerful than normal weapons. So, if you find a persona weapon with an owner, just kill the owner to start using it.

Also, be careful when selecting its user, as it will be for life. A persona weapon user also can’t use other weapons besides that one unless they have the Freewielder special trait.

Best Sharp Melee Weapon in RimWorld

The best sharp-damage melee weapon in RimWorld is the Persona Monosword. This magical sci-fi sword can cut through any kind of armor like its paper.

The persona monosword has a 90% armor penetration rate which makes it the best sharp melee weapon by far.

Besides that, the monosword doesn’t get any other interesting advantages, like some of the other advanced weapons. But, the armor penetration is more than enough to destroy enemies.

Unfortunately, the monosword cannot be crafted and can only be obtained from traders and quests.

Some might say that the plasmasword is the best melee weapon, but it has extremely low armor penetration in comparison, and the burning effect that it leaves on enemies can sometimes be detrimental.

The second-best sharp-damage melee weapon that players can use in vanilla RimWorld without the Royalty DLC is the Plasteel Longsword.

Best Blunt Melee Weapon in RimWorld

The best blunt melee weapon that players can use in RimWorld is the Persona Zeushammer. Many fans, including us, consider the zeushammer the best melee weapon overall in the game.

If you want to make sure that nobody gets past your pawns, then the persona zeushammer is the weapon of choice. This powerful hammer has an amazing ability that delivers an EMP attack every time it hits.

This is extremely useful when fighting mechs, turrets, and mortars, as they will be stunned for a few seconds each time the zeushammer-wielding colonist hits them.

However, this can also be disavantageous, as mechs get the “Adapted” immunity for around 35 seconds after being stunned once with an EMP. Since the stun time of the EMP of the zeushammer is 4.5 seconds, some might prefer the stun abilities of other EMP devices.

Nevertheless, the persona zeushammer still helps players strategize less and just admire their pawns as they destroy every enemy in sight.

The zeushammer also has around 40% armor penetration at normal levels, making it an amazing weapon overall for any situation.

One reason why the persona zeushammer can be considered better than the persona monosword is the use of blunt damage.

If, for example, a zeushammer destroys the toe of an enemy, they can also damage the leg in the same attack. This means that extra damage from an attack will transfer to a parent organ.

The monosword would just cut the toe cleanly off without doing damage to the rest of the leg. Due to this, the zeushammer should be considered the best melee weapon in RimWorld.

The other best blunt melee weapon in RimWorld, accessible to people without the Royalty DLC, is the uranium mace.

Best Ranged Weapons in RimWorld

In the following table, you can see the ranking of each ranged weapon in RimWorld, ranked in tier list format.

We consider that ranged weapons are far superior to melee weapons in RimWorld. This is only because ranged weapons increase the chance of survival by a lot.

Spending time far away from enemies helps you keep safe from their attacks. By approaching every enemy in every battle, you risk permanent injuries that can’t be fixed without new body parts.

Of course, there are armors that can combat that risk, but it will never be a risk-free method. Ranged weapons, however, will usually keep pawns safe from danger.

When it comes to ranged weapons, guns are the best by far. The greatbow is a decent weapon, but it will never compare to an assault rifle.

We will first tell you which guns are the best to use in RimWorld, and then we will also go over some of the best weapons for hunting.

Best Guns in RimWorld

There are two easy choices when it comes to guns in RimWorld:

• Assault rifle
• Charge rifle

Depending on the circumstances, all of the other modern guns are very good. However, the AR and charge rifle are the most versatile out of the bunch.

When it comes to battles out in the open and offensive attacks, the assault rifle is the best choice in RimWorld. It has really good accuracy for all ranges, and it deals really good damage.

It also shoots relatively fast compared to most guns, and it shoots three bullets per attack. The reason why this weapon is the best ranged weapon in RimWorld is its versatility.

Not many guns can be good in every situation. The AR is good in close quarters against infestations, good in the open, and great during offensive attacks.

However, the reason why the charge rifle is also present here is due to its higher DPS. The charge rifle is the best ranged weapon when it comes to pure damage and armor penetration.

But, one problem that doesn’t make the charge rifle the best overall ranged weapon is its lower accuracy and range. Since the charge rifle is also more expensive to make, you will usually have a higher chance of getting masterwork ARs rather than charge rifles.

Depending on how you use these guns, either one is a really good choice long term. For killboxes, for example, the charge rifle is the best choice. Since you will position your pawns in the perfect locations, they will deal a lot of damage with a low chance of missing, making the higher DPS weapon a better choice.

Best Gun for Bad Shooters

The AR and charge rifle will help your better shooters defeat almost any enemy, but what about bad shooters? There will be a lot of pawns that will still need to carry a weapon even though they can’t hit for their life.

For these sad colonists, you will need the Heavy SMG. The heavy SMG has incredibly high accuracy in close quarters, and it also shoots often.

It also has some of the best damage at close range, making it the ideal weapon for weaker shooters that need to stay alive and be helpful.

They can also be useful in defense, as they can help hold the line when enemies such as insects or mechs get closer.

In close quarters, the heavy SMG will deal even more damage than both the assault and charge rifles, making it perfect for backup shooters.

Best Hunting Weapon in RimWorld

The best hunting weapon in RimWorld has to be the Sniper Rifle. With the longest range in the game, the sniper rifle will allow your pawns to easily hunt any wildlife on the map while avoiding combat.

Since pawns start shooting at the edge of their shooting range when hunting, the weapon with the best long-range accuracy makes this job a breeze.

It is also the best weapon to increase the Shooting skill of a pawn, allowing you to also make the colonist a better shooter by sending them hunting.

However, if you also want your shooter to get their kill faster, then the bolt-action rifle would also be an amazing choice. If you need the meat to survive, it would be best to go with this weapon.

It has a really good range faster shooting time, and it is relatively easy to make at any point in the game. Since you will also get a lot of them from raiders during the early to mid-game, you can start using them very early for all your hunters.

Best Explosives in RimWorld

There are only two explosive weapons that you will probably use all the time in RimWorld:

• EMP grenades
• EMP launcher

Though you might think that these are situational weapons and are only useful sometimes, they become mandatory in the late game.

The worst enemies you will face in RimWorld are the mechanoids. With the Biotech DLC, they also got a lot of upgrades that made them even better.

Also, powerful humanoid raiders in the late game will also have belt shields that will make them immune to your powerful attacks.

With the help of those two EMP weapons, you can render both of these problems useless and take care of them as you would with any normal attack.

The reason why EMP grenades and the launcher are equally important is their range and explosion area. The grenades have a short range but a larger explosion area.

This is why the EMP grenades will still be useful even after getting your hands on a launcher since they can be very useful when enemies get really close to melee combat.

That’s everything you need to know about the best weapons in RimWorld!

Have any input or suggestions for this guide? Let us know in the comment section below.