Best weapons in Starfield and how to find them
With extra alternatives and additional tips on what makes a weapon strong.
Knowing the best Starfield weapon for you can come in handy no matter whether you're venturing out into the unknown or forging your own sci-fi persona.
Whether it's a new firearm or melee option, finding the right tool for a job may take some loadout or build configuration in Starfield.
With so many alternate variants, and a whole host of mods for additional stats and bonuses, there's a lot to choose from, and in this guide, we'll be going over some of the best weapons in Starfield, as well as how to get them, as well as some additional tips on how to identify the best weapons, and what you should look out for to compliment a build.
On this page:
How to identify the best weapons in Starfield
Weapons in Starfield aren't entirely determined by core stats and there are many other elements that affect their overall output and effectiveness, including weapon tiers, rarity, perks, and modifications.
Weapon tiers or quality reference the outgoing damage of a weapon, and this is showcased by the differing prefixes in a weapon's name, though this doesn't apply to unique variants of a weapon. If a weapon has 'Calibrated' in the name, it'll have a higher damage output than the same weapon's base variant, and there are higher tiers of both 'Refined' and 'Advanced' that you'll find throughout the game as you increase your level and fight more enemies.
Beyond that, weapons may also have a rarity attached to them across Rare (Blue), Epic (Purple), and Legendary (Gold), and this determines the number of perks a weapon comes with - these are separate from modifications and are entirely randomised when a weapon drops.
Weapons can also be manually customised with modifications that allow you to further tailor the weapon to your playstyle, equipping sights and scopes, larger magazine sizes, alternate ammunition and more. Each of these are adjustments you can make with the right resources, but they can also be pre-installed on weapons you find in the world too. You are free to swap out and remove these mods as you see fit.
Additionally, depending on the style of weapon, it'll also have its own damage type across between Physical (standard ballistic-based firearms), Electromagnetic, and Energy. Some weapons will even have two, such as the Novalight that deals both Physical and Energy damage, shown in the image below.
All of these elements combined will help you determine what makes a weapon strong as you progress further into the game, and paired with whatever skills you spec into and gear you equip, many weapon choices will compliment your playstyle or open up another one entirely.
As a final note on this, it's worth pointing out that everyone who plays Starfield will find different gear and perk combos as you play, so we'd recommend making sure to try out everything that looks interesting to you since you never quite know what you might find, or how a weapon might play.
Top best weapons in Starfield and how to find them
Identifying what makes a weapon good can be done through a variety of means, whether its particular suitability to your own personal playstyle, a custom modification setup or unique variant, or just by looking at the rarity and the bonus perks a weapon comes loaded with.
Each of the weapons in the game have different drop sources. Some come from bosses like pirate captains and leaders of the various factions you'll come up against – usually found at the end of dungeons you’ll encounter through quests and exploration, as well as in randomly occurring space battles – whilst others are from quest rewards, or simply found within the world, inside of chests or sold from vendors. That last one in particular is one you'll want to keep investigating since vendors update over time as you play, likely connected to your level or story progress.
Whilst a couple of the weapons we’re recommending are specific variants of guns, if it’s the case you don’t have access to that particular drop, there’ll be a standard version of the weapon you can find elsewhere in the world.
From what we’ve played, here are some of the best weapons we recommend, with more information further down on where to find them, what makes each weapon strong, additional tips on the weapon systems of Starfield, as well as several alternatives and perk-builds to consider:
Best weapons in Starfield and where to find them
There are various different weapon types in Starfield across between firearms and melee, and whilst builds and loadouts are still being formulated, there are a few standout options we’ve found during our playtime.
It is worth keeping in mind that, depending on your playstyle, the enemies you’re fighting, and the environments you’re fighting in – such as Zero-Gravity, or on the ground – you might find alternate options that work better for you.
Additionally, even though some weapons share the same ammunition, there are additional modifications that adjust the functionality of a weapon – for example, making it fully or semi-automatic – and we’ve included extra recommendations of early game weapons to help when starting out.
Below you can read about the best weapons across various weapon types along with where to find them, what perks and playstyles they can be great for, as well as some further alternatives as you head on your way to acquiring these powerful tools of destruction.
Sir Livingstone’s Pistol | Pistol
Modelled around the M1911 handgun that continues to pop up in many shooters, Sir Livingstone's Pistol is a weapon you'll only be able to acquire if you picked the 'Kid Stuff' trait when creating your character, and is given to you by receiving a present from your parents in-game.
This pistol is one of the best in the game thanks to its high rate of fire and damage. This model also comes with the Large Magazine and High Velocity mods, boosting the number of rounds you can fire before reloading and increasing range respectively.
In the case that you don't have that trait or want something very similar until you unlock it, all is not lost, for you are also able to find the same pistol - functionally at least - elsewhere in the game.
I'd expect there are plenty of drop sources for this, and perhaps a vendor offering it somewhere too, but personally, I looted it from a Spacer I took down during the Groundpounder side quest, and it even came with the 'Extended Magazine' perk, giving it a higher mag size than the Sir Livingstone's Pistol. Whilst I didn't find it with much ammo, I still got to experience the strength of this handgun with the same damage output too.
Speaking of the Groundpounder quest...
Peacekeeper | Rifle
The Peacekeeper is a unique Rare Rifle in Starfield, coming pre-built with a variety of mods and the Extended Magazine perk. It's given as a reward for completing the Groundpounder quest.
In the early hours of Starfield, you'll likely come across various weapons with a few of the rifle class, some of which will be semi-auto, others full-auto. Personally, I had found more semi-auto rifles, but the Peacekeeper is full-auto, making it a much more enticing weapon to use for my personal playstyle.
Since it's a unique weapon, its effectiveness is higher than most other weapons you'll find, boasting higher damage, the 'Extended Magazine' perk that doubles its magazine capacity, and a set of mods that further enhance the weapon - the Long Barrel increases the weapon's range, accuracy, and recoil control albeit lowering ADS (Aim Down Sights) speed. When aiming, you'll notice the weapon comes with a Reflex Sight, giving a clearer view of targets, and with the Laser Sight and Ergonomic Stock together, the weapon features even greater accuracy.
If any of these modifications aren't to your liking, or you'd like to adjust other aspects of the weapon, you'll also be able to take it to a weapon workbench and tinker about with it further, opening up more possibilities such as semi-automatic firing, high-powered rounds, muzzle options, and more.
Kraken | Full-Auto Pistol
This pistol - specifically the 'Shattering Calibrated' variant - is one I found relatively early on in the game and at a pretty low level, in a dungeon on planet Maheo I in the Maheo system. There I was investigating Sonny Di Falco’s apartment, one of the pre-existing landing spots, and it was in here the weapon dropped. This weapon I looted after taking down the Pirate Brigand in the area, but I'd imagine it's generally a weapon/perk roll that can be found elsewhere.
Whilst this was a gun I found at a pretty low level, as with all the guns in Starfield, you’ll be able to find other variants of it with a higher damage output and these perks elsewhere in the game from similar drop sources – the 'Calibrated' subtitle indicates its increased potency over the base version of the gun, but other versions can drop with different prefixes representing a higher item quality, and thus an even greater damage potential.
This Shattering Calibrated variant in particular stood out to me in the early hours with its Legendary rarity, granting it three perks, one of which is the standout Radioactive perk, applying radioactive damage to enemies randomly, demoralising them in the process, causing them to run away. Paired with the Shattering perk and the gun’s high rate of fire, it’ll tear through enemy armour, though you might want to make sure you’re stocked up on ammo since it tends to go through what you have pretty quickly!
How it - or any higher tier version - holds up against all the other weapons is difficult to say with so many options still being discovered, but if you happen to find this in your early hours, it or the perks on it are worth taking for a spin!
Beowulf | Rifle
There are plenty of rifles to try and test in Starfield, many of which have different functionality as mentioned earlier in reference to the Peacekeeper, a more LMG-style rifle thanks to its larger magazine size of 50. Another option that's worth checking out in the more standard issue rifle space however, is the Beowulf, another fully-automatic rifle that can roll with various perks and modifications.
This is a strong alternative you might want to look out for, and might be one you find yourself ready with a lot of ammo for too, since it uses the same 7.77mm rounds as the Grendel, a weapon that's classed as a rifle, but can play much more like an SMG especially with the Rapid perk that increases its fire rate by 25 percent. The Beowulf by comparison has greater range and a lower rate of fire, making it much more suitable and accurate for mid-to-long range engagements.
That said, whilst all weapons can largely be customised and equipped with a variety of perks and mods, you might find it's best to configure a weapon based around its base stats - to fine-tune it to serve a particular purpose in your build. As for the Beowulf, treating it like your standard assault rifle is likely the best play, though again, definitely don't shy away from experimentation with mods or alternate versions you find.
Experiment A-7 | Shotgun
The most popular and sought after option in Starfield right now when it comes to the more up-close-and-personal weaponry, is the Experiment A-7 shotgun, which can be acquired by persuading character Ethan during the main quest 'Entangled'. However, it is a missable reward, so be sure to save your game ahead of time if you want to re-load and have another shot at it.
However, whilst the Experiment A-7 is the popular choice in this quest, what with it being missable, it'd be good to have another option, and indeed there are many, not just of shotguns in general, but also similar variants to the Experiment A-7.
Outside of a legendary version of the Old Earth Shotgun I found early on that dealt bonus damage against aliens, and had stagger and demoralising potential against all enemies, I've found there to be a number of options, with many more opening up the more I played.
One of which that looks to be a good pick especially if you're hunting for the Experiment A-7, is the Rapidshot. This was up for grabs at the UC Distribution Centre in New Atlantis - it's of Rare quality, pre-loaded with a bunch of mods, making it a good place to start, especially if you're unable to get the Experiment A-7 from the main quest. From my experience though, these weapons seem to update over time, the more you play the story and/or level up.
To delve a little bit deeper into it, the Rapidshot has largely similar stats to the Experiment A-7, but comes with the Rapid perk that increases its fire rate by 25 percent. This is instead of the Experiment's Exterminator perk that increases its damage against aliens by 30 percent. This obviously means it won't be as effective against aliens, especially what with the Experiment A-7 also comes modded with Flechette Rounds, giving the weapon a further base damage boost - though of course, you'd be free to mod this onto the Rapidshot along with its other modifications too, so besides the bonus alien damage, you'd still be looking at a similar damage output against non-alien enemies. They are also both fully automatic, giving you option to spray and pray!
Melee
Melee weapons can be difficult to recommend since they all largely serve a similar function, and don't have many variables that define a playstyle, at least outside of attack damage and perks.
Often it'll just be personal preference that determines which melee weapon you find is the best, and as you progress, you'll be more likely to find better options, such as the Va'ruun Painblade, a melee weapon with some of the highest damage output, one that has been circulating as a rather strong choice. This can be found in various parts of the game, either purchased from vendors or looted in the world or from enemies.
You'll no doubt encounter various melee weapons right from the start of the game, including knives, axes, and even cutlasses. These can roll with perks, but the general understanding as of right now is that these cannot be found in Calibrated, Refined, or Advanced tiers.
As such, when you find one of these weapons, it's best to keep an eye on its damage number and rarity, as well as its perks to see if it's something you find suits your playstyle.
You may also want to invest into the Dueling Skill, which increases your melee weapon damage, grants damage resistance whilst wielding one, increases movement speed, and grants health back when maxed out. Other perks and skills will no doubt boost this, such as the ones I found on this Legendary Rescue Axe.
This Titanium Rescue Axe has a couple of perks working in tandem, Berserker, and Corrosive. The former deals more damage to enemies the less armour they have, and the latter randomly deals corrosive damage which reduces the target's armour over the course of six seconds. This means that as you're attacking an enemy, when the Corrosive perk activates, thanks to Berserker, you're actively granted higher amounts of damage.
As a bonus to make it easier to keep this weapon close by at all times, thanks to the Titanium Build perk, its overall weight is reduced to a quite frankly ridiculous 0.07!
Heller's Cutter | Heavy
When starting Starfield, you'll very quickly be given a heavy weapon and pistol, the former of which is the 'Cutter', a tool intended purely for mining, with unlimited ammo, firing on a cooldown system.
After the initial introductory segments and you meet back up with Heller again, you'll be able to head back to Vectera where you started the game, enter the building on the right, and find a Rare 'Heller's Cutter' variant of this tool.
This tool isn't necessarily anything to write home about in terms of its stats since they are the same as your base version of the Cutter you started with, but it does come with the 'Disassembler' perk that increases damage against robots by 20 percent, and with unlimited ammo, it's not a bad tool to have with you, not just for mining resources, but also as a backup against enemies, especially robots.
Of course, if you're looking for something more offensive, there are more traditional firearms out there you can find, such as the Energy-beam-firing Arc Welder, or ballistic-based Microgun that has 300 rounds per mag, and deals Physical damage rather than Energy - another consideration worth keeping in mind when picking the best tool for a job.
For those of you into blowing stuff up though, you may be interested in the Ashta Tamer, a explosive-launching grenade launcher that can be found with various perks - I found one with the Incendiary perk, randomly dealing incendiary damage to enemies on hit. Whilst I've been largely conserving ammo for it right now, having a weapon that can deal a higher amount of damage in a wider area is certainly handy, and has already been useful for flushing close groups of enemies and more.
As a bonus, you can modify how the weapon functions with battery/magazine mods. For example, you can swap out the standard explosive rounds for Tesla Pylons, which can be placed to arc electricity between them, good for defences or from catching enemies in a trap. Alternatively, you can choose to opt for Hornet Nest, whereby the explosive rounds will explode downwards into a cluster of smaller explosions - an effect I am personally very intrigued to try out!
Additional tips and hints on how to compliment your playstyle
As mentioned earlier, there are several ways in which Starfield’s weapons may be more applicable or suitable to your playstyle – that is to say, just because a weapon may have higher damage, has more perks, or be recommended in a guide online, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s definitively one that’ll perfectly fit your playstyle or build.
It’s definitely worth experimenting, trying out different perks and making choices that complement your playstyle and synergise with your selected skills and gear. For example, if taking a stealthy approach, that’s going to require a more specialised approach to effectively complement the associated playstyle and Skills.
As such, we’d recommend trying out any and all the weapons that seem appealing to you, and make sure to invest into the weapon modding and upgrade systems – it’s here you’ll be able to fine-tune your favourite guns, increase their damage, adjust their functionality, increase mag sizes and more, and may further help you fit a particular weapon into your playstyle.
As I've found, whilst there's a couple of early game recommendations I've thrown in here, they're admittedly at risk of being outclassed of other weapons later thanks to the escalating weapon tiers and qualities coupled with the skills and gear I'm equipping and upgrading. It's always worth experimenting and seeing what works for you.
It’s also good to keep in mind that Bethesda has promised further updates for Starfield, including mod support coming early 2024, and an upcoming expansion, all of which have the potential to adjust which weapons are best, as well as introduce new firearms and tools that adjust the listing over time.
Even in the here and now, you should remember that with the game already being large, you might spent a lot of time exploring even before fully completing or making much progress in the main quest, whilst on the other hand, a weapon may even be inaccessible to you due to choices, such as Sir Livingstone’s Pistol, for example.
As such, take this guide as a recommended list, but not a definitive one that’ll define your playstyle in particular – but it’s got some good pointers if you’re on the hunt for some more specialised and unique weapons.
For more in the way of guides, we’ve got plenty on Starfield including a comprehensive walkthrough, various tips and tricks, as well as how you can find all Starfield's companions and crew members.