Starfield: Best Weapons For Each Type

During your exploration in Starfield, you'll notice a lot of different weapon types scattered around in the world. But which weapon from each type is the best? This overview will help you pick the best one suited to your playstyle!

Starfield Best Weapons For Each Type
Starfield: In this overview, you'll find the best weapons for each type! | © Bethesda/EarlyGame

In Starfield's various universes, you can discover more than 50 different weapons, including rifles, pistols, throwables, and laser guns. But which ones are the top choices, and what makes them stand out?

In this guide, we provide a thorough overview to help you find the best non-legendary weapons and where to locate them!

Starfield: Best Weapons

Most of the weapons you'll find in Starfield, can either be looted from an enemy or be purchased at a local vendor. If there are any other conditions that need to be met, we will pinpoint it directly at each section!

The following vendor offer some of the listed weapons and other unique weapons for 20,000 credits and more.

  • Rowland Arms (Akila City)
  • Laredo Firearms (Akila City)
  • Neon Tactical (Neon)
  • Aludra (The Key)
  • Zuri (The Key)
This guide is work in progress. If we happen to discover more merchants who're selling some of the listed weapons, we will update this article!

Melee Weapons

Starfield Melee Weapon
Starfield: Two best meele weapon types. | © Bethesda/EarlyGame

Name

DescriptionPerks
Wakizashi
  • This classic katana always find its way to an RPG game and is always a reliable choice.
  • With a weight from 1.35 and a damage output of 49 you won't have any problems
  • You'll get it from the vendor "Rowland Arms".
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Va'Ruun Painblade
  • This weapon is almost light as a feather but still brutal during close-combat action
  • With a weight of only 1.80 and a damage output of 62 at its normal stage
  • You'll get this weapon from the House of Va'Ruuns own vendor.
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Pistols

Starfield Pistols
Starfield: Starfield: Two best pistols in the game. | © Bethesda/EarlyGame

Name

DescriptionPerks
Elegance
  • It is a unique pistol designed for mid-range combat.
  • Thanks to the scope the accuracy is very high making it a versatile choice for various situations.
  • The Elegance has an overall damage output in its normal state of 66
  • Can be upgraded with seven weapon mods
Shattering: Break through even the strongest armor.
Regulator
  • It's a regular pistol with a moderate Fire Rate and Accuracy.
  • It's either suitable for short and mid-range scenarios.
  • The Regulator has an overall damage output in its calibrated state of 74
  • Can be upgraded with seven weapon mods
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Honorable mention belongs to the unique weapon "Keelhauer" with up to three possible perks:

  • Staggering – Small chance to stagger enemies
  • Berserker – Does more damage the less armor one has.
  • Frenzy – Small chance to frenzy a target

Rifles

Starfield Rifle Weapons
Starfield: Two of the best rifles. | © Bethesda/EarlyGame

Name

DescriptionPerks
Magpulse
  • It is a regular rifle designed for mid-range combat. It has a decent Fire Rate and Accuracy, making it a versatile choice for various situations.
  • Magpulse has an overall damage output in its normal state of 97 and can be upgraded with five weapon mods
/
Beowulf
  • It is a regular rifle suitable for medium range.
  • Combining the moderate Fire Rate, Accuracy and the decent Range, ensures a consistent performance.
  • The Beowulf has an overall damage output in its calibrated state of 74
  • Can be upgraded with eight weapon mods
/

Honorable mention belongs to the "Maelstorm" with up to four possible perks:

  • Berserker – Does more damage the less armor one has.
  • Exterminator – +30% damage against aliens.
  • Radioactive – Randomly deals radioactive damage and demoralizes the target.
  • Elemental – Randomly deals Corrosive, Radiation, Poison, and Incendiary damage.

Shotguns

Starfield Shotguns
Starfield: Two of the best devastationg shotguns in the game. | © Bethesda/EarlyGame

Name

DescriptionPerks
Pacifier
  • Is a regular shotgun
  • Designed for close-range engagements
  • The low Fire Rate and Accuracy are compensated by the decent Range
  • The Pacifier has an overall damage output in its calibrated state of 126
  • Can be upgraded with six weapons mods
/
Breach
  • Is a regular shotgun
  • Designed for short-range encounters
  • Has a moderate Accuracy, making it efficient in close quarters
  • The Breach has an overall damage output in its calibrated state of 200
  • Can be upgraded with eight weapons mods
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Honorable mention belongs to the "Boom Boom" with up to one possible perk:

  • Explosive – Randomly switches to explosive rounds.

Laser Pistols/Rifles

Starfield Laser Weapons
Starfield: Two of the best laser weapon in the game. | © Bethesda/EarlyGame

Name

DescriptionPerks
Short Circuit (Pistol)
  • It is a unique laser pistol designed for mid-range combat.
  • Thanks to the moderate Fire Rate and the very high Accuracy, it's a reliable choice for different confrontations.
  • The Short Circuit has an overall damage output in its normal state of 44
  • Can be upgraded with seven weapons mods

Disassembler: +20% damage against robots.

Orion (Rifle)
  • It's a unique laser rifle suitable for mid to long-range engagements
  • With a moderate Fire Rate and very high Accuracy, the weapons ensure precise shots from a distance.
  • The Orion has an overall damage output in its refined state of 60
  • Can be upgraded with seven weapons mods

Coming Soon

Heavy Weapons

Starfield Heavy Weapons
Starfield: Two of the best heavy weapons with pure raw strength. | © Bethesda/EarlyGame

Name

DescriptionPerks
Cutter
  • Is a regular heavy weapon designed for short-range combat.
  • The weapon is accompanied by a devastating firepower.
  • The Cutter has an overall energy damage output in its calibrated state of 4
  • Can't be upgraded with any mods
/
N67 Smartgun
  • It's a unique heavy weapon
  • With a very high Fire Rate and a low Accuracy. The raw strength overshadows every downside
  • The N67 Smartgun has an overall damage output in its normal state of 14
  • Can be upgraded with six weapon mods
Shattering: Break through even the strongest armor.

Honorable mention belongs to the "Heller's Cutter" with up to one possible perk:

  • Dissambler – +20% damage against robots.

Particle Beam Pistols/Shotguns

Starfield Particle Weapons
Starfield: Two of the best particle beam weapons. | © Bethesda/EarlyGame

Name

DescriptionPerks
Va'ruun Starshard (Pistol)
  • It is a regular partical beam pistol designed for mid-range combat.
  • Offering a good accuracy and a 12-round magazine
  • The Va'ruun Starshard has an overall damage output in its normal state of 26 and energy damage output of 80
  • Can be upgraded with seven weapons mods
/
Big Bang (Shotgun)
  • It's a unique particale beam shotgun
  • Designed for long-range engagements with devastating strength with it high Range while having a low Fire Rate and Accuracy
  • The Big Bang has an overall damage output in its normal state of 32 and an energy damage output from 94
  • Can be upgraded with seven weapons mods
Coming Soon

Honorable mention belongs to the "The Spacer" with up to one possible perk:

  • Space-Adept – +30% damage while in space, and -15% damage while on a planet

Electromagnetic Rifles

Starfield Electromagnetic
Starfield: There is only a single electromagnetic rifle in the whole game! | © Bethesda/EarlyGame

Name

DescriptionPerks
Novablast Disruptor
  • Is the only electromagnetic rifle in the game
  • The rifle is designed for mid-range encounters with the overall moderate stats
  • The Novablast Disruptor has an overall electromagnetic damage output in its normal state of 105
  • Can be upgraded with five weapons mods
/

Throwables

Starfield Throwable
Starfield: Two of the best Throwables in the game. | © Bethesda/EarlyGame

Name

DescriptionPerks
Stun Mine
  • Is an electromagnetic mine that emits a powerful pulse, temporarily disabling electronic devises and stunning nearby targets
/
Tesla Pylon
  • Is a mine that generates electrical discharges, zapping and damaging any enemies within its radius with energy-based attacks
/

That's all of them! Now you have the power and knowledge to venture forth into the unknown and have a great time hunting the weapons down and put them to good use!

Ewelyn Derc

Ewelyn is a Content Creator at EarlyGame. She's mainly interested in everything that comes from Japan and has to do with JRPGs. But also Souls-like, Indies, Shooter, Rogue-likes, Otome, Visual Novel and more are in her field of expertise....