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There are dozens of weapons to chase inThe First Descendant, each with a unique set of base stats and characteristics. Finding a gun that suits your playstyle can be tricky, let alone a weapon that can be considered a meta option.
To help you decide which weapons are worth investing your hard-earned resources in, we’ve created a tier list that ranks every Rare and Ultimate weapon in the game. We used a mix of DPS calculations and in-game testing to separate the wheat from the chaff. But before we get into the rankings, let’s first go over how we went about ranking most of the weapons in The First Descendant.
Updated July 03, 2025, by Charles Burgar:Patch 1.0.5 brought with it some large balance changes to a few Ultimate weapons, notably Nazeistra’s Devotion and Greg’s Reversed Fate. We’ve updated this list to account for these balance changes, and we’ve reranked every shotgun since their in-game effectiveness is significantly weaker than their paper DPS suggests. Peace Maker has also been added to the tier list.
Tier List Rankings
For this tier list,we’ve chosen to use a combination of mathematical analysis and theorycraft to determine which guns are the best.We used acommunity spreadsheet(Credit toRyechews Gamesand Deckards for creating the spreadsheet) that pulls weapon information from the API to compare weapon DPS values.
However, raw spreadsheet data doesn’t consider the effects of certain Ultimate perks (such as Wave of Light or Smithereens). To make the tier list as fair as possible,we’re ranking Ultimate and Rare weapons in separate tables.Ultimate rankings consider the gun’s overall DPS, utility, and perk effects. Rare weapons focus on DPS and base stats unless otherwise noted.
No Standard (blue rarity) weapons are on this tier list. Higher-rarity weapons are objectively better in almost all circumstances.
With the preamble out of the way, here’s what each tier represents:
Viper
S-Tier Weapons
Most of these rankings should come as no surprise.The monstrous Tamer, Thunder Cage, Afterglow Sword, and Enduring Legacy are all in this category. There are also a few Rares in this tier that have such amazing base stats that they deserve a mention (notably Eternal Willpower).
Best in slot for add clear. Great single-target DPS.
Features high critical stats, weakpoint damage, and base damage.
Kills cause targets to explode, clearing entire groups of enemies with a single kill.
Enduring Legacy
Machine Gun
Effectively a better Tamer. Trades damage per shot for high critical stats.
Features high base damage and critical stats.
Igniting targets increases status chance, ATK rating, and strips enemy fire resistance. Use a fire affix to proc this consistently.
Highest DPS potential out of all weapons.
Features high base damage and moderate critical stats.
Damaging a target has a chance of spawning an orbital bombardment. This has no cooldown, so you can spawn dozens of bombardments on the same target.
Afterglow Sword
Sniper Rifle
Best in slot for sustained DPS. Guaranteed critical hits with investment.
Features high critical stats and weakpoint damage.
Weakpoint damage increases the gun’s critical chance, reload speed, and weakpoint damage.
Python
Submachine Gun
Highest single-target DPS for a general ammo weapon, tied with Tamer.
Features best-in-class weakpoint damage and high fire rate.
Features amazing critical stats and weakpoint damage.
Tamer
Highest single-target DPS for a Rare weapon. Only outclassed by Enduring Legacy and Python.
Features abnormally high base damage and fire rate.
Eternal Willpower
Assault Rifle
Great general use weapon. Has abnormally high base stats for an assault rifle.
Features best-in-class base damage (61% higher than the next-best AR), excellent critical stats, and an above-average fire rate.
Hand Cannon
A powerful Hand Cannon with investment. High single-target DPS.
Features excellent critical stats and high weakpoint damage, just behind Perforator.
Belief
Acts as a good stopgap before you get Afterglow Sword and Piercing Light.
Features high critical chance, weakpoint damage, and fire rate.
Vestigial Organ
Launcher
Incredibly powerful when paired with Gley. Infinite ammo rocket launcher with high fire rate.
Features best-in-class fire rate.
A-Tier Weapons
Weapons in this category are excellent workhorse weapons for general play.Wave of Lightmakes the cut due to its Ultimate perk. Wave of Light’s perk grantsadditivecritical chance. It is unaffected by modules (which is likely a bug), but this gives Wave of Light some excellent burst DPS after you reload.Blue Beetlehas slightly lower DPS, but its status cleanse can be useful for Tech Descendants.
Secret Garden
Tactical Rifle
It’s a strong DPS option and a fantastic stat stick for Dimension and Tech characters.
Features best-in-class critical stats.
Casting a dimensional skill has a chance to restore custom resources (Gley’s Power of Life, Kyle’s magnetic force, etc.).
Casting a tech skill increases your Skill Power and ATK rating.
Piercing Light
Highest single shot damage in the game.Excellent pairing with Gley’s Massacre.
Features best-in-class base damage and high critical stats.
Features high critical stats, weakpoint damage, and fire rate.
Great sustained DPS with investment.
Features high critical stats and fire rate.
Casting a fusion skill grants up to +30% skill critical chance (multiplicative, same as modules).
Excellent backup DPS weapon for bosses.
Features best-in-class weakpoint damage and high critical stats.
Weakpoint damage has a chance to deal additional damage to shields.
Features high critical stats and base damage.
Features high base damage and weak point damage.
Features high fire rate and weak point damage.
Great stat stick for weapon abilities, notably Gley’s Massacre.
Features the highest fire rate out of all weapons (999 RPM).
B-Tier Weapons
We’re starting to reach the weaker parts of this game’s arsenal, but there are some gems here worth considering.Fallen Hopeis a poison variant of Thunder Cageif you don’t mind playing Freyna, andGuardian R4is a great rocket launcher if you don’t like using Vestigial Organ. If it doesn’t have a niche, B-tier weapons deal average DPS.
Best-in-slot for Freyna; otherwise, outclassed by Thunder Cage.
Features best-in-class critical damage and moderate critical chance.
Killing a poisoned enemy causes them to explode, spreading poison to nearby targets.
Strong option for Void Intercept battles.
Features high critical stats.
Shots stick to enemies while ADS. Once you stop aiming, all projectiles explode for bonus damage.
Missiles track targets and inflict a burn DoT effect.
Guardian R4
This is a strong option for hotswap DPS. For optimal results, give it some form of infinite ammo or a reload-on-roll module.
Features best-in-class critical stats and base damage.
Features high critical stats and moderate base damage.
Slightly above-average damage and magazine size.
Features above-average critical stats and a large magazine.
Average launcher for leveling.
C-Tier Weapons
These weapons generally aren’t worth using.Divine Punishmentmight be a surprise to some, but this gun’s Unique perk is so undertuned that it’s hardly noticeable. At max stacks, you’re looking at a measly 15% DEF buff, 4% cooldown reduction, and a laughable 2% ATK rating buff. The gun itself is average, but the perk isn’t nearly as good as many believe.
This is also where you’ll start seeingtactical riflesandhandguns.Both weapons categories are near the bottom of the DPS charts due to their subpar fire rate.
Divine Punishment
An average assault rifle with a weak perk. The Ultimate perk benefits are far too weak (4% CDR, 15% DEF, and 2% ATK).
Features average stats in all categories.
Giving buffs increases your DEF. Restoring ally resources grants CDR. Inflicting debuffs grants ATK.
Peace Maker
A strong hand cannon on paper, but it’s held back with a cumbersome mechanic and anti-synergy design.
Features best-in-class critical stats, but worst-in-class weakpoint damage and base damage.
Casting a Dimensional Skill increases Non-Attribute Skill Power. At x5 stacks, the gun unloads its entire magazine with each trigger pull, doing so at 545 RPM. Lasts 15s.
The perk doesnotwork with Gley’s third ability or the Payout module; the effect ends prematurely. We aren’t sure if this is a bug or intended.
An average handgun with an inconsistent perk.
Features average stats.
Reloading the weapon grants a random buff. If you get the same buff, the effect stacks. Max x3 stacks.
An average handgun with a weak perk.
Kills grant stacks of Patience. At x5 stacks, your next shot inflicts Stun. Stacks reset.
Most consistent Rare shotgun, but it’s still a shotgun.
Poor DPS for a machine gun.
D-Tier Weapons
Weapons in this tier aren’t salvageable. Most of this category consists ofshotguns,tactical riflesandbeam rifles, three of the worst weapon archetypes in the game. Their DPS potential is far lower than every other weapon category in the game, even with a min-maxed build. Shotguns looks strong on paper, but their damage falloff and inaccuracy are so extreme that they’re simply not viable.
As for Ultimate weapons, most of these guns don’t deal much damage and have awful perks.Clairvoyancesounds strong on paper, but the cold resistance hardly does anything in practice.King’s Guard Lancecould be useful if it gets a buff, but as of now, it’s not worth using.
Smithereens
Shotgun
Highest burst DPS shotgun in the game, but it’s still a shotgun. Extreme damage falloff and poor critical damage limit the gun’s practical DPS.
Features high base damage and fire rate.
High DPS for a shotgun, but it’s still a shotgun.
Landing all pellets grants increased accuracy and critical chance. Stacks x5 times.
At max stacks, fire an accurate shot with high electric damage. Stacks reset.
Clairvoyance
Beam Rifle
Clairvoyance’s utility is situational and seldom useful. Poor DPS and lackluster utility.
Features above-average stats in most categories.
This weapon strips enemy chill resistance. At max charge, the gun slows targets.
King’s Guard Lance
One of the lowest DPS weapons in the game with a weak perk.
Features poor DPS.
This weapon fires a tesla coil that damages nearby targets. Shooting the tesla coil empowers it with 6% of your weapon damage. Lasts 3s.
A subpar machine gun with a useless perk.
Features poor critical stats.
Gain 25% ATK upon hitting a stunned enemy. Critical hits inflict stun.
Has the worst DPS out of any weapon in The First Descendant.
