Judge a drop in ten seconds
Weapon rooms are a timed decision, not a research project. The question that actually matters is not "is this weapon good?" — it is "does this weapon produce the events my build already pays off?" Run these four checks in order and you will be right far more often than a rarity comparison gets you.
- Element first. Does it build the Transmutation your relics and Tarot already reference? Switching element resets that progress, which is a real cost that never appears on the item card.
- Shot frequency second. Builds that trigger on firing, reloading, first shot, or last shot care about how often the event happens, not how big one number is.
- Effect third. Read what the weapon effect actually does. A weapon whose effect nothing in your run references is a statline with extra steps.
- Rarity last, if at all. A higher-rarity gun in the wrong element is usually a downgrade for a committed build.
If you want to test a combination before committing a run to it, the build planner scores element coherence and flags conflicts without inventing damage numbers.
Best weapon by Hunter
Two weapon anchors, with real numbers
The release includes 45 weapon families. Start with these two detailed anchors, then apply the same element, firing-rhythm, and effect checks to the rest.
| Weapon | Current data | Best fit | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physical. Five rounds, four shots per second, 10% base Critical Chance, Hemorrhage buildup 20. Higher-quality versions build their effects around the First Shot crit window. | Marcus extra shots and Jester crit windows; a reasonable default anchor for other Hunters. | Reload downtime. Fix uptime before over-investing in crit — crit on a gun that is not firing is worth nothing. | |
| Lightning. Five rounds, three shots per second, Disruption buildup 26. Pausing fire for roughly a second can turn the next shot into an empowered Lightning Beam. | Deliberate burst, crowd control, and cross-weapon experiments. | V1.0.462 changed Lightning and Disruption objects; V1.0.466 changed trigger limits and Transmutation items. Older guides may be wrong. | |
| Official patch notes confirm V1.0.462 added True Damage to it. Follow the current in-game tooltip for the complete effect text. | Listed here because the change is officially confirmed. | One patch line is not a build. Do not route a run around this until the complete effect is known. |
The Vintage Musket has a matched local icon. Lightning Gun and King Hunter's Bullet currently use labeled placeholders until their exact artwork is available.
A current weapon also carries the element that several Hunter skills read from. Replacing it can change more than raw damage — it can silently disconnect half a kit. This is the single most common way a promising run degrades without the player noticing.
Element commitment and Transmutation
Each element builds one Transmutation: Physical→Hemorrhage, Frost→Freeze, Lightning→Disruption, Acid→Corrosion, Fire→Ignition. This mapping is why "best weapon" is the wrong question in isolation. A Frost gun is excellent in a run whose relics and Tarot reference Freeze, and mediocre in a run that has been stacking Hemorrhage for three chapters.
The practical rule: pick an element early, then treat every later weapon offer as a question about whether it is worth abandoning that progress. Usually it is not. When the run genuinely refuses to offer your element, the honest fallback is reload speed, fire rate, and survival support rather than starting a second engine you will not have time to finish. The Long Tong Amber companion route is the clearest example of how expensive splitting elements gets.
Why there is no weapon tier list here
Two reasons, and both are worth knowing. First, weapon value is conditional on the build, so a ranked list is wrong for most readers most of the time. Second — and this is the part other sites do not mention — the game ships no damage-testing dummy. Players are actively asking the developers for one in the Steam discussions. That means nobody, including the sites publishing confident DPS tables, is measuring these weapons. Numbers presented as measured damage should be treated as invented until a source shows its method.
Why there is no weapon parts list either
The release includes 45 weapon parts. For any part whose full effect text or stacking rule is unclear, follow the current in-game tooltip before building around it. The reliable decision order is still event frequency, element fit, then the size of the bonus.
What is confirmed: buying parts in the shop previously had a bug where purchases could replace an existing part, and that has been fixed. If you are choosing between parts right now, apply the same order as weapons — does it increase event frequency, does it serve your element, and only then, is the number bigger.
Affix priorities by blueprint
| Blueprint | First priorities | Then add |
|---|---|---|
| Marcus Extra-Shot | Fire Rate, Reload Speed, extra projectiles or repeatable shot triggers | Bullet Attack, Critical Chance, Critical Damage, current element |
| Jester Crit Window | Critical Chance, Reload Speed, safe uptime | Critical Damage and Final Damage during the luck window |
| Jenny Bomb Loop | A stable weapon element and a gun worth keeping | Battle Skill Damage and dismantle support |
| Stella Starlight | Main-weapon consistency and Starlight uptime | Sub Weapon effects only when The Lovers makes them relevant |
Full routes for each: the Marcus Extra-Shot Crit starter route, Jenny's dismantle economy and bomb loop, and Stella's Starlight and Tarot route.
When a Sub Weapon is genuinely useful
The Lovers (Upright) can share eligible weapon effects and passive part effects from the Sub Weapon. The reversed face casts the Sub Weapon's battle skill when you use your own battle skill. This turns the backup slot into a build component instead of dead storage, and it is the reason the Sub Weapon is a real decision for Stella and close to noise for everyone else.
Without that connection, keep a Sub Weapon only when it covers a real weakness such as range, room clear, or a difficult boss phase. Do not spend upgrade resources on it.
Patch rule
V1.0.462 changed Disruption, Thunder Dragon's Inverse Scale, Thunder Dragon's Claw, and weapon-part shop replacement. V1.0.466 then changed trigger limits and several Transmutation items. Re-test any build whose damage loop depends on those systems. Updates have been shipping every few days, so a guide that does not name its patch is not telling you enough to act on.
Browse the data
Weapon names and summarized current effects are cross-checked against the Hunter Archive weapon database. Use it to inspect a specific drop, then return to this guide to decide whether it supports the build you are already making — or see how the source notes are assembled.