What are the best Starfield weapons? Sure, space is pretty cool, but it’s also pretty dangerous. While you can use your ship’s turrets in interstellar combat to (hopefully) avoid being turned into space debris, you need the best weapons on your person when coming face-to-face with a towering alien beast.
You’re going to need a vast arsenal of sci-fi weapons and Starfield guns to survive your journey through the stars, coming up against enemies like the Starfield Crimson Fleet pirates and various Starfield creatures. From modified shotguns and modern swords to futuristic laser weapons and electromagnetic blasters, we used many of these weapons during our playtime for our Starfield review – here are just some of the best Starfield weapons with which to equip you and your Starfield ship.
The best Starfield weapons
Here are the best Starfield guns:
- Va’Ruun Inflictor
- Advanced Regulator
- Deadeye
- Fiscal Quarter
- Microgun
- Lawgiver
- Shotty
- Tanto
Naturally, the best Starfield weapons are those rare and legendary variants, but there is an element of RNG to picking them up.
Va’Ruun Inflictor
The Va’Ruun Inflictor is possibly the absolute best Starfield gun. This particle beam rifle deals the second most damage at 38 physical damage and 113 energy damage, with only the Magsniper beating it. That said, the Va’Ruun Inflictor has superior fire rate and mag size, and despite its lower range, it’s much easier to use in a wider range of situations. It does come with some hefty downsides, though, as you will need plenty of Heavy Fuze ammo to fire it.
Advanced Regulator
The Regulator might not strike you as a top-tier handgun, but if you manage to pick up the Advanced Regulator at higher levels, don’t let its association with the base gun deter you. The advanced weapon has the same base stats as the Regulator: an average mag capacity of eight, a solid accuracy at 71%, and a fire rate of 18. However, level it up, and the advanced regulator gets a massive boost to damage, dealing 100 physical damage on a successful hit.
Deadeye
Those who want a pistol that sucker punches enemies with the sheer savagery of Mike Tyson would do well to pick up the Deadeye. Thankfully, snagging this badass gun is as simple as joining the Freestar Rangers, and its base stats are comparably decent compared to other guns you get at the same point in the game. The only thing we would say is that because of its low rate of fire. and lack of spread since it’s not a shotgun; you can also equip a submachine gun or otherwise long-range automatic gun with comparable stats.
Fiscal Quarter
This variant of the Maelstrom Rifle, which is already a fairly decent choice in the early game, is the reward you get from finishing one of the main quest missions you get from Walter Stroud, in which you must visit Neon. It comes with armor-piercing rounds and several pre-equipped upgrades that affect its base stats. It also uses the fairly common 6.5mm ammo, making it one of the more accessible unique weapons we’ve seen out there in the cosmos.
Microgun
The Microgun is pretty much what you expect if you’ve ever wielded what would usually be known in-game as a Minigun. This powerful machine behemoth has an incredible fire rate of 350, almost matching its mag capacity of 320. The Microgun’s accuracy might be less than 50%, but it doesn’t matter when that many 7.77mm bullets fly around.
Lawgiver
Sniper rifles have a certain allure for some people, and this is one of the better ones. It’s especially good if you want to exploit your Stealth skill to get extra sneak damage while using this gun. While the Lawgiver is somewhat limited against bulkier enemies, you can always pop on weapon mod to two for very few resources. We recommend you give it a decent scope and use whitehot rounds and a long barrel.
Shotty
Any of the Starfield shotguns will serve you well in close-range combat, but our personal favorite is the Shotty. This shotgun has a relatively high fire rate and mag size compared to other shotguns, which perfectly outweigh its lower damage and accuracy stats. With a massive eight mod slots to boot, you can stuff it with some of the weapon mods to buff its damage, and you’ve got one of the best guns in the game.
Tanto
The Tanto is, without a doubt, the best melee weapon in Starfield. This blade does a massive 40 physical damage, and while this is less than the Wakizashi, we’ve balanced this out with its weight and cost. At just nine points of damage less than the Wakizashi, the Tanto is nearly half the price and less than half its mass, so it’s easy to add to your inventory.
All Starfield ballistic weapons
Starfield ballistic weapons are your standard physical damage-dealing guns and explosives. Ballistic guns take standard bullets, though which type varies from gun to gun, as this list contains shotguns, handguns, and even heavy weapons. Here are all of the base Starfield ballistic weapons we’ve found:
| Weapon | Class | Base damage |
| Ecliptic | Handgun | 35 Physical |
| EON | Handgun | 10 Physical |
| Kraken | Handgun | 3 Physical |
| Magshot | Handgun | 53 Physical |
| Rattler | Handgun | 10 Physical |
| Razorback | Handgun | 51 Physical |
| Regulator | Handgun | 35 Physical |
| Sidestar | Handgun | 12 Physical |
| Urban Eagle | Handgun | 39 Physical |
| XM-2311 | Handgun | Unknown |
| Auto-Rivet | Heavy | 100 Physical |
| Ashta Tamer | Heavy | Unknown |
| Bridger | Heavy | 127 Physical |
| Magstorm | Heavy | 9 Physical |
| Microgun | Heavy | 9 Physical |
| Negotiator | Heavy | Unknown |
| AA-99 | Rifle | 18 Physical |
| Beowulf | Rifle | 36 Physical |
| Buzzcut | Rifle | 3 Physical |
| Drum Beat | Rifle | 8 Physical |
| Fiscal Quarter | Rifle | 9 Physical |
| Grendel | Rifle | 3 Physical |
| Hard Target | Rifle | 116 Physical |
| Kodama | Rifle | 13 Physical |
| Lawgiver | Rifle | 31 Physical |
| Maelstrom | Rifle | 4 Physical |
| Magpulse | Rifle | 71 Physical |
| Magshear | Rifle | 10 Physical |
| Magsniper | Rifle | 223 Physical |
| Old Earth AR | Rifle | 15 Physical |
| Old Earth Hunting Rifle | Rifle | 30 Physical |
| Peacekeeper | Rifle | Unknown |
| Tombstone | Rifle | 19 Physical |
| Boom Boom | Shotgun | 50 Physical |
| Breach | Shotgun | 99 Physical |
| Coachman | Shotgun | 52 Physical |
| Experiment A-7 | Shotgun | Unknown |
| Old Earth Shotgun | Shotgun | 73 Physical |
| Pacifier | Shotgun | 59 Physical |
| Shotty | Shotgun | 50 Physical |
| Frag Grenade | Explosive | 101 Physical |
| Frag Mine | Explosive | 101 Physical |
| Shrapnel Grenade | Explosive | 51 Physical |
All Starfield energy weapons
You should be fairly familiar with Starfield energy weapons since the first gun you’re handed is the Cutter. This heavy energy weapon doesn’t deal the most damage but comes in handy in a pinch. Upgrade to any of these other energy weapons when you get a chance, as they don’t require ammo – they just require powering.
| Weapon | Class | Base damage |
| Ember | Handgun | |
| Solstice | Handgun | 10 Energy |
| Arc Wielder | Heavy | 17 Energy |
| Cutter | Heavy | 4 Energy |
| Equinox | Rifle | 13 Energy |
| Eternity’s Gate | Rifle | |
| Orion | Rifle | 27 Energy |
| Cryo Mine | Explosive | 1 Physical/35 Energy |
| Inferno Mine | Explosive | 1 Physical/35 Energy |
| Tesla Pylon | Explosive | 1 Physical/25 Energy |
All Starfield particle beam weapons
Particle beam weapons are an upgrade on those above as they deal both physical and energy damage at the same time, meaning you can use them to counter resistance to one or the other. These special weapons take particle fuses as ammo, which can be purchased from Arboron in Starfield Neon City, in the Ryujin Industries building. Here are all of the Starfield particle beam weapons we know of so far:
| Weapon | Class | Ammo | Base damage |
| Novalight | Handgun | Light fuse | 8 Physical/25 Energy |
| Varuun Starshard | Handgun | Light fuse | 26 Physical/80 Energy |
| Varuun Inflictor | Rifle | Heavy fuse | 38 Physical/113 Energy |
| Big Bang | Shotgun | Heavy fuse | 38 Physical/113 Energy |
All Starfield electromagnetic weapons
The Novablast Disruptor, the only EM weapon we’ve found so far, also takes heavy particle fuses, like some of the particle beam weapons above. Again, these can be purchased from Neon city if you manage to get your hands on one of these powerful guns.
| Weapon | Class | Damage |
| Novablast Disruptor | Rifle | 100 EM |
All Starfield melee weapons
We all know a simple melee weapon can some if handy from time to time, and it doesn’t hurt to have a knife or blade ready to go at a moment’s notice. There is a range of melee weapons to choose from in Starfield, here are all of those we’ve found:
| Weapon | Class | Base damage |
| Barrow Knife | Melee | 22 Physical |
| Combat Knife | Melee | 16 Physical |
| Osmium Dagger | Melee | 28 Physical |
| Rescue Axe | Melee | 17 Physical |
| Ripshank | Melee | 12 Physical |
| Tanto | Melee | 40 Physical |
| UC Naval Cutlass | Melee | 20 Physical |
| Varuun Painblade | Melee | 62 Physical |
| Wakizashi | Melee | 49 Physical |
Can you modify Starfield weapons?
You can heavily customize Starfield guns at any workbench – you can read more about that on our dedicated Starfield weapon mods page. We’ve seen the option to change magazine size, rounds, grips, barrels, and more. Certain Starfield research projects appear to unlock additional options, and Starfield skills also play a part in the process.
Modifying a weapon appears to change the name of it as well. You’ll even find modified versions of base weapons being used by enemies. You can loot these and modify them further.
Can you change the damage type of Starfield weapons?
While you cannot modify your Starfield guns to alter their damage type from physical damage to laser damage and back, for example, you can change the type of ammo a gun uses, like switching the Drum Beat rifle over to explosive rounds.
That’s everything we know about the best Starfield weapons and guns. With over 1,000 unique Starfield planets to explore, there might be even more guns and mods hidden around that even we haven’t found yet. To help you explore that vastness, take one of the 20-odd Starfield companions to join you on your adventures through space.
Still looking for more? While a good Starfield wiki can be a handy source of information, our new Starfield Database goes further, offering you daily news, searchable databanks, and even interactive tools.