Returnal is a roguelike third person shooter that takes the player on a journey across the hostile alien planet Atropos. As the astronaut Selene, you‘ll need to master an arsenal of unique and powerful weapons if you hope to uncover the planet‘s mysteries.
In this ultimate tier list guide, we will be ranking Returnal‘s 11 guns from the formidable S-tier picks to the underwhelming bottom dwellers.
How We Ranked Returnal‘s Weapons
We used a combination of stats, traits, player feedback, and real in-game testing across multiple runs to determine the rankings. Key factors we considered include:
- Damage Output: The weapon‘s base damage and DPS potential
- Crowd Control: How effectively the weapon thins out swarms of enemies
- Versatility: A weapon‘s flexibility across various situations and enemy types
- Ease of Use: How easy it is to utilize the weapon effectively
- Traits: Quality and synergies between weapon traits
- Boss/Elite Damage: How well the weapon performs against tough enemies
- Ammo Efficiency: Balance between power and ammo consumption
Without further ado, here is our definitive tier list for Returnal‘s arsenal from the flawless S-tier picks down to the least impressive options.
S Tier
The cream of the crop. S Tier weapons dominate across all combat scenarios.
Electropylon Driver
The Electropylon Driver stands on a tier of its own when it comes to sheer damage potential. Once you attach pylons to an enemy, they unleash continuous beams of electricity, wrecking anything caught in their radius.
This weapon absolutely melts elite enemies and bosses while also providing excellent crowd control. An electric current links the pylons together, damaging and staggering anything caught while also multiplying damage.
Master this beauty and you‘ll cheers your way to victory again and again. The traits are just icing on the cake.
Excellent Against: All enemies
A Tier
A Tier weapons represent the pinnacle of firepower outside of the S category. They can carry you through any content when used properly.
Pyroshell Caster
This fiery grenade launcher compensates for its short range with sheer explosive destruction. Each grenade mows through crowds while dealing heavy damage to robust priority threats or bosses.
The arcing projectile trajectory promotes clever bounces to hit monsters behind cover or obstacles. This versatility cements it as top tier for skilled users despite its limited traits. A must have.
Excellent Against: Mobs, elites, bosses
Thermogenic Launcher
This triple barrelled rocket launcher packs some serious explosive punch. The heavy splash damage coupled with homing projectiles allow it to bombard packed enemy mobs while also quickly wearing down durable late game threats.
Its high damage projectile reach gives it incredible versatility. One of the most well rounded and potent weapons around.
Excellent Against: All enemies
Tachyomatic Carbine
This assault rifle hybrid is likely the most versatile and beginner friendly weapon in Returnal. It boasts accurate mid to long range threat engagement along with a large clip size and ammo reserves.
Additional projectile and charge traits take it to another level, giving it big damage, area denial, and crowd clearing muscle. An easy early game pickup that scales into late game nicely.
Excellent Against: All enemies
B Tier
B Tier weapons may have minor flaws but make up for it with raw damage or utility. These options still pack a nasty punch.
Atropian Blade
This unique melee/ranged hybrid deals heavy damage in close while providing style and substance from range. An excellent source of burst damage and shield penetration.
The energy blade pierces enemy defenses allowing you to cut down dangerous threats rapidly. B Tier due to its lackluster crowd control capacity.
Excellent Against: Elites, shielded enemies, single target burst
Rotgland Lobber
The Rotgland Lobber launches projectile bio-grenades that stick to surfaces and enemies before exploding for heavy damage. This alien tech weapon allows you to saturate the environment and shred monsters with intense DoT potential.
It deals very high damage at the cost of a strange firing mechanic and projectile ballistics. The explosive and caustic area denial abilities plus sheer power warrant its B ranking.
Excellent Against: Mobs, area denial
Spitmaw Blaster
This alien tech shotgun hybrid deals devastating damage up close while retaining mid range poke. The extreme short range damage compensates for its limited engagement potential and smaller clip size.
Augmenting traits reward an aggressive, high risk playstyle. Excellent for quickly shredding dangerous priority targets when used properly.
Excellent Against: Elites, short range burst
C Tier
The C Tier sports weapons with more noticeable flaws. However, their potential shouldn‘t be underestimated if you play into their strengths.
Coilspine Shredder
This eclectic rifle launches slow moving explosive spears that stick into surfaces before detonating. While the delayed blast gives it excellent crowd control, the projectile speed leaves much to be desired.
Mastery of the overload firing mechanic and utilizing ricochets rewards patient sharpshooters with top notch damage. A tricky but deadly option.
Excellent Against: Mobs, crowd control
Hollowseeker
This automatic pulse rifle unleashes a torrent of rapid fire homing bullets with a large magazine to back it up. While it seems strong on paper, the low damage and engagement range hinder its performance considerably.
A lack of punch limits its effectiveness against heavy enemies. However, the bullet homing capabilities provide strong mob utility. Great at shredding low tier monsters but lacks the oomph to hang in the top tiers.
Excellent Against: Low tier mobs
D Tier
D Tier weapons severely lack in one or more combat areas. They can still perform with enough skill but generally pale against higher ranked offerings. Consider replacing these options when possible.
Sidearm (Modified)
As the default weapon, the Modified Sidearm sports well rounded capabilities for early game skirmishes. The unlimited range and alternate fire charge shot add versatility.
However, its middling damage scaling leaves much to be desired. Even with the best traits, this starter pistol gets vastly outclassed as you progress through more challenging content.
Excellent Against: Early game only
Dreadbound
This advanced crossbow can dish out frightening single target and area damage when mastered. However, the difficulty of controlling the slow arcing projectiles and overload quirks often leave players dead instead.
An improperly loaded bolt detonates in your face rather than firing correctly. While this weapon brings immense risk, it also packs a massive reward. Use carefully and sparingly when starting out.
Excellent Against: Burst (expert), traps
Conclusion
And there you have it – our definitive Returnal weapon tier list from the S tier destroyers down to the unreliable bottom dwellers. While every gun brings something unique to the table, we feel these rankings represent the overall viability of each option based on performance, ease of use, and flexibility.
All weapons can shine in the right hands, but some require expert precision compared to top tier picks like the Electropylon Driver or Pyroshell Caster. Choose your armaments wisely and use this tier list to inform your selections when conquering the alien planet Atropos!
Let us know your favorites in the comments. Happy hunting!
