Weapon ranking

[Birdy]

What is your favorite to least favorite, and why?
Mine is
6. Bow, thing is wonky i hate it
5. Default sword, I always die with it
4. the gun, its okay, doest feel right to use. Much rather have some scythe type of thing. Or a chain.
3. The spear, fun to use
2. Gloves, they do great dmg and i like how fast you have to play with them.
1. The shield, thing feels super OP and I love it.

[TommyEV]

Just for the record, you can have amazing runs with the shield and not block even once. I rely very very little on blocking and I still love it.

[AlibiMars]

24. Guan Yu Spear - Apart from the huge penalty you take for going in with this spear, you get barely anything back. If you dont get Charged Skewer, you can forget about special focused runs. The attack is far too slow while doing too little damage to warrant using, unlike with Arthur. Doing spin focused runs only works if you get Large Spin (+125% Damage), and Quick spin is absolutely necessary if you want to use any forced overtime. It's overly hammer reliant and disadvantages you without compensating for it.

23. Zagreus Shield - Im not sure what to think of this one. It's entirely hammer reliant and if you dont get Devastating blow, you can say goodbye to your cleartimes.

22. Talos Fists - The special only pulls a single enemy and gives a measly 50% damage buff for attacks and casts. This aspect is really just lackluster and needs a change, maybe slow magnetized enemies and make em attract other enemies inside an aoe, so you can use aoe stuff like Dionysus cast. I've tried pretty much any combination of casts with talos and it gets outshined by p much any other weapon which buffs or uses casts.

21. Hera Bow - There's a few combos like ares cast with hunting blades which improves the casts, or Aphrodite Cast with Poseidon Attack (cast will do damage, but some wont lodge in, so you can get em back faster), but otherwise it only makes cast builds safer, not stronger. Some casts simply dont work with it or give no benefit, like demeter or zeus. It's a fairly balanced aspect in general, but I'd like if it gave some added benefit.

20. Zagreus Rail - Two words: Spread Fire, without it you might as well just use Eris and actually do stuff. The weapon isnt terrible, but it's too safe and too weak, which simply doesnt fit my playstyle.

19. Zagreus Fists - The Dodge bonus doesnt really change much, playstyle wise. You can combo it with a lambent plume for memes, but other fists have more fun effects.

18. Zeus Shield - This is one of the weapon which has the most potential for a fun and good run, but it simply doesnt work with most special reliant hammers. Empowering flight for example doesnt apply its buff on every hit. It's also one of the aspects which plays just so much more differently than the rest of them. Takes a lot of getting used to, but still a fun aspect.

17. Zagreus Sword - The basic one. Definitely quite one dimensional at first glance. There are however some great movespeed focused build possibilities with this one. Quick Delivery is a great boon for this one and getting Hypersprint with Artemis dash makes for big numbers.

16. Zagreus Spear - I tried special focused builds with this and with certain Hammer upgrades it can be a ton of fun. Flurry jab or Serrated dash also makes for a good ole time. It does quite badly in the damage department unless you get some good hammers going tho, but makes up for it by being ranged.

15. Hades Spear - 150% extra Damage on Attacks and Special. It adds a mechanic to the spear which makes the spin useful in a way while still retaining build diversity. I dont like it too much since I dont like spears as much, but I've had some fun runs with it.

14. Zagreus Bow - 15% crit. Not really much to say, except bows are fun.

13. Eris Rail - The really strong rail. It empowers all your damage by 75%, while leaving a lot of build options open, since the gimmick doesnt hardlock you into certain builds. I want to like it more, but I'm just not that big of a fan of rail playstyles. Get Cluster and Rocket Bomb or Delta Chamber and speedrun the game.

12. Nemesis Sword - Get Double Edge and Artemis dash for quick runs. It's honestly very one dimensional but strong. I liked it more before I played a lot with it.

11. Arthur Sword - Defnitely a great addition to the game, but personally it falls flat for me as soon as you add forced overtime. It does have some great interactions with certain boons like Calculated risk for example. Generally I would recommend Athena/Artemis for this aspect due to big chunky third hits/backstabs.

10. Hestia Rail - While a great weapon with a playstyle which is fun for me, it falls flat in terms of variety of builds. It all comes back to reload -> oneshot. It is more one dimensional than Eris, but the sheer damage on that first shot just feeds my primal desire to see big numbers. It feels very good to play.

9. Poseidon Sword - The basic cast sword. Personally I like combining it with poseidon cast, and artemis for mirage shot, exit wounds and if possible fully loaded. There are many more combination for this sword, however which ranks it quite high in my personal opinion.

8. Rama Bow - A painfuly slow attack makes up for by basically being aoe and doing a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ of damage. Can also do Special focused builds with on hit effects. Basically ranged Arthur.

7. Chaos Shield - How does this shield do damage and why? I cant explain it, but it does. You can slap p much anything on the special and it will be useful. Certain hammers dont work as expected with it tho. Explosive return only procs once for example, while Dashing flight only works for the real shield, not the other thrown ones.

6. Beowulf Shield - The cast shield. It changes all casts in the game to become a big aoe around you. Since it also empowers your bull rush, getting a good attack boon makes for certain great combinations. I really love this shield and with Charged flight, you can even make special focused builds which deal great damage.

5. Lucifer Rail - Hear me out on this one. This is a cast focused rail. Wait I know what you're thinking, but hear me out. Sure you can do a lot of stuff with Poseidon attack and Seastorm or Zeus Attack and just hold down the attack. The true fun is firing specials and setting them off with Dionysus cast or p much any cast which has some aoe. Triple bomb spam to set of chain reactions is also huge fun. This rail feels fun to play and has a lot of different build possibilities.

4. Chiron Bow - Use Privileged Status and get off to the sound it makes when you hit a lot of specials. Concentrated Volley turns this thing into a complete powerhouse.

3. Demeter Fists - Explosive Upper

2. Gilgamesh Fists - Explosive Upper but your dash also has a nice sound.

1. Achilles Spear - More mobility so you can play a lot more aggressively. Use it with casts. I dont think I have ever used an attack focused build with this bad boy. 150% Damage on Casts just opens up far too many options to gush about here. Play it. Fall in love with it.

[Birdy]

Originally posted by Nathaniel Prime:

I love how everyone has a different list. I think the devs really nailed it, with different weapons being suited to different playstyles and such.

i know right! these answers are much better than I could have imagined!! Very interesting to hear about builds and preference

[Birdy]

Originally posted by AlibiMars:

24. Guan Yu Spear - Apart from the huge penalty you take for going in with this spear, you get barely anything back. If you dont get Charged Skewer, you can forget about special focused runs. The attack is far too slow while doing too little damage to warrant using, unlike with Arthur. Doing spin focused runs only works if you get Large Spin (+125% Damage), and Quick spin is absolutely necessary if you want to use any forced overtime. It's overly hammer reliant and disadvantages you without compensating for it.

23. Zagreus Shield - Im not sure what to think of this one. It's entirely hammer reliant and if you dont get Devastating blow, you can say goodbye to your cleartimes.

22. Talos Fists - The special only pulls a single enemy and gives a measly 50% damage buff for attacks and casts. This aspect is really just lackluster and needs a change, maybe slow magnetized enemies and make em attract other enemies inside an aoe, so you can use aoe stuff like Dionysus cast. I've tried pretty much any combination of casts with talos and it gets outshined by p much any other weapon which buffs or uses casts.

21. Hera Bow - There's a few combos like ares cast with hunting blades which improves the casts, or Aphrodite Cast with Poseidon Attack (cast will do damage, but some wont lodge in, so you can get em back faster), but otherwise it only makes cast builds safer, not stronger. Some casts simply dont work with it or give no benefit, like demeter or zeus. It's a fairly balanced aspect in general, but I'd like if it gave some added benefit.

20. Zagreus Rail - Two words: Spread Fire, without it you might as well just use Eris and actually do stuff. The weapon isnt terrible, but it's too safe and too weak, which simply doesnt fit my playstyle.

19. Zagreus Fists - The Dodge bonus doesnt really change much, playstyle wise. You can combo it with a lambent plume for memes, but other fists have more fun effects.

18. Zeus Shield - This is one of the weapon which has the most potential for a fun and good run, but it simply doesnt work with most special reliant hammers. Empowering flight for example doesnt apply its buff on every hit. It's also one of the aspects which plays just so much more differently than the rest of them. Takes a lot of getting used to, but still a fun aspect.

17. Zagreus Sword - The basic one. Definitely quite one dimensional at first glance. There are however some great movespeed focused build possibilities with this one. Quick Delivery is a great boon for this one and getting Hypersprint with Artemis dash makes for big numbers.

16. Zagreus Spear - I tried special focused builds with this and with certain Hammer upgrades it can be a ton of fun. Flurry jab or Serrated dash also makes for a good ole time. It does quite badly in the damage department unless you get some good hammers going tho, but makes up for it by being ranged.

15. Hades Spear - 150% extra Damage on Attacks and Special. It adds a mechanic to the spear which makes the spin useful in a way while still retaining build diversity. I dont like it too much since I dont like spears as much, but I've had some fun runs with it.

14. Zagreus Bow - 15% crit. Not really much to say, except bows are fun.

13. Eris Rail - The really strong rail. It empowers all your damage by 75%, while leaving a lot of build options open, since the gimmick doesnt hardlock you into certain builds. I want to like it more, but I'm just not that big of a fan of rail playstyles. Get Cluster and Rocket Bomb or Delta Chamber and speedrun the game.

12. Nemesis Sword - Get Double Edge and Artemis dash for quick runs. It's honestly very one dimensional but strong. I liked it more before I played a lot with it.

11. Arthur Sword - Defnitely a great addition to the game, but personally it falls flat for me as soon as you add forced overtime. It does have some great interactions with certain boons like Calculated risk for example. Generally I would recommend Athena/Artemis for this aspect due to big chunky third hits/backstabs.

10. Hestia Rail - While a great weapon with a playstyle which is fun for me, it falls flat in terms of variety of builds. It all comes back to reload -> oneshot. It is more one dimensional than Eris, but the sheer damage on that first shot just feeds my primal desire to see big numbers. It feels very good to play.

9. Poseidon Sword - The basic cast sword. Personally I like combining it with poseidon cast, and artemis for mirage shot, exit wounds and if possible fully loaded. There are many more combination for this sword, however which ranks it quite high in my personal opinion.

8. Rama Bow - A painfuly slow attack makes up for by basically being aoe and doing a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ of damage. Can also do Special focused builds with on hit effects. Basically ranged Arthur.

7. Chaos Shield - How does this shield do damage and why? I cant explain it, but it does. You can slap p much anything on the special and it will be useful. Certain hammers dont work as expected with it tho. Explosive return only procs once for example, while Dashing flight only works for the real shield, not the other thrown ones.

6. Beowulf Shield - The cast shield. It changes all casts in the game to become a big aoe around you. Since it also empowers your bull rush, getting a good attack boon makes for certain great combinations. I really love this shield and with Charged flight, you can even make special focused builds which deal great damage.

5. Lucifer Rail - Hear me out on this one. This is a cast focused rail. Wait I know what you're thinking, but hear me out. Sure you can do a lot of stuff with Poseidon attack and Seastorm or Zeus Attack and just hold down the attack. The true fun is firing specials and setting them off with Dionysus cast or p much any cast which has some aoe. Triple bomb spam to set of chain reactions is also huge fun. This rail feels fun to play and has a lot of different build possibilities.

4. Chiron Bow - Use Privileged Status and get off to the sound it makes when you hit a lot of specials. Concentrated Volley turns this thing into a complete powerhouse.

3. Demeter Fists - Explosive Upper

2. Gilgamesh Fists - Explosive Upper but your dash also has a nice sound.

1. Achilles Spear - More mobility so you can play a lot more aggressively. Use it with casts. I dont think I have ever used an attack focused build with this bad boy. 150% Damage on Casts just opens up far too many options to gush about here. Play it. Fall in love with it.

Wow, I love these answers, so in depth, thank you for taking the time to reply!!

[Howler]

6) Shield - chaos
5) Spear - Guan Yu
4) Sword - Excalibur/Poseidon
3) Gloves - Demeter/Zagreus
2) Bow - Hera/Chiron
1) Gun - Eris

[Cheezelog]

1) Bow of Chiron(Love it!)
2) Magnet Gloves(So satisfying to dish pull enemies in and shoryuken them in the face!)
3) Spear(Any of them are good really)
4) Sword of Arthur(Get a good Artemis boon on the attack and just wail on em)
5) Gun any aspect(Stack chill, hangover, lightning, or doom effects)
6) Shield of Chaos(I mean I like the shield but...gotta have a good setup to make it satisfying)

[⭕TheSodaman]

1. Spear, though I don't like its aspects generally and I'm Daedalus Hammer dependent for my enjoyment of it. Not particularly that I can find ways to make it more effective than others, but just that I've been a spear lover for 20+ years now.

2. Sword, because it has a caster aspect and I also love magic. Whether it's Zeus bolts that I can't figure out which enemy they ended up in, Demeter crystal beams, or Dionysus lobs. I can use Special to retrieve the shards and try again as well. I tend to love this more than the last aspect even though I've destroyed Skelly the fastest with the latter.

3. Railgun, if I get Ricochet Shot early on with Zeus attack, I super love this with the first aspect. I also enjoy this once there is a multi-bomb Special, though haven't built around that yet.

4. Bow with the homing projectile aspect. I also don't mind the first aspect when coupled with Ares' Special for Doom. I do NOT like homing aspect with Poseidon Special. Occasionally knocking enemies into myself. I didn't like the charging shot mechanic, but generally between the dash attack, Special, and at least tagging the enemy, it wasn't as bad as I thought.

5. Fists. I've used these rarely, but also ended up destroying bosses during one run. I acknowledge it's power, but haven't been too fond of the normal attack.

6. Shield. I love its defensive capacity, blocking, countering. However, I haven't found a build that I really like for it enough. I don't quite enjoy the shield as much as I hoped though, but maybe that's just that I don't like charging attacks in general (which is partially why Spear - I feel like I'm missing out on a mechanic that I just don't like.)

[begulinggg]

Right now:
1. Bow
2. Shield
3. Rail
4. Fist
5. Spear
6. Sword

[astrophysician]

6. Adamant Rail. I just can't stand how it feels, and though i got decently far with it on my first time, i spent most of the run wishing i would die faster. its appearance made me laugh because it felt so out of place with the rest of the style of the game (time period and such), but since then it hasn't brought me any more joy.

5. Heart-Seeking Bow. I hate standing still to attack. having no real melee doesn't match with my play style at all, and i think i'm too impatient to time my shots properly. the special is fine, but all in all i don't pick this one up often. the reason i put it above the rail is simply that there have been times where it sorta clicked.

4. Twin Fists. they're fun, in a way, but i dislike having to be quite so close to things to do damage. though, i will add, with the magnetic special aspect, it is a LOT more fun.

3. The Spear (it's name is eluding me atm). when i first unlocked this weapon i loved it so much! (since then i've liked it less; sometimes i love it and sometimes i can't stand it.) the dash strike is always satisfying. i like the range on the special and being able to make quick, longer-distance strikes, especially to inflict status effects. never used the hold ML until i got the aspect of hades... the range is so much more punishing, and very enjoyable.

2. Stygius. classic! it's simple, but its movements feel well-designed and i enjoy the challenge of timing attacks and being properly in range. it can be especially strong with most of the daedlus hammer upgrades, and i enjoy pretty much every run with it, since they all feel very different.

1. Aegis. i cannot get enough of the shield. beat my first run with it! i love the balance between ranged and up-close attacks, and it always feels like i'm just raking through enemies. i also love being able to move longer distances (while dealing damage and blocking it nonetheless)! with the right upgrades and boons it can be absolutely overpowered with chain damage. i guess i'm a sucker for spamming... the one drawback i can think of is that it feels a little cheap to be able to block any attack as long as i'm facing the right direction... but that's not enough to kill my fun :)

[Žviks]

I like all the weapons so I guess this is gonna be more like a tier list of how strong they are imo after 100h.

1. Shield. Aspect of Chaos I believe. All you need to do is upgrade the special to bounce and get Doom on it and then just get boons that will improve that like more Doom damage after certain amount of time and more damage depending on stacks or just straight increasing it's damage with poms. And because of the Bull Rush it will throw out 3 and if you are lucky enough and get Minotaur Rush, it's gg. You don't even have to use block with this build though. Just spam your special. People say Shield is slow in clearing and the least amount of damage. Try this build, it will change your mind.

2. Fists. The magnetized ones. Fastest clear and the highest damaging weapon in the game
imo. Just work on your special and that's it. Even Attack can be made strong if you have Hangover or Doom on it. What makes this only 2nd best weapon is it's not as safe as that shield build but magnet still kinda fixes the "range issue" which is a problem in Styx with all the traps and poison.

3. This might be a shock to a lot of people but I think Spear, Aspect of Guan Yu is very strong and the best for Spear. It might be the most boring because all you do is throw your special but it's the safest and it does the most damage when you go all out Zeus on it. Lightning bounce, Jolted and if you are lucky, the Legendary Zeus boon, whatever it's called that also bounces between foes. And the special also has insanely wide hitbox. And on top of all that you can heal. The fully upgraded Aspect of Guan Yu with the first keepsake that is also fully upgraded and couple of health upgrades, you can end up with 180hp+ with ability to heal and also do insane damage.

4. Bow. Doesn't matter which Aspect but Aspect of Zagreus with Crit build is the most fun for me. Put deflect on your special and deflect all those purple projectiles those witches throw at you. For anything else just dash and shoot.

5. Rail Gun. The hidden aspect. So much AoE damage just put Artemis or Ares on it and of course, 3x special bomb when you get a hammer upgrade. Same as Bow but can be a bit slower if you miss your bombs.

6. Stygian Blade. The third Aspect, I don't know what it's called but it's the one where your Special dislodges your Cast stacks. Put Artemis on your Cast and maybe Doom or Weak on your special to buff your damage resistance even more. Maybe even Poseidon's and then extra damage on wall hit and Rupture which will make Elysium and especially Styx very easy. For bosses just spam Cast, Special dislodge, repeat. Very strong.

Imo, all weapons can be made op. The only difference between them is some do damage a bit slower and/or are less safe while some (Shield) are just brainless.

[Cockroach]

Gloves but I like the spear too.
The spear is good as you can just normal strike then from a distance.

[Nathaniel Prime]

1. Bow is almost completely useless (like the spear only harder to use and slower) by default. Chiron's aspect is insanely powerful though, I did my first 16 and 32 runs with it. The best part is that you can play really strong offense and defense at the same time. Tag an enemy with the main attack, then go into dodge mode and stay far away while obliterating everything with a Zeus-enhanced special.

2. The gloves, while I don't think they're the best weapon, are just a ton of fun to use. Talos is probably the strongest with the magnetic cutter pulling enemies to you and giving you a big damage boost. Gilgamesh's aspect is a lot of fun too, though Main seems like a really useless ability.

3. The spear is likewise not great in base form, but the aspect of Hades gives you an absolutely massive damage buff. Bonus points if you get the hammer upgrade that makes the sweep bigger, you can hit almost everything on screen by charging and then dashing, and it easily removes the one weak point of the base spear, the low damage.

4. The shield is quite good. It's fun and effective smashing enemies into things, and of course the block is extremely useful. The Zeus aspect, naturally enough, goes really well with the Zeus boon... the only downside is that the giant flashy spinning shield and tons of lightning bolts make it so you barely see anything!

5. The gun is a pain in the ass to use, low damage with regular attack, feels clunky, and has weird auto-aim with the special. 0/5 would not use. I understand it can be good in the right hands, but it's just so unfun to use I don't really care. Except Lucifer, which is a little more fun.

6, The sword is easily the worst weapon in the entire game. I dislike the gun but I see it has potential, while the sword is lowish damage, risky to use, and has no redeeming qualities. At least Excalibur is fun to use. The sword is basically like the gloves except slower and lower damage.

[Cockroach]

Originally posted by Nathaniel Prime:

1. Bow is almost completely useless (like the spear only harder to use and slower) by default. Chiron's aspect is insanely powerful though, I did my first 16 and 32 runs with it. The best part is that you can play really strong offense and defense at the same time. Tag an enemy with the main attack, then go into dodge mode and stay far away while obliterating everything with a Zeus-enhanced special.

2. The gloves, while I don't think they're the best weapon, are just a ton of fun to use. Talos is probably the strongest with the magnetic cutter pulling enemies to you and giving you a big damage boost. Gilgamesh's aspect is a lot of fun too, though Main seems like a really useless ability.

3. The spear is likewise not great in base form, but the aspect of Hades gives you an absolutely massive damage buff. Bonus points if you get the hammer upgrade that makes the sweep bigger, you can hit almost everything on screen by charging and then dashing, and it easily removes the one weak point of the base spear, the low damage.

4. The shield is quite good. It's fun and effective smashing enemies into things, and of course the block is extremely useful. The Zeus aspect, naturally enough, goes really well with the Zeus boon... the only downside is that the giant flashy spinning shield and tons of lightning bolts make it so you barely see anything!

5. The gun is a pain in the ass to use, low damage with regular attack, feels clunky, and has weird auto-aim with the special. 0/5 would not use. I understand it can be good in the right hands, but it's just so unfun to use I don't really care. Except Lucifer, which is a little more fun.

6, The sword is easily the worst weapon in the entire game. I dislike the gun but I see it has potential, while the sword is lowish damage, risky to use, and has no redeeming qualities. At least Excalibur is fun to use. The sword is basically like the gloves except slower and lower damage.

You can get good specials with the sword for lighting and then get jolt.

[Nathaniel Prime]

Originally posted by Cockroach:

You can get good specials with the sword for lighting and then get jolt.

You can do what now? You're saying that a weapon with a slow special attack works well with Zeus of all things? How is it not worse than something with a faster special like bows or shield?

[TommyEV]

Originally posted by Nathaniel Prime:

Originally posted by Cockroach:

You can get good specials with the sword for lighting and then get jolt.

You can do what now? You're saying that a weapon with a slow special attack works well with Zeus of all things? How is it not worse than something with a faster special like bows or shield?

His reasoning is probably that with the long area of the special, you can affect many enemies which, in turn, affect each other. I don't see it either.