Your weapon tier list

[Valithin Drathyr]

So obviously this gonna change, and I'm just kinda considering both basic attack strings and alter attacks. I've also only primarily played single player, so it may be different for other people.

S:
Charge blade - The damage on this weapon is stupid, if you can properly dodge and keep the combo going it is easy to be mobile and dish damage out. I consistently can get this thing killing enemies in 1 - 2 hits. It's alter attack can also instakill some enemies if you knock them off the edge.

A:
Kunai - decent combo, good alter attack (especially point blank), ranged, applies curse

Beatbow - Has good damage, can consistently crit, has a very strong alter attack. Only issue is it doesn't really get faster.

B:
Fish Knife - Decent combo with guaranteed crit on the third hit. It's also perfect for setting up alter attacks. The alter attack on it is decent enough, really good for applying debuffs on hit.

Heavy blade - Has a great alter attack and solid damage. Kinda outclassed by charge blade.

Telepike - Good damage, good mobility, decent alter attack. Kinda falls off when enemies chase you, making it harder to consistently crit>

Katars - Decent combo string, gets free bleed on alter attack, hard to keep up on crits as enemies are rarely going to keep their backs to you.

Sirrocco - Has a really good Alter attack, piercing, burn, just a slow basic attack string.

C:
Ravenblade - Amazing alter attack however occasionally I-frames just dont work so inconsistent. Basic combo string makes it difficult to proc alterattacks. Would rather fish knife.

Anchor Boom - Maybe I just haven't gotten to use it enough, but the damage is solid, but it's way too slow and the charge attack doesn't seem to make up for it.

Ninja Stars: Kinda just lacking in my opinion. Decent enough, but has a mediocre attack string and alterattack just isn't as good as others.

D:
Goobrush - Super slow, can't animation cancel, ok damage.

Haven't gotten:
Eyeblade, Boomerang

Shield is kind of in it's own category, it is great for proccing alterattacks. Does have some inconsistent issues where it doesn't block things.

[Valithin Drathyr]

Update after unlocking the last two weapons

S:
Boomerang - As a weapon itself is just ok. But it gives you free alterattacks, and when paired with a number of weapons, the I frames and damage is incredibly powerful

A:
Eye blade - Solid damage, good combo, massive range, gives a free mark, and alter attack has decent invuln time and huge range. When paired with mark abilities, this weapon is fantastic.

[Jacobin Laden]

I'd flip charge and beatbow on my list, but otherwise same.

Edit: I'd also bump Sirrocco to A. My favorite alt and a nice large ranged attack.

[Shmowzers]

If you got into the upper difficulties like Cata, Beatbow is SS tier. Boomerang is S, along with Sirroco. Just because of the IE frames. Beatbow + Boomerang + Echo Gift is an automatic clear. So fun.

[Orzeker]

Yeah I think the best weapon is probably the beatbow, mostly for it's insane alter attack, pair it with echo and you're always doing great damage, clearly one of the best single target damage dealer.
I'd bump the sirocco to at least A tier as well, the alter is great against groups of enemies, it's attack goes really far (I usually use it to proc the beatbow and if you can get a +40% affix on burn enemy with it it's even better).

Charge blade being so good idk, I haven't really figured out the weapon, but for what i've tested it felt awful because it's often locked in place when charging, i'd love to learn it because it's the best alter attack weapon % by far but can't really get around not being able to zoom around as much.

[Moturnach]

Overall, im missing out Eyeblade, Boomerang and Anchor Boom just because i still can't get past first boss reliably in way i want, but here it is. Do take into account that some weapons get drastically better with certain builds/under certain conditions, so im trying to include those possibilities in overall value as well.

Due to how game works, weapons with reliable crits are valued much more just because you get a lot more value overall from those with proper build.

S:
Ravenblade - with good enough Attack Speed, you virtually invincible. Equally good for hold attacks and alterattacks just because those two always crit and unlike other weapons, its super easy to spam those with proper build. Not strongest, but best defensive weapon in game atm.

Builds where it shines the most : Crit-based Echo, Blast, Mark.

Reliable Crits: Yes(except basic attacks).

Charged Blade - a much more offensive weapon and require more skills than Ravenblade to use, but overall very solid weapon, once you will get used to its gimmick. Unlike other weapons, can get alterattack only with three consecutive hold attacks, which is a bit tricky to perform, plus due to the fact that it deals a huge amount of damage with those, its difficult to make alterattacks with, but otherwise solid. Hold attacks also can be used to dodge hits with proper execution, plus it have unique Alterattack that can shove enemies.

Builds where it shines the most : Crit-based Echo, Blast, Mark.

Reliable Crits: Yes(except basic attacks).

A:
Katars - very flexible weapon that works pretty well with nearly any build, although its require a specific approach and its very dependent on proper hold attack execution, positioning and clever use of it just because if used incorrectly, you might screw yourself easily with those.

But once properly executed, you end up obliterating enemies with ease, plus so far this is only weapon that outside of Gifts can reliably trigger Bleed builds, and because of that it stacks with itself, resulting in very good burst damage. Potentially, the most damaging weapon in the game, yet build for this is very difficult to make.

Builds where it shines the most : Nearly every crit-based build.

However, its very dependent on how you use this weapon, so ill give some examples:

Crit - it have very easy conditions for Crit, so usually condition is easily met with hold attack as opening move, and series of backstabs afterwards, potentially further extended into alterattack.

Echo/Mark - main focus on hold attack spam with occasional backstabs when you need to finish target. Hold attack deal 1-2 hits before teleporting you behind target, so you effectively want to spam those. Alterattack is good for that as well.

Blast/DOT spam - its own alterattack is great enabler for this, and thats the fastest weapon to stack effects on target, thats why its beneficial to get Fire Aura specially for this purpose.
Blast works here for same reason.

Goo/Goo Blast - so far the only real weapon that can benefit from Cruel Backstabs. Its very powerful once you will get it, but its also gimmicky and requires a very specific build to make it work.

You absolutely need to get Blast, Goo Blast and Cruel Backstabs together with Katars to make it work, but it results in probably the most powerful synergy in the game. Since backstabs on this weapon is already quite devastating under proper amount of Crit Boost, this setup brings it to a whole new level and you can easily melt any enemy with Cruel Backstabs + blast combo.

Quite exclusive combo so far just because it works only with Katars, so if you ever get this, this weapon becomes S+.

Alternatively, Goo Dodge + Cruel Backstabs also works, but Goo Dodge require to perfect dodge enemy attack, and because of small duration its much less reliable.

Reliable Crits: Yes, via hold attack -> backstabs sequence.

Telepike - very similar to Katars, yet different to play weapon. Main thing is that you still need to use hold attack proactively to make this weapon work, but unlike Katars, it teleport you to front of the target.

Biggest boon of this weapon is range, and thats probably longest hold attack among melee weapons in game, which makes it very efficient at initiating fights when you need, plus after hold attack animation puts character in position when crit conditions for it is fullfilled, so its easy transition into sequence of crits.

Although it have similar positioning issues as Katars, sometimes teleport can screw you.

Builds where it shines the most : Nearly every crit-based build.

Effectively, nearly everything about Katars applies here as well, except Goo/Goo Blast and backstabs.

Reliable Crits: Yes, via hold attack -> transition into proper range to make proper stabs with tip of the weapon.

Ninja Stars - probably best all around ranged weapon due to how it works.

Most of the time requirements to get reliable crits is very easy to fullfill cause you want to keep required distance from enemies anyway, and because of that overall its much more flexible than Beatbolt in its application, plus its better as general purpose ranged weapon unlike Kunai and Beatbolt, which is both specialized towards specific builds.

Also its fastest ranged weapon to make a series of consecutive crits.

Only reason why it isn't S, its lack of hold attack, which adds up certain amount of extra utility, but if you get weapon effect that makes up for lack of it like duplicating attacks, then its an easy S tier.

Builds where it shines the most : Nearly every crit-based build.

Reliable Crits: Yes, low-effort condition-based.

Beatbolt - Solid weapon overall, but a bit slow because of way of how its works. Require certain amount of skills to properly execute alterattack sequence, and during the combo you effectively want to be as stationary as possible, so this may easily screw you against fast enemies. Many players favour it for alterattack which is high damage long ranged shot, but despite that its in my opinion less flexible build -wise than Ninja Stars, although pairs really well with slow hitting weapons due to obvious synergy with both regular attacks and alterattack.

Builds where it shines the most :
Crit-based Echo, Blast, Mark.

Also can apply dots with regular attacks spam, but you probably don't want to do that with this weapon + both Ninja Stars and Kunais are better for this.

Reliable Crits: Yes, moderate-effort timings-based.

B:
Sirocco - a very good DOT- based weapon that can reliably crit, although very dependent on either Gift that adds Burn effect ir Flame aura and it cant do anything about it by itself. Overall solid all -arounder with strong alterattack, but if you didn't have a way to enable its crits more reliably it perfoms noticeably worse, thats why its kinda worse than both Ninja Stars and Beatbolt, which can reliably crit by themselves. This specific feature can really botch your build sometimes, especially with crit-based Gifts.

Also its essentially locks you into either using at least one Flame-based Gifts or Flame Aura, which makes it more niche than other weapons.

Builds where it shines the most : Non-Crit DOT Flame-based build. Can be mixed with Blast or Mark as well, but Flame Gifts is high priority for this weapon.

Reason why you need Non-Crit its because you need Flaming Weapons or Flame Aura as enabler for Crits, and lack of this part will make your Crit-based build way less effective, but once you get either of those, it fits into Crit Builds as well.

Reliable Crits: Not by itself/Condition- dependent.

Kunai - from the point of mechanics, its reverse Sirocco. Its probably best weapon to stack DOTs, but it cant crit reliably, and because of that its kinda difficult to pair it with other weapons for reliable two-way combos. Alterattack been changed into a burst of shots around which also applies a full stack of Curse, which have its pros and cons. Damage -wise its ain't greatest unless its a point blank shot, but its great for DOTs, which is main reason why you want to use this weapon, so it works rather as support weapon than damage dealer.

Builds where it shines the most : Non-Crit DOT or Mark build. Marks makes up for weapon low damage and especially good with this weapon if using it for damage, but you really want either Curse build or DOT build to stack as much debuffs as possible.

Also Echo will work with hold attack especially well, but you can't make a full build around it just because by itself Kunai stack Curse in a slow way, so they need some enabler like Double Attacks to really shine.

Reliable Crits: No

Fish Blade - After buff, its really solid main weapon, but biggest issue of it is being a middle ground between Crit and non-Crit weapon. Fast attack makes up for it, but its still way less impressive than weapons that can deal crits with every hit like Katars, although pretty good in comparison with its performance before buff.

But on the other hand, it shines as enabler for alterattacks and as DOT stacking weapon due to its fast attack speed and 3hit sequence.

With proper DOT build its own alterattack melts enemies just because it works like a sequence of rapid small damage hits, and thats very beneficial for stacking Burn and Bleed specifically, but any DOT/debuff will do the job just fine.

Overall, perfectly balanced weapon, although a bit wierd build-wise.

If you manage to get a "charging towards far enemies" effect, thats makes it A rank just because it lacks hold skill itself, and that weapon effect makes up for short range of its alterattack plus allows to quickly move from enemy to enemy.

Builds where it shines the most : Non-Crit DOT, Mark build. Works with Blast and Echo as well, although not as good as other weapons.

Reliable Crits: No, but it can proc crit effects semi-reliably due to its fast attack speed and ability to make a fast alterattack combo.

C:
Heavy Blade - its regular attacks deal solid damage, but biggest issues of this weapon is lack of reliable crit, which isn't that big deal by itself, but this making it useless for a good chunk of Gifts that works together with crits and most of other weapons at least partially, and nearly complete lack of protection, which overall makes it a worse version of Charged Blade. On top of that, its alterattack is not connecting itself to enemies for some reason, unlike Charged Blade one. This all together making it very inferior in comparison with other weapons, and it have very little to offer outside of its regular attacks in comparison with better rated weapons.

Builds where it shines the most : Non-Crit Blast, Echo, Mark.

Reliable Crits: No

D:

Goo Brush - don't even know where to begin with. There is several issues with this one. First of all, for some reason, it works like a worse Telepike at way of how it applies its attacks. Its very dependent on hitting enemies with brush point yet unlike Telepike, you need to adjust its range by yourself and it doesn't hit enemies behind attack ark for some reason, which often resulting in missing the enemy completely. On top of that, it doesn't always apply Goo by itself, which is making already unreliable weapon even more unreliable.
On top of that, combo animation doesn't provide invincibility and makes you locked in place for quite a bit, and alterattack of it is just last sequence of regular combo and because of that having exactly same issue.

I think eventually it will be fixed, yet for now its nearly unplayable.

Builds where it shines the most : Assuming it will be fixed and will work better, Goo builds, especially with Corrosive Goo/Goo Blast. Mark should work as well.

Reliable Crits: Not by itself, at the very least now. As i said before, Goo provided by brush itself is very unreliable, that's why you absolutely need Goo + Goo Blast to enable its Crit.

Shield - it kinda works, but biggest issue that im facing whenever i see this weapon is the fact that its require a very passive gameplay, plus it doesn't really work by itself, so unlike other weapons that you can technically using by themselves, this weapon heavily relies on weapon synergy. While its totally fine as enabler for alterattacks, i don't really see a reason to pick it over any other weapons. Like yeah, it can tank hits, but why should i doing that instead of just dodging them? What benefits it provides over similar Fish Blade Alterattack spam?

Problem with shield is that it cant do anything by itself, like it doesn't feel like you can beat game with it.

And if you need a good example of similar weapon that works in proper way, look at Casey in Enter the Gungeon. Yeah, its a bat, but it have very similar mechanics, with a difference that you can move, attack and deflect bullets with it, making it much more interesting and flexible to use even by itself, plus you can beat the game with it, despite developers gave this weapon a D rating. Shield so far is the only weapon that can't beat the game by itself, so i feel like its should see some love, plus it doesn't offer any benefits over other weapons aside from transition to alterattack after successful block. Yet even then you can dodge only one attack, which doesn't work well with multiple enemies attacking at the same time.

Yeah you can kinda do a pseudo aggro focusing enemies, but i feel like a trinket with same effect will do the job better than Shield itself, plus it gets totally outclassed by protection fish, which is better in nearly every way possible, extend its effect to allies on top of that, plus occupies separate slot, so you can be better offensively.

Builds where it shines the most : Another issue of Shield. So far, outside of its alterattacks gimmick, its works more or less reliably only with Echo builds, with any other build setup your second weapon will perform way better. If considering all possible synergies and effects with weapons above with builds i mentioned, thats just oof. Plus even if you pick it for alterattacks, there is better options that ain't totally useless by themselves, and they usually better options to consider than Shield. Literally, if you want to play defensively, Protection Fish is way better, even despite long cooldown.

Reliable Crits: No.

_____

Still lack some weapons, and it will take some time to get them, but hope it will help.

[Envyzible]

Originally posted by Jacobin Laden:

I'd flip charge and beatbow on my list, but otherwise same.

Edit: I'd also bump Sirrocco to A. My favorite alt and a nice large ranged attack.

Yo Sirrocco alt is insane lol. I use Beatbow but now I need to try Charge Blade

[plump pickle]

For alterattacks
S. Beatbolt
A. Heavy blade
A. Eye blade (mostly for mobs though)
A. Sirrocco
B. Ravenblade

For buildup to alterattack:
S. Boomerang
S. Kunai (with curse skills that stun with left trigger and spread)
A. Fish knife, just because it's a starter and relatively quick
A. Beatbolt
A. Ninja stars
B. Shield

Other weapons I don't bother with, imo C or below

[Okamimaru]

Shield's kind of a special case. You can technically beat the game with just the shield... if you were pro. The Parry is it's only offensive option, and it's a risk (as it always is). Bright side, if you can get a Parry off, it's almost, if not as strong as Beatbolt alter or the third hit of Anchor Boom alter.
Shield's biggest problem otherwise is the same thing that plagues Ravenblade alter; Sometimes, it just doesn't work like it should. Oh, and it's weak alter attack. Sure it stuns, and has some i-frames, but it does practically no damage for a single hit alter.
Edit 2: Apparently, if you land the Shield alter attack, you skip the first hit in a combo, so when paired with Sirocco, for example, with 20% attack speed, you can spam the shield alter attack into a quick basic hit into a finisher, back into the alter attack, which can stunlock some enemies. Could also just be some Early Access jank.
Edit 3: Was early access jank. At least it was on my least favorite enemy.

Telepike and Boomerang alters are imo weaker alters. There are basically no i-frames in them. They're great for status build-up if you've got on-hit or on-crit effects, and wonderful for bleed builds specifically, but you can't rely on them for survival; you're certainly not avoiding Headbanger's tower's shockwaves or fire brother's for that matter with them. Both are still pretty decent, though.
Telepike works well as an equal to Fish Knife as a mid-tier alter enabler, and especially so if you get alter signal on hold attack. Meanwhile, Boomerang is still S-tier for alter spamming, and can be left out for extra damage while you're on the move.

I have a bias towards using alters, rather than chasing crit conditions, obviously. Probably why Ninja Stars are the weakest ranged option imo. Every other ranged weapon out performs it for me, and none of them have a finisher that locks you in place and can't be canceled, unlike Sirocco's finisher. It's alter attack is also just kinda...there? It's not super weak or anything, but it feels like the Boomerang to Fish Knife's Telepike at best. Shorter duration, but bigger range (or rather, farther reach).
Edit: I could easily be wrong, but I've never felt locked in place with any other range weapon. Ninja Star just... doesn't feel right.

Speaking of range, Anchor Boom. I love this thing, but I can definitely see why people would rate it low. It's held attack is cool and all, but not all that useful outside of setting up Sirocco crits, which there are plenty of easier ways of doing. It's regular attacks do have stun on them, and some decent damage. Anchor Boom shines with it's alter attack. I-frame/defensive oriented playstyles (a.k.a. alter spamming) can certainly appreciate the long animation with I-frames galore, though the speed of it might be a turn off. The third hit, however, is a blast cone that can do major damage, coming close to Beatbolt's alter. If you want to use it for more than it's alter, the attack speed and medium range (barely longer than larger melee weapons without +size) are noticeable detriments.

Eyesword. Good weapon. Spin fun. Last swing, no I-frames. Caveman sad.
I like eyesword, but I don't know how many times that lack of i-frames on the last swing of the alter got me killed. Maybe it does have i-frames, but it's consistently lacked them for me.

Charge Blade. It's cool, but the alter is horrible for bosses and elites, and can be disruptive in multiplayer. It's not even that strong! The weapon it self is pretty alright, but it takes getting used to. I find myself spamming swings with it more often than I want when I should be charging.

Goo Brush. It's only use is getting Goo gifts ASAP. If you're going for a goo build, once you have any other source of Goo, this thing is worthless. It's Telepike-lite in basic attacks, but it's finisher takes too long, and it's alter is just its finisher. Bad weapon.

Kunai. Great ranged weapon. Almost perfect. Getting the alter sign is funky sometimes, and I'm not too keen on blowing up Final Curse without being a pure crit build, but it's a solid choice for me. My only other problem? It's alter attack is too quick. Much like Ninja Stars, Kunai's alter feels like the Boomerang to Sirocco's Telepike; Wider coverage, faster animation. Still has more I-frames than either boomerang or telepike, though.

Heavy Blade. I use it almost exclusively for the alter. It's fine on it's own, but the huge range and stun on the alter are what make it a great sub for any main.

Ravenblade. Early game (a.k.a. before getting alters on your first trip to the factory) it's alright. Likely your first weapon besides the fish knife. It's alter is wonderful...when it wants to give you the i-frames it should. They did make the wind-up longer recently, but I've still gotten hit while spinning, rather than winding up. Again, sometimes the game just ignores i-frames and block state, and Ravenblade and Shield suffer most from it.

Sirocco. Easily the best all-round range weapon. Finisher might be long, but it can be canceled. Simple crit requirement, though without Burning Weapons or Burning Aura, you get it when you get it, I suppose. Alter attack is one of the best. Not too long, not too short, I-frames throughout, major AoE, pairs well with upgraded Freeze, wrecks at close range...Yeah.

Katars. Pretty alright, Bleed infusion from alter pairs well with Fish Knife, Telepike, Boomerang, Sirocco, Kunai... basically anything that is quick or has a multi-hit alter, obviously for both applying and benefitting from bleed stacks. Keeping it up is about my only problem. Would rather just have bleed inscriptions or Bleeding Weapons. Held attack is actually pretty good when you get it to work consistently, since it can dodge and lets you get a couple of free backstab/katar crits in.

Fish Knife. Basic, reliable, consistent. Fish Knife is the middle of the road in everything but performance. It is your starting weapon, after all. Quick combo, quick access to alter, an alter that has some i-frames (unfortunately nerfed recently, but it feels better despite the loss of those frames), said alter has a multi-hit after effect that can apply statuses. Just a great, all-round weapon.

Beatbolt. It's the beatbolt. It's alter is the star, it's consistent crits when using it manually are pretty good... It's the beatbolt. Kinda hard to say much about it most people who play the game don't already know. The rhythm part is the only detriment, and only when you up attack speed, since it's unaffected.

Personal Tierlist
S(hield). Shield
S. Beatbolt, Sirocco
A. Anchor Boom, Fish Knife, Heavy Blade, Boomerang
B. Katar, Telepike, Kunai, Ravenblade, Eyesword, Chargeblade
C. Ninja Star
G(oo Brush). Goo Brush

[awanderingswordsman]

You guys are crazy. You know the ravenblade alter number is adding up all the hits right? Test it on the dummy, it's like the weakest alter in the game damage wise.

S+++++
Boomerang - Developer sanctioned cheat code level.
S+
Sirocco - Second strongest alter attack damage (if used close) just behind anchor shot but it's way faster so it's dps (ignoring gifts) is really strong. It sets up the fire to grant itself infinite crit. Great range at the cost of reduced damage. Also great AoE. The best alter attacker IMO.
Fish Knife - You always have it and it's a great alter trigger. It's damage is also actually quite high.
S
Anchor Boom - Highest alter attack damage but very slow animation. The slow animation is actually a potential benefit though because you are invincible the whole time. Also pairs well with echo. Does have the potential to miss and the range is solid but not really long range.
Eyeblade - Fantastic crowd control alter and does good damage. The i-frames end sooner than it feels like they should so it's easy to take damage but if you are careful you can avoid that. Animation is pretty fast and damage is very high. Has the downside of applying mark meaning you are highly likely to get mark gift offerings which aren't worth it.
A
Beatbow - One of two alter trigger+attacker weapons. In theory it's alter triggering is really good but it can be tricky under stress since you have to time the button press right to get the alter signal and if you mess up but think you didn't you could easily eat a hit. It's also likely to be a lot higher damage during it's normal attacks while you try to trigger alter due to it's autocrit and range. You can technically alter trigger faster if you spam the 2nd hit instead of timing it to get to the 3rd attack sooner. Special note that getting one with autocorrect timing bumps it up to S+ because you can reach alter signal faster and can no longer mess up. Do still have to keep track of your place in the combo though.

As an alter attacker it does pretty high damage in a small window with great range. Generally just good dps because of it's fast animation but that also means short i-frames.
B
Kunai - The other trigger+attacker weapon. Worse beatbow and it's likely to get you curse gifts diluting the pool. The small exception is curse reducing damage is actually quite good. With a few attack speed buffs the basic attack string is quite quick and using it means final curse is applied to the enemy granting 80% damage amp. As an alter attacker it has good AoE and autoapplies final curse meaning it can detonate them. That makes the damage not bad.
Ravenblade - Safe alter attacker, but very low damage. With blast+status proc gifts makes for a workable on hit build. Good animation and invincibility. It's held attack also has i-frames making it slightly worth considering on a lifesteal hex build as an extra way to dodge. High hits also lets it work decently well in trinket refresh builds.
Katar - Works ok without alter attacking and provides fun mobility. It's got a relatively fast combo as an alter trigger but it's longer than fish knife and you start with fish knife so.... It's alter attack is very weak and bleed infusion isn't worth much.
C
Heavyblade - One of the few non alter weapons although it's alter attacking ability is fine. With solid attack speed this has great damage but just no invincibility. The amp is really high on the alter transfer so getting the full combo off into something like anchor boom can be good. Without attack speed it's pretty hard to use.
Charge blade - The other non alter weapon. Does very high damage but leaves you pretty vulnerable. Requires too much skill compared to the many good and easy to use options but it does have solid reward if you have the skill. It's alter attack is very weird and you can use it to move the training dummy around the island including across gaps which is fun. Pretty unreliable though in combat.
D
Ninja star - Okish alter attacker. Low damage but fast animation with short i-frames. Not being able to hold away and have it aim IMO makes it way worse than other ranged options for it's normal combo. Like, yeah, you can target whoever you want, but that's not valuable in a game with so much invincibility and AoE.
Telepike - Relatively quick basic combo lets it function as an alter trigger but it's not as good as fish knife that you start with. It's alter attack is pretty weak and doesn't provide i-frames.
F-
Goo brush - Massive handicap. It's main gimmick gets resisted by bosses, it's basic attack is by far the worst in the game locking you in place with no i-frames for over a second. It's not completely unusable as an alter attacker but everything is a better option.

I can't really speak to shield. It's weird and I haven't used it much. Parry is too risky to be worth it but easy alter trigger is nice albeit conditional on the enemy attacking you.

Special mention to gobblefish for being very broken. Gobblefish + attack speed + fast critting weapon + refresh trinket on crit lets you infinite bosses with zero counterplay. For some reason bosses don't resist this status. Should IMO be patched so they resist it after one use until a while passes. Maybe make it per player if thats possible.

[Moturnach]

Originally posted by awanderingswordsman:

You guys are crazy. You know the ravenblade alter number is adding up all the hits right? Test it on the dummy, it's like the weakest alter in the game damage wise.

Ravenblade is popular mainly for its long animation which means you can skip attacks, and ability to skip attacks for long amount of time is pretty good, even after nerf, its still works that way.

Originally posted by awanderingswordsman:

Charge blade - The other non alter weapon. Does very high damage but leaves you pretty vulnerable. Requires too much skill compared to the many good and easy to use options but it does have solid reward if you have the skill. It's alter attack is very weird and you can use it to move the training dummy around the island including across gaps which is fun. Pretty unreliable though in combat.

Im not agreeing with that simply because you can do a full alterattack combo with it on first biome/tutorial boss and its pretty okay speed for alterattack trigger.

Plus hold charge takes about 1 second, so effectively a 3 hit hold attack sequence is similar to Ravenblade one if you execute it properly, and making alterattack with it is about as reliable as on Beatbolt, just because they feel kinda similar in way that they both need timings to execute it.

[Pizzarugi]

I'd put Beatbolt and Eye Blade on S tier. Beatbolt has devastating amounts of alterattack damage, and the Eye Blade has some of the highest alterattack chain bonus damage to make the former even more nasty. If you run a critical echo build, Beatbolt can easily hit 9k+ damage with curses.

I'd also put Sirocco on S tier. The alterattack projectiles can shotgun I think so the damage is a lot stronger than you may give it credit for.

[Jack Blastem]

Flip that list completely upside down and I would call it good. I actively debate starting a new game and not unlocking kunai because they are so, so, so bad.

[Umie]

Agreed with Ravenblade placement. There's something weird about its attack chain, I'm always eating damage. The hold attack and alter are great.