Starfield’s best weapons depend on playstyle, but top contenders include the Revenant (legendary Magshear for raw power), Eternity’s Gate (powerful particle beam), Big Bang (shotgun with AoE potential), and Var’Run Inflictor (high DPS particle rifle). For versatility, the Beowulf offers great ammo availability, while early-game options like the N67 Smartgun or AA-99 are excellent. The Last Priest is a standout melee weapon.
Top-Tier & Late-Game Weapons
Revenant (Legendary Magshear): A powerful Magshear that scales with your level, great for high-level play.
Eternity’s Gate: A unique particle beam weapon with high damage, found during the main quest.
Var’Run Inflictor: A top-tier particle rifle with high DPS, accuracy, and range, especially with mods like Annihilator Rounds for AoE damage.
Big Bang: An excellent shotgun, especially with the right mods, offering high impact.
The Last Priest: A top-tier melee weapon, a super-powered version of the Va’Ruun Painblade.
Versatile & All-Around Favorites
Beowulf: A highly versatile ballistic rifle with common ammo and good stats across the board, great for many situations.
Grendel: Good for crowd control and close-quarters due to cheap ammo.
AA-99: A solid choice for medium range, easily modifiable.
Early Game & Unique Finds
N67 Smartgun: A powerful minigun accessible early on for big damage.
Experiment A-7: A powerful shotgun from the “Entangled” quest, dealing extra damage to alien life.
Particle Beam Weapons: Very strong (like the Inflictor, Eternity’s Gate) but can’t be silenced.
Ballistic Rifles: Offer great variety (Hard Target for sniping, Beowulf for general use).
Melee: Can be powerful, especially with specific legendaries, but generally less versatile than guns.
How do unique weapons compare to their non-unique counterparts?
Trickshot vs Modified Advanced Magshot
In Starfield, the Trickshot is a unique pistol with a special Skipshot perk, firing two projectiles every fourth shot, making it powerful early on, while the Modified Advanced Magshot is a top-tier, high-damage version of the standard Magshot, often found later or with powerful legendary perks like Instigating and Frenzy, excelling in raw damage, especially against armored foes. The Trickshot offers unique utility and consistent damage amplification, whereas the Advanced Magshot provides immense base damage and potential for game-breaking legendary effects, making them different tools for different stages or playstyles.
Experiment A-7 vs. Standard Breach Shotgun
MODDING: Obtain Standard or Advanced Breach Shotgun and perhaps modify per table below.
The Experiment A-7 is a unique, pre-modded variant of the standard Breach shotgun in the game Starfield, featuring a significant damage boost against alien enemies and excellent base stats. It is obtained during the “Entangled” main quest by successfully persuading security officer Ethan to give it to you.
Feature
Experiment A-7
Standard Breach Shotgun
Type
Unique weapon variant (Legendary/Epic tier)
Standard ballistic weapon
Perks
Comes with the Exterminator perk (+30% damage to alien creatures)
No inherent unique perks (perks depend on random generation/tier)
Mods
Comes fully modded with up to 8 pre-installed modifications, such as flechette rounds or scopes.
Base version has no mods; mods must be added manually by the player.
Base Damage
Base damage can be very high, potentially reaching 650+ with high character levels and skills.
Base physical damage is around 160 (for an “Advanced” version), but actual value depends heavily on character level and weapon tier.
Acquisition
Obtained during the main quest “Entangled” on Freya III, usually via a successful persuasion check.
Found randomly as loot, bought from vendors, or acquired via various quests.
Key Differences
Damage Potential: While the base damage of a standard “Advanced” Breach shotgun can be high, the Experiment A-7’s unique perk makes it exceptionally powerful against alien life, which is frequent in the game.
Modifications: The A-7 saves the player a significant amount of time and resources by coming fully equipped with high-tier mods right away. A standard Breach requires investment in weapon engineering skills and materials to reach a similar level of modification.
Availability: The Experiment A-7 is a guaranteed, one-time drop during a specific main mission, whereas standard Breach shotguns are random world drops.
In summary, the Experiment A-7 is generally a superior version of the Breach due to its unique “Exterminator” perk and full suite of mods, making it one of the best shotguns in Starfield for a significant portion of the game, especially when fighting non-human enemies.
Unrestrained Vengeance vs Amped-Up Orion (with a note about Unmitigated Violence)
MODDING: The Amped-Up Orion can be modded to potentially exceed Unrestrained Vengeance as described below.
In the game Starfield, the unique weapon Unrestrained Vengeance is a variant of the Orion rifle, meaning a highly modified standard Orion (an “amped up Orion”) can potentially surpass it depending on the quality of mods and the player’s skills.
Weapon Comparison
Unrestrained Vengeance: This is a specific rare unique version of the Orion laser rifle acquired during the “A High Price to Pay” main mission.
Perk: It comes pre-equipped with the Hitman weapon effect, which grants +15% damage while aiming.
Mods: It has two pre-installed modifications.
Acquisition: It has fixed stats (aside from potential tier scaling in NG+) and is a guaranteed drop if specific conditions are met during a quest.
Amped-Up Orion: This refers to a standard (or Calibrated, Refined, Advanced) Orion laser rifle that a player has potentially found as a rare/epic/legendary drop with random perks, or has modified heavily themselves at a weapon workbench.
Perk: The specific “Amped-Up Orion” unique weapon has the Handloading perk. General “amped-up” (player-modded) versions can have different perks.
Mods: The base Orion supports up to seven modification slots. A player can optimize these mods (e.g., Amplifier, Focus Nozzle, scopes) to maximize damage output and versatility.
Potential: Because players can continuously improve the base Orion through higher base tiers (Calibrated, Refined, Advanced) found as they level up and apply optimal mods and legendary perks, a player-built “amped-up” (fully optimized) version often outperforms the fixed-perk Unrestrained Vengeance.
Conclusion
While the Unrestrained Vengeance is a solid unique weapon available early in the game, an optimized, player-modded, high-tier (Advanced) Orion will generally be superior due to the ability to select the best possible modifications and potentially acquire more powerful random legendary perks. The choice ultimately depends on playstyle and how much time a player invests in weapon customization and farming for high-tier base weapons.
Unmitigated Violence
There is another unique version of the Orion weapon called Unmitigated Violence. This is the Hunter’s main weapon, so it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise to learn that it’s one of the best guns in Starfield. Players can get the Legendary laser rifle by killing the Hunter at the Buried Temple, which isn’t an option if players choose to side with him at the end of the Unearthed main story mission. As such, those who want to get their hands on his gun should either choose the Emissary or nobody.
Peacekeeper vs Advanced AA-99
MODDING: High Mod Potential: Supports numerous modifications, letting you customize it for stealth (suppressor, scope) or raw damage (explosive rounds, full-auto receiver).
The main difference is that the Peacekeeper is a unique variant of the AA-99 that comes with a set of superior, pre-installed modifications and traits, making it a consistently powerful weapon from the moment you get it. An “Advanced AA-99” is a standard weapon tier that provides a damage bonus, but its specific modifications and traits will vary randomly.
Peacekeeper (Unique AA-99)
Acquisition: Rewarded upon completion of the “Ground Pounder” quest in the Altter system.
Consistency: Always comes with the same set of pre-installed, high-tier modifications, making it reliably powerful regardless of player level when acquired.
Modifications: Features four pre-installed mods, typically including an extended magazine (50 rounds), a long barrel, a laser sight, a reflex sight, and an ergonomic stock.
Performance: Known for its high rate of fire, large magazine capacity, and accuracy, making it highly effective in close to medium-range combat.
Advanced AA-99 (Standard Tier)
Acquisition: Found as random loot from high-level enemies, purchased from vendors, or found in containers, usually at higher player levels.
Consistency: The “Advanced” prefix ensures a high base damage tier (above Basic, Calibrated, and Refined), but other factors are variable.
Modifications & Traits:
Mods: Comes with a random assortment of mods, if any. You will likely need to spend credits and resources to fully trick it out.
Traits: May or may not have legendary traits (e.g., Hitman, Shattering, Exterminator), which are also randomly generated.
Performance: Can potentially achieve higher overall damage than the Peacekeeper if you find an “Advanced” version with optimal random legendary traits and apply the best mods, but this requires luck and investment.
Summary
The Peacekeeper is an excellent, guaranteed early-to-mid-game weapon that provides a strong, consistently performing auto rifle right away. An Advanced AA-99 has a higher potential ceiling if you invest time and resources into finding a version with perfect traits and modifications, but its base performance is variable depending on what mods it starts with.
