Weapons
Weapons
In Starfield, weapons other than standard weapons are categorized by rarity: Rare, Epic, and Legendary, which are identified by color (teal, purple, gold) and number of perks (1, 2, or 3). Legendary and Epic weapons are stronger because they have additional effects, with Legendary having the most (up to three). These weapons drop randomly from enemies or can be found in loot boxes, with tougher enemies being more likely to drop rarer items.
What about unique (collectable) weapons?
Is there a comprehensive list of all ammo?
You can watch this video to learn how to get legendary weapons in Starfield:
| Rarity | Color | Number of Effects | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rare | Teal | 1 | Can have one extra effect in addition to base damage. |
| Epic | Purple | 2 | Can have two extra effects. |
| Legendary | Gold | 3 | Can have up to three extra effects. |
How to find them
- Looting: Search enemies and loot boxes for randomly generated gear.
- Elite Enemies: Higher-level enemies with extra armor and health are more likely to drop rare or better items.
- Unique Enemies: Some unique enemies have their own specific loot drops.
- Mission Rewards: Some unique weapons are rewards for completing specific missions.
- Farming: You can save before entering a new area or before fighting a specific boss and reload if the loot is not what you want. This increases your chances of finding better gear.
- Unique Weapons: Some unique weapons are tied to specific quests or locations, like Heller’s Cutter on Vectera or the Deadeye pistol from the Freestar Rangers.
This video shows how to farm for legendary and epic weapons in Starfield:
How effects work
- The number of effects corresponds to the rarity, but the effects themselves can also be tiered (Rare, Epic, Legendary).
- A Legendary weapon will have at least one Legendary effect, an Epic one, and a Rare effect.
- Some effects might not be applicable to all weapon types, for example, a gun-only effect on a melee weapon.
- The game can sometimes get overloaded by effects that proc multiple times, leading to performance issues.
Calibrated, Advanced, Modified, etc
In Starfield, Calibrated indicates a higher base-damage weapon tier, while Modified means the weapon has added attachments, but the tier (Basic, Calibrated, Refined, Advanced) determines the fundamental strength, with higher tiers offering more damage and Legendary items adding unique perks, making a good Legendary Calibrated potentially better than a basic Advanced, but an Advanced version always beats a Calibrated of the same base weapon.
Weapon Tiers (Quality/Base Damage)
These prefixes denote the inherent power and are tied to your character level.
- Basic: Default, lowest tier.
- Calibrated: Second tier, better base stats than Basic.
- Refined: Third tier, stronger base stats.
- Advanced: Fourth tier, significantly higher base damage.
- Superior: Top tier, highest base damage (often seen with Advanced due to a naming quirk).
This video explains the different weapon tiers in Starfield:
Modifiers (Attachments/Rarity)
These come from crafting or finding better versions and add bonuses or unique traits.
- Modified: A general term for a weapon with any mods attached (e.g., scopes, magazines).
- Rarity Prefixes (e.g., Assassin’s, Furious, Disassembler): These are unique modifiers found on Rare (blue), Epic (purple), or Legendary (yellow) items, granting special combat effects, as noted in the Starfield Wiki.
Key Difference:
- A Calibrated Grendel (Tier 2) does more base damage than a Basic Grendel.
- A Modified Grendel simply means something has been added, but it could still be a Basic tier weapon with just a scope.
- You can have a Rare Calibrated weapon with unique perks (like ‘Furious’) that performs better than an Epic Refined weapon without perks, but an Advanced version of the same gun always has higher base damage than its Calibrated counterpart.