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The best weapons and guns in Saros will vary depending on their specific stats and randomisers, but that doesn't mean that there aren't clear standouts and a few duds, with five main weapons and three variations of each of those, as well as a selection of four Power Weapons for when you really want to go all-out.
Now it goes without saying that this is taken at the assumption that all weapons are the same Proficiency level and without consideration of the random modifiers, so consider this a broad summary. If you're fighting your way through Saros carrying a Rank 20 S-tier weapon and you find a Rank 30 B-tier, it's absolutely worth it to swap them out. However, if you're about to go into a boss fight and want to reroll a weapon drop outside for something better, or if the game offers you a choice of two guns, here's the best options to prioritize, whether we're talking Main Weapons or Power Weapons.
The best weapons in Saros
Having played the whole game through and tested every gun, I can confidently say that the best weapons in Saros are the Eruptor Handcannon and Onslaught Rifle. Of the various Power Weapons, your best option is probably the Illumine or Prominence.
The Eruptor Handcannon and Onslaught Rifle are both similar in how they function and what makes them so good – their main attack is good for fighting foes when you're at a disadvantage, having Autohit on them, while the Alt-Fire rewards precision targeting in a major way. It means you're not locked into a specific combat style or approach, allowing you to alternate between defensive and offensive approaches and ultimately proving really versatile.
It also goes without saying that, if you can find it, you'll want the Corrupted versions of these weapons. For more info on these mechanics, check out our guide on Saros Corrupted Weapons here!
The Illumine and Prominence also share strong versatility, in that they work both against groups of weak foes and single powerful enemies, though the Illumine is a little better in this regard. The other two power weapons feel designed for specific sorts of encounters, whereas these two options are dangerous against any enemy.
Saros main weapons tier list
Below we've sorted all the main weapons in Saros into a full tier list of best to worst.
- S-tier
- Eruptor Handcannon: Burst-fire handgun. Alt-fire allows you to fire a charged shot that does extra damage to weakpoints.
- Onslaught Rifle: Full-auto AR. Alt-fire fires slower, heavier shots that do precision damage to weakpoints.
- A-tier
- Marksman Handcannon: Burst-fire handgun without the Saros Autohit function, designed for precision targeting. Alt-fire is a charged shot that marks enemies, activating the Autohit feature.
- Smart Rifle: Full-auto AR. Alt-fire turns rounds into homing missiles.
- Bifurcator Crossbow: Crossbow that can be charged, adding multiple bolts to the final shot. Bolts split over distance for a wider effect. Alt-fire is a single bolt that does damage, then splits into multiple homing projectiles.
- Impactor Crossbow: Crossbow that can be charged, adding multiple bolts to the final shot. Alt-fire is a single bolt that splits into homing projectiles if it hits an opponent's weakpoint.
- B-tier
- Ricochet Handcannon: Burst-fire handgun without Autohit. Projectiles ricochet and hit the nearest hostile. Alt-fire simply removes the fire rate limiter, allowing you to fire as fast as you can pull the trigger.
- Tactical Rifle: Full-auto AR. Alt-fire gradually increases fire rate, similar to a minigun.
- Horde Shotgun: Semi-auto shotgun with a horizontal spread of pellets. Alt-fire turns the barrel for a more concentrated vertical spread.
- Repeater Crossbow: Full-auto crossbow. Alt-fire shoots a single bolt that splits into multiple homing projectiles on contact.
- Myriad Chakram: Full-auto weapon that fires spinning discs that fly back after contact. Alt-fire disables Autohit, allowing precision shooting. Any discs that hit an enemy weakpoint immediately return to be fired again instantly.
- C-tier
- Stalwart Shotgun: Semi-auto shotgun with a general spread of pellets. Alt-fire creates a wall of hovering projectiles, which hang in the air until the next shot is fired, then fly at the target.
- Annihilator Shotgun: Semi-auto shotgun with a general spread of pellets. Alt-fire launches a grenade that explodes on impact.
- Ripsaw Chakram: Full-auto weapon that fires spinning discs that lodge in enemies, dealing damage over time. Triggering Alt-fire causes discs to spin faster, dealing more damage. Discs return when enemies are killed or Alt-fire is released.
- D-tier
- Reaping Chakram: Single-shot weapon that fires a disc at enemies. Alt-fire causes the disc to return to Arjun. Holding Alt-fire while the disc is returned causes it to spin around him, dealing damage to nearby enemies.
Saros power weapons tier list
Below we've listed the four Power weapons in a (much shorter) tier list for how you should prioritise them.
- S-tier
- Illumine: A charged beam that locks onto the target and does continuous damage while fired.
- Prominence: A single explosive shot that does major damage and stagger.
- A-tier
- Dispiritor: A stream of homing projectiles that do damage over time to enemies. When killed by this effect, the enemies leave beyond a temporary Cell that also fires projectiles. Best against swarms of enemies.
- Nova Lance: A charged railgun shot that passes through enemies and does major damage to weakpoints. Best against slow foes and certain bosses.
How to unlock all weapons in Saros
All weapons in Saros are tied to story progression: put simply, you just need to keep moving forward with the story. There are no secret or optional weapons in Saros that I could find, so you simply need to progress forward with the plot, at which point the game will unlock certain weapons at certain milestones, adding them to the random pool of found gear.
You'll encounter all Saros weapons in the following order:
- Handcannon variants (starting default)
- Prominence Power Weapon
- Rifle variants
- Shotgun variants
- Dispiritor Power Weapon
- Crossbow variants
- Nova Lance Power Weapon
- Chakram variants
- Illumine Power Weapon
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