Returnal best weapons: All the best guns and how to use them

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The best weapons in Returnal to choose - if you can find them

Returnal best weapons
(Image credit: Future)

The Returnal best weapons are probably the Carbine, Blaster and Electropylon driver, all of which are versatile and deadly in the right hands. With Returnal now on PC, players coming to the game would be well advised to grab any of these, but it's not easy - the roguelike randomised elements means you might not find any of them, or be forced to drop them in favour of worse guns at a higher level. We'll cover the best options for you to choose from below, in our guide to all the best guns and weapons in Returnal.

Returnal best weapon - Tachyomatic Carbine

Returnal best weapons

(Image credit: Sony)

Kicking things off in the list of Returnal best weapons is the Tachyomatic Carbine, which is the closest thing to an assault rifle you're going to find on Atropos. Depending on the weapon traits, it has multiple firing modes like a slower rate of fire with higher damage per shot or akin to a chain gun that fires faster the longer you hold the trigger down for, but either way the Tachyomatic Carbine is the best all-round weapon in Returnal that can deal serious damage up close or from a distance. It's especially good against flying enemies.

Spitmaw Blaster

Returnal best weapons

(Image credit: Sony)

The Spitmaw Blaster is essentially the shotgun of the Returnal world, which means it knows its role and it fills it well. Firing from the hip when you're in the face of enemies and dashing about the place as quickly as you can works well, or you can aim down the sights to focus your shots and hit targets slightly further away. It's not quite as versatile as the Tachyomatic Carbine but will serve you well up close.

Electropylon Driver

Returnal best weapons

(Image credit: Sony)

Finally, we have the Electropylon Driver. You won't unlock this lightning-themed weapon until much later in the game so don't think you can find it from the get-go, but when you do unlock it and start coming across it, we don't recommend passing it up. This essentially sends out pylons that can attach to enemies and surfaces, causing damage over time.

Atropian Blade

Returnal best weapons

(Image credit: Sony)

This is sort of a trick inclusion because you'll always have the sword on you (once you unlock it for the first time), but it is seriously good at taking down smaller enemies. Test it out on the standard foes in the Overgrown Ruins and you'll find it one-hit-kills basically all of them, along with being a useful tool to finish off tougher enemies in later areas like the Derelict Citadel.

All that being said, the pace of combat in Returnal means that slashing an enemy usually leaves you very vulnerable to their immediate follow up - so if you go for a melee kill and it doesn't instantly end them, you need to immediately turn around and dash away as fast as possible - otherwise the alien in question will either try to take a bite out of you or unleash a vast barrage of projectiles you have no chance of dodging so close up.

Ford James
Ford James

Give me a game and I will write every "how to" I possibly can or die trying. When I'm not knee-deep in a game to write guides on, you'll find me hurtling round the track in F1, flinging balls on my phone in Pokemon Go, pretending to know what I'm doing in Football Manager, or clicking on heads in Valorant.