The Outer Worlds best guns: Which weapons should you be using?

Picking the Outer Worlds best guns isn't easy - there's a lot of them, a lot to them, and some of them are just... odd, science weapons that defy any kind of sense. You'll need to know the best weapons though, as surviving in these crazy colonies will require being very well armed indeed. We've been gunning through the game though, and we've laid out all the Outer Worlds best guns options.

It's also worth adding in a quick disclaimer about how weapons work in The Outer Worlds. Standard guns have basic names like "Assault Rifle", "Light Machine Gun", "Tactical Shotgun", etc. You can find these in droves and when looking at your inventory screen, they're on a standard black background. As you get further into the game, you'll come across improved versions of the base weapons, indicated by things like "Mk2" and "Ultra" in the name.

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Unique weapons will have special names and descriptions, and they'll feature a gold icon behind them. These are usually slightly more powerful than their standard counterparts, although keep an eye on the weapon level and damage because you'll outgrow the early ones eventually.

Finally, the Science weapons have a blue background, and there's only five of them in the entire game. These have unique effects, and you'll need to complete the Weapons from the Void quest to obtain them all. Since they're so unique, we won't be covering them in this guide, but we have a dedicated The Outer Worlds Science weapons guide that goes into detail on how to get each one.

Assault Rifle

Perhaps my favourite weapon in the entire game is the bog standard Assault Rifle. It uses Heavy ammo and has 24 bullets in a magazine, with each one dealing significant damage. You can install a barrel, magazine, and sight mod to it, and it staggers enemies.

When you make it to the C3 base near Devil's Peak on Monarch, you can find the unique Assault Rifle called Thunder lying on the table inside the building. This does shock damage and carried me through to the end of the game.

Plasma Cutter

When it comes to the best melee weapons in The Outer Worlds, the Plasma Cutter wins by a long shot. This one-handed melee sword can be swung rapidly and as you'd expect, it deals some severe Plasma damage. You can attach both a Grip and Attack mod too, which makes the Plasma Cutter one of the best melee weapons to use throughout the game.

Tactical Shotgun

For those times you need to get up close and personal, the Tactical Shotgun is your friend. This is perfect for when you've got Mantisaurs or melee Marauders getting all up in your business, especially if you enable Time-Dilation and hit a few weak spots. You can install both a Barrel and Magazine mod to spruce it up even further.

Flamethrower

If you find yourself with a surplus of Energy ammo, get a Flamethrower out. It deals severe burn damage, as you'd expect, and is perfect for emitting continuous damage at multiple enemies at once. You can also install a Magazine mod to make it burn enemies and deal a specific type of damage like Shock or Corrosion.

Light Machine Gun

Our final choice for the list of the best Outer Worlds weapons is the Light Machine Gun. Chances are, you'll have a huge amount of Light ammo because Heavy and Energy seem to be harder to find. If that's the case, whip out a Light Machine Gun and spray to your heart's content at enemies, because you'll start burning through your excess ammo in no time at all.