Planets aren’t the only thing Bethesda added loads of in Starfield. Their latest space game offers endless ways to customize your character, beat the main story, and cruise around the open-world, and while this sounds cool and all, the mechanics often feel too daunting. Starfield’s weapon tier system is especially what will give you a hard time since it’s so complicated.
The hundreds of weapons in Starfield seem to be categorized in terms of rarity and tier, but players even dozens of hours in are having a tough time understanding which matters more. To get you out of the best weapon in Starfield conundrum, this guide will break down what you should be looking for when choosing your primary.
What Are Weapon Tiers In Starfield
There are four weapon tiers in Starfield which include base, Calibrated, Refined, and Advanced. Unfortunately, you can’t upgrade a weapon’s tier by any means, so always prioritize getting a better tier of the weapon you want and then add modifiers to it using a Workbench.
Base weapons in Starfield are the weakest tier. They aren’t actually called base in the game, instead, they will have no adjective as a prefix and you’ll see them grayed color color-coded. The Calibrated weapon tier is next in line in terms of damage, and Refined weapons after that. The Advanced weapon tier is the strongest tier in Starfield since it offers the highest stats, and you should always keep an eye out for them.
You’ll only have base weapons in the beginning, but as your level keeps on increasing, so will the frequency at which you find better weapons. The general rule of thumb remains that Calibrated weapons appear around level 10, Refined around level 25, and Advanced around level 40. However, Starfield isn’t a game that restricts your interactions with NPCs, and there’s a pretty good chance if you venture far enough, you might just find many Advanced weapons way earlier – provided you can take down mighty enemies.
Contrary to popular rumors that state there’s a fifth tier known as Superior, I have personally not found or seen evidence of any weapon in that tier yet. Superior Armor does exist in Starfield, but as far as weapons are concerned, Advanced seems to be as good as it gets.
What Is Weapon Rarity In Starfield?
The greater the number of modifiers a gun has, the higher will be its weapon rarity in Starfield. Weapon rarity is of four types which include Common Weapons that have no modifiers, Rare Weapons that have one modifier, Epic Weapons that have two modifiers, and Legendary Weapons that have three modifiers.
Modifiers are neat little buffs or perks a weapon comes installed with. They can range from anything as simple as increased damage to aliens to something like adding a bleeding effect to bullets or getting you some extra space credits. That said, weapon tiers in Starfield almost always matter more than rarity.
Higher rarity weapons do have awesome perks but because base weapons have extremely low stats, their damage is too low for those benefits to make much of a difference. If you ever want to get your hands on the best weapons in Starfield, make sure they’re ones with the Advanced tier and Legendary rarity. That way, you’ll get the best of all worlds.
