Starfield features a diverse arsenal of weapons, categorized by damage type and function. Understanding their strengths and weaknesses is crucial for effective combat.
Weapon Types:
- Ballistic: Standard firearms using physical projectiles. Effective against unshielded targets and for raw damage. Examples: Beowulf, Magshear, Regulator.
- Laser: Energy weapons that deal thermal damage. Excellent against shielded enemies and robots. Examples: Equinox, Inflictor.
- Particle Beam: Hybrid weapons dealing both physical and energy damage. Versatile and powerful. Examples: Va'ruun Inflictor, Big Bang.
- Electromagnetic (EM): Non-lethal weapons designed to disable targets (ships or enemies) without destroying them. Useful for boarding ships. Examples: Novablast Disruptor.
- Melee: Close-quarters weapons. Can be surprisingly effective with the right skills. Examples: Tanto, Wakizashi, Combat Knife.
- Explosives: Grenades and mines for area-of-effect damage. Examples: Fragmentation Grenade, Incendiary Mine.
Weapon Rarities & Modifiers:
Weapons come in different rarities, indicated by their name color:
- Common (White): No special modifiers.
- Calibrated (Blue): Slightly improved stats.
- Refined (Purple): Better stats and often one unique modifier.
- Advanced (Yellow): Significantly improved stats and often two unique modifiers.
- Legendary (Orange): Best stats and up to three unique modifiers.
Unique modifiers (e.g., 'Incendiary,' 'Explosive,' 'Frenzy') provide powerful bonus effects. Look for these on higher rarity weapons.
Weapon Modding:
At a Weapon Workbench, you can customize your weapons with various mods (scopes, barrels, magazines, grips, etc.). These mods can improve accuracy, damage, recoil, and add special effects like suppressors. Researching 'Weapon Engineering' skills unlocks more advanced mods.