Battle Shapers – All Weapons Overview

This article is a big, all-in-one guide. It talks about all the weapons in the game before the Power Transfer Update. Echter, it’s important to know that it might have some opinions that favor one side more than others.

Invoering

Hallo! Here’s my short overview of the Battle Shapers weapons! Zoals vermeld, this guide gives a thorough view of all the weapons available in the game as of now. Will it have strong opinions? Absolutely.

Keeping that in mind, let’s start with the trusty sidearm that most players are already familiar with.

The Argument

Normaal gesproken, I’ll give a brief talk about each weapon. I’ll talk about what it’s good at, where it falls short, and how practical it is, considering all of that. Nu, let’s talk about The Argument. It’s decent. It’s a good weapon to kick off with, and some might even say it’s better than certain other weapons you get early in a game. Echter, it doesn’t score very high because it’s only available as a starting weapon. Dus, don’t cling to it for too long.

Rank: C

I’m going to give each weapon a rank from S to C, except for one special case.

• S-Rank means I think the weapon is really great in any situation.
• A-Rank means it’s a good choice no matter what.
• B-Rank means it’s good in some specific situations and builds, but not all.
• C-Rank means it’s not very useful in most situations.

Akkoord, with the format explained, I’ll cover everything in alphabetical order. Let’s begin!

Accelerator

The Accelerator

Starting strong, we’ve got a regular railgun here. If you just tap the left mouse button, The Accelerator shoots a somewhat disappointing projectile in a clumsy, short arc. You’ll quickly figure out that this isn’t the way to use it. The Accelerator is the first of many guns with a charging feature. If you hold the left mouse button to fully charge it, the projectile turns into a super accurate, high-damage beam.

Nu, what makes The Accelerator even cooler is its critical charge feature. If you fire at the precise moment when the charging cycle finishes, the charged shot turns red, and it deals guaranteed critical damage while going through enemies. It’s easy to time because the gun’s parts slide back and make a unique sound when the cycle completes. Once you get the hang of The Accelerator’s rhythm, it becomes incredibly powerful in almost any situation, although it’s not the best against large groups of enemies.

Rank: A

Aftershock

The Aftershock

This gun is a fantastic introduction to Vibro weapons and is like having a portable bullet-hell machine. The Aftershock is a submachine gun that shoots bullets that bounce around, so it’s not meant for precise kills. It’s designed for spraying in the general direction of enemies. This is because Vibro weapons are all about crowd control. The Vibro status spreads damage among all enemies with Vibro stacks on them. This means that you can quickly deal with groups by shooting in their general direction. What’s even cooler is that if you hit enemies repeatedly, you can trigger the Resonance effect, which slows down the whole group and deals even more Vibro damage, possibly setting off a chain reaction.

Algemeen, it’s a great weapon for dealing with groups of enemies, but it’s not the best choice for a boss fight because it lacks single-target damage.

Belangrijke opmerking: If you ever come across an Aftershock with Multishot, don’t hesitate – grab it! It’s a quick and easy way to make life difficult for everyone in the tower who isn’t you.

Rank: A

Banisher

The Banisher

This is quite an interesting weapon in the context of Battle Shapers gameplay. The Banisher is a semi-automatic Designated Marksman Rifle (DMR) that excels at landing precise hits, particularly headshots. Its hitscan rounds are very effective, but it does have some competition with the Accelerator, as both are long-range precision weapons. Echter, the Accelerator tends to be more effective in that role. It largely depends on your preference. Are you accurate enough to consistently hit those headshots that the Banisher specializes in, or does the rhythm of the Accelerator feel more natural to you? Voor mij, it’s the latter, en als gevolg, the Banisher has always seemed somewhat underwhelming by comparison.

Rank: B

Battering Ram

The Battering Ram

Oh dear, I have to confess that the Battering Ram is one of the very few shotguns in video games that I just don’t enjoy. It does an okay amount of damage for a shotgun, but there are several factors that make it feel quite disappointing. These include its single-round magazine and its very cartoonish sound effect. My recommendation: simply recycle it and look for something better.

Rank: C

Crescent Blade

The Crescent Blade

This is the second and final railgun-type weapon in the game, and it’s quite a technical piece of equipment. When you tap the left mouse button, it shoots a wide but slow projectile that inflicts Shock damage. Charging the weapon allows it to fire an even wider projectile that can go through enemies, letting you hit entire groups if you’re positioned right. While this might seem excellent in theory, I’ve found that the time spent trying to set up these big shots is often better spent keeping an eye on your own position and the threats nearby. Kortom, it’s a weapon that can easily make you focus too much on things that aren’t actually that important in your current situation, and it doesn’t help that its charging cycle doesn’t give as much feedback as the Accelerator’s does.

Rank: B

Crimson Repeater

The Crimson Repeater

This little handgun is quite incredible, and it’s defined by a few key features. On one hand, it’s the first Pyro weapon you’re likely to come across, and its standard shots are pretty accurate incendiary rounds. But what really sets the Crimson Repeater apart is its combination of a fast charge time and a charged shot that fires a homing round, causing a spectacular explosion on impact. These characteristics make it an extremely effective weapon for dealing damage at any range, especially when Pyro stacks build up enough to trigger the Meltdown status. Eerlijk gezegd, there’s no situation in a run where this gun is a bad choice.

If you spot it, grab it. If it happens to have Multishot, you’re good to go for the rest of the run.

Rank: S

Firestarter

The Firestarter

This is the first grenade launcher you’ll come across in the game, although it took me a while to find it. The Firestarter fires sticky grenades that explode after a delay, and it shoots them in bursts of three. They have a bit of a horizontal spread, making it tricky to hit a target with more than one grenade unless you’re very close, and hitting flying targets is a challenge. Despite these challenges, the Firestarter delivers impressive damage and can trigger Meltdown on multiple targets rapidly thanks to its substantial blast radius. It’s a great choice for dealing with ground targets and bosses. Naar mijn mening, it’s a solid weapon.

Belangrijke opmerking: Developers, I’m addressing you directly here. Alsjeblieft, for the sake of all that’s good in the world, change this weapon’s emissives to orange instead of white. It looks quite out of place compared to the other Pyro weapons.

Rank: A

Ion Blaster

The Ion Blaster

This is a good all-around option, and it’s more of a precise handgun compared to its relatives. It deals Shock damage on regular hits and adds a Shock stack on precision hits. The Ion Blaster can consistently trigger EMP effects on important targets, keeping them right where you want them.

Special note: This gun might actually have one of the coolest reload animations ever. Kudos to whoever at Metric Empire is responsible for that.

Rank: A

Needleator

The Needleator

It’s a decent all-around weapon, but it has one drawback – it’s a Kinetic weapon. While that may not sound too bad, it means that more specialized “elemental” weapons often perform better because they can make use of status effects and procs. The Needleator can serve as a reasonable temporary option, but it’s not something you want to depend on.

Rank: B

Plasma Carbine

De Plasma Carbine

In case you haven’t noticed, Pyro weapons in this game tend to cause things to explode, and the Plasma Carbine is no exception. This assault rifle has a slower rate of fire, but it’s incredibly good at continuously applying Pyro stacks and triggering Meltdown on both single targets and small groups. It’s equally effective against all types of enemies, including Juggernauts, because its explosive rounds allow it to deal consistent damage even against their shields. While it has a bit of recoil with each shot, the slower rate of fire means you can always control the weapon (except maybe not so much when under the effects of Rapidfire). It’s never a bad choice.

Rank: A

Quiver

De Quiver

It took us a while to get to another Vibro weapon, and The Quiver is a prime example of how Vibro weapons are all about crowd control. It shoots slightly slow but highly accurate projectiles that go through any enemies in their path, emitting Vibro pulses as they go. This is very effective at spreading Vibro stacks among groups of enemies. Echter, the slow projectile speed and limited magazine capacity mean that The Quiver lacks flexibility. It’s more of a situational weapon and not the best choice for boss fights.

Rank: B

Raging Blaze

De Raging Blaze

To put it simply, the Raging Blaze is a flamethrower. You’d think a flamethrower would be a symbol of Pyro weapons, but unfortunately, it’s not very effective. It can be hard to judge its range, the hitboxes for the flames feel inconsistent at close range, and despite its large magazine, it doesn’t deal much damage per “shot.” It relies heavily on building Pyro stacks and triggering Meltdown. Is it usable? Ja, but it’s also risky because of how close you need to get to enemies, and there are generally better options available.

Rank: C

Scourge

De Scourge

I like to call this one the softball launcher. The Scourge is the second grenade launcher on the list, and unlike the Firestarter, it fires a single round at a time. These grenades deal Kinetic damage and have both massive knockback and a huge blast radius. While that might sound impressive, my nickname for it stands because it actually does relatively low damage, focusing more on shoving enemies around than dealing substantial harm. Its effectiveness is closely tied to the Core you’re currently using, with the Wind Core likely getting the most out of it. Dus, ranking it will be a bit different.

Rank:

• B (with Wind Core)
• C (with anything else)

Shock Rifle

De Shock Rifle

This is an interesting addition to the Shock family of weapons. The Shock rifle shoots a continuous stream of precise projectiles that create electrical arcs to nearby enemies when they hit. Al met al, it’s a decent gun without any significant drawbacks, but it doesn’t particularly shine except for the crowd control it offers through its arcs, which can potentially trigger EMP effects. It’s a solid choice in almost any situation.

Rank: A

Sonic Lance

De Sonic Lance

I personally have some reservations about this weapon. It fires three-round bursts of wide and slow Vibro waves that can go through enemies, just like the Vibro weapons before it. Its specialty is spreading as many Vibro stacks as possible. That’s all fine, but I have two main issues with it. Eerst, the waves tend to collide with the terrain too easily, en ten tweede, the burst just feels… unpleasant. I can’t quite put my finger on why. Maybe it’s because of how long it takes to shoot all three rounds, but I find it hard to like, and this is coming from someone who typically enjoys burst-fire weapons.

Both the Quiver and Aftershock are better choices. If you already have one of them, I wouldn’t bother with this one.

Rank: C

Stormcaller

De Stormcaller

This is the first of the “special launchers,” and the Stormcaller feels like Battle Shaper’s version of the Mega Buster, and I mean that in the best possible way. True to my claim, it has a charge mechanic. When you don’t charge it, it fires small but fast energy blasts that explode on impact, dealing a solid amount of damage. When you fully charge the weapon, it discharges a large energy orb that moves slowly in a straight line, piercing through all enemies and bouncing off walls. You might be tempted to rely solely on charged shots, but believe me, the uncharged shot is good enough that you don’t have to.

Of the three “special launchers,” the Stormcaller is the best in its class.

Rank: A

Tectonic Launcher

De Tectonic Launcher

I’m sorry to say this, but it’s the worst weapon in the game. I don’t like saying that because the concept behind it is great, but in practice, it just doesn’t work. The Tectonic Launcher is a fully automatic rocket launcher that fires a continuous stream of airbursting Vibro warheads. It might sound fantastic in theory, and I thought so too, but this weapon is ruined by one critical issue: its rockets are range-fused. This means they explode after traveling a certain distance. Als gevolg hiervan, unless you’re shooting at the wall or the floor (which becomes useless if you’ve picked up bullet-ricochet cores), the Tectonic Launcher will only damage enemies in an extremely specific range, and most of the time, they won’t be in that range. I’m not even sure if it benefits from the explosion size bonus from the Volt Core. I’ve tested it, and it didn’t seem to make a difference.

For these reasons, I have to give it my lowest rank.

Rank: F

Nu, I have a plan for this and any other time in the future when I give something the F-Rank. I will make a suggestion to fix this weapon. In dit geval, Developers, please consider removing the range-fuse and replacing it with a proximity-fuse. This simple change would eliminate much of the frustration that currently comes from trying to use this weapon. I’m not trying to dictate how to make your game; I just dislike seeing a weapon that simply doesn’t work.

Wildvuur

De Wildvuur

This is the last of the “special launchers,” and the Wildfire is probably the closest to a typical rocket launcher, but it has a very special ability. As the rocket travels, it releases a constant stream of explosive plasma orbs that explode upon contact with enemies or the ground. When they hit the ground, they create a fiery puddle that inflicts Pyro damage on any enemy that comes into contact with it. This makes the Wildfire a surprisingly technical weapon compared to the rest of the Pyro family. It gives you the choice of dealing direct damage with the rocket or covering entire areas of the room by firing it overhead. It’s a cool trick, but I generally don’t find it particularly useful outside of specific circumstances.

Rank: B