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In this weapon tier list, we go in-depth on all Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core weapons, explaining how good they are and how they compare across tiers to give you a better understanding of what to pick and what to avoid.
The weapons aren't ordered in any specific way in each category because all weapons in each category are roughly on the same level.
S-tier guns are the best of the best, and you should pick them whenever possible. They are all good with their default loadout and damage, but only get better with upgrades.
The Deepcore GK2 is a returning weapon from DRG. It was already very strong there, but it is even better in Rogue Core.
Even as a standalone baseline weapon, the GK2 is extremely powerful thanks to its fast fire rate, solid damage, and quick reload speed.
Once upgraded — especially with a larger magazine — this becomes one of my favorite weapons in the entire game, alongside the next weapon on the list.
This weapon might look like a pistol, but “Hand Cannon” would be a far more fitting name. It deals massive damage, melts even bosses, and also has splash damage that clears groups of enemies with ease.
This weapon is absolutely godlike, but it does have one downside: its extremely high fire rate causes it to burn through ammo very quickly.
The best way to deal with this is by increasing its magazine size and ammo capacity. Aside from that, this is easily the best pistol in the entire game.
Shotguns, in general, are extremely strong in Rogue Core because of the high enemy density and the close-quarters nature of most encounters.
The Warthog is the best of the bunch thanks to its fast fire rate, quick reload speed, and overall damage output.
The best upgrades for the Warthog are any that increase its damage or magazine size.
The Hammercaster is a slug-firing shotgun with massive range and insane weak spot damage.
The weapon does have a fairly small magazine, which should be upgraded as soon as possible, but aside from that, the gun is extremely strong for crowd control and for hitting enemies from a distance without having to commit to a close-range shotgun like the Warthog or Boomstick.
Probably the weapon with the highest potential in Rogue Core is the Bolt-Tec Decker. By default, the weapon is solid but nothing particularly special. However, once you obtain a few workbench upgrades for it — especially a double magazine upgrade — this gun becomes an absolute monster and can easily turn into the best weapon in the game.
It has an extremely high fire rate, excellent accuracy, high damage, and once upgraded, it absolutely melts everything.
The best heavy weapon option you can choose is the Minigun. It has a very high ammo capacity, a large magazine, solid damage, and becomes extremely accurate once you fire it continuously for a second or two.
Where this weapon truly shines is in its weak spot damage. After firing for a few seconds, it practically turns into a laser beam because of how accurate it becomes.
The main upgrades I would recommend are damage, spread reduction, and elemental damage.
A-tier guns are very good, but either require some upgrades to get on the S-tier level or are just a little below them.
The MM4-Charger is a solid pistol that can be charged to increase its damage up to five times.
The main downside of the weapon is that you will usually want to fully charge your shots for maximum damage, which quickly burns through your ammo supply. Without magazine size or ammo upgrades, this weapon consumes ammo extremely fast.
Aside from that, the weapon’s biggest strength is its high base damage when using charged shots, especially against elite enemies.
This weapon is also not hitscan, making it slightly harder to land shots consistently.
A returning favorite from DRG, the Bulldog Heavy Revolver is a high-damage pistol with a very small magazine size that can handle almost any type of content.
The main reason it is not in S-tier is that the gun only holds 4 bullets per magazine, which feels terrible during larger enemy waves. Without an extended magazine upgrade, the weapon can become very frustrating to use.
However, once you obtain that upgrade, there is very little content this gun cannot handle.
A very fast-firing assault rifle that deals less damage but makes up for it by not requiring reloads.
The rifle can overheat, which becomes a major downside during combat since you cannot speed up the cooldown process once it overheats.
Aside from that, this weapon has some insane upgrades, including one that turns its bullets into homing projectiles, which is incredibly overpowered.
A very powerful assault rifle that makes up for its heavy recoil with extremely serious damage. The main thing you want to improve on this weapon is the recoil, since it can completely ruin encounters if left unchecked.
Once you obtain a recoil reduction upgrade — or simply stack more damage upgrades — this weapon easily becomes S-tier.
B-tier is for good guns, but they need to be upgraded to be good enough, or are situational, which makes them less valuable than A and S-tier.
The Shock Striker is a very unique weapon because it never needs to reload, nor can it overheat. Its magazine slowly recharges over time and is fully emptied when fired.
The weapon’s damage increases based on the amount of ammo consumed, making it feel more like a shotgun that deals electric damage. Using more ammo also increases the splash damage, allowing the weapon to electrify enemies around your target.
Even though this sounds strong, the weapon struggles during fast-paced encounters where large groups of enemies are constantly pressuring you, since you often do not have enough time to fully charge your shots without getting overrun.
However, with reload speed or damage upgrades, it becomes a solid weapon.BRT7 Burst Fire Gun
A burst-fire pistol with fairly low damage, so why is it still in B-tier?
The reason is its insane synergy with elemental damage upgrades. If this weapon has any elemental upgrade attached to it, it can instantly apply those effects to enemies.
However, without elemental upgrades, the weapon is very weak. Only pick it up if it already has an elemental upgrade, or if you plan to visit a workbench and try to obtain one there.
The Lack Series-10 is what I would consider the best weapon in the middle of the pack. It does not do anything particularly insane, but there is also nothing bad about it. It is simply a very balanced weapon.
Good damage, decent fire rate, and a decent magazine size. The weapon is a solid choice to invest upgrades into, and if your other options are poor, this gun is always a reliable pick.
A close-range shotgun that fires 8 pellets with a very wide spread pattern. It also only has 2 shells per magazine, meaning you will be reloading constantly while using this weapon.
For characters that want to fight up close, this gun is extremely strong. However, for characters that prefer ranged combat, it performs terribly.
This is one of the few weapons whose tier ranking heavily depends on which character is using it. If you play Slicer, Redcon, or Guardian, this weapon is easily A-tier. However, if you play Falconer or Spotter, it drops all the way down to D-tier.
The Autocannon is a fast-firing heavy weapon that deals both kinetic and explosive damage. The longer you keep firing, the faster the weapon shoots.
Unfortunately, the damage output of the weapon is fairly lackluster, and it requires multiple damage upgrades before it can properly compete with other weapons.
The Rocket System has some of the same problems as the Autocannon, including lower overall damage. However, another issue is that the weapon can feel very awkward to use.
This is because the weapon is not hitscan, and the rockets follow your cursor. This means you can redirect rockets mid-flight toward another target. Sometimes this can be very useful, but other times it can cause you to miss shots because you need to dodge incoming attacks.
C-tier guns are guns that are very situational or need a lot of investment to become good enough to be used. I'd avoid most of these already unless you don't have a choice, or your build needs it.
The Voltaic SMG is a weapon you only pick if you need electric damage and have no other way to apply it. The weapon itself gets the job done, but its damage is very low, and the magazine size is small.
Upgrading the weapon does not really solve its problems until you invest 2–3 upgrades into it, making it a very situational choice.
A very fast-firing dual SMG that is ideal for melee-oriented characters. It has the highest fire rate in the game, but because of that, it deals low damage per bullet.
This weapon is only really effective on Slicer and Guardian if you cannot find a Boomstick for close-range combat.
In theory, the M-1000 Classic should be A-tier or even S-tier because it is extremely good at hitting weak spots.
There is one major problem, though. The weapon has a horrible spread while moving, making it nearly impossible to use effectively unless you stand still. Even recoil upgrades do not fully fix this issue.
Because of that, the weapon becomes very situational and mainly shines in runs where you obtain the Bastion Artifact, which increases your tankiness and damage while standing still.
This SMG is really only usable for melee-oriented characters. The weapon has the worst damage falloff in the game, making it nearly useless outside close range.
Within melee range, however, it is probably one of the most lethal weapons in the game. At that point, though, you would usually be better off running a melee build anyway.
The Breach Cutter has one singular purpose: cutting down hordes of enemies at once. Unfortunately, its insanely low ammo count completely ruins the weapon.
With only 18 maximum ammo, the gun quickly becomes worthless, and if there are no ammo containers nearby, it turns into nothing more than a wasted inventory slot.
Ammo capacity upgrades do improve the weapon, but they still do not make it a meta gun.
I would personally avoid any gun placed in this tier. They are either a lot worse than the competition or have something about them that just ruins the gun.
This gun has some of the worst accuracy I have ever seen. You cannot hit anything from a distance, and up close, other weapons simply perform better, making this a pointless gun that has no real place in the game.
There are no upgrades that can truly fix an inaccurate weapon.
A very unique weapon, but unfortunately, in a bad way. The only character I would even consider using it on is Guardian.
This gun shoots out a field that blocks bullets while also dealing damage. Sounds good, right? Well... the problem is that the weapon deals a whopping 8 damage. No other gun in the game deals less damage than this worthless piece of junk.
No amount of survivability can make up for a weapon that deals almost no damage.
Lastly, one of my favorite DRG weapons: the Deepcore 40MM PGL. Unfortunately, it sucks in Rogue Core.
I once had a Depth 3 run where I obtained a fully upgraded Deepcore, and a single shot could not even instantly kill basic enemies. That alone shows how weak it currently is.
This weapon is supposed to be a grenade launcher that fires one heavy-damage shot capable of destroying squishy enemies, but it cannot even do that reliably.
Unfortunately, this makes it my least favorite weapon in the entire game.
