All weapons at a glance
These are the numbers the Research Lab’s Weapons tab showed on November 4 in Early Access. Upgrades raise them, and Octopus Panic says it will keep rebalancing during Early Access.
| Weapon | Damage | Fire rate | Magazine | How it crits | Best at |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pulse Rifle (starter) | 17 (10 before upgrades) | 1.0x, ~1.03x upgraded | 24 | Random crits | All-round swarm clearing |
| Shotgun | 12 per pellet | 1.0x | 7 | Land every pellet in one shot | Close range, defending the base |
| Sniper | 105 | 1.0x | 5 | Crits after consecutive hits without a miss | Elites and big targets from range |
| Grenade Launcher | 95 | 1.0x | 5 | Direct hits crit | Tight groups, area damage |
The card text is our paraphrase of the in-game descriptions.
How to unlock weapons
- Finish expeditions to earn Research Points (RP). Milestones, such as kills, damage and miles of pipeline, pay RP too. See the Research Lab.
- On your ship, open the Research Lab and go to the Weapons tab.
- Pick a locked weapon and pay its cost. In the footage, the locked weapons showed a cost of 250 of one currency next to your Research Points ⚠️ (the icon was hard to read).
- On your next expedition, the first reward pod offers every weapon you’ve unlocked, so you can take the new one straight in. Octopus Panic added this before the demo.
Grenades and grenade mods
Every Gravhound carries grenades on top of the main weapon. Before the demo, Octopus Panic gave grenades higher damage, a larger blast radius, longer throwing range and a longer fuse.
Grenade behaviour can be changed by mods from the Research Lab’s Mods tab:
| Mod | What it does |
|---|---|
| Cluster Grenades | Grenades split into smaller explosives that scatter and detonate |
| Inferno Grenades | Grenades explode on impact and set enemies in the blast on fire |
| Blast Radius | Bigger explosion radius for all your blasts |
All mods and their branches: mods.
The Grav Beam
The Grav Beam isn’t a weapon slot, but it’s half of the game’s combat. It grabs and throws objects, flings enemies and carries Build Kits and resources to teammates. Octopus Panic warns that hauling volatile materials with it “may result in unforeseen loss of Gravhounds”, and its launch notes say to use it on mission objects that get stuck.
Which weapon should you pick?
- New players or solo: stay on the Pulse Rifle. Big magazine, no aiming conditions for crits.
- Base defender: Shotgun. Swarms come to you, and close range is when every pellet lands.
- Pack with good turret coverage: Sniper for Leapers, elites and the Juggernaut. Keep hitting to keep the crit chain going.
- Big waves at chokepoints: Grenade Launcher, with Blast Radius if you have it.
This is our reading of how each weapon’s crit rule works, not tested damage per second. Weapons and mods are being rebalanced through Early Access.