Having the best V Rising weapons will undoubtedly increase your chances of survival. Of the 10 armaments in the game, some are categorically better than others — and worth spending your time acquiring. All have three versions — regular bone, copper, and iron — as well as Merciless upgrades for crafting at higher levels. Our tier list guide will tell you which are the best V Rising weapons in terms of damage and durability. We also include crafting recipes for Merciless versions.
Best Weapons in V Rising Ranked
SS-Tier Weapons
All Secrets of Gloomrot Shattered Legendaries
The Secrets of Gloomrot expansion introduced several new types of V Rising weapons, but the best are the new legendary Shattered weapons. In my experience, all of them. They have unique stats and abilities that can easily trump all other weapons in the game. The only downside is that you can only get them in the endgame.
All Gloomrot legendaries can be crafted in the Ancestral Forge, which is unlocked after you beat the Level 57 boss Raziel the Shepherd in the Dunley Monastery and Ziva the Engineer in Eastern Gloomrot. Once I bested those bosses, I started slaying V Bloods at Farbane Woods and Dunley Farmlands. These enemies drop random shattered weapons, which can be reforged in the Ancestral Forge into the new legendary weapons.
Shattered Legendary Crafting Recipe
- 3 Onyx Tears
- 1 Primal Blood Essence
- 1 Shattered Legendary Weapon
The Greatsword
If you haven’t reached the endgame bosses just yet, the next best V Rising weapon would be another new arm from the Secrets of Gloomrot expansion — The Greatsword. This thing is massive and has a wide arc that can easily slash through multiple enemies.
While that alone makes it one of my new favorites, you can use its Great Cleaver ability to stab a single target for lots of damage — or you can jump onto the enemies using the Death From Above ability, dealing savage blows in the process.
If you want to craft this excellent new weapon, then you must first unlock the crafting recipe by defeating the Level 44 boss Tristan the Vampire Hunter, who can be found around the Farbane Woods. This boss is extremely mobile, and his main weapon is a powerful sword, so be prepared to dodge his frequent attacks. Once you have the recipe (which can take some time, depending on your skill level), use it to craft the sword at the Smithy.
The Greatsword Crafting Recipe
- 12 Planks
- 15 Iron Ingots
Dual Pistols
The best V Rising ranged weapon is now the Dual Pistols, another addition in the Secrets of Gloomrot update. Up to this point, V Rising has always been more focused on close-range melee combat, and the ranged weapons category suffered greatly. Not so in the current version. Now you can be very effective at range with this set of iron pistols.
The Dual Pistols fire a barrage of 10 bullets in a mere 1.5 seconds, dealing 250% damage using the Fan the Hammer ability, or as I learned, you can also fire a single Explosive Bullet that deals 125% damage to a single target.
Just like with The Greatsword, you’llneed to find and defeat the Jade the Vampire Hunter, a Level 57 boss living at Dunley Farmlands. He’ll drop the recipe for making Dual Pistols at the Smithy.
Dual Pistols Crafting Recipe
- 15 Iron Ingots
- 12 Planks
V Rising: S-Tier Weapons
Slashers
The faster you are with your attacks in V Rising, the fewer chances enemies have to parry your attacks — or even answer them. The speed of Slasher weapons outpaces any others in the game, making them highly regarded within the V Rising community. And a reason I’m including them on this best weapons tier list.
Both the main attack and the Elusive Strike take no more than 0.2 seconds to execute. The latter deals 60% of physical damage, allowing you to dash back and forward, effectively dodging enemy attacks in the process. On top of that, you have the ability to become invisible with the Camouflage effect, which also increases your speed and damage. It’s an almost unbeatable double-whammy.
Merciless Iron Slashers Crafting Recipe
- 1 Iron Slashers
- 3 Regular Amethyst
- 3 Greater Blood Essence
- 3 Reinforced Plank
Swords
Swords have two important abilities that can be very useful in different combat situations. Whirlwind acts as an AoE attack that allows you to deal 35% damage to all nearby enemies, while Shockwave sends a targeted strike that deals 70% damage to a single enemy. If you recast this ability, you’ll be able to teleport to that enemy’s location and slice them down with a melee combo. Nice.
Merciless Iron Sword Crafting Recipe
- 1 Iron Sword
- 3 Regular Sapphire
- 3 Greater Blood Essence
- 3 Reinforced Plank
A-Tier Weapons
Spears
If you want to have an advantage in both close and ranged combat situations, then a spear would be an excellent choice. The Harpoon ability allows you to throw a spear at a target to damage it quickly. You can then pull them back to you for another round of devastating melee attacks.
If you’re close to an enemy, then you can use the A Thousand Spears attack, which executes a series of stabs that end with a powerful thrust dealing 50% damage.
Merciless Iron Spear Crafting Recipe
- 1 Iron Spear
- 3 Regular Topaz
- 3 Greater Blood Essence
- 3 Reinforced Plank
Axes
If axes had higher attack speed, I’d put them on the same level as slashers. But due to their slightly longer animations and reduced precision, axes are currently in the A-tier. The biggest advantage of axes is the Frenzy ability, where you can deal 100% physical damage to an enemy. Your movement speed also increases by 25% for the ability’s duration.
The X-Strike combo, which utilizes two axes in both hands, also has very high damage output, coming in at around 85%.
Merciless Iron Axes Crafting Recipe
- 1 Iron Axes
- 3 Regular Ruby
- 3 Greater Blood Essence
- 3 Reinforced Plank
B-Tier Weapons
Maces
Although maces are generally very slow, they deal a solid amount of damage — at times, even overshadowing other top-tier weapons. Despite their power, maces are higher on this list of best V Rising weapons because they’re so risky.
For example, the Crushing Blow attack smacks an opponent with 110% physical damage and causes fading snare. Unfortunately, the speed of this attack is, again, very slow, coming in at only 0.7 seconds. It can be dodged easily, and taking the risk maybe too great. Though, that’s up to you.
Merciless Iron Mace Crafting Recipe
- 1 Iron Mace
- 3 Regular Topaz
- 3 Greater Blood Essence
- 3 Reinforced Plank
Reapers
This type of weapon may not have the highest stats, but it is specifically designed to kill the undead. Its melee attack Tendon Swing deals 125% damage to the undead, and the ranged attack Howling Reaper can catch them at a distance. However, don’t be like me and expect this weapon to perform too well with other types of enemies. Choose something else instead.
Merciless Iron Reaper Crafting Recipe
- 1 Iron Reaper
- 3 Regular Miststone
- 3 Greater Blood Essence
- 3 Reinforced Plank
Crossbows
Crossbows are not only terribly slow in V Rising, requiring a whole second to prepare a shot, but they’re also limited in application. As you know, V Rising can be rough without weapons that can parry or provide fast melee attacks — and death lies around every corner for those using anything slow.
You can still use the Rain of Bolts effect, which functions like an AoE, pouring fire arrows on enemies from above. But other than that, the crossbow is a pretty useless weapon.
Sanguine Crossbow Crafting Recipe
- 1 Dark Silver Crossbow
- 4 Primal Blood Essence
- 12 Pristine Leather
- 16 Imperial Thread
Those are the best weapons in V Rising. If you’re not at the endgame just yet, focus on the arms listed in the S-tier and A-tier sections above. While the game’s B-tier weapons (sans the crossbow) aren’t useless, use them with care. For more tips and strategies, check out our other V Rising guides.
