5 Insane Weapons You Can Get Early

If there’s one thing that kills me about games like Starfield it’s how simple bits of information can often go unnoticed for days, sometimes even weeks after launch. In the case of today’s article we’re starting with a couple Legacy Learning Moments because quite frankly it’s pretty important we ground ourselves in a better understanding of weapons before we get to the weapons themselves.

Ammo Issues

First, something simple. I’ve heard from a lot of you that you’re running into ammo issues early in the game. I’ve been there, I feel your pain. I don’t know who discovered this first, but kudos to them because little did most of us know whenever you pick up a weapon from a corpse or lying around the world you actually get the ammo that was in the weapon. At this point in the game mass limitations are probably an issue so you’ll most likely want to drop the weapon shortly after, but hey, would you look at that, you’ve got some more ammo. It’s a neat little trick that you can weave into your gameplay that’ll hopefully prevent you from running dry.

Weapon Tiers

The fanciest guns in Starfield are very often not the best, and in most cases fall well short by comparison. Much like previous Bethesda games there’s a hierarchy of weapons, and up until now it’s been largely overlooked. 

During your exploration you’ll run across four different tiers of weapons:

• Regular weapons that will have no specific prefix
• Calibrated weapons which are a step up from their regular counterparts and will always have the word “Calibrated” somewhere in the name.
• Refined weapons which are a step up from that and will always have the word “Refined” somewhere in the name.
• Advanced weapons which are considered the best baseline weapons in the game and will always have the word “Advanced” somewhere in the name.

If you do a direct comparison of these at a base level you’ll see that quality really does make a huge difference, and while unique weapons are fun to collect and even more fun to shoot, it’s very likely a refined or advanced weapon will perform leagues better.

I know it’s a hard truth, one I’ve had to grapple with myself, but the results speak for themselves. That being said I think most of us enjoy hunting down unique weapons so let’s make moves and track down some guns that are actually fun to use.

Revenant

It’s only fair we start with one of my favorite unique weapons in the game, The Revenant. If you saw our “Get OP Early” article or video then you’re already a step ahead, but for those of you who haven’t, this all comes down to joining and working through the Crimson Fleet storyline.

During the mission Eye of the Storm you have one opportunity, and one opportunity only to pick up arguably one of the best weapon in the game The Revenant. During the objective ‘Locate the Vault Control Center’ you’ll see the gun sitting there on the table just waiting to be picked up. 

This thing is just a machine featuring an extended magazine, lacerate which gives bullets a chance to inflict bleed, and titanium which reduces it’s overall mass to just .07. It’s a great weapon that I highly recommend you hunt down, but be warned, once you pick it up, it’ll be hard to use anything else.

Unfair Advantage

Since we’re already deep with the Crimson Fleet we might as well take this all the way. During the quest ‘Legacy’s End‘ you’ll have to make a key decision, do you stay loyal to the UC Sys Def, or do you go full on pirate scum bag and embrace life as a member of the Crimson Fleet.

Well obviously we’re going to choose the life of crime, and while I’m sure this isn’t the only way to obtain this next unique weapon, during this quest you’ll have the opportunity to kill Command Ikande and you should take your shot because once he’s down you can loot his unique weapon, the Unfair Advantage.

This is a solid ballistics pistol that comes loaded with mods and the interesting Radioactive perk giving the gun the unique ability to deal random bursts of radioactive damage, demoralizing the target. 

In my opinion this is one of those weapons that’s nice to keep around, but not be your go-to pick. Even still, assign it to your quick slots and don’t think twice about using it when the situation calls for an…unfair advantage. 

Marksman’s AA-99

After hunting down those last two items I think it’s time we take a small break, and pick up a weapon that’s a lot easier to get, but just as effective. By now you’ve most likely seen or heard of this weapon, the Marksman’s AA-99 rifle, which is, in my opinion, one of the best early game weapons you can get in Starfield.

Getting this is rather simple, you just need to have enough credits to cover the cost. Head to New Atlantis on Jemison and head to the residential district. There you’ll find Centurian Arsenal the cities weapon supplier. Head inside, talk to the vendor and you’ll see the weapon in her inventory. Of course this will cost you more than a few credits, but man is it worth it. 

The Marksman’s AA-99 deals decent damage, has a ton of mods including a short scope and suppressor, and really can carry you through a healthy chunk of the game. Eventually it’ll get outshined by higher-tier weapons, but it’s still well worth picking up.

Ember

The next weapon on our list is one that you can easily overlook. It’s entirely possible that you miss it completely, unless you know exactly what you’re doing. 

For starters you’ll need to have progressed the Ryuji questline on Neon a substantial amount. This entire chain of quests revolves are subterfuge and corporate espionage so if that’s your thing, head to a Ryuji terminal to kickstart your life of corporate crime.

Eventually you’ll get to a quest called ‘Top Secret’ which will eventually have you meet with a contact on Cydonia. During that conversation you have the option to pay him off and skip to the next portion of the quest, or do him a small favor.

Choose the favor because that road leads to our ultimate prize. That small favor is just a little murder, no big deal. Head over to Saturn and there you’ll confront a woman. I personally chose to board her ship and kill her myself, but you might be able to blow up her ship too. Either way once the job is done you’ll be rewarded with Ember, a fun laser pistol that can randomly ignite enemies, causing them to taking ticking burn damage. 

At the end of the day it’s not a lights-out weapon, but it’s damn fun to use, and is one of the more interesting unique weapons you can get in Starfield.

Despondent Assassin

I thought we’d end with something a little reminiscent of Fallout. A weapon of the old world if you will, the Despondent Assassin. This is a quest reward obtained at the end of a quest chain that starts with Defensive Measures. Keep working through the quests until you’re eventually rewarded with this legendary weapon.

The gun itself is pretty spectacular, especially if you’re looking for a solid long-range option. The gun doesn’t have a ton of mods, but it does come with 3 perks, demoralizing which gives your shots a small chance to demoralize a target, hitman which increases damage while aiming, and anti-personnel, perfect for dealing additional damage to humans.

It’s a solid option if you’re in the market for a long-ranged weapon, especially before you can get your hands on an advanced Beowulf or something similar. the Despondent Assassin can definitely fill the void.