V Rising best weapon tier list: What are the best weapons and weapon skills in V Rising?

Want to know which is the best weapon in V Rising? Stunlock's new vampiric survival game takes a slightly unusual approach to weapon classes. In V Rising, every weapon gives you as much extra attack damage as every other weapon, which makes for a very level playing field that allows you to take whichever weapon best suits your playstyle into battle.

But try as they might, the devs can't stop a meta from emerging. Below we'll walk you through our recommendations for the best weapons to use in V Rising. We'll also explain each of the weapons' specialities and unique skills so you'll gain a fuller understanding of the pros and cons of each of the blood-seeking implements in your armoury.

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There are 7 different weapon types available in V Rising - 6 of them melee, and 1 ranged. Each weapon type has access to a basic attack, and two skills that are unique to that class of weapon.

All weapon types within a "tier" (e.g. bone weapons, or bronze weapons) will give you the same basic boost to your physical power. This means that all of the weapons are viable to take into any fight. However, thanks to the attack speeds, combos, and skills offered by the different weapons types, some weapons are overall a bit more effective than others.

What is the best weapon in V Rising?

Here is our tier list of the best weapons in V Rising:

1. Sword
2. Spear
3. Axes
4. Mace
5. Reaper
6. Slasher
7. Crossbow

We think the Sword is the best weapon in V Rising at the moment thanks to its superior damage-per-second, and its powerful Shockwave and Whirlwind attacks, which you can use to dodge and chase enemies while dealing high damage.

The Spear lacks any such mobility tool, but it's unrivalled at bursting down single targets, which earns it a worthy second place in our tier list. The Axes, Mace, and Reaper are all similar weapons which deal good damage per hit, but don't quite match the strength of the faster-acting weapons.

Then there's the Slasher, which is a fun weapon type to use thanks to its Camouflage skill, but its damage potential just can't match the other melee weapons. And bringing up the rear is the Crossbow, which is obviously useful for staying at range, but otherwise has two rather mediocre abilities that don't give it the best chance of equalling the power of the other weapon types.

V Rising weapon skills list

As mentioned above, different weapon types in V Rising have access to various unique weapon skills. The lowest tier of the basic weapon types (Sword, Axes, Mace, Spear, and Crossbow) only have access to a basic attack, but higher tier versions of these weapons will gain extra damage-dealing skills. Below we'll walk you through the unique skills of each weapon type.

Sword:

• Attack Combo: 35% / 35% / 40%
• Whirlwind: Spin around and slice nearby enemies dealing 35% physical damage every 0.25s for 1.1s (8s cooldown).
• Shockwave: Send forth a shockwave dealing 70% physical damage and launching the enemy hit into the air for 1.6s. Recast the ability to teleport to the target striking it three times, each strike dealing 25% physical damage (8s cooldown).
• Speciality: Vegetation

The Sword is a fantastic all-rounder, and its high attack speed makes it ideal for builds which focus on critical strikes. Shockwave is a great movement skill which can help you avoid powerful attacks while your dash is on cooldown, while also dealing significant damage to a target enemy. And the Whirlwind skill, which you earn at the Copper tier of weapons, is a good AoE damage-dealer which also increases your movement speed for its duration, adding even more mobility to the Sword's skillset.

Spear:

• Attack Combo: 40% / 40% / 50%
• A Thousand Spears: Perform a multi-stab attack, dealing 30% physical damage 8 times. Recast during the effect to perform a thrust attack dealing 50% physical damage and knocking enemies back (8s cooldown)
• Harpoon: Throw a spear that deals 70% physical damage and pulls the enemy towards you (8s cooldown).
• Speciality: Creatures

Unlike most other weapon types, the spear doesn't have a wide arcing hitbox. Instead, the attacks are thrusts which can pierce through enemies standing in a line. It's a fast-attacking weapon that is great for quickly bursting down a single enemy with its Thousand Spears skill, and for hunting enemies down with the Harpoon skill.

Axes:

• Attack Combo: 45% / 45% / 55%
• Frenzy: Dash forward and strike the first enemy dealing 100% physical damage. Enter a state of frenzy that increases your movement speed by 25% and increases attack speed by 30% for 0.8s on a successful hit (8s cooldown).
• X-Strike: Throw two axes in the shape of an X. Each hit deals 85% physical damage and slows the enemy for 1.5s. Hitting an enemy where both axes intersect inflicts a 2s incapacitate (8s cooldown).
• Speciality: Wood

Axes act as a mid-point between the Sword and the Mace, offering reasonable damage and reasonable attack rate. Its skills are very powerful, with the Frenzy offering an extra dash and an attack speed boost for a short time, and the X-Strike giving you a mid-range disabling attack for troublesome enemies.

Mace:

• Attack Combo: 50% / 50% / 60%
• Crushing Blow: Vault towards the cursor and slam your mace into the ground dealing 110% physical damage and inflicting a 2s fading snare (8s cooldown).
• Smack: Smack enemies in front of you dealing 50% physical damage, knocking them back and incapacitating them for 1.2s (9s cooldown).
• Speciality: Mining

The Mace hits harder than any other weapon in V Rising. It's slow, so its DPS is actually quite low, but the damage per hit is very impressive. The Crushing Blow skill is a great gap-closer which deals high AoE damage, while the Smack does the opposite, putting distance between yourself and an enemy.

Reaper:

• Attack Combo: 50% / 50% / 55%
• Tendon Swing: Swing your reaper dealing 125% physical damage to nearby enemies, knocking them back and inflicting a 2s fading snare (8s cooldown).
• Howling Reaper: Throw a howling reaper that spins in place dealing 20% physical damage every 0.25s for 2.5s. The initial projectile hit slows enemies for 1.5s (8s cooldown).
• Speciality: Undead

The Reaper is another hard-hitting but slow-to-use melee weapon which excels at defeating undead enemies. It lacks the gap-closing ability of the Mace, but its Tendon Swing deals a whopping 125% physical damage with a single attack, which immediately makes the Reaper a lot stronger than it looks. I care less for the Howling Reaper skill, which is fairly hit-or-miss in my experience.

Slasher:

• Attack Combo: 27.5% / 27.5% / 35%
• Elusive Strike: Dash back and forth slashing at your enemies dealing 60% physical damage and inflicting a 2s slow on each hit (8s cooldown).
• Camouflage: Enter a state of camouflage, increasing movement speed by 25% for 6s. Your next primary attack deals 80% physical damage and incapacitates the enemy for 3s. Using any skill breaks camouflage (10s cooldown).
• Speciality: None

The Slasher is a quick weapon that deals low damage per attack, but gives you a great deal of utility with its two skills. Elusive Strike is great for dodging attacks while dealing damage, while Camouflage is an excellent skill to use in any situation, particularly for those who enjoy sneaking up on their enemies.

Crossbow:

• Attack Combo: 110%
• Rain Of Bolts: Fire a salvo of 5 bolts into the air that rains down on your enemies dealing 40% physical damage each in an area and inflicts a 1.5s fading snare (8s cooldown).
• Snapshot: Fire a quick bolt that deals 75% damage, interrupts casts and inflicts a 2s fading snare (8s cooldown).
• Speciality: None

The Crossbow gives you a dedicated ranged weapon which fires powerful bolts at a fairly slow rate. There's no attack combo here, just a good old fashioned shoot-reload-shoot mechanic. Snapshot's interrupt effect is situationally useful against powerful enemies (and in PvP), while Rain Of Bolts deals fairly mediocre damage over a wide area.

I will say that in groups it is very useful to have a single clan member staying at range and using a Crossbow, both for boss fights and for PvP battles. But one-on-one against another weapon type, the Crossbow's poor DPS and reliance on good aim puts it behind the pack.

V Rising weapon damage

All the weapons in V Rising deal damage using a three-hit combo. Each attack in the combo deals a certain percentage of your physical power as damage, and each weapon type also has a slightly different attack speed from the others.

Below you can find a table of the damage profiles of each weapon type, including the attack combo damage, the time it takes to complete a combo, and the average damage per second of each weapon.

That brings us to the end of this V Rising weapons guide. If you're itching to unlock the next tier of weapons, you should check our list of V Rising boss locations, because defeating these bosses is how you unlock new recipes. You can also consult our V Rising tips and tricks for more advice and information. Or, to learn how to get the materials you need, have a look at our guides on how to get Iron and Silver in V Rising.