Best Ranged and Melee Weapons in Atomic Heart, Ranked

Image: Mundfish, Focus Entertainment, 4Divinity

Human Made

Penned by Gibson Vasela

My name is Gibson Vasela. I am a freelance writer who has been playing video games for almost 20 years now. I play all kinds of games, but I especially love immersive sims and RPGs.

Reviewed by Benjamin Barr

Atomic Heart is finally here, and we’ve been playing a whole lot of it ever since it hit store shelves a few weeks ago. The game is an excellent action-RPG shooter with satisfying combat, a decent amount of enemy variety, and many different BioShock-esque abilities for players to mess around with. In this article, we are going to be ranking the best weapons in Atomic heart from worst to best.

No first-person shooter would be worth playing if it didn’t have good, satisfying weapons to use. Luckily for us, most of Atomic Heart’s best weapons are incredibly strong and fun to play around with. Let’s hop right into the ranking!

Every Ranged Weapon in Atomic Heart, Ranked

First up, let’s discuss the best ranged weapons in Atomic Heart. You’ll find a total of seven ranged weapons in the game, each of which is radically different from the last. You have your basic weapons like an assault rifle and a shotgun, but also some cool sci-fi weapons like the Railgun! Ranged weapons are great for safely killing targets from a distance, and they can be used in a variety of different builds.

7/7

Makarov Pistol

Kicking off our ranking of every ranged weapon, we have the Makarov Pistol! This is a small handgun based on an iconic Russian weapon. It is a gun that you can get fairly early on in the game, making it valuable if you want to get a pistol early-game. This wasn’t really my favorite weapon to use in my playthrough, however, as it doesn’t feel as strong as some of the other weapons.

This is the least powerful gun in the game! It deals hardly any damage to enemies when compared to some of the stronger tools in your arsenal. This is not to say that the guy is “bad” per se, just that it’s not as good as all of the other weapons in the game. I recommend keeping this as a secondary weapon if you want to haul it around with you.

I really wish that they had included some better upgrades for this pistol to make it more practical as a primary weapon. For example, another pistol in the game — the Electro — has a special upgrade that can stun big groups of enemies, allowing it to be useful even in the late game (but we will talk more about that later). This pistol is still pretty weak even after you spend a lot of resources upgrading it.

6/7

Railgun

For the next pick on our ranking, let’s discuss the Railgun! This is an electromagnetic rifle that has the ability to send out a wave of energy, dealing high damage to enemies. It can also penetrate through enemies and potentially kill multiple targets at once. Some of you may be confused why this gun is so low on the list. To be honest with you, I just found this gun to be very disappointing and not as good as some of the other options.

I should preface this by saying that I played the game on the hardest difficulty, so your experience may be different from mine. As previously mentioned, this gun does high damage — more than most of the other weapons in the game. However, on harder difficulties, enemies often have so much health this gun doesn’t deal enough damage to kill them as quickly as it should. The Rotorbots are a great example of this. I can shoot one five times with the Railgun and they still won’t die, which makes the weapon feel weak.

Again, if you are playing on a lower difficulty, this may not be an issue for you. But the Railgun should feel strong on all difficulties. Especially since this gun cannot be upgraded like the other weapons, which is another thing I dislike about it. Also, the fact that it can penetrate multiple enemies is cool, but it’s not that useful in practice. Most enemies don’t stand behind each other, and will attack you from multiple different angles instead.

This gun does have some positives that are worth mentioning. For example, it can stagger the previously mentioned Rotorbots. So even if it doesn’t kill them quickly, it does act as a sort of counter to them. Also, it can completely disintegrate enemies, preventing them from being repaired. And even though it’s not as strong as I would like, its higher-than-average damage makes it good for boss fights. You could also say the fact it’s an energy weapon is a pro. But I’m not so sure about that, as it burns through energy fast and you need to do a lot of melee attacks in order to recharge it fully.

5/7

Dominator PPW

Onto our next spot, we have the Dominator PPW! This is a fully automatic energy weapon that allows users to deal out a steady stream of DPS to enemies. It’s a weapon that you can get around the mid-game. This makes it a pretty decent weapon to grab if you are looking for an upgrade to your early-game gear. I also think this weapon is a bit overrated, but I do understand why so many people like it.

The gun is definitely a solid weapon when performing against most enemies in the game. I think that it is very satisfying to use, and I love the sound effects it makes as it clings against enemies. It is good at taking most enemies down in most circumstances. So it is a pretty versatile weapon. It also has a secondary firing mode that can be activated by clicking the right mouse button (LT on controllers).

This weapon would be a lot higher on this list if not for the fact that each shot uses up a high amount of your energy. What this means is that you will need to carry a lot of consumables on you to recharge your energy if you want to use this gun regularly. Due to the fact, it goes through energy so fast… I really would have preferred if this gun had a craft-able ammo type that you could use for its primary fire, leaving the energy consumable reserved for its AOE attack.

Also, one thing that I particularly don’t like about this gun is how much space it takes up on your screen. The end of the gun reaches up to your crosshairs, which is kinda annoying when you are aiming at enemies with it.

4/7

Fat Boy

Now onto our next pick on this ranking of the best weapons in Atomic Heart, we have the Fat Boy! This is a really cool and fun rocket launcher. No FPS game would be complete without a weapon like it! I really enjoyed using this weapon, and I think that a lot of other players in the game will enjoy using it as well. There are really not a lot of ways to describe it other than that it’s a big, satisfying RPG.

The Fat Boy rocket launcher is a good crowd-control weapon when taking on big groups of enemies. It can deal a good amount of AOE damage. I think this makes it better than the Railgun’s single penetrative shot. Thanks to its high amount of damage, the gun is a blessing to have whenever you are in one of the game’s boss fights or any enemies that have a very big health pool.

One thing that I really dislike about this rocket launcher is the fact that ammo is incredibly scarce. I was able to find enough to use it every now and then, but often I would need to craft them. And considering that it is fairly expensive to craft, it’s almost like the game discourages you from using it. That makes sense from a balancing standpoint, but I think it would have been better if ammo was just a bit more common.

3/7

Electro

Now onto our spot number three, we have the Electro! This is an energy pistol that fires off a single projectile that is great for accurately killing targets from a safe distance away. Some of you may be confused why an energy pistol is being ranked above an RPG. Just hear me out. The Electro is a weapon that starts off fairly weak but gets much better when it is fully upgraded and decked out.

The range and accuracy that this gun has makes it an excellent side arm when you want to pick off targets from a safe distance. This is my go-to weapon for destroying security weapons and those small flying robots. It becomes much stronger once you really start upgrading this gun. You can get an upgrade that causes it to deal bonus damage to robots! This makes it viable as a primary weapon.

That, and due to the fact that it uses up very little of your energy meter. Not only that, but it has one of the best alternate firing modes in the game. Once you get the upgrade for it, if you hold down the secondary firing button, it will charge up and send out a shockwave that stuns nearby enemies! This is really good for getting groups of enemies off your back. I highly recommend this weapon for melee users. Thanks to its shockwave secondary firing mode, you can quickly get enemies off your back when overwhelmed.

2/7

Kalash

Onto our second pick for the best-ranged weapon, let’s take a look at the Kalash assault rifle! This is a gun heavily based on the real-life AK-47. It is a really great gun to have and is fun to use. So much so, it convinced me to do a commando build for my next play-through of the game. It is fully automatic with a steady rate of fire, allowing it to deal reliable DPS to robots unfortunate enough to cross your path.

This gun can do a good amount of damage once you’ve tinkered with it enough using NORA. The gun is great for taking on all types of enemies. But I find it best when going against smaller targets and/or those that have little health. This gun is especially good to use with cartridges. These are equitable items that you can use to buff your weapons to do elemental damage, making them more effective at killing certain targets.

I also think it’s great to use alongside the Mass Telekinesis ability, as using it holds enemies in the air, leaving them vulnerable to your attacks. This is the perfect gun to have as your primary weapon. It features pretty much everything you’d want in a jack-of-all-trades-style weapon. Good accuracy, reliable damage, and recoil that isn’t too bad to manage, making it good for medium distances. The only downside for this weapon is the fact that you can burn through the ammo fairly quickly.

1/7

KS-23

And finally, taking spot number one in our ranking for the best ranged weapons in Atomic Heart, we have the KS-23 shotgun! This is a really powerful and reliable close-range weapon. This Russian shotgun feels very powerful to use, and it’s a good weapon for close-range encounters. The gun can reliably kill the standard Lab Tech enemies in two hits, even on the hardest difficulty.

The recoil on this weapon is pretty intense, but at the same time manageable. If you have experience with other FPS games, then holding it steady shouldn’t be that big of a problem for you. This is a really fun and satisfying weapon to use. Even though my build wasn’t centered around shotguns, I still found myself returning to it often because it was a reliable way to take down targets, especially in the early game when I was still getting the hang of Atomic Heart’s combat.

The fact that this weapon is given to you as your first ranged weapon makes it one of the best weapons to hang onto throughout your play through. You can easily find the parts needed to upgrade it and craft its ammo. This makes it a good primary weapon not only early on but well into the late game. Its reload speed is a bit slow, but that can be overcome with the right upgrades. Once you hit the end game with it fully kitted out, you’ll have arguably the best weapon in the game.

Every Melee Weapon in Atomic Heart, Ranked

Let’s move on to the second half of our list with the best melee weapons in Atomic Heart! There are a total of five melee weapons in the game, each with noticeably different stats and visual designs. Melee combat is a big part of Atomic Heart, as it is needed to reliably fill up your energy meter. And given how rare ammo can be in the early game, it is a great weapon to have at your side even if you aren’t doing a ranged build.

5/5

Fox

Kicking off our section for the best melee weapons in Atomic Heart, let’s start off with the Fox. This is a fast and agile weapon that can quickly attack targets with its jagged blade. It has the lowest damage out of every other melee weapon in the game, but still manages to have a pretty okay DPS thanks to the previously mentioned fast attacks. I enjoyed using this weapon, even if I didn’t carry it with me into the end game.

One benefit of its fast attacks is that you can charge up heavy attacks fairly fast. Additionally, this is a pretty okay weapon to take alongside you if you are good at side-strafing enemies in the game. You can circle around opponents and quickly dish out loads of hits on them, quickly wearing down their health. I definitely don’t recommend taking it with groups of enemies, as it’s not that good for crowd control.

But the main reason why this weapon is low is that there are plenty of better weapons in the game. Even with all the upgrades on this thing, it still can’t compete with some of the other tools that P-3 has access to. Even if you are doing a melee build, this weapon still isn’t worth picking up compared to the other things you have available.

4/5

Snowball

Coming up at spot number four, we have the melee weapon Snowball! This weapon I feel is pretty underrated in my opinion. But most people are correct when they say that it’s not that good of a weapon to use. I used Snowball quite a bit during my melee play-through of the game. And while I struggled with using it at first, I was eventually able to get into a steady and solid groove.

The weapon has pretty high damage per hit. It allows you to kill targets with fewer strikes than most other melee weapons. However, this damage is kept in check by several things. For example, its swing speed is not that fast compared to some of the other weapons. Not to mention the charge-up time for heavy attacks is very, very slow. This makes its overall DPS not that great, making other options more viable.

Even with all of the upgrades equipped to this weapon, it still does not deal that much DPS based on my testing. I think that this is an enjoyable melee weapon to use, and I really love the design of it. But aside from that, this really isn’t the meta-defining melee weapon that you are probably looking for. I’d recommend crafting it for the achievement, trying it out, then moving on to something else.

3/5

Swede

At spot number three, we have the weapon Swede! This is a red fire axe that you are given at the start of the game, just after you crash land onto the complex grounds. This weapon is pretty weak when you first get it. But it becomes much more enjoyable to use and effective at killing once it has a few good upgrades.

Many people seem to be ignoring this weapon, assuming it’s weak because it’s the first melee weapon you get in the game. While it’s certainly not the best melee weapon, it is definitely worth hanging onto well into the mid-game of Atomic Heart. Its main strength is its versatility, having a nice balance of stats in all areas, allowing it to do fairly well in almost all types of enemy encounters.

2/5

Zvezdochka

For our next pick of the best melee weapon on this list of every weapon in Atomic Heart ranked, we have the Zvezdochka! This is a big, bulky two-handed weapon. It features saws attached to the end of it, allowing you to deal out massive damage to your enemies. This weapon features high damage per hit and a very devastating charge attack. Both these things make it very good for killing robots with lots and lots of health.

This weapon is very strong and makes a good primary weapon if you are doing a melee play-through. Additionally, this melee weapon has one of my favorite alternate firing modes out of any other weapon in the game. You can upgrade this weapon so that when you press the right-mouse button (left trigger on a controller), it will fire out its sharp blades! This gives it more range and makes it more versatile.

1/5

Pashtet

Last but not least on our ranking, we have the melee weapon Pashtet. This is a fast-attacking one-handed weapon that allows you to quickly strike at robots in rapid succession. When certain targets are hit by melee weapons, they will stagger. Because this weapon has a very high swing rate, you can constantly stagger enemies, effectively rendering them unable to hit you back! This is most noticeable with the Lab Assistant enemy type.

While each individual hit is not that high damage-wise, its overall DPS is very good for a melee weapon. Another reason why I really love this weapon is because of its alternate fire mode. You can throw out a projectile from it which will deal damage a target from a distance! When you fully upgrade this ability, it makes it incredibly strong and great at killing targets from a short distance.

Join the High Ground!

And with that, our article ranking the best weapons in Atomic Heart has come to a close. If you disagree with us, feel free to share your opinions down in the comments. Just be sure to subscribe to our weekly newsletter afterward! We offer regular guides and rankings on all your favorite FPS games.

Happy gaming!