It's been a few days since the release of Returnal, the third-person horror roguelite from Housemarque and Sony Interactive Entertainment. Returnal is a PlayStation 5 exclusive, and set on the alien planet of Atropos. Players take on the role of ASTRA Corporation explorer Selene Vassos as she attempts to land on Atropos in search of the mysterious White Shadow signal.

After crashing on arrival, Selene discovers that she is stuck in a time-loop, and will return to the crash each time she dies. To discover the secret of Returnal's White Shadow and break the loop, she must explore the planet, battling hostile alien creatures along the way. Selene can pick up a variety of weapons throughout the game, but some are more powerful than others.

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S-Tier Returnal Weapons

Pyroshell Caster

One of the rarest weapons in Returnal, the Pyroshell Caster is an explosive launcher that's capable of dealing massive amounts of damage over a large area. Although it has a slower rate of fire than its cousin, the Thermogenic Launcher, the Pyroshell Caster deals even more damage.

Spitmaw Blaster

Returnal's shotgun-like weapon, the Spitmaw Blaster is a great pick at any point in a run. Many of Returnal's enemies like to get up-close and personal, which is the range at which the Spitmaw Blaster's powerful shots do their best work.

returnal selene in combat

A-Tier Returnal Weapons

Tachyomatic Carbine

The Tachyomatic Carbine is Returnal's equivalent of the standard assault rifle. However, this shouldn't discourage players from picking it up. Although each bullet deals little damage, the Tachyomatic Carbine can build up a terrifying fire-rate and massive clip-size with the best Returnal weapon perks.

Thermogenic Launcher

Despite being the less-flashy cousin of the Pyroshell Caster, the Thermogenic Launcher is easily capable of dealing with most of Returnal's enemies. Its combination of huge splash radius and high damage mean it particularly excels when taking out crowds.

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B-Tier Returnal Weapons

Rotgland Lobber

One of the strangest artifacts in Returnal, the Rotgland Lobber is an alien weapon that fires blobs of acid. Overall, the weapon functions like a grenade launcher, with decent damage and splash, as well as a damage-over-time effect.

Electropylon Driver

Another unusual weapon, the Electropylon Driver fires pylons that attach to enemies or surfaces. Once two or more pylons have been attached, they'll connect to each other with an arc of lightning, causing damage to anything caught between them. Although the damage is good, the trickiness and situational nature of the Electropylon keeps it in B-Tier of our Returnal weapons tier list.

Coilspine Shredder

The Coilspine Shredder is another weapon made by Returnal's alien enemies, which fires a serrated disc that pierces through enemies. The disc can be charged up for greater damage, and will bounce off surfaces when it comes into contact with them.

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C-Tier Returnal Weapons

Modified Sidearm SD-M8

The SD-M8 is the first weapon that players will receive at the start of Returnal's campaign story. While it's not a bad weapon, particularly with perks like the Homing Bullets, it can't stand up to the rest of the game's arsenal.

Hollowseeker

The final two entries on our tier list of Returnal weapons are both guns that are good in certain situations but tricky to use effectively. The first is the Hollowseeker, a rapid-fire alien weapon that discharges a torrent of homing needles. While the Hollowseeker fires very quickly, it requires sustained fire to do any real damage, something that's difficult when dodging aggressive monsters in Returnal.

Dreadbound

The Dreadbound is another unique weapon in Returnal, but also one that's quite finicky to use. It's a crossbow-like gun that fires a projectile which can be called back after being fired. The projectile deals damage to enemies on the path of its return as well as when it's fired, giving the Dreadbound the potential to be effective in skilled hands.

Returnal is available now on PS5.

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