Far Far West gives you one secondary slot and five options to fill it: Revolver, Bow, Dual Revolvers, Boomerang, and Sheriff Star. The right pick depends on what your primary cannot do, because sidearms in this game are gap-fillers, ammo-economy tools, and mobility utilities far more than they are damage carries.
Quick answer: Run Dual Revolvers for raw DPS, Sheriff Star for mobility and infinite ammo, and Bow for ranged burst and breaking ghost houses or gold veins. Dual Revolvers is the safest single best-in-slot pick for most primaries on Nightmare.
Secondary weapon comparison (base stats)
| Weapon | Damage | DPS | Fire rate | Magazine | Reloadable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revolver (starter) | 13 | 43.3 | 0.30 s | 6 | Yes |
| Dual Revolvers | 9 | 60.0 | 0.15 s | 12 | Yes |
| Sheriff Star | — | — | 0.50 s | 15 | No (retrieve) |
| Boomerang | — | — | 0.60 s | 1 | No (returns) |
| Bow | Charge-scaled | Burst | Draw-dependent | 1 | Per-shot |
Damage and DPS values are base-tier numbers from the in-game stat radar. Bow and Boomerang scale almost entirely through their unique jokers, so flat numbers underrepresent them.
Dual Revolvers: best overall secondary
Dual Revolvers sit at the top of the secondary list for one reason: 60 base DPS with a 0.15-second fire rate and a 12-round magazine. Shots produce a small explosion on impact, which means every trigger pull contributes both bullet damage and a reaction proc. Pair them with an elemental imbue (acid or electric), and they feed your spell combos faster than any other sidearm.
They shine paired with slow-firing primaries like the Leveredge, Long Ranger, or Shotgun, where you need a fast trash-clear and sustain option. The corrosive build is the standard endgame pattern: acid on the revolvers, electric procs from spells, and a primary that handles bosses.
Weakness: accuracy drops off at distance. They are a close-to-mid-range tool, not a sniper sidearm.
Sheriff Star: best for mobility builds
Sheriff Star throws shuriken-style projectiles with a 15-magazine capacity. The stars embed in surfaces or enemies and are retrievable, which makes ammo effectively unlimited if you walk over them. The Jump Star joker at level 30 adds two extra mid-air jumps while equipped, turning the weapon into a vertical traversal tool on top of being a sidearm.
This is the go-to secondary for Shotgun builds that need to close distance fast, kite melee enemies, or vault terrain. Speedster and Scavenger Star jokers push movement speed and pickup range high enough that the magazine size stops mattering.
Weakness: low per-throw output against dense waves, and retrieving stars under fire takes discipline.
Bow: best for ranged damage and utility farming
The Bow is a charge weapon. Quick draw fires a cheap arrow, full draw releases an explosive shot that scales hard with the Ultradraw and Overdraw jokers. With the fire element, a fully charged Bow shot one-shots ghost houses and breaks gold veins, which is why gold-farming Shotgun and Long Ranger builds run it as a secondary.
If your priority is raw secondary damage rather than mobility, the Bow outperforms Dual Revolvers in single-target burst. It also gives Long Ranger builds a way to handle grouped enemies without switching primaries.
Weakness: requires a charge window, so it punishes panic-fire. Slow to level compared to your primary.
Boomerang: best low-effort backup
The Boomerang has no ammo, no reload, and the Consumer joker has no drawback on it, which makes splashing elemental effects free. Throw it while your primary reloads and let it tick damage as it spins. Lingering Throw at level 30 extends the active arc; Chonky Throw at level 40 doubles the hitbox for dense groups.
Base DPS is below average compared to Dual Revolvers, but the infinite ammo economy makes it a strong pairing for ammo-hungry primaries like the Minigun. It is a backup, not a carry.
Revolver (starter): replace it
The default Revolver has the highest single-shot damage among sidearms (13), but the lowest DPS at 43.3. It works for early missions and teaches you elemental swapping, but once you have fragments for any of the other four secondaries, the starter Revolver gets benched. There is no Nightmare build where it outperforms its alternatives.
How to pick by primary
| Primary | Best secondary | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Shotgun | Sheriff Star or Dual Revolvers | Mobility to close gaps, or DPS to handle range |
| Minigun | Dual Revolvers or Boomerang | Backup damage while reloading or repositioning |
| Long Ranger | Bow | Keeps the loadout ranged with charged burst |
| Leveredge | Dual Revolvers | Trash clear and sustain between heavy lever shots |
| Quad Cylinder | Bow or Dual Revolvers | Flexible damage profile that scales with element procs |
How to unlock a secondary weapon
Step 1: Open the weapon menu in the Saloon and press track on the secondary you want. Tracking marks fragment drops for that weapon as priority loot, and you can only track one weapon at a time.
Step 2: Run missions and collect 6 weapon fragments. Every boss kill drops a fragment for the tracked weapon, and additional fragments come from chest loot and contract rewards.
Step 3: Visit the Weaponsmith once you have all six fragments. The weapon becomes available across runs at a 300-credit shop price (500 gold assembly cost at the smith for some weapons).
Element choice matters more than weapon choice
Every secondary can be imbued with an element. Fire deals the most direct damage, acid slows and applies blight ticks, and electric procs combo with other applied effects to trigger explosions. The Bow specifically needs fire to break gold veins through Overdraw, and Dual Revolvers run acid in the standard Nightmare meta because acid plus electric procs detonate enemies on hit.
If you cannot decide between two secondaries, pick the one that lets your spells and primary trigger reactions. A weaker weapon with the right element outperforms a stronger weapon with the wrong one.
The short version: Dual Revolvers is the most universal pick, Sheriff Star wins if you value mobility over raw damage, Bow carries ranged and gold-farming builds, and Boomerang fills the slot when your primary already covers damage. The starter Revolver is a placeholder until your first six fragments land.