Moonlighter gives you five weapon types to craft and swap between, and each one changes how you approach the game’s dungeons. The bosses hit hard from the very first floor, so the weapon you main decides how often you take damage and how quickly you can clear a room. The choice mostly comes down to how much range you want versus how much raw damage you are willing to trade for it.
Quick answer: Pick the Bow for the safest all-round run, since its range lets you dodge most boss attacks. If you are comfortable with tight dodging, the Gloves deliver the highest damage per second in the game.
Weapon ranking and how they compare
The table below ranks all five weapon types from strongest to weakest overall, along with the trade-offs that put them in that order.
| Rank | Weapon | Key trait |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bows | Longest range and a piercing charge, lowest damage |
| 2 | Sword & Shield | Medium range, 3-hit combo, shield blocks damage |
| 3 | Gloves | Fastest attacks, shortest range, invulnerable dash special |
| 4 | Spear | Second-best range, second slowest, charged special |
| 5 | Big Swords | Highest damage and AoE special, slowest with a movement penalty |
Bows: the safest pick for bosses
Range is the single strongest advantage in Moonlighter, and nothing matches the Bow for it. You attack from far enough away that many boss attacks simply cannot reach you, and the extra distance buys time to dodge the rest. The Bow also has a piercing charge attack that lines up multiple enemies in a row.
The trade-off is damage. The Bow deals less per hit than every other weapon, so fights take longer. For a dungeon crawler this punishing, though, avoiding hits is worth more than raw output, which is why it sits at the top. A common approach is running a damage-focused Bow for bosses and pairing it with a second weapon for regular enemies.
Sword & Shield: the balanced starter
The Short Sword and Shield is the first real weapon you get, and it stays useful long after. The sword handles offense with a 3-hit combo followed by a short pause, while the shield covers defense. That pause can catch you out early on, but the shield fully cancels incoming damage for a few hits and even blocks rolling enemies.
It has medium range and quick strikes, which makes it forgiving for new players learning enemy patterns. Its damage is on the lower side, so many players lean on it mainly for the shield once they get comfortable with the invulnerability windows on other weapons.
Gloves: highest damage, shortest range
The Gloves are the fastest weapon in the game and put out the highest damage per second, but you have to stand right next to enemies to use them. That short range is the catch, since it leaves you exposed with no defensive option to fall back on.
What makes them viable is the charged special, which dashes you forward while invulnerable. Land it well and you avoid damage while closing the gap. Gloves are high-risk, high-reward, and players who master the dodge roll can shred rooms and even tough late-game bosses with them.
Spear: reach with a slow swing
The Spear trades speed for reach. It is the second slowest weapon behind the Big Sword, but it has the second-best range in the game, only losing to the Bow. Its charged special makes you invulnerable for a set window, and it can poke enemies across gaps and through walls where they cannot hit back.
The Spear’s standout trick is landing multiple crits on large, multi-part bosses with a single charge attack, which can end fights very quickly. The Broom you start with counts as a Spear too, and it is the weakest weapon variant in the whole game, so replace it as soon as you can.
Big Swords: top damage, slowest attacks
Big Swords, also called Greatswords, hit the hardest of any weapon and their special is an area-of-effect move that clears packed groups. To balance that, they are the slowest type and also slow your movement while equipped, which leaves you open to counterattacks.
The saving grace is that the special puts you in an invincible state, so timed well it lets you damage a boss without taking a hit in return. Newcomers often struggle with the slow swings, so the Big Sword works best when paired with a faster weapon to cover situations where a full swing would take too long.
Enchantments and armor pairing
Your weapon is only part of the equation. Enchanting adds elemental damage or status effects, and the right choice changes how a weapon feels. Poison stacks well on the fast-hitting Gloves, while a lightning enchant adds crowd control to a Short Sword. At the final upgrade tier, elemental weapons can shock and briefly stun enemies, which makes melee safer. Once an enchantment is applied it cannot be removed, so plan before committing.
Armor should match the weapon’s weakness. A speed-boosting armor pairs naturally with the Gloves for more aggressive dodging, while a high-defense set lets you soak hits between the Big Sword’s slow swings. Weapons in Moonlighter do not break, so you can invest in upgrades early without worrying about repairs.
Note: Trick Weapons are the exception to durability. They offer strong one-off abilities but are destroyed when you leave a dungeon or die, so treat them as situational picks rather than a main weapon.
If you want the least stressful path through the dungeons, main a damage Bow and keep a fast second weapon for cleanup. If you would rather kill things quickly and trust your reflexes, the Gloves reward that aggression more than anything else. Moonlighter is available on PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Android, and iOS.
