Your damage output decides how long you last against the monkey horde in Survive a Million Monkeys, and that output comes almost entirely from the weapon you are holding. Every weapon falls into one of four tiers, with each higher tier hitting harder than the last. You unlock individual weapons with Gems from the hub area, and you climb between tiers mid-match by spending Cash earned from kills.
Quick answer: There are 20 weapons across four tiers. You unlock them with Gems in the hub, start each match on Tier 1, and spend Cash during a run to move up to Tier 4.
How weapons and tiers work
You begin every match with a Tier 1 weapon and work upward. As you defeat monkeys you collect Cash, which pays to upgrade your active tier during the run. Each tier up swaps you onto a stronger pool of weaponry, so moving up quickly keeps your damage ahead of the wave count.
Unlocking the weapons themselves is separate from that. You buy each weapon with Gems in the hub, and Gems are awarded when you finish a match. Once unlocked, a weapon can also be upgraded with Gems to raise its DPS further.
Since you spend very little time in Tier 1, hold your Gems for strong Tier 3 and Tier 4 options rather than filling out the starter pool.
Tier 1 weapons
These are short-range guns with workable damage and fire rate, meant to carry you through the opening waves before you upgrade. The Pistol is your default, and the Pow Pow comes free from the tutorial.
| Weapon | How to get | DPS |
|---|---|---|
| Pistol | Default gun | 45 |
| Pow Pow | Tutorial reward | 87.5 |
| Bayonet | 2,500 Gems | 83.3 |
| Shorty | 5,000 Gems | 80 |
| Revolver | 12,500 Gems | 75 |
| Deagle | 45,000 Gems | 116.7 |
| Dead Man’s Hand | Gunslinger Bundle | 200 |
The Dead Man’s Hand is the clear outlier here at 200 DPS, well above everything else in the tier, but it only comes bundled with the Gunslinger Bundle rather than through a Gem purchase. Among the straight Gem buys, the Deagle offers the most damage.
Tier 2 weapons
Tier 2 shifts to medium range. The Shotgun is the lone high-damage, low-DPS option, while the rest are SMGs that trade per-shot damage for high fire rates. The Shotgun is the default when you reach this tier.
| Weapon | How to get | DPS |
|---|---|---|
| Shotgun | Default Tier 2 gun | 100 |
| El Scorpio | 15,000 Gems | 160 |
| SMG | 25,000 Gems | 180 |
| P90 | 50,000 Gems | 325 |
The P90 tops the tier at 325 DPS for 50,000 Gems, roughly double the SMG that sits just below it. If you are newer to the game, its sustained fire rate makes it a forgiving pick while you learn the game’s core survival loop.
Tier 3 weapons
At Tier 3, the lineup has three rifles, one sniper rifle, and a katana. They deal more damage than weapons in the lower tiers, making them dependable through the middle and late parts of a run. The Burst Rifle is the standard choice at this tier.
| Weapon | How to get | DPS |
|---|---|---|
| Burst Rifle | Default Tier 3 weapon | 185.5 |
| AK-47 | 45,000 Gems | 379.5 |
| Longshot | 50,000 Gems | 400 |
| Katana | 90,000 Gems | 250 |
| Scar | 90,000 Gems | 525 |
The Scar leads this tier at 525 DPS, matching the cost of the Katana while more than doubling its output. The Katana is the only melee option in the tier, which explains its lower damage against ranged alternatives at the same price.
Tier 4 weapons
Tier 4 holds the strongest weapons in the game, with enough damage to cut through full waves. Reaching this tier takes work, since you need to survive past wave 20 to bank the Cash for the upgrade. The Minigun is the default once you get there.
| Weapon | How to get | DPS |
|---|---|---|
| Minigun | Default Tier 4 weapon | 605 |
| Laser Cannon | 250,000 Gems | 700 |
| Grenade Launcher | 450,000 Gems | 525 |
| RPG | Premium purchase | 480 |
The Laser Cannon is the highest-damage weapon in the game at 700 DPS, though its 250,000-Gem price is steep. The Grenade Launcher and RPG post lower raw numbers, but both deal area damage that clears clustered monkeys more efficiently than a single-target figure suggests.
Earning Gems to unlock weapons
Gems come from finishing matches, so the most direct route to the expensive late-tier weapons is to survive longer runs. You redeem each weapon from the hub area using those Gems, and redemption confirms when the weapon appears as owned and becomes selectable in your loadout. With four tiers and 20 weapons in total, you can keep unlocking stronger options and upgrading them long after you have cleared the Tier 1 pool.
