Highguard keeps its arsenal compact, which makes every weapon choice matter. There are ten core guns plus a small set of raid tools, and each one sits in a clear performance band once you look at damage, handling, and how often it wins fights across the game’s open maps and base raids.
Quick answer: The most consistently effective primaries are Vanguard and Dynasty among assault rifles, Big Rig as a heavy LMG, Kraken and Paladin for close‑range shotguns, Ranger and Longhorn for long‑range play, Corsair and Viper in the SMG slot, while Blast Hammer, Rocket Launcher, Zipline Gun, and Field Axe are best treated as situational raid tools rather than main weapons.
Highguard weapon overview and roles (state)
Highguard’s launch arsenal breaks down into three broad categories:
- Core firearms – assault rifles, SMGs, shotguns, marksman and sniper options, plus the Big Rig LMG. These decide most gunfights.
- Raid tools – Blast Hammer, Rocket Launcher, Zipline Gun, and Field Axe. These are tuned for structure damage, mobility, and resource gathering rather than raw time‑to‑kill.
- Mount and map context – the game’s large, open maps, frequent mount combat, and base assaults favor weapons that stay effective at mid to long range or can delete walls quickly.
Within that framework, each weapon falls into a practical “band” of strength in real matches.
Top-tier generalist weapons
Some guns are strong in almost every match and across most ranges. These are the safest picks when you want reliability more than specialization.
| Weapon | Type | Practical role |
|---|---|---|
| Vanguard | Assault Rifle | Most forgiving, well‑rounded primary for infantry and mount fights |
| Dynasty | Assault Rifle | Higher damage rifle that trades handling for raw output and destruction |
| Big Rig | LMG / Special | High‑mag LMG that melts players and structures during raids |
Vanguard sits at the center of Highguard’s balance. It has a large magazine, controllable recoil, and enough damage to win most mid‑range duels without perfect aim. It performs well on foot and while riding mounts, which is why many tier lists place it at or near the top.
Dynasty fills the “AK‑style” slot. It hits harder per bullet and has strong structure damage, but its recoil and accuracy are worse than Vanguard. Players who can control spray patterns will get excellent value, especially when pushing or defending bases where destruction speed matters.
Big Rig is a belt‑fed heavy machine gun that usually arrives via airdrop or special chests rather than standard loadouts. It offers the largest sustained fire window in the game, with very low recoil for its class. In practice, it shreds enemy Wardens, mounts, and base walls, at the cost of heavy movement penalties and finite ammo that cannot be topped up once it’s exhausted.
Close-range dominance: shotguns and SMGs
Highguard’s maps leave fewer pure CQB corridors than traditional arena shooters, but close‑range weapons still decide building pushes and tight base interiors.
| Weapon | Type | Close-range performance |
|---|---|---|
| Kraken | Shotgun (pump-action) | Very high burst damage in tight spaces, slower follow‑up shots |
| Paladin | Shotgun (automatic) | Continuous damage stream that can out-trade most guns at point blank |
| Corsair | SMG (burst) | Extremely high DPS bursts at short range, weak beyond that |
| Viper | SMG (automatic) | Fast TTK up close with manageable recoil, falls off quickly with distance |
Kraken is a heavy pump‑action shotgun built for single, devastating blasts inside buildings and choke points. When pellets land, targets disappear, but the wide spread, small magazine, and pump delay punish missed shots or fights that stretch beyond tight corners.
Paladin looks like an SMG but fires shotgun shells in fully automatic mode. At true point‑blank ranges, it can output more damage over time than any other weapon, especially with variants that increase magazine size or structure damage. Its pellet damage per projectile is low, though, so effectiveness drops sharply as soon as there is any distance or armor involved.
Corsair fires in short, triple‑barrel volleys that unload a magazine in a little over a second. This gives it some of the highest theoretical DPS in the game at very short ranges and makes it unexpectedly strong at chewing through raid objectives. Limited range and ammo capacity keep it from displacing rifles as a primary outside interior fights.
Viper is a conventional automatic SMG. It has a high rate of fire and a satisfying, quick reload, making it dangerous in rooms and around corners. However, its small magazine and rapid damage drop‑off mean multiple magazines may be required to down armored enemies, which is risky in protracted fights.
Mid- and long-range precision weapons
Rifles and marksman weapons handle the long sightlines that appear frequently during rotates and when contesting bases from a distance.
| Weapon | Type | Range role |
|---|---|---|
| Saber Rifle | Burst Assault Rifle | High-damage bursts for disciplined long‑range engagements |
| Ranger | Sniper / Marksman | Scoped long‑range control, headshot one‑shot potential in some rankings |
| Longhorn | Revolver / Marksman | High damage per shot sidearm that doubles as a pocket marksman rifle |
Saber Rifle fires three‑round bursts. Each bullet deals more damage than Vanguard’s, and well‑placed bursts can delete enemies at mid to long range. The downside is clear downtime between bursts and a smaller magazine, so missed bursts often hand the advantage to automatic rifles or SMGs once enemies close distance.
Ranger is the dedicated long‑range rifle. It brings a high‑power scope and large single‑shot damage that lets you lock down open sightlines, pick at rotating enemies, and support base defenses from afar. Some analyses note headshot one‑shot capability, while others treat it as a strong two‑shot rifle; in either case, its bolt or lever action and the game’s fast pace mean it demands precise aim and positional safety.
Longhorn is a heavy revolver styled as a marksman sidearm. It hits very hard per bullet and remains accurate at range, to the point where it can rival primary weapons if shots are carefully placed. Low fire rate and punishing reloads make it unforgiving if you whiff, which is why many tier rankings place it in the middle or lower bands despite its raw damage potential.
Utility and raid-focused tools
Blast Hammer, Rocket Launcher, Zipline Gun, and Field Axe exist primarily to shape the battlefield rather than to win direct duels. Different tier lists classify them from mid to low tiers in pure weapon rankings, but their real value appears during raids and resource phases.
| Tool | Primary function | Combat value |
|---|---|---|
| Blast Hammer | High structural damage melee | Deletes walls and objectives at close range, needs team cover |
| Rocket Launcher | Explosive structure and reinforcement removal | Strong versus base defenses, limited impact in direct duels |
| Zipline Gun | Creates ziplines for traversal | Enables flanks, retreats, and vertical control |
| Field Axe | Resource harvesting and backup melee | Always available tool, only an emergency weapon |
Blast Hammer is a sledgehammer with an explosive kick on impact. It erases walls and other fortifications quickly and can kill players in melee, but using it in open gunfights without support is risky. Its best use cases are coordinated breaches where teammates provide covering fire.
Rocket Launcher fills the classic launcher role. It is excellent at stripping away base reinforcements and large structural elements, which is why multiple tierings keep it out of pure “damage to players” rankings but still acknowledge its importance in raids. Splash damage against infantry exists but is commonly described as underwhelming compared to rifles and shotguns.
Zipline Gun lets squads build their own travel lines. This changes how you approach vertical bases, cliffs, and long ravines, opening flanks that enemies may not anticipate. It does not contribute damage, so it is effectively a slot purely spent on mobility and repositioning.
Field Axe is the default harvesting tool. It mines resources such as Vesper and serves as last‑ditch self‑defense. It is not balanced as a primary weapon and appears in weapon rankings mainly to clarify its low combat impact.
How current tier views line up
Different communities weigh handling and specialization differently, but several consistent patterns appear across up‑to‑date rankings:
- Vanguard almost always lands in the top band for its reliability and ease of use.
- Big Rig is treated as a top or near‑top pick when you can secure it, especially in raid stages.
- Dynasty, Kraken, Paladin, Ranger, Saber Rifle, Corsair, and Viper shift between high and mid tiers depending on whether lists prioritize destruction, close‑range dominance, or long‑range precision.
- Raid tools and Field Axe are consistently rated below core guns when ranked strictly on player‑damage output, but are frequently highlighted as match‑defining in base assaults and map traversal.
Highguard’s weapon pool is small enough that every gun and tool remains viable when played to its strengths, yet distinct enough that picking into the current match context—wide open fields, interior base fights, or dedicated raids—has a clear, predictable impact on how often you win your duels and how quickly you can break objectives.
