A subjective list of best weapons and armor as of 0.8.058 (spoilers anyone?)

[SubroutineFourOneNine]

I know there are some people who will want to know what the current best weapons and armor list is. Truth be told, that's actually a more difficult question than people realize. The game's grown to the point where any of the endgame weaponry becomes viable, and it boils down to what preference you have towards each. It doesn't help that a lot of the threads are fairly outdated, with the most recent I can find being over a year old.

With that being said, I'll attempt to cover as many bases as possible for weapons and armor. Please note that these are my opinion and not actual gospel. Weapons will be based on raw stats and don't factor perks from the Mercenary or Tech Specialist trees, so that's something to consider (sorry smugglers, though y'all can hotswap weapons on the fly without missing a beat >.< ), while Armor will be chosen based on raw stats + recommended class to use them.

Some armors, however, are flexible enough that they can be used by more than one class.

A small disclaimer: Spoilers may be involved.

Another small disclaimer: I have no idea what armor, weapons or accessories work best for lust-based builds. As such, I will not be including them in this initial post. I may come back and add them after hearing suggestions from everyone else. I personally have only used one major lust-based armor and weapon respectively, and I have no idea how effective either are.

A third disclaimer: I have no real idea which accessory is best, either. However, I will try my best to throw in a list for people to use.

With that being said, here's an attempt at one of these.

Spoiler: Melee Weapons

For Kinetic Damage:

• Saurmorian Hammer (35 Kinetic, -7 Accuracy, 9 Crit, -5 Evasion, Crushing, Stun Chance, Power Armor required)
• Petra's Phasic Whip (20 Kinetic + 10 Electric (20 Electric if Tech Specialist), 5 Accuracy, 10 Crit, -10 Evasion (oof), +10 Fortification bonus, Stun Chance (Mercs only), Bonus Hit Rate (Smugglers only), Energy Weapon)
• Dancing Flashblade (18 Kinetic + 14 Electric, 8 Accuracy, 10 Crit, Penetrating, Bonus Hit Rate, Energy Weapon) (Picking this means you miss out on Lash Cannon)
• Vibrolass (honorable mention) (30 Kinetic, 4 Accuracy, 4 Evasion, Energy Weapon)

For Burning Damage:

• Plasma Blade (30 Burning, 4 Accuracy, 3 Evasion, Burn Chance, Energy Weapon)
• Plasma Hawk (12 Kinetic, 15 Burning, 1 Accuracy, 1 Crit, Burn Chance, Energy Weapon)

For Freezing Damage:

• Frozen Spire (16 Kinetic, 12 Freezing, 10 Accuracy)
• Glacial Auger (11 Kinetic, 25 Freezing, 10 Crit Bonus, Penetrating)

For Electric Damage:

• No pure electric damage weapons as of time of writing.
• Petra's Phasic Whip (see Kinetic)
• Dancing Flashblade (see Kinetic)

For Corrosive Damage:

• Rouser (10 Kinetic, 16 Corrosive, 2 Crit Bonus, 10 Evasion, Penetrating)

Spoiler: Ranged Weapons

For Kinetic Damage:

• Saurmorian Railgun (41 Kinetic, 7 Accuracy, -3 Evasion, Cannot Crit, Penetrating, Bullet, Power Armor required, Bonus Hit Rate, Rifle)
• Stormbull Shotgun (35 Kinetic, 18 Accuracy (!), -6 Evasion, Bullet, Shotgun)
• Aegis LMG (29 Kinetic, 10 Accuracy, -2 Evasion, Bullet, Power Armor required, Cannot Crit, Bonus Hit Rate, Rifle) (Adds 25 Bonus Shields)
• Hardlight Rifle (honorable mention) (28 Kinetic, 8 Accuracy, Laser, Energy Weapon, Rifle)

For Burning Damage:

• Teyaal's Heavy Plasma Caster (33 Burning, -5 Accuracy, 10 Crit, Burn Chance, Energy Weapon, Pistol)
• Chainlaser (32 Burning, 15 Accuracy, -4 Evasion, Laser, Energy Weapon, Power Armor, Bonus Hit Rate, Cannot Crit)
• Lash Cannon (18 Burning, 18 Electric, 10 Accuracy, 5 Crit, -10 Evasion (oof), Draining, Energy Weapon, Pistol) (Picking this means you miss out on Dancing Flashblade)
• Apollo Plasma Rifle (honorable mention) (29 Burning, 4 Accuracy, Burn Chance, Energy Weapon, Rifle)

For Freezing Damage:

• FZR Fire Suppression System (24 Freezing, 20 Accuracy (!), -5 Evasion, Cannot Crit, Energy Weapon, Ignores Blindness, Thrower weapon) (Can afflict Deep Freeze)
• LM19 Kinetic Decelerator "Entropy" (27 Freezing, 6 Accuracy, Energy Weapon)
• Ice Cappers (26 Freezing, 5 Kinetic, 30 (!) Accuracy, 10 Crit, Bonus Hit Rate, Pistol)

For Electric Damage:

• Khan's Arc Caster (25 Electric, 5 Accuracy, 8 Crit, Energy Weapon, Pistol)
• Tri-Beam Rifle (honorable mention) (10 Electric, 10 Burning, 10 Freezing, 10 Accuracy, -5 Evasion, Laser, Energy Weapon, Bonus Hit Rate, Rifle)
• Lash Cannon (see Burning)

For Corrosive Damage:

• NaN Deconstructor (26 Corrosive, 6 Crit, Vampiric, Penetrating)
• Hirudo Devourer (16 Corrosive, 16 Kinetic, 5 Crit, Vampiric, Penetrating) (Has -15 Fortification penalty)

For Poison Damage:

• Crucifier Spitter (30 Poison, 10 Crit, Pistol) (Has -10 Fortification penalty)
• Street Sweeper (30 Poison, 5 Kinetic, 30 (!) Accuracy, -4 Evasion, Shotgun)

Spoiler: Armor

For Smugglers:

• Jumper Jumpsuit (7 Defense, 18 Evasion) (-10% Tease, 15% Electric, 10% Burning)
  
• Jeweled Outfit (2 Defense, 20 Sexiness (!), 16 Evasion) (-10% Tease, -20% Psionic, -10% Freezing, 25% Burning) (Fully Exposed, Crystal)
• Slutty Jumper Jumpsuit (2 Defense, 14 Sexiness, 18 Evasion) (-10% Tease, 15% Electric, 5%Burning) (Groin Exposed, Ass Exposed)
• Jumper Spacesuit (5 Defense, 7 Sexiness, 16 Evasion) (-10% Tease, 15% Electric, 10% Burning) (Airtight)

For Mercenaries:

• Frostbane Plate (15 Defense, -2 Sexiness, -2 Evasion, +30 Fortification) (50% Freezing, -13% Burning) (Plated, Nullifying) (Getting this means no Frostwyrm kip for you)
• Ramshackle Power Armor (20 Defense, -10 Sexiness, -10 Evasion, +25 Fortification) (20% Kinetic ,-5% Electric) (10 Accuracy Bonus, Power Armor) (Getting this means missing out on potential future Roz events in later patches)
• Pump King's Platemail (14 Defense, +50 Fortification) (40% Electric) (Plated) (Requires playing through Halloween event first)
• Frostscale Hauberk (12 Defense, -2 Sexiness, -2 Evasion, +25 Fortification) (40% Freezing) (Plated, Nullifying) (Requires playing through Frostwyrm Christmas event first, and only if you have 10 or more kips)
• Kor'diiak Hide Armor (9 Defense, 9 Evasion, +40 Fortification) (-5% Burning, 40% Freezing) (Smugglers can also make good use of this armor)

For Tech Specialists:

• Augment-Weave Armor (10 Defense, +50 Bonus Shielding, 6 Evasion) (24% Electric) (Doubles as a good selling item if running low on moolah)
• Daedalus Threads (4 Defense, +50 Bonus Shielding, 8 Sexiness, 3 Evasion) (Chest Exposed, Transparent)
• Modded Yellow Clothes (honorable mention) (0 Defense, +60 Bonus Shielding, 3 Sexiness, 12 Evasion) (40% Electric) (Smugglers can also make use of this armor)
• Kor'diiak Hide Armor (see Mercernary entry) (This is the armor I currently use on my Specialist, however, it may not be the most optimal choice for this class.)

Honorable mention:

• Gray Goo Armor (6 Defense, 5 Sexiness, 25% Kinetic, 25% Burning, -25% Electric, -10% Drug, -10% Tease, -10% Pheromone, -10% Psionic) (Comes with ridiculous amounts of versatility, as an armor that can change into a swimsuit, heal, have sexy times with, and more. However, statswise it does fall behind most of the other armors on this list.)
• As of time of writing, the Gray Goo Armor gains the following upgrades: +2 Defense (to 8), Mirrored Flag, +25% Electric (effectively removing the electric weakness), 50 Bonus Shields.
  
• All these give Nova a wee bit more leverage against her competition, but she's still somewhat weaker than most lategame armors.

Spoiler: Shields

• Prototype Pirate Shield (-3 Evasion, 200 Shield) (30% Kinetic, -50% Electric, 15% Burning) (The best option available right now for Mercenaries and especially Tech Specialists) (Smugglers can use it too, but the evasion penalty may be a problem)
• Reaper Mk I Shield (3 Defense, 115 Shield) (45% Kinetic, -50% Electric) (Useful to Smugglers who want a little more defense in exchange for evasiveness)
  
• Jumper Shield (4 Evasion, 100 shield) (35% Kinetic, -50% Electric) (Useful for Smugglers who rely on evasion bonuses to avoid damage)

Spoiler: Accessories

• Siegwulfe (Regular) (Boosts Evasion by 10% of Intelligence) (Good as a Combat Drone) (Useful for Smugglers) (Currently used by my Tech Specialist)
• Shield Aug Bracers (Shield Defense 1, +50 Bonus Shielding) (Useful for Tech Specialists)
• Santa Hat (Sexiness 5, +50 Fortification) (Useful for Mercenaries) (Only available to collect around Christmas time)
• MK II Aiming Eyepiece (Accuracy 15) (Reduces enemy Evasion by 5%) (Useful for all classes)
• Signet of Bravery (Physique/Max Physique +5, Aim/Max Aim +5, +25 Fortification/HP) (Cannot Flee from Combat) (Useful for Mercenaries)
• Bimboleum Defense System (As of time of writing, the BDS is stupidly powerful against most enemies due to the relative lack of enemies with proper psionic resistance. Very effective on lust-based builds, especially if a Tech Specialist. It does require you to tank damage to the point that your shield breaks, so caution IS advised.)

Spoiler: Misc

This section will largely contain extra items that don't necessarily fit the other categories, but are still worth mentioning.

• Ero Gas Grenade. Deals 45 Lust Damage, with possible 6 DoT damage to Lust over time. May be worth consideration on a lust-based setup for extra oomph.

Any more suggestions you have for me? Got personal builds you want to share? Want to yell at me for being wrong (pls no i cri easy ;-; ) ? Let me know in the comments section!

EDIT: Theron has posted a number of options for lust-based builds. Check out their post below for info.

 

[Theron]

Spoiler: Weapons

While it has lower base damage, the Custom Shock Gear may be the best melee weapon right now because of the Stun Chance (1/5 chance/hit) and Bonus Hit Rate, making hits more likely. It's good for Melee Smugglers because Sneak Attacks can trigger off of Stuns. It also combos really well with the FZR, as a Crushing weapon it gets automatic Critical Hits on an enemy with Deep Freeze.

Speaking of the FZR, it's probably worth mentioning it only fires once/round, even with Second Shot, unless you have Rapid Fire. I've never seen it inflict Deep Freeze with Rapid Fire. It really does seem intended to be used on a Melee character.

I've heard Bonus Accuracy doesn't count for attacks made with perks like Second Attack/Shot or Rapid Fire, only Bonus Hit Rate, so it's even more important for Ranged Mercenaries.

The Trick Bracer is a good Stat-Stick for anyone going Ranged. It has 5 Evasion, only 1 fewer than the Hardlight Dagger or Taivra's Spear, but gets 20 Shields and 3 Shield Defense in return.

The Shock Bow has low base damage, but is one of only two Ranged weapons with Stun Chance (the other being the Heavy Slut Ray), making it a decent choice for Ranged Smugglers.

Spoiler: Tech Specialists

Tam-Wolf 2.0 has slightly higher damage than Siegwulfe, and part of it is Electric, making it more useful against Shields and enemies with high Kinetic resistance like the Mining Robots.
I went Attack Drone and find the Reaper Mk 1 + Augment-Weave + the occasional Deflector Regen to be plenty of Shielding, especially with Rapid Recharge (Intelligence 50/3 + 3 = 19.66, rounded up to 20). With the Custom Shock Gear, I've got a 1/5 chance/hit to Stun and get back 40 Shields over the next two rounds.

Spoiler: Lust

First, remember Lust weapons get 1/2 Physique or Aim as bonus damage, just like physical weapons, making their low base damage deceptive.
Second, as far as I can tell, Critical Hits with a Lust weapon don't actually do extra damage. Making any Critical Bonus useless, annoyingly.

Royal Shard Bow is really good against anything that isn't resistant to Drug. It has 6 Bonus Evasion, which ties with the Zil Champion's Bow for highest Evasion Bonus on a Ranged Weapon.
Tease Damage weapons (Slut Rays, Bimbolium Emitter) seem to benefit from your Sexiness. The Heavy Slut Ray has a Stun Chance and Bonus Hit Rate. Unfortunately, these weapons only fire once/round, even with Second Shot. However, they can be fired 4 times with Rapid Fire + Second Shot, making a Ranged Mercenary with a Heavy Slut Ray capable of putting out a large amount of Lust damage in a single turn. As Energy Weapons, they can also be used with Overcharge.

Smugglers have the easiest time with Tease builds, I think, since they want to stack Evasion and high Sexiness armors usually have high Evasion. Weapon based is probably the Ranged Mercenary with a Heavy Slut Ray. Bimbo Siegwulfe's Tease damage does not actually benefit from Attack Drone or Drone Control, so is useful for Tease builds in general, giving an additional instance of Lust damage each turn. She also improves your Sexiness by 10% of your Intelligence.
The highest Sexiness armor currently in the game is the Jeweled Outfit and it's Fully Exposed, so you get the full benefit of Hardlight underwear and raises Exhibitionism over time. As you noted, it also makes you more susceptible to Tease, Psionic and Freezing. What even uses Freezing attacks? Other than the Frostwyrm. Psionic is also pretty rare.

Jumper Spacesuit is the highest Sexiness Airtight armor, which makes some Lust attacks against you automatically fail, which is very useful. Although there's a worrying trend of giving bosses a way to remove Airtight...

The Jumper Spacesuit is in the Sidewinder with the Probe. I'm not sure how it's possible to miss it. If you steal the Sidewinder without taking the Spacesuit, you can still access it via the Cargohold option in the Sidewinder's Storage menu.

It's good to keep a suit of Augment-Weave around, even if you don't plan to use it as your primary armor. The bonus Soreness recovery makes raising your stats via the Ten-Ton Gym or Ramis much faster.

The Light Jetpack gives +10 Evasion (+15 for Smugglers) and allows you to hit flying enemies with Melee attacks (wings do, too, but they may not fit your character). A negative Evasion value causes you to take more damage, so offsetting the penalty from Ramshackle Power Armor may be a good idea.

 

[Jorr The Great]

It hurt me not to see Nova on the list, I hope Savin will put more improvements soon (and sexy scenes of course hoho): c

 

[BoyHowdy000]

It hurt me not to see Nova on the list, I hope Savin will put more improvements soon (and sexy scenes of course hoho): c

I think Thebiologist is working on a pretty significant expansion for her that's designed to add new content and bring her up to the current (or maybe future depending on when it's planned to release) power level of the game. Last I heard, it got approved and was waiting to be coded.

 

[Zewolfy]

I like using the jetpack for 10 evasion for my smug

 

[null_blank]

The equipment that Kattom now sells on Dhaal is pretty interesting.



Default accuracy of that on a level 10 ranged merc:



Bonus hit rate, crit bonus, surprised pikachu face

 

[BoyHowdy000]

Genius! The Geneva Protocol can't get us if we're in space!

Also, Jesus fuck, that accuracy.

 

[Aury]

The Geneva Protocol can't get us if we're in space!

As I like to joke, the Geneva Protocol ultimately is nothing more than a strongly worded suggestion.

 

[Somebody Else]

That accuracy is overkill, unless you didn't invest anything in aim and the enemy has maxed out reflex. IIRC, the most accuracy you need at level 10 using ranged weapons (if you do max out aim) is 16. Even at level 20, if you've been keeping your aim up, 23 is the max you'll need.

 

[SubroutineFourOneNine]

I'd personally argue that against enemies with high evade *cough cough rat raiders* the higher accuracy is a pretty good upside. That being said, I'm more interested in the ridiculous crit bonus the Ice Cappers provide.

+10 Crit is a massive amount considering the competition, and the only weapons that come close to that are the Crucifier and Supercharged Pistol, both of which fill different niches compared to the cappers. The Bonus Hit Rate is nice too.

I may update the guide after Fenfen drops the public patch and we get Dhaal for what it should be.

 

[Somebody Else]

Accuracy doesn't do anything against the evasion stat. The game handles hit chance in two stages: first is an opposed stat check (physique/5 vs. reflex/5 for melee, aim/5 vs. reflex/3 for ranged), with a base 10% miss rate. Accuracy affects this chance. If that's a hit, it's then checked against evasion; The only thing that affects this is one accessory.

 

[SubroutineFourOneNine]

With the release of the new patch, I've gone ahead and added the newest toys currently available in the new patch onto this list.

One item in particular might be of interest for those pursuing a lust-based setup. I've included it in the new section Misc.

 

[Theron]

No love for the Rouser? +10 Evasion! (4 more than the previous maximum). Current maximum passive Evasion on a Smuggler is now 82%.

Spoiler: Warning! Math

18 (Jumper Jumpsuit)
10 (Rouser)
10 (Light Jetpack)
6 (Royal Shard Bow)
4 (Jumper Shield)
-------------------------------
48
x1.5 (Evasion)
--------------------
72
+10 (Improved Agility)
------------------------------
82%

+5% from Cloak and Dagger 'for one turn after landing a basic attack hit'.
87% Evasion if you make attacks each round.

Evasion is capped at 90%.

Another use: Sidearm for a Ranged Mercenary wearing Ramshackle Power Armor to negate the Evasion penalty, freeing the Accessory slot for something other than the Light Jetpack. On the other hand, I suspect we'll get another suit of Power Armor at some point on this planet and I don't know if an Evasion penalty is going to be a consistent feature.

I suspect the Ice Cappers are a better weapon than the Street Sweeper. Lower base damage, but the same Accuracy, no Evasion penalty, a Crit Bonus and Bonus Hit Rate. It's not an Energy Weapon, so Mercs will keep the benefit of Heavy Weapons. The only potential downside is that most of the damage is Freezing.

Spoiler: Street Sweeper Rant

Who is the Street Sweeper for, anyway? The Bonus Hit Rate on Ice Cappers helps Mercenaries maintain Concentrate Fire bonus damage. One hit of which out damages the difference between the two, and at no comparative penalty to Accuracy.

Smugglers don't want it because of the Evasion penalty, and most of their damage comes from Aimed Shot.

It's not an Energy Weapon, so Tech Specialists can't Overcharge with it.

I think Ice Cappers may be highly overtuned, unless there's a significant amount of Freezing Resistance among enemies on Dhaal. If that's the case the Glacial Auger is also potentially in trouble.

Genius! The Geneva Protocol can't get us if we're in space!

Also, Jesus fuck, that accuracy.

As I like to joke, the Geneva Protocol ultimately is nothing more than a strongly worded suggestion.

None of the UGC are signatories anyway. Of the Terran-Space Coalition, only Earth might, maybe. If someone got a sudden case of scruples. Anyway, nobody else signed it, so it's irrelevant.

 

[Rocketman]

I would like to thank you for making these lists. Its very helpfully and it is very appreciated.

 

[null_blank]

As you go into the later probe planets players should consider enemy resistances. The street sweeper doesn't do much against Roz for example (in or out of her power armor), but the Ice Cappers can one-shot her due to her vulnerability to freezing damage type.

 

[Paradox01]

No love for the Gray Goo Armor, huh? I currently run a Merc with the GGA, Ice Cappers, Proto Pirate Shield, Bimboleum DS, and the Trick Bracer.

The GGA is just too damn handy and flexible. I carry the Ramshackle PA in my OH inventory in case I decide to completely forego Lust-based attacks or am facing a straight-up gun battle.

I only keep the TB equipped for the Evasion, Shields and Shield Defense buffs. I'm more of a pew-pew than pokey-pokey fighter. I also have Power Strike if I absolutely have to use my rat-whacker.

The BDS is awesome. Very few enemies have high psionic resistance. Again, I carry a back-up, the Mark II Aim Eye, but with the Ice Cappers and an Aim Stat of 50, its +15 Accuracy is just overkill in my experience. I used the BDS and two Aphro Daisies to defeat Dr Lash. (I also equipped the Aegis MG for the Shields buff - the higher your shields, the more lust damage the BDS does).

 

[SubroutineFourOneNine]

With the newest public patch now out, I've gone ahead and done some edits to accommodate. These largely concern a certain gray armor and may, with suggestions, include a certain diving suit, but with the overhauled combat mechanics, more changes could follow as well.

For future purposes, I'll probably start including a changelog at the top so people know what to look for. Still up in the air, though.