By Heath Spencer
RimWorld is a storytelling game where you control a colony of humanoids trying to survive on a planet. Whether you are trying to build a spaceship to flee the planet and return home, build a vampire worshipping cult or become one with the void you are going to need to manage your colonists and their resources to achieve your goals.
One of these resources is your weapons stockpile. Many different factions from human raiders to murderous robots will attack your colony, either to steal resources and colonists or simply to destroy all you have worked hard to build. Read on to find my 6 best weapons to have in your stockpiles ready to be used to defend all that your colony owns.
Weapon 6: Heavy SMG
First in our list is the midgame workhorse, the heavy SMG. A weapon of versatility being able to handle almost every situation that could be thrown at your colony. Whether it’s humanoids, insects, mechanoids or animals the Heavy SMG is capable weapon that is a must-get weapon for most players.
Being researchable from the simple research bench allows this weapon to be very accessible even to nomadic colonies that maybe don’t want to spend resources on the immovable high-tech research bench every time they settle down on a new tile.
Weapon 5: Sniper Rifle
Sieges are probably considered the most annoying raid that will attack your colony. As they bombard your colony from a distance you need to go into the field and assault their position. The Sniper Rifle is an amazing tool here as you can generally hit them from outside the enemy’s standard weapon range with enough shots to cause them to abandon their set-up and rush your defences in a more regular fashion.
Sniper rifles are also good for softening up an attack that you can’t take in a fair fight by shooting them from outside their range and moving away before they catch up to take another shot. Lead them in a circle around your colony a few times and they may even bleed out before the rest of your colony wakes up from their nap.
Weapon 4: Frag Grenades
As your colony gets more developed the enemy raids will increase in size. This becomes very apparent with melee-focused raids to the point that even with a choke point; neanderthals, insect colonies and mechanoid scythers can overwhelm your colony with a few lucky attacks on your front lines.
Grenades are a great addition to any defence against a melee raid, generally only needing one or two for a large swing in your favour. Being explosive area-of-effect weapons, they can hit multiple targets, softening multiple enemies up for your gun-wielding colonists to take down easier. They also destroy corpses, making after-battle clean-up easier.
Weapon 3: Beam Repeater
Heavy weapons have always been a favourite of many and the Beam Repeater is no exception. Think laser minigun. Multiple barrels, focused beams, fast rate of fire with the added bonus of sometimes setting non-mechanoid enemies on fire. What’s not to love?
Some may wonder why the minigun is not here in place of the Beam Repeater. While the minigun is a solid weapon, able to shred through unarmoured enemies with ease, it is also quite efficient at shredding through surrounding walls which is a problem when those are your own defensive walls funnelling enemies into a kill-box.
Weapon 2: Charge Rifle
During late game being able to apply good damage to armoured targets is a must. Humanoids in power armour and the large, powerful mechanoids can take a lot of punishment from regular weapons if you are not prepared. In comes the Charge Rifle.
This weapon has good range, stopping power, armour penetration and is the endgame equivalent of the heavy SMG. A colony sporting this as its main weapon on their colonists can handle anything.
Weapon 1: Doomsday Rocket Launcher
There was only ever going to be one weapon here and that is the mighty Doomsday Rocket Launcher. The only weapon truly capable of taking out an entire humanoid raid with a single, well-aimed shot. Sieges, walk-ins, cultist kidnappers, it matters not. All fall before its explosive might. While this weapon is single use, by utilising trading with friendly factions or looting them from the corpses of your enemies you can have a steady supply of “I Win” buttons ready for when you need them.
Those were the top 6 weapons available in RimWorld that your colonists have available to defend your colony from all the aggressors eager to take what is yours.
Do you have a favourite weapon from among these?
Featured image: Shoot your way to victory in RimWorld with this guide. Photo: Screenshot