You find yourself visiting your local starship trader, looking for your next ship. Perhaps you are fighting alongside the Vykeen against sentinels or hunting down the deadliest of space pirates to collect their bounties. Perhaps you are just a peaceful explorer looking to defend yourself against raiders deep in space.
Whatever the reason, you need the best of the best to survive. But what should you purchase? What is the best ship weapon?
Never fear, we have compiled a list of the Top 9 No Man’s Sky Ship Weapons, and where to find them. We have the best weapons for your playthrough, no matter the tactic you are following.
9. Cyclotron Ballista
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While this meteorite isn't a ship, you can picture that it is if you try hard enough.
The first weapon on our list is the cyclotron ballista.
The cyclotron ballista is a heavy weapon that can be used to deal damage and disable the engines on ships that are struck by it. It doesn’t have an auto-lock or guidance with the blasts that are fired. You need to charge it before you fire so that it can strike with its maximum power.
This weapon is earlier on this list for several reasons. The lack of auto-guidance shots makes this weapon highly inaccurate. Most ships that you will fight don’t move slower than you and thus this weapon is very difficult to use when dogfighting. Especially if ships are at the range, this weapon will not help you, as the longer-range capabilities are low. It does have some perks, however:
It has the second-highest base damage statistic in the game.
It has a very low cooldown after overheating.
The ballista does very well against the shields of ships.
Weapon Stats
Base damage is 700 against ships, which jumps up to 1400 if the opposing ship is shot from behind
It's DPS (damage per second) is 2000
Damage per bullet is 250, the second highest out of all ship weapons
How To Get the Cyclotron Ballista:
This weapon is acquired from trading for nanites. You can buy it from the space anomaly for 150 nanites. After acquiring it, you will simply need to install it in your ship. Upgrades can be found at space stations throughout the galaxy.
8. Dyson Pump (cyclotron ballista upgrade)
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This is where you can buy the dyson pump upgrade, on the starship vendor on the space anomaly. The cyclotron ballista has an upgrade module that is a separate part of this weapon. That means it has separate upgrades and won’t use up the three upgrade slots given to the cyclotron ballista. It does make the weapon improved by quite a bit.
Much like when you do not have the dyson pump installed, this weapon is highly inaccurate. While you have the capability of packing a mighty punch, you still rely heavily on the fact that the shots hit their marks. At a distance, it is still lacking quite a bit.
If you would like to work on getting better with this weapon you need to be closer in proximity to your enemies. Often you can pull off a better shot from behind your enemy, plus it will hit for double damage.
Perks of Dyson Pump Upgrade:
The major upgrade for this is heat dispersion, which allows the weapon to be fired more times before it overheats.
High damage to enemy shields, meaning you can quickly knock down shields and switch to another weapon that would allow massive damage to the other ships.
Allows up to six upgrades directed at the cyclotron ballista versus the three if you only have the ballista installed.
Dyson Pump Stats:
It has the second-highest damage in the game
Increased heat dispersion, so you can get more shots in before overheating
This weapon has a decent range, at approximately 1500u
How To Get the Dyson Pump:
This weapon can be purchased on the space anomaly, from the starship technology trader. It can be purchased for 150 nanites, and the upgrades can be found throughout the galaxies at starship traders on space stations.
7. Phase Beam
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Giant lasers are a space classic.
The phase beam is often seen simply as a weapon to be used for mining asteroids, gathering materials from space that help to make you a successful merchant, also it allows you to gather materials to recharge your ship's equipment.
Having an unusually long range for starship weapons, reaching 3000u, which is double the range at which pirates and hostile ships will engage the player. This means you can shoot enemies at a much longer range than they will engage you, giving you a safety barrier between their shots and your ship.
I suggest still getting within this range, but you can shoot enemies fleeing you or that are flying away from you, or at some distance between you. It doesn’t have an auto lock, but it does hold a larger hitbox, meaning it works fairly well for ship-to-ship combat.
This weapon has a low cooldown rate after overheating, meaning this works well for combat with multiple enemies.
Easy to aim, and easy to shoot since it is a constant beam, as opposed to being something that can easily miss with a projectile.
Deals constant damage per tick, so it doesn’t stop damaging your enemies.
Recharges your shields when dealing damage to others.
Phase Beam Stats
Range is 3000u
Fires two beams dealing 180 base damage, meaning 360 DPS
The cooldown time is 2 seconds
Takes 1 second to overheat at base stats
How To Get the Phase Beam: Much like most of the ship weapons, you can now get them on the space anomaly. All upgrades can be found at starship traders on space stations, meaning you can acquire them in any star system. There are also upgrades through the black market kits, which can have increased damage and heat dispersion upgrades that are unknown at first.
6. Rocket Launcher
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When in doubt, rocket launcher out!
The rocket launcher is a fun weapon, but it isn’t great for a balanced play style. The rockets can miss easily, they require a lot of aiming (unless you are right up on an enemy) and they have a very long cooldown timer.
It is more efficient to use when you are nearby of your enemy. It can also be used as a backup weapon that you launch into the center of large dogfights, in hopes to hit an enemy.
Perks of using the Rocket Launcher:
Deals the most damage per second out of all weapons in the game.
This has the longest range as well, at 5000u.
Deals bonus damage from the backside of the ships, making sure that you can destroy enemies from the front and the back.
The downside of this weapon is that it doesn’t do lots of damage to shielded enemies. You can overcome this by using the cyclotron ballista and the rocket launcher paired, with the cyclotron ballista destroying shields and the rocket launcher dealing the killing blow.
Rocket Launcher Stats
Range is 5000u
Base damage (per three rockets, all fired at once) is 3000
Base damage from behind is 12000.
The cooldown takes five seconds
How To Get the Rocket Launcher:
Pick up this weapon from the starship kiosk in the space anomaly. All upgrades can be found throughout space at space station traders.
5. Positron Ejector
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If you had a ship that was a giant shotgun, this would be it.
The positron ejector is the shotgun of spaceship battles. Perfect for up close and personal space battles, this weapon can deal high amounts of damage per volley. It is more like a buckshot, however, as it has a widespread volley.
This weapon is amazing for close battles, meaning that up close and personal is the best way to use this. It can deal more damage when your enemies are unshielded, so it is recommended to take out the shields first, and then finish them off using this weapon.
Biggest perks of the Positron Ejector:
A massive amount of damage at close range means if your enemies charge you, you can send them to a fast death.
Can fire 20 shots per volley, meaning you can get 20 shots off in a very rapid manner as you can get 2.5 volleys off per second.
It has a lower cooldown rate of 1.5 seconds, so it can be used very rapidly.
Positron Ejector Stats
The range is 750u, the lowest of all start-ship weapons
Cooldown rate of 1.5 seconds
Extremely high damage per volley, 3600 for all the shots (not including accuracy loss from the number of projectiles
Deals bonus damage from behind, meaning up to 14400 base damage from behind with this 4x bonus
How To Get the Positron Ejector:
Did you guess you could get it from the space anomaly? Then you are correct! Upgrades are also purchased similarly to most weapons, from starship traders on space stations.
4. Spewing Vents
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The name might be unpleasant but the weapon itself is not!
Spewing vents are a weapon that can only be used on a living ship, which is one of their limiting factors. They behave the same as photon cannons, with their range, their damage, and their functionality. They have high lock-on potential, meaning their shots follow the other ships you are trying to destroy.
They have an average range when compared to the other starship weapons, and have a fairly low cooldown rate. They are handy to be used as dogfighting tools because you can shoot down star ships at a very fast rate.
Perks of the Spewing Vents:
Their high lock-on potential means you don’t need as much manual aiming, it allows the user to inflict high damage much easier.
High damage per shot normally, jumping up to 4x damage when firing at the rear of enemy ships. Allows the user to chase down and finish off enemy fighters.
Comes pre-installed on any new living ships you find.
Can fire 56 shots before overheating, when using base statistics.
Spewing Vents Stats
Range is 1500u
Damage per shot is 120, jumping up to 480 when fired at the back of a ship
The cooldown is 4 seconds after the weapon overheats
Can shoot 7 shots per second
How To Get Spewing Vents:
Spewing vents are acquired through the Starbirth questline, within the same as building your living ship.
3. Grafted Eyes
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Bring out your inner Medusa. If Medusa was a laser gun on a ship that melted other ships.
The grafted eyes are a weapon that came with the living ship update and comes in third for our ship weapons. The major flaw with this weapon is that it can only be installed in the living ship, which means you have to build your living ship before you can use it.
That being said, it has incredible potential to do loads of damage at range and is a very accurate weapon. Much like the description says, incineration meets those who look into the eyes of the living ship. The best way to use this weapon would be to feather the trigger, to avoid overheating.
This weapon behaves similarly to the phase beam, meaning it could be used for mining but also can do an immense amount of damage to other ships. Perks of using this weapon:
This weapon has an incredibly long range for the weapon, up to 3000u.
A very short cooldown time after overheating.
The eyes do a large amount of damage over a short period.
Grafted Eyes Stats
The range is 3000u, one of the longest ranges in the game.
Damage per beam is 180, so 360 per tick
If continually fired, the weapon overheats in 3 seconds
How To Get Grafted Eyes:
Grafted Eyes are received through a Starbirth mission the first time you receive them, and they can come pre-built on their ships and are often broken but can be repaired. Upgrades for these come from void eggs that you destroy as you encounter them in space, so as you blow ships up, make sure to ask for good luck from the RNG gods.
2. Infra-Knife Accelerator
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Got a problem you want to make dead real quick? Use the infra-knife.
The infra-knife accelerator arrives as the second-best weapon for ship-to-ship combat in No Man’s Sky. This is a weapon that strikes hard and fast, leaving ship debris in its wake. The weapon can do immense amounts of damage in very little time, which makes it great for combat.
Using this weapon is more effective at close range, being able to melt the shields and health of your adversaries. It can overheat fast because of this and the cooldown time is much slower than other weapons, which is why it isn’t the top weapon.
The Infra-knife can burn through shields very fast as it is burst damage. It allows the user to quickly reduce the defenses of any ship.
Lower-ranked enemies will be easy to defeat especially as soon as the shields are down, allowing for quick dispatching of them.
It has aim assist, but no lock on potential.
Infra-knife Accelerator Stats
Base damage, firing two shots at a time, with ten volleys per second
It takes 2 seconds to overheat
The cooldown time is 8 seconds, making it a rather long cool-down period
This weapon does 4x damage to the rear, meaning it deals 140 damage per volley.
The range is 1500 u
How to acquire the Infra-Knife Accelerator
This weapon can be acquired from the space anomaly, for nanites. This is also where you can get some upgrades for it, although the majority of the upgrades are found through RNG at space stations within the starship traders.
1. Photon Cannon
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Fly your X-Wing through space blasting away like the rebels of old.
The original weapons on the starship have come in first for us. For utility, ease of use, and damage output, the photon cannons are the best weapon for a balanced playthrough. They work well if you are flying a fighter class ship that can fly circles around pirates and sentinels or if you are playing the tank, coming cruising in to soak up damage and let the enemies come to you.
Here are the top reasons why the photon cannon is the best weapon in No Man’s Sky:
It has good range, being able to engage pirates at the same range they will engage you. This means you will be able to engage them the entire time during dogfights.
Upgrades are plentiful and you can encounter them in any system, from all starship traders.
Reliable damage to enemy ships and the ability to target using the aim assist make it so much easier to send starships to the void.
This weapon has a lock on potential, meaning that your shots can chase down their enemies and help blow them up.
This does 4x damage to the rear of spaceships, so chasing down your targets makes it very easy to gain the upper hand in a fight.
Photon Cannon Stats
Base damage 120 per shot
The rate of fire is 7 shots per second
480 per shot to the back of a starship
The weapon has a cooldown rate of 4 seconds
Range is 1500u
How To Get Photon Cannon: Your ship will start with these, although they may be damaged, meaning you will need to repair them. This is the easiest weapon to start with and the upgrades show up in every space station, meaning you can continuously upgrade them by rerolling and installing the S-ranked tech until you get the DPS you would like!
Overall, one takeaway is that you will need to have two weapons, and depending on who you are, you might find yourself liking different weapons from us. But if you are looking for an easy weapon to acquire and upgrade, the photon cannon is the best of the best.
Now all you need to do is get out there and explore the infinite galaxy, blasting your way through pirates, sentinels, and meteorites combined.
A nordic giant from the frozen lands of Minnesota, Michael boasts a resistance to cold from his Norwegian blood. His biggest weakness are Steam sales and the overwhelming urge to play one more turn.
Gamer Since:
2000
Favorite Genre:
RPG
Currently Playing:
Remnant: From the Ashes, Vampire Survivors
Top 3 Favorite Games:
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Dragonborn, State of Decay, XCOM 2
