Once Human weapons tier list: Best guns ranked

Rishabh Sabarwal
Once Human Weapons tier list cover

Once Human requires you to choose the right weapon to aid your survival and there are many to choose from. Luckily we’ve prepared a tier list that ranks the best guns you should craft and use in the game to defeat Deviants.

Once Human‘s post-apocalyptic world is full of items and resources that you can scavenge and collect to craft your own equipment and weapons. The game is full of detailed recipes and blueprints players need to craft the right tools for survival.

As important as it is to build a base with lots of facilities, it’s equally vital to arm yourselves with the right weapons to help you survive the alien entities.

There are nine types of weapons in Once Human: Melee, Heavy weapons, Bows and Crossbows, LMGs, Sniper Rifles, Rifles, SMGs, Shotguns, and Pistols.

Since most early weapons aren’t as effective at the beginning of your journey, explosive weapons come out on top in the current meta, still there are some standouts in other categories.

While you’ll only be running around with a bow and a melee weapon, to begin with, there are some great weapons you will come across that can make a major difference to your survival.

Here’s our full Once Human weapons tier list.

Once Human weapons tier list

TierWeapons
SCompound Bow, KVD – Boom! Boom!
AAWS.338 – Bingo, KAM Abyss Glance, DB12 – Raining Cash
BR500 – Memento, KV-SBR – Little Jaws, MGL
CStun Baton

Best weapon in Once Human (July 2024 meta)

Compound Bow and KVD – Boom! Boom! LMG are the two best weapons in the current meta. Both weapons deal heavy damage to the entities and are even effective in the Deviant Rift Battles.

The weapon blueprints for both can be obtained from the Wish Machine and can be crafted at your Crafting Bench. Since you’ll require weapons in your backpack that deal heavy damage with less ammo used, the above two are the ideal choice.

Once Human Weapon tiers explained

Our tier list follows a simple system that divides weapons based on their overall efficacy in combat:

  • S: The best weapons in the game
  • A: Very good weapons offering an alternative to other options
  • B: There might be situations where these weapons can perform well
  • C: Best to avoid unless you really want to give the weapon a try

S-Tier weapons in Once Human

Compound Bow

Compound Bow in Once Human
Compound Bow is both stealthy and deadly.

Stats

  • Damage – 310
  • Fire Rate – 125
  • Mag Size – 1
  • Crit Rate – 2%
  • Weakspot Damage – 70%
  • Crit Damage – 28%

Compound Bow is the most powerful weapon in Once Human. When you need to eliminate enemies using stealth, this is the perfect weapon for you. You can use a single arrow shot to eliminate the deadliest of Deviants roaming around in the world.

Additionally, the more enemies you eliminate using Compound Bow, the more powerful the weapon gets, as you’ll gain a significant Damage Buff for the next few shots.

You can obtain the blueprint for the bow by opening weapon crates around the world.

KVD – Boom! Boom!

KVD Boom Boom LMG in Once Human
KVD Boom! Boom! LMG is the perfect weapon to make easy work of enemies in Once Human.

Stats

  • Damage – 44
  • Fire Rate – 500
  • Mag Size – 100
  • Crit Rate – 10%
  • Weakspot Damage – 40%
  • Crit Damage – 30%

KVD Boom! Boom! is a juggernaut of a weapon in Once Human that can cause total destruction. It has an 18% chance of triggering the Burn element while firing at enemies, which can literally light an enemy on fire.

Shooting an on-fire enemy with this gun triggers an area-of-effect explosion that deals blaze damage to nearby enemies. The weapon is a lifesaver in missions where you have swarms of enemies coming your way and you need to clear the area faster.

However, when using the KVD, carry a faster secondary weapon, as the LMG’s reload time is quite slow. To keep the action going, equip an SMG or Pistol in the next slot.

You can win the KVD blueprint from the Wish Machine across the world.

A-Tier weapons in Once Human

AWS.338 – Bingo

AWS.338 Bingo Sniper in Once Human
With a long scope and one-shot firepower, the AWS.338 hits right on the money.

Stats

  • Damage – 316
  • Fire Rate – 40
  • Mag Size – 5
  • Crit Rate – 2%
  • Weakspot damage – 95%
  • Crit damage – 26%

For players who prefer a more planned approach to clear out an area from afar, the AWS.338 – Bingo Sniper Rifle is the perfect companion. The gun has a distant scope that is perfect for long-range shots in case you’d like to engage with bosses or hoards of enemies from a distance.

The weapon’s best feature is that it triggers a Bull’s Eye effect when you switch the weapon, which increases weakspot damage by 15%, adding another 15% damage if the shot is fired accurately.

The sniper is ideal for those players who like to scavenge buildings and would rather head into an empty POI by clearing out enemies first than go in guns blazing.

Consider yourself extremely lucky if you get the blueprint from the Wish Machine since it’s one of the rare ones out there.

KAM – Abyss Glance

KAM Abyss Glance Rifle in Once Human
The KAM – Abyss Glance Rifle is the ideal weapon to deal with powerful Deviants.

Stats

  • Damage – 39
  • Fire Rate – 600
  • Mag Size – 50
  • Crit Rate – 6%
  • Weakspot damage – 55%
  • Crit damage – 30%

Looking for a reliable Assault Rifle that mimics your classic AK? Well, KAM – Abyss Glance does the job. It’s a fully automatic rifle that is best for both close encounters with swarms of enemies or going for a full DPS play with bosses.

However, one of the weapon’s best features is that hitting enemies 20 times triggers a Frost Vortex that damages enemies an additional 30%. The closer the enemy is to the center of the vortex, the more damage they’ll take, maxing out at 200%.

Similar to the AWS, you’ll also be able to find the KAM in a Wish Machine and you’d be lucky if you get one towards the beginning since it’s the perfect primary gun for your loadout in the journey ahead.

DB12 – Raining Cash

DB 12 Raining Cash shotgun in Once Human
The DB12 is a one-shot killer in Once Human and is the most powerful Shotgun.

Stats

  • Damage – 55×5
  • Fire Rate – 105
  • Mag Size – 12
  • Crit Rate – 8%
  • Weakspot damage – 20%
  • Crit damage – 28%

Want a trusty shotgun for your loadout? Then pick the DB12 – Raining Cash. When using this shotgun, you can get closer to your enemies and kill them with a single blow.

The Fortress Warfare ability keeps the momentum of the gameplay going as reloading the DB12 can increase attack damage by up to 40%, crit rate by 30%, and give you damage resistance by 30%. It’s a great weapon to use against enemies that use ranged attacks rather than the melee ones.

You can get yourself a DB12 blueprint from a Wish Machine, though you’ll need some luck to obtain it.

B-Tier weapons in Once Human

R500 – Memento

R500 - Memento Pistol in Once Human
When it comes to deadly handy pistols in Once Human, the R500 is incredibly powerful.

Stats

  • Damage – 170
  • Fire Rate – 145
  • Mag Size – 5
  • Crit Rate – 4%
  • Weakspot damage – 65%
  • Crit damage – 25%

The R500 – Memento pistol is the best sidearm you can equip in your inventory in Once Human. It’s a powerful pistol that packs enough punch to eliminate enemies using fewer shots. One of its best features is that whenever you hit a weakspot on an enemy, the weapon reloads faster and boosts damage by a whopping 80%.

The pistol is a great secondary weapon in case you’d like to swap to something while your primary is on reload.

You can obtain the blueprint for the R500 from the Wish Machine.

KV-SBR – Little Jaws

Once Human KV-SBR Little Jaws SMG
The Little Jaws is the perfect full DPS weapon in Once Human with an insane fire rate.

Stats

  • Damage – 29
  • Fire Rate – 1000
  • Mag Size – 30
  • Crit Rate – 10%
  • Weakspot damage – 45%
  • Crit damage – 30%

When it comes to full DPS spray-and-pray gameplay, the KV-SBR – Little Jaws is a lethal weapon in Once Human. If equipped, you can easily shoot your way through multiple enemies in a single mag.

If you hit an enemy 15 times, it triggers an Unstable Bomber explosive effect. While the effect is active, it deals 10% more damage to enemies, which doubles if you hit weakspots.

It’s a great gun to have as your secondary weapon if you love some automatic fire gameplay. However, using a pistol or an AK is advisable since the damage output on SMGs is significantly low in the game.

You can obtain the weapon blueprint for Little Jaws from a Wish Machine.

MGL

MGL Grenade Launcher in Once Human
The MGL Launcher is perfect for area-of-effect attacks.

Stats

  • Damage – 277
  • Fire Rate – 140
  • Mag Size – 6
  • Crit Rate – 4%
  • Weakspot damage – 35%
  • Crit damage – 30%

It’s great to have explosive weapons handy that deal area-of-effect damage in survival games. The MGL Launcher is the ideal Grenade Launcher in Once Human that deals massive damage to a group of enemies if you’re stuck in a tough spot.

If you get 6 consecutive hits in a single mag, it triggers the Fortress Warfare effect which refills the grenades every 1 second.

While the weapon serves purely a singular purpose, it fails against bosses with melee or stomp damage where rifles are more useful since you need to aim for the weakspots.

You can obtain the MGL from a Wish Machine in the game.

C-Tier weapons in Once Human

Stun Baton

Stun Baton in Once Human
Stun Baton is a deadly melee weapon in Once Human.

Stats

  • Damage – 182
  • Attack Speed – Middle
  • Attack Range – Middle
  • Crit Rate – 5%
  • Weakspot damage – 20%
  • Crit damage – 25%

Stun Baton is the only melee weapon worth using in the later stage of Once Human when you’re facing more powerful bosses. The baton has a Power Surge ability when you damage enemies consistently using light strikes, which gives you an additional 50% damage using heavy strikes.

If you like smashing some brains and getting up close and personal with your enemy, there’s no better weapon than Stun Baton which assures a satisfying elimination.

You can obtain the weapon blueprint from Mystical Treasures discovered from exploring the Chalk Peak.

That’s the complete weapons tier list in Once Human. Make sure to check out the best way to farm Acid, change worlds, and fast travel. To stay in the loop on the game’s server status, we’ve got the latest updates in our server status hub.