No Man’s Sky has had a rough road since it was first launched back in 2016, yet developer Hello Games has persevered with its open-universe game. There have been so many updates that we’d be hard-pressed to put a number to them off the top of our heads, but they’ve all served to mold the title into something quite different.
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PostsHowever, one thing has remained constant: the planets you visit are out to get you, and they’ll do anything to take you down. Sentinels have more firepower and more annoying tactics, while the local fauna and nightmarish abominations see you as lunch. You’ll need the best of the best to defend yourself, but which Multi-Tool weapons are the cream of the crop?
Updated on October 23, 2024, by Sean Murray: No Man's Sky continues to receive regular updates, and every so often, those updates rebalance the longstanding Multi-Tool weapons. We've updated this list to reflect how each weapon stacks up as of the current patch.
10 Animus Beam
Weapon Characteristics
Low-damage beam
Crafting Recipe
100 Condensed Carbon + 50 Sodium Nitrate
Recharge Resource
Di-hydrogen, Deuterium
The Animus Beam technically does twice the damage of a base-tier Mining Beam. However, it's ranked at the bottom of this list because it doesn't accept any upgrades whatsoever. Because it can never be improved, the Animus Beam is quickly overshadowed by the Mining Beam both in terms of damage dealt and mining yields.
You should only use the Animus Beam during the quest to acquire a Living Ship. It's a pretty great ship and well worth the temporary installation of this pathetic weapon on your Multi-Tool.
9 Mining Beam / Hijacked Mining Laser
Weapon Characteristics
Low-damage beam
Crafting Recipe
30 Ferrite Dust
Recharge Resource
Carbon, Condensed Carbon, Phosphorous
The Mining Beam is not something you’d typically consider using when surrounded by enemies, and you’d be right. It’s a charge tool that doesn’t deal too much initial damage and, if you’re just starting out, is very, very inefficient in its energy use.
However, upgraded to the max with S-class modules and all the bells and whistles, it can become a bit of an early to mid-game monster when dealing with single targets. You’ll melt through armor without having to worry too much about rapid overheating.
8 Paralysis Mortar
Weapon Characteristics
Ballistic projectile, temporarily paralyzes living and non-living entities
Crafting Recipe
1 Wiring Loom + 2 Hermetic Seals + 2 Di-hydrogen Jelly
Recharge Resource
Unstable Plasma
Your typical stun grenade, the Paralysis Mortar is entirely non-lethal. However, if you also have the Voltaic Amplifier module installed, you’ll get a significant damage boost against incapacitated enemies when switching to a primary weapon.
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PostsWhether you’re attempting to raid a Resource Depot and putting the Sentinels on maximum alert, or snatching Larval Cores from under the noses of swarms of Biological Horrors at an Abandoned Building, a well-placed Paralysis Mortar will allow you to take down large groups in relative safety. As such, this is the one secondary weapon you should swear by.
7 Geology Cannon
Weapon Characteristics
Ballistic projectile, explodes on contact with terrain
Crafting Recipe
1 Wiring Loom + 1 Magnetic Resonator
Recharge Resource
Unstable Plasma
This weapon is one for the creative combatants out there. The Geology Cannon is what you get if you marry the Plasma Launcher with the Terrain Manipulator; a grenade launcher that blows chunks into the planet’s crust. And by chunks, we mean large holes that'll trap enemies just as often as they'll trap you.
Yes, the blast of the Geology Cannon is quite powerful and useful for taking out large swaths of weaker enemies, but the craters left by this cannon are just a nuisance, and you're generally better off using the Plasma Launcher.
6 Neutron Cannon
Weapon Characteristics
Chargeable energy blasts,fires in fast-moving cone
Crafting Recipe
1 Wiring Loom + 1 Magnetic Resonator + 95 Magnetised Ferrite
Recharge Resource
Carbon, Condensed Carbon
The Neutron Cannon comes with not one, but two different firing modes. It’s a fantastic tool for those who want the benefit of a shotgun-type quick blaster, and who have perhaps become used to the Scatter Blaster as the weapon of choice. The real power play comes when you charge the weapon and release, dealing massive area damage.
It’s great for enemies that are grouped up, although you could be left exposed momentarily when charging. This is where the Paralysis Mortar comes in, buying you that time to charge the weapon and obliterate whatever is in your path. Fully upgraded, this may be the only weapon you ever need.
5 Plasma Launcher
Weapon Characteristics
High-explosive grenade launcher
Crafting Recipe
1 Wiring Loom + 1 Amino Chamber + 1 Hermetic Seal
Recharge Resource
Unstable Plasma
The tried and trusted grenade launcher of No Man’s Sky, this secondary weapon is useful in a whole host of ways. It can take out the armored doors of Manufacturing Facilities, burst open Resource Depots to claim their rare bounties, or take down Sentinel Walkers with just a few blasts.
However, as a weapon, it’s clunky and inefficient. While you can pump out several grenades in succession, aiming can be difficult (especially at longer ranges), and reloading every few seconds when you’re surrounded by death machines is massively inconvenient. It's best used for breaking armor before switching to a primary weapon—just make sure you’re outside of the blast radius.
4 Blaze Javelin
Weapon Characteristics
Chargeable, long-range, pinpoint energy blast
Crafting Recipe
1 Wiring Loom + 200 Chromatic Metal + 150 Condensed Carbon
Recharge Resource
Carbon, Condensed Carbon
The very definition of high risk, high reward. Essentially a sniper rifle, it has tons of power to start with and rewards you with more damage the further a shot travels. Hop on top of an Abandoned Building, for example, and you can take down those spawning Biological Horrors while laughing all the way to the Larval Core bank.
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PostsThings get even better once you have the Waveform Oscillator and Mass Accelerator modules installed and the Blaze Javelin fully upgraded. Your shots will apply a five-second stun to any enemies hit, meaning you can easily stun-lock anything that stands in your way. That said, the slow fire rate makes this difficult to use against groups of up-close enemies.
3 Boltcaster
Weapon Characteristics
Burst-fire, accurate over long range
Crafting Recipe
100 Chromatic Metal + 2 Nanotubes
Recharge Resource
Projectile Ammunition
The default weapon, the Boltcaster can be surprisingly powerful once fully upgraded with S-class (or even X-class) modules. Its slow fire rate becomes closer to a machine gun, and it reloads almost instantly. Combined with exceptional range and decent accuracy, the Boltcaster can be your go-to weapon for pretty much any engagement.
While the Boltcaster can do everything well, it doesn't really excel in any particular role. It's outclassed by the Blaze Javelin in long-range sniping, and it doesn't have the damage of the Pulse Spitter or Scatter Blaster up close. Still, it's a solid, reliable weapon that will never let you down.
2 Pulse Spitter
Weapon Characteristics
Fully-automatic, loses accuracy in long bursts
Crafting Recipe
1 Wiring Loom + 200 Deuterium
Recharge Resource
Projectile Ammunition
A standard machine gun-type weapon, the Pulse Spitter requires mastery of aiming and recoil to be effective. It's definitely an acquired taste, but if you can tame this wild beast of a weapon, you'll be pleasantly surprised at its damage potential.
Once you upgrade the Pulse Spitter with the Ricochet Module and Impact Igniter, your rounds will ricochet off solid surfaces and deal damage over time by igniting enemies. There's little the Pulse Spitter can't handle at close to medium ranges.
1 Scatter Blaster
Weapon Characteristics
Rapid-fire shotgun
Crafting Recipe
1 Wiring Loom + 200 Pugneum
Recharge Resource
Projectile Ammunition
Here we get to the business end of the best weapons in No Man’s Sky, and for many the Scatter Blaster is the most ‘old faithful’ of all. Essentially a combat shotgun, it’s unparalleled at dealing with Sentinels when fully upgraded, and will easily one-shot those awful Biological Horrors.
The trade-off is that it’s very much a weapon for those who are comfortable with up-close, run-and-gun combat. It's less useful at long range, although it can still deal heavy damage to those towering bipedal Sentinels that show up at max alert. As such, it’s always worth having a Multi-Tool with a fully upgraded Scatter Blaster.
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Adventure Action Survival Systems 4.0/5 8.8/10 OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Avg: 72/100 Critics Rec: 36% Released August 9, 2016 ESRB T for Teen: Fantasy Violence, Animated Blood Developer(s) Hello Games Publisher(s) Hello Games Engine ProprietaryWHERE TO PLAY
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