In the cyberpunk world of The Ascent, guns are as common as shoes and hats. This helps to explain the number of mooks you blow away as well as the numerous firearms that you'll find as you ascend the Veles arcology.

Related: The Ascent: Best Side Missions And Where To Find Them

With weapons falling like acid rain, it can be tough to determine which guns will take you from an indentured wage slave to becoming an independent contractor. Thankfully, we're here with an extensive list of the best weapons in The Acennt. Read on to determine which guns you should upgrade as you fight for control of Veles.

Updated August 15, 2023, by Sean Murray: With the latest DLC, the best weapons in The Ascent have changed slightly since this list was originally published. We've updated this list to reflect your updated arsenal.

10 EP4 Pacifier

Sidearms aren't the strongest weapon type in The Ascent, but they have their place at certain points in a playthrough, or if you don't want to use a high-fire-rate weapon. There are a lot of handguns to choose from; however, there aren't many that can match the power of the Pacifier.

The Pacifier deals 257 damage while also dealing energy damage instead of regular physical damage. Similar to many other weapons in The Ascent, you can obtain the Pacifier by buying it from a weapon merchant. This makes the Pacifier one of the easier weapons to obtain in The Ascent that's also notably powerful.

9 ER Chrome Puncher

Precision weapons are usually sniper rifles in The Ascent, and they're one of the strongest weapon types to use while far away from an enemy since you can deal a lot of damage with a single shot.

The ER Chrome Puncher is an energy precision weapon that deals more damage than the majority of other precision weapons found in The Ascent. You can obtain the ER Chrome Puncher easily by buying it from a weapon merchant when they have it in stock. The high base damage and extra energy damage make this weapon one of the strongest items in The Ascent, even when facing challenging enemies.

8 ES4 Eraser

Shotguns are the best weapon type for dealing damage up-close, especially if you're trying to defeat multiple enemies with a single shot. This weapon type has a lot of area of effect damage, but only while close to an enemy, otherwise, a shotgun will barely deal any damage at all.The best shotgun in The Ascent is the ES-4 Eraser, which is a shotgun that primarily deals energy damage. There are a lot of shotguns that have high base damage; however, the ES-4 Eraser is the best out of all of them. If you want to acquire the ES-4 Eraser for yourself, then you can buy it from a weapon merchant.

7 ABR Commander

One of the more common problems you'll face in The Ascent is gunfights that descend into absolute chaos, with explosions and body parts flying all over the place. It can be hard to aim at specific targets in such a visually obscured environment, which is where the ABR Commander excels.

With the ABR Commander, you don't have to aim. Just fire in the general direction of enemies, and the long-range homing bullets will automatically zero in on targets. This frees you to focus on dodging and finding cover, allowing you to stay safe while your opponents stay dead.

6 Recoil

Added in the CyberSec Pack DLC, the Recoil ballistic burst rifle offers a similar fire rate to the ABR Commander but with vastly improved DPS. So long as you can hit your shots, you'll find the Recoil offers long-range, consistent damage that will take you to the top of Veles.

It's up to you to decide whether the increased damage is worth the increased risk of having to actually aim at your targets.

Related: The Ascent: Secret Weapons You Can't Buy From Vendors

5 EBR Enforcer

The EBR Enforcer is essentially the same as the Commander, but it offers energy-based damage instead of ballistic damage. It also has slightly higher DPS, which makes it a slightly better general-purpose run-and-gun option if you're not facing waves of organic enemies.

If you're going up against a bunch of robots, however, the Enforcer comes into its own. Consider this weapon when you're taking on multiple spider bots in later levels of The Ascent.

4 Guillotine

It's a rule somewhere that every cyberpunk setting has to have a katana, and The Ascent is no different. And like in most other cyberpunk games, this sword is no joke. It offers intense ballistic damage that's able to carve through enemies like a hot knife through reconstituted protein paste.

The only problem with the Guillotine is you'll need to have the Cyber Heist DLC in order to find it. It's well worth the price of admission as that DLC not only offers more weapons like the Guillotine, but also more quests to complete.

3 BC7 Disintegrator

This weapon seems to have been made with a nod to Ghost Busters, only it excels at making ghosts rather than catching them. While the Disintegrator doesn't offer excellent DPS early on, once fully upgraded, it can vaporize entire waves of enemies single-handedly.

What the Disintegrator really excels at, however, is getting rid of waves of robots. There aren't too many instances where you'll have to fend off lots of tiny bots, though, so be sure to have a solid primary weapon paired with this gun.

2 The Dealbreaker

Excessive weapons aren't known for being quiet; they're often very large and make a lot of noise. This weapon type consists of some of the highest damage weapons in the game, which is why the Dealbreaker is worth considering if you haven't decided on which weapon type to prioritize.

The Dealbreaker deals 1119 base damage and has a large magazine to go along with its high rate of fire. Unlike many other unique weapons, the Dealbreaker has a set location where you can obtain it, which is the chest inside of Silo 86.

1 Overwhelmer

The Overwhelmer is a unique machine gun that uses a special type of ammo that is rare throughout The Ascent, explosive ammo. Explosive ammo deals more overall damage than regular ammo and is particularly useful with a machine gun since it has a fire rate of fire and will hit many enemies at once with the unique ammo type.

You have to journey to The Warrens to find the Overwhelmer, where it is placed in the back of a truck. This machine gun is one of the best weapons that you can obtain in The Ascent, and it's a great option for high-damage builds and while fighting strong enemies.

Next: The Ascent: How To Upgrade Weapons