10 Best Weapons To Get in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart has many wacky firearms for players to experiment with. Here are some of the best additions to any Lombax's arsenal.

One of the biggest joys in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is unleashing the wacky power of a new weapon on hapless Goons and bots. Luckily for new players, Ratchet and his co-star Rivet can find weapons with incredible reality-bending effects that defy the imagination. With these weapons in hand, players can effectively wipe the floor with any enemies they encounter on their dimension-hopping adventures.

Every weapon in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart can be fun to use, and they all have unique effects that make them worth testing at least once. However, as players progress through the story, they’ll need to level up Rift Apart’s weapons so they’re still effective against any enemies they encounter. Despite an abundance of upgrade resources, players will still need to prioritize upgrades for the best weapons in the game.

Spoilers for Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

How To Get: Available from the start of the game.

The Burst/Blast Pistol is the first weapon players unlock in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. It doesn’t do anything spectacular; in fact, it’s a strong contender for the least interesting weapon in the game. However, it’s a trusty and reliable sidearm with decent long-range accuracy, making it a great weapon to use in basic enemy encounters throughout the game. In some encounters, it just isn’t worth literally bringing out the big guns.

Those encounters are where the Burst/Blast Pistol works best, allowing players to eliminate groups of weaker enemies without wasting any special ammunition. Players should try and use the Pistol and farm some of Rift Apart’s Raritanium to purchase upgrades for it. At Level 5, it’s upgraded into the Blast Pistol, which fires a spread of plasma bolts that’s ideal for chipping away at boss enemies.

How To Get: Purchase from Ms. Zurkon in Nefarious City on Corson V.

In certain enemy encounters, Ratchet and Rivet will find themselves facing down hordes of enemies. The Mr. Fungal weapon allows players to even the odds somewhat, as it launches small mushroom-shaped turrets that blast any enemies within range. Players can launch several turrets at once to get some additional firepower, which is useful regardless of whether they’re fighting a horde of enemies or tackling a particularly tough boss.

These turrets can also draw an enemy’s attention away from Ratchet and Rivet, giving them a nice crowd-control function. They’re particularly good for dealing with crowds of enemies, such as inside Rift Apart’s Silver and Gold Battleplex Challenges. Players can deploy them around the field, so they can reliably clear weaker minions from the field, all while Rivet focuses her attention on tougher elite and boss enemies.

How To Get: Purchase from Ms. Zurkon in Megalopolis on Corson V.

The Shatterbomb allows Ratchet and Rivet to lob grenades into groups of enemies, dealing an impressive amount of AOE explosion damage. It’s most useful when used to damage boss enemies or to blast apart any tightly packed groups of enemies. Like many other weapons in the game, it’s also a great showcase of how Rift Apart uses the Dualsense controller. Players can hold the right adaptive trigger down halfway to aim the Shatterbomb.

Depending on whether players like tossing bombs around, the Shatterbomb may be one of the best weapons to upgrade. At Level 5, it becomes the Shatterblast: grenades now explode on impact, and enemies caught in the explosion have a 10% chance to explode as well.

How To Get: Purchase from Ms. Zurkon in Outpost L51 on Sargasso

The Ricochet is a fantastic weapon for dealing high amounts of damage to a single target. When using the weapon, Ratchet and Rivet fire a small projectile that hits the targeted enemy. Pressing the fire button repeatedly causes the projectile to ricochet, striking the enemy multiple times from multiple angles before it explodes. Players need to pull down the trigger quickly to score as many hits as possible and maximize the Ricochet projectile’s damage.

Apart from being incredibly entertaining to use, the Ricochet projectile can also bounce to a new target and even appears to temporarily stun enemies, stopping them from attacking. Players who like this weapon can try for the No Need for Multiball achievement, which requires them to kill two enemies with a single Ricochet round.

How To Get: Purchase from Zurkie's in the Scarstu Debris Field

The Lightning Rod fires a barrage of electric bolts that electrocute and stun enemies hit by them. The electric charge can chain across multiple enemies, stunning entire groups at once. Unfortunately, the Lightning Rod’s damage output is relatively low, so it doesn’t hit particularly hard.

However, the stun effect that it delivers more than makes up for that. Players can stun enemies and then either get away from them or blast them with a more powerful close-range weapon such as the Executor. Even bosses such as Rift Apart’s Imperial Power Suit boss aren't immune to the Lightning Rod’s stun, making it a great weapon for taking down the game’s boss enemies.

How To Get: Purchase from Zurkie's in the Scarstu Debris Field (second trip)

Much like the Burst Pistol, the Warmonger is refreshingly straightforward. It’s a basic rocket launcher that fires missiles, but players shouldn’t underestimate its potential. Missiles from the Warmonger deal an incredible amount of damage, making it a highly versatile weapon. It’s an excellent choice for blasting apart groups of weaker enemies with AOE damage, and the missiles can also take out a hefty chunk of health from bosses.

There aren’t any real tricks or strategies when it comes to using the Warmonger. It’s not very subtle, but still a fantastic choice for beating Rift Apart’s main story.

How To Get: Purchase from Ms. Zurkon in Outpost L51 on Sargasso

The Topiary Sprinkler is a curious addition to Rift Apart’s arsenal of weapons. When used, it launches garden sprinklers that hose down nearby enemies with a torrent of water, causing them to sprout vegetation. Targeted enemies begin to look more and more like they belong on top of a hedge, and freeze in place for a short time. This gives players a window to blast away with their other weapons.

This was one of the first weapons to be revealed in Rift Apart and it’s nothing short of spectacular in-game. Again, much like the Lightning Rod, even boss enemies aren’t immune to the Topiary Sprinkler. It’s a solid choice for stopping all enemies in their tracks.

How To Get: Purchase from Ms. Zurkon in Megalopolis on Corson V.

The Enforcer is Rift Apart’s shotgun, dealing heavy damage at close range. Like most video game shotguns, it’s the ideal choice for clearing out enemies at close range, giving Ratchet and Rivet a bit of valuable breathing room. There’s no shortage of enemies that try to swarm players in Rift Apart, and the Enforcer gives players the chance to blast them with both barrels at once. Once upgraded, it easily eliminates most enemies unfortunate enough to get within range.

At Level 5, the Enforcer becomes the Executor, which has four barrels instead of two for even more firepower. Unfortunately, like most shotguns, it has limited range, making it less useful for some boss battles.

How To Get: Collect all 10 RYNO Spybots

By unlocking Rift Apart’s RYNO 8, players can add a powerful and incredibly strange weapon to their arsenals. Instead of firing projectiles or deploying turrets, the RYNO 8 splits open reality itself, causing objects from other dimensions and universes to fall through. These objects can hit enemies, causing a massive shockwave explosion and dealing incredible amounts of damage. The objects that fall through are random, and range from chunks of rock to entire spaceships.

When upgraded, the RYNO 8 starts pulling in objects from other PlayStation Studios franchises as rather explosive Easter Eggs. While Rift Apart has many fantastic weapons, it doesn’t get much better than flattening Goons under the weight of an asteroid or one of Horizon Zero Dawn’s Thunderjaws.

How To Get: Purchase from Ms. Zurkon in Outpost L51 on Sargasso (second visit)

The Blackhole Storm narrowly beats the RYNO 8 as it just happens to be a bit more practical. It’s a rapid-fire minigun that can easily wipe out entire squads of enemies and can even melt the game’s toughest bosses. It isn’t particularly accurate, so players should keep in mind that it’s best suited to taking on big targets and hordes. Its main advantage over the RYNO 8 is its ammunition capacity. Even when fully upgraded, the RYNO 8 doesn’t carry enough shots to justify using it for every encounter.

The Blackhole Storm eventually overheats if fired for an extended period of time, but with upgrades, players generally won’t have to worry about that.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart features an arsenal of wacky and incredibly imaginative weapons, and it’s likely that players will find a few they like using. In fact, every weapon in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is assigned to the weapon wheel, ensuring players have easy access to all of these great weapons and more with a couple of button presses.