Summary
- Ancient Overlord has greater critical hit chance and creates shockwaves, which is good for tough bosses.
- Type-3 Sword boosts character endurance and has a satisfying explosive finish attack.
- Phoenix Sword grants increased attack speed and health regeneration, which is useful in battle.
Being an action RPG, having the best weapons is crucial in Nier: Automata, especially when you get into the Hard and Very Hard difficulties. Yet the game doesn’t make it easy to determine which is the best weapon simply because there are so many weapons to choose from.
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PostsFrom small swords to large swords, bracers, and spears, there are a lot of weapons, and all can be upgraded and given plug-in chips that change how they perform. Here are what could be argued to be the best weapons in the game, based on how often they are used and how much easier the game becomes when wielding them.
Updated on November 7, 2024 by Rabiya Rizwan: Nier: Automata has a variety of weapon types including short swords, combat bracers, large swords and spears. With a huge array of choices available, it becomes harder to decide on the best weapon for your playthrough. Ultimately you should pick the weapon with the highest attack power on the type that you prefer.
16 Ancient Overlord
Location
You can purchase the Ancient Overlord from the Resistance Camp Weapons Trader.
Type
Small Sword
Attack
150-185
Said to be wielded by a tyrant who slew his own people in a pointless attempt to become immortal, the Ancient Overlord is a strong weapon that serves you well. It may also be familiar to those who played the first game. You can obtain the weapon quite early in the game, and it will serve you well in a lot of tough bosses.
It may not do a whole lot of damage, but it does have a greater critical hit chance, and when fully upgraded, it has the Bullet Rupture ability, which creates a shockwave whenever you hit a projectile with this sword. Perhaps the most convenient part of this weapon is that you can buy it at the Resistance camp, assuming you have 15,000 gold.
15 Type-3 Sword
Location
Purchased from Popola and Devola's shop.
Type
Small Sword
Attack
280-360
This weapon has been popular for many fans when fully upgraded. It has decent damage for a small sword, and it’s the sword of choice for Devola and Popola.
What makes it popular are the helpful special effects that seem almost tailored for beginners or more laid-back veterans. It provides endurance for improved sustainability, and the Finish Blast is a satisfying explosive finish to a completed combo. Popola and Devola have it for sale.
14 Phoenix Sword
Location
Inside a hackable chest in the city ruins.
Type
Small Sword
Attack
270-340
As far as large swords go, this weapon sits about the middle in terms of damage when fully upgraded. What nudges it higher than many of the others is that, when upgraded, it grants you increased attack speed.
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Posts By Jouanna BondakjiIt also has a nice perk called Phoenix Flash that will sometimes regenerate your health whenever a hit connects with the enemy. It isn’t much, but having a few points of HP coming in during battle makes things easier if you’re terrible at evading. This sword is found to the right of the wall when you first arrive on Earth as 9S.
13 Angel’s Folly
Location
Purchased from Emil's shop when he is located near the Resistance Camp.
Type
Combat Bracer
Attack
150-165
Angel’s Folly is a set of combat bracers that have the best base damage of their weapon type. What makes them an attractive weapon to use is that they come with a boost to attack speed and a special perk called Angel’s Mercy.
Angel’s Mercy restores a portion of your health whenever you defeat an enemy. This is awesome in groups as it can keep your health topped off and has an attack speed comparable to Devil’s Hatred. Attack speed is also helpful in beating a lot of bosses and ambushes when you are surrounded by Machine Lifeforms.
12 Faith
Location
Inside the Flooded City Resource Unit.
Type
Small Sword
Attack
160-190
This weapon easily has one of the darkest weapon descriptions as you upgrade it, but is still a good sword to have. Its damage isn’t all that spectacular, but with a boost to attack speed, you’ll hardly notice that each hit doesn’t do much.
It also comes with a Bullet Absorb ability that will restore a portion of your health when you hit a bullet using melee. It’s not much and very situational, but it's a good way to restore a bit of health now and then. This sword is found in the Soul Box in Flooded City, on the elevator.
11 Iron Pipe
Location
Low chance of acquiring it by fishing in the sewer pipe that leads to the Amusement Park.
Type
Small Sword
Attack
30-220
It seems a little strange that a simple iron pipe would be on this list, but this weapon (classified as a small sword in the game) is recommended if you are looking to be dangerous in Very Hard mode. Its special abilities at level four raise your chance of dealing a critical hit and give a high stun probability.
These two abilities can randomly dish out massive damage and keep enemies stunned while you clobber them with your other weapons like the humble Cypress Stick.
Because of this stunning ability, Iron Pipe is considered one of the best weapons in the game, even if it’s considered nothing special aesthetically. The only reason it isn’t higher on the list is that it works better if most of your damage is coming from another weapon.
10 Type-4O Lance
Location
Obtained after you complete the Yorha Betrayers side quest.
Type
Spear
Attack
240-250
Type-4O Lance belongs to the 4O series of weapons in Nier: Automata. This spear is great for stunning enemies, and if you wait for a few seconds before your next attack, you can deal increased damage for a short interval. You will also be able to do a lot of long-range attacks if you don't prefer to fight closer to the enemies.
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PostsEven if you don't wait, the Type-4O Lance can inflict strong damage with its light and heavy attack power. This weapon is obtained as a quest reward after you complete Yorha Betrayers in the City Ruins.
9 Cypress Stick
Location
Inside the Forest Castle, in the courtyard.
Type
Small Sword
Attack
60-80
It’s no surprise that this boring-looking stick is often combined with the Iron Pipe to great effect. This weapon (classified as a small sword) has the ability to increase its critical rate. The other ability is purely cosmetic and changes how chests look in the game, as a reference to the Cypress Stick's origin: Dragon Quest.
Like the Iron Pipe, it’s nothing special on its own, but when combined with the other weapons, the two have the ability to stun an enemy, have a higher chance of dealing a critical, and then raise how much damage that critical can do. So enemies will be rooted to the spot while you bash away looking to strike criticals for impressive damage.
8 Engine Blade
Location
Inside a treasure chest in the Abandoned Factory.
Type
Small Sword
Attack
160-200
The Engine Blade is a quirky-looking sword that’ll have Final Fantasy 15 fans swooning. With a wealth of lore behind the blade about its royal origins, you will certainly feel like a prince wielding this special blade. With decent base damage and special abilities that increase the odds of stunning an enemy, it does a fair amount of DPS while dishing out fast combos.
It also has the Shift Avoid ability, which does absolutely nothing for damage, but it makes your dodge ability look like Noctis’ phase dodge ability from Final Fantasy 15, which some fans argue makes it the best weapon of the game, even if it is just for cosmetics.
7 Type-3 Sword
Location
Purchased from Popola and Devloa's shop.
Type
Small Sword
Attack
280-360
This large sword is obtainable fairly early in the game when you have enough gears in your pockets. When fully upgraded, it deals fairly high base damage. It also had the special ability to increase your character's endurance, which raises their defense levels, making them harder to kill in battle.
It also has a Finish Blast ability which creates an explosion after successfully completing a combo. It’s a nice ability that adds a cool finishing touch to an attack. There are a handful of better weapons in the game, but if you are just starting out or die a lot, it might help you.
This sword can give some needed defense and an explosive incentive for getting the combos figured out while still being a great weapon later in the game.
