Atomic Heart presents you with a plethora of different weapons to slice through the devilish mutants and evil robots and save the world. These weapons come in all sorts of different shapes and sizes, each with its own pros and cons.
Not all of them will serve best in their function, and you will constantly have to be on the search for newer and better weapons. New weapons, along with their upgrades, can be crafted by finding the respective weapon blueprint and their crafting materials.
You can find these items while looting containers in general. Weapon blueprints may not be hard to find, but you will require a lot of crafting materials, to the extent that they may be hard to come by.
That said, acquiring and upgrading all weapons to test them out is quite a hassle and would require a lot of time. It would be best to have a list of the best Atom Heart weapons on hand.
Best melee and ranged weapons in Atomic Heart
Atomic Heart offers you a total of twelve different weapons you can choose from. Each of these 12 weapons is divided into two main categories – melee and ranged.
Each of these categories has its own special function and playstyle. Melee weapons are designed for head-on, close-quarter combat – which makes it easy to target specific enemies but takes a lot of skill to master.
Ranged weapons, on the other hand, are useful for targeting a large group of enemies from afar. These don’t usually require much skill to use, but you do have to be mindful of the ammo and the charges you have left.
A good thing here is that you don’t necessarily have to choose from either, because you can keep one ranged and one melee weapon on you at all times. This is also recommended to do so because you then always have the option to switch to melee weapons once you run out of ammo for the ranged weapons.
Choosing a ranged and a melee weapon is completely on your personal preference though, but it may be helpful to look at some of the best weapons in Atomic Heart before you start picking.
Kalash (ranged)
By most, the Kalash is considered the best weapon in Atomic Heart. It is fitting that this weapon is so strong because the game is in a Soviet setting, and the weapon is based on the Kalashnikov Rifle.
Being the only automatic weapon in the game is one of Kalash’s many perks. Thanks to the high rate of fire and the smooth recoil control, it serves as one of the most versatile weapons to use at close to mid-range.
Along with that, it also doesn’t discriminate between organic and robotic enemies, as it destroys anything in front of it regardless of what it is.
Not many weapons in the game have this feature, as most are either only useful against organic or robotic enemies. Even upgrading the Kalash in any specific way you want won’t make a difference in this, which is a huge benefit.
There are a few drawbacks to this weapon though, but the benefits it gives you make these drawbacks fairly insignificant. Firstly, the Kalash consumes a huge load of ammo and that too pretty quickly. Secondly, it doesn’t have any special attacks to it.
You can take care of the ammo problem by upgrading its magazine size, but as for the special attacks, you don’t need them anyways given the weapon’s supreme versatility.
You also have a lot of mods that go pretty well with this weapon. The Electrokinetic Shock, for example, is a very useful mod for the Kalash which makes the weapon more efficient in Energy consumption and more potent in damage as well.
MP (ranged)
Just like the Kalash mentioned above, the MP is a Soviet weapon based on the Makarov pistol. Although this may be a simple pistol in its base form, it still holds the potential to be one of the best ranged weapons in the game.
This is because the MP has a lot of versatility, and you have a lot of freedom with its upgrades and mods. This weapon offers a whopping six different mods to it, which is more than most weapons in the game.
Not only does it have a lot of mods to use, but it also offers a lot of versatility in terms of pairing with different elemental cartridges. Again, like the Kalash, this helps it work pretty well against both organic and robotic enemies, unlike most weapons.
The only drawbacks that you can face with this weapon are damage output and magazine capacity, but that can be fixed with the mods that you have for it. Even if you do not have such a high rate of fire compared to the Kalash, the MP is still a brilliant weapon to keep in your inventory, given it only takes one slot.
Zvesdochka (melee)
The Zvesdochka is arguably one of the best melee weapons in Atomic Heart. This weapon functions pretty much like the Pashtet (discussed later) but surpasses it in many aspects.
Although it’s classified as a melee weapon, the Zvesdochka can work as a hybrid between melee and ranged weapons with further upgrades. It can even compete with superior ranged weapons in the upgraded form because it does not require any charges or reloading with its use compared to other ranged weapons.
As for the damage output, even the damage that you can put in with basic swing attacks is insane. What’s special about this weapon is that it has a special attack that allows it to pull off ranged attacks.
These ranged attacks require a charge, which may be relatively slow combined with the slow attack speed with this weapon in general. Even though the charging takes longer, it’s still able to launch two projectiles at enemies, hitting them from afar.
With the help of this special attack – which can be obtained by completing Testing Ground 1 – the Zvesdochka is easily one of the best weapons in the game and is certainly a must-have weapon in your arsenal.
Pashtet (melee)
The Pashtet is another powerful melee weapon you can use in Atomic Heart. This weapon, in its, base form is pretty decent with overall balanced stats, but its main specialty lies in its secondary special attack.
Obtaining the secondary special attack is fairly simple, as you don’t need to complete any Testing Grounds for it. You can get this attack by installing the Magnetic Field Generator.
The Pashtet’s secondary special attack allows it to pull off ranged attacks, which gives it the upper hand compared to most of the melee weapons in the game.
With this attack, you can shoot projectiles at enemies from range. What’s special with these projectiles is that they deal even more damage compared to the basic swing attacks, but require some Energy for their use. You even have the option to upgrade this special attack with mods from Testing Grounds 9 and 12.
You may have noticed that the Pashtet and the Zvesdochka are pretty much similar in structure and function. To solve the Pashtet vs Zvesdochka debate, we would need to compare the two weapons in terms of overall effectiveness.
Although the Zvesdochka may be slower than the Pashtet, it definitely surpasses the Pashtet in terms of raw damage output – both in swing and charge attacks – and total range, since the Zvesdochka fires two projectiles with one charge.
Railgun (ranged)
The Railgun is one of the most powerful ranged weapons in Atomic Heart. With the insane damage output this weapon possesses, it can literally one-shot most enemies that you come across in the game.
All this raw power cannot come without a cost though. The Railgun, instead of using ammo, uses Energy by drawing power from your suit. That said, this weapon is only useful as long as you have Energy on you, which means you cannot use it for longer periods.
Moreover, this is the only weapon in the game that cannot be upgraded further. You don’t necessarily have to increase its damage even further, but this means that you cannot reduce its Energy consumption as well – you just have to use it as is.
Electro (ranged)
The Electro is another ranged pistol like the MP discussed previously in this list, but this weapon runs on energy rather than ammo as you would have guessed from its name. Moreover, unlike the MP, the Electro cannot use any elemental cartridges as well.
Since this is a purely energy-based weapon, you would assume that it specializes in taking down robotic enemies. That is true, but the Electro can also shred organic enemies to pieces with fair ease as well.
Another major benefit that you get with this pistol is a relatively higher rate of fire. This is because the weapon uses Energy very efficiently, so you won’t need to reload – just keep on using it as long as you have the Energy on you. Moreover, you also have two different special attacks that make this weapon even more versatile.
The Electro also has a lot of different mods in store. The Energy Vampire mod, for example, allows you to replenish Energy as you are dealing damage to enemies. You can even drain enemies’ health with further upgrades to this mod. With such major benefits and minimal drawbacks, the Electro is easily the best energy weapon in Atomic Heart.
Dominator (ranged)
The Dominator is a machinegun-like ranged weapon that uses Energy as its main source of damage, just like the Electro. Although the Dominator has a very high rate of fire and a powerful special attack, there are still some drawbacks to consider with this weapon.
Firstly, the Dominator is very heavy and is difficult to use and move around with. Moreover, it doesn’t let you use aiming down sights (ADS) with it, which hinders your aim.
Secondly, this weapon, while running on Energy, can consume huge loads of it within an instant, especially with its AoE attack. This means that you can use this weapon to deal lots of damage, but not for longer periods of time.
The Dominator is somewhat of a versatile weapon though, as you can convert it into a shotgun or a rifle by upgrading its receiver. You can obtain these upgrades by first getting them from Testing Ground 9 or 10, and then obtaining the Smart Guidance mod from Ground 8.
Since the Electro and the Dominator both use energy, you would wonder which one would win in a dominator vs electro competition. This question is a bit difficult to answer though.
This is because although they both use Energy; they still serve different purposes. The Electro is a handgun that can be used for pretty much any fight and for longer periods of time.
The Dominator, on the other hand, packs more of a punch but drains Energy pretty quickly as well. It does offer a lot of versatility though, as you can convert it into a rifle with the proper upgrade, which is a better option than the shotgun.
