Walking Dead Saints and Sinners Best Weapons

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Linden Garcia

Linden Garcia is a video game journalist from the U.K. He’s covered everything from reviews, news, interviews, guides and editorials across a wide variety of websites and magazine publications. He’ll passionately defend the Dreamcast as the greatest thing to ever happen to gaming, and spends most of his time these days devotedly enlightening people on the internet as to why Titan Fall 2 was the better choice than Battlefield on that fateful October of 2016 and how VR is the future of gaming!

Latest posts by Linden Garcia (see all)

• Walking Dead Saints and Sinners Best Weapons - July 31, 2023
• Pistol Whip Style Guide - June 8, 2023
• Bonelab Best Mods: Our Top 16 - February 15, 2023

There’s a lot to speak about when we discuss the topic of immersion in The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners. Truly, it’s one of the most immersive—and therefore horrifying—VR horror games ever made, and that immersion comes in many facets, from sound design to environmental storytelling to painstakingly detailed zombies.

But let’s not beat around the bush here: one of the most thrilling areas in which the player becomes immersed is in the gratuitous violence! Namely, the vast array of satisfying weapons you have at your disposal and the numerous ways you can use them to dispatch your undead foes.

Whether you wish to go in all guns blazing or prefer the silent, stealthy approach, there’s sure to be a weapon (or two, or three) that you’ll come to fall in love with as you explore the desolate planes of New Orleans.

Having played through the game several times now, I’ve had many opportunities to try out each weapon and pass judgment on its utility. So, In this Walking Dead Saints and Sinners Best Weapons guide, I’m going to cover what I believe to be the top ten weapons you can find in the game.

There will be something for every type of player here, and hopefully, it’ll inspire you to try something you hadn’t thought of using before!

Criteria

Here are the criteria I used for curating this guide:

• No modded weapons: I’ve already covered the best modded weapons in this game, so this guide will only feature official weapons from the vanilla version of the game.
• Covers all categories: Every category of weapon has its strengths and weaknesses, and each has its top-tier gear. I’ll be including at least one item from each category, so you’ll have a go-to choice for every situation!
• Has a specific use case: While all weapons are at least partially useful in some way, the ones on this list outstrip the others primarily because of their proficiency in a particular area or playstyle.

With that out of the way, let’s get onto the list!

The Top 10 Weapons

1. The Nova 1014

• Type: Firearm (Semi-automatic Shotgun)
• Durability: 5 Stars
• Use Case: Fending off moderate groups at close distances
• Workbench: Guns Level 10

The Nova 1014 has become a staple for a reason, and part of that reason is that shotguns have strongly cemented themselves as the ultimate zombie-stopping firearm. For me, the Nova 1014 is easily the most fun to use and the most practical, even outstripping the mighty double-barrelled shotgun.

It’s an incredibly balanced weapon as far as the stats go, but one of the best things about it is the ammo capacity: this thing holds nine shots, and if you’ve played this game for any considerable amount of time, you’ll have already experienced plenty of deaths while reloading.

It’s also got an excellent durability rating, meaning you can (and should) use this as a workhorse weapon. Get a hold of it as soon as you can!

2. The Nail Bomb

• Type: Throwable explosive
• Durability: N/A
• Use Case: Dealing with large groups of zombies quickly
• Workbench: Gear level 8

Fashioned lovingly out of an old soda can, a fuse, and a few nails, the nail bomb is an excellent choice when you have to get rid of a lot of zombies very fast. Using any explosive is a trade-off, especially in the case of the Nail bomb. They’re incredibly loud and can cause damage to yourself if you’re not careful, but used in the right scenario, they’re perfect.

If you’re outside and have a horde of zombies chasing you, this is one of the best options for making an effective escape. You need not worry about proximity or timers; just aim your shot well, and victory will surely be yours!

3. AR-416

• Type: Firearm (Automatic Rifle)
• Durability: Five Stars
• Use Case: Fending off very large groups at a moderate distance
• Workbench: Guns Level 10

The AR-416 is a special kind of weapon. It’s the only fully automatic gun in the game, so when your back is against the wall and all you can do is spray and pray, this is the gun to go to. That said, you’ll only be able to craft it after you’ve finished the game, making its consumption of a vast quantity of bullets the ultimate payoff for scrimping and saving across your entire run.

In many ways, it’s just as well this one is saved for last—many consider its power quite unbalanced, but hey, that often makes it even more fun! No matter which way you look at it, it’s one of the only weapons which enables you to truly stand your ground against a huge horde, and for that, it deserves a place here.

4. The Sheet Metal Cleaver

• Type: Melee (one-handed)
• Durability: Three Stars
• Use Case: Tactical melee combat against smaller groups
• Workbench: Gear level 7

Cleavers offer great versatility as far as one-handed melee weapons go; they’re always a great bet if you’re not yet quite as accurate as you need to be to handle the bigger weapons. You’ll be able to slice through about 20 zombies until it breaks, and while it lasts, I assure you you’ll feel like a post-apocalyptic ninja of sorts.

Materials are common to come by anyway, meaning you should always be able to have one of these on your person to whip out at a moment’s notice—perfect for the early game when you haven’t yet become fully accustomed to complex crafting.

5. Sticky Proximity Explosive

• Type: Explosive
• Durability: N/A
• Use Case: Quickly clearing a group that’s hot on your trail
• Workbench: Gear level 8

In many ways, the Sticky Proximity Explosives negate the biggest problems with the explosive category of weapons: they don’t unpredictably bounce around — potentially doing more damage to you than the zombies — and they explode only when a zombie passes over them.

These are a great option if you’re making a getaway and the horde is a way behind you, or more commonly if you’re strategically luring a horde to a firey and explosive death! This weapon couples the satisfaction of proper planning and strategy with the finality of an explosion of body parts. What more could you want?

6. The Grass Cutter Katana

• Type: Two-handed melee (can also be used with one hand)
• Durability: Five Stars
• Use Case: Fending off large groups up close
• Workbench: Gear level 10

The Grass Cutter Katana is a true beast of a two-handed weapon. It doesn’t have the fine Japanese craftsmanship of a real Katana, but what it lacks in finesse, it makes up for in sheer brutality. The Grass Cutter will make quick work of any zombie’s throat, and its high durability makes it an obvious workhorse when melee combat is the best way forward.

Few weapons feel as instinctively enjoyable to use in VR as a samurai sword; pair that feeling with an endless supply of zombies, and you have yourself a very good time.

7. The Laminated Bow

• Type: Bow (non-ballistic projectile weapon)
• Durability: Four Stars
• Use Case: Stealth encounters
• Workbench: Survival Level 3

There’s a reason Daryl used a bowed weapon in HBO’s The Walking Dead TV show: they’re deadly, silent, and use easily replenishable ammo. There are several types of bows available to you in the game, but the Laminated Bow will always be my go-to for the ease of finding the necessary crafting materials.

It’s certainly got a steep learning curve (even as a self-professed veteran of the archery tower defense game in The Lab, it took me a while to get used to), but once you’ve got it, the bow unlocks the thrilling prospect of nail-biting stealth encounters. For me, these are often the high points of the game.

8. Samedie’s Hand

• Type: Melee (Fladed Fists)
• Durability: Four Stars
• Use Case: Best used to fight small groups in close quarters.
• Workbench: Gear level 8

Samedie’s Hand exemplifies true post-apocalyptic craftsmanship in the best way possible. It doesn’t have the most descriptive name, so allow me to enlighten you: this weapon comprises a deadly bladed glove that can eviscerate groups of zombies with ease.

Craft yourself two of them, and you’ll be able to dual-wield these deadly fists of fury for double the stopping power (that’s four knives!).

They allow you to connect with one-on-one zombie brawls like no other weapon, and with a higher durability rating than most melee weapons, they’re definitely a favorite to seek out no matter what your playstyle.

9. The.30 Revolver

• Type: Firearm (Pistol)
• Durability: Three Stars
• Use Case: Taking out small groups at moderate distances
• Workbench: Guns Level 1

It may be one of the first weapons you get in the game, but if it ain’t broke, why fix it? It’s clear the developers designed the .30 Revolver to be well-rounded so as to introduce players to the game’s mechanics, but that also means it fits in as a solid choice throughout your entire playthrough.

You may be ready to discard it in favor of more powerful weapons as you progress but remember that the .30 is durable, ammo is easy to obtain, and they can kill in a single shot if you have good aim. In other words, don’t judge a book by its cover! (to use yet another idiom).

10. The Bolt-action Rifle

• Type: Bolt-action firearm
• Durability: Five stars
• Use Case: Picking off select targets from a distance
• Workbench: Guns Level 5

It may be loud, but use the Bolt-action Rifle properly, and that won’t matter because you’ll be too far away for the zombies to find you.

Naturally, this is an excellent weapon for camping out somewhere and taking out a target from afar. It’s incredibly precise and ample powerful for dealing a swift tactical death to a zombie or two that block your path, and few weapons like it have such a use case.

You’ll notice that this is the only rifle on this list, mostly because I often didn’t bother with them due to the space they took up. Nevertheless, on more than one occasion, I ended up wishing I had one. When they are necessary, accept no substitute.

My Personal Top Three

I’ve used all of the weapons on this list to great effect, but here are my top three!

1. Samedie’s Hand: There’s nothing quite like the visceral VR connection you get from this melee weapon, and I’d go as far as to say it’s as satisfying as anything you’ll find in Bonelab.

2. Sticky Proximity Explosives: There’s only one feeling that matches the relief of narrowly escaping a horde of zombies within inches of your life—and that’s blowing them to smithereens to achieve that end!

3. The Nova 1014: If I had to pick one gun to use for the rest of the game, I think it would definitely be the Nova 1014. There’s nothing like it given its excellent stats in all but noise. There’s a reason shotguns are so revered in zombie culture, I guess.

Some Useful Tips

Before I sign off, I thought I’d give you a few tips that I learned to adopt. Wanting to test out the weapons from above is all fine and dandy, but in a survival game like this, you actually have to go out there and risk your life to craft them. It’s going to be tough to get a hold of the Recipes for some of these weapons, let alone the materials required to make them. So, here are a few pointers to make that experience a little easier.

Never leave metal boxes behind. Along your journey, you’ll come across several metal boxes of varying colors. Never neglect to take these with you, as they usually contain the best loot you’re going to find.

Places to find wood: People often seem to have a problem finding enough wood in this game. My go-to has always been picture frames; they’re readily available in many buildings, and you’ll acquire four pieces for every frame you take. Also, don’t forget to check the roadsides — there are usually several pieces of wood discarded on the side of any given road.

Prioritize the “Deep-Pockets” backpack upgrade: The looting process can be pretty laborious considering you have to do everything manually, so make sure to get the Deep-Pockets upgrade nice and early. This will afford you plenty of extra pockets to carry loot in so you don’t have to make as many trips. It can be unlocked by attaining level six on the Gear Workbench, so it shouldn’t take you too long to attain.

If you’re really struggling to find a specific Recipe or weapon out in the wild, I highly recommend referring to this guide by u/kingofmormon over on Reddit. They’ve detailed every weapon in the game and where to find the specific recipe.

Honourable Mentions

Here are a few more great weapons that didn’t make the cut:

• The FS92M: A powerful semi-automatic firearm
• The Night Shift: A well-rounded melee weapon that doesn’t jam into enemies
• The Bayou Slugger: A two-handed melee weapon, great for the early game.
• The axe: A strong two-handed melee weapon with excellent sharpness.
• The Double-Barrel Shotgun: A close second to the Nova 1014

FAQs

Walking Dead Saints and Sinners Best Weapons: Conclusion

I hope this guide on the best weapons in The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners has inspired you to try out some new strategies. It’s always worth giving weapons you’ve never used before a shot (pun intended) to give yourself some versatility as you work to survive the apocalypse.

I’d also recommend checking out some of our other articles on the game here on Ready VR One; why not start with another guide I wrote: 12 of the Best Walking Dead Saints and Sinners Mods?

If you’re a big horror fan (which I assume you are if you’ve braved what this game has to offer!), check out our guide on the Top 10 Scariest VR Games, too. Thanks for reading Ready VR One!