Atomic Heart presents you with a lot of different weapons to smash evil mutants and evil robots and save the world. These weapons come in all sorts of different shapes and sizes, each with their own advantages and disadvantages.
Not all of them will do their job better and you will constantly have to be on the lookout for new and better weapons. New weapons, as well as their upgrades, can be crafted by finding the respective weapon blueprint and its crafting materials.
You can find these items when looting containers in general. Weapon blueprints might not be hard to come by, but you’ll need plenty of crafting materials, as they can be hard to come by.
That being said, acquiring and upgrading all the weapons to test is quite complicated and would take time. It would be best to have a list of the best Atom Heart weapons handy.
The best melee and ranged weapons in Atomic Heart
Atomic Heart gives you a total of twelve different weapons to choose from. Each of these 12 weapons is divided into two main categories: melee there from a distance.
Each of these categories has its own role and playstyle. Melee weapons are designed for close combat, making it easier to target specific enemies, but require a lot of skill to master.
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Ranged weapons, on the other hand, are useful for targeting a large group of enemies from a distance. These don’t usually require a lot of skill to use, but you do need to be careful with your leftover ammo and charges.
The good thing here is that you don’t necessarily have to choose, as you can keep both a ranged weapon and a melee weapon with you at all times. It’s also recommended to do so as you always have the option to switch to melee weapons once you run out of ranged weapon ammo.
Choosing a ranged and melee weapon is entirely up to personal preference, but it might be worth checking out some of the best weapons in Atomic Heart before you start choosing.
Kalash (Distance)
The Kalash is considered by most to be the best weapon in Atomic Heart. It is normal that this weapon is so powerful because the game takes place in a Soviet setting and the weapon is based on the Kalashnikov rifle.
Being the only automatic weapon in the game is one of the Kalash’s many advantages. Thanks to the high rate of fire and smooth recoil control, it is one of the most versatile weapons to use at close to medium range.
On top of that, he also doesn’t discriminate between organic and robotic enemies, as he destroys anything in front of him, no matter what it is.
Few weapons in the game have this feature, as most are only useful against organic or robotic enemies. Even upgrading the Kalash in the specific way you want won’t make any difference, which is a huge plus.
However, this weapon has some disadvantages, but the advantages it gives you make these disadvantages rather insignificant. First of all, the Kalash consumes a large amount of ammo and that too quite quickly. Second, he has no special attacks.
You can get around the ammo issue by upgrading the magazine size, but when it comes to special attacks, you don’t need it anyway given the weapon’s supreme versatility.
You also have a lot of mods that go pretty well with this weapon. Electrokinetic Shock, for example, is a very useful mod for the Kalash that makes the weapon more efficient in terms of energy consumption and also more powerful in terms of damage.
PM (Distance)
Like the Kalash mentioned above, the MP is a Soviet weapon based on the Makarov pistol. While it might be just a pistol in its base form, it still has 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 six different mods, which is more than most weapons in the game.
Not only does it have a lot of mods to use, but it also offers great versatility in terms of pairing with different elemental cartridges. Again, like the Kalash, this helps it do well against organic and robotic enemies, unlike most weapons.
The only downsides you can face with this weapon are damage and magazine capacity, but that can be fixed with whatever mods you have for it. Even though it doesn’t have such a high rate of fire compared to the Kalash, the MP is still an awesome weapon to keep in your inventory considering it only takes up one slot.
Zvesdochka (melee)
The Zvesdochka is arguably one of the best melee weapons in Atomic Heart. This weapon works much like the Pashtet (discussed later), but it surpasses it in many ways.
Although classified as a melee weapon, the Zvesdochka can function as a hybrid between melee and ranged weapons with additional upgrades. It can even compete with superior ranged weapons in the enhanced form as it requires no charge or reload to use compared to other ranged weapons.
In terms of damage, even the damage you can do with swing basic attacks is insane. The peculiarity of this weapon is that it has a special attack that allows it to perform ranged attacks.
These ranged attacks require a charge, which can be relatively slow in combination with the slow attack speed of this weapon in general. Although charging takes longer, he can still 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 definitely 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 balanced overall stats, but its main specialty is its secondary special attack.
Getting the Secondary Special Attack is pretty straightforward, as you don’t need to complete any Trial Fields for it. You can get this attack by installing the Magnetic Field Generator.
The Pashtet’s secondary special attack allows him to perform ranged attacks, giving him an advantage over most melee weapons in the game.
With this attack, you can fire projectiles at enemies from a distance. The peculiarity of these projectiles is that they inflict even more damage compared to basic attacks, but require a certain energy to be used. You even have the option to upgrade this special attack with mods from Testing Grounds 9 and 12.
You may have noticed that Pashtet and Zvesdochka are quite similar in structure and function. To settle the Pashtet vs Zvesdochka debate, one would have to compare the two weapons in terms of overall effectiveness.
Although the Zvesdochka may be slower than the Pashtet, it definitely outperforms the Pashtet in terms of raw damage, both on swing and charge attacks, and overall range, as the Zvesdochka fires two projectiles out of a single charge.
Railgun (ranged)
The Railgun is one of Atomic Heart’s most powerful ranged weapons. With the incredible damage this weapon possesses, it can literally shoot most enemies you encounter in the game.
However, all that raw power comes at a cost. The Railgun, instead of using ammo, uses energy by drawing energy from your suit. That being said, this weapon is only useful when you have energy with you, meaning you can’t use it for longer periods of time.
Additionally, it is the only weapon in the game that cannot be upgraded anymore. You don’t have to increase its damage any further, but that means you can’t reduce its energy consumption as well, you just have to use it as it is.
Electro (remote)
The Electro is another ranged pistol like the MP discussed earlier on this list, but this weapon runs on energy instead of ammo, as you might have guessed from the name. Also, unlike the MP, the Electro cannot use elemental cartridges either.
Since it’s a purely energy weapon, you’d assume it specializes in taking out robotic enemies. True, but the Electro can also shred organic enemies quite easily.
Another major benefit you get with this gun is a relatively higher rate of fire. This is because the weapon uses energy very efficiently, so you won’t need to reload it, just keep using it as long as you have the energy with you. Additionally, you also have two different special attacks that make this weapon even more versatile.
The Electro also offers many different mods in the store. The Energy Vampire mod, for example, allows you to replenish energy while dealing damage to enemies. You can even drain health from enemies with other upgrades in this mod. With great upsides and minimal downsides, the Electro is easily the best energy weapon in Atomic Heart.
Dominator (ranged)
The Dominator is a ranged weapon similar to a machine gun that uses energy as its primary source of damage, much like the Electro. Although the Dominator has a very high rate of fire and a powerful special attack, there are still some downsides to consider with this weapon.
First of all, the Dominator is very heavy and difficult to use and move around. Also, it doesn’t allow you to ADS with it, which makes your aim difficult.
Second, this weapon, while powered by energy, can consume large amounts of it in an instant, especially with its AoE attack. This means you can use this weapon to deal a lot of damage, but not for long periods of time.
The Dominator is a somewhat versatile weapon though, as you can turn it into a shotgun or carbine by upgrading its receiver. You can get these upgrades by first getting them from Testing Ground 9 or 10 and then getting the Smart Guidance mod from Ground 8.
Since both Electro and Dominator use energy, you might be wondering which one would win in a Dominator vs. Electro competition. However, this question is a bit difficult to answer.
This is because even though they both use energy; they still serve different purposes. The Electro is a firearm that can be used for almost any fight and for longer periods of time.
The Dominator, on the other hand, packs more punch but also drains power fairly quickly. However, it offers a lot of versatility, as you can convert it to a rifle with the proper upgrade, which is a better option than the shotgun.
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