Rifles are among the most versatile weapons in Starfield. They are a balanced option that can deal decent damage, with a good range and attack rate. While other guns are stronger per hit, rifles are always a suitable backup weapon for most situations.
Even though rifles are a strong weapon to build around, they shouldn’t be the only weapon in your arsenal. Having other guns and melee weapons can help get around damage resistance. Additionally, some encounters may have tough unique enemies or simply a large amount of foes where area-of-effect explosives could be useful.
7 Acid Rain
This rifle is a custom-named version of the standard Grendel bullpup rifle. It can be found on New Atlantis at Apex Electronics. Speak to Vincent Salinas to start the side quest “A Shipment for Salinas”. Vincent will ask you to head to Porrima III and pick up a package provided by Red Mile. The item is located just behind the Red Mile building.
Even after completing the mission, Vincent will not give the gun for free. You will need to buy Acid Rain from his shop with credits. Acid Rain is an early Corrosive damage rifle. While its damage is a lowly 3, it has a fire rate of 170. You can use it to rip through an enemy’s defenses and leave them vulnerable to stronger attacks. The gun also comes with a tactical grip and laser sights for better handling.
6 Tempest
Tempest is a powerful rifle that requires picking a certain faction’s side. First, you must get caught committing any crime in UC territory. To lower your sentence they will ask you to infiltrate the Crimson Fleet. Do so and loyally progress all of their side quests. During the final faction mission, “Legacy’s End”, UC Sysdefense will order you to kill Delgado. Once defeating him, loot his corpse to receive Tempest.
The Tempest’s base damage is only 19, but what makes it impressive is its native perk. The gun has Handloading bullets, which randomly deal massive damage or miss outright. This means it can be devastatingly powerful, or be a huge liability. If you like taking major gambles – or possibly reloading an encounter – the Tempest should be part of your arsenal.
5 Fiscal Quarter
Even the main story provides powerful weapons. The Fiscal Quarter semi-automatic rifle is obtained from the mainline quest “All That Money Can Buy”. Walter Stroud will ask you to do a task for his wife and business partner, Issa Eklund. This will involve taking down the pair’s corporate rivals at Slayton Aerospace.
The Fiscal Quarter is quite powerful for how fast you can get it. It has an impressive firing rate of 180, allowing for a hail of bullets during even the toughest fights. It has plenty of mod slots but is strong even with just a scope or laser sight. With additional modifications, you may wind up using the gun for most of the main campaign.
4 Gallow’s Reach
Gallow’s Reach is an upgraded Old Earth Assault Rifle. It is owned by the artifact collector, Petrov. However, he does not carry the gun on his person. Instead, you must wait for the main mission “No Sudden Moves”. Upon meeting the man, go down the hall behind him and make two left turns to wind up in his quarters. The Gallow’s Reach can be found inside. After getting it, you can decide whether to kill or spare Petrov.
Gallow’s Reach has a firing rate of 150 and an attack power of 18 per shot. This might seem like a downgrade from the Fiscal Quarter, but the installed mods make up for it. Gallow’s Reach has armor-piercing rounds making it more powerful against tough foes. Additionally, its ergonomic grip and reflex sight make it a bit easier to handle, even if the firing rate is a bit slower.
3 Peacekeeper
The Peacekeeper is one of the unique versions of the AA-99 rapid-fire rifle. It is gained through the side quest “Groundpounder” at Altair II. The quest is given by Private Mahoney at the Altair Research Outpost U3-09. The job includes helping several people including Captain Myeong and Lieutenant Torres. The latter will hand over the Peacekeeper after killing a group of enemy Spacers.
As an AA-99, the Peacekeeper has a reasonable 20 damage and a range of 40. The gun is both accurate and has a good size clip. The gun is great very early in the game, though it loses its luster by the end of the main story. However, the Peacekeeper has eight mod slots and is very easy to customize into something even stronger.
2 Revenant
The Revenant is a second powerful Magshear rifle that can be gained by working with the Crimson Fleet. The faction’s penultimate mission is “Eye of the Storm” and it will take you Bannoc 4. You will travel to the Vault Control Room as part of the quest. Inside lays the gun near the body of the Crimson Fleet founder. Since the weapon is found before the final mission, you can use it regardless if you stay loyal to the Red Fleet or betray them later.
Revenant fires ultra-fast with a firing rate of 330. It also has a large clip size of 150, allowing you to shoot for a very long time before reloading. The gun starts with the lacerate mod which can cause bleeding damage, and is very lightweight thanks to its titanium build. The only downside of the Revenant is its poor accuracy which can cause many of those shots to miss.
1 Justifier
The Justifier is the main weapon of full-time members of the Freestar Rangers. While junior deputies already have the impressive Deadeye side arm, promoted officers are given a new weapon upon completing the faction quest “The Hammer Falls”. This will take you to the Polvo settlement called Hopetown. You can choose to cover up Ron Hope’s illegal business or kill him for the crime. Either will yield a promotion with the Freestar Rangers and the Justifier rifle.
The gun hits hard with a 60 base damage and is one of the most accurate guns in Starfield. It comes fully stocked with modes, including a long barrel, short scope, laser sights, hair trigger, and muzzle brake. Its only downfall is the small clip, of 6 which will require reloading frequently.
Platform(s): PC, Xbox Series X/S
Released: 2023-09-06
Developer(s): Bethesda Game Studios
Publisher(s): Bethesda Softworks
Genre(s): Open-World, RPG, Sci-Fi
ESRB: M
Summary: Bethesda Game Studios presents Starfield – the first original IP from the studio in twenty-five-plus years. Set in the year 2310, the United Colonies and Freestar Collective are observing a shaky truce after a war set 20 years prior. The player will customize their character as a member of a space exploration team called Constellation while navigating The Settled Systems and the conflicts between the warring factions. According to Bethesda, players can explore over 100 systems and 1000 planets to find resources and build their ships, living out their own sci-fi journeys.
