For a huge portion of the game, the player is going to have to rely on the Copper Sword or Slingshot. After their first encounter with a Caveling, though, most players will realize they are woefully equipped for the dangers that lie ahead. Any of the weapons on this list are suitable as a primary weapon, and will give the player the best chance at surviving.
Updated on July 24th, 2022, by Jeff Drake: On June 15th Core Keeper received a much-needed update. This update included a new area to explore, the Sunken Sea biome, two new bosses, new enemies, and many new items and weapons. Notable among these weapons are those crafted from the Octarine Bars. This update adds five new weapons to the list, and following in the grand tradition of power creep in games, most of these additional weapons are from the recent update. One of the new entries is a seriously overpowered bow that is easily the best weapon in Core Keeper.
15 Iron Sword
Damage: 102-124 Attacks Per Second: 2. 5 Maximum Durability: 350
In many games, the trusty iron sword is the first weapon a player acquires. It is typically used until something better is found, then it’s sold or cast away the dark corners of the inventory. In Core Keeper, the iron sword is actually an excellent weapon. It is the weapon by which to measure the other weapons.
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This weapon doesn’t have any special powers; it’s just an iron sword. However, if they think about their experience playing Core Keeper, many players will realize they used the Iron Sword more than any weapon, other than the Copper Sword. It takes eight iron bars and one gold bar to craft the Iron Sword.
14 Larva Spike Club
Damage: 112-136 Attacks Per Second: 2. 5 Maximum Durability: 350
Being swarmed by enemies can be dangerous in games like Core Keeper. The Larva Spike Club helps prevent that scenario. Even if a player does get surrounded, this weapon can help them break free and get to safety. The Larva Spike Club does this by offering a 50% chance to knock the target back.
Crafting this item requires 12 Iron Bars, 10 Larva Meat, and 10 Woodat the Hive Mother statue. The knockback ability of the Larva Spike Club makes this melee weapon possibly the best at crowd control.
13 Scarlet Sword
Damage: 124-150 Attacks Per Second: 2. 5 Maximum Durability: 350
Core Keeper gets much easier once a player gets access to the scarlet ore bars. The Scarlet Armor pieces are widely considered the best in the game. What’s more, there are only a handful of melee weapons that do more damage per hit than the Scarlet Sword, and its durability is on par with the best weapons as well.
The Scarlet Sword increases the chance of scoring a critical hit by 11%. This weapon can be forged at a Scarlet Anvil with four iron bars and ten scarlet bars. Scarlet ore can be found in the grass walls in Azeos’ Wilderness.
12 Ritual Dagger
Damage: 106-128 Attacks Per Second: 3. 3 Maximum Durability: 350
The ritual dagger, on paper, doesn’t look too appealing. Its damage per swing isn’t that high; however, players need to keep in mind this is a fast attack weapon. At 3.3 attacks per second, at 106-128 damage, this weapon produces a DPS of 353-426. There aren’t that many weapons that can match this damage output potential.
On top of a great DPS, the Ritual Dagger has a +2 Glow, so the player won’t be caught in the dark - and remember, Glow bonuses stack. The Ritual Dagger can be obtained by defeating Malugaz the Corrupted in the Forgotten Ruins. Players should do themselves a favor and use the Blowpipe against Malugaz.
11 Fireball Staff
Damage: 131-159 Attacks Per Second: 1. 0 Maximum Durability: 250
This is not only an excellent weapon but it can also be picked up relatively early. The Fireball Staff, as the name implies, shoots a large fireball that explodes upon impact with something solid. This staff does a lot of damage for its rate of fire and is great for dealing with the smaller, weaker, enemies — like the small larvae.
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The Fireball Staff can be obtained from a defeated Caveling Shaman. These creatures don’t always drop them, but it’s not too uncommon. This weapon shoots a little slower than the Blowpipe; however, its larger projectile makes it a lot easier to hit the target.
10 Blowpipe
Damage: 98-118 Attacks Per Second: 1. 7 Maximum Durability: 250
The ranged weapons in Core Keeper are quite varied. If a player were to just look at damage per attack, they might be fooled into thinking this is the weakest distance weapon after the Slingshot. The Blowpipe may do less damage per shot, but it makes up for this with a high rate of fire. Thus, the damage per second of the Blowpipe is quite a bit higher than that of other ranged weapons with comparable damage.
The Blowpipe also has a 15% chance of poisoning the target. Poison in Core Keeper temporarily reduces the amount of healing for those afflicted.
9 Scholar’s Staff
Damage: 200-244 Attacks Per Second: 1 Maximum Durability: 250
The Scholar’s Staff operates much like the Fireball Staff, except instead of fireballs this staff fires bolts of magical energy. This is a slow, distance weapon, so it isn’t much use against faster enemies unless the player is really confident in their ability to aim.
Unlike the Fireball Staff, the Scholar’s Staff doesn’t cause persistent burning damage; what it does do is outclass the Fireball Staff in every other category. This staff is occasionally (2% chance) dropped by Caveling Scholars in the Sunken Sea. Farm this staff as soon as possible.
8 Hand Mortar
Damage: 20-24 (+103-125 explosion damage) Attacks Per Second: 0. 7 Maximum Durability: 250
The Hand Mortar is the highest-ranked ranged weapon on this list. That said, the Blowpipe is probably better against smaller, faster foes. However, for large groups of enemies, the Hand Mortar should be a player’s ranged weapon of choice. It doesn’t have a fast rate of fire, but it doesn’t take many shots to clear a room of enemies.
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This weapon can also be used for mining purposes, at least for some of the weaker blocks. It does 156 mining damage per hit; for a comparison, the Iron Pickaxe has a mining damage of 176. One shot from the Hand Mortar can clear up to three blocks at a time.
7 Scarlet Dagger
Damage: 97-117 Attacks Per Second: 3. 3 Maximum Durability: 350
The Scarlet Dagger may not have much reach, but it gives the player the ability to quickly kill any enemy that dares to get too close. It does a lot less damage per hit than the Scarlet Sword, but due to its faster attack rate, it does much more damage per second. This weapon gives a 24% increase to critical hit damage.
For weaker enemies, a larger weapon might be better due to the higher damage per hit; however, against bosses, the Scarlet Dagger is an absolute beast. The slower the enemy, the better this weapon performs.
6 Poisonous Sickle
Damage: 175-213 Attacks Per Second: 2. 5 Maximum Durability: 500
At the time of writing, there is only one weapon whose listed damage is greater than the Poisonous Sickle, and that weapon occupies the number one spot on this list. The Poisonous Sickle also increases critical hit damage by 18%, and has a 28% chance to poison the target. The poison lowers any healing by 75% for a short time.
This legendary weapon is found, not crafted, and can be located in the Mold Biome. The player needs to explore until they find an image of a bug on the ground. The sickle is sitting between the eyes of this bug, somewhat camouflaged by the bug image. It sounds easy to obtain, but the Mold Biome is arguably the most dangerous area in Core Keeper.
5 Ancient Pickaxe
Damage: 171-209 Attacks Per Second: 2. 5 Maximum Durability: 500
This was considered the best weapon in the game before it was nerfed in an update. Originally a development tool that was left in the initial early access release, the Ancient Pickaxe could destroy any block in the game with one hit. This made exploring the vast game world, and clearing new areas for expansion, much easier. Though this ability has been removed, the Ancient Pickaxe is still the best pickaxe.
When used as a weapon, the Ancient Pickaxe performs just as well as it does at mining. This weapon’s damage is increased by improving the mining skill, and in an experienced character’s hand can deliver hundreds of points of damage per hit higher than what is listed above.
4 Octarine Bow
Damage: 149-181 Attacks Per Second: 1. 4 Maximum Durability: 250
The first big expansion to Core Keeper added a lot of new content. One of the new additions was a new area to explore called the Sunken Sea biome. More importantly, this update introduced several new, and powerful, weapons into the game. One of these powerful new weapons is the Octarine Bow.
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This is easily one of the best ranged weapons in Core Keeper. The Octarine Bow’s DPS is 212-258; the next best ranged weapon (Scholar’s Staff) does 200-244 per second. This powerful bow can be crafted with 15 Octarine Bars and 15 Coral Wood at an Octarine Anvil.
3 Octarine Axe
Damage: 245-299 Attacks Per Second: 1. 7 Maximum Durability: 350
For players who prefer a melee weapon, there are only a handful of better weapons than the Octarine Axe - and except for the Rune Song those weapons are only marginally better. The only added effect of the Octarine Sword is a +16% chance for a critical hit; which is more powerful than it sounds.
This weapon can be crafted at an Octarine Workbench with 16 Octarine Bars. This weapon can be used to create a devastatingly powerful critical hit build that will let players cut through the tougher enemies with ease.
2 Phantom Spark
Damage: 195-237 Attacks Per Second: 1. 4 Maximum Durability: Infinite
The Octarine Bow is a fine weapon, but it doesn’t even begin to compare to the Phantom Spark. This weapon not only does a ton of damage per shot, but it also comes with a long list of powerful added effects. Phantom Spark gives the player a +12% chance for a critical hit, and a +27% for critical hit damage. More importantly, this weapon has a 20% chance to summon a Ghost Caveling when the player kills an enemy. The Ghost Caveling heals the player.
This can be crafted with the Glyph Parchment, but requires 100 Octarine Bars, 20 Ancient Gemstones, Energy String, Fractured Limbs, and a Channeling Gemstone.
1 Rune Song
Damage: 185-225 Attacks Per Second: 2. 5 Maximum Durability: Infinite
Now that the Ancient Pickaxe has been nerfed to reduce its effectiveness at mining, many players now unquestionably consider the Rune Song to be the best weapon in the game — and it’s easy to see why.
For starters, this legendary sword has infinite durability; it never needs repairs. It also increases the user’s hit points by 62 and has a 15% chance to instantly kill any foe with less health than the user. As if all this isn’t enough, the Rune Song heals the user three hit points every time it hits an enemy. It takes many hours of gameplay before a player can craft this sword, but it’s well worth the wait.
Core Keeper was released for early access on March 8th, 2022, on Steam.
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