Weapons & Gear: Building Your First Loadout

You don’t need the perfect meta build to clear content. You need a coherent loadout. Here’s how to think about it.

Pick a primary weapon family

Rifles, SMGs, shotguns, snipers, crossbows: they all work. Pick one you enjoy and push its Memetics recipe line, so your crafted weapon keeps pace with your level. A well-built “fun” weapon beats a neglected meta one.

Gear tiers matter more than rarity feelings

Weapons and armor come in tiers that scale with your workbench. When damage feels weak, your first check is: am I still wearing a previous-tier set? Re-crafting your set at the new tier is the single biggest power jump available.

Build around one effect

Strong loadouts stack one theme: a status effect, crit chance, or a weapon’s special trigger. Read your weapon’s effect and choose armor and mods that feed the same theme instead of splitting across five ideas.

Don’t hoard, craft

Materials sitting in storage aren’t power. Craft, calibrate, and re-craft as you tier up. The economy is designed for constant re-gearing, especially season to season.