All Weapons in Valor Mortis Ranked

Valor Mortis gives you nine weapons across its grim, Soulslike campaign: three melee blades, three firearms, and three Nephtoglobin Transmutations. Unfortunately, upgrade materials are too scarce to max them all in one playthrough, so choosing wisely matters.

To help with this, we have ranked every weapon in Valor Mortis, from the least essential pick to the single best weapon in the game.

9 Stasis Transmutation

Stasis looks strong on paper but disappoints in the fights that matter most. Landing hits slows and eventually freezes enemies for a follow-up burst, which works well against mid-tier threats. The problem is resistance: General Lothaire, Experiment 83, and the Iron Marshall all shrug it off, leaving you without a tool exactly when boss fights get difficult.

Its five-level upgrade path is cheap to max, but a cheap upgrade doesn’t help much if it’s useless against the encounters you actually need support in.

8 Blunderbuss

The Blunderbuss fires a pellet spread that shreds groups or melts a single target at point-blank range, and its Showstopper upgrade lets it interrupt unblockable attacks, making it a handy emergency option. Its drawback is ammo: it shares the same six-round special pouch as the Musket, so it can’t function as a primary weapon without running dry fast.

It’s a strong situational pick, but that situational nature is exactly why it sits near the bottom of this ranking.

7 Shield Transmutation

Shield is purely defensive, which caps how high it can rank next to weapons that actually deal damage. Its value peaks at level 4, when Impenetrable Defense lets you block attacks that would otherwise be unblockable.

Shield Bash at level 5 further adds a posture-damaging knockback on top. It’s a smart safety net for players who struggle with parry timing, but it never wins a fight on its own.

6 Pistol

The Pistol earns its ranking through efficiency rather than raw power. A five-round clip, fifteen total rounds of ammo, and the ability to shatter Nephtoglobin Weak Points make it the most dependable ranged option for picking fights from a distance.

Several bosses also take double damage to the head, turning a modest body-shot weapon into a real damage source once you land headshots consistently. It won’t carry a fight alone, but as a support weapon it rarely disappoints.

5 Rapier

The Rapier is built entirely around parrying, and its perfect-parry posture damage beats both other blades, with its upgrade tree rewarding players who commit to that style. The trade-off is weak blocking outside of parries and the lowest maximum damage among the three blades. For players confident in their timing, the Rapier turns bosses into posture-break speedruns.

For everyone else, it’s a riskier choice than the alternatives on this list.

4 Musket

Few weapons in Valor Mortis consistently hit as hard per shot as a maxed-out Musket. Its damage climbs sharply across ten upgrade levels, letting a single well-placed shot remove a huge chunk of boss health.

The limiting factors are its shared special-ammo pool with Blunderbuss, along with a one-round clip and a noticeable reload. Treat it as a burst finisher rather than a constant weapon, and it earns its place comfortably above the rest of the firearms.

3 Fire Transmutation

Fire punches above its weight by targeting specific, high-value weaknesses instead of trying to be universally strong. Two of the game’s major bosses take significantly extra damage from it, turning otherwise grueling fights into noticeably shorter ones.

The downside is that its usefulness is boss-dependent, so know the matchup before relying on it.

2 Claymore

The Claymore deals the highest base damage of any melee weapon at every upgrade level, and its ability to channel Transmutation effects into its swings adds burst damage other blades can’t match.

It rewards aggressive, trade-heavy play, and hits hard from the moment you pick it up. Its one limitation is that it can only block, not parry, so posture damage has to come from landing hits rather than perfect timing. For players who’d rather overpower bosses than out-finesse them, it’s an excellent choice.

1 Saber

The Saber tops this list because it does nearly everything well instead of specializing in one thing. It can both block and parry, its damage nearly triples across ten upgrade levels, and by max level it matches the Pistol’s damage per hit while attacking far more often.

Its upgrade tree is built around sustain, rewarding consistent attacking with bonus damage and even health recovery, which smooths out tough fights instead of demanding flawless execution.

It’s important to note that there is no single correct loadout in Valor Mortis, but this ranking gives a clear starting point for spending limited upgrade materials. Which weapon do you personally prefer? Drop its name in the comments below and let us know!