SteamWorld Heist 2 Weapons: Your Gun Picks Your Class

Updated 31 Oct 2026 Source The six job-to-weapon mappings (Brawler melee hammers, Boomer bazookas, Engineer handguns, Sniper sniper rifles, Reaper SMGs and repeater crossbows, Flanker shotguns), the statement that any steambot can use any weapon type and their class changes to match, that learned abilities survive a class swap and can be re-equipped with Cogs, and the per-class innate and learned abilities including the Brawler's armour and melee-kill healing, the Boomer's command demolition and double fire, the Engineer's double handgun fire and cover construction, the Sniper's aim-sway removal and Smoke Out untargettability, the Reaper's extra shot on kill and non-boss instant kill, and the Flanker's ability to attack after two moves and to pierce, from the SteamWorld Heist II TV Tropes entry; the full Tier 1 to Tier 6 rare weapon ladder for all six classes (Tier 1 Point Break, Queen's Launcher, Aggie's Special, Skelectric, Crossbow, Double Shotgun through Tier 6 Atomic Hammer, Atomic Launcher, Atomic Handgun, Atomic Sniper Rifle, Atomic SMG and Atomic Shotgun), with the Katana as a hidden missable Flanker weapon in Shiner's Cove, and the 101-hat checklist, from the Steam Community world map, mission and loot guide; the four-bot deployment, manual aiming, ricochet and leg-targeting freeze behaviour, star rankings unlocking plot progression and special shops, and the review observation that snipers were too slow in Heist but are the star of Heist II, from the WorthPlaying review; the submarine upgrade analysis of top mount being the only all-direction mount, front torpedoes one-shotting Rattler submarines in Arctica, the Top Laser never needing to reload and being near-necessary for the final naval battle, and Micro Torpedoes countering Atomic projectiles in the Deep Sea, from TheGamer's submarine upgrades piece. Verified 31 October 2026. By Antewise Editorial

Data status: The facts on this page were checked against the source named above. Game values can still shift with a patch, so re-check anything that looks off.

Searching for a “best weapon tier list” in SteamWorld Heist II runs into a problem the game created on purpose: there is no fixed class.

Equip a bazooka and your steambot is a Boomer. Equip a shotgun and they are a Flanker. Swap the gun mid-campaign and the class changes with it, while every skill you already learned stays unlocked and can be re-equipped for Cogs.

So the question is never “which weapon is best.” It is which weapon type gives the ability you need, and which steambot should hold it.

The six weapon types and what each one actually gives you

Weapon	Job	Innate	Learned
Melee hammer	Brawler	Starts every turn with armour, heals off melee kills	Heals off gun kills too; reposition after a kill
Bazooka	Boomer	Can blow up any cover in the level on command	Fire the main weapon twice in a turn; extra use of every utility item
Handgun	Engineer	Fires twice per action; buffs nearby allies; can build new cover	Grants a teammate an extra turn; Burn on hit
Sniper rifle	Sniper	Full aim line; removes aim sway for the rest of the turn	Passives that reward standing still; Smoke Out makes them untargettable
SMG / repeater crossbow	Reaper	Extra shot on kill; team damage buff	Instantly kill any single non-boss enemy and teleport to it
Shotgun	Flanker	Can attack after spending both actions on movement	Extra action on loot pickup; attacks pierce for the rest of the turn

Read that table as a list of problems each class solves, not as damage numbers:

Cannot reach the objective? Flanker — two moves and still shoot.
Enemy behind cover you cannot flank? Boomer — delete the cover.
One dangerous non-boss body in the way? Reaper — instant kill, and you teleport onto the corpse.
Getting shot at from across the map? Sniper — Smoke Out and stop being a target.
Need one more action this turn? Engineer — grant a teammate an extra turn.
Running out of bodies? Brawler — heals itself off kills and starts every turn armoured.

The rare weapon ladder, per class

Rare weapons come in tiers, and each class has one per tier. This is the progression you are actually tracking:

Tier	Brawler	Boomer	Engineer	Sniper	Reaper	Flanker
1	Point Break	Queen’s Launcher	Aggie’s Special	Skelectric	Crossbow	Double Shotgun
2	Sunderer	Rampage	Holepuncher	Blue Steel	The Visitor	Prototype Shotgun
3	Razor Gear	Big B.	Hexed Aura Gun	Deliverance	The Stapler	Discharger / Katana
4	Mjolner	The Laser Pointer	Tri-Shooter	Deadshot	Chrono Blaster	Slugshot Tumbler
5	The Spartan	Burning Grenade Launcher	Piercing Handgun	Matchstick	Siphoning Crossbow	Squarer
6	Atomic Hammer	Atomic Launcher	Atomic Handgun	Atomic Sniper Rifle	Atomic SMG	Atomic Shotgun

Two things worth extracting from it:

The Atomic tier covers all six classes. There is no class left behind at the top, which is the design telling you to keep every weapon type available rather than committing.

The Katana is a hidden, missable Tier 3 Flanker weapon in Shiner’s Cove. Miss it and it is gone. If you are collecting, that is the one rare weapon on the list where the mistake is permanent.

The combos that break the game

Because skills transfer, the strongest builds are not “best weapon in class” — they are accuracy given to high-volume weapons, and volume given to high-damage weapons.

The documented examples:

Reaper SMG + Sniper’s perfect accuracy. SMGs are the least accurate weapon type in the game. Give one the Sniper’s accuracy skill and the normally spray-and-pray Reaper becomes a precise killer that also gets a free extra shot on every kill.
Sniper + stacked damage buffs. A sniper can pile multiple damage-boosting abilities together, and with cooldown reduction can delete an entire squadron of boss-tier enemies in a single shot.
Brawler + repositioning. Once a Brawler learns to reposition after kills, it crosses half the stage in one turn and crushes whatever it reaches.

The reason this works is that accuracy and action economy are multipliers, and raw damage is not. A shotgun that hits three times at half accuracy is worse than a handgun that hits twice at full accuracy, unless you fix the accuracy.

The one class that got promoted between games

In the first Heist, snipers were too slow — the game’s constant time pressure punished a class that wants to stand still. Heist II reduced that pressure and added objectives that reward patience, and the result is that snipers went from the weakest unit type to the best.

If you played Heist 1 and wrote snipers off, that judgement is out of date. Standing still is now a strategy, not a mistake.

What the star rankings gate

Missions are scored in stars, and star rankings unlock plot progression and special shops. That means the “best weapon” question is partly circular: better weapons come from better ranks, and better ranks come from playing the objective rather than farming kills.

Practical consequence: do not clear the map. Take the objective, take the loot you were sent for, and leave. A three-star run with half the enemies alive is worth more than a one-star run that killed everything.

The submarine is a separate weapon system

Worth separating, because the ship has its own slots:

Top mount is the only one that fires in all directions — keep something on it permanently, even after you switch the rest to torpedoes.
Front torpedo tubes one-shot Rattler submarines when they first appear in Arctica. Swap to them the moment they unlock.
Top Laser (East Caribbean) has shorter range and lower DPS than the Top Machine Gun but never reloads, and is close to mandatory for the final naval battle and the hard optional fights.
Micro Torpedoes on the side mounts matter for volume, specifically to counter the Atomic projectiles in the Deep Sea.

Heist 2 best crew — who should hold which weapon
Heist 2 best jobs — the skill combinations behind these builds
Heist 2 walkthrough — where each rare weapon sits
Heist 2 Katana — the missable one, in detail
Heist guide — the first game’s fixed classes
SteamWorld games ranked — where both Heists sit

Frequently asked questions

What is the best weapon in SteamWorld Heist 2?

There is no single best weapon because there is no fixed class. The strongest pattern is a sniper rifle on a steambot with Reaper burst skills, or an SMG with the Sniper's perfect-accuracy skill — accuracy is the stat that multiplies everything else.

How do classes work in SteamWorld Heist 2?

They are weapon-based. Equip a bazooka and you are a Boomer, a shotgun and you are a Flanker, a sniper rifle and you are a Sniper. Skills you learn in one class stay unlocked and can be re-equipped on another class as long as you have the Cogs.

What are the Atomic weapons in SteamWorld Heist 2?

The Tier 6 rare weapon for each of the six classes: Atomic Hammer, Atomic Launcher, Atomic Handgun, Atomic Sniper Rifle, Atomic SMG and Atomic Shotgun. They are the top of the rare ladder for their weapon type.

Where do I get the Katana in SteamWorld Heist 2?

Shiner's Cove. It is a hidden, missable Flanker weapon on the Tier 3 rare list — if you leave the area without picking it up you cannot go back for it.

Why do my snipers feel useless in SteamWorld Heist 2?

Probably because you are moving them every turn. Sniper rifles need reloading after each shot and the class gains passive skills that reward staying still, plus the ability to remove aim sway for the rest of the turn. A sniper that repositions every round is doing nothing.

What is the best submarine weapon in SteamWorld Heist 2?

The Top Laser, found in East Caribbean. It has shorter range and lower DPS than the Top Machine Gun but never reloads, which makes it close to mandatory for the late optional fights and the final naval battle.

More SteamWorld guides

Sources

Figures and item data on this site are read from the game’s own reference wiki before publishing. Where a value could not be confirmed there, the page says so instead of filling the gap.