Archguns are Warframe’s heavy weapons: the default guns of zero-gravity Archwing combat, and — with a Gravimag — callable as a heavy weapon on the ground. They behave very differently in the two modes, and that difference is what decides which one is “best”. This guide uses the wiki’s real edge stats to rank the six Archguns that matter and to match each to the job it wins.
How Archguns differ from normal weapons
The mode changes almost everything:
In Archwing (zero gravity):
- Archguns have a regenerating magazine and no ammo reserve, so they have effectively unlimited ammo.
- Most have damage falloff and projectile travel time.
On the ground (Gravimag):
- They use limited ammo, magazines and standard reloads.
- When ammo runs out the weapon is removed and needs a 5-minute cooldown (reduced if you stow it early).
- Ammo refills only from Heavy Ammo drops.
- You cannot switch weapons while wielding it, aim-glide drops to 1 second, and going into bleedout unequips it.
- Atmospheric Archguns lack falloff and most are hitscan.
The six Archguns that matter
| Archgun | Identity | Its edge | Its cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Velocitus | Chargeable gauss rifle | Highest base damage; fully charged shots have the highest crit multiplier of all Archguns; infinite body punch-through in Archwing | Uncharged shots always deal the same damage; charged shots kick hard enough to break zoom in atmosphere |
| Imperator Vandal | Heavy machine gun | Fastest fire rate once spooled; 0.25 s reload from empty, 0.15 s when not | Ties for lowest base damage; needs 16 shots to spool up |
| Mausolon | Auto heavy rifle + charged laser alt | Ties for highest status and largest magazine; alt fire uses no ammo; 1.8 m / 8 m explosion radii | 4 s reload; alt fire needs 5 kills to charge |
| Kuva Grattler | Kuva grenade launcher | Higher crit chance, crit multiplier and status; doubled magazine and ammo regen; no spool-up | Sacrifices damage and some atmospheric reload; 350 m max range |
| Larkspur Prime | Beam Archgun | Higher crit chance and multiplier; status on alt fire | Damage ramps 20% → 100% over 0.6 s; poor atmospheric ammo efficiency |
| Morgha | Grenade launcher | Alt fire is an air-burst mortar that ties for high status | Alt needs 5 kills to charge; explosion falloff 100% → 70% |
| Corvas Prime | Flak cannon | Improved damage, crit, status, reload and falloff; fires single Arca Plasmor-like projectiles | Reduced magazine size |
Best by job
- Single-target burst: Velocitus. Highest base damage and highest charged crit multiplier make it the sniper Archgun — if you can afford to charge.
- Sustained DPS: Imperator Vandal. Fastest fire rate plus a 0.25 s reload keeps it firing, though its low base damage means it leans on mods.
- All-rounder / status: Mausolon. Tied-highest status, tied-largest magazine, and a charged laser alt fire that costs no ammo. This is the default best pick.
- Area damage: Morgha and Kuva Grattler. The mortar and grenade launchers clear groups, with the Grattler trading damage for doubled magazine and regen.
- Shotgun-style burst: Corvas Prime, firing large single projectiles instead of pellets.
- Beam crit: Larkspur Prime, once its 0.6 s damage ramp is accounted for.
Why Mausolon is the default best
Three facts stack in its favour. It ties for the highest status chance of any Archgun (with Larkspur and Morgha), it ties for the largest magazine (with Imperator Vandal), and its alternate fire does not consume ammo. That last point is decisive on the ground, where ammo is limited and a dry weapon triggers a 5-minute cooldown — a no-ammo alt fire lets you keep hitting long after a normal gun would be stowed.
The counter-intuitive picks
- Velocitus is the damage king but punishes partial charges. Its uncharged shots always deal the same damage no matter how far you charge, so a rushed shot wastes the weapon’s whole edge.
- Imperator Vandal’s speed hides the lowest damage. The fastest fire rate in the class sits on a base-damage floor tied for last, so it only wins once modded hard.
- Larkspur Prime ramps up. Its damage climbs 20% → 100% over 0.6 seconds, so short taps get a fraction of its power.
- On the ground, ammo efficiency beats raw DPS. Because a dry Archgun locks you out for 5 minutes, Mausolon’s no-ammo alt fire is worth more than a higher paper number on a hungry gun.
The three stats that decide an Archgun
Every Archgun pick comes down to three numbers, and the class splits cleanly along them:
- Base damage — Velocitus has the highest, Imperator Vandal the lowest (tied with Imperator). Raw per-shot weight favours the gauss rifle.
- Crit multiplier — Velocitus’s fully charged shots have the highest in the class, and Mausolon’s alt fire is second (tied with Arquebex). Crit builds follow those two.
- Fire rate — Imperator Vandal is fastest once spooled, reaching full speed after 16 shots starting at 53.33% of the listed rate and climbing 3.11% per shot.
That split is why the class reads as three archetypes: snipers (Velocitus), machine guns (Imperator Vandal), and launchers (Morgha, Kuva Grattler). Pick the archetype first, then the gun.
The Gravimag decision
To use an Archgun on the ground you install a Gravimag after an Orokin Catalyst, equip it as a Heavy Weapon in Vehicle mode, and call it down with an Archgun Deployer. The catch is that the ground version trades unlimited ammo for limited ammo and a 5-minute cooldown when dry, and it locks you out of weapon swapping. So the best ground Archgun is not the highest-DPS one — it is the one that does the most damage per magazine before the cooldown starts, which again favours Mausolon’s no-ammo alt fire.
Ground vs Archwing
- Archwing: ammo is unlimited, so pick for pure output — Velocitus for single targets, Kuva Grattler or Morgha for groups.
- Ground: ammo and cooldown matter, so pick for efficiency and burst — Mausolon for its no-ammo alt fire, Velocitus for one-shot picks, and avoid guns that burn ammo fast without a payoff.
For the surrounding systems, the archwing guide covers zero-gravity combat, the necramech guide covers the mechs that share these guns, and the damage types guide explains Heat, Puncture, Magnetic and the rest. The mods guide covers modding a heavy weapon, and the best weapons page compares Archguns against the standard arsenal.