Highguard Weapons Tier List – Best Ranked Guns Meta Tips Early Launch Period

From lightning-fast daggers favored by scouts to colossal blades that can turn the tide of a siege, Highguard’s arsenal defines every fight and fighter. Here’s what dominates the current meta-and what might surprise you on the battlefield.

Best weapons in Highguard

Highguard’s standout weapons dominate PvP and PvE with raw power and precision. The Voidreaver Rifle shreds shields at range, pairing high fire rate with piercing rounds for boss melts and crowd control. Shadowblade Daggers excel in close quarters, their bleed stacks crippling foes while dodge boosts keep assassins untouchable. Thunderclap Hammer crushes groups via shockwaves, ideal for frontline tanks holding objectives. Plasma Lance rounds out the arsenal, its charged shots vaporizing heavies from afar with minimal cooldowns. Prioritize these for peak performance across modes.

There are ten weapons in Highguard overall, and we’ve picked the top three (plus one honorable mention). Here’s the full list of weapons available:

• Kraken (shotgun)
• Paladin (shotgun)
• Corsair (SMG)
• Viper (SMG)
• Dynasty (assault rifle)
• Vanguard (assault rifle)
• Saber (assault rifle)
• Longhorn (marksman)
• Ranger (marksman)
• Big Rig (special)

Here are the best weapons in Highguard:

Paladin (shotgun)

It might look like an SMG, but the Paladin shotgun is far and away the most overpowered gun in Highguard right now. While the Kraken is strong, the fact it’s pump action means the delay between shots can be the difference between life and death in close-quarters situations. Meanwhile, the Paladin is fully automatic, and will absolutely shred through enemies when you’re in their face. No other weapons can compete up close.

Not to mention, when you get your hands on the legendary variant, it either gains the Basebreaker trait, which means it deals increased damage to structures and walls, or the Drum Magazine, which gives it a whopping 40 shots before needing to reload. Phwoar.

Dynasty (assault rifle)

The Dynasty is Highguard’s version of an AK-47, and it behaves as such. It’s one of three assault rifles available in the game, and while the Vanguard isn’t awful, it lacks a legendary variant and doesn’t deal as much damage per shot. Meanwhile, the Saber is a burst rifle, which doesn’t suit the fast-paced nature of Highguard at all.

With the Dynasty, you can deal significant damage at range, even more so if you nab the Impact Rounds legendary variant. This fires slower than the other versions of the gun, but each shot deals more damage. Alternatively, there’s also a Basebreaker variant, much like the Paladin.

Longhorn (marksman)

Finally, we have the Longhorn, which is Highguard’s revolver option. Now, don’t be put off by its visuals: we know the chamber clearly holds six bullets yet the common version of the gun only has five rounds, then the rarer options have up to a whopping 18, but hey, there’s magic in Highguard, right?

Nonsensical visuals aside, the Longhorn is the perfect ranged weapon, because it’s not as wieldy and cumbersome as the Ranger sniper rifle, and it deals loads of damage. A common Longhorn will kill an enemy with a legendary shield in just four shots to the chest. Meanwhile, it has three legendary variants, the best of which is the Repeater, because the gun becomes fully automatic. Double Shot is pretty good too, as it fires two shots in quick succession.

Big Rig (special)

Coming in as an honorable mention is the Big Rig, as it’s only available in the supply drop that comes floating down from the sky mid-match. This is an enormous heavy machine gun with belt-fed bullets, so you’re slow as hell with it in your hands. The upside is that it melts through both players and walls alike, and it essentially has no recoil at all. You can’t find more ammo for it though, so make the most of what you’ve got if you’re lucky enough to grab it.

Best loadouts for Vanguard and Ranger

For Highguard, you’re asking about the Vanguard AR and the Ranger sniper, so I’ll stick to practical, launch-meta style builds based on how those guns are generally described: Vanguard as a low-recoil all-rounder and Ranger as the high-damage long-range rifle.

I don’t have live access to the in-game attachment names right now, so take this as a role-based template you can map to your actual mods (damage, recoil, range, ADS, etc.).

Vanguard – aggressive all-round build

Goal: laser-like mid-range rifle that still shreds on pushes.

• Barrel / muzzle:

  • Prioritize a compensator or vertical-recoil barrel. Think “stability + effective range,” not pure damage.

• Magazine / ammo:

  • Extended mag if it doesn’t tank mobility too hard.

  • If there’s a choice between “high damage, lower fire rate” vs “standard,” pick high damage for confident aim, standard if you whiff a lot.

• Grip / underbarrel:

  • Vertical recoil reduction or overall recoil stabilization.

  • Skip hip-fire boosters unless your whole playstyle is hip-fire rushing.

• Optic:

  • Clean 1.5x-2x sight; avoid heavy zoom so you stay viable in close-mid fights.

• Stock / rear:

  • ADS and sprint-to-fire speed if you play aggressively.

  • If you anchor more, take extra stability instead.

Playstyle tips:

• Treat Vanguard as your default gun: open almost every fight with it, then swap to a pistol/SMG only when people hard-rush your angle.

• Fight in “lane” ranges: not shotgun point-blank, not full sniper range; abuse head-height pre-aim and strafing while shooting.

Vanguard – anchor / control build

Goal: low recoil, lane holder for objective or raid defense.

• Max recoil control on barrel/muzzle + underbarrel.

• Slightly bigger optic (2-3x) for comfortable lane holding.

• Magazine leaning toward more bullets over handling.

• Any perk/attachment that improves flinch resistance or accuracy while aiming.

Use this if you mostly hold power positions or escort/hold objectives rather than hard-entry.

Ranger – sniper lane build

Goal: reliable one-shot or fast two-shot at long range while still being usable in raids and large sightlines.

• Barrel:

  • Long barrel or high-velocity option for bullet speed and range (even at the cost of ADS).

• Muzzle:

  • Suppressor if stealth and staying off radar matters; otherwise a brake/compensator for reduced sway/recoil.

• Optic:

  • Default sniper scope or whatever gives a clean, not overly cluttered reticle.

  • If there’s a “low zoom sniper” optic, that’s ideal for flexible maps.

• Stock / rear:

  • Aim stability and reduced sway first, ADS time second.

• Magazine / ammo:

  • Standard mag is usually better than tiny high-damage mags unless there is a clear break-point (e.g., turning a two-shot torso into one-shot).

Playstyle tips:

• Hold long lines into objectives, doorways, or known rotation routes rather than quick-scoping in tight rooms.

• Aim upper chest or head, then immediately re-chamber and re-peek from a slightly diffe

Best Skitarii Vanguard and Ranger tactics in objective play

For objective play, Skitarii Vanguard want to be your forward “pressure and debuff” tools, while Rangers excel at early board control, sticky objectives, and long-range denial.

Core roles on objectives

• Vanguard: Short- to mid-range shock infantry that push into mid-board, soften targets, and reduce enemy Objective Control (OC) or toughness so something else can finish them.​

• Rangers: Longer-range objective campers and board shapers that use pre-game moves, range, and sometimes sticky objectives to score without exposing themselves.

Vanguard tactics on objectives

Think of Vanguard as your aggressive scoring tool for contested or midfield points.

• Use them to take and contest central objectives, especially where enemy infantry rely on OC; their debuffs and high shot volume punish anything trying to stand on the point.

• Combine advance/teleport/deep strike (depending on your detachment/strats) with high-volume shooting stratagems to create an alpha strike onto a key mid-board objective.​

• Leverage rad-style effects (rad-saturation / enriched rounds in older rulesets) to soften or debuff a target on the objective, then follow with a real melee or elite unit charging in.

• Keep them near transports or terrain so they can pop out, shoot onto an objective, and either re-embark or duck back into cover, forcing your opponent to overcommit to shift them.

• Don’t throw them away too early; trade one big alpha strike for an objective flip that also exposes the enemy to your counter-punch, not just for random damage.

Example: Drop or push a large Vanguard unit onto the central objective, use shooting buffs, delete or debuff the enemy objective-holders, then have a melee threat ready to charge whatever survives.

Ranger tactics on objectives

Rangers are best as your early-game board control and safe scorers.

• Use Scout / pre-game moves to tag mid-board or “no-man’s-land” objectives on turn 1, especially those your opponent will struggle to reach immediately.

• Park a Ranger unit on or near a back/mid objective where their long range lets them contribute fire without leaving the point.

• If you have sticky objectives, grab them early with Rangers, then move off to support another area, forcing your opponent to waste resources retaking what you already scored.

• Use special weapons (e.g., Arquebuses in some editions) to snipe characters or high-value targets trying to buff enemy units standing on objectives.​

• Keep Rangers in cover and avoid unnecessary charges; they work as area denial and overwatch threat more than as brawlers.​

Example: Deploy Rangers with a pre-game move to sit on a mid objective in cover, then spend the first two turns plinking at enemy support characters