Damage type beats tier
Before you trust any ranking: in Gloria Victis a mismatched damage type loses to armour regardless of weapon tier. Slashing struggles into heavy plate; bludgeoning punishes it; piercing splits the difference. The interactive matrix below is the real "tier list" — bring it to every fight.
Damage vs Armour
Pick a weapon's damage type or an armour class to see the match-up. The rule of the battlefield: bring the right damage for what they're wearing.
Strongits weakness | Workable | Poor | |
Workable | Strongits weakness | Workable | |
Workable | Workable | Strongits weakness |
Cuts for the unarmoured, thrusts and blunt for the armoured. Carry a sidearm so you always have the right answer.
Protection at a glance
Average damage reduction per worn piece, across every documented set.
- Light~3%
- Medium~8%
- Heavy~14%
On defence, your attributes count too
- Strength cuts slash taken
- Dexterity cuts pierce taken
- Constitution cuts bludgeon taken
Each point removes 0.25 damage of its type — weigh the trade in the Build Maker.
Reduction figures from the Armour Catalogue; match-ups from the Damage Types & Armour guide.
How we rank weapons
These tiers rank weapon classes, not individual items, by all-round value — weighted toward group combat, where reach and cleave dominate, then duels, where control wins. The swing values referenced below (which attack is slashing vs. piercing, how hard each direction hits) are read from the live client; per-weapon base damage, reach and attack-stamina cost live in the Weapon Catalogue.
| Tier | Weapon class | Damage | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| S | 1h Sword + Shield | Slash / pierce stab | The safest, most versatile loadout — block, poke, and win the stamina war. |
| S | Polearms (Spear / Guisarme / Halberd) | Piercing / cleave | Reach is decisive in a group; the longest weapons keep you behind the front rank and still hitting. |
| S | Longbow | Piercing | Controls sieges and open ground from range; oppressive when positioned, useless when caught. |
| A | 2h Cleaving (sword / axe) | Slashing | Reaper cleave hits 2–3 bodies in a crowd — high group damage for the front line. |
| A | 1h Mace / Axe + Shield | Bludgeon / slash | Shield safety with a damage type that bites armour the sword can't. |
| A | Reflex / Shortbow | Piercing | Faster, more mobile ranged option; lower per-hit, great for skirmish and cavalry. |
| B | 2h Hammer / Maul | Bludgeoning | The plate-opener — specialist anti-heavy damage that's overkill into light targets. |
| B | Dagger / Knife | Piercing / slash | Backstab and bleed tool (see Marksman, Dirty Fighting); a sidearm, not a mainline. |
| B | Short Spear | Piercing | Reach in one hand, but out-poked by the 2h polearms it competes with. |
| C | Throwing Weapons | Mixed | Situational burst and finishers — a flavourful pocket pick, rarely a primary. |
Best for 1v1 vs. best for the group
The same weapon rack, two different fights
1v1 / small skirmish
- 1h sword & shield — control and recovery
- Spear / short spear — keep them at range
- 2h sword — reach + cleave, if you can block
- Dagger — feints and backstabs for the bold
Sieges / large group
- Long polearms — hit over the front rank
- Longbow — wall and open-ground control
- 2h cleaving — Reaper into the crowd
- 1h + heavy shield — hold the breach
Notes that change the ranking
- Reach is one of the strongest stats in the game — the longest weapons (the tier-5 Hordun Spear and Lordly Haven Halberd from the Holy Temples) carry real value just by length.
- Bows were toned down at the relaunch (melee base damage up, bow base damage down), so ranged is strong by position and control, not raw per-arrow damage.
- A weapon's directional swings differ — most weapons hit hardest on the overhead, and a spear/lance does almost all its damage on the stab. The Weapon Catalogue lists the multiplier for every direction.