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Build and Defend Your Raft — Weapons Tier List
Tier List Updated 2026-09-03

Weapons Tier List

Weapons in Build and Defend Your Raft split into two jobs: the boarding kit (raiding other rafts) and the work kit (gathering, sharks, self-defense). This tier list ranks every confirmed weapon and tool for both — September 2026 build, re-checked after each Saturday update.

S tier — craft these first

  • Crafting Table upgrades. The only true S. Better weapons literally do not exist until the table moves — every entry below is gated behind it. Full unlock order in the crafting table guide.
  • Harpoon. The signature tool. Pulls floating loot from range so you never touch shark water, doubles as a boarding tool, and upgrades into Harpoon 2 (longer range, faster pull). No other item does its job at all. See the sharks guide for why staying dry matters.

A tier — raid winners

  • Reinforced Sword. The best confirmed melee. When two players meet on a deck mid-raid, the reinforced sword usually decides who keeps their chest — wooden-sword players lose that meeting.
  • Cannon (as a weapon system). Included because raiding without cannon support means swimming into turret range on foot. Auto-firing, tracking, and the only answer to a fortified raft — after upgrades. Details in the cannons guide.

B tier — role players

  • Revolver. A real ranged option for poke damage before a boarding leap — confirmed craftable on the higher table tiers. Held back by ammo economics and the fact that most fights in an 18-player server end at melee range anyway.
  • Wooden Sword. Your first fight tool and a legitimate early-game duelist. Every hour you keep it past the reinforced upgrade is an hour of losing even exchanges.
  • Turret. On the weapons list because it fights for you: anti-personnel, short-ranged, perfect over a chest room. Not portable — see the turrets guide.

C tier — niche

  • Trash Can. Inventory management as a weapon — clear junk mid-raid so valuable drops register. Real utility, rare moment.
  • Second Harpoon (unupgraded). Redundant once Harpoon 2 exists; keep one, sell nothing, but don’t double-craft.

F tier — skip

  • Anything “OP code gear” from a Discord DM. The game has never released a code, sells no gamepasses, and has no promo gear — every “free weapon” generator is a phishing lure. Real items come from the Crafting Table only.

Meta notes

  • Movement beats weapon choice in most boardings — the dev team has noted damage seems to land harder from a moving raft, and a moving target eats cannon misses.
  • Bring the right kit: raid = reinforced sword + empty bag; farm = harpoon
    • net raft; shark hunt = best sword + a driver.
  • Tiers shift when the dev touches weapon damage in Saturday patches — this page is re-verified after each one.