Picking the right weapon in Phantom Brigade is less about raw numbers and more about how different damage types and ranges fit your squad plan. This Phantom Brigade Weapon Guide walks through every major weapon family, explains how damage types really work in practice, and highlights standout options that are worth building around.
1. How You Actually Kill Things
In Phantom Brigade you usually win a fight in one of three ways:
- Blow up the upper body – Torso destroyed = whole mech gone. Fast, but usually worse salvage.
- Knock out the pilot – Pilot concussion reaches zero. Mech intact, salvage fantastic.
- Force an ejection – Remove all weapons or make the situation hopeless for the pilot.
Because of that, different damage types push you toward different win conditions.
Kinetic Damage – The Core HP Bar
- This is the standard “health damage” to parts.
- Every weapon has a kinetic value.
- Torso destruction deletes the entire frame and all parts.
- Great for fast kills, bad when you care about salvaging intact gear.
- Think of kinetic as your default answer for blowing parts off mechs.
Concussion Damage – Pilot Knockouts
- Only this type affects the pilot.
- Crank this high enough and the pilot blacks out while the mech stays mostly intact.
- Best way to end missions with pristine loot.
Weapons with good concussion values become incredible in mid–late game when pilots are tougher and enemy gear is more valuable.
Impact Damage – Smashing Structures
- Interacts mostly with buildings, turrets, alarm towers and other placed structures.
- Helps shred cover and delete objectives hiding behind it.
- Does not level natural terrain like hills.
Impact will not carry a fight by itself, but it’s amazing when you want to tear down buildings or remove line-of-sight advantages.
Stagger Damage – Crash at Range
- Builds up “stagger” and causes crashes.
- Crashing interrupts enemy actions and leaves them open for follow-up fire.
- A fantastic form of crowd control, especially on heavier targets.
Ranged stagger tools can keep multiple enemies locked down without needing to ram them physically.
Thermal Damage – Overheating Targets
- Raises enemy heat and punishes them for acting.
- The dedicated incendiary weapons are flashy and fun, but situational.
- Stronger when combined with enemy AI that insists on firing while overheated.
Thermal can absolutely work, but most players will feel more direct value from concussion or stagger.
The Big Picture
- Kinetic – Fast torso or limb kills.
- Concussion – Safest, best salvage; shines if you build around it.
- Impact – Map manipulation and objective clearing.
- Stagger – Long-range crowd control and crash loops.
- Thermal – Niche, but can punish over-eager enemies.
Personally, concussion and stagger tend to have the highest strategic impact, while kinetic cleans up.
2. Weapon Families
Assault Rifles
Assault rifles are your baseline ballistic weapons: flexible, forgiving, and good at almost everything.
AR1 Astra
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- Longer firing window, slightly more heat.
- Longer range and a bigger sweet-spot band.
- No concussion damage.
AR2 Burst
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- Shorter firing time, low heat.
- Includes concussion damage.
- Slightly shorter range.
If you are not specifically avoiding concussion damage, AR2 is usually the better workhorse. Its short activation and decent concussion make it an easy fit on almost any mech.
Cannons – DC1 Impact
There is only one cannon in this category and you cannot craft it:
DC1 Impact
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- Fires explosive shells with huge scatter.
- Awkward optimal range ring – you need to respect it.
- Single shot at the start and one at the end of the activation, letting you reposition between them.
- A direct hit can often knock out a pilot instantly.
If you ever find a Stabilized DC1, it becomes dramatically more reliable, approaching marksman rifle levels of accuracy with cannon-grade explosions.
Play pattern:
Try to line shots so there is a building directly behind the target. Even if your shell misses the mech, the AoE blast against the structure still deals damage.
Handguns
Handguns are lightweight sidearms. They shine when you want:
- A backup weapon if your main arm is destroyed.
- Quick, low-heat attacks between bigger actions.
Key variants:
- SGC Blast
- Mini shotgun.
- Extremely short range and high scatter.
- Nice kinetic damage if you can land most pellets.
- No alternative damage type.
- HG1 Granite
- Range comparable to assault rifles.
- Low scatter.
- Weak kinetic, but solid concussion.
- Excellent for finishing off a pilot without wrecking the mech or nearby buildings.
- HGS Stand
- Long activation time.
- Similar concussion to HG1, more kinetic.
- Narrower effective range band.
- HGA Spark
- High kinetic for a handgun.
- Short activation time.
- Only handgun with impact damage, roughly half an AR’s impact.
In practice, handguns are niche. When they do matter, HG1 Granite is a very reliable sidearm for clean pilot knockouts, and HGA Spark is your pick if you want a pocket damage dealer with some impact.
Heavy Weapons
These demand both arms and come with massive activation times and heat.
- UHMG Vulcan
- Four-second activation.
- Excellent kinetic, concussion and impact combined.
- Penetrates structures and erases almost any level-appropriate mech.
- Expanded magazines can actually be a trap: you will often knock out the pilot early, then keep shooting until the mech is completely destroyed, hurting salvage.
- UHB Solarburst
- Even more demanding on heat and build budget.
- Very hard to fit without cooking your pilot unless you go extreme on cooling and capacitance.
For the UHMG Vulcan:
- Basic and uncommon versions are painful because you cannot improve heat handling.
- Rare versions become manageable with high-tier cooling mods and capacitors.
- Expect the mech to be slow and heavily armoured, often dashing instead of walking to reposition.
A single UHMG mech on standby is worth its weight. Even underleveled, the weapon is devastating.
Incendiary Repeater – IR Tracer
- Guided marksman-style gun.
- Long firing window, lowish heat.
- Projectile speed is quite good for a guided weapon.
- Kinetic similar to an AR1, plus thermal.
If you enjoy guided weapons and want to dabble in thermal without fully committing, the IR Tracer is a comfortable mid-range choice.
Incendiary Splitter – IS Dragon
- Fires three volleys of incendiary pellets in a wide cone.
- Very similar role to SG4 Semi shotgun:
- Comparable kinetic, heat, and activation time.
- Better impact damage.
- Adds meaningful thermal damage.
- Fantastic at:
- Leveling buildings.
- Stripping cover.
- Roasting large clusters of enemies.
If you like shotguns and want something a bit flashier and more destructive at mid-short range, the IS Dragon is a great pickup.
Machine Guns
Machine guns trade accuracy and range for volume of fire:
- Higher scatter than assault rifles.
- Shorter effective range.
- Longer firing windows and more heat.
Variants:
- MG1 Typhoon
- Fusion of kinetic and concussion.
- Shortest range.
- Mid-length activation.
- MG2
- Longest firing window.
- Highest scatter.
- Impact damage close to AR1.
- MG3
- Shortest activation.
- Only kinetic damage.
- Very strong kinetic output.
They are at their best when enemies are constantly rushing into your face. The downside is you pay for that with exposure: low range means trading shots at close distance, which is riskier against heavy shotguns, UHMGs and missiles.
3. Marksmen, Missiles and Plasma
Marksman Rifles
Marksman rifles sit between ARs and snipers: longer reach than ARs, without sniper-level minimum range issues.
- MR1 Baseline
- High kinetic and impact.
- Shorter activation than AR1 for similar or better damage.
- Needs you to stand still for best performance.
- Range is longer than ARs, but sweet-spot band is narrower.
- MR2 Sharp
- Makes a big trade: lower kinetic, no impact, very long activation, surprisingly high heat.
- In exchange, it brings strong concussion.
Objectively the MR1 is more efficient on paper, but concussion is so valuable that MR2 often wins in practice when your plan revolves around pilot knockouts at range.
Missile Launchers (Primary)
Missile launchers are powerful but fiddly. Key traits:
- Long flight times that distort turn predictions.
- Different arcs, speeds and spreads per model.
- Range bands that can be awkward on tight maps.
Models:
- ML1 Slug
- Concussion-focused.
- Huge spread and terrible close range (very large minimum range).
- Often requires manual aim at ground where enemies will move.
- ML3 Snail
- Low arc, decent projectile speed.
- Good on paper, often overshadowed by the ML10 in practice.
- ML6 Hornet
- Higher arc.
- Great theoretical kinetic damage.
- ML10 “Unguided” Hornet
- Despite what the UI says, behaves like a guided launcher.
- Low arc, comfortable max range (~140m).
- Minimal minimum range issues.
General usage:
- On missions without strict timers, missiles shine. You can sit back, lob volleys, and let the battlefield slowly collapse under repeated barrages.
- On time-sensitive missions with heavy reinforcements, they feel clumsy compared to direct-fire weapons like ARs and UHMGs.
Compact Missile Launchers (Handgun Slot)
These are pistol-size missile launchers with surprisingly good reach.
- Heavier than many sidearms and some shields.
- Weak kinetic per hit, but strong concussion and full damage-type spread.
Variants:
- MLS1 Oneshot
- Highest arc and shortest range (still decent).
- Very short activation.
- Almost no impact.
- MLS3 Direct (MLS5 Direct in game)
- Flattest trajectory.
- Fires 3 missiles, short activation.
- Most practical choice – easy to aim, reasonable time-on-target.
- MLS6 Rapid (MLS5 Rapid in game)
- Fires 6 missiles.
- Long activation, slower projectiles.
- MLS8 Cluster
- Medium arc.
- Lowest heat generation of the bunch.
Big advantage: except the short-ranged MLS1, these all have very long reach and minimal minimum range, making them excellent secondaries for opening salvos as both sides advance.
Remember: like full launchers, they deal kinetic, impact and concussion all at once.
Plasma Chargers – PLA Charge
Plasma gear is specialized:
- Low kinetic for their level.
- Strong stagger or concussion.
- Very sharp performance drop once you leave the sweet-spot band.
PLA Charge behavior:
- Fires slow plasma orbs that drift toward enemies and explode in an AoE near them.
- Great versus:
- Enemies running straight at you.
- Stationary mechs.
- Weak versus:
- Enemies side-stepping your line of fire.
- Kinetic is split across multiple parts, so it looks better on paper than it feels in practice.
- Concussion, however, is strong enough to knock out many pilots in one or two actions.
PLA really comes into its own when combined with stagger tools that immobilize or crash targets.
Plasma Repeaters – PLS Curve and PLR Pulse
These are your plasma “rifles.”
- PLS Curve
- Fires three guided arcing shots.
- In practice, getting all pellets to consistently land is tricky, even against immobile targets.
- Deals stagger instead of impact, so it is safer in missions where you must limit collateral damage.
- PLR Pulse
- Shoots like a ballistic weapon with MG-like scatter.
- Does not require you to stand still.
- Deals stagger damage, and the value is deceptive: two actions can crash even heavy mechs.
PLR + PLA combo:
- Two PLR mechs:
- First turn: both shoot the same mech once, then another mech once.
- Result: both targets are crashed.
- One PLA mech:
- Follows up on crashed targets and deletes pilots through concussion.
Once you get the timing rhythm down, you can:
- Keep multiple enemies permanently stagger-locked.
- Strip actions from the enemy team every turn.
- Harvest high-quality salvage with minimal frame damage.
4. Railguns, Shields, Shotguns, Snipers and Beams
Railguns
Each railgun behaves like a different archetype:
- RA2 Lancer
- Low kinetic and modest impact.
- High penetration charges.
- Fantastic range and pinpoint accuracy while idle.
- Designed to fire through multiple enemies and walls.
- Low impact is actually helpful: you do not destroy your cover too quickly.
- RS Barrage
- Railgun machine gun: piles of damage, some concussion.
- RF Flux
- Railgun shotgun: no impact damage, but can still punch through cover.
You can field an entire squad of railguns and still have a balanced team, because each model fills a different role (sniper, shotgun, pseudo-MG).
Shields
When choosing a shield, focus on three stats:
- Mass – Can your frame still move?
- Integrity – How much damage the shield can soak.
- Barrier – Extra temporary HP.
General tips:
- Heavy artillery builds (PLA, MLS, shotgun builds) are natural shield users: they tend to sit exposed and attract fire.
- If your frame is already at minimum speed, taking the biggest shield available is often correct.
- If your build is heat-limited, using shield actions during cooldown phases can be strong, but you will chew through shield integrity quickly if multiple enemies focus you.
Shotguns
Short-range monsters. High damage, high scatter, and great when you line up multiple enemies in the cone.
Their best use is often surgical limb deletion: walk to the side, rip off the gun arm, and force the pilot to eject.
- SG1 Auto
- Very long activation.
- Highest raw damage per action.
- Only kinetic.
- Demands idle firing and leaves you exposed during the long burst.
- SG2 Shred
- Tremendous impact damage, good kinetic, low concussion.
- Big scatter – needs heavy precision investment or very close ranges.
- Excellent at tearing buildings apart.
- SG3 Heavy
- Single, massive blast.
- Extreme scatter and huge heat spike.
- Heaviest shotgun by far.
- Rare versions are much more practical since you need both heat and scatter under control.
- Damage numbers on different SG3 rolls are sometimes inconsistent with pellet math, so always test your specific copy.
- SG4 Semi
- Two-second activation.
- More heat per shot, but faster dissipation than SG3.
- Unlike SG1, allows you to dash and shoot twice in a turn more comfortably.
On paper SG1 looks like the king, but shaving half a second off the activation (SG4) is a meaningful improvement in a game where timing and movement overlap matter.
Sniper Rifles
Snipers look appealing but are often a trap:
- Very long minimum range (around 90m).
- Enemies love closing to knife-fighting distances.
- To use them well you often must:
- Run away from both enemies and your own team.
- Climb exposed high ground.
- Pray the map layout supports long lines of fire.
Variants:
- SR1 Midway
- Short activation.
- High kinetic and concussion.
- Fires twice per action.
- Heat can be an issue.
- SR2 Lock
- Long activation.
- Significant impact damage and five-shot volleys.
- Better before railguns enter your pool.
- SR3 Dice
- Single shot with underwhelming damage compared to SR1’s double tap.
There are missions where snipers shine, but those conditions depend more on map and enemy composition than your build. Railguns usually end up being a more flexible long-range choice.
Beam Weapons
Beams replace ballistics and guidance with a turn rate limit and steep heat demands.
- Most beam weapons generate massive heat, except BM3 Alpenglow, which is more forgiving.
- In return, you get continuous damage over the firing window and the ability to track moving targets within turn-rate limits.
If you ever roll a perfect Solarburst with high-tier heat mods, beams might change your mind. Until then, they tend to be harder to justify compared to simpler ballistic or plasma options.
5. Melee and Crashing
Melee Weapons
Each melee family comes in three sizes:
- Small – Lower damage and heat, can be a secondary.
- Medium – Standard primary.
- Heavy – Highest damage and heat, for dedicated melee builds.
Damage profiles:
- Axes – Kinetic + concussion (great for pilot knockouts).
- Sabers – Kinetic + thermal across multiple parts.
- Blades – Pure kinetic on a single part.
- Cutters – Kinetic plus some stagger.
Why melee is tricky:
- Landing hits is a skill shot: it takes practice to consistently connect.
- Not crashing into the target is even harder, and crashing has its own consequences.
- Optimal melee builds want:
- Heavy weight (82+ to count as a heavy mech, which helps with ramming).
- High speed and dash distance.
- Good heat management, especially for sabers.
A common approach:
- Mix medium and heavy parts to hit 82 weight while still fitting mobility mods.
- Or run all medium parts with a heavy melee weapon.
- Vidar pieces are particularly nice for melee due to strong heat dissipation.
You may also bring a partner with a plasma repeater to reduce enemy mass and make crashes more favorable.
Never send a medium melee mech straight into a heavy melee mech if you can avoid it. Crashes in that matchup are rarely worth it.
Crashing Into Enemies
Deliberate collisions are a valid tactic.
Benefits:
- Deals damage.
- Interrupts enemy actions.
- Can stop dangerous units (shotgun berserkers, heavy rushers) before they dive into your formation.
Drawbacks:
- Prediction inaccuracies
The sim will show where the enemy “would have been” without the crash. When you slam into them at, say, 2.5 seconds, the enemy stops there. Any follow-up fire you planned at 4.5 seconds needs to be retimed or re-aimed, or you risk friendly fire or missed shots. - Minimum range issues
Most guns have a small minimum range. If you end your move right on top of a target, you may severely reduce your own damage until you reposition.
Crashing is at its best when:
- You use heavy mechs to shut down key enemies.
- You combine rams with follow-up limb removal (e.g., shotgun arm deletions).