Dead Space Weapons and RIG Upgrades, Locations and Tiers Guide

In this guide, we’ll be going over the various weapons in Dead Space Remake and where to best utilize them. Also, here you will learn how to use these weapons to their best potential against the various Necromorphs USG Ishimura throws at you! And, of course, the answer to the most important question – what is the best weapon in Dead Space Remake!

This guide is for the Dead Space Remake, released in 2023!

During your fight for survival aboard the USG Ishimura, you’ll have the opportunity to obtain a wide arsenal of weapons. The bulk of these aren't even weapons, rather they are mining and engineering tools that just so happen to make great weapons as well.

Whether you need to upgrade your RIG Suit or Weapons, you’ll need to find a Workbench (also known as a Bench). You should find these spread out the USG Ishimura on every deck.

When you interact with a bench, it will open up and provide a menu for you to interact with. This menu lists any weapons you have, RIG Suit, and how many Power Nodes you have.

Power Nodes are required to apply upgrades to your equipment. Power Nodes can be purchased at the store for 10,000 credits each or found throughout the ship. For a full list of power node locations, check out our Power Node Locations Guide!

When you select a piece of equipment, you’ll be able to view a charge that shows which upgrades are available for it. To add upgrades, you’ll need to use power nodes to fill in the slots. You’ll have to start at the slot where the arrows are and work your way from there.

You have the ability to reset all upgrades on your equipment at the cost of 5,000 credits. This removes all power nodes from that piece of equipment and places them back into your inventory. You can use this if you want to transfer power nodes from a weapon you may not use often into something you need more.

It is never a bad idea to invest power nodes into your RIG suit. RIG Suit upgrades increase your maximum hit points, how much air you have in your oxygen tank, and improves the performance of your Kinesis and Stasis modules!

You won't have a lot of upgrade options to start but you’ll gain more options when you upgrade your suit level. In order to unlock all upgrades, you’ll need to get the Level 6 suit on a New Game Plus.

For Suit upgrades, you’ll have the following options to choose from:

Prioritize HP upgrades as you’ll need all the health you can get to survive. Get ERG upgrades whenever you can as you can get more uses out of Stasis charges you find lying about.

Duration will take your 3rd priority as you’ll want longer uses of Stasis against Leapers and Brutes. Air should be your 4th priority as there are numerous areas in the game where you’ll need the spare air. The rest you can decide for yourself what you want or need.

You can compare the base and final stats of your RIG suit using the images above. Keep in mind that these will not be unlocked by default as you’ll only have access to a few. There is no option to increase damage reduction through armor as that's reliant on the RIG Suit level you’re currently wearing.

In order to purchase new RIG suits, you’ll first need to find their schematics and bring them to a Store Kiosk. Here's a list of where to find all RIG Suit schematics…

Weapons will likely take up the majority of your power nodes as there's so many to choose from. Though on a first playthrough, it's best to focus on one or two weapons so you have enough power nodes to use on RIG upgrades.

For weapon upgrades, you’ll have the following common options to choose from as you upgrade the weapon:

You should always prioritize Damage upgrades first and foremost followed by Capacity upgrades. The more damage the weapon does, the more efficient it will become on ammo consumption.

Increasing the capacity of the weapon allows you to store more ammo in the weapon and less in the inventory. This will make the weapon more inventory efficient. If you’re low on ammo and have power nodes, add a Capacity upgrade to the weapon and it will be fully reloaded on ammo!

For you visual learners out there, I’ll be forming a ranking system of my own. This system will show how I think each weapon performs in different fields. These include:

A Blue Bar indicates that this weapon performs exceptionally in that field. A Yellow Bar indicates that the weapon is adequate in that field. A Red Bar indicates that the weapon does poorly in that field.

I feel this will be useful for determining which weapon is best for your needs in a quick and easy-to-understand manner. For more details, please read the text information!

Keep in mind that this system looks at the weapon's performance after it has been fully upgraded.

The 211-V Plasma Cutter is a direct-energy mining tool manufactured by Schofield Tools. This tool is used by miners to fire ionized plasma to cut through softer ores, allowing them to extract the minerals within.

This is the only weapon you need. I’m being very serious, you can even get an achievement called the "One Gun" achievement by completing Dead Space while exclusively using the Plasma Cutter. When aiming, you can see that it fires 3 shots in a vertical manner. Using the secondary fire, you can rotate the line of shots 90 degrees for a horizontal shot. This allows you to be very precise when removing limbs and appendages from necromorphs.

The Plasma Cutter uses Plasma Energy for ammo and starts with an ammo capacity of 10, but this can reach 23 when fully upgraded. Plasma Energy is very cheap with 6 plasma energy being sold for 1,200 credits at the store. Plasma energy can form stacks of 24 in each inventory slot making it very inventory-efficient.

Above is the recommended upgrade tree for the Plasma Cutter. When fully upgraded, the Plasma Cutter provides good damage per shot, good rate of fire, reloads very quickly, and is very ammo efficient. So long as you place your shots well, worrying about ammo will be one of your least concerns.

For Special upgrades, Special 1 is a Heat Accumulator that causes each shot to deal burning damage. Special 2, Cartridge Rack, increases your ammo capacity by 5. Special 3, Weighted Blades, causes your Melee Attacks to knock enemies prone.

Overall, this is a great weapon for newcomers and veterans alike. You can't go wrong with investing all of your power nodes into this weapon leaving more for your RIG suit and module upgrades.

The SWS Motorized Pulse Rifle is a military-grade automatic assault rifle. It features three barrels that offer a high rate of fire and is the weapon of choice for EarthGov Security Forces and Security Officers.

You might recognize this as the weapon carried by your crewmates Hammond, Chen, and Johnston. The primary fire shoots bursts of bullets at a target while the secondary fire launches a proximity mine.

Aiming with this weapon will display 4 dots in a tight grouping, this is the effective area of shots fired by the weapon.

The proximity mine can be launched directly at a target to act as a grenade launcher or onto terrain as an environmental hazard. Using the Proximity Mine costs 25 ammo. You can deactivate a Proximity Mine by aiming at it and pressing the Secondary Fire button. This is a good way to save ammo if you ended up not using a mine.

The Pulse Rifle initially has an ammo capacity of 50 but it can be increased to 160. This is slightly less than the 175 max ammo capacity from the original game but it's a good tradeoff for all the other bonuses we get on the remake's Pulse Rifle. Unfortunately another thing the Pulse Rifle lost is the ability to stagger opponents it's firing on.

Pulse Rounds can be purchased in groups of 25 at 1,250 credits in the store. Pulse rounds will form stacks of 100 when placed into your inventory. Using the Pulse Rifle recklessly can chew up a lot of ammo so discipline yourself by firing in bursts at necromorph weak points.

When fully upgraded, the Pulse Rifle is excellent for dealing damage to tougher enemies such as Brutes, Tentacles, and Bosses. Against the average necromorph, you will need fire in bursts to shoot off limbs without wasting ammo. This is a great weapon if you favor automatic weapons while using the Proximity Mines to keep your sides and back covered.

The Special 1 upgrade, Kinetic Autoloader, greatly increases the weapon's Rate of Fire. Special 2, P.C.S.I. Custom Magazine, increases ammo capacity by 20. Special 3, High-Yield Grenades, increases the blast radius of Proximity Mines.

This is a good weapon but honestly, not one of the best. With the removal of stagger on-hit, it lost one of its best features to keep necromorphs at a distance. Aside from that, its secondary fire works well in tandem with the Force Gun's secondary fire and the high DPS is great for fighting bosses!

The RC-DS Remote Control Disc Ripper is a tool using diamond-coated tungsten blades that spin up to 17,000 RPM to cut through solid rock for mining purposes.

The Ripper is a well-rounded weapon that's fun to fight with as you use saw blades to attack necromorphs. This weapon is best used while exploring and taking on a few necromorphs but it can struggle in more open areas with intense combat.

The Ripper's primary fire spins a saw blade in front of you for several seconds. The primary fire mode isn't particularly good for dismembering necromorphs but it staggers enemies. This is great to keep a necromorph from coming any closer to you but there will be a smaller chance to stagger when fighting stronger necromorphs.

The secondary fire launches the saw blade which can ricochet off walls. The launched saw blade is much better for dismembering limbs but it can be tricky to predict where the saw blade will ricochet. If you get good at predicting these angles, the Ripper becomes great for dealing with necromorphs in cramped spaces like hallways. If you’re fighting at a distance, use the secondary fire.

The Ripper can hold 8 blades to start with each lasting 7 seconds with the primary fire. When fully upgraded, the Ripper holds 15 blades each lasting 10 seconds. Ripper Blades can be bought in the store in groups of 3 for 1,500 credits forming stacks of 15 in your inventory.

The Ripper's unique upgrade nodes affect the Duration of the primary fire's attack. Each point in Duration increases the duration of the primary fire by 1 second. All of the Special upgrades allow the blade to ricochet an additional time with the Ripper's secondary. When fully upgraded, the saw blade from an secondary can ricochet up to 4 times.

This has never been one of my favorite weapons but it has its merits. A good thing to keep in mind is that a single blade can be used for both primary and secondary fires. When the duration of the primary fire is almost up, launch it using the secondary fire to get more mileage out of the saw blade.

If you enjoy the idea of staggering and sawing your way through victory, the Ripper will be a fun weapon for you to use!

The PFM-100 Hydrazine Torch Flamethrower is an industrial grade blowtorch that uses liquid hydrazine to fire flames between 500-4,000 degrees Celsius. This tool is often used to extract ores from icy comets that are covered in layers of ice.

The Flamethrower is a great weapon for damaging necromorphs in a large area. It is easily one of the most satisfying weapons to use as you can never go wrong with the power of fire. You will be unable to use the Flamethrower in rooms without oxygen so keep that in mind.

The Flamethrower's primary fire shoots flames your target direction. It's best to use this in short bursts to let the flames do the work. Should you fire continuously (which you will sooner or later), the flames will actually stagger necromorphs. This stagger effect is great for keeping your distance.

The Flamethrower's secondary fire consumes 25 ammo to fire a tank in a target direction. The tank will ignite the ground for some time that burns anything within it. Any necromorphs caught in the fire will be unable to move while they’re burning and screaming.

The Flamethrower can hold 50 fuel to start and can hold 110 fuel when fully upgraded. When you find the schematic for Flamer Fuel, it will be sold in the Store in groups of 25 for 1,750 credits. Flamer Fuel forms stacks of 150 in your inventory.

The Flamethrower's unique upgrade modifier is Duration (DUR). This affects the duration at which enemies burn when hit by the Flamethrower.

Special 1, Gellified Hydrazine, allows Fire Walls to burn much longer. Special 2, High-Pressure Nozzle, increases the range of the primary fire. Special 3, Macroliter Fuel Tank, increases ammo capacity by 15.

This weapon is also great at dealing with smaller enemies such as Swarmers and Dividers. What balances out its power when compared to other weapons is that the Flamethrower has a rather short range.

Be mindful of your ammo consumption as the Flamethrower is one hungry beast. If you’re looking to recreate the R.J. MacReady experience from John Carpenter's The Thing, then the Flamethrower is for you!

The C99 Supercollider Contact Beam is a heavy-duty mining tool designed to break through tough ores using energy projections. To crack particularly hard ores and asteroids, the Contact Beam can charge power to blow up tough materials to grant access to the ores and metals within.

The Contact Beam got a pretty significant overhaul in the remake. The original's primary fire is now the remake's secondary fire. Meanwhile, the new primary fire of the Contact Beam fires a large projection of energy at a target eviscerating all it comes into contact with.

The Contact Beam's primary fire consumes 1 Contact Energy for every second it is active. The power you’ll feel when using this weapon is immense as you use powerful beams of energy to tear through targets with ease.

The secondary fire consumes 3 Contact Energy and requires you to charge the weapon for a second before firing. Once fired, the Contact Beam sends out focused energy onto a target utterly obliterating it. This will one-shot and dismember weaker necromorphs but stronger ones may have a couple functional limbs remaining.

Once the Contact Energy is found, you can find Contact Energy in the store sold in groups of 5 for 2,00 credits. Contact Energy forms stacks of 15 in your inventory. The Contact Beam holds 12 ammo to start but ends up with 25 ammo capacity when fully upgraded.

Be mindful of your ammo consumption early on as you won't find Contact Energy schematics until Chapter 7 while you find the Contact Beam at Chapter 4.

The Contact Beam has two unique upgrade modifiers, Primary Fire Damage (PFD) and Secondary Fire Damage (SFD). These are high priority upgrades and I would recommend focusing the Primary Fire Damage upgrades first.

Special 1, Supersymmetry Tether, greatly increases the size of the secondary fire's projectile. Special 2, Portable Heliotron, increases ammo capacity by 5. Special 3, Diffraction Module, greatly increases the secondary fire's explosion size.

This is hands down one of the best weapons in the Dead Space remake as you’ll be able to tear through normal necromorphs and bosses with ease. On top of its phenomenal cosmic power, it has excellent range with its primary fire.

If you have the credits to refill on ammo, then the Contact Beam is an excellent point and my primary weapon of choice. Tap into the power of the Contact Beam!

The IM-822 Handheld Ore Cutter Line Gun is a mining tool that fires a wide beam to slice through rocks and ore that the Plasma Cutter may struggle with. It features the ability to produce laser-targeting survey charges that are very deadly when activated.

The Line Gun is a fan favorite due to its sheer slicing power. The Line Gun can be seen as the Plasma Cutter's big brother as it also fires in a horizontal line but with MUCH more power. It's great for dealing with multiple necromorphs at once, setting up traps, and other fun shenanigans we’ll cover later.

The Line Gun's primary fire shoots a large horizontal line that will pass through targets. It's exceptional for cutting through necromorphs with the ease of a knife through soft butter.

The Line Gun's secondary fire consumes 1 Line Rack and places laser tripwires that will appear blue when inactive and red when active. When active, the lasers will push necromorphs in the direction they are firing at while melting through flesh and bone, dismembering them. You can target inactive laser traps and press Secondary Fire to deactivate them and recollect the Line Rack.

With the Line Gun's secondary fire, you can turn any Kinesis compatible object into a weapon. For example, I turned this humble suitcase into an apocalyptic tool of destruction. Test this out on objects you find throughout the ship! Just make sure use Kinesis with the object first to determine where the "Front" of the object is before firing the tripwires on it.

The Line Gun uses Line Racks for ammunition. Line Racks can be bought at the store in groups of 3 for 2,100 credits with Line Racks forming stacks of 9 in your inventory. The Line Rack can hold 5 racks to start and can have a maximum capacity of 11 racks.

The unique upgrade slot for the Line Gun are the Speed (SPD) slots. This increases the projectile speed of the primary fire. This is a useful feature but Damage, Capacity, and Special upgrades will take priority over it.

Specials 1 and 3, Ionized Capacitor and Photon Energizer, greatly increases the damage of laser traps. Special 2, Precision Lasers, has laser traps have 3 lasers instead of 1. Despite firing 3 lasers with the Special 2 upgrade, it will still only cost 1 Line Rack to fire.

This is a great weapon that will easily eviscerate a group of necromorphs. Be mindful of its ammo though as it's a bit expensive and can take up a lot of space in your inventory. I would recommend carrying 3 spare stacks of line racks to leave space for other forms of ammo and resources.

When it comes to quickly dispatching large groups of necromorphs, there is no better weapon in the game than the line gun.

Handheld Graviton Accelerator, also known as the Force Gun, is often used by miners to clear the floor of debris and breaking up ore deposits. It does this by using a short range kinetic booster to fire raw kinetic energy in an area. If overclocked it can create a gravitational reaction, pulling anyone and anything nearby into the singularity.

The Force Gun can be seen as the "shotgun" of Dead Space due to its short range paired with powerful area damage. This gun got a massive overhaul in the remake as it was considered the weakest weapon in the original Dead Space. Before its primary fire would push away enemies while its secondary fire would launch a Force Bomb.

Below we can see the before and after of a Slasher bit hit with a single shot from a Force Gun.

The Force Gun's secondary fire consumes 3 Force Energy to create a Gravity Well that pulls in necromorphs and loose objects to it. This is a great way to pin down multiple necromorphs leaving them open to area attacks such as the Force Gun's primary fire, a Flamethrower, or a Pulse Rifle's Proximity Mine.

When you find the schematic for Force Energy, you can purchase this ammo in the store in groups of 3 for 2,400 credits. Force Energy forms stacks of 15 in your inventory. It can initially store 5 Force Energy and has a maximum capacity of 12 when fully upgraded. Ammo is quite expensive for the Force Gun so use it sparingly.

The Special 1 upgrade, Subsonic Oscillator, causes the Gravity Well to deal damage over time. Special 2, Suspension Module, makes the Gravity Well last longer. Special 3, Gravitic Amplifier, increases the radius of the Gravity Well.

The Force Gun is an insanely powerful weapon but a very expensive one to maintain. Ammo for the Force Gun sells very well and holding onto this can prove to be an excellent source of income.

The Force Gun also proves to be useful against armored necromorphs such as those found on the Mining Deck in Chapter 7. You’ll spend less time aiming and the arms as the area damage will finish them in two shots. Use the Force!

Upgrading all of the weapons is a tough challenge. You might benefit from finding the Locations of all Semiconductors or learning a few tips and tricks on how to make Credits in the game. Whatever you need, we have it in the Dead Space Remake game category here on VULKK.com. Take a look.

A common question when dealing with any video game is what is the best weapon. This is a tricky question but we can rule out some. Rather than a weapon being seen as the "best", each excels in different situations. So instead, I will divide this into which weapon is best for what scenario.

The Plasma Cutter is a tried and true weapon that veterans of Dead Space can attest to. It hits hard, fast, and is pinpoint accurately which is great for fighting enemies like Lurkers and Guardians. Ammo is cheap, stacks well in your inventory, and the added burn damage from the Special Upgrades only add to its DPS.

It does lack in crowd control and area of effect, but this shouldn't matter in the hands of someone skilled. There's no better crowd control if your target is already down the moment you see them!

If you need to take out multiple necromorphs at once, then the Line Gun beats the others. If you had a line of 100 Slashers in a row, this would take out ALL of their legs and then some. With its secondary fire, you can turn anything into a deadly weapon whether it would be the terrain, a box, or even a necromorph corpse!

The Flamethrower is an amazing weapon when fully upgraded. It can take out an enhanced or phantom necromorph with ease by using continuous fire. By launching Fire Walls around yourself, no necromorph will be able to touch you and they’ll die trying.

The remake's Contact Beam is hand-down my favorite weapon as I find it the most fun. You can really feel the weight and the power this weapon emits as it melts through everything like a Death Star laser through a planet made of lukewarm butter. It looks amazing, feels amazing, and eviscerates anything near and far!

Siow