Neolithic Weapons

Gear

The short bow is a very light, single-shot ranged weapon in RimWorld which deals a moderate amount of damage per shot; slightly longer time between shots; slightly shorter range and moderate accuracy.

Obtaining

Short bows can be crafted at a [[]], [[]] or [[]]. They require , Expression error: Unexpected < operator. of work, and a [[]] skill of .

Alternatively, short bows can be purchased from neolithic war merchants and orbital combat suppliers, tribal and outlander faction bases, and obtained from the following raider kinds:

Raider Kind	Chance	Average Quality	Health
Archer	92.27%	Poor	50-180%

You also start with two short bows in the Lost Tribe scenario.

Analysis

Short bows are one of the easiest ranged weapons to create, so are an important item for the Lost Tribe and Naked Brutality scenarios. A crafting spot can be created almost anywhere, instantly, and wood is typically not hard to find. Any ranged weapon at all allows you to safely hunt animals; even 0% manhunter animals will retaliate in melee combat, but not at range. Any weapon at all also gives a basic defense against hostile wildlife and raiders.

As they are so cheap, they aren't great as actual weapons. Short bows have the 3rd lowest DPS of all player-craftable ranged weapons in the game, ahead of only the pila and incendiary launcher. Other weaknesses include low accuracy and inability to stagger humans, something all other neolithic options can do. The short bow is best suited for close-quarters engagements due to its high close accuracy and slow projectile velocity.

Naturally, a short bow will be significantly overshadowed in terms of combat performance by even the most basic of firearms such as autopistols and revolvers. Two short bows are roughly equal to one of the aforementioned firearms. New Tribes also begin with the recurve bow researched, offering an immediate upgrade, assuming someone has a Crafting skill of 5 or more. Replacing the short bow with better ranged options should thus be your second priority, only after making sure everyone has a weapon of any kind.

Stats

Against an unarmored human, a short bow can kill with 4 hits to the torso, 3 hits to the head or neck, or 1 hit to the brain; cripple or destroy limbs in 3 hits; and cripple or destroy eyes and digits with a single hit. It'll generally take around 6 hits (~28.35 seconds average) to incapacitate that human from pain shock.

Overall, the short bow is best paired with a careful shooter until level 9, and with a trigger-happy shooter beyond that point.

Attack table

Neolithic Weapons (Error: Page has no Property:Image) Neolithic Weapons	Dam.	AP	Accuracy (Touch)	Accuracy (Short)	Accuracy (Medium)	Accuracy (Long)	DPS (Optimal)	DPS (Touch)	DPS (Short)	DPS (Medium)	DPS (Long)	Market value
	*Expression error: Unexpected operator.**	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.%	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.	*Expression error: Unexpected operator.**	Expression error: Unexpected >= operator.	Expression error: Unexpected >= operator.	Expression error: Unexpected >= operator.	Expression error: Unexpected >= operator.	Expression error: Unexpected < operator.

^{Values shown in Red indicate the weapon is out of range at the reference point for this range band. The value is provided due to the interpolated nature of accuracy between range points.}

Short bow vs. comparable weapons

This section goes over how well the short bow fares against comparable weapons (similar value, tech level or similar characteristics) in 1 vs. 1 combat.

Methodology

All testing is semi-automated which allows for large sample sizes to be gathered per set of results with ease
All pawns have a skill level of 8 in shooting
No pawns have any traits that affect combat performance
All pawns are of 18 years of age and completely healthy
Pawns are divided by walls to prevent stray shots from skewing results in any way
Weather conditions are kept clear and no cover is used

Results in the tables below are the percentages of battles that short bows either won or tied against the weapon listed in the first column of said tables, with a sample size of 2,000 battles per result. Higher percentages are better.

Unarmored

For the unarmored testing, all pawns wore normal quality plainleather pants and plainleather button-down shirts.

Short bow vs.	3	7	12	18	25	32	40
Recurve bow	38.85%	31.25%	25.70%	22.75%	-	-	-
Pila	82.20%	77.60%	66.05%	64.50%	-	-	-

Flak armor

For the flak armor testing, all pawns wore normal quality steel simple helmets, flak jackets, flak vests, plainleather button-down shirts and flak pants.

Short bow vs.	3	7	12	18	25	32	40
Recurve bow	36.60%	31.75%	20.75%	22.80%	-	-	-
Pila	90.15%	84.80%	74.65%	72.60%	-	-	-

Marine armor

For the marine armor testing, all pawns wore normal quality marine helmets, marine armor, plainleather button-down shirts and plainleather pants.

Short bow vs.	3	7	12	18	25	32	40
Recurve bow	34.60%	25.50%	20.70%	18.85%	-	-	-
Pila	89.75%	83.45%	71.80%	70.85%	-	-	-

Graphs

The graphs assume a normal quality short bow against an adult human that's out in the open in clear weather. For DPS, projectile speed has also been factored into the equation, with the weighting based on the base amount of attacks that it'll take to put the aforementioned target into pain shock.

Version history

0.3.410 - Added

Weapons

Melee | Neolithic: Breach axe • Club • Ikwa • Knife (Jade) • Spear

Medieval: Gladius • Longsword • Mace • Axe • Warhammer

Ultra: Eltex staff • Monosword (Persona) • Plasmasword (Persona) • Zeushammer (Persona)

Improvised: Beer • Elephant tusk • Thrumbo horn • Wood

Ranged | Neolithic: Greatbow • Pila • Recurve bow • Short bow • Flamebow

Industrial: Assault rifle • Autopistol • Bolt-action rifle • Chain shotgun • Heavy SMG • Launcher (EMP, Incendiary, Smoke, Toxbomb ) • LMG • Machine pistol • Minigun • Pump shotgun • Revolver • Sniper rifle

Spacer: Charge lance • Charge rifle

Consumables: Doomsday rocket launcher • Triple rocket launcher

Throwables: EMP grenades • Frag grenades • Molotov cocktails • Tox grenades

Mechanoid: Heavy charge blaster • Inferno cannon • Needle gun • Thump cannon • Beam graser • Charge blaster turret • Hellsphere cannon • Mini-flameblaster • Mini-shotgun • Slugthrower • Spiner • Toxic needle gun

Structures: Autocannon • Mini-turret gun • Mortar (Weapon) • Uranium slug cannon • Auto-mortar • Inferno cannon (Turret) • Light charge blaster • Mini-slugger • Tactical turret gun

The greatbow is a moderately heavy, single-shot ranged weapon which deals a slightly higher amount of damage per shot; slightly longer time between shots; slightly longer range and high overall accuracy.

Acquisition

Great bows can be manufactured at any smithy once the greatbow research has been completed; from and Expression error: Unexpected < operator. of work. A crafting level of at least 6 is required.

Great bows can also be purchased from neolithic war merchants and orbital combat suppliers, or obtained from the following raider kinds:

Raider Kind	Chance	Average Quality	Health
Heavy Archer	42.22%	Normal	50-180%
Archer Chief	93.25%	Normal	100%

Analysis

The greatbow is the most powerful pre-industrial ranged weapon. Roughly on par with weak firearms like autopistols and revolvers, it is rapidly outclassed by most other guns. Due to the research required, crafting greatbows usually not a great idea. However, a greatbow obtained from other means, such as a quest, event, or by trade, can be useful in the early game.

As a weapon, the greatbow dominates all ranged weapons for its tech level. For a bow, it has great accuracy and range. While the AP is worse than even a short bow, the damage easily makes up for it. With the highest range before bolt-action rifles and a relatively short cooldown, the greatbow is ideal for both preventing, and escaping from, hunted animals going manhunter. It's worth noting that the greatbow has a longer warmup than cooldown, which is reversed for the other two bows. This synergizes well with Aiming Time reductions.

Compared to a recurve bow of the same quality, the greatbow has overall better damage and range. A recurve bow one or two quality levels above can have better DPS at the short-medium range though.
Compared to autopistols and revolvers, the greatbow is more accurate from a distance, and has higher max range. However, both handguns outdamage the greatbow up close.
The greatbow is actually very similar in role to the bolt-action rifle, just with worse stats. A bolt-action rifle has better DPS, range, long-range accuracy as a greatbow of the same quality.

The main issue of this weapon is the research required - greatbows are a dead-end project, and greatbows themselves are quickly outclassed by guns that can be looted and crafted early. Therefore, actually doing the research is often a waste of time. Should you find or craft a particularly high quality greatbow, however, it might remain competitive in the early game. The main advantage of greatbows is their cost, not using any components or steel that could be otherwise spent on other options.

Quality comparisons

High quality greatbows can occasionally be obtained as a quest reward. Particularly high quality greatbows can be better than many types of guns.

A masterwork greatbow beats an excellent (and lower) bolt-action rifle at any range the bow can reach, though its AP and max range are still shorter.
Up close (12 tiles), a greatbow 1 quality level higher generally beats a bolt action, e.g. good greatbow > normal bolt-action. The one exception is that an excellent greatbow is still inferior to a good bolt action rifle.
At medium (25 tile) range and beyond, an excellent greatbow is outperformed by a poor bolt-action.

Stats

Against an unarmored human, a greatbow can kill with 3 hits to the torso, 2 hits to the head or neck, or 1 hit to the brain; cripple or destroy limbs in 2 hits; and destroy eyes and digits with a single hit. It'll generally take around 4 hits (~19.5 seconds average) to incapacitate that human from pain shock.

Attack table

Neolithic Weapons (Error: Page has no Property:Image) Neolithic Weapons	Dam.	AP	Accuracy (Touch)	Accuracy (Short)	Accuracy (Medium)	Accuracy (Long)	DPS (Optimal)	DPS (Touch)	DPS (Short)	DPS (Medium)	DPS (Long)	Market value
	*Expression error: Unexpected operator.**	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.%	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.	*Expression error: Unexpected operator.**	Expression error: Unexpected >= operator.	Expression error: Unexpected >= operator.	Expression error: Unexpected >= operator.	Expression error: Unexpected >= operator.	Expression error: Unexpected < operator.

^{Values shown in Red indicate the weapon is out of range at the reference point for this range band. The value is provided due to the interpolated nature of accuracy between range points.}

Version history

0.3.410 - Added
At some point between Beta 18 and 1.2 it was nerfed. Accuracy was decreased from Touch accuracy was changed from 93% to 65%, range was decreased from 32 to 30 and damage from 18 to 17. It was also increased in weight from 1.2 to 3.0.

Weapons

Melee | Neolithic: Breach axe • Club • Ikwa • Knife (Jade) • Spear

Medieval: Gladius • Longsword • Mace • Axe • Warhammer

Ultra: Eltex staff • Monosword (Persona) • Plasmasword (Persona) • Zeushammer (Persona)

Improvised: Beer • Elephant tusk • Thrumbo horn • Wood

Ranged | Neolithic: Greatbow • Pila • Recurve bow • Short bow • Flamebow

Industrial: Assault rifle • Autopistol • Bolt-action rifle • Chain shotgun • Heavy SMG • Launcher (EMP, Incendiary, Smoke, Toxbomb ) • LMG • Machine pistol • Minigun • Pump shotgun • Revolver • Sniper rifle

Spacer: Charge lance • Charge rifle

Consumables: Doomsday rocket launcher • Triple rocket launcher

Throwables: EMP grenades • Frag grenades • Molotov cocktails • Tox grenades

Mechanoid: Heavy charge blaster • Inferno cannon • Needle gun • Thump cannon • Beam graser • Charge blaster turret • Hellsphere cannon • Mini-flameblaster • Mini-shotgun • Slugthrower • Spiner • Toxic needle gun

Structures: Autocannon • Mini-turret gun • Mortar (Weapon) • Uranium slug cannon • Auto-mortar • Inferno cannon (Turret) • Light charge blaster • Mini-slugger • Tactical turret gun

This article is about a spear like weapon. For other types of spears, see Spear (disambiguation).

Pila are slightly heavier, thrown ranged weapons which deal a high amount of damage per pilum thrown. They have a very long time between throws, and slightly shorter range and slightly lower overall accuracy.

Note that pila, once equipped, can be thrown infinitely; they are not consumed by use.

Acquisition

Pila can be crafted at either a fueled or electric smithy once the [[research#|]] research project has been completed. They require , Expression error: Unexpected < operator. of work, and a [[]] skill of .

Alternatively, pila can be purchased from neolithic war merchants, orbital combat suppliers, tribal and outlander faction bases, or found on the following raiders kinds:

Raider Kind	Chance	Average Quality	Health
Heavy Archer	50.71%	Normal	100%

Analysis

Pila deal a great amount of damage per shot, matching the much more advanced sniper rifle. They also have a massive stopping power - able to stagger humans and anything smaller than 2.5 body size. However, pila have the slowest fire rate in the game, at least for conventional ranged weapons. They also have a terrible range, only outranging both shotguns and all grenades. And in terms of DPS, pila are very poor - even short bows are superior. Therefore, pila are best used as support and hunting weapons.

Because of the immense damage per shot, pila are known to completely destroy body parts, which can maim or outright kill a pawn. And, as thrown weapons, pila have a tendency to strike internal body parts more often. A pila user in the back can fish for lucky hits and stagger enemies. The per-hit damage also makes them good for hunting, though problems can arise if the quarry turns manhunter. As a downside, pila are likely to dismember any enemies you might want to capture for yourself.

But, overall, pila aren't very useful. They have a high research cost and terrible DPS. Pila shouldn't be used outside of the Lost Tribe scenario, which begins with one. Even then, bows deal more damage, which is generally more effective. For colonies with guns, the pump shotgun is another close range / high stopping power option.

Stats

Against an unarmored human, a pilum can kill with 2 hits to the torso, 1-2 hits to the head, or 1 hit to the neck or brain; cripple or destroy limbs in 1-2 hits; and destroy eyes and digits with a single hit. It'll generally take around 3 hits (~36 seconds average) to incapacitate that human from pain shock.

Pila are best paired with careful shooters up to level 6, then with trigger-happy shooters beyond that point.

Attack table

Neolithic Weapons (Error: Page has no Property:Image) Neolithic Weapons	Dam.	AP	Accuracy (Touch)	Accuracy (Short)	Accuracy (Medium)	Accuracy (Long)	DPS (Optimal)	DPS (Touch)	DPS (Short)	DPS (Medium)	DPS (Long)	Market value
	*Expression error: Unexpected operator.**	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.%	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.	*Expression error: Unexpected operator.**	Expression error: Unexpected >= operator.	Expression error: Unexpected >= operator.	Expression error: Unexpected >= operator.	Expression error: Unexpected >= operator.	Expression error: Unexpected < operator.

^{Values shown in Red indicate the weapon is out of range at the reference point for this range band. The value is provided due to the interpolated nature of accuracy between range points.}

Pila vs. comparable weapons

This section goes over how well pila fares against comparable weapons (similar value, tech level or similar characteristics) in 1 vs. 1 combat.

Methodology

All testing is semi-automated which allows for large sample sizes to be gathered per set of results with ease
All pawns have a skill level of 8 in shooting
No pawns have any traits that affect combat performance
All pawns are of 18 years of age and completely healthy
Pawns are divided by walls to prevent stray shots from skewing results in any way
Weather conditions are kept clear and no cover is used

Results in the tables below are the percentages of battles that pila either won or tied against the weapon listed in the first column of said tables, with a sample size of 2,000 battles per result. Higher percentages are better.

Unarmored

For the unarmored testing, all pawns wore normal quality plainleather pants and plainleather button-down shirts.

Pila vs.	3	7	12	18	25	32	40
Short bow	17.80%	22.40%	33.95%	35.50%	-	-	-
Pump shotgun	6.00%	6.75%	10.75%	-	-	-	-

Flak armor

For the flak armor testing, all pawns wore normal quality steel simple helmets, flak jackets, flak vests, plainleather button-down shirts and flak pants.

Pila vs.	3	7	12	18	25	32	40
Short bow	9.85%	15.20%	25.35%	27.40%	-	-	-
Pump shotgun	2.50%	2.65%	3.95%	-	-	-	-

Marine armor

For the marine armor testing, all pawns wore normal quality marine helmets, marine armor, plainleather button-down shirts and plainleather pants.

Pila vs.	3	7	12	18	25	32	40
Short bow	10.25%	16.55%	28.20%	29.15%	-	-	-
Pump shotgun	2.15%	2.55%	2.85%	-	-	-	-

Graphs

The graphs assume normal quality pila against an adult human that's out in the open in clear weather. For DPS, projectile speed has also been factored into the equation, with the weighting based on the base amount of attacks that it'll take to put the aforementioned target into pain shock.

Version history

0.4.460 - Damage nerfed from 45 to 30

Original pila sprite

Weapons

Melee | Neolithic: Breach axe • Club • Ikwa • Knife (Jade) • Spear

Medieval: Gladius • Longsword • Mace • Axe • Warhammer

Ultra: Eltex staff • Monosword (Persona) • Plasmasword (Persona) • Zeushammer (Persona)

Improvised: Beer • Elephant tusk • Thrumbo horn • Wood

Ranged | Neolithic: Greatbow • Pila • Recurve bow • Short bow • Flamebow

Industrial: Assault rifle • Autopistol • Bolt-action rifle • Chain shotgun • Heavy SMG • Launcher (EMP, Incendiary, Smoke, Toxbomb ) • LMG • Machine pistol • Minigun • Pump shotgun • Revolver • Sniper rifle

Spacer: Charge lance • Charge rifle

Consumables: Doomsday rocket launcher • Triple rocket launcher

Throwables: EMP grenades • Frag grenades • Molotov cocktails • Tox grenades

Mechanoid: Heavy charge blaster • Inferno cannon • Needle gun • Thump cannon • Beam graser • Charge blaster turret • Hellsphere cannon • Mini-flameblaster • Mini-shotgun • Slugthrower • Spiner • Toxic needle gun

Structures: Autocannon • Mini-turret gun • Mortar (Weapon) • Uranium slug cannon • Auto-mortar • Inferno cannon (Turret) • Light charge blaster • Mini-slugger • Tactical turret gun

Club

A shaped stick, heavy at one end, for bashing enemies to death. This weapon is so old it's part of human biology. Evolutionary biologists say that a major reason humans can tilt our wrists side-to-side (instead of just forward-and-back like other primates) is to be able to better swing a club.

Base Stats

Type: Equipment – Weapons

Tech Level: Neolithic

Weapon Class: Neolithic

Mass: 2 kg

Melee Combat

Mode: Melee

Melee Attack 1: Handle
9 dmg (Poke)
13% AP
2 seconds cooldown

Melee Attack 2: Head
14 dmg (Blunt)
21% AP
2 seconds cooldown

Melee Average DPS: 6.27

Melee Average AP: 19%

Creation

Crafted At: / /

Work To Make: 1,200 ticks (20 secs)

Stuff Tags: Metallic, Woody, Stony

Resources to make: 40

Technical

Has Quality: False
weaponTags: NeolithicMeleeBasic

The club is a neolithic melee weapon that does a moderate amount of blunt damage and has a moderate-long cooldown. As a blunt weapon, it doesn't cause bleeding (unless a body part gets destroyed), and generally do more damage against armor when compared to sharp weapons.

Acquisition

Clubs can also be crafted at a crafting spot, fueled smithy, or electric smithy without any research required; with and Expression error: Unexpected < operator. of work. They can also be purchased from any combat supplier or war merchant, or obtained from melee raiders drops.

Analysis

Clubs are generated without a quality level - in essence, all clubs are "normal." This makes them worth considering if you have no competent crafters yet. With underwhelming damage output, clubs only make sense as melee options in the early game; once you have craftsmen capable of reliably producing better than normal quality weapons, there is little reason to ever build a club again.

Although uranium clubs are effective weapons for use against armored foes, maces are clearly superior weapons, especially when high quality, for only 10 more material.

Attack table

Neolithic Weapons (Error: Page has no Property:Image) Neolithic Weapons	Dam.	AP	Accuracy (Touch)	Accuracy (Short)	Accuracy (Medium)	Accuracy (Long)	DPS (Optimal)	DPS (Touch)	DPS (Short)	DPS (Medium)	DPS (Long)	Market value
	*Expression error: Unexpected operator.**	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.%	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.	*Expression error: Unexpected operator.**	Expression error: Unexpected >= operator.	Expression error: Unexpected >= operator.	Expression error: Unexpected >= operator.	Expression error: Unexpected >= operator.	Expression error: Unexpected < operator.

^{Values shown in Red indicate the weapon is out of range at the reference point for this range band. The value is provided due to the interpolated nature of accuracy between range points.}

Styles

Ideoligions allow the selection of styles which then change the texture of the certain items and buildings when constructed by the colony. These style variants can be crafted if the colony has the selected style, or can be looted from raiders from factions with the requisite style.

Base variant
Horaxian

Version history

0.7.581 - Added
Beta 18 - clubs no longer generate with a quality value.
1.1 - Wooden club is burnable now and the metallic variants are smeltable

Weapons

Melee | Neolithic: Breach axe • Club • Ikwa • Knife (Jade) • Spear

Medieval: Gladius • Longsword • Mace • Axe • Warhammer

Ultra: Eltex staff • Monosword (Persona) • Plasmasword (Persona) • Zeushammer (Persona)

Improvised: Beer • Elephant tusk • Thrumbo horn • Wood

Ranged | Neolithic: Greatbow • Pila • Recurve bow • Short bow • Flamebow

Industrial: Assault rifle • Autopistol • Bolt-action rifle • Chain shotgun • Heavy SMG • Launcher (EMP, Incendiary, Smoke, Toxbomb ) • LMG • Machine pistol • Minigun • Pump shotgun • Revolver • Sniper rifle

Spacer: Charge lance • Charge rifle

Consumables: Doomsday rocket launcher • Triple rocket launcher

Throwables: EMP grenades • Frag grenades • Molotov cocktails • Tox grenades

Mechanoid: Heavy charge blaster • Inferno cannon • Needle gun • Thump cannon • Beam graser • Charge blaster turret • Hellsphere cannon • Mini-flameblaster • Mini-shotgun • Slugthrower • Spiner • Toxic needle gun

Structures: Autocannon • Mini-turret gun • Mortar (Weapon) • Uranium slug cannon • Auto-mortar • Inferno cannon (Turret) • Light charge blaster • Mini-slugger • Tactical turret gun

This article is about a specific weapon called spear. For other uses, see Neolithic Weapons (disambiguation).

Spear

A polearm tipped with a sharp point for stabbing opponents.

Base Stats

Type: Equipment – Weapons

Tech Level: Neolithic

Weapon Class: Neolithic

Mass: 2 kg

Melee Combat

Mode: Melee

Melee Attack 1: Shaft
13 dmg (Blunt)
20% AP
2.6 seconds cooldown

Melee Attack 2: Shaft
13 dmg (Poke)
20% AP
2.6 seconds cooldown

Melee Attack 3: Point
23 dmg (Stab)
50% AP
2.6 seconds cooldown

Melee Average DPS: 7.35

Melee Average AP: 38%

Creation

Crafted At: /

Required Research: Long blades

Skill Required: Crafting 4

Work To Make: 12,000 ticks (3.33 mins)

Stuff Tags: Metallic, Woody

Resources to make: 75

Technical

Has Quality: True
weaponTags: NeolithicMeleeAdvanced, MedievalMeleeAdvanced

The spear is a melee weapon that does a large amount of sharp damage with high AP.

Acquisition

Spears can be crafted at any smithy once the Long Blades research has been completed, from and Expression error: Unexpected < operator. of work.

Spears can be purchased from any combat supplier or war merchant, or obtained from several kinds of melee raiders.

Metallic spears can be smelted for scrap at an electric smelter. They yield exactly one quarter (25%) of the stuff required to craft the weapon, regardless of item quality or HP.

Analysis

The spear is a sharp weapon with a very similar damage output to the longsword, despite the in-game tooltips stating otherwise. This is because the game does not account for the melee verb selection mechanic introduced in 1.1.

Spears and/or longswords are the best sharp melee weapons that colonists can craft. They compete with maces and warhammers for best overall craftable weapon. In-depth comparison can be seen in the below section.

Comparisons

Comparison to longswords

Spears have very slightly less DPS. The longsword is +1% stronger in raw DPS than the spear, after considering melee verb selection. In exchange, the spear has noticeably more AP (+14%) and costs 25 materials less. This makes the spear numerically superior, but that is not the full story.

Longswords can either Cut or Stab, while spears can only Stab. Cut damage has a chance to "cleave" through body parts. This increases damage per swing by 140%, but its damage is split between body parts. The spear can only stab: its damage is weaker, but always concentrated on one body part. The cleave will cause pain shock faster, due to increased damage. Generally, pain shock is much more likely than body part destruction.

If a cut happens to reduce a body part to 0 HP, it is more likely to be destroyed. But since cleaving will spread out damage in the first place, Cut remains less likely to destroy larger limbs (like the arms and legs). Also, stabs are more likely to hit internal organs. However, both of these factors tend to be less important than the aforementioned cleaving.

Overall, which option is better depends on expected targets:

At normal to excellent qualities, longswords are often better (definitely more consistent) for fighting against unarmored humans, lightly armored humans, and light mechs like scythers and lancers. This is due to the increased damage from cleaving. Spears would be better for fighting against armored enemies, like centipedes, due to the higher AP.

A masterwork plasteel spear / sword is able to one-shot body parts like head and neck, though not the torso. The masterwork spear will more consistently one-shot human enemies, as the damage won't be spread out. Empirical testing suggests that the longsword remains better against unarmored targets.^{[More testing needed]} Spears still have more AP, so are better against armored enemies.

It's worth noting that the spear faces competition with the mace as a cheaper, anti-armor weapon.

Comparison to maces

The spear is actually closer to the mace in their niche, as both are better than the longsword against armor. Maces are cheaper, is best used with uranium rather than plasteel, and unlocked in Smithing rather than Long Blades. Before armor, spears deal +12% more damage than a mace of equal quality. Maces are good against armor, despite having lower AP, since most enemies have practically no Blunt armor.

At normal quality, a plasteel spear deals more damage than a uranium mace until fighting enemies with 68% Sharp armor. This is before considering quality; at higher quality, the spear only gets better. For example, if both weapons are excellent, then the mace only starts to become better at 78% armor. For reference, centipedes have 72% armor. So while a mace would be stronger against flak vests (when hitting the vest) and power armor, spears are noticeably better against unarmed foes, and roughly equal against armor up to centipedes'. Enemies with power armor aren't very common.

This assumes plasteel vs. uranium. If both weapons are made out of steel, then the mace becomes relatively better against centipedes and plate armor and the like. Also remember that maces are cheaper, and that uranium is generally used less than plasteel.

Notes:

Once you reach masterwork quality, the plasteel spear's AP gets very high. No enemy, short of the empire's absolute best soldiers, has enough armor to justify using the mace. The spear is roughly equal against most power armor (a few % DPS worse), but can ignore all of a centipede's armor for the full 112%-of-mace damage.
This comparison does not account for the strong melee damage gene. With strong melee damage, the mace comes out ahead due to overkill mechanics (see below).

With strong melee gene

With the strong melee damage gene, the comparisons change.

High quality longswords can now one-shot the torso. Legendary plasteel swords can one-shot the torso even in a cleave attack, assuming it split between 2 parts.
When an excellent plasteel longsword (or better) does a cleave attack, its damage so high that it causes pain shock in a single swing.
Meanwhile, the spear can only ever hit a single body part. If a 62 damage spear hits a 25 damage arm, the arm is destroyed and 37 damage (over 60% of the attack) is wasted. If a sword cleaves, much less damage is wasted. Blunt weapons like maces and warhammers will hit the parent part if it would overkill (e.g. destroying the arm will damage the shoulder for remaining HP).
Strong melee damage also boosts the AP of longswords. But due to the quirks of the game, it does not boost the AP of spears. Longsword AP becomes nearly identical to the spear.

This results in high quality swords with the damage gene being virtually better against all targets, short of tough pawns. Against humanoids, a sword can either (1-shot torso/head or cleave to pain shock), while a spear can only (1-shot torso/head). Against mechanoids, the cleave damage results in the sword coming out ahead regardless.

The masterwork steel longsword given at the start of the The Sanguophage scenario reaches both relevant thresholds. With your sanguophage, it can one-shot through a torso stab and one-shot through cleaving pain. This longsword is actually stronger per-hit than an excellent plasteel longsword, and likely better than any weapon you'll be seeing for a while.

Attack table

Neolithic Weapons (Error: Page has no Property:Image) Neolithic Weapons	Dam.	AP	Accuracy (Touch)	Accuracy (Short)	Accuracy (Medium)	Accuracy (Long)	DPS (Optimal)	DPS (Touch)	DPS (Short)	DPS (Medium)	DPS (Long)	Market value
	*Expression error: Unexpected operator.**	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.%	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.	*Expression error: Unexpected operator.**	Expression error: Unexpected >= operator.	Expression error: Unexpected >= operator.	Expression error: Unexpected >= operator.	Expression error: Unexpected >= operator.	Expression error: Unexpected < operator.

^{Values shown in Red indicate the weapon is out of range at the reference point for this range band. The value is provided due to the interpolated nature of accuracy between range points.}

Version history

0.7.581 - Added
1.1.2610 - Implementation of new melee verb system. Previously, spears were more likely to use their shaft rather than their point. This now results in spears having higher DPS than what the game's infobox states.

Weapons

Melee | Neolithic: Breach axe • Club • Ikwa • Knife (Jade) • Spear

Medieval: Gladius • Longsword • Mace • Axe • Warhammer

Ultra: Eltex staff • Monosword (Persona) • Plasmasword (Persona) • Zeushammer (Persona)

Improvised: Beer • Elephant tusk • Thrumbo horn • Wood

Ranged | Neolithic: Greatbow • Pila • Recurve bow • Short bow • Flamebow

Industrial: Assault rifle • Autopistol • Bolt-action rifle • Chain shotgun • Heavy SMG • Launcher (EMP, Incendiary, Smoke, Toxbomb ) • LMG • Machine pistol • Minigun • Pump shotgun • Revolver • Sniper rifle

Spacer: Charge lance • Charge rifle

Consumables: Doomsday rocket launcher • Triple rocket launcher

Throwables: EMP grenades • Frag grenades • Molotov cocktails • Tox grenades

Mechanoid: Heavy charge blaster • Inferno cannon • Needle gun • Thump cannon • Beam graser • Charge blaster turret • Hellsphere cannon • Mini-flameblaster • Mini-shotgun • Slugthrower • Spiner • Toxic needle gun

Structures: Autocannon • Mini-turret gun • Mortar (Weapon) • Uranium slug cannon • Auto-mortar • Inferno cannon (Turret) • Light charge blaster • Mini-slugger • Tactical turret gun

Shiv

For the uncraftable jade variant, see jade knife.

Knife

One of mankind's oldest manufactured objects. The knife has taken many forms, but the concept has always remained the same: A handle for holding and a sharp edge for cutting.

Base Stats

Type: Equipment – Weapons

Tech Level: Neolithic

Weapon Class: Neolithic

Mass: 0.5 kg

Melee Combat

Mode: Melee

Melee Attack 1: Handle
9 dmg (Blunt)
13% AP
2 seconds cooldown

Melee Attack 2: Blade
12 dmg (Cut)
18% AP
1.5 seconds cooldown

Melee Attack 3: Point
13 dmg (Stab)
20% AP
2 seconds cooldown

Melee Average DPS: 6.50

Melee Average AP: 18%

Creation

Crafted At: / /

Required Research: Smithing

Work To Make: 1,800 ticks (30 secs)

Stuff Tags: Metallic

Resources to make: 30

Technical

Has Quality: True
weaponTags: MedievalMeleeBasic, NeolithicMeleeBasic

The knife is a primitive, sharp melee weapon. It deals a low amount of damage, but has a short cooldown, making it friendlier to unskilled users.

Acquisition

Knives can be crafted at the crafting spot, fueled smithy or smithy with and Expression error: Unexpected < operator. of work. It can also be purchased from any outlander and orbital combat suppliers, or obtained from outlander and pirate raiders drops.

A plasteel knife is given at the beginning with Crashlanded scenario.

Analysis

Knives are low-tier melee weapons, being cheap and fast to produce.

Crashlanded

In the Crashlanded scenario, you receive a normal quality plasteel knife. This is roughly as strong as a normal steel longsword, and stronger than most other steel weapons of normal quality. Compared to the longsword, the knife attacks faster for less damage per hit, and is marginally worse against armor.

The quick attacks also help colonists with low melee skill, who might want to train melee due to a passion or a trait like brawler.

Naked Brutality

As you can make knives in a crafting spot, they can be useful in Naked Brutality and other low-resource scenarios. But, if you have at least 2 Crafting, short bows should be go-to weapon. As a ranged weapon, the short bow is generally better for combat, and' it lets you hunt 0% manhunter animals without getting hurt (even docile animals will retaliate if struck in melee). If wood isn't available (e.g. in an ice sheet or desert), you might have to make a knife, as they can be made out of steel.

In terms of melee weapons, Clubs are your direct crafting spot alternatives. Clubs have 2 advantages over knives: they can be made out of wood, and they have no quality. While a steel club is worse than a "normal" quality steel knife, they are better than a poor or awful knife. Also note, that as blunt weapons, clubs are less likely to cause bleeding or decapitate limbs. This makes them somewhat worse in combat, but better if you want to capture.

Considering metals other than steel: a plasteel knife (normal or better) is better than any club, and a uranium club is better than a uranium knife.

Crafting knives

You could make knives in order to train Crafting skill, but as clubs can be made of wood or stone, they are generally the better option. Once an electric smithy is available, plate armor requires more work and can be made out of wood.

Attack table

Neolithic Weapons (Error: Page has no Property:Image) Neolithic Weapons	Dam.	AP	Accuracy (Touch)	Accuracy (Short)	Accuracy (Medium)	Accuracy (Long)	DPS (Optimal)	DPS (Touch)	DPS (Short)	DPS (Medium)	DPS (Long)	Market value
	*Expression error: Unexpected operator.**	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.%	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.	*Expression error: Unexpected operator.**	Expression error: Unexpected >= operator.	Expression error: Unexpected >= operator.	Expression error: Unexpected >= operator.	Expression error: Unexpected >= operator.	Expression error: Unexpected < operator.

^{Values shown in Red indicate the weapon is out of range at the reference point for this range band. The value is provided due to the interpolated nature of accuracy between range points.}

Styles

Ideoligions allow the selection of styles which then change the texture of the certain items and buildings when constructed by the colony. These style variants can be crafted if the colony has the selected style, or can be looted from raiders from factions with the requisite style.

Base variant
Horaxian

Version history

0.7.581 - Added

Weapons

Melee | Neolithic: Breach axe • Club • Ikwa • Knife (Jade) • Spear

Medieval: Gladius • Longsword • Mace • Axe • Warhammer

Ultra: Eltex staff • Monosword (Persona) • Plasmasword (Persona) • Zeushammer (Persona)

Improvised: Beer • Elephant tusk • Thrumbo horn • Wood

Ranged | Neolithic: Greatbow • Pila • Recurve bow • Short bow • Flamebow

Industrial: Assault rifle • Autopistol • Bolt-action rifle • Chain shotgun • Heavy SMG • Launcher (EMP, Incendiary, Smoke, Toxbomb ) • LMG • Machine pistol • Minigun • Pump shotgun • Revolver • Sniper rifle

Spacer: Charge lance • Charge rifle

Consumables: Doomsday rocket launcher • Triple rocket launcher

Throwables: EMP grenades • Frag grenades • Molotov cocktails • Tox grenades

Mechanoid: Heavy charge blaster • Inferno cannon • Needle gun • Thump cannon • Beam graser • Charge blaster turret • Hellsphere cannon • Mini-flameblaster • Mini-shotgun • Slugthrower • Spiner • Toxic needle gun

Structures: Autocannon • Mini-turret gun • Mortar (Weapon) • Uranium slug cannon • Auto-mortar • Inferno cannon (Turret) • Light charge blaster • Mini-slugger • Tactical turret gun

Gladius

A short sword of ancient design. Good for stabbing or slashing. It's light and nimble, which sometimes lets it beat bigger, heavier weapons.

Base Stats

Type: Equipment – Weapons

Tech Level: Medieval

Weapon Class: Medieval

Mass: 0.85 kg

Melee Combat

Mode: Melee

Melee Attack 1: Handle
9 dmg (Blunt)
13% AP
2 seconds cooldown

Melee Attack 2: Point
16 dmg (Stab)
24% AP
2 seconds cooldown

Melee Attack 3: Edge
16 dmg (Cut)
24% AP
2 seconds cooldown

Melee Average DPS: 7.52

Melee Average AP: 23%

Creation

Crafted At: /

Required Research: Smithing

Skill Required: Crafting 3

Work To Make: 12,000 ticks (3.33 mins)

Stuff Tags: Metallic, Woody

Resources to make: 50

Technical

Has Quality: True
weaponTags: MedievalMeleeDecent

The gladius is a melee weapon in RimWorld that does a moderate amount of damage, has a moderate cooldown, and deals sharp damage.

Acquisition

Gladii can be crafted at either a fueled smithy or an electric smithy once the Smithing research has been completed with and Expression error: Unexpected < operator. of work. It requires a crafting skill of 3 to craft.

Gladii can also be purchased from any outlander and orbital combat suppliers, or obtained from outlander and pirate raiders.

Analysis

Surprisingly enough, gladii are worse for DPS than a knife of the same quality and material, despite the game stating otherwise. Knives are cheaper and don't require Smithing research. Why is this?

The melee verb selection system, introduced in 1.1. Each weapon has multiple attacks, or verbs, with some better than others. The game's infobox incorrectly calculates the likelihood of each attack (it uses RimWorld 1.0 values). For example, the knife is assumed to use "Bad" attacks more often than it does in practice. With this in mind, knives have a "true" DPS of 7.23, rather than the gladius' 7.13.
The impact of Cut damage type. A gladius is half as likely to do a Cut attack as a knife. Whenever a Cut attack is rolled, it has a chance to cleave. When a weapon cleaves, it deals 140% damage, spread throughout body parts.

While cleaving reduces the chance to destroy body parts, it deals more pain, which gets enemies into pain shock faster. Pain shock is the most common way to disable enemies in combat, much more likely than body part destruction. Even mechanoids, who don't feel pain, can only lose so much HP before dying in combat.

Stab has the advantage of superior damage to internal body parts. However, gladii won't instakill the heart at most reasonable qualities, and the chance of hitting the same organ 2 times in a row is miniscule. Cut is a more reliable way to disable enemies in combat.

The gladius does have +5% more AP, but this is a tiny value, insignificant in practice. The knife comes out ahead against any realistic enemy you'll fight. Knives also have the advantage of attacking faster, which can train melee skill, and is slightly better for low-accuracy attackers in general.

The plasteel knife you get at the start of the Crashlanded scenario is better than an excellent steel gladius (and below).

Trivia

A gladius is the classic Roman centurion's shortsword. Along with the ranged pilum, it is one of two Roman weapons in the game.

Attack table

Neolithic Weapons (Error: Page has no Property:Image) Neolithic Weapons	Dam.	AP	Accuracy (Touch)	Accuracy (Short)	Accuracy (Medium)	Accuracy (Long)	DPS (Optimal)	DPS (Touch)	DPS (Short)	DPS (Medium)	DPS (Long)	Market value
	*Expression error: Unexpected operator.**	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.%	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.	*Expression error: Unexpected operator.**	Expression error: Unexpected >= operator.	Expression error: Unexpected >= operator.	Expression error: Unexpected >= operator.	Expression error: Unexpected >= operator.	Expression error: Unexpected < operator.

^{Values shown in Red indicate the weapon is out of range at the reference point for this range band. The value is provided due to the interpolated nature of accuracy between range points.}

Styles

Ideoligions allow the selection of styles which then change the texture of the certain items and buildings when constructed by the colony. These style variants can be crafted if the colony has the selected style, or can be looted from raiders from factions with the requisite style.

Base variant
Horaxian

Version history

0.7.581 - Added as the Short Sword.
? - Renamed to Gladius from Short Sword.
? - Buffed from 15 point and edge damage to 16.
Beta 19/1.0 - Damage buffed, cooldown slightly increased..

Original Short Sword sprite

Weapons

Melee | Neolithic: Breach axe • Club • Ikwa • Knife (Jade) • Spear

Medieval: Gladius • Longsword • Mace • Axe • Warhammer

Ultra: Eltex staff • Monosword (Persona) • Plasmasword (Persona) • Zeushammer (Persona)

Improvised: Beer • Elephant tusk • Thrumbo horn • Wood

Ranged | Neolithic: Greatbow • Pila • Recurve bow • Short bow • Flamebow

Industrial: Assault rifle • Autopistol • Bolt-action rifle • Chain shotgun • Heavy SMG • Launcher (EMP, Incendiary, Smoke, Toxbomb ) • LMG • Machine pistol • Minigun • Pump shotgun • Revolver • Sniper rifle

Spacer: Charge lance • Charge rifle

Consumables: Doomsday rocket launcher • Triple rocket launcher

Throwables: EMP grenades • Frag grenades • Molotov cocktails • Tox grenades

Mechanoid: Heavy charge blaster • Inferno cannon • Needle gun • Thump cannon • Beam graser • Charge blaster turret • Hellsphere cannon • Mini-flameblaster • Mini-shotgun • Slugthrower • Spiner • Toxic needle gun

Structures: Autocannon • Mini-turret gun • Mortar (Weapon) • Uranium slug cannon • Auto-mortar • Inferno cannon (Turret) • Light charge blaster • Mini-slugger • Tactical turret gun

Longsword

The ancient weapon of kings, the longsword can be used for slashing or stabbing.

Base Stats

Type: Equipment – Weapons

Tech Level: Medieval

Weapon Class: Medieval

Mass: 2 kg

Melee Combat

Mode: Melee

Melee Attack 1: Handle
9 dmg (Poke)
13% AP
2 seconds cooldown

Melee Attack 2: Point
23 dmg (Stab)
34% AP
2.6 seconds cooldown

Melee Attack 3: Blade
23 dmg (Cut)
34% AP
2.6 seconds cooldown

Melee Average DPS: 8.60

Melee Average AP: 33%

Creation

Crafted At: /

Required Research: Long blades

Skill Required: Crafting 5

Work To Make: 18,000 ticks (5 mins)

Stuff Tags: Metallic, Woody

Resources to make: 100

Technical

Has Quality: True
weaponTags: MedievalMeleeAdvanced
thingSetMakerTags: RewardStandardQualitySuper

The longsword is a melee weapon in RimWorld that does a large amount of damage, has a long cooldown, and deals sharp damage.

Acquisition

Longswords can be crafted at any smithy, once the Long Blades research has been completed, from , and Expression error: Unexpected < operator. of work.

Longswords can be purchased from any outlander and orbital combat suppliers, or obtained from outlander and pirate raiders.

Analysis

The longsword has the highest base DPS out of any melee weapon in Core RimWorld.

In the Royalty DLC, they are surpassed by the monosword and other ultratech weapons, though those can't be crafted by your colony. A masterwork plasteel longsword beats a normal persona monosword and excellent monosword, at least before considering AP.

Comparisons

Comparison to maces

The longsword is naturally compared to the mace - the mace is the strongest craftable Blunt weapon in Core RimWorld, while the longsword is the strongest Sharp weapon. Maces cost 50, half as much as the sword. They require only Smithing research, rather than Long Blades. In addition, blunt weapons are best with uranium, while sharp weapons are best with plasteel. Uranium is a cheaper material, and generally less useful throughout the game.

In terms of raw damage, the longsword has +14% more base DPS than the mace. However, most enemies with armor will have much more Sharp armor than Blunt armor. For example, a flak vest has 100% Sharp armor, but only 40% Blunt armor. While the mace has less AP, most enemies have little blunt armor, resulting in an "armor-piercing" effect.

Breakpoints for when each weapon is better vary by quality and material.

In general, a plasteel longsword beats the same quality uranium mace against unarmored humans and lightly armored humans, such as flak jackets without the corresponding vest. The sword is also better against light mechs like scythers and lancers.
The uranium mace would do better against flak vests and all sorts of power armor, as well as larger mechs like centipedes. For example, a normal uranium mace deals +20.6% DPS to a centipede when compared to a normal plasteel longsword. (In raw DPS, before intricacies documented below)

Similar comparisons can be made between steel longswords vs steel maces.

Damage and AP are easily the most important factors for performance, especially at lower qualities. Regardless, this comparison can get significantly more complicated, even without factoring material cost. These details are documented below.

Sharp vs Blunt

There are a large amount of mechanics surrounding the damage types of the longsword and mace. For their "Best" attack, maces deal Blunt damage. Longswords deal either Stab or Cut damage. Best attacks are the most likely to hit (75%); for sake of simplicity, "Mid" attacks are ignored. They are listed in rough order of importance.

Cut damage deals bonus damage. Specifically, if a Cut damage activates a cleave, then total damage is multiplied by 140%, then split between body parts. This means that a Cut attack inflicts more pain on a pawn, causing pain shock. Pain shock is the most common way to down / kill enemies in combat. Even with painless mechanoids, dealing enough HP of damage will cause a pawn to die, even if you never destroy a vital body part.

The chance to cleave is 40%. This improves sword DPS by 116% on average, and the sword already is better in terms of raw DPS.

Spreading the damage between body parts may prevent outright destroying body parts, which could be more devastating than extra damage.

Blunt weapons have superior overkill damage mechanics. If a Stab would destroy a body part, then any further damage is wasted. If a Blunt attack would destroy a body part, damage is spread to the parent part. In other words: if a sword would stab off a finger, the mace would smash the finger and damage the arm in the process.

Meanwhile, Cut damage has a chance to cleave an opponent. If cut damage happens to get a part to 0 HP, then it is much more likely to destroy it. The mace remains superior - it is more likely to cripple/destroy larger body parts whilst not wasting damage.

Overkill is unlikely to matter for weapons below masterwork quality. Plasteel / uranium weapons at excellent quality will barely be able to destroy larger body parts, like the arms, in 1 hit, meaning overkill damage is almost nonexistent. Lower qualities won't be able to destroy large parts in 1 hit. With lower qualities, overkill is only relevant if a body part is hit twice in a row. This is much less important than DPS and the pain it inflicts.

Blunt weapons can stun enemies, though the chance is small. If a blunt weapon hits the torso or a equivalent body part (a scyther's thorax, a centipede 1st body ring...), then the target has a chance to be stunned for a short time. This is completely independent from EMP and mechanoid adaptation. Stun chance depends on the target's health scale and the damage done. A normal uranium mace hitting a human would have a 2.7% chance to stun per hit to the torso.

Blunt weapons can also stun if they hit the brain. But a uranium mace of at least Poor quality will always one-shot a human brain (unless it is fully negated by armor, in which case it wouldn't stun).

Sharp weapons cause bleeding. However, bleeding is unlikely to help the player, since melee engagements are usually over long before combat penalties due to blood loss can kick in. This may even be a disadvantage, as it makes it harder to save prisoners and causes infections.

Attack table

Neolithic Weapons (Error: Page has no Property:Image) Neolithic Weapons	Dam.	AP	Accuracy (Touch)	Accuracy (Short)	Accuracy (Medium)	Accuracy (Long)	DPS (Optimal)	DPS (Touch)	DPS (Short)	DPS (Medium)	DPS (Long)	Market value
	*Expression error: Unexpected operator.**	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.%	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.	Expression error: Unexpected / operator.	*Expression error: Unexpected operator.**	Expression error: Unexpected >= operator.	Expression error: Unexpected >= operator.	Expression error: Unexpected >= operator.	Expression error: Unexpected >= operator.	Expression error: Unexpected < operator.

^{Values shown in Red indicate the weapon is out of range at the reference point for this range band. The value is provided due to the interpolated nature of accuracy between range points.}

Weapons