Halloween: The Game Best Weapons — Tier List, Every Gun & Melee Ranked

The best weapon in Halloween: The Game is the shotgun — nothing else buys the same breathing room when Michael closes in. On the melee side, the axe is the gold standard, with the pickaxe right beside it. This page ranks every weapon survivors can pick up, with the reasoning per slot; the short version of the list also lives on the weapons overview.

Best weapons tier list

Tier	Weapons	Why
S	Shotgun · Axe · Pickaxe	The shotgun's stopping power buys breathing room at the moment it matters; the axe and pickaxe are the strongest two-handed melee picks — and as Michael, heavy melee busts doors fast
A	Hunting Rifle · Cleaver	The rifle trades convenience for all-range reach; the cleaver is a strong, reliable middle-ground melee
B	Revolver · Hatchet · Kitchen Knife	Dependable but unremarkable — the iconic kitchen knife suffers from its short range
C	Pitchfork · Baseball Bat	Usable in a pinch; the pitchfork's reach looks scarier than it performs — though it is one of the few throwable weapons

Every gun, ranked

Weapon	Ammo	Best range	Notes
Shotgun	Shells	Close	The best damage-per-trigger-pull in the game. Headshots do increased damage. Reload behind closed doors
Hunting Rifle	Rifle ammo	All ranges	The most flexible gun by range — weaker up close in feel, but it never leaves you helpless mid-map
Revolver (.357 Magnum)	Pistol ammo	Medium to close	Solid sidearm with headshot damage; six chances to punish a bad grab

Two things every gun shares:

• Headshots do increased damage on all firearms.
• Guns open lock boxes — shooting the lock counts as an opening and pays 500 XP, same as bashing it with melee or a thrown brick.

Every melee weapon, ranked

Weapon	Class	Notes
Axe	Two-handed	The strongest all-round melee. Two-handers out-damage one-handers unless a perk card or stat synergy says otherwise
Pickaxe	Two-handed	axe-tier damage with a different swing feel — pick whichever of the two you find first
Cleaver	One-handed	The best of the one-handed class: reliable middle-ground damage
Hatchet	One-handed	A budget axe — fine early, outclassed once a two-hander shows up
Kitchen Knife	One-handed	The iconic pick. Short range holds it back; it still finishes the kitchen-knife-only challenges
Baseball Bat	One-handed	Dependable but unremarkable — swings wide and slow
Pitchfork	Two-handed · throwable	Weakest of the two-handers, but one of the few weapons with a ranged throw — a funny way to finish a downed Michael

The axe, pickaxe and pitchfork also unlock as starting weapons as your profile levels up — the axe around level 40, the pickaxe around level 60, the pitchfork around level 80 — so you can walk into a match with your tier-S pick already equipped.

Weapon rules that matter more than the tier list

• Firearms vs melee: guns keep Michael out of grab range, but ammo is limited — reload behind closed doors and don't waste shots during his execution animation (he's immune to damage then).
• Melee breaks more than faces: two-handers smash doors, windows and boarded exits faster than opening them the normal way.
• Weapons dropped at escapes are gone forever — drop spare weapons next to an exit so NPCs or returning players can use them.
• Give spare weapons to NPC civilians (press R) — armed NPCs defend themselves and deal more damage.
• Michael has his own melee game: as him, heavy melee breaks doors faster than opening them, and the best Michael builds lean on two-handers for exactly that reason.

Where to find weapons

Weapons spawn in loot containers, drawers and — most reliably — lock boxes, which need a lockbox code, a gunshot to the lock, or a melee/throwable bash. The full container loop, including the XP it pays, is in the items guide and the XP farming guide.

Keep reading:

• Weapons Overview — the short tier list
• Items Guide — every item explained
• Survivor Guide — escapes and priorities