Despite drawing underwhelming reviews, Deep Silver's reboot of Saints Row has been taking the gaming world by storm since its release on August 23, 2022. As players maraud through the American southwestern city of Santo Ileso and fight ultra-violent gangsters, procuring the most powerful arsenal becomes paramount for ultimate success.
Divided into subcategories that include melee, pistol, rifle, shotgun, SMG, big gun, and special weapons, the most powerful arsenals in Saints Row tend to overcome slow reload times and small magazine sizes by packing a deadly wallop and delivering lethal damage with a single shot.
Handcannon .44
For gamers looking to one-shot enemies with a single blast to the head, the Handcannon .44 is a great weapon to start the popular PS5 gangster game with. As deadly as it sounds, the literal hand cannon fires large .44 caliber Magnum rounds that will absolutely annihilate a foe on impact. The only real drawback is its limited 6-round clip and heavy recoil, but for those looking for sheer power in a mobile and easy-to-wield firearm, the Handcannon .44 is hard to beat.
In order for players to maximize the power of the firearm, Magnum rounds can be obtained by destroying the tires on 24 enemy Los Panteros cars. The Magnum rounds will not only kill a foe on impact with a single round, but even if a player misses their target, the rounds create AoE damage that knocks enemies back and stun them long enough for a follow-up.
.585 Safari Express Rifle
Described in the Friendly Fire gun store as "A huge caliber weapon that can drop a charging bull elephant," gamers looking for deadly firepower with a single blast need look no further than the .585 Safari Express Rifle. The gun shop also warns that the reload time for the gun is extremely slow, so it's best not to miss a target. However, one accurate shot is sure to obliterate a foe in a flash.
Thanks to its Shock and Ouch signature ability, the .585 Safari Express Rifle doesn't just fire a gigantic bullet, but it also shoots with such brute force that each muzzle blast will harm enemies nearby with collateral damage. Of course, for such a powerful one-shot murder weapon, players will have to dish out a whopping $80,000, indicating how rare and valuable the weapon is in the game.
Stagecoach Shotgun
Of all the shotguns available in the anticipated 2022 PS5 game, none is more powerful than the Stagecoach in of single-shot force. Players can cop the shotgun at Friendly Fire for $4,000 and use the ferocious firearm to blast up-close enemies to smithereens with a single round. Of course, what it lacks in long reload time and slow rate of fire, it more than atones for by dealing "extreme damage."
Even better, players can kill 5 Marshall gunslingers and unlock the Stagecoach Shotgun's Buffalo Shot signature ability, which increases its potency by giving the gun a random chance of ragdolling and knocking the target backward. The massive recoil reinforces the almighty force the Stagecoach boasts, making it ideal for those in close-quarters combat.
AT Rocket Launcher
After the Handcannon .44, .585 Safari Express Rifle, and the Stagecoach Shotgun, the most powerful weapons in Saints Row include Big Guns, aka Launchers. The AT Rocket Launcher tops the group, a devastating Anti-Tank weapon that shoots multiple rockets at a time to take down helicopters, tanks, and other heavy military-grade vehicles. Think John Matrix in Commando after robbing the gun store!
While heavy, cumbersome, and hard to master, the AT Rocket Launcher is ideal for taking on formidable foes like the Marshall District Industries army soldiers who control the city streets that roll around in large armored vehicles in the sky or on the ground. What's more, players can guide the trajectory of the missiles by using the Guiding Eye signature ability.
RPG Rocket Launcher
With a maximum damage rate inflicted on enemies in the game, the RPG Rocket Launcher is even more practical to use than the AT Rocket Launcher. Once players shoot down five aerial vehicles, they can unlock the punishing Big Gun, which will instantly raze large groups of enemies located in or outside armored vehicles.
Although the RPG fires pretty slowly and has a small magazine, no other launcher in the game inflicts the maximum level of harm upon enemies thanks to its large blast radius and Big Bang signature ability, which triples the warheads it shoots to create larger explosions and cause more destruction.
El Lanzador
Translating as a "thrower" or "pitcher," the El Lanzador is another Big Gun in Saints Row that will brutalize enemies with its raw firepower. The Rocket Launcher is a heavy-impact slug-throwing riot gun meant for taking on large crowds of enemies thanks to its above-average magazine size.
The El Lanzador really demonstrates its maximum power by unlocking its Major Impact signature ability, which dishes out devastating shockwaves and disrupts nearby targets that do not die from a direct hit. The launcher is so powerful it knocks players back several feet due to its hefty recoil, further indicating its maximum force. Players can unlock the El Lanzador by killing 5 Panteros Thumpers.
Piñata Bomb Launcher
Of all the silly weapon gimmicks in the popular 2022 open-world game, the Piñata Bomb Launcher is surprisingly harmful at its most powerful. The Big Gun literally shoots bombs that explode into a festive firework display to create major devastating direct and AoE damage on large groups of enemies thanks to its sizable explosion radius.
The Piñata Bomb Launcher can be obtained by completing the "Let's Pretend" Venture and upgraded through its Sssnakesss signature ability, which can be unlocked by achieving 20 multi-kills in the game. A perfect weapon for exploding multiple enemies at a time from a safe distance, the gun literally launches deadly snakes at targets who survive the initial blasts, adding hilarious insult to injury.
MDI-101 Multi-Launcher
Also known as the Marshall Rocket Launcher, the MDI-101 is a Special Big Gun every Saints Row player will want to get their hands on at some point. Described as boasting a high-tech artillery barrage, the convenient travel-sized rocket launcher shoots multiple rockets at a time that will destroy entire enemy fleets with a single hit.
Thanks to its almighty Full Salvo signature ability, the Marshall Rocket Launcher becomes even more powerful by increasing the number of rockets per shot, giving players the ability to launch up to nine rockets at a time. Players can find the MDI-101 by visiting their weapon cache in their apartment and sliding over to the Big Gun category.
TOGO-13 Sniper Rifle
While sniper rifles don't automatically leap to mind when thinking of the most powerful guns, the TOGO-13 is deemed a Special Weapon in Saints Row due to possessing the maximum damage rate possible in the game. Players can only obtain the lethal dead-eye rifle by completing the"Drawing Heat" main mission. Those who do won't be sorry, as a single headshot will instantly murder a foe from a far range.
Aside from boasting the power to kill with a single round from a long distance, the TOGO-13 Sniper Rifle reaches maximum power by activating its Bonus Round signature ability, which adds more damage per round and even replenishes ammo the more accurate a player is. While it fires slowly and has a smaller magazine, the deadly force per round cannot be eclipsed, making the TOGO-13 one of the best weapons in the Saints Row reboot.
Thrustbuster
The other Special Weapon in Saints Row that also maxes out the game's damage rate is the Thrustbuster, a deadly explosive device with an adhesive target interface and kinetically triggered rocket propulsion engineering. That's a fancy way of saying the Thrustbuster is like a homing-missile device that will pinpoint a target no matter how evasive they are.
What's more, the Thrustbuster's Mass Transit signature ability allows players to pull along additional enemies behind them and drag them across the ground and inflict even bloodier damage. Players can find the Thrustbuster by completing the Eurekabator Ventures mission and unlock the ability by sending enemies flying 6,000 meters.
