Which weapons to upgrade first in Shadow Warrior 3

Shadow Warrior 3’s arsenal of weapons can all be upgraded. From the trusty Katana to the Shotgun and everything in between! While you can fully upgrade every weapon if you want to, you’ll still be better if you prioritize certain weapons on your quest to kill the dragon. We’ve come up with a handy guide to help you find those upgrade orbs, and which weapons to upgrade first!

How to earn Upgrade Orbs in Shadow Warrior 3

Upgrade Orbs, both character and weapon, can be found around each level and earned by completing challenges. It’s a good idea to try and find as many upgrade orbs as you can in each level; some may be off the beaten track. However, most are easily accessible.

White orbs are the ones you’re looking for to upgrade your weapons! Character Orbs are a purple color, but they’re still essential.

What weapons to upgrade in Shadow Warrior 3

There’s a total of seven weapons to unlock in Shadow Warrior 3:

• The Dragontail – Katana
• The Outlaw – Revolver
• Riot Gun – Shotgun
• Sidekicks – Dual-Wield SMGs
• Crimson Bull – Grenade Launcher
• The Basilisk – Rail Gun / Sniper
• Shuriken Shooter – Fires Shuriken

Each weapon has a total of three upgrade levels. Each upgrade level costs one orb, two orbs, and four orbs, respectively, which means it’ll cost you a total of seven orbs to upgrade a weapon fully.

The first weapon you want to put upgrades into is the Katana. While it isn’t the best weapon in the game, the Katana offers three elemental attacks on charge up when you purchase the second upgrade level. The Electric Vortex elemental attack is great at dealing with crowds.

Your second upgrade should be the Riot Gun or the Basilisk. Riot Gun is amazing at close-range and deals great damage. Fully upgrading it makes it fully automatic and offers no reloads.

The Basilisk’s upgrades are equally incredible, slowing down time when charging the weapon, piercing multiple enemies when fired, and then freezing a group of enemies upon one being hit.

After you’ve upgraded those three, next up is the Shuriken Shooter. It’s just a great weapon, and when shuriken land on an enemy, they pretty much deal consistent damage.

Crimson Bull, Sidekicks, and The Outlaw are all decent weapons that do their jobs, but each holds its own cons. Once you’ve upgraded the rest, you can upgrade these guns in any order. But The Outlaw is always pretty fun to use.