No More Room in Hell 2 Weapons Tier List (1.0 Armageddon)
Every No More Room in Hell 2 weapon ranked for the 1.0 Armageddon patch. Rankings combine community-wiki kill breakpoints (charged-hit and headshot data) with early-1.0 community consensus — the balance pass is fresh, so treat borderline placements as provisional. Ammo is calibre-specific and scarce: a weapon you can actually feed often beats a stronger one you can't. Weapon names follow the 1.0 patch notes (Hatchet, Small Knife, Small Wrench); EA-era community guides often use the older Fandom names. 1.0 also standardized the loot-tier system (Tier 1–3) these rankings reference.
S Tier
| Name | Role | Why |
|---|---|---|
| M7A1 | Rifle · 6.8x51mm | Fully automatic, one-shot headshots on both normal and red zombies, 20+1 mag, takes suppressor + holo + gun-light. The best gun in the game when you can feed it. |
| Fire Axe | Melee · Two-Handed Sharp | Highest melee damage; a charged headshot can drop a normal zombie in one. Severs limbs on charged swings. |
| Sledgehammer | Melee · Two-Handed Blunt | One charged headshot kill plus knockdown on regular hits — the best crowd-control melee in 1.0. |
A Tier
| Name | Role | Why |
|---|---|---|
| MP5 | SMG · 9mm | 30-round mag, built-in flashlight that never drains batteries, takes rifle suppressor and optics. The most forgiving all-rounder. |
| 590A1 | Shotgun · 12ga | 7-shell pump action — the close-quarters pick over the DB12. Pairs with the Tight Shot and Overkill skills. |
| M14 Battle Rifle | Rifle · .308 | Semi-auto Hunter 85 upgrade: same one-shot headshots on normals with a 20+1 mag. |
| M1911 | Pistol · .45 ACP | One-shot headshots on normal zombies from a sidearm slot; 7+1 capacity and suppressor-ready. |
| Tree Trimmer | Melee · Two-Handed Sharp | Longest melee reach; charged sweeps sever legs and turn packs into crawlers. |
| Baseball Bat | Melee · Two-Handed Blunt | Reliable knockdowns with a manageable stamina cost. |
| Hatchet (Hand Axe) | Melee · One-Handed Sharp | One-handed Tier 3 sharp weapon — the faster of the Tier 3 slashing pair, flashlight-compatible, buffed again in the 1.0 balance pass. Official name is Hatchet; EA-era guides say Hand Axe. |
| Machete | Melee · One-Handed Sharp (Tier 3) | The harder-hitting half of the Tier 3 slashing pair — 1.0 raised its damage to 20/25/34. Slower than the Hatchet, better per-swing payoff; both are statistical upgrades over every one-hander below them. |
B Tier
| Name | Role | Why |
|---|---|---|
| MC-15 | Rifle · 5.56mm | 30+1 semi-auto with full attachment support, but needs two headshots on reds — outclassed by the M7A1 late. |
| Model 13 | Revolver · .357 | Your starting sidearm: one-shot headshots on normals, but 6 rounds and slow reloads. Cannot be suppressed. |
| Rochester 1873 | Lever Rifle · .357 | Hits hard and takes rifle optics, but the 5-round tube and lever cadence lag behind the .308 options. |
| Small Knife (Kitchen Knife) | Melee · One-Handed Sharp | Fastest swing speed in the game; great stamina economy, weak crowd control. 1.0 fixed its strong attack finally dealing the intended 18 damage. |
| Rebar | Melee · Two-Handed Blunt | Two charged headshots per kill — a clear Small Pipe upgrade you'll find everywhere. T-Junction Pipe and Giant Wrench are functionally the same weapon. |
| Cleaver | Melee · One-Handed Sharp | Reanimation-era one-hander that 1.0 buffed twice (faster charged swings, 15 quick damage, 50 charged headshot). A real mid-tier pick now. |
| Shovel | Melee · Two-Handed Sharp | 1.0 turned the joke weapon into a contender: 20/25/34 base and 35/45/50 headshot damage with two-hander reach. |
| Gruber 922 | Rifle · .22 LR | Semi-auto .22 rifle — light ammo that spawns generously, takes a suppressor, and the 0.9 nerf (35 headshot) means follow-up shots, not one-taps. The quiet-farm gun. |
| X12 Super | Shotgun · 12ga | Tube-fed 12-gauge added during EA. Post-0.9 it trades headshot damage for body damage versus the 590A1; community placement is still settling after 1.0. |
C Tier
| Name | Role | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Fierra DB12 | Shotgun · 12ga | Severs limbs and cripples zombies into crawlers, but two shells per reload is brutal mid-horde. |
| Hunter 85 | Rifle · .308 | Fine bolt-action damage, fully outclassed by the M14 which does the same damage semi-auto. |
| M9A3 | Pistol · 9mm | Two headshots per normal zombie unless you run the pistol-damage skill; listed as M93A3 on some wikis. |
| Claw Hammer / Mallet | Melee · One-Handed Blunt | The Mallet became the default starting melee at 1.0 (moved to Tier 1 with damage trimmed to match); the Claw Hammer remains a field find. Fine until anything better appears. |
| Small Pipe / Tire Iron / Small Wrench | Melee · One-Handed Blunt | The starter-tier blunt pool. 1.0 moved the Small Pipe up to Tier 2 with a headshot buff and gave the Small Wrench faster charged swings — still replace them when you can. |
| Gruber Mk VII | Handgun · .22 LR | The .22 sidearm took the hardest 0.9 nerf in the game (body damage 25 → 5). Suppressed backup at best — carry it for the ammo economy, not the stopping power. |
How these rankings work
Placements weigh three things: kill breakpoints recorded by the community wiki (charged-hit and headshot counts against normal and red zombies), ammo economy — every firearm is calibre-specific, and scarce calibres sink otherwise strong guns — and early-1.0 community consensus from Steam discussions and creator tier lists. The Armageddon balance pass is fresh, so borderline placements may move as the meta settles; we note contested spots in the entries above.
Melee or guns?
Melee is the default in NMRiH2 — gunfire draws zombies, so most runs live on stamina and swing arcs, with firearms saved for reds, hordes and objective panics. That's why top melee tools rank alongside the best rifles here. Suppressors change that math: a suppressed M7A1 or MP5 lets you shoot far more freely, which is part of why both sit so high.
New Responder? Start with the beginner guide, then pick skills that match your weapon lane on the skills tier list.