Survivor.io tier list (December 2024) - Best weapons, skills, and equipment

a cartoon illustration of a couple of robots flying through the air .

a cartoon illustration of a couple of robots flying through the air .

Various survival games have been made with different mechanics to enjoy but seldom only have a few have similarities. Our Survivor.io tier list, with updated data, offers the rankings of all of those items that you can unlock or hoard. To do that, you will need better equipment and weapons.

Making the right choices among all the available gear and abilities will always boost your chances in the famous shooter game, even though some might say that sometimes your luck comes into play. Developed by HAPPY PTE LTD, the same group behind the famous Archero, Survivor.io is an exciting shooting game that took over the world by storm. Its exciting levels and daunting enemies attracted a lot of players throughout the years. To make things easier, we’ve provided three different tier lists below, ranking all the weapons, abilities, and equipment, so you’ll know exactly which ones to get during your runs!

For more on the hit new mobile game, check out our Survivor.io codes page. You can use those limited-time coupons to bag some freebies, speeding up your way to the best Survivor.io weapons, equipment, and weapon skill upgrades. And for more from the same developer, check out the Archero tier list as well.

Survivor.io weapons tier list - What's the best weapon in Survivor.io?

Survivor.io tier list

S

Sword of Disorder
Void Power
Starforged Havoc

A

Lightchaser

B

Baseball Bat

C

Katana

D

Kunai
Revolver
Shotgun

Whether you're grinding on waves or struggling against bosses, the Survivor.io weapon tier list can really help you overcome whatever bottleneck you worm your way into.

At the top of the list is perhaps the best weapon choice in the game. The Lightchaser is powerful enough at any level to turn most waves into mincemeat. After that, you're looking at the Baseball Bat or Katana at early levels to deal decent damage.

If it's bosses you're struggling to make it past, you can't go wrong with the Kunai. It doesn't start off strong, but one powered up, you won't find a better option. Second to that is the revolver, so hold onto it.

A character using the second best weapon according to the Survivor.io tier list.
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Survivor.io equipment tier list - All equipment slots ranked

Survivor.io tier list

S

Eternal Suit
Voidwalker Windbreak

A

Full Metal Suit
Armor of Quietus

B

Traveler's Jacket
Carapace

C

Army Uniform
Protective Suit

For this one, we've stuffed the official Survivor.io equipment tier list into a single table split into each different equipment slot. The official tier list ranks things from SS-D before going to down to F, but to keep up with our other tier lists, we've converted this down to cap out at S.

What that means is most items have moved down a tier over the official list, but anything that was ranked D-tier has ranked F in ours. After all, if something's that low down with so many other options, you may as well ditch it at the first moment.

A choice of the best Survivor.io skills from the tier list.
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Survivor.io weapon skills tier list - Which Survivor.io skills to upgrade

When it comes to Survivor.io weapon skills, there's really one that stands out above the rest: Lightning.

This simple bolt from the heavens works at practically ever level of the game regardless of how much you've managed to upgrade it. It's not going to clear the room like a bomb, but with enough power and speed, it'll strike enough to demolish grounds of tanky targets you manage to kite into a neat little ball. And bosses? They don't stand a chance.

Not far below that is the soccer ball. Stack that with Lightning early on and you'll walk through most of the initial stages and stand a solid chance of pushing through just about any wave if you're careful.

If it's bosses you struggle with, the drill might be your next best option.

Survivor.io fan tier list

The tier lists above all come from the Survivor.io Discord channel and are the official weapon, skill, and equipment gradings provided by the developers.

If you want an alternate look at the tier list, though, you can check out the video above from a prominent player. Without details spreadsheets and data crunching, a tier list is mostly built from a player's own experience. So if you prefer to listen to a player's grading over the game designers, give it a watch.

How to beat chapter one in Survivor.io

If you're new and struggling to make it through Survivor.io chapter one, here are a few tips:

  • The chapter is 15 minutes long
    • Bosses spawn at each five-minute interval
    • Zombie swarms come in around two minutes before each boss
  • Hover around a bomb as swarms approach to quickly deal with them
  • Prioritize the Guardian upgrade to make them permanent
  • Get new area skills like Lightning, Soccer Ball, and Guardian before upgrades
  • Understand that you'll struggle without equippable gear
  • Hover around meat if you're approaching a wave you struggle to clear

By using the tips above, you should be able to make it through the 15-minute run, clear the first chapter, and unlock a load of new things.

Survivor.io loadouts - Best weapons for each chapter

The quick builds above aren't complete and shouldn't be taken as absolute ways to survive a chapter. Luck plays into the tech you can get on each run, and not having a particular weapon or piece of equipment won't make it impossible.

What the table above shows is a way most consider to be an easy template to use if you're stuck on a particularly tough chapter. Survivor.io has many chapters with many different types of enemies. What is typically concrete, though, is the type of map used - square, open, or trial.

So, depending on which you find yourself in, you can aim for a particular build above, noting how each slight change makes it better suited to the way the game flows on that particular style of map.

How to get epic equipment in Survivor.io

If you're new to the game, you're probably wondering how to get epic equipment in Survivor.io. They're always going to be at the top of the tier list, but the normal and good gear you get early on will only annoy you with their locked abilities.

Without putting too much work into things, you can get your first piece of epic equipment in Survivor.io by simply playing through to around chapter 5. Once you make it through Chapter 1, you'll have the equipment and knowledge to make it to chapter 5 before you'll need new equipment.

Thankfully, the login gifts, mission rewards, and other freebies will net you enough gems to open ten EDF Supply boxes, guaranteeing you an epic piece of equipment.

You can even get epic equipment in Survivor.io by completing the Autumn Leaves seasonal event. All those tokens can get you top-tier equipment like Eternal Suit and Lightchaster.

Still the same information from last time but we had a few changes here and there. There could be changes later so check on this page next week for an update. Want more mobile game guides? Check out our Cookie Run Kingdom tier list. We have a Diablo Immortal tier list if you're looking for a more graphically intensive mobile gear grind, too.