Picking the best weapons and mods in Pragmata seems a bit overwhelming initially. You can get by with almost any combination in most cases, as close-range builds work just as well as long-distance sniper setups. Plus, you quickly end up with more weapons than you can carry and only enough materials to upgrade some of them. While you’re fine to use whatever weapon suits your playstyle, some combinations are just more convenient and require less precision — useful, when you’re trying to evade half a dozen murderous robots.
Below, we break down some of the best weapons and mods in Pragmata and how to combine them for even better effect.
Best weapons in Pragmata
Pragmata doles out most weapons as you progress through the story. New ones are marked with a big, golden “new” tag, so they’re practically impossible to miss. Once you pick up a weapon, you’ll need to spend 100 Lunafilament at the Shelter to print a copy of it. From then on, you can use that weapon in your initial loadout when you leave the Shelter.
Every weapon is upgradeable, with each new upgrade tier costing more Lunafilament and, at higher levels, pure lunum. There are enough materials in Pragmata to upgrade every weapon. However, since some of those materials are rare and harder to track down, we recommend initially focusing on the weapons you use more often.
Grip gun
The Grip Gun is your starting weapon, and you should upgrade it whenever you can. It deals a hefty amount of damage when you target enemy weak points, it’s easy to aim, and it recharges comparatively quickly. You can change it out for the pulse carbine after reaching the Terra Dome, but we don’t recommend that unless you have exceptionally good aim. The pulse carbine’s recoil is high, even at later upgrade levels, and it’s easy to waste an entire clip without hitting the weak point. Then, you’re left waiting for it to fully recharge before you can do anything else — not ideal if you’ve already used your other, non-rechargeable weapons.
Shockwave gun
This is Pragmata‘s shotgun, and there’s rarely a situation where it doesn’t come in handy. It has several impact points, and if you aim it up close at an enemy’s weak spot, you’ll deal a substantial chunk of damage in one go. It’s easier to hit your mark with this compared to the charge piercer, and you don’t have to worry about missing entirely just because the enemy shifted position a bit. The only downside is that you do have to be close to your target to deal the most damage. There are ways to minimize the danger, though, including the freeze hacking node and well-timed dodges.
That said, we do recommend upgrading the charge piercer as well. It’s more useful in boss fights, when you often need to target specific points and can’t get close enough for the shockwave gun to work effectively.
Drone hive
The drone hive comes from getting three bingo lines on Cabin’s second bingo card. It has higher support potential than the decoy gun, and you can upgrade it to its maximum level of 300 drone charges fairly quickly. Use this, and a swarm of bots will fly around you, attacking nearby enemies. Sometimes they hit weak spots, but even when they don’t, they distract foes, occasionally stunlocking them so they don’t move around, and give you extra time to hack, attack, or whatever you need to do.
If you use the stasis net, you can also get most of the same effects the decoy gun offers, like grouping enemies together, while keeping your defensive weapon slot free for the drones.
Riot gun
The riot gun is the second tactical weapon you get, after the stasis net, and it has two excellent features that make it worth using. It knocks enemies down, which lends itself to combos with different mods and helps buy you some time to reposition. Unlike the stasis net, the riot gun can also deal heavy damage to multiple enemies with one shot if they’re open, which you can do with a multihack node.
Stasis net
The stasis net deals no damage, but it does keep enemies from moving for a while. You pull off repeated hacks, get close to deal damage, or move away to set up a long-range charged attack while they’re stuck in the net, and at higher levels, you can have multiple nets active at once. Use this gun to keep enemies from overwhelming you and to make setting up riot gun or shockwave attacks easier.
Best mods in Pragmata
Pragmata‘s mods are harder to find than weapons. Some come from Cabin’s bingo cards, while others are tucked away in secret locations.
Extended Breach
This one is near the mannequin display in the Shopping Center district of the Mass Production Array. Once you walk into the room after leaving the restaurant area, turn around. You’ll see what looks like glass steps. Walk up them, and make your way around the lasers to the chest at the end of the hallway. Inside the chest is Extended Breach, which keeps hacked enemies open for longer. It’s particularly useful against the giant baby-faced robots in this area and all boss robots.
Long-Range Targeting
You’ll get this mod in the Side Alley section of the Interconnecting Passageway (part of the Mass Production Array), below one of the beacons you have to hack. When you attack an enemy 20 meters away or further with this mod equipped, you deal 10% extra damage. It works well with the charge piercer, Relay Amplifier mod, and Extended Breach mod.
Close Quarters
Close Quarters raises damage by 10% when you attack within 10 meters of your target, and since a lot of Pragmata‘s battles take place in small areas, you’ll get a lot of use from this one. It’s an excellent pick to pair with the shockwave gun and stasis net. You’ll find this mod in the Shopping District sector of the Mass Production Array, in the room immediately after you pass the buses and mannequins. It’s in a blue safe box directly in front of you as you enter the room.
Relay Amplifier
This one’s in the Side Alley part of the Mass Production Array. Drop down, turn right, and enter the door next to the pedestal where you can grab a free weapon. The mod is in a chest on a ledge above the door. Relay Amplifier increases your hacking range by 30%, so dealing with ranged bots or just any enemy from a safe distance is much easier.
Performance Boost
Spend a Cabin Coin on the square shown above in Cabin’s second bingo card to get this mod. It makes all hacking nodes more potent. Friendly fire from confused enemies will deal more damage, for example, and Decode would lower enemy defense further.
Quick Fix
Spend a Cabin Coin on the top-left square of Cabin’s second bingo card to get the Quick Fix mod, which increases healing effectiveness by 10% and raises healing speed as well.
Skirmisher
Spend a Cabin Coin on the middle-left spot on Cabin’s first bingo card to get this one. Skrmisher deals 10% more weapon damage to fallen or immobilized enemies, so it pairs well with Stasis Net, the Freeze hacking node, and riot gun, among others.
Precision Shot
Precision Shot is in a chest at the top of the elevator in the Terra Dome, across from the locked door. When you execute a perfect dodge, this mod increases weapon damage by 10%. It works very well with Skirmisher and the shockwave gun.
