Only two of the weapons make it to this list, these are the best of the best and can rather easily carry you through low escalation runs as your main damage source

First of all, the only starter smg in the game, the Shooty


available on:
Heavy Gunner
Demolisher
Machine Hunter
Breacher

pros
-high fire rate
-massive dps
-highly moddable
-a lot of ammo in reserves
-amazing with on hit effects/items

cons
-slow reload speed (2.1s)
-low accuracy
-low mag size
-low overall damage per shot

In my opinion the very best starter in the game, able to dish out insane amount of damage in a short span of time and highly moddable, it's able to carry you through most if not all of the content with the help of some items and synergies



Second of all, the gun that achieves the same results with the opposite method, the X500 Ion Pistol


available on:
Demolisher
Machine Hunter

pros
-huge base damage
-100 base armour penetration
-good reload speed (1.6s)
-highly moddable
-extremely accurate
-penetrates enemies with ease
-fairly large ammo capacity for it's damage

cons
-abysmal magazine size
-lower than average shield damage
-hard to get through plating
-every shot counts

While this gun is somewhat tricky to use due to it's low mag size and somewhat low ammo counts, it's damage can go into nuclear values with some mods and through the usage of upgrade stations, i highly recommend taking mods that increase it's magazine size to utilise this gun to it's fullest

These are the very strong weapons that are either unique or do things better than their counterparts

Let's kick this list off with none other than the Coil Pistol


available on:
Riotguard
Breacher

pros
-good burst damage
-highly moddable
-good alt ammo
-large ammo pool

cons
-low mag size
-terrible against armour
-slow reload speed (2.2s)
-falls off at range

Rather unique gun that functions more or less like a pocket shotgun, it's able to dish out some proper damage against unarmoured targets but falls short against anything with the slightest bit of armour



Following the Coil Pistol is the first burst fire gun on this list, the CR-18


available on:
Heavy Gunner
Recon Sniper
Chrono Trooper
Machine Hunter
Eliminator

pros
-massive ammo pool
-very good damage
-low deviation
-generates heat slowly

cons
-hard to hit enemies over longer ranges
-burst fire delay leads to a bit of downtime between shots
-slow reload speed (2.4s)

Appearing on a wide variety of characters, this starter pistol is a more than solid sidearm you can rely on to whittle your opponents down, with it's rather unique two round burst fire and huge fire rate it's able to dish out a surprising amount of damage



Now for yet another burst fire pistol, the Tsuba Burst Pistol

available on:
Chrono Trooper
Chrono Striker

pros
-fast reload speed (1.4s)
-large ammo pool
-decent magazine capacity
-fast firerate
-burst fire that can be held instead of clicking

cons
-low damage
-high heat generation
-low accuracy over longer ranges

While it might not seem good at first, it's damage potential is rather surprising and should not be underestimated as it can essentially function as a somewhat watered down smg, this gun complements the close quarters nature of the classes it appears on

Now we find ourselves at a little in between of the two tiers, these guns aren't strong enough to fit the high tier, but aren't weak enough to be classed as mid

The last burst fire pistol available, the P78 Fusion


available on:
Recon Sniper
Chrono Trooper
Chrono Striker

pros
-large shield damage
-good reload speed (1.7s)
-low deviation
-large ammo reserves
-high fire rate

cons
-low base damage
-low weakpoint damage
-generates heat quickly

The P78 Fusion is a good side arm with the benefit of being burst fire, while it excels at whittling down shields, the low base damage combined with low weakpoint multiplier makes it far from perfect when engaging unshielded enemies



The second and last weapon in this tier, the PPQ - H

available on:
Demolisher
Recon Sniper
Machine Hunter

pros
-fast projectiles
-high base damage
-high ammo capacity
-extremely accurate at a standstill
-strips more plating
-decent reload speed (1.8s)

cons
-very low shield damage
-small magazine capacity
-extremely inaccurate when moving
-generates heat fairly fast
-low fire rate

PPQ - H, the only starter laser pistol in the game offers a rather unique feel to the weapon with much faster projectiles than usual, high damage output and increased plating stripping, but it falls short against shielded enemies due to it's heavily lowered shield damage

Now we enter the realm of weapons that don't do much more than what they're assigned to do

First of all, the P20 Compact

available on:
Riotguard
Eliminator

pros
-decent mag capacity
-good reload speed (1.7s)
-good damage range and accuracy
-remains fairly accurate when moving
-good with on hit effects/items

cons
-large ammo pool
-low damage
-10 base armour penetration

Marketed as a solid starter weapon and being just that, this gun doesn't do anything outstanding and falls rather short against armoured targets



Following that, the H200 Commando

available on:
Heavy Gunner
Riotguard

pros
-decent damage and dps
-decent-ish reload speed (2s)
-good ammo economy

cons
-inaccuracy kicks in after just a few shots
-low damage range
-low base mag size

Yet another solid jack of all trades starter you get without spending your precious data, this gun focuses on decent damage and fire rate at the cost of accuracy over longer ranges, it's magazine size may leave something to be desired



And another H, this time the H200 Heavy Pistol

available on:
Demolisher
Eliminator

pros
-huge weakpoint damage (300%)
-innate armour penetration
-large base damage
-very low deviation
-good reload speed (1.7s)

cons
-low capacity
-slow fire rate
-lower shield damage
-inaccurate when moving

Yet another simple but effective gun that get it's job done, with the higher than average damage and armour penetration it's able to deal with heavier targets with ease, but it tends to fall off against things like shields or plating



Something unique this time, the SpecOps

available on:
Recon Sniper
Chrono Striker
Eliminator

pros
-decent reload speed (1.8s)
-large weakpoint bonus
-good accuracy
-high magazine capacity
-lower detection range
-generates heat very slowly

cons
-low damage
-low damage range due to subsonic ammo
-the rear-side damage bonus rarely seems to kick in

A weapon tailor made for "da sneaky gitz", it's major strength lies within it's low detection range and the ability to fire constantly without losing too much accuracy, it's major drawback however being the rather low damage unless hitting weakspots



Closing this list off is the Partol Revolver

available on:
Chrono Striker
Riotguard
Machine Hunter

pros
-good base damage
-hefty weakpoint damage
-30 base armour pen
-decently accurate
-rather large ammo pool
-can overpenetrate leading to hits on multiple enemies

cons
-low base mag size
-slow reload speed (2.3s)
-slow fire rate
-innacurate when moving
-only 75% shield damage

A hard hitting handgun that suffers from low magazine size combined with low fire rate and slow reload speeds, it's saving grace and the thing that makes this weapon stand out is the huge weakpoint damage which gives it a lot of potential

Here are the weapons that while usable, either are outclassed by others or are just bad



First of all, the quite unremarkable P33 Compact

available on:
Heavy Gunner
Demolisher

pros
-above average mag size
-solid damage
-good reload speed (1.6s)

cons
-slow firerate
-10 base armour penetration
-inaccurate at longer ranges

This gun takes a slower approach with lower fire rates when compared to it's brethren, and while it tries to compensate by having higher than average damage, it's accuracy and dps leave much to be desired



And the weapon that has potential but it's entirely wasted, the DA 7 Acid Pistol

available on:
Recon Sniper
Riotguard
Eliminator

pros
-armour ignoring dot
-low ammo usage
-decent for hit and run
-strips plating
-decent alt ammo

cons
-abysmal mag size
-low initial damage
-slow reload speed (2.2s)
-low accuracy
-bad against groups
-useless against bosses
-the dot can actively harm you when fighting against heavy partol wheels

A promising weapon that allows for some hit and run shenanigans... early on into the run. The main drawback of the gun is it's low damage, small magazine size and rather lackluster damage over time effect. While it can see usage on characters like eliminator that utilise hit and run playstyles, there are much better alternatives.