21 November 2025

Which Moonlighter 2 Starter Weapon Should You Pick?

By newsgame

Moonlighter 2 is a sequel to a beloved 2018 Action RPG with rogue-lite elements that has players balancing the dangers of dungeon crawling with the challenges of managing the expectations of customers in your shop. In a lot of ways, it feels like two separate games wrapped into one, but manages to do so relatively effortlessly.

The latest chapter of Will’s adventure will have you exploring new and varied worlds as you attempt to regain your homeland, but it can’t be done with the main character wielding a broom. With this in mind, players will need to determine which starting weapon to choose in Moonlighter 2 to deal with the waves of enemies ahead.

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All Starting Weapons in Moonlighter 2

Following the completion of the opening tutorial level in Moonlighter 2, players will be presented with the opportunity to replace Will’s broom with a more appropriate tool for delivering punishment. The choice will essentially be a free one, as you are provided with the required resources prior to purchase, but you can unlock the remaining weapons later on.

The four starting weapon choices are Merchant’s Sword, Merchant’s Large Sword, Merchant’s Spear, and Merchant’s Gauntlets. Each has specific abilities to give you an advantage in combat, and will cater to a variety of playstyles.

Merchant’s Sword

The Merchant’s Sword is the most balanced of the weapons available in Moonlighter 2, on account of it delivering moderate damage at a fairly moderate speed. It’s not the slowest, nor the fastest weapon, just as it doesn’t deliver neither the least or most amount of damage. It’s a great middle ground for players who don’t have a specific playstyle or preferences in attacking options.

The Merchant’s Sword also offers a bit more variety in attacks. For starters, your Special Attack is a spinning action that hits all enemies around you. Additionally, you can perform a Finisher Attack on your fourth consecutive attack, or a Special Finisher by hitting the Special Attack button after your third regular attack.

Upgrading the Merchant’s Sword will directly impact your Special Finisher, as you will be able to deal additional damage after using one. As you continue upgrading the weapon, you will receive a higher damage boost for a longer duration.

Merchant’s Large Sword

The Merchant’s Large Sword is a combination of the highest damage output and the slowest attack speed of any weapon variety in Moonlighter 2. A player’s damage output is determined by the Sharpness of their blade, which is a mechanic you will need to monitor throughout your playthrough. In addition to the higher damage, the Merchant’s Large Sword also has the greatest knockback, so you can create more space between you and your enemies and prepare for any incoming attacks with greater ease.

Unlike it’s shorter counterpart, the Large Sword doesn’t quite have as much attacking variety, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Your damage output will come via regular attacks, which dull the blade, and Special Attacks, which sharpen it. The trick to using this weapon is to keep the Sharpness level as high as you can at all times, which you can do with ease by mixing in Special Attacks at any given opportunity, so your regular attacks deliver maximum damage.

Upgrading the Large Sword will increase the potency of your blade’s sharpness. At the first upgrade, your damage will increase by 20% when at Sharpness level three, and each subsequent upgrade will increase damage, while decreasing minimum Sharpness level requirements.

Merchant’s Spear

While players will swing their short or long sword from side-to-side to keep their enemies at bay, the Merchant’s Spear is most concerned with going straight through adversaries. In addition to attacking directly ahead in a forward motion, the Spear also sets itself apart by leaving spearheads on the ground after each attack. One spearhead will drop from every attack, with three being left behind at the end of your combo. At any given point, players can use their Special Attack, which will summon all spearheads back to you, piercing any enemies standing between them and you.

Upgrading your Spear will increase the amount of damage caused by spearheads when you use your Special Attack, starting at +20%. While this weapon and Special Attack are very effective, they do come with the downside that you need to be mindful of your positioning to get the most out of the spearheads you’ve dropped.

Merchant’s Gauntlets

The other three starter weapons in Moonlighter 2 will allow you to maintain distance while delivering punishment, but the Merchant’s Gauntlets are designed for getting in close and delivering a lightning-fast sequence of attacks. You’ll give up some damage potency and knockback effectiveness with these weapons, but you’ll have the highest attack speed by a comfortable margin.

Like the Large Sword, the Merchant’s Gauntlets don’t offer a lot of attacking variety, but they anchor their build around Will’s Berserk skill, which increases the speed and damage of attacks. This is charged up by your basic attacks, and is shown by the bar in the top-left corner of the screen.

Upgrading your Merchant’s Gauntlets directly impacts the Berserk skill, with each upgrade increasing the duration of the ability, starting at +3 seconds.

Which Weapon Should You Choose First in Moonlighter 2?

Will with the Merchant's Large Sword in Moonlighter 2

The four different starting weapons cater for a variety of playstyles and preferences, so it is worth taking into account how you play games of a similar style, like Hades, for example. In saying that, after spending time with all four weapons, the Merchant’s Large Sword feels like the most effective starting weapon for the game. While you are giving up some attack speed with this weapon, it never feels like it’s greatly hindering your ability to come out of encounters alive, and is greatly complimented by Will’s gun.

As you get a little deeper into Moonlighter 2, you’ll also be able to collect boons for your run, some of which can improve your attack speed. On top of that, you can get some support from NPCs, such as Andrei the blacksmith, who can offer you improvements like an additional two levels of blade Sharpness, which will increase your damage even further.

Of course, your first weapon will largely depend on personal tastes, but the Large Sword still feels like a relatively quick attack, and will give you the damage output you need to avoid long, drawn-out battles against Elite enemies and Bosses. You can maintain your sword’s Sharpness without having to actively think about it too much, which means you can continue to deliver high levels of damage at a relatively consistent rate.