Renown Weapons Tier List: The 10 Strongest Picks Ranked

Swinging a wooden stick around the battlefield will not win you much glory in Renown. Fortunately, the game ships with a deep weapon roster, and a handful of those armaments stand clearly above the rest. This ranking walks through ten of the strongest picks, their crafting requirements, and the situations where each one shines.

How This Ranking Was Built

Any tier list is going to lean on the author's taste, and this one is no exception. The placements below come from weighing damage, reach, speed, armor penetration, crafting cost, and how the weapon performs against common loadouts in the Early Access build. Treat it as a starting map, not a verdict. The blade that fits your playstyle may sit lower on the list than your gut expects, and that is fine.

10. Dane Axe

• Tier: 1
• Crafting Materials: 75x Iron Ingots, 200x Lumber, 35x Boiled Leather, 3x Pole, 3x Axe Heads
• Recipe Research Cost: 30x Gold Ingot

The Dane Axe looks like something a lumberjack forgot in the woodshed, which is exactly what makes it satisfying to swing in a duel. It is a Tier 1 two-hander built around heavy cleaving arcs, and it punches through low-tier armor without much fuss.

Reach is short and stab attacks are basically useless, so anyone with a pointy weapon will give you a hard time. Speed is better than the silhouette suggests, though, and the upgrade path from a starter stick to this axe is one of the more painless steps in the game.

9. Cutlass

• Tier: 1
• Crafting Materials: 15x Iron Ingots, 10x Boiled Leather, 1x Sharpening Blades
• Recipe Research Cost: 10x Gold Ingot

For a new arrival in Renown, the Cutlass is one of the best early investments you can make. Materials are cheap, the research cost is light, and the slashing output handles unarmored opponents with ease.

The weakness is predictable: thrust attacks are not its strong suit, and once enemies start stacking heavier kits, the Cutlass loses its edge. It still earns its spot here thanks to how quickly you can put one together and how dangerous it is during the first hours on the map.

8. Bastard Sword

• Tier: 1
• Crafting Materials: 25x Steel Ingot, 20x Boiled Leather, 1x Guards, 1x Sharpening Blades
• Recipe Research Cost: 10x Gold Ingot

The Bastard Sword's selling point is that it never commits. You can wield it in one hand for shield combos or grip it with both for heavier swings, and switching mid-fight opens up some genuinely useful pressure plays.

That flexibility comes at a cost. One-handed mode lacks the protection of a real sword-and-shield pairing, and two-handed mode cannot match the reach of a dedicated longsword. As a generalist Tier 1 blade, though, it is hard to fault.

7. Arming Sword

• Tier: 2
• Crafting Materials: 60x Iron Ingots, 10x Boiled Leather, 2x Sharpening Blades
• Recipe Research Cost: 20x Gold Ingot

The Arming Sword is technically a sidearm, which is the only reason it does not climb higher. As a secondary slot weapon, it gives Renown players a clean entry into the Tier 2 bracket without breaking the bank. Slashes are decisive and thrusts land where you aim them.

The downside is raw damage. Against fully armored opponents, the Arming Sword starts feeling like a toothpick, especially when compared to anything in the Greatsword family. Pair it with a stronger primary and it earns its keep.

6. Double Axe

• Tier: 2
• Crafting Materials: 150x Iron Ingots, 45x Boiled Leather, 400x Lumber, 7x Axe Heads, 3x Pole
• Recipe Research Cost: 200x Gold Ingot

The Double Axe is a midgame favorite for a reason. Swings are brutal, armor crumbles under repeated hits, and wooden barriers fold quickly when you decide to redecorate a base.

The catch is timing. The windup is slow enough that experienced opponents can read it from a screen away, parry the blow, and counter before you recover. Players who learn the rhythm and stop relying on pure brute force get a lot out of this weapon.

5. Messer

• Tier: 2
• Crafting Materials: 30x Steel Ingot, 20x Boiled Leather, 4x Sharpening Blades, 1x Guards
• Recipe Research Cost: 50x Gold Ingot

The Messer reads like a sword that woke up wanting to be a cleaver. Its geometry favors wide cleaving arcs, and the added weight gives it solid armor penetration for a Tier 2 blade.

Where it struggles is against thrust-oriented opponents. The Messer is not a fencer, and parrying a precise stab with it is awkward. Use it to dominate slashing exchanges and disengage when the duel turns into a pointy-stick contest.

4. Longsword

• Tier: 2
• Crafting Materials: 50x Steel Ingot, 10x Boiled Leather, 3x Sharpening Blades
• Recipe Research Cost: 50x Gold Ingot

Few weapons in Renown feel as well rounded as the Longsword. The reach supports both stabs and slashes, and reversing the grip turns the pommel into a passable mace for close-quarters work. It is the kind of pick that rarely feels wrong in any scenario.

The trade-off is committing both hands, which rules out a shield. If your build leans on layered defense, the Longsword will leave you feeling exposed. If you prefer to dictate the spacing of a duel, it is one of the most reliable answers in the game.

3. Warbow

• Tier: 3
• Crafting Materials: 600x Lumber, 100x Cloth, 100x Boiled Leather, 3x Pole, 6x Rope
• Recipe Research Cost: 100x Gold Ingot

Renown is built around melee, but ignoring ranged options is a mistake. The Warbow sits at the top of that category. Draw weight is significant, arrows fly with real force, and a clean hit can decide a skirmish before the front line even meets.

Nocking speed is the obvious tax. Miss your first shot and the follow-up is often too slow to matter against a pushing opponent. Used as a support weapon from a holding position on the same Renown server, it pays for itself quickly.

2. Grossmesser

• Tier: 3
• Crafting Materials: 80x Steel Ingot, 20x Boiled Leather, 6x Sharpening Blades, 2x Guards
• Recipe Research Cost: 300x Gold Ingot

Think of the Grossmesser as the Messer that hit the gym. The blade is heavier, the strikes hit harder, and the armor penetration goes from good to genuinely scary. If your strategy is to overwhelm rather than out-finesse, this is the Tier 3 weapon to chase.

The weight cuts both ways. Balance is poor, recovery between swings is long, and against a faster opponent you can find yourself stranded mid-animation. Land the first hit and the fight is usually yours. Miss it and you may not get a second.

1. Zweihander

• Tier: 3
• Crafting Materials: 150x Steel Ingot, 30x Boiled Leather, 4x Guards, 7x Sharpening Blades
• Recipe Research Cost: 20,009,999x Gold Ingot

Unlocking the Zweihander is the single most expensive research project in Renown, and the price tag is not a typo. Whoever set the cost clearly intended this weapon to be a flex. Once you survive the grind, the payoff is enormous.

Reach is unmatched, every connecting blow lands devastating damage, and a well-timed sweep can knock multiple targets out of the fight in one motion. It rewards positioning, patience, and the willingness to commit to long animations. Anyone who has poured the gold into this blade will tell you it earns the top slot.

Picking The Right Blade For You

Reach, speed, armor penetration, and crafting cost all pull in different directions, so the strongest weapon on this list is not always the strongest weapon for your loadout. Stick with whatever lets you read fights cleanly and punish openings. The tier list is a guide, not a contract.