The Best Special Weapons In Heroes vs Hordes

HEYY, you finally got your first special weapon!

You've been waiting for your first mining event, got lucky on a spin of a wheel, or bit the bullet to spend a bunch of gems.

However, it happened, congrats!

But now that you have a coveted special weapon, the question is, is it any good?

Luckily, it turns out that basically, every special weapon in the game is better than a basic weapon IF you can get it to five-star forge.

But getting it to five stars is going to take literally months of investing all of your hard-won Arena Super Tokens. And once you use them, they're gone.

Therefore, it's really important to know if that investment will pay off.

To answer that, I'm going to go through all the special weapons in Heroes vs Hordes and rank them from best to worst.

But this isn't just my opinion. To do this analysis, I did the following:

• Asked my guildmates a ton of questions. Thanks Cakery!
• Asked people on the Main Discord. Thanks everyone who responded!
• Looked through the last six months of comments in the forums to understand what people's opinions were of the weapons. I both read those and put them through a python script to run a sentiment analysis.
• Read through all the info available

Based on my weeks of research and 7000+ runs in the game, I can give you a mental model to understand how good each weapon is and the trade-offs

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You'll want to know if a weapon can immediately go into your weapon rotation or if you need to forge them up. So, with that in mind, my analysis looks at:

• How good the weapon is before you forge it at all
• What tome it evolves from
• The quality of the 3* forge and how the weapon performs at that level
• And then again at 5* forge

While one weapon shines, a lot of the others have trade-offs.

So, if you're trying to decide between a weapon at the end of an event and you don't know which one is best, this will put a spotlight on when you can expect your weapon to shine.

Okay, so I'm going to start at the worst and go to the best. I will group these into subsections as we go so you understand the trade-offs.

• The Only Slightly Better Than Base Weapons At 5 Stars Weapons
• The Not Great A First That Turn Into Specific Game Mode Monsters
• Very Good, But With Tradeoffs
• Consistently Great
• The Best

Quick Side Session On Reading The Forges Of Special Weapons

At this point, I'm going to stop to talk about reading forges in Special Weapons. The wording is a mess in the Forge. While it visually looks like some of the benefits only apply to the evolved weapon, given it literally starts with "EVO:" the benefits also apply to UN-EVOLVED base weapons.

You see it with Scrap Hammer and Borer in particular. The text reads, "EVO: The Mighty Borer now slows the enemy." The base weapon is the Mighty Borer, so the upgrade will make the base weapon ALSO slow enemies in addition to the Sticky Borer.

That's really important for understanding why the 4* and 5* forges make a lot of special weapons OP.

And now, back to the original programming.

The Only Slightly Better Than Base Weapons At 5 Stars

12. Candy Cane

First, there's Candy Cane, which is just awful as far as special weapons go. It's the first special weapon I ever got, and it just doesn't do anything.

The area of effect is too small, the pushback isn't big enough, and it doesn't do any damage because it rarely hits any hoard. To put it simply, the thing just never swings and swings too close to the hero.

That's just before you forge it up.

After you forge it up to 5*, it will be strong enough to replace the last item in your base weapon build, like Ice Wand or Crossbow, but that's about it.

It does evolve off of Damage Tome, which is easy to fit into your build. But the 3* x1.05 damage to slowed enemies is a relatively (to other special weapons) poor global buff.

In all of the last 3 months' comments since it was released, I didn't find anyone who had invested the 8500 tokens to make it hit 5* forge.

I imagine there's somebody out there who's a dedicated Candy Cane fan, but it's not me. So I have that as the worst.

11. Smoke Bomb

Next, I have Smoke Bomb at 11. Unfortunately, this was the second special weapon I ever got. So, apparently, I'm cursed.

They just nerfed the crap out of smoke bomb making the areas much smaller and further apart at the no forge level. It was already hard to strategically use the smoke in Nightmare Mode, but now it's basically impossible unless you have heroic gear. That makes it totally useless.

The 3* forge gives you 10 Evasion, which is hard to come by, but not great because you don't get hit in most game modes. And it evolves from Duration Tome, which isn't great and will alter your build path a bit.

Now, at five-star Forge, it's very strong for Nightmare Mode. You get slow at 4* and then either a shield or stun at 5*. That makes it S in Nightmare Mode, but ONLY Nightmare Mode and Hero Clash.

10. Snow Globe

Next up is Snow Globe. People who have Snow Globe really enjoy it. And you can typically replace Corssbow or Ice Wand as the last item in a build with it.

However, no one has upgraded it to 5-star since its release around Christmas. And many of the upgrades read very strange, like a "10% chance to freeze enemies on hit for 200%". I'm guessing that means they freeze for 200 longer, but it's hard to know.

The first example where throwing 8500 Super Tokens at it for 5* could make it part of your core build going forward, but those are better spent elsewhere.

It evolves from Area Tome, which is great, but the x1.05 damage to frozen isn't great for a special weapon.

The Not Great A First That Turn Into Specific Game Mode Monsters

9. Phantom's Fang

Next up is Phantom's Fang, and when we move into the not great at lower forges, but awesome later for certain game modes.

The big debuff added by Phantom's Fang is bleeding, but there is no core talent that increases damage to bleeding enemies. Instead, certain Heroes benefit from it more like Assassin and Werebeast.

As such, it doesn't fit in a ton of early builds. Evolving off of Speed Tome, it would make you adjust your build slightly for no great damage amp. And the 3* x1.05 to bleeding isn't universal but would be boosted by this weapon.

However, at 5* forge, all the amp to bleeding enemies makes this a great weapon for Boss Brawl, while making it 100% better than any other base weapon in your build.

It won't offer any disruption, so you won't really use it late-game in Nightmare Mode.

8. Scrap Hammer

Next up is Scrap Hammer, which is basically a tale of two cities.

It's gonna feel bad and unusable when you get it, but it will turn into a core item.

At low evolutions, it offers some disruption and could be like the last item built in a Nightmare Mode build or a wash replacement to crossbow. But it evolves from Speed Tome, which isn't ideal.

However, if you get it up to five-star Forge, it gets incredibly strong, and everyone who has it at five stars says it's one of the better weapons in the game. So it reaches S tier status as one of the top three or four weapons in the game once you invest 8500 tokens.

The problem is just the time getting it there.

It offers one of the best Special Weapon 3* forge bonuses of x1.05 damage that helps, and this is one of those weapons where 4* and 5* help the base weapon.

So it's a tale of two cities because it's almost not usable according to most people who have it before you forge it up.

The Jump

At this point, just let me say that all of the following weapons are awesome. They are BIG upgrades over your typical set of base weapons. I would be super happy to have any of the following:

7. Dagger of Dusk

The Dagger of Dusk is very single-target focused. This makes it one of the better weapons for something like Boss Brawl because it adds a ton of damage against elites and Bosses.

Unfortunately, it doesn't evolve unless you have the Dagger of Dawn, so it's gonna have a lower cap but still a very strong weapon. The comments are more muted on this than Dagger of Dawn, probably because fewer people use it.

The 3* forge is underwhelming x1.05 damage to bosses and elites. Good for Boss Brawl but less effective everywhere else, so it is more of a late-game buff.

However, there is a big gap between the Dusk Of Dawn, its brother, and everything else above it in this list.

Very Good, But With Tradeoffs

6. Pitchfork

Pitchfork is good when you get it, better at 2* forge, and then pretty good when you get all the way to 5*.

This is the kind of weapon that you can start putting in for a crossbow or ice wand as soon as you get it, and then as you five star it up, it's gonna feel better and will probably remain as one of your main weapons in your rotation.

However, as you start to collect ALL special weapons and get all special weapons up to five star, it might get pushed out by some of the other stronger special weapons.

So if you're late late late game, with 6 five star special weapons, you'll probably drop it.

Its biggest weaknesses are that it evolves from Duration Tome, and the 3* forge of x1.05 to stunned enemies is one of the weakest offered.

5. Lattern

The next step on the list is Lantern.

Lantern is an interesting one - everybody agrees it sucks when you get it because it doesn't do enough damage and evolves off of Duration Tome.

However, when you get this thing all the way up to five stars, everybody agrees it's the single highest damage output weapon of the game./p>

That is like Scrap Hammer but on steroids or Warlord. It's actually good game design, in my opinion, that offers obvious trade-offs for rewards.

Its three-star forge adds x1.025 to magical damage, which is below average for Special Weapons.

So if you ever get Lantern, know that it's going to feel really bad when you get it, and then feel really, really good when you put 8500 tokens into it.

Consistently Very Good

3 - Tie. Dagger of Dawn

Dagger of Dawn is a fun weapon to try and understand. It shoots rays of light that rotate around the hero. Everybody agrees that this is fantastic as a base-level weapon.

The problem is, it evolves off of its partner, the Dagger of Dusk, and so in order to evolve the thing, you're gonna need both special weapons in your build.

But if you can forge up both of them, then again, everyone agrees that it's even stronger. Getting both of them is incredibly hard, and leveling both up is gonna be even harder.

So, my recommendation is that Dagger of Dawn is worth adding to your build to replace your last weapon as soon as you get it. It does AOE damage around the whole screen and a burn via the first two forges. The level three forge adds a good x1.1 damage multiple to burning enemies.

At five stars, it adds even more damage to burning and spins faster but requires the evolution. So, plan on using the base version for the most part, and don't over-invest in Super Tokens.

3 - Tie. Lotus Pile

Lotus Pike is a stronger version of Pitchfork. Everyone who has Lotus Pike loves it. it does a ton of damage, and it evolves off a duplicator tone, which is a core tome to most builds.

The weapon makes its identity around critical strike, offering a very strong +5% to critical strike at 3* forge.

Louts Pike is really strong in something like Boss Brawl, and all of the evolutions affect both the base and the evolution, making it feel good as you star it up.

So, an all-around great weapon. Easy to evolve, good for basically any mode, and a welcome part to any core build.

2. Dynamite Slingshot

Dynamite slingshot is a sleeper number 2.

It's one of the few weapons in the game to offer "Expose." At 2* forge, this enhancement increases damage x1.1 from ALL sources, making it a giant increase to your overall DPS.

As you continue to forge it up, the 3* forge gives the standard x1.025 damage increase before getting a massive damage boost at 4*. Evolved from Duplicator Tome, you don't have to shift your build at all.

And then the 5* evolution gives you either a massive damage increase or a big form of disruption. That means the weapon adapts to the game mode between Nightmare or Boss Brawl for end-game content.

While it's not great at 0* Forge, your investment pays off very quickly.

The Best

1. Mighty Borer

In every analysis that I've done, the Mighty Borer comes out on top. Every comment that I've read, and myself using it now for about two or three weeks, is that it's just a fantastically awesome weapon.

It is great as soon as you get it, it is great as you forge it up, and it is great once it is totally forged up.

Its 3-star Forge gives an x1.025 increase to damage, and it evolves from Damage Tome.

But to make things even better, the 4* slow AND 5* return both apply to the Base Weapon, making it one of the best weapons in the game.

You use it in Normal, Hard, Nightmare, Boss, and every other event type.

So if you ever have the option to choose between multiple weapons and the Mighty Borer is available, grab it.

Summary

And that's it.

In my head, there are some basic takeaways:

• All the special weapons are great at 5*
• Some of them have trade-offs early for huge power spikes at 4 and 5 stars
• The best weapons you can use right away and for the rest of the game

So, if you're ever in a situation where you need to choose between special weapons, hopefully, this guide gives you a good understanding of the tradeoffs.

However, if you like a weapon and you like the animation, then who gives a crap how strong it is? This is a video game, so have fun with your favorite weapon!

I'm Kolz. I'm a high-level HVH player. I was in the top two hundred in the last boss brawl, and I'm usually in the top 500 for something like power score.

And remember, always do your adventures!