Have the best weapon upgrades The Last of Us Part 1 will help you survive the attackers and infected standing in your way of taking Ellie to the fireflies. In fact, having the right tools for the job is essential when faced with a clicker or bloater.
But before we discuss The Last of Us Part 1 best weapon upgrades, we need to talk about the resource you need to upgrade them: parts. This crafting resource is denoted by a screw icon and represents gears, nuts, bolts and other materials used to improve the weapons you will discover.
The parts you acquire can be used at workbenches to upgrade weapons. However, not all extensions are available from the start. You still need to increase workbench tool levels by finding red toolboxes in the world.
Likewise, it’s worth noting that most weapon upgrade categories have multiple tiers or tiers with different part costs. Additionally, if you manage to fully upgrade a single weapon, you will receive the Combat Ready achievement.
Holsters and weapon classifications
weapons in The Last of Us Part 1 are divided according to size or length:
- handguns: These refer to sidearms such as pistol, revolver, shorty (sawn-off shotgun), and El Diablo (scoped revolver).
- long guns: These are the Hunting Rifle, Bow, Pump-Action Shotgun, Flamethrower, and Assault Rifle.
The first weapon upgrades to consider The Last of Us Part 1 refer to the equipment: Short pistol holster And Holsters for long guns.
These provide an extra slot for the two weapon classifications, allowing you to switch between your weapons more quickly if needed.
Best handgun upgrades
gun
- Available upgrades: Reload speed, rate of fire and magazine capacity.
- Ideal upgrade: clip capacity — The pistol will be a handy weapon throughout the campaign. So having enough bullets in the clip is a good thing.
revolver
- Available upgrades: Reload speed and rate of fire.
- Ideal Upgrade: N/A — The revolver already has a lot going for it, so it doesn’t need many upgrades. Since ammo tends to be scarcer compared to the pistol, you’ll be lining up your shots more often, and hence the increased rate of fire isn’t necessary. You can use parts elsewhere.
Short
- Available upgrades: Reload speed, rate of fire, magazine capacity, recoil and pellet spread.
- Ideal upgrade: clip capacity – When you talk about it The Last of Us Part 1 best gun upgrades, you can’t go wrong with increasing the magazine capacity of this mini shotgun. When it’s full, it has 6 grenades, which will help you quickly deal with enemies that get too close.
The devil
- Available upgrades: Reload speed, rate of fire, magazine capacity and armor penetration.
- Ideal Upgrade: Armor piercing — You will encounter very few enemies wearing body armor. However, this benefit becomes most important when you reach the final chapters. When facing off against FEDRA troops with tactical gear, it’s an advantage to have something that can penetrate their defenses.
Best Long Gun Upgrades
hunting rifle
- Available upgrades: Reload Speed, Magazine Capacity, Scope, Armor Penetration and Power.
- Ideal upgrade: scope and clip capacity; Optional: Armor piercing — By default, the hunting rifle is a ridiculously bad weapon. However, once you upgrade its scope and clip capacity, it becomes an integral part of your survival. You can also consider the armor piercing upgrade unless you plan on getting it for El Diablo.
arc
- Available upgrades: Reload speed, range and draw speed.
- Ideal Upgrade: N/A — The bow is a stealth weapon that can easily kill enemies with headshots, and in some cases you could still pick up the arrows fired. It doesn’t really need an upgrade.
Pump action shotgun
- Available upgrades: Reload speed, rate of fire, magazine capacity, recoil and range.
- Ideal upgrade: clip capacity — When we discuss The Last of Us Part 1 best weapon upgrades, few can match a shotgun with maximum magazine capacity. This is due to the weapon’s overall utility throughout the campaign. A single blast will kill most human and infected enemies at close range, so you only need extra shells for longer encounters.
flamethrower
- Available upgrades: Reload speed, range and power.
- Ideal upgrade: Power — Simply put, this increases the overall damage of the weapon. The range upgrade could also be workable so you can hit enemies with searing flames from a longer range, although it’s often used in close-to-medium range skirmishes.
assault rifle
- Available upgrades: N / A
- Ideal Upgrade: N/A — Unfortunately, the assault rifle is obtained very late in the campaign (ie in the penultimate chapter). As such, there is no way to update it at all.
Weapon acquisition and upgrades for New Game+
Now that you know The Last of Us Part 1 best weapon upgrades, what can you expect when you start a New Game+ run after completing the campaign? Well, once again, you won’t be able to access every single weapon. You still have to acquire them in different chapters as you progress.
However, you keep all parts and workbench tool levels, as well as any previous upgrades you unlocked per weapon. So once you’ve rediscovered them, you can max them out when needed.
Either way, these are the best weapon upgrades for you for the first time The Last of Us Part 1. Don’t forget to check out ours Best and worst skills guide also, where we discuss the ideal perks for Joel.
