Primitive weapons guide — set bonus, every weapon, who should build it
Updated 2026-11-01 · for v1.1 + Paws & Claws
Cheap sticks and rocks with a Max HP bonus; the beginner's set and Wildling's whole arsenal. 10 weapons carry the Primitive tag; the set bonus below applies for every Primitive weapon you hold at once, duplicates included.
Set bonus
| Weapons held | Bonus |
|---|---|
| 2 | +3 Max HP |
| 3 | +6 Max HP |
| 4 | +9 Max HP |
| 5 | +12 Max HP |
| 6 | +15 Max HP |
How a Primitive build plays
Primitive is ten Tier I weapons — Stick, Rock, Hatchet, Spear, Slingshot, Torch and friends — that are common in every early shop. The set gives up to +15 Max HP, which is the right bonus for a class you hold while you are weakest. Hatchet (10 dps at Tier I) and Rock (20 damage) are the picks; Spear and Slingshot give a little reach. Most Primitives carry a second class, so the rack can grow into Blunt or Heavy later. Wildling, who cannot hold weapons above Tier II, builds the whole run here.
Every Primitive weapon
Numbers are the lowest tier the weapon exists at; open a weapon for all four tiers and its scaling.
| Weapon | Tiers | Damage | Cooldown | DPS | Crit | Range | Also |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rock | 1–4 | 20 | 1.68s | 11.9 | 10% | 150 | Blunt |
| Hatchet | 1–4 | 7 | 0.68s | 10.2 | 3% | 125 | – |
| Spear | 1–4 | 15 | 1.52s | 9.9 | 3% | 350 | – |
| Slingshot | 1–4 | 10 | 1.22s | 8.2 | 3% | 300 | – |
| Quarterstaff | 1–4 | 10 | 1.42s | 7 | 3% | 175 | Medieval |
| Javelin | 1–4 | 8 | 1.2s | 6.7 | – | 350 | – (DLC) |
| Stick | 1–4 | 8 | 1.29s | 6.2 | 3% | 175 | – |
| Cacti Club | 1–4 | 15 | 1.66s | 6 | 3% | 200 | Heavy |
| Sharp Tooth | 1–4 | 5 | 1.14s | 4.4 | – | 150 | Precise |
| Torch | 1–4 | 1 | 1.1s | 0.9 | 0% | 175 | Elemental |
The core of a six-of set is usually Hatchet, Rock, Spear, Slingshot, Stick, Cacti Club; the rest fill in as the shop offers them.
Characters that fit the class
- Baby — Starts with one weapon slot and grows a new one on every level-up instead of a stat.
- Cryptid — Trees are money, XP and regen; protect the grove and the run plays itself.
- Druid — Fruits drop more and some of them are luck; a slow, rich, slightly poisonous run.
- Farmer — Harvesting with extra compounding; the richest potato by wave 20, if it survives wave 8.
- Multitasker — Twelve weapons, each a little weaker; shops get expensive.
- Wildling — Primitive weapons steal life; nothing above tier II.
Overlapping classes
Primitive weapons also count as Blunt, Medieval, Heavy, Precise, Elemental, so a Primitive rack can trigger a second set bonus without an extra slot. The weapons list filters by class.
The mistake that ends runs
Holding six Primitives past wave 12 on a character that can upgrade. The Max HP is nice; the Tier I damage is not.
See the set bonus ranking for how Primitive compares with the other sixteen classes, or test a rack in the build planner.