Pistols in Starfield are capable of outputting the most damage in the game if you build your characters combat skills around using them. The best Starfield Pistol build relies on stealth multipliers, headshots, critical hits, to achieve a high level of consistent critical damage.

Compared to any other weapon type in Starfield, Pistols have the most Uniques variants to collect. Unique Weapons range from; rare, epic, legendary and come with pre-defined Weapon Effects that increase your damage output. Using the science skill weapon engineering skill you can modify your pistol with the best mods for your playstyle from silencers to scopes. This will affect the damage, fire rate, magazine capacity, range, mass and accuracy of the weapon. Each gun has a limited number of mod slots to utilise.

Ballistic Pistols

Pistols in Starfield are capable of outputting the most damage in the game if you build your characters Combat Skills around using them. The best Starfield Pistol build relies on stealth multipliers, headshots, critical hits, to achieve a high level of consistent critical damage.

Compared to any other weapon type in Starfield, Pistols have the most unique variants to collect. Unique Weapons range from; rare, epic, legendary and come with pre-defined rarity modifiers that increase your damage output. By using the science skills: weapon engineering you can modify your pistol with everything from silencers to scopes. This will affect the damage, fire rate, magazine capacity, range, mass and accuracy of the weapon. Each gun has a limited number of mod slots to utilize.

Name	Image	Damage	Fire Rate	DPS	Ammo	Mag Capacity	Accuracy	Range	Mass	Mod Slots	Value	Item ID	Unique
Ace Sidearm		10	40	10	.27 Caliber	17	72.0%	20	1.7	5/7	9468	002E073B	Yes
Ambassador		35	109	63.6	.43 Ultramag	8	75.2%	28	2	4/7	13127	001EEE4F	Yes
Deadeye		61	12	12.2	7.5mm Whitehot	6	68.9%	31	2.4	0/3	11130	001BBF2A	Yes
Elegance		48	109	8.2	7.77mm Caseless	8	73.7%	17	1.5	5/7	18244	002E0725	Yes
Eon		10	50	8.3	7.77mm Caseless	12	67.50%	20	0.55	6	750	000476C4	-
Haphazard Handgun		40	67	44.6	.45 Caliber ACP	9	70.8%	24	1.6	4/5	29111	008AF5D	Yes
Keelhauler		53	140	123.7	.43 MI Array	6	70.1%	24	3.5	4/6	43244	008d850	Yes
Kraken		3	150	8.3	7.77mm Caseless	12	67.5%	20	0.6	6	750	000476C4	-
Magshot		53	25	22.1	.43 MI Array	6	62.8%	20	2	6	11380	002EB42	-
Marathon		39	33	21.45	.43 Ultramag	7	71.4%	18	0.49	5/7	17280	002E82A2	Yes
Memento Mori		17	40	11.3	.27 Caliber	17	69.%	20	0.49	4/7	3917	00316416	Yes
Old Earth Pistol		28	67	31.3	.45 Caliber ACP	9	66.9%	20	1.1	4	4350	002EB42	-
Radburn		7 + 1	114	15.2	7.77mm Caseless	12	67.9%	20	0.65	4/6	2099	00207711	Yes
Rattler		10	50	8.3	.27 Caliber	12	68.0%	20	0.85	7	942	0040826	-
Razorback		51	12	10.2	7.5mm Whitehot	6	67.1%	40	2.3	8	5300	000FD6	-
Regulator		35	18	10.5	.43 Ultramag	8	71.3%	20	0.7	7	4450	002CB5F	-
Sidestar		12	40	8	.27 Caliber	17	67.9%	20	0.65	7	825	0026D95D	-
Sir Livingstone's Pistol		28	67	31.3	45. Caliber ACP	15	69.2%	24	1.8	2/4	7612	001F27F5	Yes
Solace		39	30	19.5	.43 Ultramag	7	73%	24	3.15	6/7	10320	00AF68	Yes
Street Sweeper		3	180	9	6.5mm MI Array	25	74.7%	24	2.85	3/6	1723	002F3B1A	Yes
The Mutineer		181	161	485.68	.43 MI Array	6	63.1%	30	5.2	4/6	40967	00CAB0	Yes
The Prime		61	12	12.2	7.5mm Whitehot	6	69.8%	31	3.6	5/8	21730	002DFD41	Yes
The Zapper		12	104	20.8	.27 Caliber	28	71.6%	24	2.85	6/7	9284	002D7913	Yes
Trickshot		67	34	38.1	.43 MI Array	6	63.6%	30	5.1	4/7	37554	001AC6B1	Yes
Unfair Advantage		51	75	63.8	7.5mm Whitehot	6	63.3%	36	2.05	6/8	16430	003CE4B1	Yes
Urban Eagle		39	25	16.25	.43 Ultramag	7	67.7%	20	1.75	7	4800	0026D96D	-
Vampire's Sidearm		28	80	37.3	.45 Caliber ACP	15	68.5%	18	1.75	3/4	207739	0207739	Yes
XM-2311		36	67	40.2	.45 Caliber ACP	9	66.9%	20	1.1	6	8200	0024561C	-

Laser Pistols

Laser Pistols deal energy damage and all share the same ammunition which is relatively easy to acquire from vendors. Energy damage can be more effective against certain enemies who have a lower Energy damage resistance. Compared to ballistic pistols there are very few Laser Pistols to choose from.

You can increase the damage that Laser Pistols do by investing skill points into the following Combat Skills: Lasers, Pistol Certification, Marksmanship, Rapid Reloading, Armor Penetration, Crippling and Sharpshooting.

Name	Image	Damage	Fire Rate	DPS	Ammo	Mag Capacity	Accuracy	Range	Mass	Mod Slots	Value	Item ID	Unique
Ember		12	25	5	1.5KV LZR Cartridge	16	73.6%	24	2.9	7/7	2735	002F99FF	Yes
Short Circuit		10	29	4.8	1.5KV LZR Cartridge	22	75.8%	32	4.5	3/7	8742	002E7C9C	Yes
Solstice		10	25	4.2	1.5KV LZR Cartridge	16	69.3%	30	1.3	7	1960	0026D961	-

Particle Beam Pistols

Particle Beam Pistols deal both energy damage and Physical Damage combined. The advantages of dealing two damage types are that one of them will still be effective against even the most heavily armoured enemies. The disadvantage is that you will need to spread your character build over multiple Combat Skills to deal the maximum amount of damage with Particle Beam Pistols.

You can increase the damage that Particle Beam Pistols, do by investing skill points into the following Combat Skills: Particle Beams, Lasers, Ballistics, Pistol Certification, Marksmanship, Rapid Reloading, Armor Penetration, Sniper Certification, Crippling and Sharpshooting.

Name	Image	Damage	Fire Rate	DPS	Ammo	Mag Capacity	Accuracy	Range	Mass	Mod Slots	Value	Item ID	Unique
Novalight		8 + 25	22	12.1	Light Particle Fuse	12	68.6%	30	1.3	7	1960	0026D967	-
Terror Inflictor		21 + 65	34	48.7	Light Particle Fuse	12	71.7%	47	2.8	4/7	55662	0022A90C	Yes
The Spacer		9 + 30	25	16.25	Light Particle Fuse	12	70.2%	36	3.05	5/7	15207	001AC6C0	Yes
Va'ruun Starshard		26 + 80	12	21.2	Light Particle Fuse	12	30.1%	30	1	7	18250	002D8A4	-