Stonewards Weapons and Gear

Weapons and gear define how you translate forged power into monster kills during horns. Stonewards starts players with class-flavored loadouts—miner and warrior are available early, with more characters unlocking through hub meta progression—and adds gear from chests, crafting, and forge rewards as runs escalate. Gear without crafted ammo still loses Wave Defense fights; gear without matching upgrades wastes forge deposits.

This page explains starting roles, weapon categories, upgrade synergies, and recycling etiquette.

Starting Classes and Gear Bias

Banana Tiger Studio gives each class different baseline stats and equipment suited to its role:

Warrior — Leans toward surface combat with gear suited to holding gates and dealing sustained damage during horns. Warriors should still mine minimally for stone and craft metal, but their value peaks on primary lanes toward the King.

Miner — Leans toward breaking nodes quickly and surviving caves with tools suited to excavation. Miners contribute most when they return on time with ore, not when they duel elites alone in dead-end tunnels.

Additional characters unlock via hub progression—read How to Use the Hub before assuming demo roster limits forever.

Weapon Categories

Ranged Weapons and Ammunition Dependency

Ranged weapons—bows and similar armaments shown in marketing and demo footage—consume crafted ammunition from the crafting camp. They excel on wall walkways with clear sightlines to gate choke points.

Discipline:

• Reload before horns, not during first contact.
• Craft baseline stockpiles from Ammo and Crafting before chasing damage upgrades.
• Focus fire elites on King paths—see Monster Types.

Melee and Close Tools

Pickaxes and melee weapons overlap in mining segments. Some close weapons help during fallback fights in Bastion Fallback when lanes collapse.

Knockback upgrades synergize with melee defenders who control swarms at gates.

Deployables and Consumables

Crafting and chest rewards may include throwable or consumable items depending on patch state. Treat them as horn spike tools, not replacements for arrow stockpiles.

Gear Progression Within a Run

Gear tiers rise through:

1. Starting class equipment — Adequate for waves one to three with good ammo discipline.
2. Chest opener rewards — Team drops that may upgrade one player’s weapon tier.
3. Forge-related gear changes — Some upgrades modify weapon behavior or unlock specialty ammo.
4. Hub purchases between runs — Persistent unlocks that change starting power on later attempts.

In-run gear mostly resets on King death. Do not emotionally attach to a chest drop—recycle obsolete pieces.

Matching Gear to Forge Upgrades

Upgrade bias	Gear synergy
Knockback	Melee or close-range gate control
Super jump	Ranged defenders repositioning on walls
Armor	Front-line holders during repair gaps
Craft speed	Players stationed at crafting camp, not latest weapon tier

Upgrade Tier List ranks upgrades assuming these synergies.

Recycling Camp Strategy

Recycling camps trade unwanted equipment for partial ore returns. Recycle when:

• Chest drops duplicate a higher-tier equipped weapon.
• Forge upgrades obsolete your previous tier.
• Inventory clutter slows deposit trips during tight forge timers.

Do not recycle your only ranged weapon before crafting camp produces a replacement. Recycling funds Ores and Materials indirectly—use returns for ammo craft metal when short.

Co-op Gear Coordination

Avoid four identical ranged setups unless lanes require it. Common co-op split:

• Two defenders on ranged with knockback or armor upgrades.
• One miner with tool-focused gear and mining rings.
• One flex with super jump who ferries ore and covers secondary lane.

Call out chest rewards: “legendary bow on secondary lane player” prevents loot confusion.

Solo Gear Strategy

Solo players need one weapon line that handles both mining and defense transitions. Prioritize:

• Reliable ranged option with cheap ammo craft costs.
• Armor upgrades before luxury weapon gambling.
• Recycling immediately when upgrades obsolete gear—inventory space matters alone.

Bastion Fallback gear checks: keep a close weapon accessible if elites breach inner keep.

Gear vs Rings

Rings modify stats without necessarily changing weapon models—see Rings and Relics. A mining ring on a warrior is usually wrong unless the squad assigns you emergency mining duty.

Blacksmith offers limited ring choices; gear from chests can fill gaps rings do not cover.

Controls and Gear Swaps

Fast weapon swap bindings matter when leaving mines. Configure keys in Keyboard and Mouse or Controller before hard missions.

Related Pages

• Items hub — Ore and relic categories.
• Builds — Forge spending that enables gear value.
• Combat — Where equipment is tested.

Staying Current

Weapon names, tiers, and class roster expand in Early Access. Gear philosophy remains: match equipment to role, fund ammo, recycle obsolete pieces.