Does distance change how much damage my weapon does?
Since 0.9.2 the distance a projectile travels, and where the Survivor stands, both feed into damage for most weapons.
Quick Answer
Yes, for most weapons. Update 0.9.2 added a Weapon Range System that moves damage between -50% and +50% depending on how far the projectile travels and where the Survivor is relative to the enemy. The developer says the shifts are usually not drastic and that some weapons are deliberately excluded.
Steps
- Read the weapon's in-game description first: the developer states that weapons evolving from a line inherit their previous tier's range behaviour unless the description says otherwise.
- Decide from that whether the weapon wants you closer or further away, then hold that distance instead of defaulting to point-blank.
- Treat any weapon that explodes on impact, or that fires a constant projectile, as unaffected and position it freely.
Requirements / Limits
- The published range for the system as a whole is -50% to +50% damage.
- Named close-range gainers: the Taser at +25% and the Syringe Gun at +50% at point-blank; Pyro's two melee weapons hit harder with the sharp end of the axe; the Mechanic's Chainsaw does more on direct contact with the blade.
- Named long-range gainers: the Sniper Rifle at +25% at long range; the Windcutter and the Axerangs deal more at maximum distance; the Mechanic's two spanner weapons scale with how far she travels from the hit point.
- Named fall-off: pistols and similar guns lose damage as the projectile travels; shotguns stay strong at short to mid range and fall off sharply at long range; the Minigun decreases gradually with distance.
- Stated exceptions: the Rocket Launcher is described as fully viable at any range, Huntress's arrows do equal damage at mid and long range with a slight decrease at very close range, and weapons with constant projectiles such as the Engineer's Laser and Ghost's tier one and two are unchanged.
Common Mistakes
- Assuming every weapon rewards closing the gap. The Windcutter, the Axerangs and the Sniper Rifle are documented as doing the opposite.
- Playing Huntress at point-blank to stack arrows. The developer describes a slight decrease at very close range, deliberately.
- Treating the 0.9.2 percentages as a current balance table. They are the numbers published when the system shipped, and 1.0 ran a further balance pass without republishing a consolidated range list.
Sources Checked
- Developer changelog · accessed 23 August 2026Yet Another Content Update 0.9.2 (developer blog)
Developer blog, 13 March 2026. Carries the Weapon Range System developer notes, the Game Speed accessibility option and the DLSS / FSR upscaling entries.
- Developer changelog · accessed 22 August 2026Full Release — Version 1.0
Developer changelog, 20 August 2026. Gives the Ranger, Bio Lab, Boss Rush, mission, map and Infinite unlock details used here.