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Plague Pistol
April 23, 2026 at 06:01 PM
Extracted shared Weapon Upgrade Bands reference
Plague Pistol is a Epic pistol-class ranged weapon in Windrose. It feels like this pistol's bullets have an unnatural thirst for someone else's blood.
Pistols are one-handed sidearm firearms that scale with Precision. They occupy the off-hand slot alongside a one-handed melee weapon, which is why pistol play anchors hybrid boarding-plus-marksman builds. Every pistol has limited ammunition (1 to 3 shots per reload, weapon-dependent), uses Gunpowder as ammunition, and deals Pierce damage at all tiers.
Field | Value |
|---|---|
Weapon Class | |
Rarity | Epic |
Damage | 400 Pierce |
Scaling | Precision (B) |
ATK (Item Level 15) | 380 |
ATK (Level 1 crafted) | 100 |
Stack Size | 1 |
Flavor | ...Or maybe even yours. |
This weapon is Epic-tier only on the public item pages (no Rare variant listed). The effect line applies at the single Epic rarity.
Tier | Effect |
|---|---|
Epic | Restores 40% of dealt Damage as Health. |
Craft at the Weaponsmith Workshop (Level 1). Base recipe: Wood x10, Copper Ingot x3, Ingot Arborum x5.
Plague Pistol uses a dedicated Plague Pistol upgrade track that incorporates Ingot Arborum in every band alongside reduced Copper and Iron costs.
Item-level upgrades for Plague Pistol are performed at the Weaponsmith Workshop and follow the same per-band pattern documented for every weapon. See Weapon Upgrade Bands for the full per-band material costs.
Drops from Old Skeleton chests inside Ancient Ruins, Crypts, and Tainted Ruins at 5-10%.
Requires Ingot Arborum at every upgrade tier; the upgrade path is gated by plague biome material access.
Specific chests, vendors, and quest rewards currently listed on the live item card:
Source | Location | Chance |
|---|---|---|
Old Skeleton | 10.0% | |
Old Skeleton | Crypt | 5.0% |
Old Skeleton | Ruin with a Flowerbed | 5.0% |
Old Skeleton | Tainted Ruins | 5.0% |
The healing-on-hit pistol. The 40% lifesteal return turns it into a sustain tool, so it pairs well with a tanky club or halberd main-hand for bruiser builds. Epic-only weapon with no Rare variant listed on the public item pages.
Keep a one-handed melee weapon in the main-hand to double the ranged loadout's options. Pistols reward quick pre-combat volleys before the fight closes to melee range. Reload management matters: without Gunpowder stockpiled, pistol shots dry up fast. Stock at least 30 bullets before a boss engagement.
Precision-scaling weapons pull from the Precision and Marksman branches of the Talent System. Relevant picks include talents that boost Pierce damage, Critical Damage, stand-still bonuses that extend the Buccaneer's Friend spread perk, and gunpowder efficiency. Precision firearms reward investment in talents that increase rifle-style precision at range.
See the Talent System article for the current list of unlockable talents and their exact bonus values. Every firearm consumes Gunpowder, so stockpiling Sulfur and Charcoal for the Workbench conversion remains a background chore for any ranged build.
Plague Pistol sits alongside 4 other pistols on the current live index. Consider the alternatives:
Pistol: Uncommon, 360 Pierce, Precision (B). no special effect
Reliable Pistol: Rare / Epic, 380 Pierce, Precision (S). Can fire 3 shots without reloading.
Drake's Double-Barreled Pistol: Rare / Epic, 420 Pierce, Precision (B). Can fire two quick shots in succession.
Worn-Out Pistol: Common, 300 Pierce, Precision (C). no special effect
Ranged Weapons for the full firearm index.
Weapons for the cross-class roster.
Pistols for the pistol category roster.
Precision is this weapon's scaling attribute.
Gunpowder is the ammunition every firearm consumes.
Weaponsmith Workshop is the crafting and ascension station.
Combat covers stamina, posture, and firearm animation frames.
The 40% damage-as-health refund transforms the Plague Pistol from a damage dealer into a sustain tool for builds that would otherwise struggle with incoming damage. The loop works because the pistol fires from the off-hand while a heavy melee weapon (a Halberd or Club variant) does the actual damage work in the main-hand. A typical sustain rotation: heavy swing to punish the boss opening, swap to pistol for a headshot that refunds 40% of the dealt damage as health, repeat. Because every crit headshot returns a meaningful chunk of HP, the build can afford to trade hits with enemies that would otherwise force a retreat.
Why pistol lifesteal pairs with heavy melee. The Plague Pistol only deals 400 Pierce at Epic, which is a lot for a pistol but low relative to a fully-upgraded halberd or club swing. The 40% refund therefore returns less flat HP per pistol shot than it would per heavy melee swing. But the pistol is off-hand and does not interrupt the heavy melee rotation; it is a "free" health-refund slot in addition to the melee damage, not a replacement for it. A build that tried to use the Plague Pistol as its primary damage dealer would heal less than it takes, because the pistol's own damage output caps the refund amount.
The Ingot Arborum cost is real. Every upgrade tier from Level 1 to Level 15 requires Ingot Arborum to continue, which means the Plague Pistol progression is gated by Plague Wood access and Enchanting Table throughput. Unlike ordinary pistols that level off common materials, the Plague Pistol reaches its full damage coefficient only once the Plague Wood supply chain is producing regularly. Plan the upgrade cadence around Plague Wood runs rather than attempting to rush the pistol to Level 15 immediately after acquiring it.
