Evil West combat tips - Best ways to win fights


Jesse Rentier holding a gun in a saloon in Evil West

Need some Evil West combat tips to carry you through the game? Evil West can be a pretty difficult game if you don't fully prepare in advance. With hordes of creatures, tonnes of perks, and a handful of main weapons, there's a lot to pay attention to.

In this guide, we'll go over some of the game's systems and how it wants you to play, as well as the game's best weapons, and the perks you should pick to really get the most out of it. There's plenty there to help you out if you know where to look.

Before you figure out how to play Evil West, you may be looking for something a little different to do. If so, check out our Genshin Impact tier list, AFK Arena tier list, and YuGiOh Master Duel decks tier list. If you want even more, have a look at our Wild Rift tier list!

Evil West combat tips

If you want to make your Jesse the absolute best at taking down enemies, you should try to use every one of your weapons and tools. Try and take advantage of all the weapons and moves the game gives you. This will be a little overwhelming at the start, but once you start to piece together combos, it gets much easier.

Generally speaking, when a ring appears near an enemy, you should always focus on that target. It will give some breathing room in combat and may open enemies up for execution move. Executions are a good way of getting health but also give you temporary invulnerability as you take down a grunt.

Though not a direct combat tip, you should also explore the area around each mission, grabbing new perks, money and more. This allows you to think a little more about your play style and encourages experimentation, given you'll have so many options at your disposal. Next we'll go over the best perks and weapons below to make you think about your loadout.

Jesse Rentier shooting a gun in Evil West
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What Evil West perks should I pick?

There are tonnes of perks to pick in Evil West. They all focus on different parts of your combat playstyle. Here are the perks that you should work towards:

  • Pump Jack - This perks reduces the cooldown on your healing dispenser when you do damage with the gauntlet.
  • Death Defied - Once per life, you get invulnerability and 25% health back when you are going to die.
  • Life Support - You regenerate health at a slow rate.
  • Extra Juice - This gives you an extra bar of energy.
  • On a Roll - Gives a bar of energy for every fifth gauntlet finisher.
Evil West perks tree
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What is the best weapon in Evil West?

If you want to get the most out of Jesse Rentier's weapons, you should use them all. That being said, there are a few that you have to learn to get the most out of them. You should learn:

Crippling Rod

The Crippling Rod shocks everyone in a combat arena. This is great for giving you some room when you need it. When you pair it Life Support and Pump Jack, it can give you an extra heal too. Upgrade Agent Tools to get the Do Not Disturb upgrade for some extra breathing room.

Rentier Boomstick

The Rentier Boomstick is very good up close and personal. You should pull enemies close or pull yourself towards them, then hit them with the boomstick.

Scorcher

The Scorcher is fantastic against single enemies. If you're against a particularly pesky miniboss, use the Scorcher to stun them and do tonnes of damage.

If you're looking for more on the game, here's if we think Evil West is coming to Xbox Game Pass, our full Evil West review, and how to activate co op in Evil West. The game's co op mode should help you out.

For more articles like this, take a look at our Guides and Evil West page.