Wuthering Waves: Best Pioneer Podcast Weapons, Ranked

Wuthering Waves

By Abbie Sharp

Published Jun 21, 2024

As with many gacha RPGs, Wuthering Waves is host to a wide range of characters and weapons, many with specific banners to accompany them that encourage players to pull. Unsurprisingly, Wuthering Waves is also host to a Battle Pass, 'Pioneer Podcast,' that comes with exclusive weapons that only players willing to pay can get their hands on.

jiyan, sanhua, and female spectro in wuthering waves.

Wuthering Waves: Every Mutant Resonator, Ranked

Here's a comparative breakdown of the six Mutant Resonators in Wuthering Waves, assessing their performance and metagame share.

However, not all Battle Pass weapons are built equally, and though there are only five to choose from, it's important to know which weapons will be the most useful — and which ones are actually worth the money you're spending. This article will go over each Battle Pass weapon from lower priority to highestpriority, discussing the pros and cons of each, as well as the characters that suit them best so that players can maximize their usefulness.

Wuthering Waves' Pioneer Podcast Battle Pass is set to expire June 27, 2024.

5 Thunderbolt

Little Use Among The Current Roster

4-Star Pistol
Increases Resonance Skill DMG Bonus
Stacks three times and lasts ten seconds
Lack of characters that can currently use it

The current worst option from the Wuthering Waves Battle Pass, Thunderbolt is a 4-star Pistol focused on increasing Resonance Skill DMG Bonus each time a target is hit with either Basic or Heavy Attacks. The buff is stackable up to three times, and it lasts for ten seconds.

While this is pretty good, the main issue is that there just aren't really any characters currently available in-game that would benefit massively from this. Mortefi is a decent choice for Thunderbolt, but the fact that his playstyle revolves around quickly switching him in and out for other characters on the team means that he won't especially benefit from the buffs it affords in the long term. Unfortunately, this means that Thunderbolt isn't a great option right now, though this may change as more Resonators become available to play.

4 Lumingloss

Better Than Nothing, But Quickly Outclassed

4-Star Sword
Boosts Basic and Heavy ATK on each Resonance Skill use
ATK% Substat

Lumingloss is a great option for the early game of Wuthering Waves. It's a 4-star Sword that boosts its users' ATK by providing a huge boost to Basic and Heavy ATK each time the Resonator uses their Resonance Skill. It also has an ATK% substat boost. There are several pros and cons to Lumingloss, though the cons begin outweighing the pros the further into the game the player progresses. For instance, while most characters gained for free early on in the game are sword users, there are better options for many of these characters that can be accessed later in the game.

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Similarly, while Lumingloss is far better than any 3-star weapon choice, it's still not a great option for DPS characters, since it's recommended to build them with a focus on CRIT rather than ATK. Finally, players will be awarded a free 5-star weapon upon reaching Level 45, immediately outclassing Lumingloss with far better options. So, while Lumingloss is perfectly capable of carrying players through the early game, it's not a wise choice for long-term gameplay.

3 Stonard

Not The Strongest, But Great In Specific Cases

4-Star Gauntlet
Crit-focused, including Crit Rate
Resonance Liberation DMG Bonus, lasts for 15 seconds
Good for Lingyang and Jianxin

Stonard is a solid choice in Wuthering Waves' Battle Pass. It's a 4-star Gauntlet weapon with a focus on CRIT, making it a good option for any DPS. When a Resonator releases their Resonance Skill, it increases their Resonance Liberation DMG Bonus by a set percentage. This lasts for 15 seconds in total.

While Stonard is where the Pioneer Podcast Battle Pass weapons begin to get good, the one con about it is that there aren't currently many characters in the roster who use gauntlets. That being said, the characters that do are pretty good, meaning Stonard can get a lot of use from those characters. The Resonators who can really put them to use include the 5-star DPS Lingyang, who really gets a ton out of Resonance Liberation and who will appreciate the boost to his damage massively. Jianxin is also a pretty decent option if players decide to build her as a DPS, though she's not quite as good as Lingyang.

2 Augment

Versatile And Powerful

4-Star Rectifier
Crit Rate Substat
ATK% Boost Passive
Good for Yinlin and Encore

A really solid choice in the Battle Pass, the great thing about Augment is that it's super versatile and works well with pretty much any character that can use it. It's a 4-star Rectifier with a Crit Rate substat and an ATK% boost passive. When a Resonator uses Resonance Liberation, it increases the caster's ATK for 15 seconds.

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The Resonance Liberation ATK boost this weapon provides makes it a great option for any Resonator that gets the most damage from their Ultimate attack. This includes Yinlin, who has massive Burst DMG potential and benefits hugely from CRIT and ATK% buffs thanks to her DPS status. However, it can also include Encore, who relies very heavily on Resonance Liberation to deal damage. There are several characters that use Rectifiers, though, and pretty much any of them will benefit from how good Augment is, making it a great all-rounder.

1 Autumntrace

Perfect For DPS Characters

4-Star Broadblade
Crit Rate Substat
Stackable ATK% Passive
Good for Jiyan and Calcharo

Autumntrace is a 4-star Broadblade, and a fantastic option for those who have the characters to use it. It comes with a Crit Rate substat and a stackable passive that increases ATK% when dealing Basic Attack and Heavy Attack DMG. It stacks up to five times, can be triggered once per second, and lasts for seven seconds, meaning the boost that Resonators receive from it is pretty huge.

Firstly, the CRIT focus on this weapon makes it a great choice for DPS characters. As such, Autumnblade is a fantastic option for Jiyan, since he's a DPS who wants to be on-field as much as possible thanks to his secondary attack, Qingloong Mode. If you don't have Jiyan but still want a reason to use Autumntrace, Calcharo is also a great option — plus, he's available for free from the free 5-star character selector new players can choose from. As such, Autumntrace is a choice that shines now and will likely remain very useful even as more characters fill out the Wuthering Waves roster.