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Starfield

Best Barrel Modifications in Starfield

By
Seren Morgan-Roberts

This page will detail all the barrel mods that you can unlock in Weapon Modification in Starfield. We’ll also give a detailed breakdown of each barrel modification, their crafting cost, the research required, and whether we think they’re worth it! And, it’s worth mentioning that not all barrel mods are viable with all gun types, so we’ll also highlight all compatible weapons.

All Barrel Modifications in Starfield

Below, you’ll find a full list of all Barrel Modifications, with a list of all compatible weapons, crafting costs, bonuses (and cons!), as well as the research requirement to unlock the mods.

Barrel Mod Description Crafting Cost Research Requirement (Skill) Compatible Weapons (Inc. Unique Weapons)
Long Barrel Increases Accuracy, Recoil Control, and Range at the cost of Aim Down Sight speed. "Sealant" iconSealant x1, "Iron" iconIron x1, "Nickel" iconNickel x1 None AA-99, "Beowulf" iconBeowulf, "Big Bang" iconBig Bang, "Breach" iconBreach, "Bridger" iconBridger, "Eternity's Gate" iconEternity’s Gate, "Feather" iconFeather, "Grendel" iconGrendel, "Hard Target" iconHard Target, "Head Ranger" iconHead Ranger, "Hunterwulf" iconHunterwulf, "Justifier" iconJustifier, "Keelhauler" iconKeelhauler, "Kraken" iconKraken, "Lawgiver" iconLawgiver, "Maelstrom" iconMaelstrom, "Magpulse" iconMagpulse, "Magshear" iconMagshear, "Magshot" iconMagshot, "Magsniper" iconMagsniper, "Microgun" iconMicrogun, Momento Mori, Negotiator, "Novablast Disruptor" iconNovablast Disruptor, "Novalight" iconNovalight, "Orion" iconOrion, Peacekeeper, "Rapidshot" iconRapidshot, "Rattler" iconRattler, Reflection, "Regulator" iconRegulator, "Shattered Shock" iconShattered Shock, "Shotty" iconShotty, "Sidestar" iconSidestar, Solace, Terror Inflictor, "The Zapper" iconThe Zapper, "Tombstone" iconTombstone, "Unmitigated Violence" iconUnmitigated Violence, "Unrestrained Vengeance" iconUnrestrained Vengeance, "Urban Eagle" iconUrban Eagle, Va’ruun Inflictor, "Va'ruun Starshard" iconVa’ruun Starshard, "X-989 Microgun" iconX-989 Microgun
Short Barrel Increases Aim Down Sight speed at the cost of Accuracy and Recoil Control. "Iron" iconIron x1, "Nickel" iconNickel x1 None "Acid Rain" iconAcid Rain, "Beowulf" iconBeowulf, "Coachman" iconCoachman, "Fury" iconFury, "Grendel" iconGrendel, "Magshear" iconMagshear, "Old Earth Assault Rifle" iconOld Earth Assault Rifle, "Old Earth Shotgun" iconOld Earth Shotgun, "Razorback" iconRazorback, "Revenant" iconRevenant, "Solstice" iconSolstice, "The Buzzcut" iconThe Buzzcut, "Unfair Advantage" iconUnfair Advantage
Standard Barrel Standard issue barrel. "Sealant" iconSealant x1, "Iron" iconIron x1 None "Big Bang" iconBig Bang, "Bridger" iconBridger, "Grendel" iconGrendel, "Hard Target" iconHard Target, "Kraken" iconKraken, "Lawgiver" iconLawgiver, "Maelstrom" iconMaelstrom, "Magpulse" iconMagpulse, "Magshear" iconMagshear, "Magshot" iconMagshot, "Magsniper" iconMagsniper, "Microgun" iconMicrogun, Momento Mori, Negotiator, "Novablast Disruptor" iconNovablast Disruptor, "Novalight" iconNovalight, "Old Earth Assault Rifle" iconOld Earth Assault Rifle, "Old Earth Shotgun" iconOld Earth Shotgun, "Orion" iconOrion, "Rattler" iconRattler, "Razorback" iconRazorback, "Regulator" iconRegulator, "Shotty" iconShotty, "Sidestar" iconSidestar, "Solstice" iconSolstice, "Tombstone" iconTombstone, "Urban Eagle" iconUrban Eagle, Va’ruun Inflictor, "Va'ruun Starshard" iconVa’ruun Starshard
Extended Barrel Vastly increases Accuracy, Recoil Control, and Range at the cost of Aim Down Sight speed. "Sealant" iconSealant x1, "Iron" iconIron x2, "Nickel" iconNickel x2 Barrel Mods 1 (No Skill requirement) "Big Bang" iconBig Bang, "Regulator" iconRegulator
Fluted Barrel A lighter barrel with increased accuracy and recoil control. "Sealant" iconSealant x1, "Titanium" iconTitanium x2, "Nickel" iconNickel x2 Barrel Mods 1 (No Skill requirement) "Hard Target" iconHard Target, The Last Breath
Magnetic Rails Increases the Rate of Fire and Damage at the cost of Aim Down Sights speed. "Cobalt" iconCobalt x2, "Lubricant" iconLubricant x1, "Supercooled Magnet" iconSupercooled Magnet x1 Barrel Mods 2 ("Weapon Engineering" iconWeapon Engineering 1★) Avatar, "Magshear" iconMagshear, "Magshot" iconMagshot, "Magsniper" iconMagsniper, "Mindtear" iconMindtear, "Revenant" iconRevenant, "The Mutineer" iconThe Mutineer, "Trickshot" iconTrickshot
Stabilizing Barrel Specialized, mag-assisted barrels vastly increase Accuracy and Recoil control at the cost of Aim Down Sights speed while standing still. "Tungsten" iconTungsten x2, "Nickel" iconNickel x2, "Lubricant" iconLubricant x1 Barrel Mods 2 ("Weapon Engineering" iconWeapon Engineering 1★) AA-99, "Grendel" iconGrendel, "Hard Target" iconHard Target, "Magpulse" iconMagpulse, "Magsniper" iconMagsniper, "Marksman's AA-99" iconMarksman’s AA-99, "Microgun" iconMicrogun, Negotiator, Reckless Bombardment, Va’ruun Inflictor
Tech Barrel Greatly increases Accuracy, Recoil Control, and Range at the cost of Aim Down Sight speed. "Sealant" iconSealant x1, "Iron" iconIron x2, "Nickel" iconNickel x2 Barrel Mods 2 ("Weapon Engineering" iconWeapon Engineering 1★) "Grendel" iconGrendel
Bull Barrel A heavier barrel for more increased accuracy and stability. "Sealant" iconSealant x1, "Tungsten" iconTungsten x2, "Nickel" iconNickel x2 Barrel Mods 2 ("Weapon Engineering" iconWeapon Engineering 1★) "Hard Target" iconHard Target, "Kraken" iconKraken

Best Barrel Mods - Pros and Cons

This next section will consider the best barrel mods for each weapon type. As mentioned, not all barrels will be compatible with every weapon, so take this into account when choosing your barrel modification. Naturally, the more research-intensive mods will have more of an edge over some of the base upgrades but we’ll give a more detailed breakdown of the benefits below and include some of the best earlier game barrel mods too.

Long Barrel

In the first round of base-tier modifications, you’ve got the Long Barrel, Short Barrel, and Standard Barrel competing against each other. The Short Barrel offers increased Aim Down Sight speed at the cost of Accuracy and Recoil Control, whereas the Long Barrel offers the inverse benefits (slower aim down speed for increased accuracy and recoil control) and extra range as well. In more competitive FPS games, you may want quicker aim-down sight speeds to get an edge on your opposition, however, Starfield isn’t exactly a high-skill ceiling fps game, and you’re only going against NPCs so that isn’t all that necessary here. The Long Barrel offers better accuracy and less recoil (gun movement whilst shooting), which is great for both experienced gamers and those who are new to shooters. The other great thing about the Long Barrel mod is that it’s compatible with a lot of weapons and it doesn’t require any research or skills to unlock.

The Long Barrel is the best of the three base tier barrel mods.

Stabilizing Barrel

The Stabilizing Barrel is a great weapon upgrade as it hugely increases weapon accuracy and reduces recoil, but as with the Long Barrel, this comes at the cost of increasing Aim Down Sights speed. The big con to this mod is that these bonuses are only available when standing still. So, if you like to move around rather than stand behind cover, this upgrade might not be for you. This mod, however, can only be accessed once you’ve unlocked Barrel Mods 2, which requires 1 skill point in "Weapon Engineering" iconWeapon Engineering.

It’s worth mentioning that for the "Grendel" iconGrendel weapon, the Tech Barrel is the superior upgrade option, as it does all the things that the Stabilizing Barrel does, but you also get increased range. And these bonuses aren’t limited to standing still. The only reason that we don’t consider this one of the “best” weapon mods is that it is only compatible with the Grendel so its use is very limited.

The Stabilizing Barrel works similarly to the Long Barrel and offers more accuracy and recoil control.

Magnetic Rails

Like the Stabilizing Barrel and Tech Barrel, you’re gonna have to research Barrel Mods 2 to get this barrel modification. If you’ve already got great targeting accuracy then this mod might be for you! Rather than increase accuracy and recoil control, this modification will instead offer more damage and increase the rate of fire.

The Magnetic Rails increase the Rate of Fire and Damage!

So for those of you who are more experienced with shooter games and know how to handle recoil, this modification might be more up your alley if you’re looking for extra damage! It doesn’t have much overlap in compatible weapons with the Stabilizing Barrel, only the "Magsniper" iconMagsniper rifle.

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Guide Information
  • Publisher
    Bethesda Softworks
  • Platforms,
    PC, XB X|S
  • Genre
    Action Adventure, Action RPG, Shooter
  • Guide Release
    30 August 2023
  • Last Updated
    18 October 2023
    Version History
  • Guide Author

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Starfield is an action role-playing game from Bethesda Game Studios set in a futuristic interpretation of space exploration and colonization. Earth has long been abandoned, but there are plenty of other planets in different star systems where humans have ventured and settled. You have the freedom to create your own character with a unique background, but the main story will take you through a series of adventures as you uncover more information about mysterious artifacts which create gravitational anomalies. Along the way, you can build and customize your own space ship, establish your own outpost, befriend and romance new companions, and more. As a Bethesda game, you can also expect to see a lot of creative mods which have the potential to change your experience of the base game, or take it in an entirely new direction.

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