Which equipment is best?

Assuming you've perused the list of equipment and which shops to buy them in, you might be wondering which are best.

Though balance, and varied playstyles, are an important goal when having fun, this list intends to illustrate which items are objectively better at accomplishing certain goals.

Don't think that if an item you like isn't rated well here that you should stop using it, the enjoyment of the gamemode isn't to try and define a meta, but to have a good time.

These items are exceptional choices in their respective shops or provide unique opportunities that make them stand out:

• Harpoon - Effectively an instant kill at range and, if you miss, it's really funny to see a harpoon fly off somewhere meekly.
• Juggernog - Deciding to duck out of the way during a firefight and set your health to 150 is a very strong option to uneven the playing field.
• M4 SLAM - Pulling double duty as a tripmine and a lethally effective bomb you can use quickly for great effect, the SLAM feels like it shouldn't be tournament legal.
• Radar - Traitors have to kill everyone else to win, so not being able to find a player can often lose them the game; this is always useful one way or another.
• Stungun - More commonly called the Taser, being able to ragdoll a player makes most fights eminently winnable; you can also pick them up with the Magneto Stick and drop them from a ledge.

Great situational choices or solid picks that a seasoned veteran may get more use out of:

• Barnacle - As much as I love this and would personally put it higher, this does often kill the person placing it (or traps them in a space).
• Body Armour - Does nothing against damage sources other than bullets; an effective, if boring, choice.
• C4 - Has the potential to kill everyone on a small enough map but, on the negative side, it has the potential to kill everyone on a small enough map.
• Golden Gun - Passing this off to someone clears at least one person, or exposes a panicked Traitor, nearly every time.
• Handcuffs - Forcing a player to potentially drop traitor items and become disarmed is a very strong ability if you can spring it on them.
• Portal Gun - Doesn't always have a use but can be a legitimate boon to navigating the map, has combat potential, and can displace enemies as well as provide help.
• Position Swapper - If the map features lethal drops, this can be used to kill off a player by diving into it; the resultant confusion can help you clear their nearby friends in some cases.
• Uno Reverse - Reflecting damage is really funny, and can catch people out fairly often.
• Weeping Angel - Tagging someone for what is, essentially, a guaranteed kill is phenomenal. I wish I could say the same about the consistency/reliability of this SWEP's code working properly.

These items feature some overlap or drawback that spending a credit on other items wouldn't have, but they're still useful:

• DNA Scanner - It takes you from a dead body to the person that killed them, it's a strong tool if used correctly (doesn't check for RDM, so it will often lead you to vigilantes).
• Flare Gun - I love this as a tool but because it doesn't clear up blood splatters or other mess it is hard to see it as viable without good excuses.
• Health Station - This has won games, but it can also be stolen, broken, or used by the traitors to even the odds regardless.
• Homerun Bat - With the addition of a double jump to mitigate the potential fall damage, this is a much weaker item.
• Jet Pack - Being able to hide away somewhere high up is a frustrating strategy and also impossible on some maps; doesn't help in a fight to be slower and away from obstacles either.
• Minecraft Block - Despite fringe benefits, I would kill a Detective so that I could be the one to place silly funny blocks even if I was an Innocent.
• UMP Prototype - As we add better base weapons to the game, the UMP becomes less of an equaliser between skill and the available gun pool.

If these items have one-hundred fans, you might be one of them. If they have ten fans, you might be one of them. If they have one fan, you might be it:

• Disguiser - Becomes almost worthless with custom player models, Detectives rarely buy a Radar so hiding from it is often redundant.
• Killer Bungers - Fun to look at, and try to use effectively, but unfortunately they don't do as much damage as they could and are often hampered by navigating maps.
• Knife - An instant kill at close range only if the target is already hurt, it's a lot of criteria to ask for with the harpoon available.
• Minifier - Nobody in their right mind would feud with you, you're just a silly little guy.
• Randomat-4000 - Not bought to be an 'effective' item, but to mix things up. Can massively disadvantage your team, but not the point.
• Teleporter - Rarely comes in useful and requires premeditation; could be fun to 'find a C4' to gather people then teleport from the explosion.
• Visualiser - When it works, it's a neat effect, but you will very rarely learn anything you can't already know from examining a body; which this requires to function.