Guides / ONI Snakes: Armored Arena

ONI Snakes Weapons Guide: All 6 Guns, Abilities and Core Upgrades

ONI Games · Published September 30, 2026

The Blaster, Uzi, Shotgun, Rifle, Sniper and Rocket of ONI Snakes: Armored Arena with their real numbers, how heat and cells limit your fire, which gun fits which style, the three abilities and all 12 core upgrades, with three builds that work.

ONI Snakes: Armored Arena gives your snake three kinds of firepower: a gun, a special ability and a set of core upgrades. Our short answer on the best gun: the Rifle for players who aim, the Shotgun for brawlers who ram, and the Rocket once you reach rank 14, because it hurts several snakes at once. Each gun plays very differently, though, so here are the real numbers.

We make ONI Snakes, so every number here comes from the game's code.

All six guns

Gun	Opens at	Price	Between shots	Per shot	Cells a shot
Blaster	rank 2	free	0.42 s	2 bolts	1
Uzi	rank 4	1,500 coins or 120 gems	0.11 s	1 small bolt	1/3
Shotgun	rank 6	2,500 coins or 200 gems	0.85 s	6 pellets	2
Rifle	rank 8	3,500 coins or 280 gems	0.3 s	1 fast bolt	1
Sniper	rank 11	5,000 coins or 400 gems	1.35 s	1 heavy bolt	2
Rocket	rank 14	7,500 coins or 600 gems	1.6 s	1 rocket	3

Coins buy a gun from its rank on; gems buy it at any rank. Guns can also be assembled from blueprints, which come from chests and the Black Market.

Blaster (Common): twin bolts from both sides of the mouth, good at everything. Each bolt flies 2.5 degrees outward, so both land only up close.
Uzi (Common): a stream of small bolts, each worth a bit under half a Blaster bolt, spraying up to 9 degrees. Weak one by one, deadly held on a target.
Shotgun (Rare): a 28-degree cone of 6 pellets that fly just over half as far as a Blaster bolt. Murderous up close, harmless far away.
Rifle (Rare): quick, straight and far, with 35% more range and speed than the Blaster.
Sniper (Epic): one slow hit worth 2.6 bolts that flies 2.4 times as far and goes through the first snake. On the head it knocks off 1.5 times the plates.
Rocket (Legendary): a slow rocket worth 2 bolts that bursts on impact, hurts every snake in its blast and throws them back.

Heat, cells and how long you can shoot

Two things stop a gun: cells and heat. A full magazine of 6 cells is 6 Blaster or Rifle shots, about 18 Uzi bullets, 3 Shotgun or Sniper shots, or 2 rockets. After that each shot costs one of your plates.

Heat builds with every shot and starts to cool 0.3 seconds after the last one. At their normal rate the Shotgun, Sniper and Rocket cool down fully between shots, so holding FIRE never overheats them. The Uzi overheats after about 16 bullets in a row, the Rifle after 9 shots and the Blaster only after about 11 seconds of non-stop fire. An overheated gun locks for 1.4 seconds.

Every gun level makes it run a little cooler and fire a little faster, up to 30% less heat and 13% faster fire at level 25.

Which gun fits your style

You are learning: Blaster. Forgiving, cheap on cells, and it rarely overheats.
You like to aim: Rifle. It reaches snakes the Blaster cannot and strips a runner before it escapes.
You like to brawl: Shotgun. Ram into a snake (hold DASH), turn and fire: 6 pellets at point-blank range strip plates fast.
You hunt giants: Sniper. Its bolt goes through the first snake and hits for 2.6 bolts, 1.5 times that on the head.
You fight crowds: Rocket. Every snake in the blast loses plates and is thrown back, which is gold in King of the Hill and Team Battle.
You finish cores: Uzi. A bare core is fast, and a stream of bullets is the easiest way to land that last hit.

Abilities: Salvo, Iron Shell and Fire Trail

Your ability is one special button in the match with its own cooldown, and it starts every match half charged. Pick it in the ARSENAL.

Ability	Opens at	Cooldown, level 1 to 5	What it does, level 1 to 5
Salvo	rank 2	20 s to 16 s	a fan of 7 to 11 bolts at once, with no heat and no cells
Iron Shell	rank 4	24 s to 20 s	3.5 to 5.1 seconds in which no hit gets through
Fire Trail	rank 6	22 s to 18 s	4.5 to 6.5 seconds 30% faster, leaving fire that burns whoever crosses it

While Iron Shell is up, crashing into a snake does not kill you either: you cut it in two where your head hits, taking up to 60% of its length. It is the strongest way to break a coil.

An ability's level is 1 plus the number of core upgrades you own in its branch, so it reaches level 5 when you own all four: Assault levels Salvo, Bulwark levels Iron Shell and Runner levels Fire Trail.

Core upgrades

CORE UPGRADES is a skill tree of 12 upgrades in three branches. Chips unlock an upgrade: you earn one for every rank and three on every fifth rank. Coins then level it from 1 to 10; level 1 gives 40% of its full effect and level 10 all of it, and each level also needs a rank, 3 more for every level. Only a few upgrades can be equipped at once: 3 at first, 4 from rank 10, 5 from rank 25 and 6 from rank 45.

Branch	Upgrade	Chips	Rank	Level 1 to 10
Assault	Rapid Cycler	1	1	10% to 25% less time between shots
Assault	Long Barrel	1	4	18% to 45% more bolt range, 8% to 20% more speed
Assault	Hot Rounds	2	8	40% to 100% chance to knock off 1 extra plate
Assault	Focused Twin	2	14	bolts fly straight, 4% to 10% more speed
Bulwark	Capacity	1	1	1 to 3 more charge cells
Bulwark	Deep Core	1	3	1.6 to 4 more seconds as a bare core
Bulwark	Thick Plating	2	6	40% to 100% chance to lose 1 plate less per hit
Bulwark	Salvage	2	12	40% to 100% chance that a hit you land drops a cell
Runner	Magnetic	1	1	32% to 80% more cell pickup range
Runner	Quick Step	1	2	16% to 40% shorter dodge cooldown
Runner	Core Sprint	1	5	10% to 25% more speed as a bare core
Runner	Free Runner	2	10	20% to 50% of dodges cost no cell

Taking one upgrade from level 1 to 10 costs 69,050 coins: 750 for level 2, then about half as much again for each level, up to 25,000 for level 10.

Three builds that work

Sharpshooter: Rifle or Sniper and Salvo, with Rapid Cycler, Long Barrel and Hot Rounds. Strip snakes from range and finish them before they reach you.
Brawler: Shotgun and Iron Shell, with Thick Plating, Capacity and Quick Step. Ram in, blast, and drive through snakes while the shell is up.
Runner: Uzi and Fire Trail, with Quick Step, Core Sprint and Magnetic. Circle a big snake, lay fire across its path and finish the core with a spray.

Your drones add a third layer to any build; see our drones guide.

FAQ

What is the best gun in ONI Snakes?

There is no single best one. The Rifle is the strongest all-round pick for players who aim, the Shotgun wins close fights and rams, and the Rocket, from rank 14, is best against groups. Start with the Blaster, which is free at rank 2.

How do I get the Rocket early?

Coins buy it only from rank 14, but gems buy it at any rank (600 gems), and its blueprints drop from chests and the Black Market.

Why does my gun stop firing?

Either it overheated and is locked for 1.4 seconds, or you ran out of cells and have fewer than 6 plates to pay for a shot. Fire in bursts and pick up cells.