Every weapon in DIVE or DIE: Children of Rain has a specific purpose. Unlike many survival games where you simply use the weapon with the highest damage, combat here revolves around damage types, enemy weaknesses, ammunition selection, and upgrades. Using the wrong weapon—or even the wrong dart—can make certain enemies nearly impossible to kill.
After spending time experimenting with different loadouts, one thing becomes obvious: carrying the correct ammunition is often more important than having the highest damage number. A basic dart with the correct damage type can outperform a stronger dart that’s ineffective against your target.
This DIVE or DIE Children of Rain Weapons Guide – Stats, Upgrades explains every weapon, upgrade, and ammunition type so you know exactly what to bring before heading into dangerous areas.
Diving Knife
The Diving Knife is the first weapon you’ll unlock and remains useful throughout the entire game. Since it never requires ammunition, it’s your most reliable backup weapon whenever resources become scarce.
Basic Stats
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Damage | 8 |
| Damage Type | Slash |
| Cooldown | 0.7 Seconds |
| Weight | 0.5 |
| Tier | 1 |
| Crafting Cost | 1 Iron Ore |
Although its base damage isn’t particularly high, the knife scales extremely well with upgrades and eventually becomes one of the strongest melee weapons available.
Martial Arts Upgrades
The Martial Arts skill line directly increases the Diving Knife’s damage.
| Upgrade | Damage |
|---|---|
| Base Knife | 8 |
| Martial Arts I | 12 |
| Martial Arts II | 16 |
| Martial Arts III | 20 |
| Martial Arts IV | 24 |
Beyond increasing damage, Martial Arts III and Martial Arts IV also improve the knife’s attack range by increasing its area of effect.
That extra reach makes fighting groups of enemies noticeably easier since your swings connect more consistently.
Blood Blade
Blood Blade transforms the standard Diving Knife into something much stronger.
Instead of dealing only Slash damage, every attack now deals both:
- Slash Damage
- Eldritch Damage
The upgrade also adds 10 additional damage before any other modifiers are calculated.
Blood Blade Damage
| Setup | Damage |
|---|---|
| Blood Blade | 18 |
| Blood Blade + Martial Arts IV | 34 |
| Blood Blade + Martial Arts IV + Slayer | 68 |
The combination of Blood Blade and Slayer creates one of the highest-damaging melee builds currently available.
If you enjoy fighting at close range, this upgrade is well worth investing in.
Slayer Perk
Slayer doesn’t simply add flat damage.
Instead, it doubles your final damage after every other modifier has already been applied.
For example:
- Knife Damage
- Martial Arts Bonus
- Blood Blade Bonus
are all calculated first.
Only then does Slayer multiply the final number by two.
Because of this, Slayer becomes increasingly powerful as your build improves.
Special Targets for the Diving Knife
Certain environmental hazards and enemies cannot be damaged by normal attacks.
Parasites
Normal Diving Knife attacks do nothing against Parasites.
They require:
- Eldritch Damage
- Rain Damage
Blood Blade solves this problem by adding Eldritch damage to every knife swing.
Killer Algae Tentacles
These can only be destroyed using:
- Slash Damage
- Rain Damage
Since the standard Diving Knife naturally deals Slash damage, it destroys tentacles without any upgrades.
Web Coral
Web Coral follows similar rules.
Only:
- Slash Damage
- Rain Damage
can destroy it.
Again, the standard knife already works perfectly.
Needle Gun
The Needle Gun is your primary ranged weapon.
Unlike the Diving Knife, its effectiveness depends almost entirely on the ammunition you’re using.
Choosing the correct dart for the situation is often more important than upgrading the weapon itself.
Basic Stats
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Cooldown | 0.5 Seconds |
| Magazine Size | 8 |
| Weight | 0.5 |
| Tier | 1 |
| Crafting Cost | 1 Iron Ore, 1 Carbon, 1 Copper Ore |
The shorter cooldown allows it to fire much faster than the Diving Knife can swing.
Gun Handling Upgrades
Gun Handling increases every dart’s damage.
| Rank | Damage Multiplier | Extra Effect |
|---|---|---|
| None | 100% | None |
| Gun Handling I | 130% | None |
| Gun Handling II | 160% | None |
| Gun Handling III | 190% | Recover Fired Darts |
| Gun Handling IV | 220% | Recover Fired Darts |
Being able to recover ammunition at higher ranks is an excellent quality-of-life improvement because it significantly reduces resource consumption during long expeditions.
Flechette Darts
Flechette Darts are your standard ammunition.
| Damage Type | Pierce |
|---|---|
| Base Damage | 12 |
| Gun Handling IV Damage | 26 |
These are dependable all-purpose darts that work well against ordinary enemies.
When you’re unsure what you’ll encounter, Flechettes are always a safe option.
Serrated Darts
Serrated Darts specialize in Slash damage.
| Damage Type | Slash |
|---|---|
| Base Damage | 20 |
| Gun Handling IV Damage | 44 |
Their biggest advantage isn’t just higher damage.
They’re also capable of destroying:
- Killer Algae Tentacles
- Web Coral
If you’re heading into an area filled with these hazards, Serrated Darts are an excellent choice.
Corrosive Darts
Corrosive Darts deal Corrosion damage.
| Damage Type | Corrosion |
|---|---|
| Base Damage | 16 |
| Gun Handling IV Damage | 35 |
Although their description suggests corrosion, there is currently no confirmed damage-over-time effect.
For now, treat them as another specialized damage type rather than a poison weapon.
Tranquilizing Darts
Tranquilizing Darts aren’t designed to deal damage.
Instead, they temporarily disable enemies.
| Damage | 0 |
|---|---|
| Effect | Pacifies Target for 10 Seconds |
A pacified enemy remains harmless for ten seconds.
One important limitation is that repeatedly shooting an already pacified target does not refresh the timer.
Because of this, timing matters much more than spamming tranquilizer shots.
Foam Darts
Foam Darts also deal no traditional damage.
Instead, they instantly eliminate specific enemy types.
These include:
- Locusts
- Sanity Leeches
Against every other enemy, Foam Darts provide little value.
They’re highly specialized ammunition that’s best carried only when you know you’ll encounter those creatures.
Rain Darts
Rain Darts are currently the highest damage ammunition available.
| Damage Type | Rain |
|---|---|
| Base Damage | 50 |
| Gun Handling IV Damage | 110 |
Besides incredible damage, Rain Darts also interact with many otherwise protected enemies.
They can damage:
- Parasites
- Killer Algae Tentacles
- Web Coral
- Nearly every standard enemy
However, Rain damage still doesn’t bypass enemies with true invulnerability mechanics.
Even so, Rain Darts are arguably the strongest general-purpose ammunition in the game.
Blood Darts
Blood Darts use Eldritch damage.
| Damage Type | Eldritch |
|---|---|
| Base Damage | 16 |
| Gun Handling IV Damage | 35 |
Their primary purpose is damaging enemies immune to conventional attacks, particularly Parasites.
The trade-off is significant.
Every shot consumes 10% of your maximum health.
Fortunately, the game prevents accidental suicide by refusing to fire if your current health isn’t high enough to pay the cost.
Because of that safety feature, Blood Darts are surprisingly practical as emergency ammunition rather than something you need to fear using.
Needle Gun Upgrades
The Needle Gun has several upgrades that improve both its capacity and versatility.
Large Chamber
Large Chamber increases the magazine size from 8 rounds to 14 rounds.
The extra capacity means fewer reloads during extended fights and is one of the most useful upgrades for general gameplay.
Eldritch Chamber
Eldritch Chamber dramatically increases the magazine capacity to the game’s maximum limit of 99 rounds.
For players who rely heavily on ranged combat, this upgrade almost eliminates the need to reload during most encounters.
Blood Infusion
Blood Infusion unlocks Blood Dart ammunition.
It’s important to understand that this upgrade does not convert every dart into Eldritch damage.
Instead, it simply unlocks Blood Darts as an additional ammunition option that you can manually select whenever you need Eldritch damage.
Choosing the Right Weapon
The Diving Knife is reliable, never runs out of durability or ammunition, and becomes surprisingly powerful after investing in Martial Arts and Blood Blade. If you enjoy staying close to enemies and conserving resources, it’s a fantastic long-term weapon.
The Needle Gun, on the other hand, offers far greater flexibility. Different dart types allow you to handle everything from crowd control and utility to high-damage boss encounters. Carrying a mix of ammunition gives you an answer for nearly every situation the game throws at you.
Personally, I never head out with just one type of dart. Flechettes are great for everyday encounters, but having Rain Darts for high-priority targets and a few Blood Darts for Eldritch-immune enemies has saved more expeditions than I can count. In DIVE or DIE, success isn’t just about dealing the most damage—it’s about bringing the right tool for the right fight.