Facepunch Studios released Garry's Mod on November 29, 2006, built on Valve's Source engine and sold with no objectives at all in its base mode. By November 2024 it had sold 25.56 million copies, which makes it the best selling PC exclusive game ever released. Almost everything people actually play in it, from Trouble in Terrorist Town to DarkRP, is Lua written by the community rather than by Facepunch.
Your choice of equipment defines your damage output and playstyle. This guide ranks every major option, explains what makes each one strong, and tells you which builds they pair best with.
Equipment Rankings
| Equipment | Tier | Best For | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physics Gun | S | Every build, every ragdoll pose, and rescuing anything that has fallen through the world. | The blue gravity tool that grabs, moves, rotates and freezes props and ragdolls. |
| Tool Gun | A | Turning a pile of frozen props into an actual machine. | The multi mode tool that carries every constraint, construction, posing and render function. |
| Weld tool | A | Building any chassis or frame before thrusters, wheels or balloons are attached. | A constraint that fuses one prop to another prop, a wall or an entity, with an adjustable breaking force so joints can be made to snap under load. |
| Thruster tool | B | Rockets, hovercraft and anything that needs directional force on a key press. | Attaches a numeric keypad controlled thruster to a prop or wall, with adjustable force and effect. |
| Wiremod | B | Automated machines, working vehicles with instruments, and anything that needs to react rather than just move. | The best known community addon, adding logic gates, sensors, screens, keypads and expression processors as Tool Gun modes. |
S-Tier: Physics Gun
The blue gravity tool that grabs, moves, rotates and freezes props and ragdolls. Left click grabs, scroll adjusts distance, right click freezes and R unfreezes everything at once.
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Tier | S |
| Best For | Every build, every ragdoll pose, and rescuing anything that has fallen through the world. |
| Key Mechanic | Physics Gun handling |
| Recommended Build | Sandbox |
How to get it: Available from mid-game onward. See our walkthrough for the exact progression point.
Best builds using Physics Gun: Pairs naturally with Sandbox thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.
A-Tier: Tool Gun
The multi mode tool that carries every constraint, construction, posing and render function. Hold Q, pick the mode from the spawn menu, then left click the target props in order.
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Tier | A |
| Best For | Turning a pile of frozen props into an actual machine. |
| Key Mechanic | Tool Gun categories |
| Recommended Build | Trouble in Terrorist Town |
How to get it: Accessible in the early-to-mid game. Check our maps guide for the location.
Best builds using Tool Gun: Pairs naturally with Trouble in Terrorist Town thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.
A-Tier: Weld tool
A constraint that fuses one prop to another prop, a wall or an entity, with an adjustable breaking force so joints can be made to snap under load.
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Tier | A |
| Best For | Building any chassis or frame before thrusters, wheels or balloons are attached. |
| Key Mechanic | Lua gamemodes |
| Recommended Build | DarkRP |
How to get it: Accessible in the early-to-mid game. Check our maps guide for the location.
Best builds using Weld tool: Pairs naturally with DarkRP thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.
B-Tier: Thruster tool
Attaches a numeric keypad controlled thruster to a prop or wall, with adjustable force and effect. Paired with Weld it is the basis of most flying contraptions.
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Tier | B |
| Best For | Rockets, hovercraft and anything that needs directional force on a key press. |
| Key Mechanic | Steam Workshop addons |
| Recommended Build | Prop Hunt |
How to get it: Found in later areas. Our walkthrough covers when you can access this.
Best builds using Thruster tool: Pairs naturally with Prop Hunt thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.
B-Tier: Wiremod
The best known community addon, adding logic gates, sensors, screens, keypads and expression processors as Tool Gun modes. It is required content on most build servers.
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Tier | B |
| Best For | Automated machines, working vehicles with instruments, and anything that needs to react rather than just move. |
| Key Mechanic | Mounting other Source games |
| Recommended Build | Murder |
How to get it: Found in later areas. Our walkthrough covers when you can access this.
Best builds using Wiremod: Pairs naturally with Murder thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.
Equipment Progression Path
The order you should acquire equipment as you progress:
- Starting gear → Enough to clear gm_construct
- Tool Gun → Your first real upgrade, available early
- Weld tool → Mid-game upgrade with good scaling
- Physics Gun → Best-in-slot, aim for this by late game
- Upgrade to max → The power spike from max upgrades is enormous
Equipment Tips
- Always upgrade your primary equipment before diversifying. One strong option beats three mediocre ones.
- Match your equipment to your build's stat priorities for maximum scaling.
- Install and mount Counter-Strike: Source before you touch the Workshop. A large share of popular maps and addons reference its textures and models, and without it you get purple and black checkerboards plus floating ERROR text where props should be.
- Check our tier list for how equipment rankings affect overall build effectiveness.
More Garry's Mod Guides
- Garry's Mod Garry's Mod Overview
- Garry's Mod Best Builds
- Garry's Mod Tier List
- Garry's Mod Walkthrough
- Garry's Mod Beginner's Guide
- Garry's Mod Tips & Tricks
- Garry's Mod Combat Guide
- Garry's Mod Boss Guide
- Garry's Mod Maps & Locations
- Garry's Mod Crafting Guide
- Garry's Mod Classes & Characters
Similar Games
If you enjoy Garry's Mod, check out these related guides:
- Terraria Weapons Guide: sandbox game with similar mechanics
- VRChat Weapons Guide: sandbox game with similar mechanics
- Tabletop Simulator Weapons Guide: sandbox game with similar mechanics
