What is the best looter shooter on PC?

Borderlands 3 is the best all-round recommendation because it combines four Vault Hunters, extensive weapon variety, flexible skill trees, solo play and online or LAN co-op.

What is the best co-op looter shooter?

Borderlands 3 is the most accessible co-op choice. OUTRIDERS is better for ability-driven builds, while Remnant: From the Ashes suits groups seeking difficult bosses and dodge-based combat.

What is the best tactical looter shooter?

Tom Clancy's The Division is the strongest cover-based tactical option. Escape from Tarkov is more realistic and punishing, but its extraction structure makes it a different kind of looter shooter.

Which looter shooter has the best open world?

Fallout 76 is the strongest exploration-focused choice because it combines quests, scavenging, crafting and base building across a shared post-apocalyptic world.

Which looter shooter is suitable for a lower-spec PC?

Borderlands 3 and Tom Clancy's The Division each list 6 GB RAM, the lowest memory requirement among these picks. Their complete graphics, processor and storage requirements should still be checked.

6 Best Looter Shooters for Combat and Gear

Best looter shooters at a glance

Game	Best for	Core loot loop
Borderlands 3	Best overall looter shooter	Huge weapon pool and class builds
OUTRIDERS	Best ability-driven shooter	Gear mods, powers and escalating difficulty
Remnant: From the Ashes	Best boss-focused co-op	Procedural worlds, weapons and upgrades
Tom Clancy’s The Division	Best tactical looter shooter	Cover combat, equipment and Dark Zone risk
Fallout 76	Best open-world looter RPG	Exploration, crafting, events and base building
Escape from Tarkov	Best hardcore extraction looter	High-risk raids and persistent equipment

How these looter shooters were selected

The ranking considers:

Shooting quality and combat feedback
The usefulness and variety of dropped equipment
Build depth through classes, skills, mods or armor
Solo, cooperative and competitive options
Mission, boss or world variety
Whether endgame progression supports continued play
Accessibility compared with mechanical depth
PC memory and storage requirements where listed

Escape from Tarkov is treated as an extraction-shooter boundary case. Loot remains central, but the objective is to leave a raid alive with equipment rather than steadily clear a conventional campaign map.

1. Borderlands 3

Best overall looter shooter

Borderlands 3 offers the clearest version of the genre’s core loop: defeat enemies, inspect a stream of weapons and improve a specialized character build.

Four Vault Hunters provide different action skills and skill trees. One character can therefore support several approaches rather than remaining fixed to a single role.

Weapons vary through manufacturer behavior, elemental effects, firing patterns and unusual traits. Comparing equipment involves more than selecting the highest damage number.

The campaign travels across several worlds, preventing the loot grind from remaining inside one visual environment.

Co-op allows groups to combine crowd control, survivability and direct damage. Solo play remains fully supported for players who prefer to develop a build independently.

Supported modes are single-player, LAN co-op and online co-op with full controller support. Minimum requirements include 6 GB RAM and 75 GB of storage.

Choose Borderlands 3 for accessible co-op, class variety and the largest emphasis on unpredictable weapons.

2. OUTRIDERS

Best ability-driven looter shooter

OUTRIDERS combines third-person gunplay with aggressive class abilities inside a science-fiction campaign.

Each class uses powers that encourage a particular combat rhythm. Abilities are not occasional emergency tools because regular use is central to survival and damage.

Weapons and armor carry modifications that alter abilities or create interactions between attacks. Strong builds emerge when equipment supports a coherent plan rather than a collection of individually powerful items.

Escalating difficulty increases risk and reward, giving players a reason to refine resistance, cooldowns, status effects and weapon choices.

The campaign supports solo play and online co-op. Enemy pressure makes coordinated abilities especially useful when several players combine roles.

The listed requirements list 8 GB RAM and 100 GB of storage, the largest installation among these picks.

Choose OUTRIDERS when supernatural powers and build synergies should matter as much as the firearms themselves.

3. Remnant: From the Ashes

Best boss-focused co-op looter shooter

Remnant: From the Ashes combines third-person shooting with stamina, dodging and demanding encounters inspired by Soulslike design.

The player explores worlds affected by an interdimensional threat. Procedural variation can change layouts, events and bosses between campaigns.

Weapons can equip modifications that add offensive, defensive or utility abilities. Armor, traits and upgrades further shape the build.

Bosses reward pattern recognition and positioning rather than standing still and relying only on item level.

The game supports solo play and online co-op for up to three participants. Teamwork can make encounters more manageable, but additional players do not remove the need to avoid attacks.

The listed minimum is 8 GB RAM, with full controller support.

Choose Remnant for difficult bosses, compact co-op teams and loot progression tied to deliberate combat.

4. Tom Clancy’s The Division

Best tactical looter shooter

Tom Clancy’s The Division takes place in a crisis-stricken New York where the player restores infrastructure, confronts hostile factions and develops an agent build.

Cover is central to combat. Moving carelessly into open space can erase the advantage of stronger equipment.

Weapons, armor and skills support damage, durability, healing and electronic tools. Group composition becomes important when missions grow more demanding.

The Dark Zone combines valuable loot, hostile AI and the possibility of conflict with other players. Extracting equipment introduces risk beyond an ordinary mission reward screen.

Supported modes are single-player, online co-op and online PvP with full controller support. Minimum requirements include 6 GB RAM and 40 GB of storage.

Choose The Division for grounded presentation, cover-based tactics and a hybrid of cooperative missions and risky shared zones.

5. Fallout 76

Best open-world looter RPG

Fallout 76 expands looting and shooting into a shared post-apocalyptic role-playing world.

Exploration supplies weapons, armor, crafting materials and environmental stories. Loot supports survival and construction as well as direct combat.

The SPECIAL system and perk cards shape character development. Players can specialize in weapon categories, crafting, team support or other roles.

CAMP building provides a persistent home for storage, production and customization. Public events create reasons for nearby players to cooperate against larger threats.

The game is online multiplayer and includes co-op and PvP features. Minimum requirements include 8 GB RAM and 96 GB of storage.

Choose Fallout 76 when open-world wandering, quests and base building matter more than a tightly directed mission campaign.

6. Escape from Tarkov

Best hardcore extraction looter shooter

Escape from Tarkov turns equipment into a wager. Players choose what to bring into a raid, search for more valuable items and attempt to reach an extraction point.

Failure can mean losing carried gear. This consequence changes how every weapon, medical item and backpack is valued.

Firearms support extensive customization, while ammunition, armor and injuries add layers beyond ordinary shooter statistics.

Maps reward route knowledge, sound awareness and preparation. Surviving does not require defeating everyone because avoiding unnecessary contact can protect a profitable raid.

Supported modes are online PvP and co-op features. Minimum requirements include 16 GB RAM and 80 GB of storage, making it the most demanding memory requirement in this ranking.

Choose Escape from Tarkov for high-risk tactical raids and realistic preparation. It is the least beginner-friendly option and differs significantly from campaign-led looter shooters.

Which looter shooter should you play first?

Match the recommendation to the experience you want:

Chaotic weapons and accessible co-op: Borderlands 3
Powers and gear-mod synergies: OUTRIDERS
Soulslike bosses with guns: Remnant: From the Ashes
Tactical cover combat: Tom Clancy’s The Division
Open-world exploration and building: Fallout 76
High-risk extraction raids: Escape from Tarkov

Borderlands 3 is the safest first choice for learning the genre. OUTRIDERS is better for ability-heavy combat, while The Division suits players who prefer grounded team tactics.

What is a looter shooter?

A looter shooter combines shooter mechanics with RPG-style equipment progression. Combat produces weapons, armor or modifications that improve the character and enable harder activities.

The strongest games make loot change behavior rather than only increase damage. Borderlands weapons have distinct manufacturer traits, OUTRIDERS mods alter abilities and Remnant equipment supports different combat roles.

A useful loop contains three stages: complete an activity, evaluate the reward and adjust the build before attempting a more difficult objective.

Extraction shooters modify that loop by adding the possibility of losing carried equipment. Escape from Tarkov therefore belongs near the genre while creating a much harsher risk structure.

Best co-op looter shooters

Borderlands 3 is the strongest general co-op recommendation because its classes, weapons and campaign remain approachable across skill levels.

OUTRIDERS rewards coordinated powers and build synergies. Remnant: From the Ashes is better for smaller groups seeking demanding bosses.

Tom Clancy’s The Division emphasizes cover, support skills and controlled movement. Fallout 76 provides a looser shared-world experience with events and exploration.

Choose according to group structure: campaign chaos for Borderlands, ability combinations for OUTRIDERS, bosses for Remnant or tactical missions for The Division.

Looter shooters versus extraction shooters

Traditional looter shooters allow equipment to accumulate through missions and progression. A failed Borderlands or OUTRIDERS encounter does not usually remove the character’s main loadout.

Extraction shooters make survival part of the reward. Loot found in Escape from Tarkov only becomes secure after a successful exit, while carried equipment can be lost.

This makes extraction play slower and more cautious. Information about routes, sound and likely player movement can be as valuable as mechanical aim.

Players interested primarily in that structure can continue with the best tactical shooter games.

Best looter shooters for lower-spec PCs

Borderlands 3 and Tom Clancy’s The Division each list 6 GB RAM. The Division requires 40 GB of storage, while Borderlands 3 lists 75 GB.

OUTRIDERS, Remnant: From the Ashes and Fallout 76 each list 8 GB RAM. OUTRIDERS requires 100 GB of storage, while Fallout 76 lists 96 GB.

Escape from Tarkov has the highest memory requirement at 16 GB RAM and lists an 80 GB installation.

Minimum requirements do not guarantee ideal performance. Compare the current processor, graphics, operating-system and complete requirements with the intended PC before purchasing.

More shooter games to explore

Players seeking broader PC recommendations can continue with the best PC shooters. Those wanting another ability-driven loot game can use the games like OUTRIDERS guide.

Final recommendations

Borderlands 3 is the best overall looter shooter in this selection because it combines accessible co-op, distinctive classes and enormous weapon variety. OUTRIDERS offers the strongest ability-driven builds, while Remnant: From the Ashes provides difficult boss-focused co-op.

Choose Tom Clancy’s The Division for tactical cover combat, Fallout 76 for shared-world exploration and base building, or Escape from Tarkov for high-risk extraction.

The right looter shooter depends on what should make the next drop exciting: an unusual weapon, a completed build, a defeated boss, a safer tactical role or the simple fact that the equipment survived the journey out.

The Best Looter Shooters