Far Far West Weapon Leveling: How to Level Up Fast

Far Far West weapon leveling runs on damage dealt, not kills, which changes how you should actually play if you're trying to level a specific weapon fast: a weapon doing chip damage across a dozen enemies levels slower than one landing hard hits on fewer targets, even with the same total kill count.

TL;DR: Far Far West weapon leveling is based on damage dealt while a weapon is equipped, and it scales with difficulty, so tougher content grants more XP per hit. Leveling unlocks Joker Slots on that weapon, while Gold spent at the Weaponsmith provides separate direct stat upgrades. Prestige unlocks at level 100, letting you re-level for permanent bonus points. The fastest leveling approach: keep your target weapon as primary damage output and push the hardest difficulty you can consistently clear.

How does weapon leveling work in Far Far West? (quick answer)

Weapons earn XP from damage dealt while equipped, not from kills or playtime, and that XP scales up with difficulty. A weapon actively dealing damage on a hard run levels significantly faster than the same weapon coasting through easy content.

Key takeaways

• Weapon XP comes from damage dealt while that weapon is equipped, not from kills.
• XP scales with difficulty: tougher enemies and harder settings grant more XP per point of damage.
• Leveling unlocks Joker Slots on the specific weapon, letting you attach more Joker cards to it.
• Gold spent at the Weaponsmith is a separate system, providing direct stat upgrades independent of leveling.
• Prestige unlocks at level 100, and re-leveling after prestiging grants permanent bonus points.

Why damage dealt matters more than kill count

The core thing to understand about Far Far West's weapon leveling is that it's not tracking how many enemies you kill with a weapon: it's tracking the actual damage output while that weapon is your active tool. That means a weapon you're using to finish off already-weakened enemies contributes less XP than one doing the primary damage work in a fight, even if the finishing-blow weapon technically racks up more kills. If you're trying to level a specific weapon, make it your main damage source for the run, not a cleanup tool you switch to at the end of encounters.

This also means weapon swapping strategically hurts leveling progress on any individual weapon. Players who rotate between two or three weapons evenly across a run split the available damage-based XP between them, which is fine if you're trying to level a full loadout gradually, but slower than committing to one weapon if a specific level milestone is your goal.

A high-damage moment against a grouped enemy cluster, exactly the kind of sustained output that levels a weapon fastest, versus scattered chip damage across the same fight.

Area-of-effect weapons and abilities complicate this slightly: a weapon that hits multiple enemies per shot can rack up more total damage-based XP per second than a single-target weapon, even against the same encounter, simply because the damage is being counted across every enemy the hit connects with. If your goal is leveling speed specifically rather than build performance, a weapon with wider hit coverage is worth considering over a narrower, higher-per-hit option, provided it's still landing meaningful damage rather than spreading thin across enemies it barely scratches.

What leveling actually unlocks

Leveling up a weapon unlocks Joker Slots specifically on that weapon, which is a separate progression track from your character's overall Joker pool. More slots on a given weapon means more room to stack the constant-trigger Jokers that matter most in Far Far West's advanced play, so a weapon you're planning to build a full loadout around is worth prioritizing for leveling specifically to unlock those extra slots.

Gold spent at the Weaponsmith is a distinct system running alongside weapon leveling, not a replacement for it. Weaponsmith upgrades provide direct stat improvements you can apply with currency earned during runs, while leveling requires actually using the weapon in combat. The two systems compound: a weapon that's both leveled and Weaponsmith-upgraded outperforms one that's only benefited from one or the other.

GODEEPER: Once you've leveled a weapon and unlocked its Joker Slots, deciding which Jokers to actually fill them with is the next decision. Far Far West Jokers Tier List: All 94 Cards Ranked →

Prestige: what happens at level 100

Prestige unlocks once a weapon, or your hero, reaches level 100, not a lower milestone some guides shorthand it to. Re-leveling after prestiging resets that level in exchange for permanent bonus points you spend on things like extra upgrade slots and Joker Slots, following the same prestige-loop structure common across other games with deep weapon-progression systems: you reset in exchange for a lasting improvement, then level back up again to bank that gain. The prestige cap itself has moved during Early Access too. Evil Raptor raised the number of times you can prestige from 10 to 15 in the game's first major content update, so treat any specific cap you read as a snapshot, not a permanent ceiling. If you're working toward Prestige on a specific weapon, the damage-dealt XP model still applies at level 100 exactly as it does at level 1, so the same "keep it as your primary weapon" advice holds all the way through.

Boss fights are where difficulty-scaled weapon XP pays off most: sustained damage against a single high-HP target racks up leveling progress fast, provided your weapon can keep landing hits through the fight's mobility phases.

Boss encounters specifically are worth calling out for Prestige grinding. A boss fight concentrates a large amount of damage output against a single target over an extended period, which means a weapon that can consistently land hits through a boss's movement and attack patterns accumulates XP at a steady, predictable rate that regular wave-clearing doesn't always match. If you're pushing toward level 100 on a specific weapon and the run includes an optional or repeatable boss encounter, prioritizing that fight over skipping ahead is usually worth the extra time.

Tips for leveling weapons efficiently

• Commit to one weapon as your primary damage source for a run if leveling that specific weapon is your goal, rather than splitting damage output across your full loadout.
• Push the hardest difficulty you can consistently clear. XP scales with difficulty, so a run you can reliably finish on a harder setting levels weapons faster than easy-difficulty grinding, but a failed run costs more progress than the difficulty bonus is worth.
• Treat Weaponsmith Gold upgrades and weapon leveling as two separate resources to invest in, not interchangeable options. Both matter, and neither substitutes for the other.
• Prioritize leveling whichever weapon you're planning to build a full Joker loadout around, since Joker Slots are unlocked per weapon, not shared across your full arsenal.
• If you're switching between multiple weapons you want to eventually level, do it in dedicated blocks rather than constantly alternating. A full run dedicated to one weapon, followed by a full run dedicated to the next, banks more total XP per weapon than splitting every single run evenly.
• Don't neglect Weaponsmith Gold spending just because you're focused on leveling. A weapon sitting at a high level with no Weaponsmith investment is leaving stat improvements on the table that don't require any additional playtime to claim.

What this means for your overall loadout strategy

Weapon leveling in Far Far West rewards focus over breadth, at least in the short term. Trying to level three or four weapons simultaneously by rotating through them evenly will eventually get you there, but it takes meaningfully longer than picking one or two priority weapons and committing to them across several runs before moving to the next. For most players, the practical approach is picking whichever weapon fits your preferred playstyle and elemental focus, leveling that one to a comfortable point, unlocking its Joker Slots, and only then starting on a second weapon once the first is contributing real value to your build.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does weapon leveling work in Far Far West? Weapons earn XP from damage dealt while equipped, not from kills or general playtime. Tougher enemies grant more XP per hit, and the XP scales with difficulty, so harder runs level your weapon faster than easier ones.

What does leveling up a weapon unlock in Far Far West? Leveling unlocks Joker Slots on that specific weapon, letting you attach more Joker cards to it. Gold spent at the Weaponsmith provides separate, direct stat upgrades on top of the leveling system.

What is Prestige in Far Far West? Prestige unlocks once a weapon, or your hero, hits level 100. Re-leveling resets that level for permanent bonus points to spend on upgrade slots and Joker Slots, the standard prestige-loop structure seen across other games with weapon leveling systems.

What's the fastest way to level a weapon in Far Far West? Keep your target weapon equipped as your primary damage source, since XP only counts for whichever weapon is actively dealing the damage. Run the hardest difficulty you can consistently clear, since a failed run costs more progress than the difficulty bonus buys back.

Does difficulty affect how fast weapons level in Far Far West? Yes. Weapon XP scales with difficulty, meaning harder content grants more XP per point of damage dealt. This makes pushing difficulty, within what you can reliably clear, more efficient than grinding easy content for volume.

Related Reading

• Far Far West Boss Guide: All Four Bosses and Strategies: Far far west boss guide: all four Cryptic bosses with attack patterns, weak points, best
• Far Far West Best Weapons: Tier List and Loadout Picks: deciding which weapon is worth prioritizing for leveling in the first place.
• Far Far West Builds Guide: All 3 Archetypes: how a fully leveled, Joker-loaded weapon fits into the game's broader build strategy.

References

• Far Far West on Steam
• Evil Raptor on Steam