Well, you need the right weapon for the right job.
The right weapon to use can change in half a second and then again another half second later.
It depends on enemy locations and types.

You can group weapons in 5 broad categories, single target damage, crowd damage, crowd control (which usually means status effects), ranged attack and tech boost.
Tech boost for the most part is not very important for ranger/hunter (though no Hunewearl or Ramarl should be without umbrella or parasol), as you don't cast techs for damage unless you are a force (besides just goofing around and not caring about efficiency in the slightest bit.

But hunter and ranger require both single damage target and crowd damage at the very least (without it will suck) and preferably also crowd control. Hunter also really need decent ranged damage because a number of bosses (like Falz or Olga or SM) are extremely annoying to fight with melee weapons.

Then, the game is not super hard, so there are a number of weapons that are good enough to use and the specifics are up to you and your current mood. Especially as you progress, base stats and other equip allow to be more flexible with weapons. For example at lvl 150 you can wreak havoc with a Bamboo Spear.

But if you focus on efficiency, there are a number of weapons for each class that are great to use.
Now, this knowledge is based on schthack, so maybe some specific changes may not be the same here.

Hunter:
Single target: you'll want a double saber or a dagger. Double Sabers have more range, but daggers are faster, damage is roughly equal, even though daggers tend to be weaker. Mainly you'll want BKB because it has the highest ATP among the double sabers or Vivienne if you play Hunewearl/Hucaseal for the higher ATA.
Alternatively, Daylight Scar has great stats and comes with berserk. BKB's special comes in pretty handy, but not as much as zerk. Vivi on the other hand hjas a useless special for Hucassies but it's great for Hunewearls cause they usually have a more supportive role and it allows to keep your fluid addiction in check.

Crowd damage: Many different choices, depending on what class you are. For example Chainsawd has it's uses for hucassie and hucast because of the HP refill, but as it's a sword it's slow and has low melee range, so you are prone to get hit again right after refilling HP and without good hit you will miss, only losing more HP instead of preserving mates. Requires some skill to use well. The base stats are pretty good, but there are better choices stat wise. Either way it's fun to use because it is a friggin chainsaw sword.

Dark Flow would be the obvious choice (assuming it also got the combo unlocked here) but it's so hard to get. The stats are great, it is the best beatstick in the game. The special is quite nice, but very unsafe. Unless you know what you are doing, you are prone to dying. If you do know, it can deal massive damage and can kill bosses within seconds. It also has range comparable to a partisan.

Red Sword is really good. It has high damage that is usually only 100 behind a Dark Flow and infinitely easier to get, even with nice hit like 30.
As good as it is as all around beat stick, the seize special should not be neglected. With good hit (40+) and V501/502 or on a hucassie/hucast it's rather reliable and is great for crowd control.

Excalibur is well, Excalibur. High stats + berserk. However, only 3 targets and the saber combo which isn't that good for big crowds. It is great in many situations but sometimes a real sword is better. Especially when enemies move a little to the side you can see yourself swinging past them just to get whacked before you can dodge. Sword/partisan have more aeo and thus would usually have hit that enemy as well (not to mention 7 more possible targets).

Yunchang: as a Partisan it is faster, has more range and a wider aoe than swords, so it's not a bad choice either. Partisans tend to have higher ATA and this is an ep 4 weapons, so base ATA is as high as most swords with 20 hit. Not to mention Zerk. But it drops in hard mode, so chances of good hit are infinitesimal.

Diska of Braveman / Charge Diska: this is actually the strongest crowd damage weapon for hunters. The sacrificial attack easily outdamages DF's special and does not require hanging at death's door all the time. Of course, both need good hit to be of any use. Charge Diska's with 50 hit are common as hell, but they get truly good after that. If you got a 70+ hit charge diska, it will cut through crowds like a knife through butter (and bosses anyway).

Arrest Cutter: unreduced Arrest is pretty good. As hunters have less ATA than rangers, the main problem is hitting, not special reduction so this is actually less useful than a Red Sword + V501/V502 combination on Humar or Hunewearl. But it shines on Hucaseal with her almost ranger like ATA.

Slicer of Fanatic. Hits less targets but due to high base stats is pretty good for damage and the special even hits some times without hit. Hit or not, indispensable for Girtas. If you do have good hit, it's simply amazing.

Range: well, the classic 50hit charge vulcan is actually just mediocre. Charge requires ATA far past any hunter besides Hucaseal to be reliable. Even on a Ramar it's not really that reliable. Even if every shot hits, LK 38 still deals a bit more damage and it is reliable and has longer range.

LK 38 is a powerhouse, 5 hits are simply obscene. But slow. Oh god this is slow. Since every button causes 5 shots, you better make sure there are no enemies close besides the one you are shooting because dodging is not going to be an option.

Master Raven / Last Swan - oh yes please. Considering that you only ever need normal attack and that it shoots 3 bullets per button faster than mechgun and without its delay, dps is pretty high even if that doesn't seem to be the case due to low damage per bullet or even per combo. And mostly, it's extremely felxible because the combo is only a bit slower than handgun and thus you can easily dodge. Not to mention insta-shooting traps is super easy for a hucast /hucassie.

Personal choice:
Single target: Daylight Scar
crowd damage: DF / high hit Red Sword (crowd control as well)
ranged crowd damage: high hit charge diska (pretty much my favorite weapon, I got good at using it up to nearly point blank)
ranged single / utility: Master Raven / Last Swan, I never leave home without them

Ranger:
Rangers don't need ranged damage as utility but the opposite, melee damage utility for lizards. Asteron Belt works but an excalibur is preferable. Hell, you can actually melee with Excalibur because ranger ata will allow to use zerk often and thus provide high damage.

Single target damage: hmm, You got the Yas9k which simply has mad range and decent stats. Gotta love rifle range on a mechgun. Of course you may just wanna use Guld Milla, but good look finding one with decent hit and without hit these aren't very good compared to other mechs with hit, just expensive.
Of course LK38 is again an option (it is for pretty much everyone) but again it's slow.
Charge Vulcans actually make sense on a ranger because they require less hit. Consider this, a Ramar with a 50hit charge Vulcans has the same ATA as a Humar or Hunewearl with a 99/100 hit charge vulcan.
Demon's Mechgun is actually not that good. Mechgun is so slow and has so short range that you can take out enemies much faster with other mechguns.

Twin Birds is an option as well (actually for huassies, too) with good base stats, but for me it's hard to not use the long range over the higher damage.

Crowd damage: Baranz Launcher with 50hit will mow down pretty much anything that moves. If Panzer/Iron Faust also got their combo unlocked here, these will steamroll even more. Decimating crowds in an instant and you don't even need hit cause you can just NHH for massive damage and reliability, using 3 attributes for maximum damage.

Demon's Needle: this is just as fast as Baranz Launcher, the needle speed with demon's makes it reliable because in the time it takes to finish 1 combo with a launcher you can finish 2 or 3 and just try again if you didn't hit with demon's. My personal favorite.

Crowd control: Froozer, obviously. NEVER upgrade to Snow Queen or the weapon will be ruined. It's like a 50 drop in ATA because the first shot has that much lower chances to hit. And the aeo of the beam is tiny, getting enemies aligned takes too long to be efficient and froozer actually has a small aeo on the impact itself.

Spread Needle / Arrest Needle: A fleshie ranger needs an Arrest Needle because ATA is high enogh but what causes the most misses is special reduction from seized and from not being a Cast. A Ramar / Ramarl with an Arrest Needle are the best crowd control you can get.
Racast and Racaseal may benefit more from a high hit Needle but (not that sure anymore) it also depends partially on the enemy because some enemies have higher special reduction, making unreduced Arrest more valuable than higher hit even for a Cast.

Zalure Shot: only putting this here cause it's so popular. Baranz / Faust / Demon's Needle are all faster for killing.

That's it I guess. Not covering forces cause I never played that much on force (only 2 classes and never got them as far or put as much time in them as in ranger and hunter). And also, I wrote enough for now.

I was wondering what people would think is the "best" weapon.
We all know there is no real best weapon, to each his own ofcourse! So I am asking your opinion on which weapon and why you think it's the best weapon you found up until now!


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butterfly knives

Gear I use on my HUcast:

Red Sword, Cheap alternative to Dark Flow for lazy people, and it still kicks ass.

Slicer of Fanatic, Best slicer in my opinion, has range, and with S>N>S you can cut most targets HP by 75%.

Master Raven, Kick ass handgun-mechgun hybrid, rifle range and decent power, great on a HUcast.