Resident Evil 4 is regarded as one of the most influential video games ever in refining the third person shooter genre. The new gameplay mechanics and over the shoulder view inspire many future third person shooter like Dead Space and The Last of Us. Resident Evil 4 has some amazing weapons which gives player a lot of freedom in choosing how to blow up zombies and managing the arsenal.
Because of the huge number of weapons Resident Evil 4 has, it can be tricky to decide which one to upgrade and which to sell. This guide should help first time players to plan ahead on what to use.
Note: This article only looks at stock weapons, not unlockables.
Resident Evil 4 is available on Steam, PS4, Xbox One and Switch.
Read Also: 5 Things the Resident Evil 4 remake must have
Handgun
Red9
| Cost | 14,000pts |
| Cost to Fully Upgrade | 331,000pts |
| Strengths | Does massive damage |
| Weaknesses | Slow rate of fire and takes the inventory space |
| Fully Upgraded Stats | 6.5(FP), 0.4(FS), 1.67(RS), 22(C) |
Red9 is the best handgun in the game in terms of the damage dealt. Its great against tough enemies like J.Js and Novistadors and can be used against Ganados to conserve ammunition. The downside, however, is its firing speed and reload speed which means its not great against large hordes of enemies, also it takes up 8 inventory slots without the stock which is more than every other handgun. Besides everything Red9 is the coolest looking handgun in game and feels like a treat to use.
Red9
Blacktail
| Cost | 24,000pts |
| Cost to Fully Upgrade | 362,000pts |
| Strengths | a good all-rounder with good damage and superior handling |
| Weaknesses | can use up a lot of ammo, only available after beating Salazar, very far into the game |
| Fully Upgraded Stats | 4.5(FP),0.27(FS),0.83(RS),35(C) |
Blacktail is a monster of a pistol because of its very high firepower, firing rate and handling. So its an excellent choice for dealing with groups of enemies. It is only be unlocked after completing the Castle which is very late in the game and can be a little expensive to fully upgrade. Players can also get trigger happy while using this gun which can burn through the ammo.
Blacktail
Handgun
| Cost | 8,000pts |
| Cost to Fully Upgrade | 198,000pts |
| Strengths | Does critical damage on headshots |
| Weaknesses | Low damage and very inaccurate |
| Fully Upgraded Stats | 2(FP),0.33(FS),0.87(RS),25(C) |
Handgun is the starting weapon for Leon in Resident Evil 4. While its stats are very low compared to other pistols, it does critical damage on headshots, and on unlocking the exclusive upgrade, chances of critical headshots are increased by 5 times. Therefore a fully upgraded handgun is deadly for enemies who have heads but otherwise its useless against bosses. So, using this gun is up to your playstyle.
Handgun
Punisher
| Cost | 20,000pts(Found for free) |
| Cost to Fully Upgrade | 276,000pts |
| Strengths | Can punch through two enemies |
| Weaknesses | Not very powerful… |
| Fully Upgraded Stats | 1.9(FP),0.33(FS),0.83(RS),28(C) |
Punisher has the ability to penetrate two enemies with one shot and can be found early in the game. Interestingly, if you shoot 10 blue medallions, you can get a punisher for free and if you shoot all the blue medallions, you’ll get an upgraded Punisher. The cost of fully upgraded the Punisher if you shoot 10 medallions is 276,000pts and for shooting 15 medallions, it comes down to 266,000pts.
As such, it’s a very helpful weapon in the early game. It also has the ability to push through the wooden shields of zealots in the Castle. But, it has the lowest firepower of any handgun so its not advisable to use in the late game.
Punisher
Shotgun
Striker
| Cost | 43,000pts |
| Cost to Fully Upgrade | 349,000pts |
| Strengths | Massive clip capacity |
| Weaknesses | Very short range |
| Fully Upgraded Stats | 12(FP),0.73(FS),0.67(RS),100(C) |
The Striker has the highest damage, fire rate and clip capacity among all shotguns. Works as an excellent “get away from me” weapon for crowd control. And with an enormous clip capacity of 100 rounds after the exclusive upgrade, you would never have to worry about reloading. The major downside however is the short damage drop-off range because of which its useless against most boss fights like El Gigante and Salazor.
Striker
Riot Gun
| Cost | 32,000pts |
| Cost to Fully Upgrade | 383,000pts |
| Strengths | Tight spread and long range |
| Weaknesses | Takes large inventory space, not great against large crowds |
| Fully Upgraded Stats | 10(FP),1.53(FS),1.5(RS),17(C) |
The riot gun is the most accurate shotgun with such a tight pellet spread and long range, it almost feels like an overpowered handgun. It also has a unique trait in that it aims faster than other shotguns therefore is easy to use. The drop-off is that it feels like an overpowered handgun, as said before, so its good for knocking down enemies who are in the front of the player but leaves them vulnerable to enemy attacks from the side, so using this gun is up to the individual’s playstyle. Its also the most expensive shotgun to upgrade and its exclusive upgrade is nothing to write home about.
Riot Gun
Shotgun
| Cost | 20,000pts(Found for free) |
| Cost to Fully Upgrade | 257,000pts |
| Strengths | Powerful early game weapon |
| Weaknesses | Low clip capacity and reload speed |
| Fully Upgraded Stats | 8(FP),1.53(FS),1.50(RS),18(C) |
Average firepower, ok spread, good for knocking down Ganados. The shotgun is a lifesaver in the early village sections in the game but quickly becomes obsolete once its bigger brothers come along. Its exclusive upgrade can also be deceiving since it does not increase the range by much and it does not knock down enemies at long distances thereby making it difficult to take full advantage of this upgrade.
Shotgun
Magnum
Killer7
| Cost | 77,700pts |
| Cost to fully upgrade | 259,300pts |
| Fully upgraded stats | 35(FP),0.70(FS),0.93(RS),14(C) |
Killer7 is an excellent weapon for fighting tough enemies and mini-bosses. While the exclusive upgrade of Broken Butterfly does much more damage than Killer7, which does not have an exclusive upgrade by the way, you will not get the exclusive upgrade until near the end of the game, when there’s not much use of a magnum.
Killer7
Broken Butterfly
| Cost | 38,000pts(Found for free) |
| Cost to fully upgrade | 455,000pts |
| Fully upgraded stats | 50(FP),0.70(FS),2.33(RS),12(C) |
The Broken Butterfly is the second most powerful weapon in the game. Its exclusive upgrade increase damage to 50 points which is much more than Killer7’s 35 maximum firepower but this upgrade is only available in Chapter(5-3) near the very end of the game so Killer7 can be a better choice until then.
Broken Butterfly
Rifles
Semi-Automatic Rifle
| Cost | 35,000pts |
| Cost to fully upgrade | 316,000pts |
| Strengths | High firepower and firing speed |
| Fully upgraded stats | 15(FP),0.4(FS),1.33(RS),24(C) |
Because of its much faster firing speed than the bolt action rifle, this weapon is much better option at shorter ranges. Its custom scope can also be equipped for very long range shooting.
Semi Auto Rifle
Bolt-Action Rifle
| Cost | 12,000pts |
| Cost to Fully Upgrade | 277,000pts |
| Strengths | High firepower |
| Weaknesses | Low firing rate and reload speed |
| Fully Upgraded Stats | 18(FP),2.73(FS), 2.33(RS),18(C) |
The bolt action rifle can be really useful when first found for the long range shooting in the valley. However, it quickly becomes obsolete because of it slow firing and reload speed and the need to aim after every shot, so the semi auto rifle is a better choice. But, its exclusive upgrade increases its firepower to 18, which is 3 more than the semi-auto rifle, so some player might prefer this in the long run.
Bolt Action Rifle
Summary
|
Weapon |
Firepower |
Fire speed |
Reload Speed |
Capacity |
|
Red9 |
6.5 |
0.4 |
1.67 |
22 |
|
Blacktail |
4.5 |
0.27 |
0.83 |
35 |
|
Handgun |
2 |
0.33 |
0.87 |
25 |
|
Punisher |
1.9 |
0.33 |
0.83 |
28 |
|
Striker |
12 |
0.73 |
0.67 |
100 |
|
Riot Gun |
10 |
1.53 |
1.5 |
17 |
|
Shotgun |
8 |
1.53 |
1.50 |
18 |
|
Killer7 |
35 |
0.70 |
0.93 |
14 |
|
Broken Butterfly |
50 |
0.7 |
2.33 |
12 |
|
Semi Action Rifle |
15 |
1.43 |
1.33 |
24 |
|
Bolt Action Rifle |
18 |
2.73 |
2.33 |
18 |
You now know everything you need about almost every strengths and weaknesses of all stock weapons, their upgrade costs and damage outputs, in Resident Evil 4. Again if you’re new to Resident Evil 4, this guide can set you in the right direction. Conserve ammo early on, don’t waste money on less useful upgrades and you are good to go.
Thanks for taking the time to read this article. If this helped you be sure to check out some other guides here at KeenGamer.
