Weapon Compendium#

In Resident Evil 2, Leon’s and Claire’s weapon lines are completely different: some weapon locations are shared (like the Evidence Room), while others belong to a single protagonist. This page organizes acquisition locations and capacity data by protagonist (data from gamegene.cn and similar guide sources); per-shot damage values were never officially published, so weapons are described by role instead.

Leon’s Exclusive Weapons#

• Matilda: switchable burst fire; Leon’s main pistol all game with the most stable ammo supply.
• W-870: the mid-station close-range core; breaking legs in narrow corridors and buying breathing room are its jobs.
• Lightning Hawk: the hardest-hitting single shot; save it for G forms and Tyrant-class enemies. You must first get the USB dongle (the S.T.A.R.S. badge transforms when inspected) to open the armory.
• Chemical Flamethrower: targeted suppression against G larvae and similar enemies; fuel must be scaveneged separately.
• M19: firepower supplement available immediately in the 2nd Run, easing early ammo pressure.
• Endgame rocket launcher: cinematic-grade firepower obtained late in the story, used in the final battle.

Claire’s Exclusive Weapons#

• SLS 60: the starting revolver; upgradable to fire reinforced rounds, and Claire’s main answer to tough enemies early on.
• GM 79: grenade launcher firing acid and flame rounds among others; the core firepower for Claire’s special enemies.
• JMB Hp3: high-capacity laser-sighted pistol with a 13-round magazine; feels better for everyday clearing than the SLS 60.
• MQ 11: SMG with a 24-round magazine; strong suppression but ammo drains fast.
• Spark Shot: shock gun with targeted effects on specific enemies.
• Quickdraw Army: the 2nd Run’s starting revolver, in the same slot as Leon’s M19.
• Minigun: endgame weapon with 400 rounds; the room-clearing machine of the finale.

Shared and Mode-Exclusive Weapons#

• Combat Knife: shared by both protagonists, durability-based; destroy all 15 Mr. Raccoons to unlock the infinite-durability version.
• Grenades / flash grenades: side weapons; mechanics in the Combat System.
• LE 5 SMG: 32-round magazine; one of HUNK’s starting weapons in The 4th Survivor, and it also appears as an infinite-weapon clear reward (Hardcore S rank).

Parts#

Weapons can be strengthened with parts; common part types include stocks, long barrels, red-dot sights, suppressors, and regulators (parts list per residentevil.fandom.com). Parts are scattered across exploration paths and puzzle rewards, and must be combined with the matching weapon to take effect. Which parts fit which weapon is shown in the in-game weapon inspection screen.

Infinite Weapon Unlocks#

The infinite-ammo weapons unlocked by clear ranks are the game’s most important hidden rewards (see Hidden Secrets and Endgame Content):

Three Principles of Weapon Use#

1. Pick your main gun by ammo supply: pistol ammo is the most common; leave everyday clearing to the Matilda / JMB Hp3 and save heavy weapons for necessary fights.
2. Specialize special ammo: GM 79 acid and flame rounds and SLS 60 reinforced rounds are scarce resources — use them only on specific enemies; crafting rules in Item Collection.
3. On Hardcore, conserve even more: Hardcore yields less ammo, and S+ bans all infinite-ammo weapons and the infinite-durability knife — treat “clearing on base weapons only” as the default premise; the requirements are in Hardcore Difficulty.

Dual-Protagonist Weapon Progress Alignment#

Aligning both protagonists’ exclusive weapons by location shows how symmetrical the placement design is — the same site holds one exclusive weapon per scenario:

Use this table as a checklist while advancing: at each site, confirm the intended weapon is in hand before moving on, and avoid backtracking late. The run skeletons are in the Leon walkthrough and Claire walkthrough.

The Four Forms of the Samurai Edge#

The “Samurai Edge” appears in four forms in this game, each from a different source and easy to confuse:

• Infinite-ammo Samurai Edge: the S-rank clear reward (Standard or Hardcore), modeled on the Samurai Edge prototype — see the unlock table above.
• Albert type: a deluxe-edition weapon, usable with the Deluxe Edition purchase.
• Chris type / Jill type: pre-order bonus weapons, bundled with bonus wallpapers.
• Kendo’s carry version: the weapon Robert Kendo carries in his Ghost Survivors scenario.

Two of the four come with payment (Albert type and pre-order bonuses), one is bound to an S-rank clear, and one is bound to a Ghost Survivors scenario; acquisition details in DLC Content and Hidden Secrets.

Weapon Loadouts in Extra Modes#

Extra modes don’t follow the main story’s scavenge flow — the playable protagonists have fixed loadouts.

The 4th Survivor (HUNK) starts with a 20-slot inventory; the shooting-related portion (per residentevil.fandom.com and thegamer.com):

• LE 5 SMG (100 rounds, 32-round magazine): the main damage dealer — also the Hardcore S-rank infinite weapon reward.
• W-870 shotgun (6 shells): for close-range escapes.
• Lightning Hawk magnum (6 rounds) and MUP pistol: semi-auto supplements; the MUP isn’t in Leon’s/Claire’s main-story weapon lists.
• Side weapons: 3 grenades and 3 flash grenades, plus the Combat Knife, and 2 Large Gunpowder and 2 High-Grade Gunpowder (Yellow) for crafting.

The Tofu Survivor shares The 4th Survivor’s route, with multiple tofu variants of differing loadouts unlocked one clear at a time: some carry grenades, some use 2nd Run weapons, some hold rocket launchers or machine guns (no verifiable official variant list exists, so no list is given here).

The four Ghost Survivors protagonists’ fixed weapons (per residentevil.fandom.com):

This loadout table also confirms two things from the sections above: the W-870 has a stock part and the SLS 60 has reinforced ammo — both concrete examples of parts and special ammo. Mode details in Extra Modes and The Ghost Survivors.

The Weapon Unlock Item: USB Dongle#

Leon’s Lightning Hawk is locked in the S.T.A.R.S. office armory, and opening it depends on an easy-to-miss item chain: first pick up the S.T.A.R.S. badge from the box in the Observation Room/Interrogation Room; inspect it and it transforms into the USB dongle; plug it into the office computer to open the armory (per powerpyx.com and finalboss.io). Claire’s MQ 11 sits right in the S.T.A.R.S. office and never requires the armory — two weapons share the same area yet have completely different acquisition methods, worth noting while exploring.

Special Ammo and Gunpowder#

• Special ammo depends on crafting and fixed-point pickups: GM 79 acid and flame rounds, SLS 60 reinforced rounds, and syringes among others — the full type list is in Item Collection.
• Crafting materials come in three gunpowder classes: Gunpowder, Large Gunpowder, and High-Grade Gunpowder (Yellow/White). HUNK starts The 4th Survivor with 2 Large Gunpowder and 2 High-Grade Gunpowder (Yellow) — a hint of high-grade gunpowder’s weight in the ammo system.
• Crafting output ratios were not found in verifiable channels, so this page lists no exact recipes; the in-game crafting screen is authoritative.

A Note on Damage Values#

• Per-shot damage values were never officially published; the various damage tables online are not official, and this page includes none of them — weapon strength is described by role instead.
• Community data mining confirms a hidden adaptive difficulty: per Steam community analysis and observations from Nexus’s “Adaptive Difficulty Selector” mod, weapon damage floats roughly between +10% and −20%. Capcom has never officially acknowledged the mechanic; this is a “community-verified, unofficially documented” figure, for reference only.
• The qualitative effects of ammo-saving mechanics like headshots, leg breaks, and knife counters are in the Combat System.

Weapon-Related Achievement Conditions#

At least one achievement binds directly to weapon use: in the G1 fight, stabbing William’s giant eyeball with the Combat Knife while grabbed is the trigger action (per gamegene.cn and trueachievements.com). The knife is durability-based and its infinite version requires destroying all 15 Mr. Raccoons, so players chasing that achievement should ration the knife consciously. Other boss-fight achievement timing conditions are in Boss Guides and Achievements and Trophies.