Best Weapons In Resident Evil 4 Remake

Summary

• Primal Knife’s Indestructibility perk makes it a top-tier melee weapon with unlimited parries and stealth kills.
• The SG-09 R pistol offers satisfying headshot explosions and realistic shooting experience but lacks firepower compared to late-game pistols.
• The LE5 SMG, with penetration power and rapid rate of fire, excels in fighting multiple enemies, making it a must-have for the end-game.

The Resident Evil 4 remake includes 22 primary weapons. Of these, only a few are worth the player’s time, effort, and money because the game is designed so that players can easily beat it using just the starter weapon pack—provided they upgrade the default pistol. So, the question is, which additional weapons are worth it?

This list aims to highlight the most worthwhile weapons in the Resident Evil 4 remake. It covers most weapon categories, including melee, handguns, shotguns, SMGs, rifles, assault rifles, and bonus weapons. The ranking evaluates not only performance within each category but also the overall effectiveness compared to weapons across all categories. Below is an explanation of the criteria used for ranking.

Updated on April 03, 2025, by Mohsen Baqery: The remake of Resident Evil 4 has become a classic in the genre, with thousands of players still enjoying it after two years. Nonetheless, the debate over the game’s best weapons continues to be a recurring topic, with each new wave of players reigniting the discussion. Keeping this in mind, the following list has been assessed and updated to better highlight the advantages of top-tier weapons and provide more insight into their performances.

RE4 Remake Weapon Tier List Criteria

• Return on investment.
• Power and practicality.
• Ease of use (ammo efficiency, accuracy, recoil, etc.).
• Gameplay impact (sound design, effects, appearance, and feel).

The rankings consider the cost of each weapon, its effectiveness, and its impact on gameplay. Higher-ranked weapons justify their price, deliver deadly power, and enhance the overall gaming experience.

10

​​​Primal Knife

Best Feature: Indestructibility

• How to Get: Destroy all clockwork castellans
• Best Stopgap: Players who don’t own the Primal Knife can invest in the Fighting Knife instead, as it is the second-best blade in the Resident Evil 4 remake.

The Primal Knife is an end-game collectible introduced in the remake. Players get their hands on this blade after destroying 16 well-hidden clockwork castellans (one in each chapter). However, what makes this weapon unique is its Exclusive Perk: The Indestructibility.

After maxing out the Primal Knife’s stats, players can pay an extra 10,000 pesetas to the Merchant to unlock its hidden potential. After this one last upgrade, their blade will never break again, giving them unlimited parries and stealth kills.

In terms of Power, the Fighting Knife is the best melee choice. Krauser’s blade can inflict up to 3.6 DMG per hit, whereas the Primal Knife maxes out at 1.2. However, players can stab an enemy with the latter as many times as they want, yielding an overall higher damage rate.

9

SG-09 R

Best Feature: Compatibility with Laser Sights

• How to Get: It’s a starting weapon.
• Best Stopgap: The Blacktail is an ideal replacement for the SG-09 R since it comes with consistent accuracy and firepower.

Quick Review: When combined with the Laser Sight, SG-09 R creates the closest gunplay experience to the original Resident Evil 4. It is also one of the most affordable handguns to fully upgrade, as it’s a free starter gun. SG-09 R’s only drawback is its average firepower, which can be offset by its exclusive perk that increases the critical rate by five times.

It’s impossible to make a list of the best RE4 weapons without including the iconic Silver Ghost. According to the game’s lore, Leon acquired this custom pistol from Joseph Kendo, the famous firearm designer. The MUP-inspired handgun proves effective against all enemy types, maxing out at 2.00 Power on top of a 5x Critical Hit Chance, which guarantees satisfying zombie head explosions.

In the Resident Evil 4 remake, the SG-09 R fails to outperform most late-game pistols in terms of firepower. However, if players are looking for the best weapon sound effects and a realistic shooting experience, the Silver Ghost is a must-have.

Players should purchase the Laser Sight for the SG-09 R as soon as possible for refined shooting, reviving the original game’s nostalgic aiming system.

8

LE5

Best Feature: Compatibility with Biosensor Scope

• How to Get: Complete the Freezer Puzzle (Chapter 11)
• Best Stopgap: The Chicago Sweeper is a must-have for RE4 fans who love SMGs. It’s rapid and reliable, but more importantly, shooting with the Sweeper feels much better than all other Sub-Machine Guns.

Quick Review: No other gun is as effective as a Biosensor-equipped LE5 against the annoying Regeneradors. It is accurate, acute, and rapid, giving the player a chance to counter highly mobile enemies. As for the downside, LE5’s low firepower prolongs the TTK (time to kill), making this SMG weak against enemy herds.

Submachine guns can be very useful in Resident Evil 4, especially when fighting against massive hordes of enemies. Players will face a lot of these as they finish this game, which means that they can truly benefit from this weapon. The best submachine gun in Resident Evil 4 is the LE 5, and players can find it in a locked freezer in Chapter 13.

The damage of the LE 5 is not too high, but its fast rate of fire and ammo capacity make up for its lack of power. However, its best facet is its perk. The LE 5 has a penetration power that allows its bullets to pierce through enemies. Couple this with its rate of fire, and the LE 5 is a reliable weapon to use against multiple threats throughout the Resident Evil 4 remake.

7

CQBR Assault Rifle

Best Feature: High Rate of Fire

Quick Review: If it wasn’t for its high recoil, CQBR could easily rival for the top spot among the RE4 remake’s ARs. When the enemy is at long range, this automatic assault rifle can inflict immense damage as it fires up to 32 bullets with a rate of 2.50. Even better, when targeting the enemy’s weak spots, CQBR’s shots deal three times more damage, making the gun a perfect choice in some of the boss fights.

The CQBR Assault Rifle is a fully automatic weapon. It essentially functions similarly to SMGs, but this particular assault rifle is better because it has higher damage and better precision. However, it is a much bigger weapon; therefore, it occupies more space in the player’s inventory.

The CQBR Assault Rifle also has penetration power, making it the ultimate weapon to use against hordes. If the player has enough ammo, they can wipe out a camp of enemies with ease while using this weapon. Players will find the CQBR Assult Rifle in a lock box in the Library during Chapter 10. Alternatively, they can purchase it from the Merchant starting in Chapter 11.

6

Broken Butterfly

Best Feature: High Penetration

• How to Get: Buy from the Merchant (Chapter 7)
• Best Stopgap: For those looking to use a more accurate heavy-duty handgun, the Killer7 would be a better option.

Quick Review: Broken Butterfly is among the deadliest magnums in the Resident Evil 4 remake. It packs a whopping 40.5 damage per shot (at max level), which is enough to one-shot even the strongest foes. However, the tradeoff is the slow fire rate and heavy recoil. Missing a shot with Broken Butterfly can be an unforgivable mistake, especially if it’s against a fast-moving creature.

The Broken Butterfly is the first magnum players can acquire in Resident Evil 4. Aside from the Rocket Launcher, magnums are the most powerful weapons in the game. However, their ammo is also the rarest. The weapon’s caveat is that its accuracy can be somewhat shaky. Given the rarity of magnum ammo, this can make the weapon very risky to use.

That being said, as long as the player can master the weapon’s aim, the Broken Butterfly is an absolute beast. It can be purchased from the Merchant starting in Chapter 7.

5

Stingray

• How to Get: Buy from the Merchant (Chapter 7)
• Best Stopgap: Players who don’t like the Stingray for whatever reason could replace it with the CQBR AR, the only other weapon that can match up to Stingray’s stats.

Quick Review: Stingray is the best option for sharpshooting in the RE4 remake. It has an above-average precision rate, and when aimed at the enemies’ weak spots, it deals an extra three-fold damage. From Chapter 13 onward, Stingray becomes a valuable weapon in the player’s arsenal because long-range combat becomes more intense.

The Stingray is a semi-automatic assault rifle. It has an excellent range, which makes it perfect for killing enemies from afar. It becomes significantly more useful once it is fitted with a scope. With it, the gun becomes a sniper’s best friend.

Another strength of the Stingray is that it deals three times more damage to weak points. Its damage value is also decent enough. Both these traits make the weapon effective during boss fights. Players can purchase the Stingray from the Merchant starting Chapter 7.

4

Rocket Launcher

Best Feature: The Ability to One-Shot Bosses

• How to Get: Buy from the Merchant.
• Best Stopgap: The only other group of weapons that could rival the Rocket Launcher is magnums, as no other weapon in the Resident Evil 4 remake can one-shot a boss.

Quick Review: Despite its hefty price tag, the Rocket Launcher is one of the best weapons in the Resident Evil 4 remake simply because it can function as a skip button for boss fights. The player can eliminate the most daunting monsters with just one shot of this weapon, although it has a one-time-use limitation.

The Rocket Launcher is a ridiculously powerful weapon. Rockets fired from this weapon can one-shot almost every single enemy in the game. However, the weapon is very expensive, and it can be deadly to the user as well. When fired from a close distance, the explosion can also damage the player.

Just like in the original, the Merchant in the remake also offers an Infinite Rocket Launcher. Players can purchase this from him during New Game+ for a whopping 2,000,000 Pesetas. It’s ungodly expensive, but nothing in this horror game will ever stand in Leon’s way with this enormously overpowered weapon.

3

Handcannon

Best Feature: The Unlimited Ammo Perk

• How to Get: Achieve S Rank in all Mercenaries stages or beat the game in Professional Mode without Bonus Weapons.
• Best Stopgap: The Infinite Rocket Launcher is the only other weapon that could rival a fully upgraded Handcannon.

Quick Review: The Handcannon is a beast-killing pistol that’s worth every Peseta the player invests in its upgrades. At max level, the Handcannon deals a whopping 36 damage with high penetration. However, what makes this magnum one of the best weapons in the RE4 remake is its exclusive perk that grants unlimited ammo—allowing players to tackle challenges and hunt for achievements more easily.

Reminiscent of the Elephant Killer from Resident Evil 5, the Handcannon is the strongest magnum in the RE4 remake, but what keeps it among the top-tier guns is its Exclusive Perk. When fully upgraded, the Handcannon gets an Unlimited Ammo perk, becoming a never-ending powerhouse — one that one-shots all formidable enemies.

The only two downsides of the Handcannon are its high upgrade price and low fire rate. Players must pay 540,000 Pesetas to maximize its stats. However, even after the buff, the pistol will retain its below-average accuracy.

2

Riot Gun

Best Feature: Crow Control Effect

• How to Get: Buy from the Merchant (Chapter 6).
• Best Stopgap: For more firepower, players could go with the W-870 shotgun, which is slightly less accurate but quite deadlier.

Quick Review: The Riot Gun helps Leon keep the enemy herds away. The gun’s pushback effect is perfect for controlling the attacking crowd, creating enough space to reposition, heal, or simply escape. The Riot Gun is also quite effective in one-on-one combat, thanks to its above-average firepower and fire rate.

The Riot Gun is a powerful piece of weaponry. It is a shotgun, after all, and shotguns are very reliable in Resident Evil 4. This semi-automatic shotgun has high damage, reduced recoil, and a decent rate of fire. It is a perfect weapon to use against bosses and mini-bosses due to its power and speed.

The gun is good against mobs, too, but that would be a waste of ammo. It’s best to reserve this weapon for tougher encounters. Players can acquire the Riot Gun from the Merchant. It becomes available for sale during and after Chapter 6, and it costs 28,000 Ptas, which isn’t cheap, but it’s worth every buck.

1

Red9

Best Feature: High Firepower and Compatibility with a Stock

• How to Get: Found in a chest in the lake area (Chapter 4).
• Best Stopgap: The Sentinel 9 and SG-09 R are ideal replacements for the Red9, as they, too, offer immense firepower and stylish designs.

Quick Review: Not only is the Red9 a top-tier pistol, but it is also the best weapon in the Resident Evil 4 remake. It has everything a top-notch gun should have: Firepower, accuracy, penetration, capacity, and accessibility. The Red9 packs 4.0 damage at max level and fires bullets that can easily mutilate the enemy. Also, thanks to its stock, the Red9 has a manageable recoil and kick, which increases its overall precision rate.

Inspired by the Mauser C96 (a real-life German pistol), the Red9 is the best handgun in Resident Evil 4 remake. It is fast, fierce, and forceful, dropping Ganados like flies. However, the main reason the Red9 outperforms all other weapons is its accessibility and power. Players can find this unmatched pistol in a chest for free, and after a few upgrades, it becomes a beast-killing firearm with a massive 4.05 firepower.

From the moment players get their hands on the Red9, they can remove all other pistols from the inventory. This semi-automatic weapon, with its stylish integral box magazine, can help Leon easily clear all stages in the game. The Red9 holds a special place in the hearts of RE4 fans, as it is Luis’ weapon of choice. With the remake delving deeper into Luis’ fate and his short-lived friendship with Leon, his favorite pistol becomes even more special.