Resident Evil 4 Remake: Best Weapon Upgrades Guide

Having the best weapon upgrades in Resident Evil 4 remake can make all the difference while playing through the campaign, especially on higher difficulties. There are over a dozen weapons to choose from in the RE4 remake. Naturally, you’ll only use a select few, perhaps due to their overall damage output or their reliability. 

Still, if ever you’re wondering which ones to focus on for your initial campaign run, we’ve got you covered with some tips below. Here’s our guide on the best weapon upgrades to get first in Resident Evil 4 Remake.

Best Weapon Upgrades to Get First in RE4 Remake

When talking about the best weapon upgrades in Resident Evil 4 Remake, there are a few things to consider:

• Weapon availability — When is a weapon first available?
• Weapon viability — How often should a weapon generally be used? 
• Exclusive Perk — Is it a weapon leveling up for its unique perk? And should Exclusive Upgrade Ticket be used on it or another weapon? 

Here are the best weapon upgrades you should get first in Resident Evil 4 remake. Once you have these, you can start working on other options that best for your playstyle. 

Priority Upgrade #1: Combat Knife -> Primal Knife

Screenshot by GameSkinny

Make no mistake about it: the Combat Knife it the best weapon upgrade in the RE4 remake because of its versatility and how often you’ll use it. All knives, including those that are broken or lost, can be used to backstab, slash, and parry. There’s even a trophy and achievement for using a knife to kill a Garrador.

However, the Combat Knife is available from the start, which means you’ll want to upgrade its durability and power immediately. Likewise, make sure you repair it periodically, too.

Much later in the Resident Evil 4 remake campaign, you’ll obtain the Fighting Knife. In any case, don’t bother getting the unique perks for either of these. Instead, try to destroy all 16 Clockwork Castellans to unlock the Primal Knife. Once you have the Primal Knife, get its unique perk to make it indestructible, and you’ll never need another melee weapon ever again.

Priority Upgrade #2: Red9 or Blacktail

In terms of handgun rankings, the Red9 and Blacktail are at the head of the pack. The former because of its stopping power, held back only by its shot grouping, and the latter for having great stats across the board.

Depending on which one you’re more comfortable using, you could opt to upgrade it fully, though you might want to hold off getting its unique perk. If you prefer the default handguns, though, we’ve got a detailed breakdown in our SG-09R versus Sentinel Nine guide.

Priority Upgrade #3: Riot Gun or Striker

Screenshot by GameSkinny

As for the shotguns with the best weapon upgrades in Resident Evil 4 remake, you can’t go wrong with either the Riot Gun or Striker (sorry, W-870). The Riot Gun boasts massive damage output with tighter shot grouping, perfect for blasting hostiles with pellets.

The Striker, meanwhile, has lower power but higher ammo capacity and rate-of-fire. In most close-range situations, though, the Riot Gun pulls ahead owing to its DPS, so keep that in mind while choosing upgrades. 

Priority Upgrade #4: Chicago Sweeper

Screenshot by GameSkinny

We’ve outlined some of the steps to getting the Chicago Sweeper in our Peerless Agent/Professional difficulty guide. Basically, you’ll want to do a couple of runs for this one (i.e., your first campaign, followed by a New Game+ run). This is to ensure that you’ve amassed at least 2 million gold for the Infinite Rocket Launcher.

From there, you’ll want to do another New Game+ run, this time on Professional difficulty. With the Infinite Rocket Launcher and some other weapons, you should be able to clear the campaign in under seven hours, leading to an A-rank and the Chicago Sweeper.

After that, you’ll want to do a fresh run on Professional difficulty. Along the way, you should use the Exclusive Upgrade Ticket on the Chicago Sweeper to unlock its unique perk: infinite ammo. This is one of the best weapon upgrades in Resident Evil 4 Remake.

The end goal in this particular attempt is to complete the campaign within five and a half hours and with fewer than 15 manual saves. This nets you an S+ rank, as well as the Cat Ears accessory, which provides infinite ammo for all non-rocket weapons.

Those are the best RE4 weapon upgrades to focus on first, maximizing your campaign runs, whether you only play once or multiple times. For more tips, our Resident Evil 4 guides page has you covered. 

Featured screenshot by GameSkinny.