Resident Evil Requiem gives Leon plenty of guns to play with, but that doesn’t mean you should buy every weapon you come across.

Credits are limited, inventory space matters, and some weapons are far more useful than others during a normal playthrough. The right upgrades can make a bigger difference than simply carrying a larger arsenal.

So if you’re wondering which weapons are actually worth buying and upgrading in Resident Evil Requiem, this guide cuts through the clutter.

Our short list: the Silencer 9 is the best all-purpose handgun, the 990-TAC is the shotgun I’d prioritize first, and the Classic 70 is the rifle I’d keep once it becomes available. For players working through New Game+ and bonus content, weapons such as the Clatter Carbine, Ghost Grudge, Mortal Edge, and RPG-7 become much more attractive.

If you want the complete weapon list and acquisition locations first, check our [Resident Evil Requiem: All Weapons & How to Unlock Them] guide.

How We Rank the Best Weapons

There isn’t one objectively “best” weapon in Resident Evil Requiem.

Our recommendations are based on damage, ammunition economy, upgrade potential, availability, inventory space, versatility, and how useful a weapon is during a normal playthrough.

First-run weapons are also judged differently from bonus weapons. A gun that is fantastic after you’ve finished the campaign isn’t necessarily the smartest purchase when you’re still scraping together Credits in East Raccoon City.

That’s the distinction that matters when you’re deciding what to spend your money on.

Quick rule: Don’t spend Credits trying to build a collection. Build a loadout you can actually afford to feed.

Best Weapons in Resident Evil Requiem at a Glance

Weapon	Best For	Recommendation
Silencer 9	Best all-purpose handgun	★★★★★
990-TAC	Best early shotgun	★★★★★
Classic 70	Best rifle	★★★★★
Stiri REVO3 A1	Best general-purpose SMG	★★★★☆
Requiem	Heavy targets and specific enemies	★★★★☆
Clatter Carbine	Best post-game automatic weapon	★★★★★
Ghost Grudge	Heavy single-target damage	★★★★☆
Mortal Edge	Best bonus melee weapon	★★★★☆
RPG-7	Maximum firepower	★★★★★

The important distinction is that not every weapon needs an upgrade path. Leon’s weapons can be upgraded at Supply Boxes, while Grace’s normal firearms do not have conventional weapon upgrades.

Best Handgun: Silencer 9

If you’re buying one handgun for Leon and want something that will remain useful for most of the game, make it the Silencer 9.

It costs 5,500 Credits at the Supply Box in East Raccoon City. Its built-in suppressor is useful, but the real appeal is the combination of precision, stability, rate of fire, and magazine capacity. It starts with a 17-round capacity and has a strong selection of upgrades.

Silencer 9 upgrades

The first upgrade tier includes:

Add-on Suppressor — increases Power
Aluminum Trigger — improves Rate of Fire
High-Capacity Mag. — increases ammunition capacity

The second tier improves those same components, while the third tier becomes available through Advanced Tuning.

What should you upgrade first?

For a normal playthrough, I’d prioritize:

Add-on Suppressor
High-Capacity Mag.
Aluminum Trigger

The suppressor upgrade gives you more damage, while the larger magazine gives you more breathing room when several enemies are pushing you at once.

Don’t rush to buy every upgrade immediately. Credits are better spent on the weapons and defensive upgrades that actually change how you play.

Best Shotgun: 990-TAC

The 990-TAC is one of the easiest recommendations in the entire game.

It costs 7,000 Credits and is worth replacing the earlier MSBG 500 with once the Supply Box becomes available. The 990-TAC’s semi-automatic action gives it a much higher rate of fire than the pump-action alternatives, and its tight spread makes it useful beyond point-blank range.

990-TAC upgrades

Its upgrade tree includes:

Ceramic Coated Barrel — Power
Stock — Stability
Carbon Tube Extension — Reload Speed and capacity
Dot Sight — Precision

The first upgrade I’d buy is the Ceramic Coated Barrel. Damage matters most when you’re using the shotgun to stop an enemy before it reaches you.

After that, the Carbon Tube Extension is a sensible investment because the additional capacity and reload improvement make the weapon easier to use under pressure.

If you’re short on Credits, don’t feel obligated to max every stat. A couple of well-chosen upgrades will do more for a first playthrough than emptying your wallet into a single gun.

Best Rifle: Classic 70

This is one place where weapon rankings can get misleading.

The Marksman 1A looks tempting because you can find it in an East Raccoon City BSAA container, but the Classic 70 is the rifle I’d recommend keeping for a normal playthrough.

The Classic 70 has the highest damage per shot among the rifle options highlighted by current weapon comparisons. Its trade-off is obvious: the bolt-action operation and slower reload make follow-up shots considerably slower.

That isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

The Classic 70 is at its best when you’re using it deliberately—putting a powerful round into a dangerous target rather than trying to use it like an assault rifle.

Should you keep the Marksman 1A?

You can, but there’s little reason to build your entire loadout around it if you’re happy with the Classic 70.

The Marksman 1A can also be bought later if you don’t have room for it when you first discover it.

Best SMG: Stiri REVO3 A1

The Stiri REVO3 A1 is the practical choice when you want sustained automatic fire.

It costs 6,000 Credits and starts with a 30-round magazine. Its upgrade path can push that capacity to 40, 45, and eventually 50 rounds, giving it plenty of ammunition for encounters where precision shooting isn’t enough.

Its most useful upgrades are:

Long Flash Guard — Power
Folding Stock — Stability
High-Capacity Mag. — Magazine capacity
Dot Sight — Precision

I’d start with the Long Flash Guard, then take the High-Capacity Mag. if you’re regularly burning through ammunition.

The Stiri is not the weapon I’d tell a first-time player to dump every Credit into. The Silencer 9 and 990-TAC are more important early purchases.

But once your core loadout is established, the Stiri gives Leon a useful automatic option.

Requiem: Save It for the Targets That Deserve It

The Requiem is a powerful revolver that uses 12.7x55mm ammunition. It isn’t a weapon you want to treat like a conventional handgun.

Its base Power is already high, while its rate of fire, reload speed, and stability are deliberately poor.

That makes ammunition conservation important.

The Requiem is particularly useful against tougher enemies and certain special encounters. Current guides specifically recommend it for targets including the basement girl, East Wing Chunk, Zombie Chef, and Blister Heads.

If you upgrade it, the Ported Barrel is the straightforward damage choice. The Barrel Jacket is more useful if you want better handling and faster follow-up shots.

Don’t burn through Requiem ammunition just because you have the gun equipped.

Best Post-Game Weapon: Clatter Carbine

Once you’ve finished the story and start spending CP on bonus weapons, the Clatter Carbine becomes one of the most appealing purchases.

It’s an assault rifle available through the Special Content menu after your first playthrough. It costs 6,000 CP.

This is where the weapon economy changes.

During your first run, you’re balancing every Credit against ammunition, armor, inventory upgrades, and essential weapons. In post-game content, you have considerably more freedom to build a specialized loadout.

The Clatter Carbine is therefore an excellent candidate if you want an automatic weapon that can handle a wide range of encounters.

Best Heavy-Hitting Bonus Firearm: Ghost Grudge

The Ghost Grudge is a 12.7x55mm revolver available through Special Content for 1,000 CP after completing the game.

It’s a much more specialized purchase than the Silencer 9 or 990-TAC, but that’s exactly why it works well as a bonus weapon.

Use it when you want to put serious damage into a single target rather than conserve every round for routine enemies.

It’s particularly attractive once you’re doing repeat runs and have already established your normal loadout.

Best Bonus Melee Weapon: Mortal Edge

The Mortal Edge is worth keeping in mind for players who like to use melee aggressively.

You can obtain it during the story after the hatchet-wielding boss, and the weapon has higher damage and better durability than the standard Hatchet. It is also available as a 3,000 CP bonus weapon.

The biggest reason to use it isn’t simply damage.

Mortal Edge gives you a more forgiving melee option, making it particularly attractive for players who are comfortable parrying and using melee to conserve ammunition.

If you’re trying to play efficiently, that’s a meaningful advantage.

Best Bonus Weapon for Grace

Grace’s weapons work differently from Leon’s.

Her standard firearms cannot be upgraded at Supply Boxes, so you shouldn’t approach her equipment the same way you approach Leon’s guns.

For bonus content, however, Grace gets two notable options:

Freya’s Needle — 4,000 CP
Kotetsu — 5,000 CP

Both are unlocked through Special Content after completing a first playthrough.

Freya’s Needle gives Grace a full-auto pistol, while Kotetsu is an unbreakable knife.

If you prefer conserving ammunition and already enjoy Grace’s melee-heavy approach, Kotetsu is the more interesting utility purchase. If you’d rather have a firearm that changes her combat options, Freya’s Needle is the obvious choice.

R.I.P. Knife: An Insanity-Difficulty Exception

The R.I.P. Knife deserves its own category because it isn’t simply another damage upgrade.

On Insanity difficulty, it can be purchased in the Care Center’s Parlor for Antique Coins and replaces one of the standard Parlor rewards. Its special purpose is producing more Blood when used, making it particularly useful for players learning how to manage Grace’s resources on the harder difficulty.

The Parlor’s normal upgrade selection also changes on Insanity, so don’t follow a Casual/Standard shopping list blindly.

If you’re preparing specifically for Insanity, our [Resident Evil Requiem: Complete Puzzle Solutions] guide can also help with the Blood Analyzer and related progression.

What Should You Buy First?

This is where weapon guides usually become less useful than they should be.

Knowing that the 990-TAC is good doesn’t help much if you’re sitting on 8,000 Credits and wondering whether to buy the shotgun, upgrade your case, or purchase armor.

For a first Leon playthrough, I’d use this order:

1. Case Upgrade

The Case Upgrade costs 4,000 Credits and increases Leon’s inventory from 8×12 to 8×13. It’s a one-time purchase and makes every subsequent section easier to manage.

2. 990-TAC

At 7,000 Credits, this is the first weapon purchase I’d prioritize.

3. Silencer 9

At 5,500 Credits, the Silencer 9 gives you a dependable handgun for the bulk of Leon’s encounters.

4. Body Armor

Body Armor Level 1 costs 8,000 Credits, while Level 2 costs another 15,000 Credits on the normal difficulties.

Don’t underestimate this purchase. Surviving a hit is sometimes worth more than squeezing another fraction of damage out of a weapon.

5. Weapon Upgrades

Once your basic equipment is covered, start putting Credits into the weapons you actually use.

This priority broadly matches current Supply Box recommendations, which put the Case Upgrade, 990-TAC, Silencer 9, Body Armor, and then weapon upgrades near the top of the shopping list.

Credits vs. CP: Don’t Mix Them Up

Resident Evil Requiem uses two currencies for different purposes.

Credits are your normal gameplay currency. You earn them during Leon’s sections and spend them at Supply Boxes on weapons, ammunition, armor, inventory upgrades, and weapon upgrades.

CP (Challenge Points) are used for bonus content.

That means you shouldn’t look at a 6,000-CP bonus weapon and think it’s competing directly with your 6,000-Credit Stiri purchase.

They’re two separate progression economies.

Save Credits for surviving the current run. Spend CP on the toys you want for subsequent runs.

Advanced Tuning and the 25 Mr. Raccoons

If you’re serious about maximizing Leon’s weapons, there’s another reason to hunt down the game’s collectibles.

Destroying all 25 Mr. Raccoon Memoriams unlocks the Advanced Tuning reward, allowing compatible Leon weapons to access their third upgrade tier.

That’s a substantial late-game investment, particularly if you’re planning multiple runs.

If you haven’t collected them all yet, our [Resident Evil Requiem: All Mr. Raccoon Locations] guide has the complete list.

And because Requiem has no traditional chapter select, it’s worth paying attention to collectible opportunities during your normal exploration rather than assuming you can clean everything up later.

Best First-Playthrough Loadout

If you want a straightforward Leon loadout without wasting Credits, I’d build around:

Handgun: Silencer 9
Shotgun: 990-TAC
Rifle: Classic 70
Heavy weapon: Requiem
Automatic weapon: Stiri REVO3 A1
Melee: Mortal Edge when available
Defense: Body Armor

You don’t need to carry every weapon.

Inventory space is valuable, and carrying guns you rarely use simply because you found them isn’t automatically an advantage. Leon can sell weapons at Supply Boxes and buy them again later if necessary, so don’t be afraid to clean up your inventory.

The better approach is to carry weapons that cover different jobs.

The Silencer 9 handles routine enemies. The 990-TAC handles close-range emergencies. The Classic 70 gives you a powerful precision option. The Requiem is there when something needs to stop being your problem immediately.

That’s enough firepower for most situations.

Best New Game+ Spending Order

New Game+ is where the bonus weapons start making much more sense.

If you’ve already finished the campaign and have CP available, I’d prioritize:

Clatter Carbine
Ghost Grudge
Mortal Edge
Kotetsu
Freya’s Needle
Matilda IMP
Redemption
RPG-7

The RPG-7 is the obvious choice if you simply want maximum destructive power, but its high CP cost makes it more of a luxury purchase than a first bonus weapon. The RPG-7 costs 15,000 CP, with its infinite-ammo option requiring another major CP investment.

Likewise, Redemption is powerful but highly specialized. It fires a single rifle round and must be reloaded after every shot, so its damage comes with a very obvious handling cost.

Which Upgrades Are Actually Worth Buying?

You don’t need to max every weapon.

For most players, upgrade priority should look something like this:

Handgun

Prioritize Power and Magazine Capacity.

The Silencer 9 already has strong handling, so increasing its damage and giving yourself more shots before reloading are the most noticeable improvements.

Shotgun

Prioritize Power, followed by Reload Speed/Capacity.

The 990-TAC is already fast-firing. Making each shell hit harder is usually more valuable than obsessing over every handling stat.

SMG

Prioritize Power and Magazine Capacity.

Automatic weapons chew through ammunition quickly. A larger magazine reduces the number of interruptions during hectic fights.

Requiem

Prioritize Power if you use it as a specialist weapon.

If you find the recoil and slow handling frustrating, the Barrel Jacket or Weighted Grip can make it easier to control.

Bonus Weapons

Don’t automatically spend CP and then immediately dump Credits into every upgrade available.

Try the weapon first.

If it changes how you play and solves a problem your normal loadout has, invest in it. If it simply duplicates a weapon you already like, save the money.

Final Verdict: Which Weapons Should You Actually Use?

For a standard first playthrough, you don’t need the fanciest arsenal in the game.

The Silencer 9, 990-TAC, and Classic 70 form the core of the Leon loadout I’d recommend. Add the Stiri REVO3 A1 if you want sustained automatic fire, and keep the Requiem for enemies that justify its ammunition.

Once you’ve finished the campaign, the equation changes. Clatter Carbine becomes a strong all-round bonus choice, Ghost Grudge gives you serious single-target firepower, and Mortal Edge is an excellent melee upgrade.

The RPG-7 is there when subtlety has officially left the building.

For Grace, don’t waste time looking for conventional weapon upgrades—her standard firearms don’t use Leon’s Supply Box upgrade system. Focus instead on her unique tools, Parlor upgrades, and the bonus weapons unlocked through Special Content.

Most importantly, spend your Credits with a purpose.

A fully upgraded collection looks impressive. A small loadout that you can keep supplied, protect with armor, and use confidently is what actually gets you through Requiem.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best handgun in Resident Evil Requiem?

The Silencer 9 is our pick for the best all-purpose handgun. It combines good damage, precision, rate of fire, and a large magazine, and it has a useful upgrade tree.

What is the best shotgun in Resident Evil Requiem?

The 990-TAC is our recommended shotgun. Its semi-automatic action gives it an excellent rate of fire, while its upgrade path can make its spread and damage even more effective.

What is the best rifle?

For a normal playthrough, we’d choose the Classic 70. It has excellent damage per shot but sacrifices firing and reload speed.

Can Grace upgrade her weapons?

No. Grace’s standard weapons don’t have Leon-style weapon upgrades at Supply Boxes.

Is the Stiri REVO3 A1 worth buying?

Yes, particularly if you want an automatic weapon. Its 30-round base magazine can be expanded through upgrades, making it useful when sustained fire matters.

Is the RPG-7 worth buying?

It’s worth it for players who want maximum firepower in subsequent runs, but at 15,000 CP, it isn’t the first bonus weapon I’d recommend buying. Infinite RPG ammunition is a separate CP purchase.

What should I buy first in Leon’s campaign?

Our priority is Case Upgrade → 990-TAC → Silencer 9 → Body Armor → weapon upgrades. This keeps inventory and survivability ahead of unnecessary weapon spending.

Sources & Updates

Last reviewed: September 2026

This guide was fact-checked against current Resident Evil Requiem weapon, upgrade, collectible, and Supply Box information. Particular attention was given to weapon costs, upgrade availability, bonus weapons, the 25 Mr. Raccoon Advanced Tuning unlock, and Insanity-specific equipment changes.

Because weapon rankings are partly subjective, this guide offers editorial recommendations rather than claims of an objectively superior weapon in every situation.

For related Requiem resources, see our All Weapons & How to Unlock Them, All Mr. Raccoon Locations, Complete Puzzle Solutions, All Safe Codes & Combinations, and Complete Walkthrough guides.