Resident Evil 2 / Mechanics

Weapons and survival: Leon's firepower, Claire's flexibility

Give each weapon a role and keep healing, ammunition, and inventory space in balance.

Edition covered

Original 1998 PlayStation release. The DualShock reissue, later ports, and 2019 remake have edition-specific additions.

14 items · one picture per entry · open a picture for full size.

Item directory

Leon's pump-action shotgun: strong at close range against groups of zombies and Lickers.

Claire's crossbow fires a spread of bolts, useful for hitting several enemies at once.

Claire's heavy weapon; switch between grenade, acid and flame rounds to suit the enemy.

Leon's starting VP70 pistol; a weapon part upgrades it to three-round burst fire.

Claire's starting Browning HP pistol, her dependable backup weapon.

Leon's Desert Eagle magnum deals heavy damage per shot; save it for bosses.

Claire's electrical weapon fires a short-range stream of current.

Both survivors start with a combat knife; it saves ammunition but is risky against fast enemies.

Grenade-launcher ammunition that deals strong damage to tough creatures.

Grenade-launcher ammunition that sets targets alight, especially effective against plant enemies.

Restores some health; combine herbs to make stronger mixtures.

Does nothing alone, but mixed with a green herb it creates a full-strength recovery.

Cures poison; adding it to a mixture includes the cure.

Restores all health and cures poison in one inventory slot.

Plan around character equipment. Shotgun: inventory or game-object image from the original Resident Evil 2.
Use powerful shots where they matter. Magnum: inventory or game-object image from the original Resident Evil 2.
Combine recovery sensibly. Green Herb: inventory or game-object image from the original Resident Evil 2.

FIELD NOTE

Take a stronger weapon into unfamiliar danger, then return it to storage when routine exploration resumes.

Game artwork belongs to its respective rights holders.

References