Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance weapons

This article is a list of weapons that appear in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Although the game primarily focuses on blade weapons, missile/rocket launchers and throwable weapons are procurable as sub-weapons. Several weapons can also be procured from bosses.

Armor Breaker
Sword fashioned after a feudal Japanese "Kabutowari" (aka hachiwara) sword, famed for its alleged ability to split an armoured helmet (kabuto). Armor Breaker has the same stats as the Stun Blade, with a 20% chance of instantly cutting an armoured target instead of a chance of an instant Execution prompt. Awarded upon obtaining all left hand ID chips and then completing any level on any difficulty, costing 20,000 BP. Doktor also alluded to creating this in-story, stating at a certain point of collecting left hand ID chips that if Raiden collected them all, he'll have "a surprise" for Raiden.

Fox Blade
A straight-bladed "ninjato" sword unlockable via a code included in US special editions (and seemingly included in all EU copies), it is exactly the same sword used by the original cyborg ninja, Gray Fox, with its description also implying that Fox's soul is encased within the sword. Effectively a cheat sword, it is essentially the same as the HF Blade in terms of stats but is capable of ignoring armour, with the only drawback being that even when it is unlocked via code, it still costs 200,000 BP. Purchasing the single special upgrade (which increase the chance of ignoring armour to 100%) costs another 100,000 BP, while the other upgrades are the same as the HF Blade in both nature and cost.

The Fox Blade can instantly cut all forms of armour (parts which soak up damage and turn blue) as though they were blue and it were in Blade Mode, which makes it extremely powerful against heavy cyborgs and UGs; in normal mode, a single strike is capable of cutting a Grad UG in half. Against regular unarmoured foes it is effectively always in Blade Mode. It cannot do anything to parts which deflect strikes, making it of less use against enemies such as the first Grad UG. This deadliness, however, does make it poorly suited to getting good combo scores, and if the player is not good with Zandatsu kills they will very quickly find themselves short of FC due to the very low number of normal hits they are performing in combat.

HF Blade
Raiden's primary weapon. A customised version of the HF Blade Raiden previously wielded in Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4, it now boasts a connection to Raiden's internal fuel cells (FC) which allow it to enter a special "Blade Mode" where time appears to slow and the weapon's strength and cutting power are increased. During the prologue chapter, Raiden instead uses his original HF Blade, which does not have any of the additional functions of the main game's HF Blade.

The HF Blade has five upgrades to each of three categories: strength increases cutting power, absorption the amount of fuel cell electrolytes gained from each strike on an enemy, and energy the speed at which FC energy is drained in Blade Mode. When fully upgraded it is the second strongest weapon in the game in terms of stats, beaten only by the HF Murasama and HF Long Sword, and has the lowest energy consumption in Blade Mode.

HF Long Sword
The HF Long Sword is simply a lengthened version of the standard HF Blade. When fully upgraded it matches the power of the HF Murasama, but is 10% slower than the HF Blade and 20% slower than the Murasama, and also has the highest rate of FC consumption of any weapon and very poor energy absorption. Awarded upon finishing all VR missions with a "1st" ranking. Generally regarded as a disappointing weapon due to its capabilities not really making up for the extremely high difficulty of obtaining it.

HF Machete
The short machete used by PMC cyborgs is awarded upon obtaining 10 data storage items, costing 5,000 BP. While fast, it is only half as long as the standard HF blade and is also weaker (sharing the stats of the Stun Blade and Armor Breaker), making it hard to use effectively.

HF Murasama
Jetstream Sam's HF samurai blade is available in the final boss battle, and is unlocked for normal use after beating the game once, costing 10,000 BP. It lacks its distinctive sheath, instead using Raiden's default one, and has the same moves and upgrade options as the regular HF Blade.

The Murasama is extremely powerful when fully upgraded and has superior reach to the HF Blade, making it the strongest weapon in the game in terms of raw damage, though the Fox Blade is more effective against armoured enemies. It is also 10% faster to swing than the HF Blade and has boosted energy absorption.

HF Wooden sword
A wooden bokken that cannot cut, used to subdue cyborgs without killing them. Made from Honduran mahogany, apparently the wood best suited to HF blade treatment. Awarded upon killing all the men in boxes, and costs 5,000 BP.

Unlike lethal swords, it starts with a strength rating of 5, which can be reduced via upgrades. As well as the usual absorb and energy use options, it also has a special effect which increases the chance of a given blow knocking an enemy out, up to 20% per hit. The wooden sword can still kill if an enemy is struck too often, which is where reducing the attack power comes into play.

The sword totally ignores armour and hitpoints, with a straight one in five chance of taking the enemy out of the fight when fully upgraded no matter how powerful they actually are. A successfully stunned enemy will fade out as if cloaking.

Only cyborgs count as kills for purposes of getting a no kills bonus for a chapter. In any encounter with cyborgs and UGs, the UGs will not count against a no-kill score, though it is impossible to get a no kill bonus in a combat encounter with only UGs since they will all count as kills in such an encounter.

Snake's Soul
A wooden sword which will feature in the first DLC, scheduled for release in March 2013. Appears to be the same model as the regular HF Wooden Sword, but with markings in Japanese Kanji, and plays voice clips in Solid Snake's voice under a variety of conditions, from being selected or used to knock out a foe to more humourous events like getting in a cardboard box. Other abilities, cost and unlocking method are not currently known, although the first DLC trailer indicated that, besides using Solid Snake's voice, it has the same overall properties as the regular Wooden Sword.

At present this sword is confirmed for the Japanese release only; as yet there is no word from Konami on whether the sword will be featured in Western releases of the DLC.

Stun Blade
The Stun Blade is a relatively weak weapon, with the same general stats as the Armor Breaker and HF Machete, but has a chance of up to 20% to stun an enemy with every strike. Stunned enemies display the Execution (Triangle+Circle / Y+B) prompt instantly. In spite of its name, the Stun Blade is not a non-lethal weapon. Awarded upon obtaining all 20 data storage items and then completing any level on any difficulty, costing 20,000 BP.

Unique weapons
In addition to the above blades, there are also three unique weapons to be procured, each also requiring the defeat of their former owner. If equipped, a Unique weapon replaces the standard strong (kick) attacks with its own, and generally disables any special moves which use the strong attack button. Unique weapons cannot be used during a Ninja Run; this will just execute the standard sliding animation. All Unique weapons cost 10,000 BP to unlock, and only have strength upgrades, though L'Etranger and Bloodlust also have special moves which must be bought separately. The descriptions explain that these are not actual weapons, but rather replicas developed by Doktor from his analyzing their combat data.

Bloodlust (Pincer Blade)
A pair of HF Machetes combined into massive shears. They are a slow but extremely powerful weapon in Raiden's hands, used for sweeping, heavy strikes. They are retrieved after defeating Sundowner. CODEC calls during the fight with Sundowner mock the very concept of the weapon.

All of Bloodlust's moves can be charged for additional damage and hits, including its air slash. Unlike the other subweapons, equipping Bloodlust does not disable the sweep kick (back-forward-strong) or thunder strike (forward-forward-strong) special moves, even though the movelist implies it does.

Bloodlust's strike animations have absolute priority and give Raiden an immense defence boost, to the point that on lower difficulties he is basically invincible while swinging it; he can, for example, avoid being knocked down by a charging Gekko if he is swinging Bloodlust when it contacts him. There is a substantial wind-up and wind-down time to each swing in which he remains vulnerable, however.

Dystopia (Tactical Sai)
A single one of the twin magnetic sais used by Monsoon. Essentially a grappling hook, Dystopia allows Raiden to remotely attack or pull himself to enemies. Dystopia charges up if not used for a moment, glowing purple instead of blue; in this state it also delivers a powerful stun attack to anything it strikes. It is primarily useful against air units such as Sliders and Hammerheads. Retrieved after defeating Monsoon.

L'Etranger (Polearm)
A polearm made out of Dwarf Gekko arms, with a blade on both ends. Capable of rapid attacks, with Raiden alternating between using it as a polearm and a whip automatically during combos. It is retrieved after defeating Mistral.

Subweapons
Subweapons are equipped to their own slot and readied with the L2 button / Left Trigger, with R1 / RB used to throw or fire them. This slot also contains the Drum Can and Cardboard Box items.

Rocket Launcher
A rocket launcher used by Desperado Enforcement, physically based on the Panzerfaust 3 launcher. The weapon is equipped with a HEAT-MP (High Explosive Anti-Tank/Multi-Purpose) warhead designed to take out cyborgs and Unmanned Gears, and was modified with special plastic parts to decrease its weight.

Homing Missile Launcher
An anti-aircraft missile launcher visually resembling a customized FIM-92 Stinger, with the IFF antenna replaced with a large circular radome; this is seemingly for the millimetre-wave radar guidence the launcher has in addition to the standard IR seeker. It can be fired like the standard rocket launcher, but locks on to valid air targets such as Hammerheads and Sliders. The description implies that it was flare-proof, although this contradicted Boris's usage of the missile system in the final scene of the game's prologue, which did end up spoofed by flares.

Fragmentation grenade
Heavy grenades with pre-scored hexagonal shrapnel designed to be effective against CNT armoured cyborgs, and heavy enough that they can only be used effectively by cyborgs. As with all grenades, a throw line will appear when Raiden readies the grenade to show where it will land. The grenade will explode on impact with an enemy, or on a timer if it does not hit anything.

EMP grenade
Effectively the same as the classic Stun Grenade, this device produces an EMP effect with a substantial radius which temporarily stuns Unmanned Gears and cyborgs. Essential for some hostage rescues.

RP grenade
Red Phosphorous grenade which releases a cloud of IR-blocking smoke, effective against cyborg and UG vision as well as standard visual tracking. The same effect can also be created by attacking fire extinguishers found in the environment with the sword. Useful for escaping pursuit or avoiding damage.

Jam grenade
Weapon resembling a Chaff Grenade which can stun Unmanned Gears and disable electronics, including enemy radios to prevent alerts.

3D Photo Frame
Thrown like a grenade, this is the equivalent of the Book and Magazine items in previous games, used to distract enemies with a holographic image of a saucy dancing girl. The description explains that this method works better than regular magazines because of the emotion-suppressed nature of cyborgs. This will even work on some UGs, such as Dwarf Gekko.