Weapons

Your basic and infallible tool. Essential for CQC takedowns, silent neck slits from behind, and interrogating captured soldiers for intel and item locations. The separate CQC knife you use for grabs and throws is sheathed on your chest — it gets confiscated along with the rest of your gear at Groznyj Grad, so CQC itself is unusable again until EVA returns it behind the Tikhogornyj waterfall.

A improvised substitute for your confiscated knife. Handy for a quick snack mid-escape, but swap it out the moment you recover real gear.

A suppressed tranquilizer pistol modified from a Navy SEAL sidearm. The single most valuable weapon if you're aiming for a no-kill run — every soldier put to sleep instead of killed keeps The Sorrow's boss fight shorter and less punishing.

A semi-automatic .45 sidearm. Snake's original gun is destroyed at Dolinovodno; EVA hands him a customized replacement with match-grade sights and a tuned trigger. Precise and hard-hitting, ideal for direct close-range confrontations when stealth has already failed.

The standard Soviet sidearm. Nothing special, but reliable enough to fall back on when you're out of better options.

Ocelot's signature revolver — he carries three of them and uses one to ricochet bullets during your first encounter. The Boss gives Snake one of her own after his torture, and picking the right pistol during your duel with Ocelot can even carry it into your next playthrough's Virtuous Mission loadout.

A compact Czechoslovakian submachine gun. Its laser sight makes spraying from the hip surprisingly reliable.

The Soviet assault rifle. Extremely powerful against clustered patrols, but its noise and kick make it a poor choice for stealth sections.

A versatile Western assault rifle. The fact that it accepts a suppressor is what makes it stand out — it's the closest thing to a do-everything rifle for the rest of the campaign, and the base weapon The Boss's own Patriot is built from.

A pump-action shotgun. Perfect for tearing through The Pain's insect armor or clearing the tight corridors of the underground caves.

A basic sniper rifle. Useful for picking off distant sentries and scouting enemy positions, and essential gear for the hunting duel against The End.

A light machine gun. Its huge magazine makes it the go-to option for the final motorcycle chase and for tearing through shielded targets — fire in bursts rather than holding the trigger down.

An indispensable rocket launcher for downing helicopter harassment and for the final confrontation, where it's the only way to immobilize and finish off the Shagohod.

A towable anti-aircraft cannon left in place by Soviet forces. Useful both against helicopters and as an improvised way to clear a crowd of soldiers below.

A standard fragmentation grenade with a three-second fuse. Good for softening up a cluster of enemies before you engage.

An early flashbang design. The single best tool for whittling down a boss's stamina non-lethally — pair it with CQC or the Mk22 for a clean Boss Camo unlock.

A non-lethal screening grenade. Ideal for covering a retreat once a firefight has already gone loud.

An electronic countermeasure grenade that fills the air with foil strips, jamming nearby radios and sensors — yours included.

A "Willie Pete" incendiary grenade. Devastating against clustered soldiers, and against tougher targets that shrug off ordinary explosives.

A directional fragmentation mine. Disarm and pocket enemy-planted ones by crawling prone over them, then re-lay your own as an ambush.

A classic remote charge for demolitions at a distance. Blowing up an outpost's food store drains enemy stamina and makes them complain over radio chatter — blowing up their ammo store leaves them with less to shoot back with.

A stable plastic explosive paired with synchronized timed detonators. Used to plant four charges on the Shagohod's fuel tanks in the Groznyj Grad hangar to disable it before the final assault.

A modified XM16E1 with the stock removed and a shortened barrel, held like a pistol despite the heavy recoil that comes with it. This is The Boss's personal weapon, carried over into future playthroughs once unlocked.

A chloroform-soaked cloth. Since it stays usable under the Scientist, Maintenance, or Raikov disguise, it's the safest way to quietly deal with a suspicious guard without breaking cover.

A gas-spraying cigarette prop. Another disguise-safe option alongside the Handkerchief for handling threats without blowing your cover.

A spent magazine repurposed as a noisemaker. Toss one around a corner to pull a patrol's attention away from your actual route.