At first glance, the upgrades system in Shadow Warrior 2 can be a little odd to wrap your head around, but in this fast FPS from Flying Wild Hog, the way in which you get stronger as you progress allows for an incredibly large amount of customization.
It’s a little tricky to explain, but try to stick with it. Upgrades are tied to gems and these gems come in a range of different tiers ranging from Common in grey to red being the most Exotic and rare. These gems provide different abilities, such as resistances, and benefits for different aspects of your character ranging from improving and modifying weapons, enhancing armor, or altering your inventory in some way.
The specific upgrades name and strength of the effects can vary from gem to gem, but the general unique prefixes and suffixes which denote their type tend to be fairly similar for the item. There are 65 unique upgrades in total and some can completely change your character, whilst others will give you that much-needed edge over the unending tide of Demons. Here are 10 of the best, the type of names they tend to have, and their effects when equipped.
10 Geminate Ambidextrity - Akimbo
Perfect for pairing with high DPS weapons or for fans looking to turn the game it into their own John Woo movie, the Akimbo upgrade is the perfect spray-and-pray upgrade.
Applicable to smaller weaponry, the Akimbo mod is pretty self-explanatory, it allows you to dual wield your gun. You don’t need to buy another weapon for this to work as the mod provides one by default and the abilities that are already equipped on your current weapon will also apply. Although not massively game-changing, it can still provide a nice way to double your damage and turn something like a humble pistol into a decent crowd-control option.
9 Quick Momentum - Increased Movement Speed
Staying on your toes is the best way to survive in Shadow Warrior 2. The game likes to dogpile you with hordes and damage-soaking monsters with big AOE splash attacks almost constantly and being able to run away when you start to get boxed in can make all the difference.
Any upgrades that buff movement speed are worth hanging onto as not only will you live longer, it’s also a great way to turn yourself into a lightning-fast murderball on the battlefield. It’s recommended to pair this upgrade up with melee weapons such as the super-fast dual swords or late-game Katanas as their fast DPS means you can get in some damaging swings before zipping away to safety.
8 Frugal Thriftiness - Chance To Save Ammo On Kill/Reload
There are a lot of monsters in Shadow Warrior 2, the sheer volume of Demons that get thrown at you mission after mission really cannot be understated. It feels like you’re constantly fending off wave after wave of screaming, clawing nightmares, and to put them down for good you’re going to need plenty of ammunition.
A lot of weapons in Shadow Warrior 2, especially the Miniguns, absolutely chew through your ammo reserves and having a spare clip to use at the right moment can often save you in a pinch. Any upgrade gems with the terms Frugal or Thriftiness in them are great as they provide a chance to save ammo on kills or reloads. So if you find your guns constantly going dry at the worst time, then grab one of these.
7 Blazing, Frosty, Biting, Paralyzing - Elemental Damage
As you progress through the story of Shadow Warrior 2 the Demons you will start to face in missions will start to become bigger, more complex, and a lot tougher to take on. Bringing along an elemental buff can level the playing field as often these new monsters can have a weakness to elemental damage.
Any gems with the prefixes of Blazing, Frosty, Biting, or Paralyzing are what you need to keep an eye out for. These denote fire, ice, acid, and electrical damage and they can be applied to pretty much any weapon in your arsenal. So you could easily give yourself an acidic shotgun, or a lightning spewing pistol. Certain monsters also have immunities to specific elements, so mix and match to find the best slaying setup for you.
6 Frenzied Madness - Multishot
This upgrade is one of the more interesting modifiers in the game. Available to use on any gun that has more than one barrel, this simple little addon turns any boomstick into a full barrelled blaster.
Perfect for pairing up with the Stick of Doom, The Triad, Cerberus, or the Genocider, multishot fires all of the shotgun barrels at once in a deafeningly loud and highly damaging buckshot blast. Although its major downside is it makes your weapons much slower to reload, it’s a great way to quickly dump a bunch of damage on a target.
5 Loaded Treasure - Increase Loot Find
You find a lot of loot, money, and weapons in Shadow Warrior 2. In fact, it’s nearly impossible to finish a mission without your inventory heaving from all the trinkets you’ve picked up along the way. Whilst most can be sold off or scrapped, sometimes a good grinding session for resources is often still called for.
To help with this any upgrade with Loaded or Treasure in the name is worth watching out for as these will increase your chances of finding loot as well as improving the quality of certain drops. These types of upgrades are fairly common to come across and they’re a great way to help you grind up some extra gear if you’re in need of new weaponry at short notice.
4 Stinging Keen - Bonus Critical Hit Chance
Shadow Warrior 2 is a game that does not wait around for you to get stronger, Demons scale in difficulty as you progress and quite quickly you can run into a wall if you’re not keeping up. To level the playing field, hunting down any Stinging Keen gems should be a priority.
These sparkly little stones pack a pretty powerful upgrade that increases your Critical Hit Chance and they skyrocket further in quality towards the late game. Pairing it with a weapon that does a high amount of Crit damage or increases the percentage further, like the Stick of Doom with its 50% buff to Critical Hit Chance as an example, is a great way to create an incredibly strong and borderline broken build in the game.
3 Carnivorous Predator - Gain HP On Hit/Kill
Although you can heal with Chi techniques in Shadow Warrior 2, often in the heat of battle you won’t have time to stop for a few seconds and regain your hitpoints. But having something that can suck up health as a vampiric monster can often help you scrape through some of the harder boss fights and encounters.
Any gemstones labeled Carnivorous Predator should be a priority for pickup as these upgrades reward you with a tasty bit of health for every kill. Plus, with the game’s propensity to spawn wave after wave of hordes that you can shred in seconds, it’s an easy way to keep your health topped up in the heat of the moment.
2 Destructive Wound - Multiplayer Damage Aura
Although it’s mainly a single-player experience, Shadow Warrior 2’s Co-op mode is a lot of fun, and often bringing in a friend to help take on a particularly hard fight or just explore the world can be incredibly enjoyable.
Flying Wild Hog is also clearly aware of this, which is why there are also upgrades in the game that provide bonuses when you’re playing multiplayer. The Destructive Wound type gems are by far one of the most helpful in this situation as they increase the damage being done by the party within a specific area. So if you’re group is already tearing through areas, or you’re struggling with a particular boss then this gem can help increase your team’s damage quite a bit.
1 Explosive Blow Up - Explosive Ammo
Quite often the simplest of changes can be the most fun to use and the Explosive Blow Up upgrade gems are the perfect example of this. Relatively self-explanatory, this is the best and weirdest mod in the game because it can turn any ammunition fired from any weapon explosive.
It can be paired with bows, pistols, SMGs, shotguns, and any non-launcher-based projectile turning their payload into an explosive-tipped nightmare. An interesting thing about this upgrade is that it doesn’t seem to count as elemental damage, so it can be used as a workaround for Demons that might have immunities to particular elements.
NEXT: Rage 2: Best Upgrades, Ranked
