It goes without saying that weapons in hack-and-slash games are pretty important tools. It wouldn’t be a hack-and-slash if the player character wasn’t sporting a hefty arsenal of swords, guns, and other kinds of destructive gadgets to rip through the opposition. The Bayonetta series equips the titular character with an assortment of ‘toys’ to play around with.
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From bows to rocket launchers to handguns, you name it, it’s probably there and ready to dispatch your angelic foes. Each weapon feels distinctly different from the other. Some are slow but pack a huge punch. Others are fast and add more combo flexibility. This list will look at traits such as those as well as others to decide what are the best weapons in the series.
Updated November 22nd, 2022, by Hilton Webster: With the release of Bayonetta 3, years of waiting have come to an end, and a whole slew of new and creative weapons have come along too. Though Bayonetta 3 removes the ability to separately equip weapons to your hands and feet, it does add some of the most absurd weapons in the series to date.
20 Kafka
Most of us are probably aware of Mister Franz Kafka, the famed author of Metamorphosis, amongst other works. You might know him from the memes of a giant cockroach lying in bed. Yeah, that guy. Anyway, Kafka has been channeled here into a giant bow with an appropriately giant bug on top.
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Kafka is pretty interesting as a weapon, letting you play at range with your hands while having your legs for a more close-up weapon. The issue arises in how it’s impossible to smoothly combo between your hands and feet with Kafka, a pretty essential aspect of Bayonetta.
19 Rodin
The owner of the Gates of Hell (the bar, not the biblical ones) is one frightening individual when you realise he’s a fallen angel feared by both Angels and Demons. So it’s only appropriate then that Rodin gives you a weapon named after himself for beating him as the secret boss in all three games.
As a weapon in the first two games, Rodin summons Angel (and Demon in the sequel) weapons with different inputs. It's not extremely smooth to weave into combos, though is an absurdly powerful weapon. In Bayonetta 3, the weapon functions much the same, though is significantly easier to use in combos like any other weapon. Plus, it comes with Rodin himself as an Infernal Demon, if you fancy a dance with the Devil.
18 Salamandra
It seems Rodin went back on his word about putting chainsaws on Bayonetta’s arms in the first game. Salamandra is exactly that; two large chainsaws that can be equipped to the hands or feet. Salamandra’s combo options are slightly more limited than most other weapons on this list, with having only four-hit combos and no pause options, making them fairly simple to use.
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It makes up for this through its moderate speed and charge ability. On the surface, Salamandra’s damage is average, but once its charge ability is mastered, it becomes a powerhouse able to pump out damage faster than any other weapon. Making effective use of its charge ability can be difficult in the heat of a battle, though.
17 Cassiopeia
Bayonetta holds the record for the most weapons in the series by a significant margin, with around 14 weapons in total. They continually unlock as you progress along the game, though a small number of them are hidden away, Cassiopeia being one of them. To unlock it, you have to defeat Dark Eve in the Phenomenal Remnant which unlocks after you complete the game.
Cassiopeia itself is a giant anchor mixed with a harpoon. It slow but hits hard, though has the unique ability to extend the range of any of its attacks by holding the relevant attack button. One of the most interesting aspects of the weapon is how it can drag enemies to you with its built-in harpoon, or even tear boulders from the earth to launch at enemies.
16 Odette
A rare type of weapon indeed. Odette is one of only two weapons in the series in the feet-exclusive club. Odette is a pair of ice skates that increases Bayonetta’s movement speed and enables her to freeze enemies with a flurry of kick attacks.
Odette is moderately useful against most enemies for its increase in Bayonetta’s movement, sliding effects, and ability to freeze all non-boss foes outside of a few special cases. Being able to freeze enemies is especially useful. With it being built directly into Odette’s offense, kick attacks become a lot more effective and can take enemies out of a fight completely to make engagements more manageable or to get a good amount of free damage in on a single target.
15 Rakshasa
Two swords are better than one, after all. As a pair, Rakshasa is dual-wielded with the added benefit of allowing Bayonetta to equip them to her feet. Rakshasa actually shines when equipped to Bayonetta’s feet specifically. With some of the most varied and dynamic kick combos in the series and very few recovery frames when ending most, Rakshasa has excellent pressure capabilities that’ll keep Bayonetta active and her enemies reeling.
Pairing Rakshasa with Shuraba makes a devastating combo. Rakshasa, paired with itself or other weapons, is nothing to sneeze at either. It’s a weapon that goes well with any other in the game, and that’s a quality very few weapons have.
14 Lt. Col. Kilgore
Guns are a major part of Bayonetta. The handguns she starts the games with, Scarborough Fair, Love Is Blue and Colour My World being her trademarks weapons, and even the few extra that are thrown around like the Arwings and Bazillions. And then there’s Lt. Col. Kilgore, which is simply just rocket launchers. It's a bit overkill when you’ve got all four equipped.
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Kilgore shares many of the same moves as Scarborough Fair, but due to how slow they are, they throw in a few unique combos of their own. Kilgore is essentially a power weapon: super slow but super hard-hitting. With a little effort and a not strictly intended technique with Durga, you can also have it shoot out endless missiles to lay waste to anything in your path.
13 Chernobog
A fitting weapon for slaying the denizens of Inferno, being named after a god of misfortune. Chernobog is a big, three-bladed scythe. While not an incredibly special weapon overall, its "wicked blades" are its most noticeable feature. Combo-enders can juggle large groups of enemies or do significant damage to foes in a very large area around Bayonetta. It makes dealing with large groups of smaller enemies an easier task.
Its biggest weakness is its inability to break through more challenging enemies’ defences for such a slow weapon. Regardless, it’s still very useful for its range and relative safeness when in more chaotic fights.
12 Cruel Altea
With the various changes to weapons in Bayonetta 3, one of the most major ones is how each weapon is infused with an Infernal Demon. Reappearing from their initial showing in Bayonetta 2, Labolas returns as the Demon Masquerade form of Cruel Altea, a set of gear that is truly unique in ways that are surprising. A big achievement in a game with a train as a Demon.
Cruel Altea is worn as a pair of gloves and boots, as well as a belt all in the shape of Labolas' head. When used, Bayonetta does a punch, sending out one of the heads to track an enemy and fire a laser at them for so long as the button is held. They have incredible tracking, following enemies both above and below you with ease, and at an incredible range too.
11 Takemikazuchi
A Sun Wukong-inspired hammer that hits as hard as it is comically large. Takemikazuchi is the go-to power weapon in Bayonetta 2, sporting very slow animations but some of the most satisfying hit-stun to enemies. Takemikazuchi is one of the series’s most powerful weapons, if not the most powerful in terms of raw damage output.
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Most combo strings can erase smaller enemies in the game and significantly damage larger ones. Its attacks are also useful for good crowd control as they hit in sweeping arcs in front of Bayonetta in a wide cone. Most enemy attacks will be stuffed completely, especially from Wicked Weaves. However, getting most Wicked Weave attacks out can be difficult, considering their incredibly long start-up.
