How to use guns and weapons in Shadows of Doubt

Shadows of Doubt
(Image credit: Fireshine Games)

Guns in Shadows of Doubt are everywhere, along with all kinds of other weapons and firearms. It won't be long before you're stumbling across smoking rifles, dropped pistols, bloody knives, and even katanas, but you can't use all of these weapons, sorry to say - or at least, while you can use a gun to attack somebody, you can't pull the trigger. Below, we'll explain the rules on what weapons you can and can't use, as well as the best weapon in Shadows of Doubt to date.

How to use weapons in Shadows of Doubt

Shadows of Doubt

(Image credit: Fireshine Games)

Shadows of Doubt lets you use weapons and guns - but only as blunt melee objects. You cannot fire guns in Shadows of Doubt, but you can pistol whip people with them, or just more appropriate melee items like katanas, truncheons and even syringes. There's even single-use non-lethal explosives that players can throw.

The damage done by melee weapons isn't the same across the board - swords and katanas do more damage than bats or hitting somebody with a pistol, for example. The sword appears to be the most powerful weapon in the game so far, able to knock down many enemies with a single strike. 

However, this means that if you find a gun, it's more likely to be a clue than a weapon for you to use - a murderer must have a murder weapon, after all. Examining the body can tell you what kind of weapon was used to kill it, so finding a matching firearm or instrument can help you identify the killer.

Shadows of Doubt

(Image credit: Fireshine Games)

More importantly, despite many weapons seeming lethal, none of these will kill NPCs permanently, just knocking them unconscious like your fists do, only faster. If you're not good at the game's stealth, or looked up how to arrest people in Shadows of Doubt and want to take the violent approach, it might be worth keeping a melee weapon on you.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission

Joel Franey
Guides Writer

Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and raconteur with a Masters from Sussex University, none of which has actually equipped him for anything in real life. As a result he chooses to spend most of his time playing video games, reading old books and ingesting chemically-risky levels of caffeine. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at USgamer, Gfinity, Eurogamer and more besides.

Read more
V in Cyberpunk 2077 with pink hair, wearing a suit, holding a rifle in the street.
How to holster weapons in Cyberpunk 2077 and put away your guns
Baldur's Gate 3 player holding flaming sword weapon
The best Baldur's Gate 3 weapons and how weapons work
The player in Cyberpunk 2077 holding a heavy machine gun on an escalator.
The best Cyberpunk 2077 weapons and guns
Sneaking behind a guard at night in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
How to Stealth Kill in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2
Doom: The Dark Ages screenshot
Doom director claims The Dark Ages can be beaten without using a gun, but "the game's not necessarily built to do that"
Star Wars Outlaws weapons
All Star Wars Outlaws weapons and blaster upgrades
Latest in Simulation
Stardew Valley Baldur's Gate 3 mod Baldur's Village
Stardew Valley player bringing a bit of Baldur's Gate 3 to ConcernedApe's farming sim, now with Larian's seal of approval, says they've played over 1,500 hours and will improve the mod
inZOI Character Studio screenshot showing a young woman with short black/pink hair, black cat-like ears, and a black blouse with a bowtie
The creator of upcoming life sim Inzoi says he was "recklessly brave to even think about creating a game of this scale"
Stardew Valley Castle Village mod
Stardew Valley Expanded creator is building an "even more ambitious" mod with a whole new city and "dungeons inspired by The Legend of Zelda"
A shop in The Sims 4 Businesses and Hobbies
How to start a small business in The Sims 4 Businesses and Hobbies
Guitar Hero
Guitar Hero expert finally annihilates world record 200% speedrun of the game's hardest song after trying and failing 50,000 times
A Sim celebrates his tattoo shop in The Sims 4 Businesses and Hobbies
How to complete The Sims 4 Esteemed Entrepreneur aspiration in Businesses and Hobbies
Latest in Guides
Fortnite Gold Veins
Fortnite Gold Veins: How to mine them for Bars
WWE 2K25
WWE 2K25 locker codes guide to free MyFaction cards
Fortnite Outlaw Keycard
Fortnite Outlaw Keycard: How to unlock it and what does it do
Umaga is a key player in The Bloodline Showcase
How to unlock all wrestlers in WWE 2K25
A shop in The Sims 4 Businesses and Hobbies
How to start a small business in The Sims 4 Businesses and Hobbies
FC 25
FC 25 FUT Birthday guide and full cards list