Resident Evil 9 Requiem: All Charms Ranked & Best Combos

Table of Contents

1. How the Charm System Works
2. Weapon Charms — Full Tier List
3. Inventory Charms — Full Tier List
4. Best Charm Combos by Playstyle
5. Character-Specific Recommendations
6. Important Notes
7. Rewards & Unlockables
8. Final Take
9. Needs Verification

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How the Charm System Works

RE9 Requiem’s charm system builds on what RE4 Remake started but adds a dual-slot mechanic. You get:

• One weapon charm slot per equipped firearm. The charm modifies that specific weapon’s stats.
• Two inventory charm slots that provide passive effects regardless of what you are holding.

Charms are found as collectibles throughout the game — in BSAA containers, as boss drop rewards, tucked into optional areas, and purchased from the merchant. Some require completing specific challenges.

The key strategic question is not “which charm is best” but “which combination fits your current chapter.” Grace’s horror segments benefit from different charms than Leon’s action-heavy Raccoon City runs. If you are also tracking the weapon charm combos speedrun guide, the tier rankings below will help you optimize.

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Weapon Charms — Full Tier List

S-Tier (Must Equip)

1. Velocity Feather

• Effect: +15% fire rate, -5% damage
• Best on: SMG, Handgun
• Why: The fire rate boost dramatically improves DPS against swarms. The small damage trade-off is negligible because you are landing more shots per second. This is the single most impactful weapon charm in the game.

2. Hollow Point Crown

• Effect: +25% damage to staggered enemies, -10% damage to non-staggered
• Best on: Shotgun, Magnum
• Why: On Insanity difficulty, enemies spend more time in stagger states from coordinated attacks. Pairing this with Leon’s melee-into-shotgun combo from the Leon combat guide melts through tough enemies.

A-Tier (Strong Picks)

3. Extended Barrel

• Effect: +20% range, -5% accuracy (hip-fire)
• Best on: Rifle, Sniper
• Why: The range increase matters more than the hip-fire accuracy loss, especially since most players aim down sights for rifles anyway.

4. Recoil Dampener

• Effect: -30% recoil, +5% weight
• Best on: Shotgun, SMG
• Why: Full-auto shotgun becomes viable with this charm. The weight increase barely matters unless you are tracking encumbrance on Insanity.

5. Critical Lens

• Effect: +10% critical hit chance
• Best on: Rifle, Handgun
• Why: Consistent damage boost that scales well into late-game when enemies have more HP.

B-Tier (Situational)

6. Quickdraw Grip

• Effect: +20% draw speed, -5% reload speed
• Best on: Any weapon you swap to frequently
• Why: Useful for players who weapon-switch aggressively. Less valuable if you stick to one primary.

7. Incendiary Core

• Effect: Adds fire damage over time (3 seconds), -5% base damage
• Best on: SMG, Handgun
• Why: Fire DOT is strong against swarm enemies but underperforms against single-target bosses. Good for sewer sections.

8. Frost Chamber

• Effect: Adds slow effect on hit (2 seconds), -8% base damage
• Best on: Shotgun
• Why: The slow effect creates space in tight corridors. The damage penalty stings against high-HP targets.

9. Silver Bullet Charm

• Effect: +30% damage to boss-type enemies, -15% damage to regular enemies
• Best on: Magnum
• Why: Hyper-specialized. Incredible for boss fights, terrible for general exploration. Swap it in before boss encounters.

C-Tier (Niche / Filler)

10. Steady Hand

• Effect: +15% accuracy (hip-fire), no downside
• Why: No downside sounds great, but the effect is marginal. Most players ADS anyway.

11. Heavy Slug

• Effect: +20% damage, -15% fire rate
• Why: The fire rate penalty is brutal. Only worth using on the magnum for one-shot potential.

12. Dragon’s Breath

• Effect: Shotgun fires explosive rounds, -25% ammo efficiency
• Why: Visually spectacular, practically wasteful. You burn through shotgun shells way too fast.

13-18. Remaining weapon charms (Ricochet Module, Tracker Sight, Balanced Stock, Iron Grip, Muzzle Brake, Lucky Shell)

• Tier: C to D depending on build
• Why: These charms provide minor stat adjustments that rarely shift the meta. Use them as filler when S/A-tier charms are not yet unlocked.

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Inventory Charms — Full Tier List

S-Tier

1. Quickstep Insole

• Effect: +12% movement speed
• Why: Movement speed is king. Faster traversal means fewer encounters, faster boss kiting, and better dodge windows. Equip this in every chapter.

2. Magazine Magnet

• Effect: Recovers 1 round of current ammo type every 30 seconds
• Why: Passive ammo generation sounds weak until you realize it adds up to 6-8 free rounds per minute on the SMG. On Insanity, where ammo is scarce, this is a lifeline.

A-Tier

3. Herbalist’s Pouch

• Effect: +30% healing effectiveness from herbs
• Why: A single green herb heals more. Mixed herbs last longer. Invaluable on Insanity and Veteran.

4. Iron Will Band

• Effect: Prevents flinching from light attacks (50% chance)
• Why: Keeps you from getting interrupted during critical reloads or aimed shots. Huge quality of life improvement.

B-Tier

5. Scavenger’s Eye

• Effect: Highlights uncollected items within 8 meters
• Why: Nice for completionist runs but unnecessary if you are using the collectible hint system.

6. Silent Step Anklet

• Effect: -30% noise generation while moving
• Why: Reduces Licker detection range. Situationally useful in stealth sections.

7. Fortune Coin

• Effect: +15% merchant prices when selling
• Why: Helps with economy management but does not affect combat.

C-Tier

8. Endurance Sole

• Effect: -20% stamina drain while running
• Why: Stamina is rarely a bottleneck in RE9. The quickstep insole outclasses this.

9-12. Remaining inventory charms (Guardian Crest, Scholar’s Monocle, Night Owl Ring, Survivor’s Thread)

• Tier: C to D
• Why: Minor defensive or utility effects that do not meaningfully change gameplay.

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Best Charm Combos by Playstyle

Speedrun Combo

Slot	Charm	Effect
Weapon	Velocity Feather	+15% fire rate
Inventory 1	Quickstep Insole	+12% move speed
Inventory 2	Magazine Magnet	Passive ammo regen

This is the meta combo for speedrunners. The movement speed lets you skip most encounters, the fire rate handles anything you cannot avoid, and the passive ammo regen means you rarely need to scavenge.

Expected time savings: roughly 15% compared to no-charm runs. The weapon charm combos speedrun guide breaks this down with split-by-split timing data.

Insanity Survival Combo

Slot	Charm	Effect
Weapon	Hollow Point Crown	+25% vs staggered
Inventory 1	Herbalist’s Pouch	+30% healing
Inventory 2	Magazine Magnet	Passive ammo regen

When resources are tight, survival matters more than speed. The healing boost keeps you alive through mistakes, the ammo regen sustains your offense, and the stagger damage bonus rewards disciplined melee-into-shotgun play.

Boss Rush Combo

Slot	Charm	Effect
Weapon	Silver Bullet Charm	+30% vs bosses
Inventory 1	Iron Will Band	Anti-flinch
Inventory 2	Quickstep Insole	+12% move speed

Swap the Silver Bullet in right before each boss fight. The anti-flinch prevents interrupt stuns, and the movement speed helps with dodge timing.

Grace Horror Segment Combo

Slot	Charm	Effect
Weapon	Frost Chamber	Slow on hit
Inventory 1	Silent Step Anklet	-30% noise
Inventory 2	Scavenger’s Eye	Item highlight

Grace’s first-person sections reward stealth and awareness over raw damage. The slow effect creates escape distance, the noise reduction keeps Lickers dormant, and the item highlight helps you grab resources quickly in dark rooms.

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Character-Specific Recommendations

Leon

Leon’s combat-heavy chapters benefit from aggressive weapon charms. Prioritize the Velocity Feather on his SMG and the Hollow Point Crown on his shotgun. For inventory, Magazine Magnet and Quickstep Insole are automatic equips.

Leon’s toolkit rewards staying on the offensive. The Leon combat guide details his moveset — pair it with these charms for maximum throughput.

Grace

Grace’s limited combat options mean charm selection leans defensive. The Frost Chamber on her handgun creates breathing room. Silent Step Anklet and Herbalist’s Pouch in inventory slots keep her alive through the horror segments.

The Grace first-person horror mechanics guide explains why her segments demand a different approach to charm building.

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Important Notes

• Charms are account-wide. Once unlocked, they are available in any save file and any difficulty.
• Weapon charms are per-slot, not per-weapon. If you switch your SMG for a rifle, the Velocity Feather stays on the SMG slot. You need a separate charm for each weapon type slot.
• Some charms only drop on specific difficulties. The Silver Bullet Charm, for example, only drops from the final boss on Veteran or Insanity.
• Charm effects do not stack. Equipping two Velocity Feathers (if that were possible) would not give +30% fire rate. Each slot must have a unique charm.
• New Game Plus resets charm equips but not unlocks. You will need to re-equip your preferred loadout.

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Rewards & Unlockables

Collecting and using all 18 weapon charms and 12 inventory charms at least once unlocks:

• Bronze Trophy: “Fully Charmed”
• Bonus Charm: Raccoon Tail (cosmetic only, no stat effect)
• Concept Art: Unlocks the charm design gallery in the extras menu

The Raccoon Tail charm is a cosmetic trophy — it has no gameplay effect but looks great dangling off your magnum.

For full completion tracking, the platinum guide maps out every charm-related trophy requirement.

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Final Take

The charm system in RE9 Requiem is deeper than it looks at first glance. Most players slap on the first charm they find and never think about it again. But the dual-slot mechanic — one weapon, two inventory — creates genuine build diversity. The difference between a random charm loadout and an optimized combo is easily 15-20% in combat efficiency.

My personal meta after three full playthroughs: Velocity Feather + Quickstep Insole + Magazine Magnet for 90% of the game. Swap to the boss rush combo for major encounters. Use the Grace horror combo exclusively during her first-person segments. This covers every situation without overcomplicating things.

If you want the exact split timings for speedrun charm swaps, the weapon charm combos speedrun guide has frame-by-frame data.

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