The Silent Hill games have never really been known for their in-depth combat systems, but I have to admit Silent Hill f does at least try to leap forward with a few new mechanics. Here’s a complete weapons and combat guide for Silent Hill f, which will go over the various weapon types, Health, Stamina, and Focus/Sanity. Do be warned, however, that this article also contains some pretty major mid-game spoilers. I’ll put that section right at the end and give you another spoiler heads up before we get into it.
How Combat Works in Silent Hill f
Combat in Silent Hill f is pure melee. You pick up a weapon, swing it around, and once the durability meter is depleted, the weapon breaks. As far as I know, there are no ranged weapons to be found in Silent Hill f. In addition to that, this game also introduces a Stamina meter that can greatly affect how you approach combat.
You also get a Sanity meter, which depletes when you hold down the L2 button to Focus, allowing you to see when attacks can be countered, or to build up a powerful attack of your own.
How to Use Sanity and Focus
Since the Sanity meter is the shiny new thing in Silent Hill f‘s combat mechanics, let’s go over that first. Sanity is indicated by the pretty flower meter just above your Health and Stamina. When you hold down L2, you enter Focus mode and it starts to deplete. When in Focus, you’ll see that the circular gauge (which also indicates weapon durability) next to your Sanity meter starts to fill. When it fills up, you can press R1 to unleash a Focus attack, which deals a ton of damage.
While in Focus mode, time will also slow down for longer whenever an enemy is about to perform a move that can be countered. The enemy will flash red and purple, and you can press R2 to counter it immediately and leave it vulnerable to follow-up attacks. You can still see counterable moves outside of Focus, it’s just easier to do it in Focus mode.
It’s important to note that some enemies will be able to use attacks that deplete your Sanity. If your Sanity is fully depleted, your Health will start going down instead.
Combat Controls
The combat controls in Silent Hill f are pretty straightforward, but I’ll list them here for your perusal:
| Button | Effect |
|---|---|
| R1 | Light attack |
| R2 | Heavy attack/counter when applicable |
| Circle | Dodge |
| L3 | Sprint |
| L2 | Enter Focus mode |
| Left and right on d-pad | Swap weapons |
Dodging, attacking, and sprinting consumes Stamina. When your Stamina runs out, Hinako will be unable to move for a while, leaving her completely vulnerable to attacks.
How to Restore Health, Stamina, and Sanity
Stamina will automatically recharge over time, but Health and Sanity can be restored with items. Notably, Red Pills, Bandages, and First Aid Kits will all help to restore Health, so stock up on these as you can.
Sanity is a little trickier, as it requires you to use special consumable items that can be found around town. The complication arises from the fact that these items (such as Dried Carcasses or Higashi) can be used for restoration, as well as Offerings at a hokora. When you use them as Offerings, you gain Faith, which can then be used to get Omamori or upgrade Hinako’s abilities.
Because of this, I don’t recommend using your Offering items to restore your Health or Sanity. It’s much better in the long run to save them for Faith. Besides, Red Pills can also help restore a bit of Sanity, so consider relying on those when you can.
How to Repair Weapons in Silent Hill f
All weapons have a durability meter in Silent Hill f, which is indicated next to your Health and Stamina bars in the bottom left corner of the screen. As you attack enemies, you’ll see the gauge start to slowly decrease, and it’ll also turn red when it’s about to break.
When a weapon breaks, it’s gone forever. The good news is that you can repair them if you have an item called the Toolkit. Toolkits can be found all over town, and they’ll restore a good chunk of durability when used on an equipped weapon. Assign the Toolkit to one of your quick slots, then hold L1 and press the corresponding face button to use it on your equipped weapon.
How to Switch Weapons
You can swap between your weapons in Silent Hill f just by pressing left and right on the d-pad. You can hold a maximum of three weapons at a time. Whenever you find a new weapon to pick up but your slots are full, consider using up one of your lower durability weapons on nearby enemies before picking up the new one.
Best Weapons in Silent Hill f
During my time in Silent Hill f, I found the following weapons:
- Steel Pipe
- Baseball Bat
- Sickle
- Knife
- Crowbar
- Sledgehammer
- Axe
By far, the best weapons are the Sickle and the Knife. These have much lower durability than the rest, but they also deal the most damage. I recommend saving your Toolkits for these.
I would consider the Steel Pipe, Crowbar, Axe, and Sledgehammer to be mid-tier weapons. These are all solid and reliable, though you’ll need a few extra hits to take down enemies. Do note that the Sledgehammer is a heavy weapon, so it’ll be way slower than the rest.
Finally, the Baseball Bat is, in my opinion, the worst weapon to use in Silent Hill f. It’s decently fast and on par with the Steel Pipe, but it feels much weaker, especially as you get into late-game content. I don’t recommend swapping out any of your weapons for this unless you absolutely have to for whatever reason.
Dark Shrine Combat in Silent Hill f Explained
Alright, we’re starting to get into spoiler territory here. If you’ve gotten to the Dark Shrine bits in Silent Hill f, you’ll know that there are completely new weapons to use here which cannot be broken. The first two are relatively tame, but the third and final one you get is pretty bonkers. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, turn back now. The most important thing to note here is that the Dark Shrine weapons have no durability, so use them freely.
All Dark Shrine Weapons in Silent Hill f
As mentioned above, there are three weapons you can get in the Dark Shrine. I’ve listed them below:
| Weapon | How to Get |
|---|---|
| Ceremonial Knife | Obtained on your first visit to the Dark Shrine, right before you start the Altar puzzle with the emas. |
| Naginata | Obtained on your second visit to the Dark Shrine, after moving the small shrine with the fox on it. |
| Fox arm | Obtained on your fourth visit to the Dark Shrine, after completing the first ritual. |
The Ceremonial Knife is the weakest of the bunch, though it definitely still gets the job done. The Naginata is slower, but packs more of a punch. And finally, the fox arm pretty much makes you invincible because you get to just slice through anything in your way. More on that in a bit.
How to Use the Fox Arm and Beast Mode
Not only is the fox arm ridiculously powerful in terms of raw damage, it also comes with an ability called Soul Siphon, which prevents enemies from coming back to life after you’ve taken them down in the Dark Shrine. After killing an enemy, hold down the X button to use Soul Siphon, and they’ll stay dead.
Once you’ve completed all three rituals during your fourth visit, you’ll also be able to use Beast Mode. By defeating enemies and using Soul Siphon, your Beast gauge will fill up. Once full, press L3 and R3 to enter Beast mode, which will render you invulnerable until the gauge runs out, and you’ll also deal increased damage.
This is best used in desperate situations or during boss fights, but yeah. It’s pretty damn powerful.
And that does it for our Silent Hill f weapons and combat guide.
