Batman: Arkham Knight Weapons Guide: Best Weapons Ranked

Q: How many Riddler trophies are in Arkham Knight?

There are 243, spread across Bleake Island, Miagani Island and Founders' Island. You need all of them to complete Riddler's Revenge and lock Riddler in the GCPD Lockup, and that side mission is itself required for the full Knightfall Protocol ending.

Q: Can you play as anyone other than Batman?

Yes. Dual Play lets you tag into Robin, Nightwing or Catwoman during specific encounters, and Batgirl is fully playable in the A Matter of Family story pack. Outside those, the main open world is Batman only.

Q: Is the Batmobile optional?

No. Several story missions, the Cobra tank sequences and most of the Riddler race tracks all require it, and it is the only way to move between islands early on. What you can control is how often you drop into Battle Mode, since Pursuit Mode is faster for plain traversal.

Q: How do I get the true ending?

The Knightfall Protocol only plays in full at 100 percent completion, which means every Most Wanted strand including Own the Roads and Campaign for Disarmament, plus all 243 Riddler trophies. Finishing the main story alone gives you a shortened version.

Q: Does the PC version still run badly?

Warner Bros pulled the 2015 PC release from sale for four months after launch and shipped repeated patches before putting it back. It runs far better now than it did at release, though the cap on frame rate and the streaming stutter in the Batmobile sections still show up on some setups.

Complete Batman: Arkham Knight weapons guide. Every weapon ranked with stats, best builds, and how to get them.

EarlyGuides Editorial Team

Researched and editorially reviewed. Updated August 12, 2026.

Rocksteady's last Arkham game drops you into an evacuated Gotham on the night Scarecrow threatens the city with fear toxin, with the Batmobile finally drivable and the Arkham Knight's militia holding the streets. The map is three islands, Bleake, Miagani and Founders', each split into named districts, and the Riddler has hidden 243 trophies across them. The 2015 PC port was so broken that Warner Bros pulled it from sale for four months, which is still the first thing anyone mentions about it. Underneath that, the combat and predator systems are the sharpest in the series, and the Batmobile is the one thing players still argue about.

Your choice of weapons defines your damage output and playstyle. This guide ranks every major option, explains what makes each one strong, and tells you which builds they pair best with.

Weapons Rankings

Weapon	Tier	Best For	Notes
Batarang	S	Interrupting a shooter mid aim and triggering switches you cannot reach	The oldest tool in the set and still the one you throw most.
Grapnel Gun	A	Repositioning between gargoyles during a predator encounter and crossing districts on foot	Traversal first, combat second.
Explosive Gel	A	Breaking into sealed rooms and setting traps under patrol routes before a fight begins	A quasi solid explosive you spray on weak walls, floor grates and vents, then detonate on your own timing.
Line Launcher	B	Crossing wide gaps at speed and setting up a perch above a militia patrol	Fires a horizontal zip line you can ride across streets and inside large rooms, and firing again mid ride changes direction without dropping you to the ground.
Voice Synthesizer	B	Splitting militia patrols so you can take them down one at a time	Mimics the voice of an enemy commander and issues an order that a militia soldier obeys.

S-Tier: Batarang

The oldest tool in the set and still the one you throw most. It stuns a single enemy for a short window in open combat and in predator rooms, and the Remote Control variant flies under your steering, which makes it the answer to several Riddler puzzles that have nothing to do with fighting.

Attribute	Detail
Tier	S
Best For	Interrupting a shooter mid aim and triggering switches you cannot reach
Key Mechanic	FreeFlow combat and the Fear Multi-Takedown
Recommended Role	Batman

How to get it: Available from mid-game onward. See our walkthrough for the exact progression point.

Best builds using Batarang: Pairs naturally with Batman thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.

A-Tier: Grapnel Gun

Traversal first, combat second. It pulls you to any ledge in range, and the Grapnel Boost upgrade lets you convert that pull straight into a glide, which is the fastest way to cross Miagani Island without touching the Batmobile.

Attribute	Detail
Tier	A
Best For	Repositioning between gargoyles during a predator encounter and crossing districts on foot
Key Mechanic	Batmobile Battle Mode and Pursuit Mode
Recommended Role	Robin

How to get it: Accessible in the early-to-mid game. Check our maps guide for the location.

Best builds using Grapnel Gun: Pairs naturally with Robin thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.

A-Tier: Explosive Gel

A quasi solid explosive you spray on weak walls, floor grates and vents, then detonate on your own timing. It doubles as a crowd control tool in open combat, because gel sprayed on the ground before a fight starts will knock down anyone standing on it.

Attribute	Detail
Tier	A
Best For	Breaking into sealed rooms and setting traps under patrol routes before a fight begins
Key Mechanic	Dual Play character swaps
Recommended Role	Nightwing

How to get it: Accessible in the early-to-mid game. Check our maps guide for the location.

Best builds using Explosive Gel: Pairs naturally with Nightwing thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.

B-Tier: Line Launcher

Fires a horizontal zip line you can ride across streets and inside large rooms, and firing again mid ride changes direction without dropping you to the ground. In predator encounters it moves you between vantage points that a grapnel cannot reach.

Attribute	Detail
Tier	B
Best For	Crossing wide gaps at speed and setting up a perch above a militia patrol
Key Mechanic	Predator rooms and Detective Mode
Recommended Role	Catwoman

How to get it: Found in later areas. Our walkthrough covers when you can access this.

Best builds using Line Launcher: Pairs naturally with Catwoman thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.

B-Tier: Voice Synthesizer

Mimics the voice of an enemy commander and issues an order that a militia soldier obeys. Sending one man to a spot away from his squad is the cleanest way to break a group of three, and it works in rooms where every other approach would be spotted.

Attribute	Detail
Tier	B
Best For	Splitting militia patrols so you can take them down one at a time
Key Mechanic	Most Wanted missions and the Knightfall Protocol
Recommended Role	Batgirl

How to get it: Found in later areas. Our walkthrough covers when you can access this.

Best builds using Voice Synthesizer: Pairs naturally with Batgirl thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.

Weapons Progression Path

The order you should acquire weapons as you progress:

Starting gear → Enough to clear Bleake Island
Grapnel Gun → Your first real upgrade, available early
Explosive Gel → Mid-game upgrade with good scaling
Batarang → Best-in-slot, aim for this by late game
Upgrade to max → The power spike from max upgrades is enormous

Weapons Tips

Always upgrade your primary weapon before diversifying. One strong option beats three mediocre ones.
Match your weapons to your build's stat priorities for maximum scaling.
Take out the medic before anyone else in a predator room. Leave him standing and every enemy you drop gets back up, which turns a clean room into a firefight.
Check our tier list for how weapons rankings affect overall build effectiveness.

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