Weapons Guide: Guns & Tasers

Weapons are your answer to the one enemy you are allowed to fight: the Skinwalker. Animal Hospital keeps the arsenal simple — guns and tasers — but knowing what they can and cannot do is essential, because using a weapon on the wrong threat ranges from useless to fatal for your patient.

The weapons

• Taser — your starting weapon. One sits next to the cameras at your reception desk from the beginning, so you are never completely defenseless. You can buy additional tasers in the shop.
• Guns — purchased from the shop with shift cash. Extra guns and tasers give you reliable Skinwalker-killing power when multiple threats appear at once.

How to use them

Equip your weapon and use M1 (left click on PC, or the attack button on mobile) to attack. The method is straightforward: approach the Skinwalker and hit it with M1 attacks until it goes down. This is the safest and fastest way to deal with an awakened Anomaly, which is why keeping a weapon ready is core to surviving the mid and late game.

Weapons only work on Skinwalkers

This is the rule that catches new players: weapons only affect Skinwalkers. They do nothing to environmental enemies:

• The Stalker is an avoidance threat — do not look at it.
• The Bed Monster needs Maple Syrup, not bullets.
• Wall Anomalies are out-run, not fought.
• Surgery tentacles must never be attacked — shooting or tazing them makes your patient die automatically.

So before you fire, confirm you are facing a Skinwalker. Reaching for a weapon against an environmental threat wastes time and, in Surgery, costs you the patient.

When you’ll need them most

The single most important moment for weapons is the Ambulance event after shift 4. It auto-admits Anomalies that will awaken into Skinwalkers no matter how good your detection is — meaning combat is unavoidable. You should own a reliable weapon before you reach shift 4 so the rush does not catch you defenseless. The Barney event can also turn hostile and require a weapon.

Weapons vs the wrong-item trick

For Anomalies that ended up in a treatment room, you actually have a cleaner option than a weapon: the wrong-item kill. Giving a disguised Anomaly the wrong treatment item kills it with no point penalty, since Anomaly deaths do not cost score. Weapons are best for Skinwalkers loose in hallways and lobbies; the wrong-item trick is best for ones still in a room. Use the right tool for the location.

Budget for a weapon early

In the shop priority order, a weapon comes right after Sanity restoratives. You can scrape by on the starting taser for a while, but a dedicated weapon purchase pays for itself the first time the Ambulance event hits. Earn the cash through clean shifts, keep a weapon equipped, and you will always have an answer when a Skinwalker comes hunting. For combat details, see the Skinwalkers guide.