I removed the names so you don't get spoiled, but listed the areas they are found in. Here's a list of them in the order you'll encounter them.
Unlike the surge 1, you can still get the basic version of the weapon if you earn the v2 - it'll be for sale in the nearest shop. The v2 weapons are typically better than the boss's basic drop. Generally this involves breaking their armor pieces before killing them, or killing them by performing a finisher on a certain part of their body. Like in surge 1, you can get unique or v2.0 versions of weapons by beating bosses in a certain way.In most cases, you can just find them elsewhere, but the Dynamic Redirector implant (grants energy if you get hit) is apparently only available to players who choose to be a mining wars veteran or search & rescue operator. Depending on your background, some merchants will sell different gear or implants. In character creation, your choice of background isn't just cosmetic.There are also certain cosmetic pieces of gear that count towards anything else you are current wearing. Armor sets now have two stages for the set bonus at half the pieces and all the pieces.You can skip levels of upgrades by producing the higher-level stuff right away, that sort of thing. Most of the stuff for upgrades applies to this game as it did to Surge 1.There are as many loopbacks in this game as in Surge 1, possibly more.
Enemies have very fancy animations full of flourishes and the direction an attack seems to come from often isn't what the parry thinks it should be.
It's entirely possible to sever body parts with strategically placed single shots and there is a variety of useful attachments.