Mercenaries S ranks last 4 levels - just use the pistol

[Foremanskin 73]

The last 4 mercenary levels are a lot easier and less tedious if you use the pistol instead of knife/masamuno. I'v heard a lot people complain about how bullshit Mercenaries are because having to constantly restart missions until you get masamuno and the tediousness of flashbang/knife spam. I also know PowerPyx's guide suggests the knife tactic, but with upgraded pistol, missions are so much faster and easier to S rank. The last 4 levels aren't actually that much harder to S rank, because you don't need as much score as in the first 4 levels. You DON'T even need to beat all levels of a mission to get an S rank! In Factory, I got enough score for an S rank just from the first stage and in Mad Village, I died during the 4th level and still got an S rank. 

 

I started every mission by purchasing the Magnum, 1 Pipe Bomb and upgrading Pistol power to lvl 4, fire rate to lvl 2 and ammo capacity to lvl 2. Then you are left with 2500 lei which you can use to buy an extra First Aid Med or just save for the next round. After the first shop, just upgrade the Pistol and buy Pipe Bombs. And when Pipe Bombs become too expensive, start buying Mines. Focus on keeping the combo up during the first and the second level and that should give you enough points for an S rank. Also remember to kill all enemies per level, the bonus you get is pretty substantial.

 

With the Pistol and the Magnum, you're not entirely reliant on bubble RNG, just remember take any damage skills you find. I also think this is the developers intended way of playing Mercenaries, as every mission is balanced fairly well by the amount of Magnum ammo you get per big enemy.

[AihaLoveleaf 3,091]

3 minutes ago, Foremanskin said:

but with upgraded pistol

You can use upgraded weapons in Village Mercenaries? I might have been making a big deal over nothing then. I thought it was going to be like RE5 Mercenaries where you're stuck with base level weapons. This may be easier than I thought it would be.

[Foremanskin 73]

1 minute ago, AihaLoveleaf said:

You can use upgraded weapons in Village Mercenaries? I might have been making a big deal over nothing then. I thought it was going to be like RE5 Mercenaries where you're stuck with base level weapons. This may be easier than I thought it would be.

 

Yeah, at first I thought so too. But turns out you can and upgrading the Pistol makes it actually quite powerful.

[AihaLoveleaf 3,091]

Just now, Foremanskin said:

 

Yeah, at first I thought so too. But turns out you can and upgrading the Pistol makes it actually quite powerful.

Wonderful news. Curious to see what the plat rarity settles in at in a couple of months. 

[Foremanskin 73]

2 minutes ago, AihaLoveleaf said:

Wonderful news. Curious to see what the plat rarity settles in at in a couple of months. 

 

I'm guessing near the 15-20% mark. It's a pretty short platinum and not overly difficult especially for people who have played Resident Evil games before.

[BestUsername---- 473]

So, sorry if this what you meant, upgrades keep carrying over. You don't have to start with a level 1 pistol every time you start an area over.

[Foremanskin 73]

46 minutes ago, BestUsername---- said:

So, sorry if this what you meant, upgrades keep carrying over. You don't have to start with a level 1 pistol every time you start an area over.

 

Every time you restart a mission in Mercenaries your upgrades are reset. But they carry over to the next level within a mission. For example in the Castle mission you upgrade your Pistol the way I explained above and when you reach the second level within Castle, you almost have enough lei to upgrade it to the max. Although, I don't recommend upgrading ammo capacity above level 3 unless you're swimming in lei, because Pipe Bombs are really OP.

[BestUsername---- 473]

20 minutes ago, Foremanskin said:

 

Every time you restart a mission in Mercenaries your upgrades are reset. But they carry over to the next level within a mission. For example in the Castle mission you upgrade your Pistol the way I explained above and when you reach the second level within Castle, you almost have enough lei to upgrade it to the max. Although, I don't recommend upgrading ammo capacity above level 3 unless you're swimming in lei, because Pipe Bombs are really OP.

Ahh, I see so it's easier to get S ranks if you just start at Village 1. Even if you have an S Rank earned on it, Thanks.

[offdutysuperhero 232]

yeah i never used the knife strat.. didnt like it at all. i used syg-12 for the first four. then just starter pistol/wolfsbane for the last four.

[IKARUS-M1 237]

I tried the Knife approach for a little while and found it wasn't working for me. Swapped to fully upgrading the starting pistol (damage and rate of fire) and buying mines and pipe bombs with my leftover lei. I'd always buy the Magnum in the second round and use it exclusively on boss enemies or quick kills to keep the combo I had.

 

I think this is definitely the most reliable way. I ended up with S ranks on all the stages in about 2-3 hours once I spent a few tries learning the layouts.

[DivineAlice 36]

The only one that was any trouble was 7th to be honest I used pistol mag then sold mag for nade Launcher it isn't as bad as they made it out to be 7/10 really isn't how hard it is also if you die with S requirements it still pops trophy

 

Edited May 10, 2021 by DivineAlice

[jakD_710 123]

I ended up getting Triple S on all 8 stages. I also agree with OP and just use the pistol and keep upgrading it. I never once used a knife in any of my runs. Just stick with Upgrading the Lemi and buying mines and pipe bombs. Also when you can spare the Lei purchase the magnum just since it is a free couple of kills given which stage you're on. Just gotta try and remember the enemies pattern. And try not to wander for to long since the thing that got me the most amount of points was having a high time bonus, Ended up giving me most of my points.

[PhantomFear94 1,144]

18 hours ago, Foremanskin said:

The last 4 mercenary levels are a lot easier and less tedious if you use the pistol instead of knife/masamuno. I'v heard a lot people complain about how bullshit Mercenaries are because having to constantly restart missions until you get masamuno and the tediousness of flashbang/knife spam. I also know PowerPyx's guide suggests the knife tactic, but with upgraded pistol, missions are so much faster and easier to S rank. The last 4 levels aren't actually that much harder to S rank, because you don't need as much score as in the first 4 levels. You DON'T even need to beat all levels of a mission to get an S rank! In Factory, I got enough score for an S rank just from the first stage and in Mad Village, I died during the 4th level and still got an S rank. 

 

I started every mission by purchasing the Magnum, 1 Pipe Bomb and upgrading Pistol power to lvl 4, fire rate to lvl 2 and ammo capacity to lvl 2. Then you are left with 2500 lei which you can use to buy an extra First Aid Med or just save for the next round. After the first shop, just upgrade the Pistol and buy Pipe Bombs. And when Pipe Bombs become too expensive, start buying Mines. Focus on keeping the combo up during the first and the second level and that should give you enough points for an S rank. Also remember to kill all enemies per level, the bonus you get is pretty substantial.

 

With the Pistol and the Magnum, you're not entirely reliant on bubble RNG, just remember take any damage skills you find. I also think this is the developers intended way of playing Mercenaries, as every mission is balanced fairly well by the amount of Magnum ammo you get per big enemy.

 

Will try this first off. Many thanks! I'm only on my 2nd campaign playthrough, so still a ways off but I was dreading the final 4 stages. 

Edited May 10, 2021 by PhantomFear94

[g21122000 5]

This mode is really annoying me. Stuck on the first factory, so annoying

[ArtMontef 523]

Shame this mode is not in multiplayer. I am starting to dread my playthrough of Mercenaries. Huh, I was so excited to go for a plat, doing my third campaign run, but these comments put the fear of RE-God in me

[Foremanskin 73]

13 minutes ago, Forunth said:

Shame this mode is not in multiplayer. I am starting to dread my playthrough of Mercenaries. Huh, I was so excited to go for a plat, doing my third campaign run, but these comments put the fear of RE-God in me

 

I was dreading Mercenaries too, but they are honestly not that difficult. After playing them for a while, you'll realize they're all just about memorization. Knowing where enemies are and what makes new enemies spawn for keeping the combo up and running. AND the best thing is, once you've S ranked the first 4 missions, you already know all the enemy spawns for the last 4 missions because they are just harder versions of the first 4. Take Factory for example, it is a super annoying mission because it has multiple paths so figuring out the optimal way can take some time, but doing the harder version of it isn't nearly as tedious because you already know the ins an outs of it.

[GaMeVoLt 1]

I was doing alright. Got SSS rank on The Village and The Castle after a few attempts. The Factory took a while to memorise the path but after an 7 attempts I got SS. The Mad Village I got SS 1st time. Then I get to the alternate versions. After an hour of trying I S Rank The Village II but now I'm stuck with The Castle II. It's been 3 hours and I can barely get out of the 1st round and when I do it is with a crappy score because I lose the combo multiplier. 

 

This must be my punishment for cheesing Village of Shadows difficulty with an infinite ammo STAKE Magnum.

[BestUsername---- 473]

Looking at some gameplay this mode seems more akin to Raid mode from the Revelation series. And like someone else said, memorizing enemy spawn and types will go a long way it seems. 

[DeclioDukes 22]

Anyone know the S rank point requirements for each level?

[Mog 807]

15 minutes ago, DeclioDukes said:

Anyone know the S rank point requirements for each level?

 

You can see it here: https://residentevil.fandom.com/wiki/The_Mercenaries_(Village)

• Village - 630,000
• Castle - 1,470,000
• Factory - 1,080,000
• Mad Village - 1,485,000
• Village II - 516,000
• Castle II - 851,000
• Factory II - 545,000
• Mad Village II - 658,000

[GaMeVoLt 1]

Struggled all morning with The Castle II and finally get a good run and I end up getting SSS...

Edit: Missed out on Factory II S rank by 600 points... 😡

Edited May 11, 2021 by GaMeVoLt

[darkfall_sig 25]

Agree to OP. Just focus on getting full / almost full combo in one area with lots of ememies for harder versions and survive till end and it should be S, "wasting" magnum in emergency for sustainning combo is fine. 4x combo nets around 200k score points. For Factory 2, perfect bonus is not needed. I skip all skill points in the beginning, and focus on getting 46/47 combo then go backwards to collect missed items. This will get to around 460k points in area 1, and only need to survive area 2.

Edited May 11, 2021 by darkfall_sig

[Radford999 195]

On 09/05/2021 at 8:35 PM, Foremanskin said:

 

I'm guessing near the 15-20% mark. It's a pretty short platinum and not overly difficult especially for people who have played Resident Evil games before.

It’s not going to be 15-20%. Mercenaries mode is not easy and takes a lot of patience. I can see it being a rare platinum. 
 

I’ve just got the plat and i agree with you. The pistol strat is a lot better than using the knife. The fact that you have to restart 90% of your runs makes it very annoying. The Factory 2 for me was by far the hardest. The final stage was actually super easy. Most of the enemies are standard enemies and you have 12 bullets to use for the Magnum. I finished area 2 and already had S rank lol. 

Edited May 11, 2021 by Radford999

[Sarsky 41]

people here bragging and saying its easy to s rank yet literally its 2 hits then dead.... even if you remember the layout from previous missions, the strategies and approach needs to be done differently based on the lei you have and the perks you get...

while first stages are fine since it does give you  a lot of leniency, its more about just keeping a flow or combo easy to follow or copy from a guide and you can maybe make 1 or 2 combo mistakes, the 2 stages are a lot harder....

 

On the "2" stage versions you can skip enemies or just die to get the rank you want. However enemies are more aggressive and faster, if you lose a combo when skipping enemies you will lose a lot of points needed for s or ss rank. even if some people are better or worse at the game... to say its easy to maintain a perfect combo, kill all enemies pick up all necersary items and memorize everything instantly or perfectly copy a guide to get ss rank first try is just either pure luck or skill...

you wont always have enough ammo like the final stage where i had to perfect area 2 and maintain a combo and skip a majority of 3 and 4 to even get ss...

 

also factory 2 is really hard... you have to perfectly kill the 2 sisters when they attack together with a soldat, pistol kill the oncoming enemies with what little ammo and you will run out unless you perfectly picked up the ammo and if you want perfect kill bonus you will also have to kill motor boy who is another boss on stage while you have 4 or 5 soldats on that stage plus after you have to maintain a perfect ccombo and skip a majority of enemies or try with whatever little ammo you have to kill as many enemies while being swarmed with soldats.

 

castle 2 you literally don't again have enough ammo for area 2 i think, plus its hard to maintain combos cause you have soldats and wolf creatures bum rushing you, grabbed lose combo instantly, don't do enough damage and depending on perks will effect how they attack and appear at what speed, even if they have a pattern how fast they charge respond or how they attack is random...

 

factory 2 and the last stage took me like 4/5 hours or something to beat, i did struggle village 2 at first despite following shirakos guide however i do think with a guide some parts of stage 2 is doable first try or without too much hassle... however perks and attack patterns, wobbles and charges effect the ease of gameplay and combos...

[Radford999 195]

2 hours ago, Sarsky said:

people here bragging and saying its easy to s rank yet literally its 2 hits then dead.... even if you remember the layout from previous missions, the strategies and approach needs to be done differently based on the lei you have and the perks you get...

while first stages are fine since it does give you  a lot of leniency, its more about just keeping a flow or combo easy to follow or copy from a guide and you can maybe make 1 or 2 combo mistakes, the 2 stages are a lot harder....

 

On the "2" stage versions you can skip enemies or just die to get the rank you want. However enemies are more aggressive and faster, if you lose a combo when skipping enemies you will lose a lot of points needed for s or ss rank. even if some people are better or worse at the game... to say its easy to maintain a perfect combo, kill all enemies pick up all necersary items and memorize everything instantly or perfectly copy a guide to get ss rank first try is just either pure luck or skill...

you wont always have enough ammo like the final stage where i had to perfect area 2 and maintain a combo and skip a majority of 3 and 4 to even get ss...

 

also factory 2 is really hard... you have to perfectly kill the 2 sisters when they attack together with a soldat, pistol kill the oncoming enemies with what little ammo and you will run out unless you perfectly picked up the ammo and if you want perfect kill bonus you will also have to kill motor boy who is another boss on stage while you have 4 or 5 soldats on that stage plus after you have to maintain a perfect ccombo and skip a majority of enemies or try with whatever little ammo you have to kill as many enemies while being swarmed with soldats.

 

castle 2 you literally don't again have enough ammo for area 2 i think, plus its hard to maintain combos cause you have soldats and wolf creatures bum rushing you, grabbed lose combo instantly, don't do enough damage and depending on perks will effect how they attack and appear at what speed, even if they have a pattern how fast they charge respond or how they attack is random...

 

factory 2 and the last stage took me like 4/5 hours or something to beat, i did struggle village 2 at first despite following shirakos guide however i do think with a guide some parts of stage 2 is doable first try or without too much hassle... however perks and attack patterns, wobbles and charges effect the ease of gameplay and combos...

The first 4 stages and the final stage are pretty easy to be fair. But stages 5, 6 and 7 were pretty tough. Especially Factory 2. Think i spent 10 hours trying to do that stage lol. Although abilities do come into play, i wouldn’t change your playstyle because of the abilities. If you are doing a pistol run for example, just get all the damage abilities when you can. Sometimes luck comes into it as well though. There are 2 abilities that make the pistol strat a lot effective. Those are the handgun damage and the ammo capacity abilities. You also need the Magnum on the first area just to take out the heavies. You can also try and lineup 2 heavies and kill them both with one shot with save bullets. But once you get the handgun damage ability and you have maxed out the damage upgrade you can take down enemies really fast. The second area i bought lots of pipe bombs. This was because i had no magnum ammo left and i needed something to deal with the heavies. I could have bought the grenade launcher to be fair. But i upgraded the rest of the handgun instead. 
 

After getting S rank on the Factory 2, i was gearing myself up for the final stage which i expected to be even harder than Factory 2. But it was so easy! It was pretty easy to keep a full combo of 41 throughout the stage as the enemies were close together. And you start with 12 magnum bullets for the final stage which helps take out the heavies in that area. I ended up dying at the very beginning of area 3 and already got S rank lol. If you get a full

combo on area 1 then you get around 460,000-490,000 points. You only need 650,000 ish for S rank. So you just basically have to have 2 good areas  with strong combos and you have done it.