Mercenaries S ranks last 4 levels - just use the pistol

[Crispy_Oglop]

7 hours ago, PhantomFear94 said:

- 1* on armoured lycan by flame archers (aim for chest; iff you only knock off 80% of health with a headshot finish them off with standard pistol, don't waste another magnum shot).

- 2* on armoured lycans in room next to 'relief mould' room in story

- 2* on drill soldats after room where you place the cog in the story (I usually don't use magnum on soldats, but its easier here because 1 comes after the other and you may not have any mines left).

- 3* on sisters 

- 1* on armoured soldat before Sturm spawns (I would run out of my final magnum ammo just before Sturm, but reasoned that  if I tried to conserve it I would die anyway).

 

In the final area where Sturm spawns, I would ignore him and run around and take out all the standard enemies instead, maintaining combo as much as possible.There is a mine around here if you really want to try, but low pistol ammo will start becoming a factor here too. Doing this, I got it 2nd time. Sturm isn't worth it on Factory 2 if your ONLY objective is S-rank for the trophy. Doing this (62/64 with a 58(ish) combo before Sturm, then ignoring him and one Soldat due to ammo) I had about 650K points after Stage 1, enough for S rank, even without the all enemies bonus I made a rule in every other map. 

 

I can vouch for this strategy 100%, i'm so close to making the S/SS rank with this approach. The only issue i'm having is the occasional unlucky magnum shot where it hits an immune spot on a soldat or armored lycan.

[h4mx0r]

That sounds about right, although in my successful playthrough I was able to further spread out my magnum ammo by make two optional changes:

 

- the first armored lycan I did with a pistol. I reasoned that since it was so close to the start, I didn't feel bad about restarting the level if I f'd up there

- the two armored lycans in room next to relief mold room: if you get there fast enough, you can wait for the first lycan to approach you, and the second lycan will actually run in behind him. The Magnum will pierce the first one and kill or heavily wound the second one. I was able to do this while maintaining combo easily.

 

This is optional of course, but with two extra magnum rounds you have a backup shot for increased margin of error or another soldat.

[ShadowifyLTD]

On 5/19/2021 at 5:25 AM, PhantomFear94 said:

 

- 1* on armoured lycan by flame archers (aim for chest; iff you only knock off 80% of health with a headshot finish them off with standard pistol, don't waste another magnum shot).

- 2* on armoured lycans in room next to 'relief mould' room in story

- 2* on drill soldats after room where you place the cog in the story (I usually don't use magnum on soldats, but its easier here because 1 comes after the other and you may not have any mines left).

- 3* on sisters 

- 1* on armoured soldat before Sturm spawns (I would run out of my final magnum ammo just before Sturm, but reasoned that  if I tried to conserve it I would die anyway).

 

In the final area where Sturm spawns, I would ignore him and run around and take out all the standard enemies instead, maintaining combo as much as possible.There is a mine around here if you really want to try, but low pistol ammo will start becoming a factor here too. Doing this, I got it 2nd time. Sturm isn't worth it on Factory 2 if your ONLY objective is S-rank for the trophy. Doing this (62/64 with a 58(ish) combo before Sturm, then ignoring him and one Soldat due to ammo) I had about 650K points after Stage 1, enough for S rank, even without the all enemies bonus I made a rule in every other map. 

 

Just wanted to say this is exactly what I did as well and for whatever reason Factory II ended up being less of a hassle than Castle II for me because the RNG went in my favor a bit I think.. And just like h4mx0r above I substituted out the first armored Lycan with the pistol and pierced the 2 armored lycans with 1 magnum shot to save me the trouble of bad RNG with the drill soldats.. That always seemed to happen to me so if you are trying this strat out I would expect at least one magnum shot to miss the mark by a hair (it happens).

 

To anyone else, I would also recommend buying 1 or 2 pipe bombs before proceeding as the explosive/stun capability is so useful with the obnoxious amount of drill soldats you'll encounter, it seemed to help me get reset and breathe a little bit (as you're being swarmed). I also ended up killing Sturm with a spare magnum bullet, as by then if you happen to have one in the chamber you might as well take him out as there aren't anymore tough enemies left.

 

If you are like me, though -- chances are Castle II made you hate this game mode with a passion and after barely squeaking by with an S rank (and getting the trophy), I've lost all interest in trying for the SS saber unlock, or even replaying this game in any capacity for a while lol. Good luck everyone.

[Killerkew]

Thanks man 

 

[PhantomFear94]

16 hours ago, ShadowifyLTD said:

 

Just wanted to say this is exactly what I did as well and for whatever reason Factory II ended up being less of a hassle than Castle II for me because the RNG went in my favor a bit I think.. And just like h4mx0r above I substituted out the first armored Lycan with the pistol and pierced the 2 armored lycans with 1 magnum shot to save me the trouble of bad RNG with the drill soldats.. That always seemed to happen to me so if you are trying this strat out I would expect at least one magnum shot to miss the mark by a hair (it happens).

 

To anyone else, I would also recommend buying 1 or 2 pipe bombs before proceeding as the explosive/stun capability is so useful with the obnoxious amount of drill soldats you'll encounter, it seemed to help me get reset and breathe a little bit (as you're being swarmed). I also ended up killing Sturm with a spare magnum bullet, as by then if you happen to have one in the chamber you might as well take him out as there aren't anymore tough enemies left.

 

If you are like me, though -- chances are Castle II made you hate this game mode with a passion and after barely squeaking by with an S rank (and getting the trophy), I've lost all interest in trying for the SS saber unlock, or even replaying this game in any capacity for a while lol. Good luck everyone.

 

Funnily enough I didn't find Castle II too bad in the end. Originally I was raging at the 2nd stage (on here I think lmao), but after 4 failed attempts I realised it was entirely my fault, because I wasn't upgrading my Rate of Fire. With fully upgraded rate of fire, I did it 2nd or 3rd time. The first 3 stages are very easy to memorise enemy routes. If you're high comboing Stages 1 - 3 you'll be practically at S-rank by Stage 4. Rate of fire is an absolute must for Castle II and beyond. Factory II, I felt the opposite - I was memorising all enemies, but one TINY mistake and your run is over. 

 

Also I didn't appreciate magnum ammo pierced the two enemies, but that makes complete sense and may help if I go back to SS-rank for fun.

 

 

16 hours ago, ShadowifyLTD said:

If you are like me, though -- chances are Castle II made you hate this game mode with a passion and after barely squeaking by with an S rank (and getting the trophy), I've lost all interest in trying for the SS saber unlock, or even replaying this game in any capacity for a while lol. Good luck everyone.

 

My friend said the saber unlock is borderline useless unless you get SSS ranks or something, not sure exactly of the set-up.

[BestUsername----]

10 hours ago, PhantomFear94 said:

My friend said the saber unlock is borderline useless unless you get SSS ranks or something, not sure exactly of the set-up.

Don't know why he said that? You don't need SSS rank to unlock it and it sounds like they thought it can be used in Mercenaries, or am I just reading that wrong? Did they think that the difficulty to get SS ranks off set the use they saw for it? Depending on how much you love/ are good at Mercenaries, it will form your judgment on how useful the saber is, in my opinion.

 

For me, as I was getting SS Ranks most of the time besides 1-2 areas, going back to get SS rank on those 2 wasn't so bad. In the end it was worth it as I was 2-4 shotting all the bosses, and 1 shotting enemies beside Soldat's. It can also give you health back and strengthen defense depending on the saber color, but as I did my run on casual it wasn't necessary. Is it 100% needed for a knife only run though? No.

Edited May 21, 2021 by BestUsername----

[theaface]

I’ve just got Mad Village 2 left to do which seems super straightforward.

 

I’ll say that Maka’s Guide for Factory 2 was super helpful - I wouldn’t have considered that strategy, particularly deliberately leaving so many enemies, if not for his walkthrough.

[PhantomFear94]

On 21/05/2021 at 7:36 PM, BestUsername---- said:

Don't know why he said that? You don't need SSS rank to unlock it and it sounds like they thought it can be used in Mercenaries, or am I just reading that wrong? Did they think that the difficulty to get SS ranks off set the use they saw for it? Depending on how much you love/ are good at Mercenaries, it will form your judgment on how useful the saber is, in my opinion.

 

For me, as I was getting SS Ranks most of the time besides 1-2 areas, going back to get SS rank on those 2 wasn't so bad. In the end it was worth it as I was 2-4 shotting all the bosses, and 1 shotting enemies beside Soldat's. It can also give you health back and strengthen defense depending on the saber color, but as I did my run on casual it wasn't necessary. Is it 100% needed for a knife only run though? No.

 

I just used the Karambit knife and it was insanely easy. 

[AllanGronkjaer]

16 hours ago, PhantomFear94 said:

 

I just used the Karambit knife and it was insanely easy. 

How u get karambit knife in mercenaries 

[PhantomFear94]

2 hours ago, AllanGronkjaer said:

How u get karambit knife in mercenaries 

 

Sorry, I thought you meant knife only campaign run. Got myself mixed up with comments. 

[mikeygjr007]

Just got the platinum for these bad boys last night and figured I'd add in to the discourse!

 

Village 2- Pistol strat was the way to go, getting the perfect combo was essential in the first rounds and you can get the S rank by the 3rd area. I would say it's nothing too crazy just focus on pistoling it up and buying the magnum for the extra stopping power on enemies you don't wanna waste time with. 

 

Castle 2- This gave me the most trouble. The Armored Soldat was the worst in the first area but my strategy was this: 1. Buy Magnum, 2. Upgrade Pistol as much as you can. Run to the outside area, kill a Morocai, then when the Soldat gets close enough pop the big barrel and then use a magnum on him. Area 1 sets the tempo for the whole Castle 2. In area 2 it's fairly standard from Castle 1, but when the Soldat pops up on the stairs hit him with a magnum or a pipe bomb. Similarly, use a pipe bomb or line up a clean magnum shot for 2 Soldat kills at the end. By area 3 you should be close to the S but you'll still need to commit to a good run here. Play the level the same as Castle 1 and then when the daughter pops up hit her with a mag and then finish her off with a pistol. Use a pipe bomb on the second daughter outside and finish her off with a pistol. Use a mine or pipe bomb on the panzer in the piano room and finish with the pistol, and use a magnum on the last daughter if you got it or pipe bombs and voila S rank should be yours (then die in area 4 lol)

 

Factory 2- Focus on getting around the high 40s low 50s combo and finish the first round (it will get you the S). Buy the magnum round 1 and use it smartly. Use the barrel on the soldat in the side room, use the pistol to finish him off. Use magnum on 2 armored Lycans and one soldat in the fence room. Use magnum on 2 soldats in a dark room with red lights. Use barrel on daughter and either finish with magnum or pistol, kill other 2 daughters with magnum. When Sturm comes out DO NOT ENGAGE, just kill everything else on your path to the goal and you should be at the S. Die in area 2 lol.

 

Mad Village 2- Honestly easy. Upgrade the pistol to max power and various rate of fire/reload. Don't forget the pipe bomb in the house and the bird on the roof. Use the pipe bomb on the 2 Armored Lycans and finish them off with pistols, fight your way to the end and then DO NOT ENGAGE with the large Morocai, just get 39 or 40 combo and bounce. Then in Area 2 buy the magnum beforehand and use it on the big lycan bosses in the beginning and end. Pop a magnum shot in the large stretch before the archers to keep the combo alive and then continue to the end of the area. If you perfect this round (fairly easy aside from the archers) and you'll get the S rank.

 

CREDIT- I followed Maka91 Productions videos which really helped me and gave me confidence that I could do it! And if I could do it, then you can too! 

[TheNarrator]

The mode was a bit tough but totally doable given enough tries, even for someone not that great at Resi games.

 

Village 2 - got full combo on first round, didn't on others but killed everyone.

 

Castle 2 - Mine + magnum for armour guy at start, then just pistoled around the rest (think i mined the smaller armour guy too). Pistoled/piped the drill dudes in other rounds, or lined them up for magnum shots. didnt kill the doll, the big armoured guy or everyone in the last round, so was lots of room for more score.

 

Factory 2 - half combo'd the first round (the drillers before sisters always messed up my combo), mine/magnum the big armoured guy (barrelled/mined/pistoled Strum), mined/magnumed the sisters (two for one), pipe bombed or mined most drillers. could use all magnums in this round too. round 2 i just grenaded everyone with 30 nades/pistol, didn't worry too much about combos.

 

Mad Village 2 - was by far the easiest, as you only need to do two rounds, and even then dont need a full combo the second.

[Ribbert01]

 

It's stupid shit like this that makes the game more difficult than it really needs to be. 

[proud2bNs]

I did all levels except Factory 1/2 on the first attempt following the maka91 guides to see what awaits me around the corner and/or what to look out for (birds!). You can pause the game from time to time, check the guide, move on. Pretty straightforward.

 

But Factory was a different thing... Took me like 5-10 attempts on each difficulty. You have to memorize most of the level layout and learn the optimal path to not lose your combo and finish with enough points to get S rank. Especially on Factory 2, where you don't have enough ammo to kill everything most of the time . Finished the first stage with 60/64 enemies while dropping the combo only once. It was barely enough to finish with S and die on purpose immediately in stage 2.

[BloodyRutz]

On 5/9/2021 at 9:35 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.

 

On 5/11/2021 at 4:58 PM, Radford999 said:

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. 

 

It's 15-20%.

 

Edited May 27, 2021 by BloodyRutz

[PsYcHoNxVa]

Can someone tell me why I only start out with 20,000 Lei, when other people start out with 25,000?

[BodyChipper]

3 hours ago, PsYcHoNxVa said:

Can someone tell me why I only start out with 20,000 Lei, when other people start out with 25,000?

 

If you complete a stage with a B rank or better once, you will get an additional 5,000 Lei on subsequent runs of that stage. This only applies to the first version of each.

 

Edit: You don't have to complete the stage, i.e. get to the end, you just need to have a high enough score to get B rank before you end or die. The scores required are listed in the shop room near the door.

Edited May 27, 2021 by BodyChipper

[angelbless45]

3 hours ago, PsYcHoNxVa said:

Can someone tell me why I only start out with 20,000 Lei, when other people start out with 25,000?

 

You get an extra 5.000 Lei if you got Rank B before. (It is written in the trophy guide ? ?) 

2 minutes ago, BodyChipper said:

 

If you complete a stage with a B rank or better once, you will get an additional 5,000 Lei on subsequent runs of that stage. This only applies to the first version of each.

 

Edit: You don't have to complete the stage, i.e. get to the end, you just need to have a high enough score to get B rank before you end or die. The scores required are listed in the shop room near the door.

hahah we replied at the exact moment

[PsYcHoNxVa]

11 hours ago, BodyChipper said:

 

If you complete a stage with a B rank or better once, you will get an additional 5,000 Lei on subsequent runs of that stage. This only applies to the first version of each.

 

Edit: You don't have to complete the stage, i.e. get to the end, you just need to have a high enough score to get B rank before you end or die. The scores required are listed in the shop room near the door.

Thanks for the info.

 

11 hours ago, angelbless45 said:

 

You get an extra 5.000 Lei if you got Rank B before. (It is written in the trophy guide  ) 

hahah we replied at the exact moment

 

[JunkSkelington]

Finally got platinum after getting through mercenaries.  Agree with pretty much everyone here that by the end mercenaries was an un-fun chore.  I think Castle II was actually the most frustrating for me personally, even though I might have tried factory 2 more times.  I think I liked/tolerated Factory 2 more because it was all about chasing the perfect run on the first level versus dragging it out over multiple stages.  Learning the map and perfecting it actually wasn't so bad.  The lack of a retry button forcing you to rebuy the exact same loadout every failed run was like pouring salt in your wounds.

The videoes in the thread were also really helpful but don't bother waiting to buy the magnum on Mad Village II.  Just buy the magnum on the first level and use it on the armored lychan + the big guys and you can literally SS in 2 stages with a full combo and then just suicide at the start of stage 3.

Edited June 4, 2021 by JunkSkelington

[PsYcHoNxVa]

I got the Platinum a few days, and I didn’t think Mercenaries was as difficult as I was expecting.

[zeifink]

Got platinum today. Lemi + Magnum for the last 4 levels and you are good to go. Thanks for the tip!