There are three phases in the Mercenaries DLC for Resident Evil 4 make new. These are unlocked one by one as you complete the previous level with any character. Of course, due to the environments, enemies, and items for each area, there are some important tidbits to consider. Here are our tips and tricks to help you with that.
RE4 Mercenaries Stages tips and tricks
There are some general things to know about Mercenary tiers before getting serious about the DLC.
- All tiers have their own selection of infected enemies, including elites and special enemies, that spawn at certain intervals.
- All stages have a similar default timer (i.e. two minutes), which can be extended by defeating enemies and picking up green time orbs. If time runs out or you die, the encounter ends regardless of how many enemies are left.
- The maximum number of enemies in a level is 150. Once all enemies are killed, the encounter will be completed automatically and you will get bonus points based on how much time is left.
- While the level layouts themselves don’t change, there are certain items and power-ups that can spawn in random locations. For example, green orbs and yellow orbs (bonus energy in Chaos mode) can be in different areas or sections.
- The same goes for chickens. At least one can be found in each stage, and once killed you can pick up a golden chicken egg to earn 50,000 points. Read more about this in our Mercenaries Gold Chicken Egg Guide.
Mercenaries Village Stage strategies
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The village phase in Mercenary mode is similar to that in the RE4 campaign. It’s where the first village encounter takes place with the Ganados.
Enemies include:
- Infected villagers
- Pighead Brutes
- Chainsaw Villager/Doctor Salvador
- The Bella Sisters
With the number of chainsaw-wielding Elites spawning on a regular basis, make sure you can parry their blows and dodge their lunges. Failure to do so will cause tremendous damage or kill your character instantly. Here is how to kill chainsaw enemies RE4.
With all these enemies flooding the map, there are safe places to camp and wait for attack opportunities.
- Starting area: The starting area, with your back to the main gate, is good enough for the first few minutes of the village encounter. Most enemies are in your line of sight, so watch out for those who might jump over the fences.
- Roofs: Alternatively, you can go to the second floor of the house where you Find the W-870 shotgun in the campaign. Jump out the window and eliminate the mobs trying to reach you. They often use ladders to climb up, but you can push them down.
- Small hut on the right – Another option is to take the path on your right and go past the small hut. This small clearing will trap most enemies due to the narrow path, and you can smash your way over the fence to return to the starting point if things get too hectic.
However, don’t hide in the Tower. Although you can easily kill anyone who tries to reach you, you’ll need to land headshots reliably to buy extra time. Worse, compared to the more open areas of the village, fewer mobs will be infiltrated, resulting in fewer kills and fewer points.
Mercenary Castle Strategies
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After clearing the Village stage RE4 Mercenaries, you unlock the castle level. This takes place in the gate area where you blasted the entrance to the Audience Hall with a cannon in the campaign.
Enemies here are:
- Cultists (unarmored and armored variants)
- Zealots/Monks
- Garradors
You can handle Garradors without any problems as long as you save your Mayhem mode power-up for when they spawn. Keep an eye out for Berserkers, however, as their singing will cause Plaga tentacles to appear from the cultists’ heads. The smaller variants are easy to kill, but the larger ones will eat into your skull and kill you instantly.
Another key feature of this mercenary phase is the four catapults. These will keep bombarding you, so you have to do it Shoot the red barrels to make them explode. Likewise, you can drop down the distant walls to bring up the cannon. This has a limited number of uses, so make those shots count.
As far as campsites go, there are a few options:
- gun pavilion: The small pavilion where the cannon rises can be a decent spot as most enemies will just try to cross the stone path.
- Entrance door of the audience hall: Alternatively, you can stay near the entrance door to the Audience Hall, where you’ll get another look at the enemies in front of you.
Mercenary Island Strategies
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The island is the third and last Resident Evil 4 Remake of the Mercenary stage, unlocked after completing the Castle encounter. This takes place in the Stronghold area, where during the campaign you had to destroy the anti-aircraft (AA) gun.
Enemies here are:
- Infected Mercenaries
- missile troops
- spider pest
- Pighead Brutes (including those wielding machine guns)
The Pighead enemies are easy to kill as long as you save your Mayhem mode ability on them. As for Rocket Troopers, watch out when you see the laser sight tracking you.
Still, the most annoying mobs on the island are the Spider Plagas, as they can scurry around, perform quick attacks, and jump on normal enemies to turn them into angry maniacs.
The main feature in this level is the machine gun turrets. They have limited ammo, but they will cut down enemies like a hot knife through butter. Use them sparingly and try to land headshots.
As far as campsites go, there are two decent options.
- Right side tower: Go past the anti-aircraft bunker and up the steps to reach the top level of this tower. Most enemies will climb the steps to reach you, but some may jump down from higher platforms.
- corner tower position: We think this is a better option. At the start of the encounter, go right to the end of the path. There is a tower here that you can use to mow down enemies on the narrow path.
That’s it for ours Resident Evil 4 Remake Mercenaries Stages Guide. With these tips, tricks, and strategies, you should be able to stay alive longer and get high scores in this mode. Now that you know the level layouts, you might want to aim for higher rankings. Here is How do I get an S++ rank? RE4 mercenaryas well as how to unlock everything in mercenaries.
Featured image by GameSkinny.
