Resident Evil 5 Mercenaries Mode Game Guide
RE5 Hints, Tips, Unlocks, Characters and Weapons in Mercenaries
Apr 6, 2009
Survival horror game Resident Evil 5's Mercenaries Mode pits 1-2 players inside a small level, requiring them to kill as many enemies as possible to achieve a high score. But there's a bit more to it than just that.
Mercenaries Mode - The Basics
Numerous orange statue time bonuses, hidden throughout each level, will give the player(s) more time to fight, while combo bonuses, hidden inside chests, will give 1000 points extra for each kill in a combo during a 30 second time frame.
Combos are strings of kills within 10 seconds from one another. Earning a high scoring requires performing large combo chains.
Also note that the game will only give ammo for weapons in the inventory. Some characters carry good and bad weapons; pitching the bad weapons (typically handguns and machine guns) will leave more ammo for the good ones (magnums, shotguns, etc). Unlocking characters becomes much easier when playing as Chris Redfield using only his shotgun, and ditching his inadequate handgun.
At first, simply surviving Mercenaries Mode is challenging. After getting the hang of it, however, players can try out some more advanced tricks.
RE5 Mercenaries Unlockables
An A+ is required for all unlockables: 40,000+ points single, 80,000+ co-op.
- A+ on Stage 1 Public Assembly will unlock Jill Valentine (BSAA)
- A+ on Stage 2 The Mines will unlock Albert Wesker (Midnight)
- A+ on Stage 3 The Village will unlock Chris Redfield (Safari)
- A+ on Stage 4 Ancient Ruins will unlock Sheva Alomar (Clubbin')
- A+ on Stage 5 Experimental Facility will unlock Chris Redfield (S.T.A.R.S.)
- A+ on Stage 6 Missile Area will unlock Sheva Alomar (Tribal)
- A+ on Stage 7 Ship Deck will unlock Jill Valentine (Battle Suits)
- A+ on Stage 8 Prison will unlock Albert Wesker (S.T.A.R.S)
RE5 Midnight Wesker Guide
Midnight Wesker dominates the leaderboards. Midnight Wesker stats:
- H&K P8 Handgun, 21 bullet clip, 300 power, 1.5 sec reload time
- S&W M500 (Magnum), 6 round clip, 4300 power, 3.5 sec reload time
- Box of 50 extra handgun bullets
- Box of 6 extra magnum rounds
- x5 Hand Grenades
- x5 Proximity Bombs
- Strong Melee attacks
- Unique Dash Ability
Midnight Wesker employs two common strategies. The first has players primarily using his H&K P8 handgun to set-up his deadly Cobra Strike melee attack, while the second strategy involves throwing away the H&K P8 Handgun and focusing entirely on the S&W M500 Magnum.
With the first strategy, regular enemies should be shot in the head to set-up Midnight Wesker's Cobra Strike; common enemies die in one blow, while knocking away surrounding enemies.
Using this strategy, players should save ammo for the magnum and only use it against stronger enemies and boss characters.
The second strategy involves pitching the H&K and relying entirely on Wesker's powerhouse magnum.
It's a risky strategy, but it can pay off. By dropping the handgun, enemies will not drop ammo for it, giving Wesker more magnum ammo drops, and more inventory space to hold hand grenades and proximity mines.
Always keep a watchful eye on Wesker's magnum ammo count. When running low, make sure to use hand grenades and mines on large groups and hope for a few ammo drops.
Players must also beware of the magnum's long reload time. Players can bypass this weakness by picking up magnum ammo in the inventory screen and placing it onto the magnum, reloading without waiting through the animation.
And finally, players should use Wesker's unique dash ability. By pressing down the right analogue stick, Wesker will dash forward at incredible speeds. By pressing A on 360 (X on PS3), Wesker will reverse direction, while pressing X on 360 (Square on PS3), Wesker will perform a powerful knee strike.
The dash requires a small amount of HP to execute, but the sheer speed in which Wesker can travel makes the move worthwhile despite the health penalty.
RE5 Tribal Sheva Guide
Tribal Sheva has immense potential, but requires practice to recognize it.
- Longbow, infinite ammo, 1500 power per arrow, 1 sec reload time
- Grenade Launcher, 6 Nitrogen rounds, 100 damage
- x3 Incendiary grenades
- x3 Flash grenades
The grenade launcher is largely useless against larger opponents, but certain types of grenades set-up common enemies for a melee strike, which gives Sheva a +5 time bonus for each hit. Use the bow against big enemies, and set-up large numbers with the grenade launcher for big time bonuses.
The bow will one-shot any normal enemy in the Mercenaries Mode. Bosses require quite a few more arrows, though, but 1-2 shots will usually result in a stun animation.
The lack of a laser sight may be a significant drawback at first, but after several rounds of practice, aiming without one doesn't feel much different than aiming with one. Precision aiming is not required, since any hit will kill a normal enemy, so aiming isn't as much of a problem as it may initially seem.
When surrounded, Sheva's grenades can come in handy. The flash grenades are particularly useful against parasites, and simply for stunning large groups of enemies.
After getting the hang of the bow and grenade launcher, combos and time bonuses will flow with ease. Tribal Sheva still has difficulty against the more powerful bosses, however. When playing solo, stick with the earlier stages at first.
Resident Evil 5 Co-op Mercenaries Guide
RE5's Mercenaries Mode in co-op ramps up the difficulty a bit, while requiring 2x the score for the same grade. Teamwork and cooperation are musts for achieving a high score.
Make sure to find all the time bonuses right away, and meet up with each other ASAP. Collecting all the time bonuses takes much less time, and two guns together is always better than two guns separated.
Another good tip for co-op mercenaries is to find two characters that have the same style of weapons so the ammo drops are the same. Oftentimes, choosing the same character is the best option.
Also, note that Tribal Sheva, after pitching her grenade launcher, requires no ammo at all, so she fits well with any character.
Mercenaries Mode Guide - Conclusion
Mercenaries Mode significantly extends popular action video game Resident Evil 5's gameplay, particularly so because of co-op and the online leaderboard scores. Hopefully, this guide has helped unlock characters, and maybe even achieve a new high score.
Continue to Mercenaries Mode Chris Redfield (BSAA)
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