First things first, the name of the game is combos. If you want to get a fantastic high score, you'll need to kill enemies to build up a good combo chain. If you kill an enemy, you have 15 seconds in which to kill another before the combo is dropped. You'll have about three seconds in which the combo number will flash before it disappears, so be careful and work hard to make sure that you hardly ever see that combo flash. The enemies are not so tough as they were in Campaign. This is especially true for the zombie dogs in Urban Chaos and Mining the Depths. One shot from a pistol is all it takes to down them.

Before you get to killing, you should focus on getting the time bonuses. There's a section on this subject here in the guide.

Enemies will become more diverse and more aggressive as you keep killing. Their spawnpoints and methods of attacking will change as well, forcing you to be on your toes. For example, the zombies in Urban Chaos will aimlessly shuffle towards you and swipe at you at the beginning, but soon after you will encounter policemen with assault rifles, then firemen, then BSAA zombies, then a Whopper, then bloodshots, etc. Common zombies will shoot acid and make you writhe about for about 5 seconds, and that's too long. They'll even leap at you if you're not prepared. The J'avos are much more dangerous. They can appear already mutated, forcing you to come up with a quick strategy.

If you want to survive, you should be quick to react to enemy attacks as well as be quick to reorganize. Dodge and roll to get away from bad situations and don't be afraid to toss a grenade when you feel crowded. Keep yourself healed up as well, because getting sent to dying state will almost always result in your death in solo mode. If with a partner, as soon as you can control yourself again, it is a good idea to kill an enemy and immediately rush to their aid. A tablet or two will allow them to get back up and fight with a full stamina bar instead of simply reviving them with an adrenaline shot, as they're essentially the walking dead until they heal themselves. This can lead to trouble when they walk into a J'avo with a machete, who'll then push him/her down and promptly kill them in a cutscene that is out of your hands.

Want to increase your score output? Find a green combo bonus crystal and shoot it. You'll get 1000 points for each kill you get in a combo under its influence. It'll last for about 45 seconds, so use it wisely.

When starting up Mercenaries Mode, you are allowed to choose which stage you want to tackle first. If you have pre-purchased Resident Evil 6, you'll have access to the first three stages, which are Urban Chaos, Steel Beast, and Mining the Depths. As you play through these stages, more of them will be unlocked upon completion. Only through playing a stage to completion will you be able to unlock the next stage. Remember, you don't need to be a professional and get a 150 combo to end the session. Just do your best and make it out of there alive. But enough about unlocking, let's get to the stages themselves.

If you've played through the campaign, you know that there are two common enemies: zombies and J'avo. They are very different from one another in a variety of ways. For instance, the zombies are slow at first and lazily swipe and grab while the J'avos are tenacious devils who can wield a variety of weapons and mutate their body parts, forcing you to readjust and come up with an alternate, quicker means of killing them. While they are not the only creatures in the Mercenaries, they are the bread and butter of the mode and will become acquainted with your weapon more often than a (secret) boss. The stages in which zombies are present are: Urban Chaos, Mining the Depths, The Catacombs, and Rooftop Mission. The stages in which J'avos are present are: Steel Beast, Rail Yard, High Seas Fortress, Requiem for War, Liquid Fire, and Creature Workshop. Depending on the stage, other certain enemies will appear.

If you're familiar with the phrase "the clothes make the man", then you'll know that who you choose can greatly affect your playing style. For instance, Chris Redfield possesses his assault rifle and Lightning Hawk, both of which can decimate practically anything. He is weighed down by the fact that he has no starting tablets, so unless you keep on your toes and know when to back off, you might find yourself gasping for health. Sherry Birkin is a bit of a medic in that she has two red herbs and a first aid spray with her from the start. You won't be hurting for health with her around, but don't expect to blow the enemies away so easily. Characters are different in more ways than just their loadouts. Depending on the character, your counters for regular attacks may change. For instance, Leon's counter when holding a pistol or grenade will be a low kick, which is fantastic at killing zombies who grab. However, when a zombie swipes, he'll counter and kick their shins instead of their dipping head which won't score a hit. I'll get back to this later.

As soon as you are placed into the game and are allowed to move about, your first priority should be destroying all the time bonuses scattered around the level. If you have a partner, it is a good idea to notify them of what you are doing so you can avoid killing an enemy and watching as the combo runs out because you were off getting time. However, if you are with a partner, you can manage to get all the time bonuses by yourself and let your partner take care of the killing, just as long as the enemies aren't following you. When you are finished, you can return to his/her side and really get started. If you are playing alone, then I state again, your first priority should be to destroy all the time bonuses. Play through the stage multiple times and come up with a route that takes you to every time bonus in as short of time as possible.

Don't forget to pick up items on the way! Grenades are very helpful, as are herbs. You should be sprinting between every time bonus, but if you're worried about tight corners, there's a way to tackle them without much effort. Do you know of your PDA button (LB on Xbox controllers), the device that shows you the way to the objective in the Campaign? The button no longer brings up the PDA. Instead, it allows your character to taunt, making you look awesome and allowing you to rapidly replenish your stamina. The reason I bring this taunting up is because you can press the button while sprinting and pressing a direction to the side to turn on a dime. This can save you a few seconds and get you around quicker than if you simply sprinted and turned without it.

Now let's bring up the time bonuses themselves. There are two ways of breaking them. One, you can run up to them and perform a physical attack, or two, you can sprint and slide into them. Unless you're surrounded by enemies, the first tactic shouldn't be something you should rely on. By sliding into the time bonus crystals, you can keep your forward momentum and pick yourself back up to run at the next one.

Sure, you can shoot the enemies until they die, but that's not much fun now, is it? Since Resident Evil 4, the Mercenaries has always rewarded a player who kills enemies with physical attacks. Killing an enemy with a regular physical attack, be it a kick, backhand, stomp, slide, etc. will add 5 seconds to your clock and can potentially knock back other enemies as well. Shooting an enemy in the head allows you to throw them from the front, which, for characters like Sherry and Chris, can damage other enemies nearby. Special note: Shooting the Uzi-wielding J'avos in the head in High Seas Fortress will force them to mutate into either explode'emons or stagheads. More on this section later. This attack will kill the selected enemy. Shooting one in the arm or shoulder will turn them around and allow for a "stealth kill". This can be quicker than the throws. Quickshots are able to stumble enemies, allowing you to follow up with a physical attack. Keep in mind that quickshots take up stamina. That's right, every physical attack takes up stamina, so if you thought you could spam Cobra Strike in RE5 Mercs, think again.

Coup de grâce - You're going to end a lot of creatures' suffering with this move. Performing the attack will add 7 seconds to your time as well as make you invincible for the attack's duration, just like the throw and behind the enemy attacks. Whatever you hit with a coup de grâce isn't going to get back up anytime soon, and if it does, it'll regret it. Setting up a coup de grâce is a rather tricky process, especially with zombies, but it can be rewarding. Here are two ways of setting up. One, if playing as a male character, you can turn the camera around to face behind you and at an enemy. Move towards the enemy (try to turn around) and press the physical attack button to jab an elbow into their face. This will severely stun them for a few seconds and allow you to follow up with a coup de grâce. Two, you can stumble an enemy with a quickshot or a well-placed bullet to the head, shoulder, or knee/leg before following up with a sliding movement into their legs. To do this, sprint at the stumbled enemy and press the aim button to slide and jostle their legs. This will take up stamina, but it's quick and easy to do.

Another quick and easy way of setting up for this powerful attack would be to throw a flash grenade and follow up on the enemies it has affected. This mainly affects J'avo, although it can affect bloodshots as well. NOTE: If you throw a frag grenade on the ground and immediately attack a stunned enemy with a coup de grâce, every kill by that grenade will count as a coup de grâce, thus earning you +7 seconds per kill.

The Art of Countering - Provided you've got the framerate and reaction time for it, Resident Evil 6's new counter system can shower you with rewards. Countering is simple and uses up no stamina, you see. When an enemy is about to strike with a physical attack, be a swipe or lunge, press the attack button to dodge their strike and respond with an attack of your own. Sometimes this will stumble the enemy and allow them to be killed with a follow-up strike, but most of the time you will outright kill the poor bastard who took a swipe at you. Countering will net you 10 seconds of time if performed right, so if you've got the quick fingers, you can benefit so much.

Not every character counters the same, and especially not with different weapons. When countering with two handed weapons, the character will duck and rise up to smash the weapon in the face of the enemy. This is good for swiping zombies, but it won't kill a zombie who tries to grab you, as their head dips after their grapple. Let's look at this example: Leon in Mining the Depths. In Mining the Depths, the zombies grab you almost constantly. An opportunity arises for a counter and Leon takes it, but he uses his shotgun to brush a zombie's back instead of killing him. Take two: Leon uses his Wing Shooter (pistol). Another zombie tries to grab him, but this time Leon falls to the ground and kicks out at the zombie's head. This certainly kills it!

You'll want to counter zombies as much as you can, but be wary of them when they hold firearms, spit acid, and pounce you. Quickly kill any zombie with a magnum and an accurate rifle, as they can ruin your day in a heartbeat. When it comes to armored/BSAA zombies, either counter them properly or shoot them in the head. Sometimes you can shoot them in the legs, although it won't amount to much.


Bloodshots - These creatures will torment you in every zombie stage. They are fast, they are deadly, and they are creepy. That said, their favorite form of attack is to crouch down low for a moment before pouncing at you to take a bite out of your neck. If you are prepared, you can counter them as they come at you/near you and toss them to the ground to kill them with a counter coup de grâce, easily scoring 10 seconds more. Their other attack is to reel their arm back before sending it up in a brutal uppercut. Just before the uppercut connects, you can counter and stun them, allowing for a follow-up coup de grâce that'll score 7 seconds of time. If you're in a panic, a flash grenade will force them to their knees and allow for a coup de grâce while an incendiary grenade will kill them outright.

Shriekers - Shoot them in their red throat before they scream and you've gotten yourself an organic red explosive barrel!

Dogs - You will hate these soon for their tenacity, but thankfully they are rather weak. Quickshots can easily kill them and prevent them from surrounding you. If you're brave and confident in your countering skills, you can line one up with you and wait until it lunges at you, fangs bared. As soon as it leaps, you can counter them with a firm bash to their noggin, killing them immediately. This counter has the added effect of having wicked range, so you might actually kill more than just the leaping dog if you're lucky.

Whoppers - These fatsos are not to be trifled with. They'll most likely charge into you and send you flying, so do your best to keep your distance. Pepper them with magnum fire and heavy weaponry until they fall over and die. If you must use a different weapon, say a shotgun, pistol, or weaker weapon, aim for its two stubby legs. Once it's kneeling on the ground, approach it and perform a coup de grâce to knock it back and most likely kill it.


These enemies will be more common for you, and they will be very versatile in their attacks. Depending on where you shoot them, they may mutate and cause you more trouble. Counter their knife/machete attacks as best as you can and slide into them when they are stunned to set them up for coup de grâce attacks. The European J'avo have a dash attack where they will crouch low and rise up with their knife. The counter for this will knock their legs out from underneath them, allowing for a follow-up physical attack. The Chinese J'avo have a different variant, and it is much more deadly. It is a martial display, and what that means is that they twirl their machete about like the smug show-offs they are before slashing once, jumping up and forward, and slashing down again. You can counter the first slash after their deadly twirling, but it isn't as easy as their final jumping slash. A successful counter will treat you to your character shoving the J'avo's machete into their back which will kill them for the most part.

Because I don't know the names of the mutated J'avos and I don't expect you to either, I'll go by common names.


Shield Dudes - Surprisingly, these guys are easy to defeat. Approach them and physically attack their shields to severely stun them, allowing for a coup de grâce. You can counter their overhead shield impalement, but it won't kill them without a bit of warming up before hand. I do not recommend it, even if it looks awesome.

Longarms - These J'avos like to be at a distance, but they're most trouble at a distance! If you are quick enough, you can shoot their head and force them to stumble, allowing for a coup de grâce. If you are not quick enough to shoot them in the head, they will stand up straight and prepare to send their arm to grab you. You can run up to their face and physically attack them to prevent them from doing so, and sometimes you can even follow-up with a coup de grâce. If you are grabbed, don't panic. Just switch to a powerful weapon and aim from your painful position on the floor before blasting them away.

Stagheads - Don't get too close when they start trilling and opening up their mandibles to come running at you, else you'll find yourself bitten and stressed for time. You can shoot the orange 'head' in them enough times to kill them, but a quick and physical way to do it would be to first hit them with a pistol/machinepistol quickshot followed up with a sliding attack. This sets them up for a coup de grâce. You can counter them running at you with their jaws open, resulting in you knocking their legs out, but damn is it risky! I don't recommend it.

Psychos/Cicadaheads - These fellows are aptly named on account for their wild flailing and their three minds which results in said flailing. They will run towards you with their machete/uzi flailing about without pause, and the best way to defeat them would be to shoot their fragile heads, but this is hard. You can, however, time your counter just right to grab onto them and smash their hateful little heads in, netting you 10 seconds.

Wasp/Stickyheads - One is named on account for the wasps while the other is named for the sticky-shooting head. The manner in which you defeat them is simple: shoot them until they die. And they say violence doesn't solve problems...

Sicklearms - They'll do a lot of damage to you if you're not careful, so take them out quickly. You can counter them and kill them easily with it enough, but it's tricky. An easy way to dispatch them is to shoot their head, which causes them to flinch and sets them up for a coup de grâce.

Spidermen - These guys will scuttle about and make your life hell if you let them pounce you. Avoid their pouncing, don't counter them, and stomp on their bodies to end them. A one-handed weapon (pistol, magnum, grenade) is much faster at follow-up ground strikes than a two-handed weapon is, even a knife.

Mothmen - It is possible to counter them when they spread their arms and lunge towards you, but I haven't experimented enough with it. Instead of wasting time with a long follow-up attack when they are down, shoot them out of the sky where they are. It is interesting to note that if you are playing as Jake Muller, you can somersault kick them out of the air with your hand-to-hand 'weapon' equipped. Simply hold down aim, hold down attack, target the mothman and release the attack button, and you'll be a happy little Wesker.

Hoppers - These guys move about quickly and are tricky to shoot due to their size. One of the best strategies is to slide into their legs to knock them down. They'll be incapacitated for a few seconds, allowing you to aim a follow-up attack to their head. Don't let them surround you, though!

Explode'emons - These are the sacky, white grub-like creatures on legs that explode when forced to their knees. They can cause a lot of damage if you linger near them, but they can help you out in clearing an area and damaging enemies. Shoot their legs until they fall and you'll be set, or you can get up close with a powerful weapon and blast them away, blowing them up upon contact with the ground.

There are ways of killing them physically and securing yourself a 5 second bonus without harm. One, find yourself a platform to get up on and wait for them to get close enough to them to jump up there with you. Before they do, however, get near them and you'll get a prompt to jump down and smash their 'face' into the ground, killing them instantly without the boom-boom. This works even when the positions are reversed. Before they jump down to get on your level, you can get a prompt to grab their leg and pull them out, killing them instantly without, again, the boom-booms. When you encounter a J'avo in the middle of mutating into this creature, you can rush forward and perform a physical attack to knock them away. You'll flinch as the creature explodes, but you'll remain unharmed unless you kicked it into a wall right next to you.

If you're a female character, you can sprint at them and perform a flying kick to knock them away, but you will certainly be damaged. You can avoid this, with some difficulty, by performing a mule kick (backwards physical attack) to knock them away. If you're Jake, you're in luck! Performing his cobra strikes and other strong hand-to-hand attacks will knock them away and net you 5 seconds more. Just be sure to immediately dodge backwards when the hit connects with the explode'emon!

Legs - Basically, these are the J'avos who come at you with boney, reinforced legs. They will jump up and kick you if you're not aware, and they're troublesome for the fact that they will not fall over. They can be stumbled, yes, but physically attacking them won't do much of anything. Shoot them in the head repeatedly with a pistol or a medium-strength weapon, like a rifle, shotgun, or crossbow.

They are ugly and you should kill them.

Lizardmen/Strelats - Don't waste time engaging in melee chains with them unless you are sure they'll die from the first couple of knee strikes. Chase them down, slide into them to stun them, then unload on them. If they chase you down and start puking poisonous gas, get your butt out of there. I'm serious, GTFO.

Napads - Ammo sponges, really. If you're a female character, sprint at them and perform a flying kick to knock away their shell before unloading on them. If you're a male character, shoot away their shell with a magnum before switching back to another weapon for the kill. If you have a shotgun, you need to get close enough to do the most damage that'll knock off the shell. You can counter the Napads as a male character when they charge at you. You'll stop them in their tracks and send a knee to their face, breaking their shell. Just unload and you'll be fine, but for the love of god, don't get hit.

Gnezdo - The beeman, as it is also known as. It can't do much against you, but if the bees get on you, you're gonna have a bad time. A flash grenade from your partner will get them off you quickly enough. In fact, a flash grenade will force the queen to come out and play, to which you can force a few magnum rounds down its insect throat. Shoot the bee-body enough times to force the queen out if you have no flash grenades, then pepper it!

Lepotitsa - You'll face this 'Lady of Beauty' in the Catacombs level. Unless you want to keep her alive, shoot her down from a distance.

Ubvisto - This organic chainsaw appears in Rooftop Mission and Creature Workshop as a secret enemy. Tenacious and violent, it'll cut down anything between you and it. You can use this behavior to thin enemy numbers, but if you want to keep countering and getting time bonuses from physical attacks, killing the Ubvisto is a necessity. You can shoot the heart in its chainsaw for massive damage, or you can just pop a few grenades and magnum rounds its way to kill it. You do not want to get slashed by the Ubvisto, or else your death is certain!

Right, that's all I have for you people. Go out there and stop any further Raccoon City-like outbreaks!