10 Tips To Survive The Village of Shadows Mode in Resident Evil Village!

Resident Evil Village isn’t that challenging if you’re playing on Normal or lower. It’s only when you beat the game that it shows its true colors by unlocking the Village of Shadows Mode. If you’re a hardcore fan, this is where you prove it!

What is Village of Shadows Mode?

Village of Shadows is simply the hardest difficulty in Resident Evil Village. The biggest difference from this mode and all the others is that you’ll probably die in two hits, sometimes even one. It is INCREDIBLY tough, so don’t get frustrated if you’re having issues. Take a breather, relax and try again.

If you’re still having trouble, here are some tips to get you through it.

Tip #1 – Replay the game once more with New Game+

You just beat Resident Evil Village, now go replay it.

Not only will this get you to refamiliarize yourself with the game, you should also use this time to finish up the game’s laundry list of Challenges so that you can earn CP (Challenge Points).

DO NOT WASTE YOUR CP!

Challenges can’t be repeated and there are some really tough ones so you’ll want to save your CP in preparation of tackling them later on.

I suggest playing New Game+ on Casual to get more money to spend on Duke and do the Kill Challenges (where you need to kill a certain amount of enemies with a specific weapon), which are much easier to accomplish with lower enemy health.

Tip #2 – Infinite Ammo for the S.T.A.K.E.

This goes hand in hand with Tip #1.

You can ONLY unlock Infinite Ammo on a weapon if it’s been outfitted with every optional part AND has been fully upgraded in Duke’s shop.

Due to the obscene cost, a New Game+ run is a must, ideally with you collecting as much treasure as possible. Don’t forget to combine some of the pieces too! That’ll net you more money than just selling them individually!

Once you have about $2.5 million, I suggest you buy the S.T.A.K.E. magnum, which is unlocked upon completion of the game. If you’re like me and beat the game on the first go round on Normal, this is the best weapon to go for. In fact, it’s the most powerful weapon in the whole game!

Fully upgraded, the magnum hits for 4.4K damage, the highest out of any weapon you’ve unlocked this far. It’ll also kill any regular enemy in ONE hit, stagger Soldats and has a whopping 28 round clip!

Once you’ve upgraded and outfitted the gun, it’s time to head into the Bonus Menu and unlock the weapon’s Infinite Ammo mode.

Tip #3 – Regenerate Health

In certain sections of the game, your health will automatically be healed up to full (like when Ethan escapes from being impaled by the Dimitrescu family) so if you know you’re near these points, don’t heal!

There’s also a certain open secret to Ethan; if his health gets into the red (when the whole screen is literally colored red), do NOT heal. It’ll take a while (especially on higher difficulties), but Ethan will automatically regenerate to Orange health after a while.

It’s risky though, as one more hit will kill you. Then again, you’d need to be near death anyway to take advantage of this feature so why not just risk it all?

Tip #4 – Unlock Chris Redfield’s Dragoon Rifle and its Infinite Ammo.

Near the end of the game, there’s a short section where you’re forced to play as Chris. Here you won’t have your regular inventory, so the Infinite Ammo on the S.T.A.K.E. magnum is useless.

That’s why you’re going to need to bite the bullet and unlock the Infinite Ammo feature for the Dragoon. It’s 50K CP, so I hope you’ve done a couple of challenges!

You don’t need to spend the 30K CP to unlock it for use in the normal game, so if you’re short on CP just focus on unlocking the Infinite Ammo only.

You’ll need it as Chris has to fight a ton of Lycans on his way to dealing with the Megamycete, including a boss battle at the end. Here’s a free tip; the boss is ONLY vulnerable on his back so draw out his attacks, then quickly circle round to blast him with the rifle rounds. Make sure to also use the artillery strike every time it’s ready too!

Tip #5 – Supply Duke with EVERY Food Ingredient.

You’ll need to do this because giving Duke ingredients to make the dishes buffs you too! From increased health, to lower damage received from blocking…the dishes have it all.

You’ll want them too because while those perks aren’t as useful in easier difficulties, you’ll need EVERY advantage you can get to survive Village of Shadows Mode, especially the reduced blocking damage!

Tip #6 – Block!

BLOCK EVERYTHING!

If you see an attack coming and you don’t think you’re far enough away, BLOCK! With the reduced blocking damage perk, you won’t even get hurt much (even on Village of Shadows Mode) so don’t be afraid to on the defensive!

It’ll save your life in Village of Shadows Mode, especially against bosses!

Tip #7 – Shoot arrows

Don’t waste time dodging the flaming arrows the Lycans fire at you.

Shoot them out of the sky with your gun for pure awesomeness AND so that you’re in prime position to return fire!

Tip #8 – NEVER Run From Enemies

Contrary to normal advice, you should NOT run from anything (unless it’s the Dimitrescu family) in the game.

Ethan moves like a snail (even when he’s running) and you’ll just stress yourself out desperately scurrying around trying to avoid enemies…especially if you have to backtrack through an area! It’s just not worth it to leave anybody standing, especially in the Village of Shadows mode!

Stand your ground and put your enemies down! You have infinite ammo and the damn S.T.A.K.E. magnum. Use them!

Tip #9 – Keep the Grenade Launcher and Flash Rounds

Flash Rounds are indispensable in Village of Shadows, especially against the Soldat enemies and Sturm in the Factory. In fact, if it wasn’t for these guys, I’d never have beaten the Sturm boss fight!

Hell, they’re even good against regular enemies too if you’re being overwhelmed! Don’t be afraid to switch to the launcher to fire off a round before using the magnum to clean up all the stunned enemies!

Tip #10 – Don’t Trust Your Memory

Here’s the thing with Village of Shadows Mode; some enemy placements are different and there might be different enemies waiting for you.

Don’t get complacent just because you’ve beaten the game a couple of time or you’ll turn a corner and run smack into a waiting zombie or an even deadlier opponent!

This advice is even more important in Heisenberg’s Factory, where there are many more Soldats (including the kickass jetpack ones) you need to fight!.

The Reward!

WOO HOO! Rocket Pistol unlocked!

If you’re wondering what it is…it’s pretty much what it sounds like. It’s a pistol, that fires explosive shots like the Grenade Launcher’s explosive rounds.

Uh-huh.

Compared to the S.T.A.K.E., it really is underwhelming.

Is it worth the tears shed in Village of Shadows mode to get it?

Not really.

It is fun to mess around with since it blows the objects up, but its stats leave a lot to be desired.

The only thing good about it is its rate of fire(compared to the Grenade Launcher). It can stun lock armored enemies like Sturm or Soldat Panzers, as well destroy the red machine locked doors the Factory in one shot. Other than that, it’s crap.

Crappy reward aside, hopefully all this will help you to beating the game on its hardest difficulty! I know they sure as hell helped me!

Remember, don’t give up!

Especially during Chris’ segment.