Resident Evil 4 No merchant/ no saving typewriter Professional challenge.

[Dos]

man im surprised, i started a game on pro mode(with merchants and saving) and i cant even get passed 2-2, your good very good

I don't think I'm that great, I think with pro it's just a matter of really knowing the attack patterns of enemies, and more generally knowing how to approach each fight. So you're stuck on 2-2, at the cabin fight I presume? Don't stress too much, that is the first really tough scene of the game and it holds a lot of people up for a long time. First time I played the game on normal I got killed there about five or six times- and I think I even died there once on easy!

Specifically with that scene, make full use of whatever grenades you have, and preferably you should have at least three flash grenades for this fight because of the high number (especially on pro) of Plagas that sprout. And two tips in relation to Luis- 1. remember he's invincible so don't be afraid to fire in his general direction (he'll duck when you aim), and 2. When he says go upstairs, he means it, GO UPSTAIRS. The ground floor gets flooded soon after that so you'll be in a lot of trouble if you're stuck down there. Good luck...

 

[hobojoe521]

actually 2-2 was a guess im really not sure where im at, i might be farther, i havent played it in a long time. besides all i was playing pro for was the prl, and with the IRL and chicago typewriter, i really dont need it

 

[Dos]

I'm done! Can't believe it.

Chapter 5-4 and 6-1 were negotiated but they were far from easy.

One of the difficulties you have in the military areas at the start of 5-4 is that Mike, apart from destroying the turret gun towers, really doesn't assist much at all in Professional mode. He hardly ever guns down regular Ganados in your vicinity. Because of the sheer number of Ganados, knife/melee combinations are extremely hard, and a ridiculously high number of them sprout Plagas. They will also attempt to surround and outflank you on several occasions, requiring you to watch your back at all times. With limited firepower this isn't a nice area- which is why not wasting ammo on Krauser at the end of 5-3 is so important.

Somehow, I got through both the military areas without dying though. Mostly by being extremely patient and completely securing a section before proceeding to the next one...this is extremely important if you don't wish to get spike balled or tasered from behind! The JJ in this area was dealt with by a few well aimed Butterfly rounds.

The final Regenerator* in the prison was ignored. No use taking it on, wasting ammo and time and risking damage when I don't need its money and in any case it doesn't protect any ammo that I need (only a few rifle rounds). The final military area after that was by no means easy, but by staying mobile I was able to isolate the Ganados into smaller sub-groups and pick them off gradually. The JJ here was dealt with exactly the same way as the one earlier in the chapter. Then after six more Ganados and rescuing Ashley for the final time it was time to face Saddler.


The battle against Saddler is not that hard if you stay alert at all times. Saddler's behaviour can be a bit erratic at times but his attacks are all dodged easily enough. And the developers were incredibly kind in providing the oil barrels and two cranes to smash him with...it makes it a lot easier. I took a few hits, including one that took me down to 0.5/10 health bars from 9.5/10...his attacks when they aren't avoided are quite savage. But ultimately I did enough damage to trigger Ada throwing me the Special Launcher- and because I'd depleted a lot of ammo by this point I had enough space to take the RL without discarding anything.

And that, ladies and gentleman, was that. The challenge was complete!

*As an interesting side note, on normal mode this final Regenerator is the strongest regular Regenerator other than the Iron Maidens- even on normal it has a parasite on its back, which the six other regular Regenerators encountered lack..

Stats for 5-4 and end of the game.

Chapter 5-4
Accuracy: 92%
Kills: 95
Died: 0 times

Chapter 6-1
Accuracy: 97%
Kills: 1 (Saddler obviously)
Died: 0 times


Overall
Accuracy: 93%
Kills: 868 (including Saddler- the game doesn't count him for some reason)
Died: 15 times
Clear time: 12 hours 11 minutes 31 seconds

 

[Pancham Cutie]

Great job. You completed one of the hardest challenges that can be done in RE4. Are you thinking about doing it again or thinking about never trying it again. If I was you I wouldn't do it again because it is h*ll.

 

[Dos]

So a quick reflection on this whole crazy challenge. It was by far the hardest thing I've ever done on RE4- by far. Considering I've never tried such a run before I'm pretty happy to have got away from this with only fifteen deaths and a clear time of twelve hours. I understand that one of the regular contributers over at gamefaqs was able to do pretty much the same challenge as I did**, and not only avoid death completely but also get a clear time of just over three hours- which is almost inhuman! And the same guy did a Handgun only run and still managed it in around eight and a half hours- against my twelve hours! Unbelievable.

** Main differences being that they did use the saving typewriters, killed about 600 enemies less than me, and they also didn't use continue points- if they sustained damage and especially were about to die, they restarted the whole chapter or otherwise from the nearest save point.

But to reflect quickly...Chapter 3-1 was by far my worst chapter in the whole game- not only did I fail the mission four times, but my accuracy was only just over 70%. Overall, 2-2, 3-1, 4-1 and 5-2 accounted for 11 of the 15 times I either died or failed the mission. I'm going to unashamedly copy the idea from gamefaqs of ranking each chapter according to how I rate their respective difficulties IN THIS CHALLENGE in retrospect ...I'll rate out of 10, with 1 being very easy and 10 being an absolute nightmare.

Remember, some get a very high difficulty rating not just because of the difficulty of the fighting, but also because of my no saving rule which made a couple long chapters even more difficult than normal...

Chapter 1-1= 3
Chapter 1-2= 2
Chapter 1-3= 5
Chapter 2-1= 4
Chapter 2-2= 8
Chapter 2-3= 7
Chapter 3-1= 10
Chapter 3-2= 6
Chapter 3-3= 1
Chapter 3-4= 2
Chapter 4-1= 10
Chapter 4-2= 7
Chapter 4-3= 6
Chapter 4-4= 7
Chapter 5-1= 9
Chapter 5-2= 10
Chapter 5-3= 6
Chapter 5-4= 9
Chapter 6-1= 5

Anyway, to put simply, finishing this is very satisfying. I suggest others try it or something similar at some stage! If you are able to complete something like this, you'll feel every bit as satisfied as I do, believe me!

 

[Dos]

Great job. You completed one of the hardest challenges that can be done in RE4. Are you thinking about doing it again or thinking about never trying it again. If I was you I wouldn't do it again because it is h*ll.

Thanks!

I reckon one day I'll give it or something similar a go again. But not for a while that's for sure!

 

[Pancham Cutie]

Thanks!

I reckon one day I'll give it or something similar a go again. But not for a while that's for sure!

OH SH*T. I must say anyone who can take on a tough challenge and wanting to have another tough challenge is insane.

 

[Dos]

OH SH*T. I must say anyone who can take on a tough challenge and wanting to have another tough challenge is insane.

Trust me such challenges are strangely addictive!

 

[Pancham Cutie]

Trust me such challenges are strangely addictive!

So far I only had 1 RE challenge and it was beating RE5 on Pro mode without using the infinite rocket launcher so many times like a spoiled child, but I don't think that counted as a challenge since I kinda of cheated and had infinite magnums and machine guns and used the IRL on bosses.

Spoiler

I think the only true challenge I ever did in my entire video game life was beating Mirror's Edge without using a gun and getting the Test of Faith achievement on my first run. Tough as h*ll, but got through it in just a few hours with the hardest levels being the Warehouse, Contruction Building, Boat, and the Shard. No matter what difficulty you have it on, the game is hard when aiming for the achievement since you die so fast.

 

[hobojoe521]

HOLY FUDGE!!! you beat it, thts amazing, well to me anyway i cant beat pro mode with the merchant very very good job

 

[LordGolbez]

Congrats Man. You Did Awesome.

 

[Dos]

Cheers people! I'd like to think I could do this one day without dying once, but that might just be impossible!

 

[Romero]

Honestly, I'm completely rubbish at video games. It's just... when you waste 60% of your bullets on walls and other inanimate objects during your first play through and you have nothing left to destroy those buggers with, you have to think of different ways of getting the job done, haha.

You are low on ammo and still you prevail - it just shows your greatness.
No matter if you discard, sell or just waste your ammo, it is all about how you can survive without ammo. You may not be good at doing headshots, but you are ingenious and good at surviving. Don't be so modest.

How could you tell how much HP they have? I couldn't find that out in the games, both GC and PS2.

Just by counting how many shots it takes to kill to an enemy, and multiplying that by the firepower of the gun used to kill them.

So for example, if it takes five headshots (which do full damage) from a fully upgraded Red9 (firepower of 6.5) to kill a Dr Salvador, it's safe to assume that the Salvador had somewhere between 26 (6.5x4) and 32.5 (6.5x5) health points.

That's how I do it, Tequila. But I use low powered guns to get accurate data, like a TMP with no power upgrades. If I don't have a very weak gun, I can use a combo of different guns with different firepower to find exactly the amount of HP. I'm a nerd about numbers and data lol.

I'm done! Can't believe it.
Chapter 5-4 and 6-1 were negotiated but they were far from easy.
And that, ladies and gentleman, was that. The challenge was complete!

Overall
Accuracy: 93%
Kills: 868 (including Saddler- the game doesn't count him for some reason)
Died: 15 times
Clear time: 12 hours 11 minutes 31 seconds

Very very good, congratulations sir!
Did you have any ammo/items left when you finished?

I understand that you get a special rocket for Saddler, but a normal rocket must do some serious injury to him? How do you kill him without rockets, would that have been possible with your weak guns?

If there is a special way to fight him that makes it easy (apart from the special rocket), please don't explain me the details. I want a challenge when I get there. Unfortunately I already know that Krauser is easy if you use the knife on him, I read it. This is the kind of "secrets" I don't want to know. But I'd like to know if Saddler can be killed by using conventional guns.

Anyway, to put simply, finishing this is very satisfying. I suggest others try it or something similar at some stage! If you are able to complete something like this, you'll feel every bit as satisfied as I do, believe me!

I know it's satifying, I also try to find challenges in every game I play. Next time you can maybe try a zero miss run? -And not with the Infinite Launcher, nor the Handcannon with exclusive upgrade.

 

[Dos]

After the conclusion of the game my attache case consisted of

1 Handgun (10 bullets loaded)
1 Shotgun (2 shells loaded)
1 Broken Butterfly (0 loaded)
1 First Aid Spray
1 Green Herb
127 other Handgun bullets
14 Shotgun shells

So I had no grenades left and no Butterfly bullets left either. I had the ability to inflict another 201 points (137x1.0 + 16x4.0) of damage with those two guns when Ada saved the day, assuming perfect accuracy which isn't easy...so I guess I had an okay amount of firepower left in reserve.

I don't know how many health points Saddler is meant to have left when the launcher is thrown...Saddler does have weakpointS (there's a clue already) which if fully exploited trigger Ada's arrival much quicker than otherwise. If you want me to tell you about those, let me know and I will. Otherwise, I'll leave it up to you to work out when you get there...

Saddler isn't so easy to knife repeatedly, but it can be done if you're game enough.

So yes, he can be downed with conventional weapons, even in Professional mode.

Romero, how about this for a deal- you get moving out of the boringness of Chapter 4-2, get moving into 4-3 and beyond- and when you complete the game, I'll consider a zero miss run like you suggested?

 

[Dos]

And sorry for the double post, but I do think it's rather interesting that of my fifteen deaths, only two were at the hands of bosses- Mendez and Verdugo got the better of me one time each. So Del Lago, El Gigante/s, Salazar, U3, Krauser and Saddler didn't kill me at all.

And further to this, of the sub bosses* in the game, only one death was attributable to them- the Iron Maiden in Chapter 5-1.

*I consider the sub-bosses to be all Dr Salvadors, the Bella Sisters, the Garradors, the Regenerators/Iron Maidens and the JJs.

Ashley was killed six times by my count, and they were all from regular Ganados and Zealots as opposed to a boss or sub boss. I died stupidly once in Chapter 1-3 from apparently getting a button mashing prompt wrong and hence getting squashed by the boulder at the swamp. So all up eleven of the fifteen deaths were from regular Ganados and Zealots.

Perhaps this is just because I've never been the strongest player at dealing with huge number of enemies in confined spaces- hence why my worst points in the game tend to be the cabin fight in 2-2, the water room in 3-1 and the wrecking ball room in 5-2. But still I must say that at the start of this playthrough I would have expected to die far more than three times at the hands of bosses and sub-bosses.

 

[Romero]

So I had no grenades left and no Butterfly bullets left either. I had the ability to inflict another 201 points (137x1.0 + 16x4.0) of damage with those two guns when Ada saved the day, assuming perfect accuracy which isn't easy...so I guess I had an okay amount of firepower left in reserve.

201 that's not much, not when facing an enemy that isn't dying from a normal rocket (worth 300 HP). If you upgrade the BB a little, 10 magnum rounds adds up to 200 HP!
I calculated a bit and found that I have bullets and shotgun shells worth around 2600 firepower in my attache case. I have grenades too but I don't know what their firepower are. This can kill Verdugo three times over, without using the nitro cans, and nine times if I use the nitro! :blink: Gosh, I think I can sell some ammo. I'm not going to face a squad of Verdugos very soon.

Romero, how about this for a deal- you get moving out of the boringness of Chapter 4-2, get moving into 4-3 and beyond- and when you complete the game, I'll consider a zero miss run like you suggested?

I should start moving soon, but I've not played the last four weeks, partly because of the Olympics. But you can start a challenge like it at any time, you only need yourself.

Perhaps this is just because I've never been the strongest player at dealing with huge number of enemies in confined spaces- hence why my worst points in the game tend to be the cabin fight in 2-2, the water room in 3-1 and the wrecking ball room in 5-2.

The Hall of Water (at 3-1) was perhaps the place I struggled most, because I was attempting another 100% chapter. It was pretty tricky on Normal, as I strived for perfection. I found that I had to throw a grenade at the two archers immediately, then do two rapid headshots with the Rifle (a bit tricky to hit heads hidden behind shields when they run), and then run forward and use the Shotgun. The clue was to keep moving and not let them attack from two sides. When I had killed the first bunch, I retreated to the previous room and re-entered the Hall of Water. This to quick-save all my good work in case I did a mistake. The most difficult part was the first part when the room if crowded.

The Cabin (2-2) was difficult at first, but now it's not so much of a challenge on Normal. But I didn't achieve 100% hits there, I had to be content with 98%.
It became easier after I realised the ganados can not kill Luis. He also helps out by give ammo to me, and sometimes he gave a grenade. I think it's a good idea to push down the ladders often and let Luis kill as many as possible.

 

[Dos]

Yeah well the cabin fight is extremely hard on pro, let me assure you of that...if anyone on their first pro playthrough can get through it without dying, then I take off my hat to them.

Out of interest, in the water hall, how do you mean you throw a grenade at the crossbows as soon as you enter the room? They're a long way from the entry point and on a higher level of the room and it would take an amazingly good throw from the entry door to land it on the balconies they reside on. My tactic with those guys is to normally just whip out the rifle as soon as I enter the room and snipe them both as quickly as possible- and then try and do the same to the shield zealots advancing down the middle.

And 201 may not sound like a lot, but I don't think it can be assumed that Saddler has 300 health points or even anything close to that left when the Special Launcher is thrown...if you haven't seen the battle yet it's a bit hard to describe without spoiling it for you, which you don't me want me to do. But I'll put it this way, you can kill Saddler without exploiting his weakpoint/s, but you probably would run out of ammo. Exploit them to the full, however, and it's really not that hard. In other words, it's probably something similar to the Verdugo fight- his health points diminish three times as fast (or he has only a third of normal, whichever- it doesn't matter) when he's frozen. Saddler's health points diminish a lot quicker if the weakpoint/s are taken advantage of.

 

[Romero]

Out of interest, in the water hall, how do you mean you throw a grenade at the crossbows as soon as you enter the room? They're a long way from the entry point and on a higher level of the room and it would take an amazingly good throw from the entry door to land it on the balconies they reside on. My tactic with those guys is to normally just whip out the rifle as soon as I enter the room and snipe them both as quickly as possible- and then try and do the same to the shield zealots advancing down the middle.

On the PS2 version at least, the game throws more enemies at you if you play like a pro and don't get killed or otherwise fail. (I don't mean Pro/Hard level, I mean play like a pro on Normal level.)

So when I enter the water hall, there are two Archer Zealots and one red Leader Zealot a bit in front of me. No archers was on the upper level at this point, they come after Ashley and Leon have activated the pressure pads in the other (lower) room.

I threw a Flash Grenade immediately and then sniped their heads. Then more zealots with shields enter the room and I snipe two of them through the shields, and then switch to the Shotgun.

Another reason to leave and re-enter that hall (other than to quick-save) is that many more zealots are spawning that I'll not meet otherwise.

 

[Dos]

On the PS2 version at least, the game throws more enemies at you if you play like a pro and don't get killed or otherwise fail. (I don't mean Pro/Hard level, I mean play like a pro on Normal level.)

So when I enter the water hall, there are two Archer Zealots and one red Leader Zealot a bit in front of me. No archers was on the upper level at this point, they come after Ashley and Leon have activated the pressure pads in the other (lower) room.

I threw a Flash Grenade immediately and then sniped their heads. Then more zealots with shields enter the room and I snipe two of them through the shields, and then switch to the Shotgun.

Another reason to leave and re-enter that hall (other than to quick-save) is that many more zealots are spawning that I'll not meet otherwise.

Yeah the GC version also throws more at you if you don't get killed and if you don't take any damage.

In the GC version, when you enter the hall the two crossbow guys are up on the balconies, way too far away to use a grenade on!

In the GC version, or mine at least, when you enter the room it'll normally go like this.

-One red zealot in the very centre of the room (he always sprouts a Plaga too)
-Two shield zealots with spikes next to the red zealot that immediately start advancing forward down the centre towards you.
-Two spiked ball zealots who move to the right of the hall then come towards you from the right.
-Two spiked ball zealots who move to the left of the hall then come towards you from the left.
-Two crossbow archers on the balconies, one on each side.

When you kill one or both of the original left/right wave, a further four will burst out from the side doors that we can't open, two from the left and two from the right- two will be either an ordinary spiked ball zealot or just unarmed, the other two will have shields.

The red zealot normally hangs back and waits- although if you demolish the original two guys with shields that come down the centre he seems to charge then. Even when he's srpouted his Plaga, the red zealots won't always advance upon you if you hang back.

As you advance towards the centre of the room you'll trigger the appearance of up to five or six more zealots from the bottom level of the room.

Then once you activate the pressure pads on the bottom level, you'll get at least ten to twelve zealots slowly come towards that room. An additional two or three will jump down in that room from the hole in the ceiling.

When you turn the first crank to lower the stairs, five scythe zealots await you and start charging down the stairs. One of these is a red zealot.

Once Ashley is on the very top level activating the cranks, about eight to ten zealots will try and abduct her. Around the same number of zealots will also come directly at Leon and try and hurt/kill him. Two or three of these guys will have shields.

In the whole room, besides the first red zealot, about eight to ten zealots are likely to sprout Plagas.

Think that summarises that whole room pretty well

I've heard that on the PS2 version, once you've piggybacked Ashley up to the top level, any zealots you haven't killed from the bottom level just disappear. This doesn't happen on the GC version, making it essential to eliminate everyone downstairs before sending Ashley up to the top to turn the cranks.

 

[Romero]

In the GC version, when you enter the hall the two crossbow guys are up on the balconies, way too far away to use a grenade on!

Perhaps a Flash Grenade will work.

In the GC version, or mine at least, when you enter the room it'll normally go like this.

-One red zealot in the very centre of the room (he always sprouts a Plaga too)
-Two shield zealots with spikes next to the red zealot that immediately start advancing forward down the centre towards you.
-Two spiked ball zealots who move to the right of the hall then come towards you from the right.
-Two spiked ball zealots who move to the left of the hall then come towards you from the left.
-Two crossbow archers on the balconies, one on each side.

I think the only difference in my version is that the first two arcers are in the centre with the red Leader.

When you kill one or both of the original left/right wave, a further four will burst out from the side doors that we can't open, two from the left and two from the right- two will be either an ordinary spiked ball zealot or just unarmed, the other two will have shields.

As I remember from my version, all of the zealots coming out the side doors was carrying something, spiked ball and/or shield. Not completely sure though.

Then once you activate the pressure pads on the bottom level, you'll get at least ten to twelve zealots slowly come towards that room. An additional two or three will jump down in that room from the hole in the ceiling.

Have you ever wondered where the hole in the ceiling leads? You could expect to see a hole in the floor on the upper level!

When you turn the first crank to lower the stairs, five scythe zealots await you and start charging down the stairs. One of these is a red zealot.

This wave is only coming if you are good.