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

[Dos]

Chapter 2-1, on the other hand, was HARD. This is of course where you first meet the Ganados who turn into Plaga heads, and disposing of them with only a Handgun is anything but pleasant. I avoided meeting the four Colmillos on the other side of the lake, but risked a trip back, with the purpose of finding more ammo, into the swamp area just before I took on El Gigante (which is a risk because it is genuinely quite hard to see in the swamp area at night).

So I didn't have too much trouble with the Ganados down at the waterfall, but I almost regretted taking the side trip to the swamp because I got hit a couple times. Thankfully I was able to find some ammo, which I guess made the risk worth it. El Gigante was simple enough, used the Handgun a few times but mainly just knifed him into submission. The three Colmillos outside the church, however- well I stuffed that up badly. Nearly got killed twice and the Handgun's lack of stopping power was cruelly exposed. Just think, if just three Colmillos can give me this much trouble, imagine how much fun I'll have if I can make it to the maze in the castle, when there's something like sixteen to eighteen of them :S

Then, and some may debate the merits of this tactic, I decided to incorporate as part of Chapter 2-1, the next two areas, where you eliminate the Ganados back at the village and farm that you would normally take out on the way to cabin in Chapter 2-2, when Ashley is accompanying you for the first time. So I eliminated the fifteen or so Ganados without too much of a fuss, apart from the odd Plaga head which created extra annoyance. Also took special care to disable every single one of the bear traps- about fifteen of them in total :O

The reason for all this is simply to avoid the risk associated with fighting through those areas with Ashley in tow. Perhaps it's unnecessary, but that's what I did. I still haven't collected all the ammo in the two areas though, so I'll be able to stock up a little more prior to the cabin fight hopefully.

Anyway, so I'm now ready to step out of the church, eliminate the Ganados outside, and then head straight towards my probable doom at the cabin fight!


Stats

Chapter 1-1
Accuracy: 96%
Kills: 33
Deaths: 0

Chapter 1-2
Accuracy: 100%
Kills: 51
Died: 0 times

Chapter 1-3
Accuracy: 95%
Kills: 47
Died: 0 times

Chapter 2-1
Accuracy: 90%
Kills: 40
Died: 0 times


My inventory at the end of 2-1 is as follows:
1 fully loaded Handgun (6 spots)
704 other Handgun bullets (30 spots)
7 full healing items (including one golden egg) (13 spots)
5 white eggs (5 spots)
2 brown eggs (2 spots)

So I have 56 out of 60 spots in the case filled...

One other thing I should mention- I'm still applying the no saving typewriter rule as in the previous challenge. Just to make things even more impossible for myself..

 

[greaterbadass]

Ha thanks but as I've said before, I don't think I'm necessarily that good- I guess I've had a lot of practice at the game and know the attack patterns of all the enemies, and what strategies to use for different bosses and battles. With the exception of Mendez that is- I've never been able to get a concrete strategy against him worked out because there seems to be so little pattern to his movements and attacks- and on professional most of his attacks are more or less one-hit KOs if you don't evade them. He's especially dangerous in his second, legless form. I consider him to be the most awkward boss in the whole game to fight actually.

Out of interest, greaterbadass, where are you failing on your attempt? Like what part of the game?

I'm stuck at the Mendez battle lol. Just can't get the job done . It's like my 10th attempt now. I'm also quite short on ammo, so I need to land almost every shot. ah well... I should kill him... eventually.

 

[Dos]

I'm stuck at the Mendez battle lol. Just can't get the job done . It's like my 10th attempt now. I'm also quite short on ammo, so I need to land almost every shot. ah well... I should kill him... eventually.

Mendez is hell on Professional mode. I've been playing RE4 for four years now, but I've never properly mastered the art of fighting him in Professional mode- I've touched on this elsewhere, but basically the reason I find him difficult is that there appears to be little pattern to his movements or his attacks.

A shotgun can be quite effective against him if you manage to hit him, but the problem is that unupgraded shotguns are only effective from close range- and on Professional, getting up close and personal with Mendez is really asking for trouble because on pro his attacks generally take off at least seven full bars of health- in other words, more often than not they're one-hit kills. And, as I'm sure you know, when he's in his legless form and swinging up on the bars, his attacks can seemingly come out of absolutely nowhere and are often almost impossible to avoid.

Generally, Handgun, TMP and incendiary grenades (before he loses his legs) are probably your best weapons against Mendez. Utilise the ladders in the room, and stay mobile at all times- if you stay in the one spot for too long he'll nail you.

You'll get him eventually, it just takes time

 

[Dos]

So...I proceeded to the cabin. Predictably enough, I died the first time. How? I was hit by a Plaga slash, a sickle Ganado and a flying axe- basically all at once. It was rather freakish and there wasn't much I could do about it, but it was disappointing because you need to kill forty Ganados to trigger the end of the battle and I reckon Luis and I had, between the two of us, got to over thirty kills by that point- so I wasn't far off.

So then I tried a new tactic- one I've never tried in the cabin before. Instead of staying upstairs, I waited until the top floor was more or less flooded with Ganados, then placed a headshot followed by a kick which floored the seven or eight Ganados around the one I hit. I then ran downstairs- Luis is invincible so he can be surrounded by them and still be okay- and waited for Luis to kill a few more himself, and then try to pick off Leon's pursuers who eventually come running back down the stairs, as well as the odd few who still climb in through the bottom floor windows. And I reckoned I was so close to that forty figure- but then I got killed again. So, so frustrating.

But then it dawned on me- maybe my biggest mistake of all was trying to get those forty kills. Maybe I would be better staying mobile, and moving downstairs as I had done on my second try, but then instead of being so fixated on getting the kill count up to forty, just keep the Ganado crowd at bay by headshot/kick combinations, which if executed properly would floor an entire group. And then move back upstairs again, repeat the same thing up there, move back downstairs- and after about six minutes, the cutscene plays and the battle is over regardless of how many have been killed. So, in other words, let Luis do the majority of the killing, and mainly just keep the Ganados away from me. This would be easier said than done because inevitably I had quite a few Plaga heads to deal with, but in the end...it worked. I took a couple hits from Plagas and flying axes, but staying mobile was the key. I'VE PASSED THE CABIN FIGHT!! I honestly thought I might never be able to do it on Professional with only a handgun..

So, I'm now up to Chapter 2-3, and same as last time, plan to stay well away from the Bella Sisters- taking on two of those maniacs at the same time with only a Handgun is asking for trouble!


Stats for Chapter 2-2
Accuracy: 98%
Kills: 42
Died: 2 times

Apart from the Ganados at the cabin, because of my earlier mopping up in Chapter 2-1, the only enemies I came across in Chapter 2-2 were the eight who wait for Leon and Ashley outside of the church at the very start of the chapter- I didn't bother with the two zealot archers left behind in the church. So, given I killed 42 in the chapter, this means Luis and I combined killed 34 at the cabin in my successful attempt- less than the forty normally required but as I said, after six or so minutes the battle appears to end regardless.

So, on to 2-3 I go. I suspect Mendez will be absolute hell with only a Handgun- guess we'll see!

 

[greaterbadass]

I decided to restart the game earlier as I just didn't have enough ammo. I'm taking it more conservatively this time. I'm only gonna fight when I need to, so I can save lots of ammo for the bosses.
Anyway, just done chapter 1-1 and 1-2

CHAPTER 1-1
Hit Ratio 87%
Enemies Killed 29
Number of times killed:0

CHAPTER 1-2
Hit Ratio 92%
Enemies Killed 33
Number of times killed:0

Good luck with the Mendez battle Dos.

EDIT:
CHAPTER 1-3
Hit Ratio 83%
Enemies Killed 33
Number of times killed: 1 DAMN DR. SALVADOR! O_____O

 

[greaterbadass]

Chapter 2-1 was a pain. several silly errors cost me a load of bullets. Almost at Mendez...
CHAPTER 2-1
Hit Ratio 90%
Enemies Killed 23
number of times killed: 2

 

[Romero]

On another note guys, I'm seriously contemplating attempting a handgun-only run on Professional. I'm almost certain I won't be able to do it, but I guess there's no harm in trying!

Lol you're going to suffer post traumatic stress disorder - if you even survive.

You, my friend, are crazy. I don't think I could do that on easy. Jeez, I don't think I could do your first challenge on easy, heh. Good luck!

For his own safety I think you have to ban him. :lol:

So I decided to just go headlong straight into the Handgun-only challenge. And I've got through Chapter 1-1 and 1-2 without dying. There are a couple little tricks I used in both chapters:

1. In the village, go to the house opposite the Shotgun house, shoot a couple holes in the door before you enter, then position yourself on the inside of the house. And then slash the Ganados through the hole as they gather outside the door- none of their attacks should connect if you get this right.

2. In Chapter 1-2, in the mountain fortress area, hurry to the permanent ladder directly across from the roof of the building where a dynamite Ganado resides. The dynamite Ganado will attempt to throw dynamite at Leon, but his throws don't go far enough and the sticks of dynamite fall at the base of the ladder. Which is extremely useful because there'll be about 45 Ganados down the bottom trying to climb up the ladder to reach you! Watch them blown up, one after another. Any Ganados that do start climbing the ladder can easily be slashed down with your knife.

1) In the village, do you push the furniture in front of the door? (I do that, and when the door breaks I lob a Hand Grenade.)

2) I understand this must be the ladder and platform in front of the shack with lockers inside and a lookout platform above the roof near the exit gate.
You have three routes you can use to get there, which is the safest one? Is it the path uphill to where the left half of the key emblem is, where you can jump down to a platform?

I never got to know what weapon the scout on the platform above the shack uses because I always snipe him from the Merchant area. And I use to climb up to his scout platform and slash the last wave of Ganados. I never thought of using another platform for this. Great tip!

I'm stuck at the Mendez battle lol. Just can't get the job done . It's like my 10th attempt now. I'm also quite short on ammo, so I need to land almost every shot. ah well... I should kill him... eventually.

Mendez is not that difficult if you exploit his lack of AI. When the battle begins and Mendez is transformed to his second stage, I turn around and climb the ladder behind me. When I get to the upper level, I run left and stop before I reach the other ladder. Here is a structure I can use as protection. Mendez will walk directly towards me and the structure will get in his way. He is not smart enough to walk around it. When the structure is between him and me and I stand close to the wall, he can not reach me. But I can reach him by shooting through the structure. Shoot at his plaga.
Also make use of the red barrel, lure him close to it and fire.

When Mendez is transformed to his third stage (no legs), I still prefer to be at the same position because here Hand Grenades can hurt him. And when he gets close I use the Shotgun and if I time it right the blast will make him fall down without hitting me.

 

[Dos]

Yeah that's the platform I mean in Chapter 1-2- so in other words, if you're walking towards the exit gate, the platform is on the right, up a ladder. And the safest route is definitely to go across the long bridge...going up the slope means you'll encounter many Ganados that spawn up there when you first enter the whole area- and you could get in trouble quite quickly doing that. You can take the route across the planks and past the oil barrel if you wish, but you'll run past more Ganados that way and risk damage. The route across the long bridge is the safest.

And another note, you'll need to jump down from the ladder a few times, not only to collect any loot from dead Ganados but also to spawn more enemies to come after you- if you just stay up there, they won't come. Just be careful of that dynamite Ganado when you jump down!

As for the village scene, no, I don't push the furniture in front of the door. Just shoot a couple holes in the door before you go in, position yourself on the other side- and slash away to your heart's content. But for goodness sake, don't spawn Dr Salvador by going into the shotgun house (or run up to the farm gate and activate that one) first- he can literally demolish that door with his chainsaw so keep him out of the battle!


As for Mendez, one thing that needs to be said is that he is one boss/area that is exponentially harder on Professional compared to Normal. A lot of bosses and enemies are only tougher on Pro because they have more HP- Mendez has more HP on Pro, but is also much more aggressive, his attacks are often one-hit KOs, and he is much, much quicker swinging on the bars when he's in his final form. Mendez on Normal isn't really too bad at all- he's never given me that many problems on Normal. On Professional, however? Completely different story.

 

[Romero]

As for Mendez, one thing that needs to be said is that he is one boss/area that is exponentially harder on Professional compared to Normal. A lot of bosses and enemies are only tougher on Pro because they have more HP- Mendez has more HP on Pro, but is also much more aggressive, his attacks are often one-hit KOs, and he is much, much quicker swinging on the bars when he's in his final form. Mendez on Normal isn't really too bad at all- he's never given me that many problems on Normal. On Professional, however? Completely different story.

I know what you mean, but what words is "KOs" representing?

Mendez may be much harder on Hard, but I guess the same tactics are useful. Use the environment (structure) to your advantage.

 

[Dos]

"KO" is short for knockout- so in the context of this game, a kill!

And yes, for Mendez you definitely use the same tactics in Proessional that you would use on Normal, and exploit the environment in the same way, but just with much greater caution, because if you make one mistake you'll almost certainly be dead- or KO'd!

 

[Dos]

So I'm done with the village! Chapter 2-3 for the most part wasn't too bad. I took the left path and killed the eleven or twelve Ganados prior to appearance of the Bellas, but then got out of there- as I said, NO WAY IN HELL do I fancy taking on two of those crazy women at once, on Professional, with an unupgraded Handgun! But I found 70 Handgun bullets prior to the sisters and used just six bullets in the whole area, so I was pleased with that. The El Gigante fight was simple enough- just make sure Ashley is well out of the way and you'll be okay. I completely knifed him to death- didn't use the Handgun once.

Next was the Gondola ride- I've heard of some people knifing the flying axes away, but that does require a lot of luck and I wasn't prepared to try that. So I just shot them off the Gondolas, and in the end didn't encounter any flying axes at all. And of course didn't forget about the two goons on the left either. I went into the caves to collect some loot and kill the three Ganados there. It was time to face possibly my biggest nemesis- Bitores Mendez.

Unsurprisingly, on Pro with only a Handgun the battle is rather a nightmare. Getting him to morph into his legless form was easy enough- that's when it really does become hard. He went into this kind of beserk mode that he only seems to do on Professional, where he swings violently quickly from one side of the barn to another while flailing his 'whip' about. So I spent a good ten minutes just running from end to end and climbing up and down ladders, trying to put space between Leon and Mendez, largely unsuccessfully. I got in the odd lucky shot when I could- and eventually, after close to twenty minutes of battle, he carked it. I'd actually managed to not take any damage too. And then I decided to take on and kill the guys on the road to the castle- which was done successfully enough. So, adios Pueblo! And hello castle. I'm still amazed Mendez didn't kill or even damage me!

Stats for Chapter 2-3
Accuracy: 96%
Kills: 42
Died: 0 times

Overall stats for the end of the village
Accuracy: 94%
Kills: 255
Died: 2 times


So bring on Chapter 3-1. How I really look forward to the water room scene with only an unupgraded Handgun...not.

 

[Romero]

The El Gigante fight was simple enough- just make sure Ashley is well out of the way and you'll be okay. I completely knifed him to death- didn't use the Handgun once.

How do you do it? I know it's possible, I've seen a video. But how can you learn his pattern of behavior so well that you can fight him with a knife and not becoming troll food? Amazing.

Next was the Gondola ride- I've heard of some people knifing the flying axes away, but that does require a lot of luck and I wasn't prepared to try that. So I just shot them off the Gondolas, and in the end didn't encounter any flying axes at all. And of course didn't forget about the two goons on the left either.

Was it hard to hit the two goons on the left with a handgun?

I'm still amazed Mendez didn't kill or even damage me!

Fantastic!

 

[Dos]

Patience, my friend- patience. Most of the time you can only get one or maybe two slashes in with El Gigante, when he's in recovery mode after attempting to attack Leon. So where patience comes in is disciplining yourself not to try for an extra slash here and there...because if you try that, then you may indeed just end up as troll food!

As for the two Ganados on the left of the gondola- well for starters, unless you're the luckiest person in the world, don't be a hero and try and shoot them with the Handgun at the top of the ride, before you hop on- the chances of hitting them from that distance are extremely remote! You'll just waste ammo. The trick is to wait until you are getting close to them (while of course keeping an incredibly close eye on the Ganados on the lifts going the other way), then quickly shoot them before turning your attention back to the right.

If you're trying for a knife-only run, then of course you'll need to let them hop on to the lift and then slash them off...which is EXTREMELY dangerous because if you get interrupted by a flying axe from the right, then the Ganado standing on the lift will most likely succeed in cutting the rope and the three of you will plunge to a rather horrible death...

And can I just say, the final ten minutes of the Mendez battle was absolutely nervewracking! He was in total beserk mode and I knew that it would only take one mistake from me and I'd be history- and that went for ten minutes more or less non-stop, and I never got a respite of more than a second, and even that didn't happen too often. Just maintaining that level of concentration for ten minutes is quite taxing.

 

[Romero]

And can I just say, the final ten minutes of the Mendez battle was absolutely nervewracking! He was in total beserk mode and I knew that it would only take one mistake from me and I'd be history- and that went for ten minutes more or less non-stop, and I never got a respite of more than a second, and even that didn't happen too often. Just maintaining that level of concentration for ten minutes is quite taxing.

How much 9mm ammo and grenades did it take to kill Bitores? I used powerful guns on Normal mode and it took much shooting to finish each of his stages.

Did you count your knife slashes on El Gigante? I think he has over 100 HP on Normal.

 

[Dos]

No grenades- I'm not using grenades at all in this run so it was just Handgun bullets. It took, I think, about 80 shots with the Handgun to his spine (hitting him there does double damage apparently) to get his legs to detach, and then I think around another 70 with the Handgun to his second form for him to die- so he probably had only about 230HP to tell the truth, but it's the awkwardness of the fight that makes it so hard. I also did myself no favours by having a 100% accuracy rate, and hadn't taken any hits, for all of Chapter 2-3 prior to Mendez. So the game probably made him tougher- that beserk mode he went into doesn't seem to happen too often, even in Professional mode.

And I think it took me almost 250 slashes to finish El Gigante- I'm pretty sure that on Gamecube each knife slash ordinarily does only 0.625 damage, so 0.625x250= 157, which sounds about right in terms of the HP it would have in Professional.

 

[tequila]

Wow I can only imagine the patience you must have. I'm a hot headed person sometimes, and going on pro with just a handgun and knife? Oh may lord have mercy! It's going to be one hell of a day if I ever do a run on pro the way you are doing it. Great updates! Can't wait for more!

Btw, would you use another weapon, as a substitute for boss battles or against stronger enemies as you procees through the game? Handgun bullets waste quite fast and sometimes are a bit difficult to conserve, unless you just run past them. There are going to be parts of the game where the rifle would be requiered as well.

 

[Dos]

Nah...as ridiculously hard as it makes it, I'm sticking to the Handgun throughout, and nothing else. No upgrades, no other weapons (other than the knife of course)...no grenades. I can still do things like exploit the environment (for example shooting gas barrels/oil lamps) to help my cause. It sure does make some scenes nightmarishly hard though- like the one at the end of Chapter 3-1!


So in other news...I'm finished Chapter 3-1. The catapults bit at the start went fine, although as with the last run, trying to shoot the final catapult zealot from such a large distance without a rifle is nightmarishly hard- but luckily with my third shot I hit him- and those catapult zealots are all one-shot kills. The next bit was mildly annoying because three of the ten zealots (including the red zealot) sprouted a Plaga, but I was able to finish them with knife slashes- just a note, if you do want to try knifing the type 2 Plagas, back away or run forward quickly when it's getting ready to try biting your head off.

The next bit, obtaining the Castle gate key, is not easy without a Shotgun because this is where you first encounter Shield zealots. But I got through it. The Garrador is a total piece of cake- abuse the bells. I only used four handgun bullets on him, the rest was knifing.

Then, quite possibly the most horrible scene (for me at least) in the whole game- the damned Water Room. In the Gamecube version, when you enter the room, you'll be confronted by (on professional, in my version at least):

2 Shield zealots charging down the centre straight at you
2 Zealots coming on the left, one with a mace, the other with a shield
2 zealots coming on the right, one with a mace, the other wite a shield
2 crossbow zealots high above on the balconies shooting at you
1 red zealot in the centre who hangs back.

When the two from the left and two from the right are dead, they'll be replaced by another four- two from each side door. Two of these will be shield zealots, and the other two usually unarmed. As you move deeper into the room, you'll trigger the appearance of at least six more zealots from the bottom level- and two of those will have a shield. Once you activate the pressure pads in the bottom room, you'll trigger the appearance of about fifteen more zealots, three of which will jump from the ceiling hole- and four or five of those fifteen will be shield zealots. If you can make it out of that, and lower the stairs, then five scythe zealots, one of them a red zealot, will charge you. And if you can negotiate that, and get Ashley onto the very top level to operate the cranks, then about ten zealots will try and abduct her- and a similar number, three or four of them with shields, will do their best to murder Leon at the same time.

And I haven't even mentioned that during the whole scene you'll encounter at least ten who turn Plaga!



Soooo...clearly, it doesn't take a genius to see that, on Professional with only an unupgraded Handgun, this scene is almost impossibly hard. Ever fancied trying to take out about twenty shield Zealots with an unupgraded Handgun? Not to mention the countless number of other zealots. It is enough to send the sanest man crazy with frustration.

Yet somehow, I did it. I died the first time, and extremely quickly too. I succeeded in killing the two shield zealots coming down the centre, but then got sandwiched between the four bastards coming from the two sides- and then got finished off by a crossbow bolt from the archers. It happened so quickly- I'd barely even been in the room thirty seconds.

So, on my next try, I tried running, placing the odd stunning head shot along the way to get the pursuers off my path temporarily, down to the bottom level and into the centre room. I took one hit along the way- from those extremely bothersome crossbow archers- but Ashley and I both made it in. This gives you more of a fighting chance, because you can now use the doorway as a choke point. I did not activate the pressure pads until all of the original wave (minus the crossbow archers) had been dealt with, because this spawns that next wave of fifteen and if you spawn them early you soon have a congregation of 25-30 zealots outside the door.

So, using the door, I was able to ward off all of the original crowd, then spawned the new ones by using the pressure pads. The biggest concern here is the three that jump in behind you- they can really take you by surprise if you're standing by the door and then suddenly you get smashed from behind- or they decide to attack Ashley. So I watched for them, dealt with them as they dropped, placed knife/kick or headshot/kick combos on anyone who was able to enter the room while I was distracted, and eventually- they stopped coming. Then it was time to drop the stairs- did that fine- and then deal with the five scythe zealots- which also went okay. Before I'd dropped the stairs, I'd gone and finally got rid of the nasty crossbow zealots too.

And so finally to the last stage of this b**ch of a scene...basically, this time, I stayed mobile, dealt with Leon's attackers head on rather that let them come up to me, and let the zealots abduct Ashley and only shot their legs out when they started to get dangerously close to the exits. And then, after an eternity it seemed, she'd turned both cranks and I was at the end. But then something possessed me to let Ashley's pursuers jump down and finish them off rather than just getting out of there- they're all unarmed so there isn't a huge amount of danger in doing this- as long as Leon's attackers have all been dealt with. And finally, after doing that, I was able to get out of there and finish the chapter. Phew. I'm out of breath!

For anyone ever contemplating a knife-only Pro run, if you make it this far, I almost guarantee this chapter will be the end of you...

After that, Mendez and even the cabin fight at the end of Chapter 2-2 seem like a total walk in the park in comparison.

Stats
Chapter 3-1
Accuracy: 89%
Kills: 96 (the most I've ever killed in 3-1)
Died: 1 time


Absurdly, on my last no merchant challenge (so at this stage of the game, I had a Shotgun and grenades to compliment the Handgun), I died, or Ashley died, four times in Chapter 3-1. So far I've died three times on this playthrough, and killed 351 enemies- at the same time of the last challenge, I'd only killed 297 and had been killed or had game over eight times. Go figure.

So, Chapter 3-2 here I come. Touch wood the next three chapters should be okay, a few tough scenes in 3-2 no doubt, but not a patch on the hell of the Water Room. The next nigh impossible scene now is not until the Chapter 4-1 Armaduras- trying to take them out in Professional without a Shotgun, grenades and Butterfly sound like fun?? Sh1t. :wacko:

 

[Dos]

I'm done with Chapter 3-2, and got through without major incident. The sewer Novistadors were quite bothersome, and I only killed five of them- I just ran away from the rest because Handgun ammo in this area is quite limited anyway. I decided to kill the zealots in the congregation (apart from the red zealot- he got away), even though I know they all only drop a spinel- maybe I just felt like some zealot savaging after the hell of 3-1! So dealt with all them by jumping down into the middle of them and then quickly climbing the ladder then just knifed all the pursuers who came up the ladder- a totally foolproof method. The next two rooms went okay too- I got out of the room with the red zealot with no problem at all- like last time- the red zealot failed to even get to the chain gun before I finished him off.

The next room can be nasty if you aren't prepared- I got decapitated here by a scythe zealot on the last no merchant playthrough, in fact. Not this time, though. I just ran into the side door and used that as a chokepoint- and finished off all the scythe zealots that way. Once all the scythe zealots were gone, I had to take out the many crossbow zealots- I took a couple hits doing so, and three of them sprouted Plagas, but in the end I succeeded. Then it was time to tackle the Colmillo maze- potentially a very awkward area without a Shotgun because the Handgun has little effect on the Colmillos, much like the Novistadors really. The key here with only a Handgun is a ready willingness to withdraw quickly and get a better position- the Handgun becomes next to useless once the Colmillos go into throat-lunge mode, which they do with frightening regularity and viciousness on Professional mode. It was almost inevitable that I took a few hits here without the aid of a Shotgun here- and I did. But like last time, I managed to shake the dogs off and finish them off in time- and eventually got out of there successfully. So long, 3-2.

Chapter 3-3 is next. On my last no merchant run, this was the easiest chapter in the run, but it could be very different this time- trying to escape the Garrador cage without a Shotgun to blast the lock off, and without grenades to kill and stun the surrounding zealots, could be quite a challenge.

Anyway...

Chapter 3-2

Accuracy: 98%
Kills: 57
Died: 0 times



Overall stats so far
Accuracy: 93%
Kills: 408
Died: 3 times
Time: 4hrs 41 mins 17 sec

 

[Romero]

No grenades- I'm not using grenades at all in this run so it was just Handgun bullets. It took, I think, about 80 shots with the Handgun to his spine (hitting him there does double damage apparently) to get his legs to detach, and then I think around another 70 with the Handgun to his second form for him to die- so he probably had only about 230HP to tell the truth, but it's the awkwardness of the fight that makes it so hard. I also did myself no favours by having a 100% accuracy rate, and hadn't taken any hits, for all of Chapter 2-3 prior to Mendez. So the game probably made him tougher- that beserk mode he went into doesn't seem to happen too often, even in Professional mode.

And I think it took me almost 250 slashes to finish El Gigante- I'm pretty sure that on Gamecube each knife slash ordinarily does only 0.625 damage, so 0.625x250= 157, which sounds about right in terms of the HP it would have in Professional.

About Mendez' spine - I guess it counts as a part of the plaga? His extra set of "arms" are also a vulnerable spot and that's what I usually try to hit when I shoot him from the second floor.

Almost unbelievable that you got away with no wounds in a battle that long.

0.625 is not much for the knife. I think the PS2 knife is twice as powerful. I've tried to calculate its power and I get different results. I'm not sure.





Chapter 3-1 Hall of Water:

For anyone ever contemplating a knife-only Pro run, if you make it this far, I almost guarantee this chapter will be the end of you...

Players that don't use firearms allows themselves to use knife and grenades. It's impossible to complete the game with only a knife. The water room and when you free Ashley a bit later are two examples.
Some players compete in using as few bullets as possible, they will for the most part use only the knife but sometimes they have to draw a gun.





3-2, The chain gun room:

The next two rooms went okay too- I got out of the room with the red zealot with no problem at all- like last time- the red zealot failed to even get to the chain gun before I finished him off.

How did you catch up with the Leader Zealot before he got to the chain gun? It's easy with a powerful weapon but you are using a peashooter.

The next room can be nasty if you aren't prepared- I got decapitated here by a scythe zealot on the last no merchant playthrough, in fact. Not this time, though. I just ran into the side door and used that as a chokepoint- and finished off all the scythe zealots that way. Once all the scythe zealots were gone, I had to take out the many crossbow zealots- I took a couple hits doing so, and three of them sprouted Plagas, but in the end I succeeded. Then it was time to tackle the Colmillo maze- potentially a very awkward area without a Shotgun because the Handgun has little effect on the Colmillos, much like the Novistadors really. The key here with only a Handgun is a ready willingness to withdraw quickly and get a better position- the Handgun becomes next to useless once the Colmillos go into throat-lunge mode, which they do with frightening regularity and viciousness on Professional mode. It was almost inevitable that I took a few hits here without the aid of a Shotgun here- and I did. But like last time, I managed to shake the dogs off and finish them off in time- and eventually got out of there successfully. So long, 3-2.

The last part of The Gallery (where you meet Salazar) and The Garden must have drained alot of ammo? How much ammo do you have?

 

[Dos]

Yeah, about knife-only runs, I'm pretty sure I'm right in saying that the first time you absolutely, definitely need a Handgun is Chapter 2-1- I'm not sure how else you would break the chains holding the crates at the waterfall! Leon's knife is a pretty handy tool but I doubt it creates enough wind to break those chains And yeah, some scenes you need more 'advanced' enemy control, so to speak, and a knife alone just cannot deliver that.

About the gallery and the red zealot, try and headshot him from a distance. When he stumbles, run forward towards him. When he's recovered, give him another round or two in the head. This should stall him enough that you can catch up to him before he gets through that door, and then it's simple.

I did use a little more ammo than is ideal in the second part of the gallery and then in the Colmillo maze, but my ammo supplies are still pretty healthy- my gun is fully loaded and apart from that I have 739 bullets as of the start of Chapter 3-3.