The Mercenaries mode for Resident Evil Village is a single-player post-campaign challenge made up of eight stages. In order to complete everything the mode has to offer, you need to achieve SS Rank or higher on every stage.

How to improve your score to earn an SS Rank in Resident Evil Village: The Mercenaries

From what we've seen so far, persistence in replaying stages may be the key to improving your scores in The Mercenaries.

However, there are a few helpful tips you can bear in mind that should add a few precious points when it comes to totting up your rank.

• Score will increase based on how much Lei you have at the end of a round. Therefore, sell anything you don't need to The Duke (i.e. ammo for weapons you don't intend to use) and be sure to loot the enemies you kill. There are no treasures in this mode, but higher-tier enemies drop more Lei.
• Related to the above, if you can see blue and yellow orbs in the area, collect them if you can before you take on any enemies. This will add time to the stage and give you better abilities to fight with.
• Combos are very valuable. While in the main game you might want to avoid letting yourself get swamped by enemies, in Mercenaries mode it can actually work in your favour. Avoid enemies until there are a few close together, then take them all out quickly to add to your combo and therefore your score.
• Dying will not cause your score to reset, so don't give up if you get killed. In fact, there's no real penalty for death in Village's Mercenaries mode.

Resident Evil Village: The Mercenaries — Rank Requirements

The table below gives the number of points you need to earn to achieve each rank on every stage.

Please note that point requirements for achieving a C Rank are not given. This is because C is the lowest rank attainable and unlocks at a score of zero or higher.

We're also waiting for confirmation on how many points you need to unlock SSS mode on every stage. However, since SS is the highest requirement to unlock everything in the mode, getting SS Rank is the thing to focus on if you're looking to beat The Mercenaries.

Resident Evil Village: The Mercenaries — Rewards list

When you achieve a new rank on one of the Mercenaries stages, you'll regularly unlock new rewards.

The two main rewards you'll receive are Lei — which you can use to fund more and better gear on future runs — and new stage unlocks.

How to unlock the LZ Answerer in Resident Evil Village: The Mercenaries

Beating all eight Mercenaries stages with an SS Rank or higher unlocks a unique weapon: the LZ Answerer.

Once unlocked, you can get access to this weapon in-game by first buying it at the Extra Content Shop (for a cool 70,000 CP). It will then be available to purchase from The Duke at 200 Lei. However, it should be noted that the LZ Answerer is only available in the main campaign, despite being unlocked via Mercenaries mode.

This melee weapon is a rather obvious reference to Star Wars lightsabres. It's not terribly powerful, but it's not entirely a joke weapon either. In particular, changing the beam colour to green will cause Ethan to recover health every time he lands a hit on an enemy, which is a rather useful (and unique) leech ability.

How to earn CP from Challenges in Resident Evil Village: Mercenaries

Unfortunately, you don't earn CP to spend at the Extra Content Shop with every run of Mercenaries.

However, there are ten in-game challenges that can earn you a sizeable chunk of CP to spend. Like trophies/achievements, you can only collect rewards for these feats once.

For more on The Mercenaries in Resident Evil Village, see our guide to all 22 unique abilities and their effects in the mode.

To unlock The Mercenaries mode, you need to have completed Resident Evil Village's main campaign, so check out Part 1 of our guide to get started.