The eight base stages of the arcade mode, from The Village to The Mad Village II: an S rank on each for Legendary Cowboy, with Combo King on the way.
The Mercenaries is a score-attack mode of eight ranked stages. It opens once you have bought it in the Extra Content Shop after your first credits; from then on it is started from the main menu under Bonuses, The Mercenaries. Only The Village is open at first, and each stage opens the next. Two trophies live here: Combo King for a chain of 30 kills and Legendary Cowboy for an S rank on every stage. Stages can be replayed from the menu as often as you like and the best rank is kept, so nothing in this section can be missed. The rows follow the unlock order.
How a stage scores
A stage is a run of areas. In each one, kill the required number of enemies to make the goal appear, then reach it; time left on the clock and the Lei you carry both add to the score. You shop at the Duke before the first area and between areas, and the starting room's ammo refills after each area. Yellow orbs add 30 seconds; blue orbs let you pick one of three abilities that lasts for the rest of the stage. Kills close together build a combo that adds time and points, and it starts with your first kill, so take nearby orbs before firing. If you die, the score reached so far is still ranked: an S banked early stays banked.
Plan for the four stage I runs
Sell the shotgun shells and most of the handgun ammo to the Duke, buy one strong gun and spend your Lei upgrading it; the F2 Rifle is the usual pick, the SYG-12 shotgun another. Buy a capacity upgrade before you reload, because it refills the magazine. Selling what you won't use helps the score too, since Lei in hand counts, though the Duke sells items one at a time. On each of these four stages a first B adds 5,000 Lei to your starting money, so a B run before the S attempts pays off.
Which character
Every stage is planned with Ethan. With the Winters' Expansion installed, Chris Redfield can also be picked and is much stronger, but it is not confirmed that ranks earned with him count for Legendary Cowboy.
The eight base stages: what opens each one and the points for S and SS. A sheet in the Duke's room shows the targets of the stage you are on.
Stage
Opens with
S
SS
The Village
open from the start
630,000
756,000
The Castle
A on The Village
1,470,000
1,764,000
The Factory
A on The Castle
1,080,000
1,296,000
The Mad Village
A on The Factory
1,485,000
1,782,000
The Village II
A on The Mad Village
516,000
650,000
The Castle II
B on The Village II
851,000
1,073,000
The Factory II
B on The Castle II
545,000
690,000
The Mad Village II
B on The Factory II
658,000
796,000
The Village: S RankQuest step
Location
The Mercenaries · The Village – From the main menu, choose Bonuses, The Mercenaries, then The Village, the only stage open at first. It has three areas. Reach 630,000 points; with the S, the Magic Magazine ability is in the blue-orb draws.
The Mercenaries · The Village – It pops when the combo counter reaches 30, on any stage: keep each kill close behind the last. The chains an S on The Village takes usually get you there along the way; if not, replay the stage until one does.
The Mercenaries · The Castle – Opens with an A on The Village. Four areas; reach 1,470,000 points. With the S, the Execution ability is in the blue-orb draws.
The Mercenaries · The Factory – Opens with an A on The Castle. Two areas; reach 1,080,000 points. With the S, the Lightning Speed ability is in the blue-orb draws.
The Mad Village: S RankHidden spoiler – activate to revealQuest stepMinor spoiler
Location
The Mercenaries · The Mad Village – Opens with an A on The Factory. Reach 1,485,000 points. The last area ends with a boss, so keep shotgun shells back for it instead of selling them all. With the S, the Masamune ability is in the blue-orb draws.
The II stages use the same maps and enemy spawns as stage I, but you start in a different room with a different kit, and Ethan's Duke sells no shotgun or sniper rifle. He does stock the GM 79 launcher, the Wolfsbane magnum, flashbangs, explosive rounds, mines and pipe bombs. Two plans work. Either upgrade the handgun, keep the Wolfsbane for big enemies and use mines and pipe bombs on armoured ones; or sell the handgun, carry the GM 79 and flashbangs, and fight with the knife once a blue orb offers Masamune (with Blade Master if it comes), restarting until an orb near the start offers it. Lycans with caged heads take two explosive rounds before they go down, and repeated flashes keep the daughters in check.
The Village II: S RankQuest step
Location
The Mercenaries · The Village II – Opens with an A on The Mad Village. Same map as The Village, three areas; reach 516,000 points with one of the II-stage plans above.
The Mercenaries · The Factory II – Opens with a B on The Castle II. Two areas; reach 545,000 points. A long combo through the first area can bank the S before the harder second one, and dying after that keeps it.
The Mercenaries · The Mad Village II – Opens with a B on The Factory II. Reach 658,000 points. As on The Factory II, aim to bank the S with long combos in the first two areas, before the hard final stretch; a death afterwards still counts the score.
The Mercenaries · The Mad Village II – It pops once all eight base stages hold an S or better, here with The Mad Village II. With the Winters' Expansion installed it isn't settled whether the two Bloody stages are part of "every stage"; if it hasn't popped after the eighth S, the S ranks on The Bloody Village and The Bloody River in the Additional Orders section cover that reading.
The Mercenaries – Replay each base stage until it holds an SS; the SS scores are in the table at the top of this section. The same plans work, with longer combos and more Lei held at the end.
Extra Content Shop – From the main menu, Bonuses, Extra Content Shop: it costs 70,000 CP. After buying it, the Duke stocks it in the story for a small amount of Lei. It can't be used in The Mercenaries. It is a strong pick for a knife-only run.