Resident Evil Requiem: 10 Tips and Tricks When Playing as Grace

Fans have been eagerly waiting for Resident Evil Requiem since it was announced, and now that it's finally here, people are diving in at record rates to play. Sure, it's because Leon is hot, but hey, so long as it gets new fans into Resident Evil.

In Requiem, you play as two different characters, alternating between the two of them: Leon S. Kennedy, the classic legacy character we all know and love, and Grace Ashcroft, our new (and hopefully recurring) protagonist, tethered to a legacy character (her mother, Alyssa), while also being her own person.

Playing as Grace provides you with the typical survival horror experience, but because of that, it's also significantly harder than Leon's gameplay (which is meant to be a power trip). However, it doesn't have to stay overly difficult if you keep a few things in mind.

As someone who has beaten the game on several different modes (including within four hours, without healing, without crafting, and other challenges), there are a few things that will help your gameplay as Grace.

10 Utilize Distance

Isolate Enemies if You Have to

As Grace, you're often introduced to swarms of enemies at once, especially as you get closer to the end, when certain enemies are a lot more sensitive to sound. Instead of getting their attention with a gunshot, you can get a single enemy's attention and then slowly lead them away from the pack, where you can kill them.

This is a classic tactic that's used in video games, especially when a player is dealing with a horde. It's been used in all kinds of survival horror settings, or just in other games that hike up the challenge (such as Souls games). It is especially handy on Insanity difficulty, where enemies are practically bullet sponges and will not die quickly.

This way, if you're stuck with a particularly tough enemy for a little while, you at least don't have all of its friends coming to ruin your day.

Just keep in mind, zombies will stop following you after a certain point (they're coded to be within a particular area and refuse to leave it), so once you see them turn around and start to leave, that's when you can really open fire.

9 Be Creative with Problem-Solving

Think Outside the (Puzzle) Box

Playing as Grace requires you to think fast and on your feet, adapting quickly to situations that just as quickly will sour and turn against you. There is no stronger example of this than trying to get around Rhodes Hill Care Center for the first time, because you have to go through a linear path that's fully lined with monsters.

But it doesn't have to be this way if you do a little bit of thinking. For example, in the hallway between the Kitchen and the Dining Room (where the bathroom with the big tub of blood is), there's a zombie that's insistent on turning off all the lights. He will walk to any light switch that's flipped on just to turn it off, and will stay there to make sure it stays that way.

Because of that, you're able to lead the zombie to one end of the hallway, turn the light on, wait for him to make his way down, then sneak around as he's turning off the light. This clears the area a little bit for you without compromising your resources, and it keeps this zombie preoccupied for a while.

It doesn't have to be just within these situations where you can think outside the box, either. There are a few different ways you can solve the Moon Puzzle Box, including a secret, third method that the game didn't really consider players to think of.

8 Read Everything

Sometimes There's a Bonus

There are so many different Files that you have to collect and read in this game, it's practically dizzying — and yet, it's incredibly important that you read them anyway. Some of these files can give you hints of things you can do or things to expect, but other files will give you the answer that you were looking for.

Some documents will have the codes for the various safes that you'll find throughout the game, and you'll learn these codes if you read every file you find. This way, you're able to head to those safes and reap the (much-needed) rewards of your survival.

Not even that, but certain documents will detail how you can craft certain items that would absolutely tip the scales of balance into your favor. There are many things you can read that will provide you with all kinds of useful information, so don't ignore them just because they may seem like lore-building.

Just get in the habit of interacting with a document as soon as you see one, and you'll never know the kind of perks you'll unlock this way.

7 Manage Your Inventory Wisely

Hip Pouches Will Save the Day

Managing your inventory has always been a crucial component of the Resident Evil games, dating all the way back to the first entry in the series. Requiem is no exception, with Grace having an incredibly limited amount of space to carry things.

You need to keep track of your inventory frequently, because this game throws so much at you that it's so easy to fill up your slots; unless you're comfortable with backtracking to The Box every time your inventory is full, it's something to keep on your radar. Sure, you can craft or combine herbs to give yourself a little wiggle room, but you'll need some guaranteed free space.

Thankfully, there are Hip Pouches that expand your inventory space and will make it significantly easier to walk around without over-filling your pockets. Don't get me wrong, I still had to run to The Box, but these visits were significantly fewer and farther in between.

6 Pick Your Battles

If All Else Fails, Sneak or Run

If you played the OG Resident Evil games as I did, it was pretty easy to completely clear out a room so that you could freely run around and explore, looting everything in your path. However, you can't really do that as Grace — at least, you can't at the start while you're under-prepared.

In this game, the zombies are significantly stronger than in previous games, so Grace isn't able to walk through like she's Doom Guy. You can still clear rooms, but it takes more time, and several visits to the location after you've looted somewhere else.

So basically, while you're running around for the first time, you're going to have to pick and choose your battles, opting to sneak around or just outright run away if you're outnumbered or overpowered. Several items help you with this (such as empty bottles you can throw to distract enemies), so you don't need to lead with your gun.

As you collect more bullets and more materials, you can easily go back and clear the room out; you'd better hope that they don't turn into a Blister Head the next time you run past.

5 Carry a Charm

Or Two ... or Nine

If you ordered the Deluxe Edition of the game, you're able to get some charms that you can carry around that will help you with gameplay, and the different types of charms will help with different things, ranging from defense to offense and everything in between. You still get charms in the main game, but they'll be different ones, and only after doing specific things (such as defeating Chunk as Grace).

So once you get your hands on a charm, equip it. They take up a slot in your inventory, but it's well worth it if it prevents you from taking fatal damage or prolongs your makeshift knives.

You can carry around as many charms as you want, so long as you have the inventory space for them — I would recommend no more than two charms, especially since your inventory management is a crucial priority.

They're meant to help players, so let these charms help you.

4 Look Everywhere, Loot Everything

Leon Has His Own Loot

While Grace and Leon share loot, Leon actually doesn't spend too much time in Grace's sections and has access to his own loot in the wardrobes with warped wood. Because of this, you're free to go crazy while playing as Grace.

So while you're walking around literally anywhere as Grace, assume that Leon will have no use for these things, and pick them up for yourself. The key is actually paying attention to your surroundings, so that you can even find the loot you can pick up — and in true Resident Evil fashion, there is a lot that you're able to pick up.

Plus, the white vases that you see blend in seamlessly with the environment are breakable, which holds a lot more for you to store in The Box.

3 Only Use Requiem in Emergencies

Especially with Limited Bullets

You get Requiem, Leon's powerful revolver, very early on while playing as Grace, but you only have one bullet. As you progress, you can potentially find more bullets, or you can get lockpicks that you can use to open locked drawers and get rare metal, which can be crafted into more bullets. Even still, bullets are few and far between, and even fewer and further for Requiem.

Because of this, it's very important that you save Requiem for emergencies only — and not just for any emergency, either, since most emergencies can be taken care of with a pistol. Instead, the emergencies should be for the massive monsters roaming around.

And even then, it depends on the difficulty you're playing, since some enemies take several hits from Requiem before they're downed (such as Chunk). But on easier difficulties, enemies like The Butcher/The Chef in the Kitchen can be downed with a single bullet (so long as you don't miss).

So when you get Requiem, just keep it on the back burner; you won't know when you're actually going to need it.

2 Save Your Scraps

Don't Lock Out a Potential Life-Saver

The introduction of Infected Blood Crafting in this game was one of the cooler approaches to crafting, especially with how incredibly versatile it is to your needs. Seriously, if you need anything, you can craft it, so long as you have blood and some Scraps.

Because of this, it can be incredibly tempting to use Scraps as soon as you find them, because if you need to make something else in a bind, you're able. If you're out, though, you can easily screw yourself over with a lack of resources or even the ability to do something about it. Don't give in to the temptations.

I recommend keeping some Scraps in The Box, especially if you don't have the room to keep one on your person. This way, if you're in a pinch and need to craft something other than bullets, you're easily able to do so.

This is especially true when you get to ARK. Keep your empty bottles, too.

1 Save Your Blood Bags

Don't Be Reckless with Supplies

Perhaps the most crucial thing to remember is to save your blood bags. When you are able to start crafting with blood, you'll start seeing blood bags with various amounts of blood being offered as a type of loot — put them right in The Box.

You get a lot of blood very easily throughout the game, especially if you kill every zombie in your path, not to mention the various buckets and puddles you can pull from. However, there are several moments between the bulk of Rhodes Hill and ARK where blood starts to become scarce, especially if you've already been through the area and flown through your Scraps.

If you kept holding onto your blood bags as you'd get them, you wouldn't have to worry so much about the lack of blood in the area. If you aren't able to find any around, you can just walk to The Box where you (hopefully) kept them, and it will save you in a pinch.

I'm just saying, I'm able to get through the whole game with every blood bag I collected still in The Box, solely using the blood that is provided by the area, so it truly should be saved for emergencies.