I’m on my third playthrough of Resident Evil 4 Remake. And even though I’m currently playing it on Professional mode—the highest difficulty setting—it might as well be on Easy mode thanks to my infinite Rocket Launcher, a weapon that kills nearly every enemy in a single, explosive shot.
One cannot acquire the Infinite Rocket Launcher on a first playthrough. It only unlocks after you beat the game once (on any difficulty), and even then, it costs 2 million pesetas—a 100 percent increase from the original game.
And lest you think all the prices have proportionally increased from original to remake, they have not; in fact, some of the prices have gone down. With an in-game discount, the Broken Butterfly magnum pistol costs 29,400 pesetas, down from 38,000 pesetas in the original.
So after completing my first playthrough on Assisted Mode, I started my second run on Hardcore with the intent of acquiring the Infinite Rocket Launcher. And I quickly realized I should have planned ahead better.
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For starters, I had nowhere near 2 million pesetas—I used them all on Tune-Ups in my first playthrough. I sold all my gems and Treasures right before my final battle against Lord Saddler so I would have the best weapons possible. And even though I retained these upgraded guns from my prior playthrough, I had no liquid cash on hand to give myself a head start.
What could I do to earn 2 million pesetas? I ended up doing several things, and I was able to buy the Infinite Rocket Launcher near the end of Chapter 10 of my second playthrough. Here’s how I—an average player with inconsistent aim—managed it, and how you can too.
Treasure Hunt
The most obvious way to earn pesetas is to collect them, by searching the breakable crates (conveniently painted yellow) and killing enemies. But this is slow, incremental progress; you can speed things up by finding Treasure.
The Merchant offers Treasure maps, which you acquire by trading in Spinels—unique, pink jewels that you largely earn by fulfilling side tasks. Destroying five Blue Medallions in the farm, for example, earns three Spinels. The first Treasure map costs a single Spinel, and it shows the locations of all the Treasures in the Village area of the game—39 locations in all. They range from simple Gems, like Rubies, Emeralds, and Diamonds, to more idiosyncratic antiques like a Butterfly Lamp.
You should maximize each Treasure’s worth before you sell it. For example, there are two Treasures in the village area—Pearl Pendants—that are hanging over pools of fetid water. If you try and shoot them down without thinking, they’ll land in the water, which depreciates their value by thousands of pesetas. Thus: For the Treasure dangling on the windmill, shoot it down when it rotates away from the water.
And for the Treasure hanging over the well, shoot the wooden stick that props the well open. That way, when you shoot the Treasure down, it lands on the well cover instead of in the water.
Both of these Treasures have static sell prices, but there are other Treasures you can enhance above their original value. Take for instance, the Ornate Necklace. It sells, as is, for 11,000 pesetas. But you’ll also notice that there are four recesses in the Necklace. If you fill these recesses with Gems, that will increase the Treasure’s value.
Do you see the button prompt under the Gems that says “Gem Bonuses?” That will take you to a handy chart that explains how different permutations will maximize a Treasure’s value.
That’s how I was able to sell the Ornate Necklace for over 51,200 pesetas. It’s also how an Elegant Crown, inlaid with five of the same Gem, increased its value from 19,000 pesetas to 98,800 pesetas. But this also requires delayed gratification. The Gem drops are few and far between, often requiring you to defeat rare, difficult enemies to acquire them. And so, to maximize the Treasures’ worth, you must wait to sell them, sometimes multiple hours after first acquiring them.
This is easier said than done, especially if you’re playing a harder difficulty on your second playthrough. I probably could have grinded out an Infinite Rocket Launcher much quicker by replaying Assist Mode again, this time with my end-game weapons. But where’s the fun in that? So I decided to play Hardcore mode for my second playthrough, And the difficulty curve was steep enough that I found myself buying additional Weapons Tune-ups with the money I was supposed to be saving. I had put myself in a catch-22: By spending money, I was putting my ultimate goal further out of reach. But if I didn’t spend the money, I couldn’t progress the story. And so I spent, and I fell short of 2 million pesetas. I needed to do more.
Shooting Gallery
At a handful of the Merchant locations, you can partake in a shooting gallery mini-game. You shoot at wooden cutouts of pirates that pop up like targets at a carnival, and depending on the score you get and the bullseyes you hit, you can earn silver and golden tokens.
You insert these tokens into a gumball machine, which dispenses keychain Charms. You can clip up to three of these Charms to your briefcase, and each one provides some sort of small benefit. But there are four Charms that are specifically helpful for acquiring the Infinite Rocket Launcher because they allow you to sell your supplies for higher value:
- Rhinoceros Beetle: +100 percent recovery item resale value.
- Leon w/ Rocket Launcher: 20 percent off the Rocket Launcher.
- Leon w/ Shotgun: +40 percent ammo resale value.
- Luis Sera: +20 percent weapon resale value.
The gumball machine is not as random as it appears; players have mapped out which permutations of gold and silver tokens lead to which Charms.
That “20 percent off the Rocket Launcher” applies to both the regular Rocket Launcher and the Infinite Rocket Launcher. And with it, you can now buy the Infinite Rocket Launcher for 1.6 million pesetas instead of 2 million —a 400,000 discount!
Selling Weapons
And lastly, if you’re still short on cash, you might consider selling your upgraded weapons back to the Merchant. A fully upgraded weapon can be worth over 250,000 pesetas. And it’s not like you’ll need your TMP or your Shotgun once you have an Infinite Rocket Launcher.
However, you might want to hold onto your handgun or knife; I did not, and I came to regret that decision. There are specific times, particularly in tight corridors, when firing a rocket launcher will likely kill you along with your enemy. A more surgical tool will make these close encounters easier.
At any rate, selling my remaining weapons pushed me over the line; I earned just under 2 million pesetas before the end of Chapter 10, and I immediately purchased the Infinite Rocket Launcher at my first opportunity.
Glorious Carnage
So was it worth it? Oh yes. It was so worth it. Everything melts to this weapon, and it feels liberating after struggling for so long.
I’m playing Resident Evil 4 Remake on the PlayStation5, and the DualSense controller provides wonderful haptic feedback for the Rocket Launcher—both the kickback when you fire it and the vibration when the rocket reaches its target and explodes.
I killed El Gigante with one hit. I killed two El Gigantes with two hits. I launched rocket after rocket into the opening village fight, and I cleared the entire encounter without even moving. The Regenerators, once so terrifying, burst with a sickening, satisfying squelch.
The Infinite Rocket Launcher also allows you to skip entire sections of the game. The developers anticipated players’ speedrunning attempts, and they created some clever shortcuts for resourceful players to discover.
In the tunnels beneath the castle, you no longer need to light dynamite to open a path; you can use a single rocket to clear the path yourself. You can disable the fire-breathing Salazar statue with a single shot. In the final area, you can destroy the anti-aircraft gun without climbing to reach the high ground. And much more will no doubt be discovered as players continue to optimize the quickest possible run.
The Easy Way
An addendum: It’s worth noting that Resident Evil 4 players have discovered an exploit to farm gold between the first and second playthroughs. In Assisted Mode, you can buy an unlimited number of First Aid Sprays. One First Aid Spray costs 3,000 pesetas and has a resale value of 2,500 pesetas— a net loss of 500 pesetas. However, if you start your second playthrough on Hardcore or Professional mode, the resale value for the First Aid Spray jumps to 5,000 pesetas. If you have the Rhinoceros Beetle Charm, it has a resale value of 10,000 pesetas, a more-than-tripled increase from its purchase price.
So you can load up on First Aid Sprays in Assisted Mode, store them, beat the game, unstore them, and then resell the First Aid Sprays in Hardcore or Professional Mode for profit. Assuming Capcom doesn’t patch this, the First Aid Spray trick is probably the most efficient way to earn millions of pesetas. But for most people reading this article, it might be too late to go back and attempt something this premeditated, especially since you can only lower the difficulty setting once you get a playthrough going. My slower journey to 2 million pesetas was psychologically rewarding, and it felt a little less like “cheating” than this other method—though I realize that such an ethical distinction is entirely subjective.
And I’ll be honest with myself: had I known about this other strategy beforehand? I probably would have done that too. I’m principled, but not I’m not that principled.
