Primary Subject: Survival and Combat Strategy for Resident Evil: Requiem.
Status: Live / Comprehensive Guide.
Last Verified: February 26, 2026.
Quick Answer: To survive Resident Evil: Requiem, players must balance Leon’s aggressive combat with Grace’s stealth-focused survival. Key strategies include:
- Save often using Typewriters (requires Ink Ribbons on Hard).
- Conserve ammo by using melee and stealth, especially as Grace.
- Upgrade weapons for Leon and craft blood-based items for Grace.
- Manage inventory strictly to ensure room for quest-critical items.
The Resident Evil franchise changes up its formula for each iteration. Some lean more into the original survival-horror gameplay, while others dive into the action-based nature of the franchise from Resident Evil 4 onwards. Resident Evil: Requiem masterfully balances the survival and action aspects, thanks to the dual-protagonist gameplay of Leon and Grace.
If this is your first venture into the series, or even if you are a seasoned vet, getting some tips before you dive in is your best bet to seeing those credits roll.
We have put together what we consider to be the most valuable tips for succeeding in this article - our beginner's guide to Resident Evil Requiem.
This article contains SPOILERS for Resident Evil Requiem
Save Often
This should go without saying. The best tip for any Resident Evil title is to make use of those typewriters. In a game where one wrong move could lead to a one-hit kill from a stalker, having a nearby checkpoint will be a lifesaver, preventing the loss of hours of progress.
We have a whole guide to saving in Resident Evil Requiem, but know that if you are playing on harder modes, you will need to stock up on ink ribbon. You won't have unlimited saves like the easier modes and will need to use one up anytime you need to save.
Preserve Ammo
This is for when you play as Grace more, but sometimes playing as Leon earlier on, as ammo will be scarce. While you will later learn how to craft bullets, there are more monsters than ammo in Requiem. Using melee attacks to shove or kick foes will buy you time to get past and preserve your ammo for later moments when it will be needed.
Don't try to kill every zombie that comes your way unless you have no other option to escape a chomp. Doing so will eat into your ammo quickly, leaving you an easy target for boss fights, and will allow the zombies transform into an even deadlier form if you don't blow off their heads.
Stealth Saves Lives
While Leon will use absolutely no stealth when you get to control him, for Grace, it is absolutely essential. As the survival part of the game mostly falls upon Ms. Ashcroft, avoiding confrontations, especially earlier on, is crucial to making it through those early stages.
Swapping characters may throw you off, as Leon can practically charge into a pack of zombies like a raging bull and come out the other side bite-free, but Grace isn't as battle-hardened as the golden boy. Often, using a judgment call to crouch and slowly walk can be the difference between progression and reloading a save file. Later in the game, you can be a bit braver as Grace, but in the Care Center at the start, play like you are trying to make Sam Fisher proud.
Upgrade Your Weapons
You will finish the game as Leon with enough weapons to take on a small army, but even this arsenal can be pretty weak in their vanilla form. Definitely use your tracker points to enhance your weaponry and get an edge against the infected throughout the city. Grace, on the other hand, cannot upgrade her weapon; instead, she can craft items, which brings us to our next tip.
Craft All The Things
So, without packing much heat outside of her handgun (and for a time, Leon's Requiem pistol), Grace will need to rely on crafting items to help her survive. Once you find the blood collector, you will be able to collect blood from fallen foes to craft a variety of healing items, as well as ammo and gadgets to help her make it through the whole ordeal.
Use Your Map
The first few jaunts exploring the Care Center will feel quite maze-like as you panic-run past zombies all out to feast on the nearest living human (you). Before the map becomes as familiar as your own home, using it to plan out how to get to the next objective is a crucial tip for making it through.
Eventually, once you know the layouts well, the map may seem less useful. However, it is still a handy tool as it will mark any items you have not picked up as well as save rooms and Mr. Raccoon statues, making the map more of a lifesaver than a box of ammo even later into your playthrough.
Learn To Leave It Behind
Inventory management and Resident Evil have gone hand in hand since the original game. In Requiem, things have not changed. You will need to arrange your storage in order to fit new items in, or be forced to leave them behind where you found them. Leon has less of an issue here as he can carry a ton of gear, but Grace, however, even with the hip pouch expansions, can hold less than a sieve.
To prevent this, we need to 'learn to leave it behind'. By this I mean the next time you are in a save room with a box, chuck in half of your items. Be strict with it, limit yourself to 2 herbs. If your next run won't need that key, throw it in the box too. To put it simply, only take what you need to survive. Don't run around with pockets full of gear you may not need. End the hoarding cycle today - it might just save your life.
Heal Thyself... Wisely
It may be tempting to use that herb the second you have just tussled with a hungry zombie roaming the hall, but don't press that R1 button just yet - you may save yourself in the future.
There are, like in the other Resi games, status changes that reflect your character's health - Fine is green, Caution is yellow, and Danger is red. You don't want to be on red, but you can survive for a bit longer than you think on yellow and get to that next item rather than using up precious heals just to stay in the green. Now, Grace is more of who we are talking about here, as Leon is cast from iron in this game, but even on occasion, our hero will end up floating into the yellow.
Pace yourself and think about what obstacles are in your path from where you are to the nearest safe room. Tactical saving and danger runs can really help you keep healing med injectors and herbs until you truly need them.
And that about does it for our Resident Evil Requiem beginner's guide. Hopefully, it helps you get through those tough opening hours of the game.
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