How to Defeat the Merciless Knight in Resident Evil 4 Remake

After you wrap up Ashley’s run through the Castle library in the Resident Evil 4 remake, you might be in exactly the right sort of mood to trash some armored enemies. Good news: that’s exactly what the “Merciless Knight” side mission in Resident Evil 4 asks you to do. Here’s how to find and destroy this hidden enemy in the remake’s Mausoleum.

Where to Find the Merciless Knight in Resident Evil 4’s Castle Mausoleum

At the start of Chapter 10, you’ll regain control of Leon, who’s still in the cage from the previous chapter. Now you can leave, however, and a call from Ada tells you that you need to head to the Castle’s throne room to catch up with Salazar and Ashley.

As much as that sounds like something you should do immediately, if you proceed into the next room, you’ll find a blue flyer from the Merchant on a bureau next to the entrance to the Library. He’s willing to reward you with 8 valuable Spinels if you can take out an enemy called the Merciless Knight. Ashley can wait a few extra minutes, right?

The Mausoleum is back in the Library, at the bottom of the passage Ashley had to open with the clock puzzle in Chapter 9. When you return there as Leon, you’ll find that the Armadura Ashley froze are still where they were, but 3 more have shown up to occupy the area. 2 are normal Armadura of the sort you’ve fought once or twice already, while the third is a larger version in golden armor.

All 3 have the same gimmick of the Armadura you’ve fought elsewhere in the Castle by now. Put a few high-caliber rounds into the exposed part of the Plaga inside the armor until its helmet falls off. That exposes the Plaga’s full body, which you can proceed to destroy with a few more shots or a single flash grenade.

Best Strategy to Kill the Merciless Knight

The Merciless Knight has the same essential weakness but also has an additional layer of armor on its shoulders, which makes it harder to hit its Plaga. As the text of the request states, it also hits a lot harder than other Armaduras; even on low difficulties, the Armadura’s sword swing inflicts a cool 50% damage to Leon, which bypasses his body armor. Thankfully, it can be parried.

As a result, you have to bait the Merciless Knight into swinging, then circle all the way around it and hit the parasite while its back is turned. It’s handy to bring an upgraded shotgun with you into the fight because you’ll have relatively narrow targeting windows. Much like in many other situations in Resident Evil 4, this is a problem that can be solved with enough buckshot.

Like the ordinary Armaduras, the Merciless Knight’s helmet will pop off once its Plaga has taken enough damage. The resulting tentacled monstrosity has a lot of reach compared to normal enemies, but doesn’t have any more health than the rest and is still just as vulnerable to flash grenades.

All three of the Armaduras in the Merciless Knight side mission of Resident Evil 4 will always drop jewels and have a chance to drop valuable Spinels. Even if you aren’t particularly fussed about side missions, that makes it worthwhile to go pick a fight with the Knight.

While you’re in the Library, there are a couple of other things you can do as Leon. This includes killing the last rat for your most recent Pest Control request and solving a puzzle to receive a free CQBR Assault Rifle.