Beat the Game on Easy/Normal Difficulty – Madhouse Difficulty Tips
If you’re looking to beat Resident Evil 7’s Madhouse Difficulty, here are some vital tips you’ll need to come out of it alive.
Resident Evil 7’s Madhouse difficulty mode is no joke, and it’s a challenge you really should only consider undertaking after you’ve beaten the game at least once. By having a good knowledge of the layout of the Baker residence and the way the bosses work, you’ll be much better equipped than you would if you went into Madhouse blind.
First off, beating the game on either Easy or Normal difficulty will unlock a few special items that can make your run go a lot smoother. By beating the game on any difficulty, you’ll get the Albert-01R handgun, which is invaluable for a Madhouse run. By beating the game on Normal difficulty, you’ll get the Secrets of Defense. By leaving this item in your inventory, you’ll reduce the amount of damage taken, and your block will become more effective too. You can stack this with the Defense Coin if you have it.
By beating the game under four hours, you’ll unlock the Running Shoes and Circular Saw. These two items will give you a massive advantage in a Madhouse run, and I highly recommend picking these up before starting. The Running Shoes increases your movement speed, which can be invaluable when you’re trying to run away from Jack, or create distance between yourself and the Molders to get a clear shot. The Circular Saw isn’t the most elegant weapon, but it will work wonders for the early boss fights with Jack in the morgue and Marguerite in the greenhouse. You can definitely get by without these items, but they’ll save you a lot of frustration.
Learn How to Heal and Reload Quickly – Madhouse Difficulty Tips
Now that you’ve collected some of the more useful unlockable items in Resident Evil 7, you’ll want to learn some basic tricks before starting your Madhouse run. By this point, you should’ve realized that it takes Ethan a couple of seconds to heal himself with a first aid med and reload his firearms. While this won’t affect you outside of battle, those few seconds could mean the difference between life and death when you’re in a fight. Thankfully, Resident Evil 7 does allow you to cancel animations to make the process go a little faster.
After hitting R1 to heal yourself, quickly tap the L1 button to initiate a block. This will allow you to skip the healing animation while still topping up your health. Similarly, after reloading a weapon, tap the L1 button to block and cancel the reload animation. Skipping the reload animation is a little trickier, however. If you block too quickly, the weapon won’t load at all. You’ll want to keep an eye on the lower right corner of your screen and make sure the clip is completely filled before tapping the block button to skip the rest of the animation.
Get used to canceling your animations. These will almost certainly save your life in boss fights.
Separating Agents are Your Friends – Madhouse Difficulty Tips
Remember that whole horde of separating agents you collected in your first playthrough but never got around to using? Well, you’re certainly going to be using them a lot in Madhouse mode. The separating agents can be used on items like first aid meds, handgun ammo, and burner fuel to obtain raw materials and, more importantly, chem fluid. By using the separating agents on items that you don’t immediately need, you can make use of the chem fluid to craft something that you do need at that point in time.
Since there’s a limited number of these in Resident Evil 7, you should always try to make sure that you have a balanced supply of healing items and ammunition at all times. Save your separating agents for the direst of situations when you’re completely out of health or ammo. It’s also recommended that you try to use the separating agents to obtain strong chem fluid. These can be used to craft enhanced handgun ammo, which can prove to be extremely powerful when used correctly.
Make Use of the Albert-01R – Madhouse Difficulty Tips
While the Albert-01R can only hold three bullets in a single clip, it is a lot more powerful than any of the other basic handguns you can pick up in Resident Evil 7. In fact, if you use the Albert-01R with enhanced handgun ammo, its damage and stopping power is almost comparable to the magnum itself. This means that you can basically ignore the magnum on your Madhouse run, and rely more heavily on your enhanced handgun ammo.
The Albert-01R will only be useful if you make good use of your separating agents and obtain strong chem fluid whenever you can. Considering that handgun ammo is generally easier to find than shotgun shells in Madhouse mode, the Albert-01R will likely be your main go-to weapon for the majority of the game.
Spend Your Antique Coins Wisely – Madhouse Difficulty Tips
In Resident Evil 7’s Madhouse mode, the number of Antique Coins will be increased from the regular 18 to 33. This means, that you can buy more character upgrades and other special items that will grant you access to more powerful weapons early on in the game. Of course, you should use your Antique Coins to buy the Scorpion key and other special items, but I recommend staying away from the magnum, especially if you’re able to craft enough enhanced handgun ammo for the Albert-01R to compensate for that. Magnum ammo is extremely scarce anyway, so you’re better off sticking to the Albert-01R and spending your Coins elsewhere.
Consider spending those Coins on steroids and stabilizers. Coupled with the Secrets of Defense and the Defense Coin, increasing your maximum health with the steroids will definitely improve your chances of survival. Similarly, spending Coins on the stabilizers to increase your reload speed will also help to make up for the small clip on the Albert-01R.
Specific Boss Tips – Madhouse Difficulty Tips
For this final section, I’ll go through a few of the tougher boss fights in Madhouse mode and share some tips that will make them a bit more manageable.
Possessed Mia in the Attic:
I know. She was super easy to cap on Normal difficulty, but she’s a whole other beast on Madhouse difficulty. First off, you’ll want to grab the handgun, along with all the ammo you can find in the attic. Make sure you have the axe equipped to a shortcut slot as well. You shouldn’t need it, but have it with you just in case. Once you’re ready, approach the ladder and climb up the first rung. Once you hear the chainsaw rev, step off from the ladder immediately and go to the furthest door in the room – the one that leads to the narrow hallway of the attic. Leave it open, stand in the doorway, and start taking headshots at Mia once she appears. A note on the headshots: don’t spam your bullets. Instead, space them out. The headshots will only register when Mia flinches, but if you hit her head too quickly with a second shot, it won’t count.
As she gets closer to you, move down the narrow hallway while making sure to close the door behind you. Mia will cut through the door with the chainsaw, giving you time to reload the gun and take aim. As you’re taking your headshots, get ready to open the door on your right that leads to the small room where you first got the handgun. Once she gets too close for comfort, or if you need to reload, enter the handgun room and shut the door behind you. Now, with your back to the door you just closed, point your gun at the far end of the wall – this is where she’s going to saw through next. Again, take your aim as you see her sawing through the wall.
At this point, the fight becomes a test of how well you can kite her around the entire attic, and create distance as you take aim at her. Always move while reloading, and make use of Ethan’s quick turn when you need to get away. You should be able to take her down with about five or six bullets to spare.
Jack in the Garage:
This fight has an additional layer to it on Madhouse difficulty. As soon as you regain control of Ethan, head left and pick up the lockpick on the table. After that, head right and stand by the car. Wait for Jack to start walking towards you before you go to the locked box on the table. Open the box with the lockpick to obtain the car keys, then go back to the car to start it. The rest of the fight will play out exactly the same. The problem is, Jack moves a lot faster at this difficulty level, so it’s very easy to get caught by him and be killed almost instantly. You’ll want to put the car between you and him to try to trap his AI so he can’t grab you while you’re opening the locked box.
Marguerite in the Greenhouse:
This is arguably the toughest fight in the game because of how bullet spongey Marguerite’s final form is. You’ll want to equip yourself with the burner, shotgun, and the Albert-01R before going in. There are a couple of ways to deal with this fight, so pick whichever strategy better suits your play style.
First, you can chase and hunt her down. Marguerite becomes really deadly if you allow her to set up insect nests all around the greenhouse. The flying bugs can be a real nuisance and will drain your health very quickly. By chasing her and keeping her off the walls, you’ll only have to focus on doing enough damage until she dies. However, this is tricky because Marguerite can escape relatively easily by going through the windows and holes in the wall. If she gives you the slip, there’s a very good chance that she could spring a surprise attack on you and kill you if you’re low on health.
Another way you can approach this fight is by camping in a corner. A good spot is in the lower area of the greenhouse. Once the fight starts, run up the steps, grab any ammunition you can on the way, and then drop down to the lower greenhouse floor. Plant yourself in a corner and prepare the burner for whenever she shows up. Camping on the upper level isn’t really recommended as there are way more openings there, and it’s easier for her to catch you off-guard. It’s also less easy to maneuver your way around the area on the upper level because of the gaps in the floor. When using the burner, conserve your fuel by only pulling the trigger after the fire on her body goes away. If you have the Circular Saw, it will stun Marguerite and make quick work of her weak spots. If not, relying on your regular weapons is the best way to go.
Hopefully, with these tips you’ll make your way to the end of Resident Evil 7 on Madhouse difficulty. For more tips, tricks, and guides for Resident Evil 7, be sure to check out our ever-expanding wiki guide.
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