Re2 S Rank Guide

Resident Evil 2 S Rank Breakdown

S-rank in the RE2 remake is tied to three separate conditions: completing the game on your chosen difficulty with an A or higher score, using the limited ink and ammo settings, and finishing within a time limit. It sounds simple but the scoring math is brutal if you don't know what's actually being measured. Score alone isn't enough. You also need to meet the time requirement and use the restricted options. Miss one and you're stuck at A rank regardless of how many heads you put down.

Re2 S Rank Guide

The score breakdown works like this. Each enemy gives a base kill score, then applies a multiplier based on how you killed them. Headshots multiply by roughly 1.5x. Explosive kills multiply by about 2x. Finishers on downed enemies get a bonus too. The game tracks these in real time on the score screen between chapters. My approach has always been to prioritize efficiency over perfection. Rushing through chapters while still securing headshots on most targets gives you a solid baseline score. Then you layer on environmental kills and finishers where they come naturally without slowing your pace. Here's a concrete example that caught me off guard during a run I thought was locked in. I finished Leon's campaign on hard with a final score well above the threshold, used limited supplies, and finished under the time limit. Still got an A. The problem was that one chapter had me stuck in a room dealing with a cluster of zombies during the prison elevator section. I took too long, used too much ammo on body shots, and the penalty dragged my chapter score down enough to miss S by about 400 points. I restarted that chapter, took the vent route instead of the hallway, and finished clean. That small adjustment was the difference.

The counter-intuitive part most people miss is that running low on supplies actually helps your score. There's a hidden multiplier that rewards conservative resource management. If you're using every medkit and reloading constantly, your score gets capped. I learned this the hard way after three straight runs where I scored high but never broke into S territory. Another thing nobody talks about is the challenge mode bonus. Clearing a run in under two hours and twenty minutes unlocks bonus weapons and upgrades that make subsequent runs significantly easier. This isn't part of the S-rank calculation itself but it directly affects your ability to hit those time and resource goals. Using the COMBT Shot unlocked from challenge mode makes later attempts much more manageable. I recommend starting with Leon or Claire main campaign on normal difficulty to learn the layout and enemy placement. Hard mode is where most people fail because the save room system gives you fewer chances to experiment. Once you know the routes cold, switch to hard and attempt S-rank. Practice runs on normal take about 90 minutes if you know where you're going. Hard runs with the same knowledge usually land around 75 to 85 minutes, which leaves enough margin for the time requirement.

The ammo conservation trick is straightforward but easily overlooked. Body shots deal enough damage to most zombies to kill them in two hits on hard. Headshots kill in one but take longer to line up under pressure. The optimal ratio is roughly one headshot per three body shots on standard zombies. Anything more headshot-focused than that and you're wasting time aiming instead of moving. For the knife finishers, crouch behind a groaning zombie and press the interact button. This triggers an instant kill animation that awards a bonus and uses zero resources. It takes about two seconds per finisher. You can chain these when enemies are clustered, but don't force it. Misjudging the spacing and getting grabbed wastes far more time than just shooting them. Some bosses resist the standard strategies. The Lickers in particular have armor plating on their backs that redirect bullets. I spent fifteen minutes trying to headshot one before realizing I could just shoot the exposed rear plates until it staggered, then knife it from behind. That's the pattern that repeats across almost every encounter in this game.

Save rooms are where people lose time and score. Each one gives you a firearm upgrade, some ammo, and a save point. Don't skip checking the desk. Don't skip picking up the ammo. Don't skip saving. These seem obvious until you're on your third attempt and wondering why your score dipped between chapters. A missed save file means you lost progress. A missed ammo pickup means you're making harder choices later. The time limit varies by character and chapter. Leon chapter one is roughly 50 minutes. Chapter two runs about 45 minutes. Claire's chapters are slightly faster due to different enemy placement. Check the in-game clock between chapters to see where you stand. If you're more than ten minutes over par at any checkpoint, you're unlikely to make S-rank unless you start skipping exploration entirely. Here's a quick reference for target scores by difficulty:

Normal: approximately 250,000 points for S-rank Hard: approximately 400,000 points for S-rank Madhouse: approximately 600,000 points for S-rank

These numbers shift slightly depending on chapter completion order and any challenge mode bonuses you've accumulated. The game displays your current standing after each chapter on the results screen. Use that feedback to adjust your strategy rather than blindly repeating the same route. The weapon upgrade path matters more than most players realize. Starting with the handgun and upgrading it to max before attempting hard mode S-rank makes a significant difference. The mag num is useful but unreliable against armored enemies. The combat shotgun clears rooms fast but ammo is scarce on harder difficulties. The submachine gun is the workhorse for sustained encounters. I typically upgrade the SMG to max first, then the handgun, then invest in the shotgun only if I'm struggling with tight corridors. This order gives you the best balance of damage output and ammo conservation across the entire campaign.

One more thing that trips people up: item organization. If you're scrambling through your inventory during combat, you're losing seconds that add up. Pre-load your keys, separate ammo types into fixed slots, and keep medkits and herbs accessible. The game lets you assign items to button combinations. Set this up before every run. If you're struggling with S-rank on hard mode specifically, consider doing a normal mode run first to map out every enemy spawn and save room location. Then attempt hard with that knowledge. The increased enemy health and damage on hard are manageable if you know exactly where threats will appear. Surprise encounters are the primary reason runs fail. The guide covers the core mechanics, but the real execution comes from repetition. Plan your routes, optimize your loadout, and track your time. S-rank is achievable without perfect play, just disciplined play.