people use absolute terms on the internet inappropriately.

you don't "need" it, it just makes everything significantly easier.

No, you definetly do not need it.
I managed to beat every difficulty without using any shop items just fine.
The only hard thing is the last boss because of this insta-kill combo. You can ignore most of the normal enemies and dodge them.

Originally posted by Zorglub:

I didn't try Nightmare mode yet, but I keep seeing people saying you need the ammo press, Chris' book or infinite ammo weapon to beat the game in nightmare and inferno.
Doesn't it defeat the purpose of having higher difficulties ?
How hard can it be if you have an unlimited rocket launcher in your pocket ?

So, is it possible to beat nightmare and inferno without the bonus items ? Do you even have enough ammo ?

Well getting the infinite rocket launcher is the most expensive thing in the shop so its not as easily accessible. I personally beat the Nightmare mode using just Chris's book because that final boss is an absolute nightmare (see what i did there?) in terms of dodging. I wouldn't use infinite ammo weapons in general since it would defeat the purpose of those higher difficulties in a sense.

All kills count even if you kill and reload. If you save at, say, the hospital with Jill and use each weapon you can get the 10k+ points for kills by clearing the area and reloading

easiest way to get the launcher. This game is super exploitable to cheese your way through achievements

You don't need Chris's book to beat nightmare. But you will want it to beat inferno.
The defense coins are very helpful.

I only used defense coins and rocket launcher to beat nightmare.

I just beat nightmare mode without shop items. Only got a B rank but I'd assume it's possible to get the highest rank if your don't waste any time and are very good at dodging. I have no idea about inferno, barely played it so far.

am only up to carlos on nightmare mode right now not using any items other then extra carry bags and I can see having coins equipped to be a good way to balance game, especcaily in inferno

I beat nightmare with no shop items yesterday. I'm at final Nemesis fight on Inferno now with no shop items. I wasn't short of ammo at all in either modes. They're both pretty hard leading up to final fight. Final fight is very hard on both modes.

I got an S on nightmare with just the shop lockpicks, which is really only a time optimization

Originally posted by Zorglub:

So, is it possible to beat nightmare and inferno without the bonus items ? Do you even have enough ammo ?

You don't need any bonus whatsoever.

This screenshot of my supplies until Nemesis Stage 2 - NEST 2 on Nightmare is the perfect example.

https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2050936802

For the Final Battle I had 26 bullets on my MAG. Enough to breeze through the fight (though it is still difficult af because the boss deals tons of damage. Golden tip: PERFECT YOUR DODGE!)

I'm quite surprised there's no rank penalties for using infinite ammo weapons for any difficulty, let alone the hardest ones. It's beatable to use the infinite rocket launcher on Inferno, although you have to more-or-less master perfect dodging because you really can't run away or evade during key scenes, but it takes quite a skilled player to understand the mechanics and the game layout to accomplish harder difficulties without shop assist.

At the very least, having those defense/offense boost coins is encouraged during Nightmare/Inferno for those who aren't up to the task. I know I wasn't.

Alright, thanks everyone. I'll definitely try nightmare the legit way.
Not so sure about the inferno S rank achievement though, seems out of my league. I didn't beat any of the ghost survivors stories in RE2.

true,but for a speed run under 1 hour u need rocketlancher ^^

I do think S ranking Inferno and Nightmare require cheat items, since they're incredibly hard without any bonuses. If you are godlike with the perfect dodge you might have a chance, but only a select few would probably be able to pull it off.

I beat nightmare without shop items. A bunch of people have beaten inferno without shop items. It's not impossible, it's just hard.