This guide is for anyone struggling to kill the mold enemy in the Resident Evil 7 demo. This is your spoiler warning! I will be explaining how to defeat this enemy assuming that you have a basic understanding of the Resident Evil 7 demo.

The quickest, most effective way to kill the mold enemy is to use the pistol and fire four (4) shots into its left leg. That is to say, if the mold enemy is facing you, you aim down and to the right - at its left leg.

Originally, I spent time firing wildly into its chest, or going for headshots, nothing seemed to be working. However, if you get four direct shots into this leg, the mold enemy will stumble and fall over. Then, it will leap and break the light in the basement and leave. This seems counter-intuitive, but I've fired all twelve bullets (the maximum in the demo) into the body of the mold enemy and it still wasn't dead. If you shoot the left leg four times, however, it triggers the enemy to leave.

After this point, the enemy will not respawn! You will be free to complete the demo to any ending you wish, including obtaining the Dirty Coin item.

The mold enemy requires four shots to its left leg or five shots to the head in order to kill it. If you fire into its torso/arms, it can absorb all twelve bullets in the demo AND require multiple Hatchet strikes.

Thanks to Boa for pointing out that I completely forgot to add this section!

You can make the mold enemy despawn for the rest of the run if you collect the Valve and Attic Key from the basement and then leave the basement. While this is simple enough to do, I personally find it puts you more at-risk for being hit compared to landing four shots.

The best method to despawn the mold enemy is:

• Enter the basement's wooden door and immediately grab the Valve
  
• Do a quick-180 and attempt to leave the basement
  
• Jack blocks the door! Immediately run for the Attic Key - causing Jack to appear makes the mold enemy spawn in the bodybag area instead of the shelving area
  
• Once you grab the Attic Key, head back to the bodybag room - if you're fast enough, you can move past the mold enemy straight for the door, but take too long, and the enemy will reach the shelving area and block you in!
  
• Get through the wooden door and leave the basement; the mold enemy will now despawn

Note that you can use the bodybag hanging in the middle of the basement to swing into the mold enemy, knocking it back and letting you position yourself to get through the door.

The mold enemy has two spawning patterns, one of which triggers whenever you enter the basement, until the creature is killed or you obtain both the Valve and the Attic Key. One is the "slow spawn" and the other is the "fast spawn".

The "slow spawn" lets the mold enemy slowly bubble up out of the ground in the back of the basement, in the shelving area where the dolls and the Attic Key are. If you try to get the Valve and then leave the basement, this is how the enemy spawns.

Otherwise, the "fast spawn" is directly in the basement room with the bodybags. After your first visit to the basement, crossing into the shelving area will usually trigger the mold enemy to spawn much more quickly than before - and right in your way, in the bodybag area. This spawn is designed to trap you when you go for the Attic Key. Instead of a long "bubbling" animation, you'll see the mold enemy rise very quickly out of the ground, ready to attack!

The best method to handle the "fast spawn" is to head into the basement and walk backwards into the shelving area. As soon as you see the mold enemy spawning in the bodybag room (do make sure, you don't want to accidentally back up into a "slow spawn" point!) aim your pistol. Once you land a shot to the mold enemy's left thigh, it will slow down. Fire as many shots as you can into the leg until four bullets land and the enemy falls to the floor and triggers the "blackout" to signal its escape.

Note: the mold enemy can spawn in a few spots within the basement's bodybag room. If you enter the basement for the first time and grab the Valve, trigger Jack at the door, and THEN go for the Attic Key, the mold enemy will spawn by the basement door instead. However, if you are fast enough, you can get both the valve and the key, run past the mold enemy, and break through the door before the enemy can turn to attack you.

It is worth noting that the mold enemy does NOT heal if you leave and re-enter the basement. If you absolutely must, you can shoot the mold enemy, leave through the wooden door (you do not need to go all the way upstairs), and let the door fully close.

PLEASE NOTE!
The mold enemy can also explode! This attack will deal damage to you, is able to kill you, and if you aren't killed, will trigger the Infected ending. The mold enemy explodes when you defeat it with outright damage and it is within attack distance of you. For example, if you use bullets on the mold enemy and finish it off with the Hatchet, instead of falling to the floor, it will explode in a black cloud, damaging you, and making the screen go black.

This explosion can even blow up the bodybag hanging in the middle of the room!

Because the mold enemy only requires four bullets to defeat, it is recommended that you focus on defeating this enemy before attempting any other part of the True Ending. Simply start a fresh run, grab the fuse, head to the attic for the Basement Key. Grab the bullets under the bed. Then, go to the basement, get the valve, quick-turn (X key on keyboard by default for PC!) and break the barricaded door down. You should have more than enough time if you just face the door and mash the action key (F by default for PC!) until you're through.

Be sure to grab the ammo halfway up the basement stairs as you leave. Once you get out of the basement without getting hit, and have the valve, you'll find more ammo on the high shelf heading back to the bathroom. There's ammo in the drawer in the bathroom AND hidden in the medicine cabinet. By now you will have more than four bullets, the valve - and now, the gun.

Simply head back into the basement, trigger the mold enemy to spawn (crossing the threshold into the shelving area), and shoot its left leg four times.

I will update this guide if any more behaviors are discovered with this enemy. At this time, the enemy does NOT leave the basement, will NOT respawn once defeated, and is defeated with the fewest bullets by shooting its left leg. You do not have to kill this enemy, but it will make getting the True ending easier, as well as the requirements for the Dirty Coin item.

Thank you for reading this guide! Please leave comments and feedback!