ARK Facility Walkthrough — Resident Evil Requiem (RE9)

The ARK Facility is the final major area of Resident Evil Requiem and arguably the toughest stretch of the campaign. This RE9 walkthrough covers everything from the underground approach through the Victor Gideon final boss — including Plant 43, The Commander, the Mortal Edge Hatchet pickup, and the post-credits NG+ unlock.

Chapter overview

The ARK Facility chapter caps the Leon route of the campaign. You'll fight all three of the game's most difficult bosses back to back, navigate two distinct biomes (industrial courtyard and clinical labs), and collect the final cluster of antique coins and files needed for 100% completion. Expect to spend 90–120 minutes in this chapter on a first run.

Crucially, this is the chapter where Leon picks up the Mortal Edge Hatchet — the only melee weapon that reliably staggers Victor Gideon during his second phase. Do not skip The Commander fight, even if you have an exploit route. The hatchet is mandatory for an efficient final boss.

Approach from Raccoon City underground

The chapter begins immediately after the Titan Spinner fight in Raccoon City Square. Leon descends through a collapsed subway tunnel into ARK's service entrance. There are no enemies in the tunnel, but two pickups are easy to miss.

• Tunnel pickups: 1× Hand Grenade (under the overturned subway car), 1× W870 Police shotgun Shells (top shelf of the maintenance locker)
• File #62: "Umbrella Subway Memo" — clipboard near the broken turnstile (see files guide)
• Antique coin #20: Glints faintly on the rail tie just before the ARK loading door (see coins guide)

Use the loading-bay terminal to call the elevator. The cutscene that follows triggers the Plant 43 ambush, so reload all weapons before interacting with the terminal.

Exterior courtyard: Plant 43

The elevator deposits Leon in ARK's exterior courtyard. Plant 43 — a three-headed bioweaponized callback to Plant 42 — drops down within seconds. There is no warm-up phase.

// FAST STRATEGY

1. Sprint right for two destructible supply boxes containing SMG ammo.
2. Burst the left side bud first with the SMG — it has the lowest HP.
3. Switch to Marksman 1A for the central flower core.
4. Trigger the truck-canister finisher — one shot to the canisters ends the fight.

Full breakdown in our dedicated Plant 43 boss guide. After the kill, sweep the corpse for 1× Hand Grenade and 4× Requiem Bullets, then enter the door marked ARK-A1.

Interior corridors: The Commander

Past the airlock you enter ARK's industrial interior — a half-finished research wing with active hazards. This zone has three combat encounters before the Commander arena.

// CORRIDOR ENCOUNTERS

• Encounter A: 2× Hunter Gamma in the flooded mess hall — lure them onto the dry catwalk for safer headshots
• Encounter B: 1× Licker Beta in the ventilation shaft — sneak past by crouch-walking the right pipe
• Encounter C: 3× zombies + the first save room — clear the zombies, then save before opening the Commander door

The Commander himself is fought in a flooded turbine hall. He is the hardest non-final boss in the game and has a wide-arc cleaver attack that one-shots Leon if armor is broken. The reward for victory is the Mortal Edge Hatchet, dropped automatically into your inventory. See the full Commander boss guide for parry timings and the safe corner exploit.

Lab levels: files, coins, save room

After equipping the Mortal Edge Hatchet, take the freight elevator down to the lab levels. This is the collectibles-dense portion of the chapter — three Mr. Raccoon dolls, four antique coins, and seven files are clustered across two floors.

// LAB LEVEL B1 — RESEARCH WING

• Antique coin #21: Inside the cracked specimen tank, second row of the freezer aisle (coins guide)
• Mr. Raccoon #23: On top of the centrifuge in Lab Bay 2 (raccoon guide)
• Files #66–69: "Project Requiem Notes 1–4" — desk terminal in the Lead Researcher's office
• Safe #5: Director's wall safe — combination in safe codes guide; rewards Requiem rounds + Requiem Revolver ammo
• Quartz puzzle: Final shrine in the wall behind the desk — see quartz solutions

// LAB LEVEL B2 — CONTAINMENT

Containment is a single long corridor with one major encounter (4× shambling Mortal-T variants) and the second save room. Use the Mortal Edge Hatchet for melee one-shots on the Mortal-T enemies — S&S M232 handgun rounds barely stagger them.

• Antique coin #22 (final): Inside the central containment cell, on the autopsy slab
• File #74 + #75: The last two files in the game; both in the save room desk drawer
• Save here — this is your last save before Victor Gideon

Final chamber: Victor Gideon (two-phase)

The corridor past the second save room opens into the ARK central chamber — a circular arena with a domed glass ceiling. Victor Gideon descends from a regeneration pod and the fight begins.

// PHASE 1 — HUMAN FORM

1. Stay at mid range. Phase 1 Victor uses a fast dash-slash; sidestep when the screen flashes red.
2. Empty the Requiem Revolver into his chest — 6 rounds will end Phase 1.
3. Mortal Edge Hatchet stagger opens a 2-second window for a free critical headshot.

// PHASE 2 — MUTATED FORM

1. Mortal Edge Hatchet is mandatory — gun damage is reduced 70% during this phase.
2. Time your dodge roll to the tentacle sweep — it covers the entire floor at chest height.
3. Three hatchet hits to the exposed core triggers the final cinematic.

Full strategy, weak-point chart, and Insanity tips in our Victor Gideon boss guide.

Recommended loadout

For a Normal-difficulty first run, enter the ARK Facility with this loadout:

• Marksman 1A — fully upgraded, 30+ rifle rounds (for Plant 43 flower + Commander parry windows)
• Requiem Revolver — at least 12 Requiem rounds saved for Victor Gideon Phase 1
• Mortal Edge Hatchet — picked up from The Commander; do not break it on regular enemies before Victor
• 3+ First Aid Sprays — Insanity runners should bring 5
• 2+ Hand Grenades — emergency Commander panic button

Crafting reference for ammo runs low? See crafting recipes and the weapons tier list. For boss-specific loadout math, the loadout calculator validates your inventory.

Post-credits and NG+ unlock

After Victor Gideon falls, watch the full ending cinematic — there is a brief mid-credits scene that hints at the New Game Plus storyline. When the title screen returns you'll see two new options:

• NG+ (carry weapons): All weapons, ammo, and the Mortal Edge Hatchet carry forward. Difficulty options unlock including Insanity mode.
• NG+ RNA puzzle: The final NG+ puzzle solution unlocks a secret ending; see RNA puzzle solution.

If you collected all 22 antique coins, all 25 Mr. Raccoon dolls, and all 75 files during your run, the platinum trophy unlocks on the credits screen. Trophy roadmap in the platinum guide.