Trader Duke from Resident Evil Village

This page of the Resident Evil Village guide provides all the information about Duke the merchant. You will find out where you can meet the merchant.

What types of goods and services Duke offers, whether you can sell unnecessary items to Duke, and what currency is used to complete transactions.

Key information

Trader Duke is one of the few friendly characters that you will meet in Resident Evil 8. He is similar to the trader from Resident Evil 4, being neutral to the events of the game world and helping to restock and acquire new valuable items.

You will meet the Duke several times throughout the game. He spawns in various places in the village and castle - we have collected them in the next subsection. You cannot kill or rob the duke, but on the other hand, you should not be afraid of his attack.

When you speak to the duke, by default you will be presented with three options to choose from:

• Buying supplies - The Duke sells mostly unique items (the most valuable ones are listed later in the text), but you can also buy standard supplies (such as ammo). In addition, some items can be obtained from his shop for free.
• Selling Items (Duke's Purse) - in the duke's shop, first of all, you should get rid of found artifacts that are not part of sets (more detailed information about artifacts can be found on a separate page in the FAQ chapter). It's also a good idea to sell the less needed items that are cluttering up your inventory.
• Weapon Upgrade (Weapons Workshop) - each weapon can be upgraded in several categories (for example, firepower or magazine capacity). You should definitely upgrade frequently used weapons.

All of the above operations require Leu currency, which can be purchased by selling equipment to Duke and finding it in the game world along with other loot. The current number of available credits is displayed in the upper right corner of the screen.

Later in the game, the fourth option ("Duke's Kitchen") is also unlocked - supplying the duke with ingredients for cooking. This applies to "trophies" received for killing live animals. Ethan can destroy chickens, pigs or fish. Each animal killed will drop an item. Please note that these collectibles take up most of the inventory space.

The best upgrades that can be unlocked by delivering ingredients to Duke are described at the bottom of this page.

Duke - where to find him?

The Duke can be found in certain places. He changes location as you progress through the game, so you don't have to return to previous locations to trade with him or use his services. Your first meeting with the duke will take place on the way from the village to the castle. You won't be able to miss it. A conversation will start, during which the duke will introduce himself and offer his services. You can meet the duke inside the castle. He will stop in the merchant's room on the first floor - there is also a typewriter here.

After returning to the village, you will find the duke in the Altar - the location associated with one of the puzzles. The Duke will offer new items in addition to those previously available. The Duke will appear in a larger area with a body of water - Ethan explores it while searching for Moreau. You will find a merchant in the same building where the sludge control mechanism is located. You will also meet Duke while exploring the "Heisenberg Factory" in the final phase of the campaign. He is in a square room that turns out to be a freight elevator. The Duke will offer new items in addition to those previously available.

Duke's best goods

An important note is that the Duke's offer is updated throughout the game. You will not be able to purchase better items from him at the very beginning of the game. Luckily, many useful items can be purchased from the very first encounter.

The best things are available from the very beginning of the game:

• Additional inventory - 10000 Lin - you can permanently increase the size of your inventory. This is one of the most important improvements, especially considering that Ethan will find a sniper rifle in the castle, which takes up a lot of inventory space.
• Recipe: Shotgun Shells - 3000 lin - the blueprint will allow you to create shotgun shells. This is very useful as the shotgun is great for defeating bosses. You won't find a lot of ammo just by exploring.
• Recipe: Sniper Ammo - 4000 lin - the blueprint will allow you to craft ammo for a sniper rifle. It is best to make a purchase after unlocking the sniper rifle in the final part of your first visit to the castle. Extra ammo will come in handy when attacking flying monsters and in at least one boss fight.
• master key - 0 Lin - the game should offer you the first lockpick for free, and you should definitely take advantage of this opportunity, since lockpicks are found in a very limited number in the game world.
• Pistol Samurai Edge AW Model-01 - 200 Lin - This pistol is only available if you have purchased the version of the game that includes the Trauma Pack. New weapons are very cheap and you can use them instead of your main pistol.
• Modification LEMI High Capacity Mag - 8000 Lin - This weapon modification increases magazine capacity. This is important because there are a lot of strong monsters in RE8 that can withstand a lot of hits. You may find yourself having to reload your weapon several times before winning the battle.
• Shotgun M1897 Hair Trigger - 9000 Lin - This shotgun upgrade increases its rate of fire. This can come in handy in boss fights when one hit isn't enough to knock down or kill an enemy.

The best items available after returning to the village from Dimitrescu Castle (Altar location):

• Extra baggage - 30000 Lin is the second suitcase that permanently increases your inventory space. Consider buying one to make sure you can collect all the items you find. The necessary credits can be obtained by selling the artifact for defeating the boss from the first visit to the castle (it costs 25,000 credits).
• Recipe: Pipe Bombs - 2500 Lin - the blueprint will allow you to produce pipe bombs. They can come in handy not only in combat, but also when trying to destroy weakened walls, behind which there may be treasures.
• F2 Rifle with large telescopic sight - 15,000 lin - this sniper rifle upgrade equips it with a much better optical sight. It's worth investing in this upgrade if you like using a sniper rifle and want to reduce the risk of missing a shot.
• F2 rifle muzzle - 20,000 lin - This second sniper rifle upgrade will stabilize your scope as you prepare to shoot. Again, this upgrade will increase your chances that every shot will be accurate.

The best items are available after returning to the village from the Benevento house (after defeating the Donna Benevento boss):

• Recipe: Explosive Ammo - 3,000 Lin - This is a very important purchase because you will be able to make explosive ammo for your grenade launcher. Don't forget to find the grenade launcher - its location is described on the Weapons page.
• Recipe: Flares - 3000 lin - With this recipe you can make blinding shells for the grenade launcher. They are very useful, for example, for defeating the Stronghold boss Urias, and also blind other strong enemies.
• Pistol LEMI High Capacity Mag - 9,000 Lin is an upgrade to the LEMI pistol, thanks to which it will be able to hold more rounds in the magazine. Worth getting - this weapon requires a lot of shots to defeat enemies.
• Improved barrel W870 TAC - 22,000 Lin is a second shotgun upgrade that reduces recoil when firing. This will help you shoot more accurately and therefore deal with monsters faster.

The best items added to the offer when visiting the Heisenberg Factory are:

• SYG 12 - 180,000 Lin is an extremely expensive item, but it's worth it to get it. This is an excellent semi-automatic shotgun, which even in the basic version has high damage and a good rate of fire.
• SYG 12 Red Dot Sight - 42,000 lin - This is an upgrade to the SYG12 shotgun that further increases firepower and rate of fire. This will make the shotgun an ideal weapon for taking out tough enemies encountered towards the end of the game.
• M1851 Wolfsbane High Capacity Cylinder - 100000 Lin - This is an upgrade to the Magnum revolver that increases the cylinder capacity. It is especially useful when facing the final bosses of the game.

Ethan's Best Stat Improvements

The ability to unlock stat upgrades becomes available during your second visit to the village. The Duke will inform you that you can provide him with ingredients for cooking, which you will get by killing, first of all, chickens, pigs or fish swimming in water tanks. Giving the duke enough ingredients will earn you a free meal and unlock permanent stat boosts. Here are the best upgrades you can get:

• Fish with herbs - requires Fish x3, Bird x2 - eating this dish will slightly increase the health of the main character. It will be easier for you to keep Ethan alive.
• Mititei with three flavors - requires Fish x4, Poultry x2, Meat x3 - eating this dish will increase Ethan's health. The effect is stronger than from the previous dish.
• Tochitura de Puy - requires Poultry x4, Meat x3, Juicy game x1 (unique trophy) - eating this dish significantly increases the main character's health. This dish most of all prolongs the supply of energy.
• Sarmale de Peste - required fish x6, Best fish x1 (unique trophy) - eating this dish allows Ethan to move faster. This can be useful even for simple exploration of the area.