Despite being sent all the way to Europe to rescue the president’s daughter, Leon arrives vastly underpowered for the job presented to him in the Resident Evil 4 remake. Not only was he sent in alone, but with just a single handgun (with 10 bullets) and a knife. If you want any hope of completing this mission, you will need to get every advantage you can. Aside from expanding and upgrading your arsenal, collecting as many of the game’s Yellow Herbs will be your top priority. Of the three types of Herbs — Green, Red, and Yellow — these are the rarest of them all. In total, you can only grab 17 of them in a single playthrough. You will want as many of them as possible to give Leon a much-needed buff, so here’s what Yellow Herbs do and where you can collect them all in the Resident Evil 4 remake.
What Yellow Herbs do
Each of the three Herb types in Resident Evil 4 serves a different function. Green Herbs are for healing, Red Herbs enhance the effect of whatever Herb they’re combined with, and Yellow Herbs actually increase Leon’s maximum health. That makes them by far the most valuable of the three since, with enough of them, you can essentially double the amount of damage you can take once you max out his health.
Yellow Herbs can’t be used on their own and must be combined with at least one other Herb to get their effect. The best possible combination is one of each — Green, Red, and Yellow — since it will basically heal you to full, plus extend your life. Combining Red and Yellow is your next best option because, while it won’t heal you, you will still get a slightly larger boost to your maximum health thanks to the Red Herb enhancing the Yellow. Green and Yellow should be avoided if at all possible since you will get the smallest possible increase to your health bar. So long as you combine a Yellow with a Red each time, it will only take you 13 of the 17 to max out Leon’s health, giving you some wiggle room if you missed any.
All Yellow Herb locations
There are 17 Yellow Herbs to grab in any one run of the Resident Evil 4 remake, but one of them is purchasable from the Merchant for three Spinels as soon as you meet him in Chapter 2. As far as the ones you need to pick up, here they are in order of appearance:
Village Yellow Herbs:
- When you’re at the Farm, go inside the windmill, but stay on the ground floor. Go past and around the ladder to grab the Yellow Herb just around the bend.
- After clearing out the Valley, go into the first building to the left. This Herb is out in the open near the window.
- Go through the Fish Farm to the nearby Merchant’s shop inside the cave near the boat. On the southern side of the dock is a little hut you can enter that houses the Herb.
- Once you can explore the lake on your boat, go to the Large Cave Shrine. From the dock, go up and to the left through a gate. Take the second passage on your right into a narrow cave below a bridge. The Yellow Herb is hiding away in the far corner ahead.
- You probably noticed the unreachable ladder inside the Village Chief’s Manor. With Ashley, you can now go up there to get the Herb.
- On the upper level of the eastern edge of the Checkpoint area, the Herb is just to the left of the stairs.
Castle Yellow Herbs:
- Once you clear out the Audience Chamber, search the set of drawers in the southeast corner and you’ll find the Herb.
- While simultaneously trying to survive the giant’s attacks and solve a puzzle on the Castle Battlements, you will be led to the top of a tower via a ladder. Circle around the landing and up some stairs inside again to grab the Herb.
- Right at the beginning of Chapter 9, just go inside the room with the typewriter and grab the Yellow Herb.
- Down in the Depths, go along as normal until you hit a spot the wall you can kick through to the exit. Before you climb out, grab the Herb on the box.
- Inside the first cave you come to in the Hive, go to the northeast corner and check out the table for this yellow plant.
- Once you’re at the top of the Clock Tower and have crossed the planks into the Merchant’s shop, this Herb is sitting right beside the typewriter.
Island Yellow Herbs
- While you’re working your way through the labs in Systems, go down the stairs to the Incubation Lab and take an immediate left to find the Herb.
- This one is almost impossible to miss, being right in the middle of the Amber Storeroom on the shelf.
- Get to the higher section of the Stronghold and go into the building with the AA gun on the roof. Exit through the door on the east side and turn right to grab the Herb.
- The final Yellow Herb is in the Sanctuary Approach. When you enter this area, hug the left side and go into the stone structure filled with boxes under sheets. The Herb is sitting on top of one set of boxes.
