RE7: Not a Hero Walkthrough Part 1 – Get the Key, High-Grade Filter

Resident Evil 7: Not a Hero picks up directly where the main game’s storyline ends, placing players in the shoes of Chris Redfield, a member of the BSAA working with Umbrella to quarantine Evie and all that she touched and infected. In this portion of our walkthrough we’ll show you how to get started in the DLC, how to make it to the Central Cavern Hub area, and then show you how to obtain the Cell Key, and get your hands on the High-Grade Filter—which you’ll need to progress deeper into the mines.

How to Reach the Central Cavern

Reaching the Central Cavern should be your first objective, and the path to get there isn’t very hard to find. There’s only one way to proceed now, so you’ll want to make your way forward and through the caverns until you reach Lucas’ lab. Here you’ll find one of Umbrella’s soldiers. Walk up to him and a short cutscene will play out.

After the cutscene, head out the door, careful to make sure you don’t run out of oxygen along the way. At this point it becomes imperative to pay attention to the oxygen counter in the bottom left-hand corner of your HUD. This number will tell you how much oxygen you have left before Redfield begins to receive damage from the poisonous gas that Lucas has released into the mines.

Head through the door that Lucas left out of and make your way through the lab and through another door. Beyond here you’ll find a desk with a Med Injector.

Make sure to grab it, and then head out the door to the right to reach a gas free zone. Let your oxygen refresh and then make your way across the bridge and through the next door. You’ll be in another gas zone, so sprint through it to find another door at the end of the corridor. There’s an enemy in the next room. Take it out and then activate the elevator button to the right of the doors to open it up.

Hop into the elevator and ride it down to the Central Cavern. Make sure to visit the Tape Recorder at the front of the room to save your game.

Find the Key

From the Central Cavern, head into the red shutter door to the right of the Tape Recorder where you saved your game. This is the Mining Work Area. Continue down the path until you spot a cell door on the left-hand side. Inside you’ll see another of Umbrella’s soldiers.

Try to enter the cell to trigger some dialogue, and then turn around and continue down the corridor. You’ll come to another elevator at the end. Call it, and then hop inside to ride up to the next area.

From the elevator, exit and turn to the right, following the minecart tracks around to a large room with a yellow bin that has the word “key” written on it.

Don’t run for the key just yet, though, as you’ll need to deal with several enemies in the area before you can really progress. Instead, stick close to the truck near the entrance and take care of the multiple enemies that spawn and try to kill you. We’d suggest making use of your shotgun here some, as well as try staggering the enemies and then punching them with your knife. This will kill them in two hits, and save your ammo in the long run.

Now all you need to do is grab the key out of the bin. Of course, as you do that, it lifts into the air, thanks to a pulley system that’s been rigged to a broken crank just a little way away.

You’ll need to find two pieces to fix the pulley system. The first part of the pulley—the Crank—can be found sitting on a small table-like thing just in front of where the key is found. Grab it to continue.

The second part of the pulley, the Gear, can be found by dropping off the small ledge to the right of the first piece, and then following the tracks to the left, around the massive minecart, and to a pile of rubble in the back. The Gear can be found here.

Take both pieces back to the pulley system and place them on it. At this point you’ll want to go ahead and press the interact button to begin lowering the box with the key in it.

Once you trigger the pulley system, you’ll hear a loud growling roar and then a new type of creature will rise into the area from behind the container with the key. This is one of the new regenerating creatures introduced in Not a Hero. Your normal bullets won’t be able to wound it, so don’t even bother trying to shoot it.

How to Get the High-Grade Filter

The easiest way to grab the key from here is to toss one the grenades that you found at the creature’s feet. When it explodes, it should stun it, allowing you ample time to run past, grab the key, and retreat to the elevator.

Now all you need to do is ride the elevator back down to the entry corridor, head to the cell, unlock it, and move inside towards the soldier. A cutscene will start, and after the cutscene be sure to grab the High-Grade Filter to upgrade your mask’s filter.

With the High-Grade Filter in place, head back out the cell and make your way back out into the Central Cavern. Next, we’ll show you how to get the Night Vision Module, which you’ll acquire from the second area of the new DLC.

For more help, head back to our Resident Evil 7 guide, where you’ll find all our Resident Evil 7 focused content in one easy to search place.