Tips and Tricks

[PZ]

Here's something I'm going to try - maybe one of you knows the answer. 

I did a faction mission to steal an armored vehicle and deliver it to Bolo Santosi.  The vehicle was in the middle of a military installation, so I cleared the place to 100%, then drove it off.  However, along the way, the armored car was destroyed so the mission failed, but instead of returning me to the military installation to try again, the game took me all the way to the start of the faction mission, and when I returned to the military installation, it was as if I'd never been there - I had returned to zero% and of course had lost all of my upgrade parts.

Here's the plan - after clearing an area to 100% in a faction mission like this, I'll save the game so if I need to restart the faction mission over (by reloading the save), I'll still be at the start, but at least I won't have lost the progress I'd made (i.e., the area will have been cleared to 100%).

[spaceboy]

it might reset as part of the mission...let us know what happens.

[PZ]

Unfortunately I'd already gone back and quickly absconded with the tank before I thought of this opportunity.  Will try it on something that sounds similar.

[eor123]

I can confirm that if you bypass destroying the SAM sites at a stronghold, you can still achieve 100% completion and they will come to your defense if you are attacked by a helicopter in the vicinity of the stronghold.

However, the SAM's are about as effective against the enemy as they are against you which, at least in Casual, isn't very much.

[spaceboy]

good to  know for sure - thanks eor.

funny, either you're a good pilot or the SAMs are pretty poorly aimed on Casual.  On Normal I get taken out by those dang things ALL THE TIME!

[eor123]

Come to think of it, most of my aerial assaults on military bases are done with the Harrier type jet. Only been hit by a SAM a couple of times in many, many passes taking out fuel depots, SAM sites, etc. And both times, the jet suffered only cosmetic damage.

It has been an effective tactic for me -- using the jet to scout settlements in a region and then returning to take out the big targets from the air, making the ground assault a little less complicated....and the jet's ammo is free.  ;D

Oh...there is that little crashing and dying issue. Strafing runs at night in the mountainous areas is not recommended. Killing colonels wit the jet is a bit tough, though.

Oil rigs and coastal military bases are perfect targets for jet aerial assaults.  :-X

I wonder if in the harder difficulty levels other jets come after you? They've only sent helicopters against my jet so far. I just ignore them. 

[PZ]

I'm on casual and when flying a copter, the SAMs get me every time, but when flying a jet, I've yet to be hit by a missile.

Thanks for posting the confirmation that leaving the SAMs aids in stronghold defense - I've been leaving these intact ever since space mentioned it.

[Art Blade]

What I have observed so far is that those SAMs seem to be prone to get you from the back (maybe your exhaust pipe heat signature attracts them). The guys I watched on youtube flew their helos strafing, unlike a jet those can move sideways. Once a sam approaches, going sideways made the missiles pass the helo, and those rockets eventually run out of fuel and explode somewhere.

[PZ]

I get hit from most angles except directly in front - evidently the govmen wait until I'm not watching.  ;D

Another thing I do is fly low to the ground and they have trouble locking on.

[eor123]

I get hit from most angles except directly in front - evidently the govmen wait until I'm not watching.  ;D

Another thing I do is fly low to the ground and they have trouble locking on.

I have found the ground also has an uncanny ability to lock on.  ;D

[PZ]

lol, Panau is a very hostile place  ;D

[PZ]

People have been complaining about the targeting system in the new DLC rocket launcher.  While their comments are true, it is possible to use the launcher on all objects except the water tower if you attack from above.

I was using the thruster parachute to stay aloft above a military compound and managed to hit everything (including a Colonel) except the water tower.  For that I used a maxed out sawed-off shotgun which took it out with a single blast.  Unfortunately a helicopter showed up at that moment and shot me out of the sky  ;D

[Art Blade]

So much for a birdie impression  ;D

[eor123]

FYI:

There are actually:

101 Drug Drops
100 Skulls
  99 Black Boxes

Somebody didn't count well.

;D

[PZ]

Good to know  :-X

[PZ]

Sneak up on the govmen - plant C4

My current method of clearing the smaller villages (the ones with bell towers and water towers) is to plant C4 on all chaos items I can find, then hide on one of the metal shacks to detonate (the govmen never find me in there and settle down after a few moments)

While doing so, I discovered that if you come up behind one of the govmen armed trucks, you can quietly plant C4 without attracting attention - make sure none of the other govmen are watching you.

Using these techniques, I had fun planting a car bomb near a propaganda trailer, planting C4 on a govman vehicle, the water tower, and a couple of gas pumps.  Then I made my way into a metal shack - although I could not see the devastation, I immediately jumped to 70% completed.  Waiting about 30 seconds for everyone to calm down, then emerging to collect the upgrade parts was easy.

[Art Blade]

lol  ;D  I can almost see you crouching there and listening to the Kaboom, counting down 30 secs while trying to figure out what might be going on outside. lol

[PZ]

It is kind of funny - they're yelling about trying to find me, not letting me escape, and finally that "he's escaped"  ;D

[Art Blade]

I've just heard that kind of line, "where is he?!" while I was downstairs somewhere.  ;D

[eor123]

If you purchase the DLC parachute thrusters, bear in mind that if you die you will lose the thrusters and will have to repurchase them.

From my experience it also appears that having to restart a faction mission at the checkpoint also results in the loss of the thrusters -- at least it did in one instance. 

[PZ]

You're correct on both counts, and at $50,000 a pop, they're not chump change.  In fact, on the console I rarely purchase them, but on the PC I use a mod that had the thruster chute as default so I need not purchase them at all.

[eor123]

I was having a particularly troublesome night in the Panau City Financial District.

The game crashed twice, resulting in the loss of several items. By the third time I had to restart at 71% after reaching 98%, I had wised up and was manually saving after each time was located or destroyed.

After hours, I finally got to 100% but it must  have actually been 99% as it didn't give me the settlement completed check mark. I've seen this happen a few times, particularly in large areas where there are many items and each is worth a small percentage.

I glided, grappled,walked ran, drove, and slowly flew over the district with a helo, but couldn't find the missing item.

But I noticed something as I passed through a particular area on foot -- the music started. I wondered if that meant I was close to the item.

I was at the base of one of the larger skyscrapers. Although I had flown over all of them and not seen the indicator light up, I climbed it and saw the indicator flash about half way up the tower.

It was at the very top. I don't understand why it never triggered the indicator in the helo but I've seen that failure to indicate from the air several times in the urban areas.

So if you are stuck looking for an item, you might want to listen for the music to start. It could be a clue you can use.

[PZ]

Good tip  :-X

I've noticed the problems in the air as well.  Some of the areas are easy to "discover" while flying overhead, but a few are just about impossible - I've had to bail out and enter the area afoot to discover it.

I've also had problems getting the upgrade indicator to light up when flying over some items, while with others, it lights up even when I'm relatively high in the sky.

The bottom line: the only sure way is to walk/grapple around for those stubborn items.

[TopHat01]

I thought I'd pop in and link you guys to this site (sorry if it's been posted, I just skipped to this page)

http://www.justcause2mods.com/

Lots of interesting stuff on that site...I actually came back here because I suddenly got the urge to play FC2 again...had to check out everyone's strategies and fun things to do. :)

[PZ]

Good to see you again TopHat01!  Although we've been visiting the mod site for some time now, we appreciate you thinking of OWG in taking the time to post the url.

The mod site has quite a few mods that I've been using for a while, including the Bolo patch, a FC2-style Rico skin, a black market dealer mod, and weapon/vehicle mods.