Just got drafted to Panau

[spaceboy]

yeah, basically you w@&k for all 3 factions.  and even though they seem they would be against each other, you will find sometimes more than one faction and yourself engaged in a battle against the militay (not missions - just something that erupted along the street or in a location).  It's great to fight along with them.  Common enemy I guess.

You can take off in a factions vehicle, but wait for one of them to jump in as a gunner.

Also, I do recommend checking out the DLC parachute thrusters.  But I almost suggest waiting on it.  They make life almost too easy.  They are great fun, but they didn't come out until I was done with the story and free roaming in "mercenary mode".  You can always just use them on occasion and not buy them all the time too I suppose (if you can resist)  They go away when you die though and you have to rebuy (another common complaint) but that's fine as it prevents you from having it be a crutch.

[Fiach]

Cheers guys :)

Actually I never thought to check out the DLC, gotta add that to my Things to Do list :)

[Fiach]

OK, DLC, Bullseye Assault Rifle and Ricos signature gun look nice, how does the DLC w@&k, Will I always have those weapons or do I have to keep re-buying them or something, if I drop them?

Can I upgrade them do you think?

Sorry for all the questions, If I act like a giddy little schoolgirl, .... its because I am  8-X >:D

[PZ]

Darn, I forgot exactly how it works, but I think that you need to re-purchase the weapons if you lose them - I think they are already maxed out with upgrades (I could be mixing things up in my mind however, because I play on both platforms, and have mods installed)

Another DLC that is good is the vehicles - it contains a monster truck that has a mounted machine gun. 

Spoiler

This truck is awesome - there is a mission where I'm to drive a passenger to a destination, and using the standard limo, it can be an unwieldy challenge.  Using the monster truck, I just ran the guy over  :-()

[spaceboy]

the dlc weapons are already fully upgraded and avail for purchase in the BM.  if you lose it you have to buy again.  In fact there is no ammo to be bought, you get a new gun on every purchase.  Ammo can be salvaged of course for normal guns, but not the DLC guns.

oh - have a little fun with the "blower" gun - I forget the name, that acts like an industrial leaf blower, people, cars, etc.   I only used the DLC or special weapons for specifc missions tasks or sometimes just for fun.  I preferred the regular assault rifle and SMG as my normal loadout, but fell in love with the machine gun intead of the assualt towards the end of the game.

[Fiach]

So, eg. The Bullseye Assault Rifle, doesnt use assault ammo?

I guess you saved me some MS points lol, It bad enough you have to actually buy the weapons in DLC and then again in the game  :o  ;D

[spaceboy]

that one may use regular assault ammo, I don't recall.  i was talking more about the unique weapons.

I wouldn't worry about buying in-game, like I said, its so easy to make money especially if you enjoy the races, I never had trouble affording stuff I wanted - but again, I stole most of my vehicles - it does suck to buy a car or truck as they don't often last long on Panau. 

But if that's a real turn-off at least get the chute thrusters, those give another level of freedom of movement that it's well worth it.

WHat I meant by too easy though is an example where originally a mission I did without them I had to get to the tops of several large structures and it made me utilize the grapple coasting technique and added some tension as I was near the ground.  Then on my 2nd (hard) playthrough I just zoomed with my thrusters from one tower to the next.  Still fun, but too easy for a 1st playthrough.

[PZ]

... but fell in love with the machine gun intead of the assualt towards the end of the game.

Maxed out, this is a deadly weapon, and my favorite when running and gunning  :-()

[Fiach]

Which one the machine gun (sub?) or assault?

The DLC is only a few pence apparently so I'll check out the bullseye later and see for sure, cheers :)

[Art Blade]

Machine gun is my favourite, too. It is a large rifle. If maxed out, very few rounds take out a military jeep  :)

[spaceboy]

The machine gun I refer to is not the Assault rifle, but a larger two handed gun, it doesn't unlock right away.  You'll probably need to settle for the Assault until then, which again, is quite adept itself.  The SMGs are nice in your one handed slots as you can always find ammo for them. 

I wish you could have a 4th slot for a heavy weapon like a rocket launcher (or DLC quad missile launcher!) but unfortunately they take up your two handed slot.  Which is why I used them for specific missions.

Don't forget you can call in a BM drop (ew lol) during a mission or even a firefight, you just can't extract when the "heat" is on.

[PZ]

The machine gun I refer to is not the Assault rifle, but a larger two handed gun, it doesn't unlock right away.

Same reference for me - it is unlocked quite a bit after the others.  However, if you're lucky, you can take one from a dead govman.

[Art Blade]

the assault rifle looks thin by comparison, the MG is thicker but about as long.

[Fiach]

I saw it in the BM, its a few stages away alright :(

Whats the racing like, I tend to just use the chopper, I got one sports car for some mission and I wrapped it around a truck about 2 minutes later, the handling was bonkers and the physics, while fun, was nuttier than my grannys christmas cake!  :'(

[spaceboy]

oh yeah, the handling is horrible, but if you adapt it is really fun.  My advice - ignore your brakes, one touch normally and you go all over the place.  Just ease off the gas as needed.  obviously city races you need to brake some, but just be careful with the brakes.

Of course, you don't have to finish the race with the car you started with, so plenty of races I wrecked my ride sending me and it flying off a bridge, then I just grappled up and stole a new one.  But you can really get used to it and finish most races with just a banged up version of what you started with.

Flying races are lots of fun, but again, the steering isn't ideal, but as you get the hang of it you can become quite the expert.  Just practice with the little cesna one.  Good transportation tip - you can start any race and then just fly off and abandon it which is a nice way to get a free plane.  There is one near the Roaches stronghold near the bay in the city.

skydive races can be tough, but don't forget you can use your chute - it doesn't have to be a pure freefall.  Here is another point where the chute thrusters are life savers/game changers.

[PZ]

The boat races are my favorite and the free fall my least favorite.  There is at least one boat race in which the course takes your boat across a narrow isthmus and your boat flies (with you in it) through the air, James Bond-style - you must land it correctly else it is possible to sink your boat.

My second favorite of the races are the car races located throughout countryside - they are like a rally that take you on beaches, dirt roads, etc.  Also, there is an island with a race track on which you can have lots of open world fun.

[Fiach]

.  But you can really get used to it and finish most races with just a banged up version of what you started with.

Sounds like the story of my life lol  ;D

[spaceboy]

lol Fiach, tell me about it.

PZ - I forgot the boat races.  Those are cool, but quite easy comparatively.  I had a real tough time with the free falls until I tried again after 50 hours or so into the game lol, by then I was much better at falling, and using my chute to slow down and get my bearings if needed.  They're quite exhilarating once you get into them.  The casino drop I recall being pretty cool.

[PZ]

PZ - I forgot the boat races.  Those are cool, but quite easy comparatively...

^+-+ that's why I like (and remember) them - I'm successful at the boat races!  It really sucks to like gaming, but to be so poor at it! ^+-+

[spaceboy]

PZ - I forgot the boat races.  Those are cool, but quite easy comparatively...

^+-+ that's why I like (and remember) them - I'm successful at the boat races!  It really sucks to like gaming, but to be so poor at it! ^+-+

lol - that's not really what I meant though.  rather that the boats actually handle as expected while the cars are very wonky in comparison to driving in other games. and of course the skydiving is very different and a bit hard to steer diving head first toward the pavement!

I do recall the jump you mention in that boat race - my first landing was.....unsuccessful  :)

[Fiach]

So anyway, I went back to the first base (power station) and there were two jeeps with soldiers, they said to get in the jeep, but they didnt go anywhere, so, there was a mission on the map and I set a waypoint to it and drove off, maybe a 5km drive.

I thought, I must have been missing out on getting help from these guys and I should have spotted them for other missions maybe.

Christ the handling was soooooo frustrating, every time you kissed another vehicle or cops drove into you, you were bouncing off cars and trees so crazily, it wasn't funny.  500m from the target, i reloaded and took a chopper and did the mission myself.

Thanks god for choppers (the planes are awesome too  8)), so they more than make up for the cars, I'm really looking forward to the boats, I probably should just steal one, but I'm having too much fun to bother LOL :)

Its amazing that such a great game has such dreadful driving, easily the worst I have ever seen (and I played Alone in the Dark and liked it LOL :D).

[Fiach]

I just played an incredibly frustrating mission, Destroy Three Satellites.

I even went to youtube in disgust, to see how to do it, after wading through the video, the poster kept getting the same frustrating results in the same places, as I did. In the end I think he called the BM for a helicopter.

I got as far as destroying one, then nearly destroyed 2, but the damn hook kept glitching on an edge at the top of #2, in the end I destroyed #2 but died in the explosion or maybe got killed by a chopper while I fell.

I then Destroyed one and a chopper attacked me, I hijacked that chopper to #2 .... well I tried to, then I noticed the chopper was flying backwards, I wasnt going to it, I was moving away, but the chopper wouldnt turn as the camera got stuck.

This was about an hour of annoying schlepping around, but maybe I missed something obvious.

Have you guys found a different way to complete this mission?

I'm also finding that I hit bases and get to 91% completeion and for the life of me I cant seem to get the last 9%, I cant see anything to pick up or blow up, even skimming the base in grids with a chopper, I'm not seeing anything, again, it feels like alot of time just being annoyed, I have played about 7 hours, about 5 were humungous fun, but about 2 hours were just plain annoying, I'm sure that will change as I get more gear and can access more items from he BM.

[PZ]

The guys hanging out at the entrance to the strongholds are there just for fun, in case you want to go for a joy ride and cause some mayhem - they're not directly involved in any mission, and they'll always tell you to get in.  I recall the guys you mentioned, and once I was annoyed with them so I tossed the little buggar out and got into the driver's seat, then he climbed into the gunners seat and away we went.

If I recall correctly, the satellites are in the nose of rockets located at Cape Carnival (or something like that)?  If so, then I do the mission by grappling up the towers, bypassing most of the govmen on the floors until I reach the top where I can grapple directly to the rocket and plant C4, then off to the next rocket using the grapple and chute.  Once I plant on all 3, then I set them all off simultaneously.

Spoiler

Once you get all three, there is a fourth that is taking off, and you need to quickly grapple to a runway where you'll find  an armed jet - this will allow you to shoot the rocket out of the sky

If I'm at 90-ish percent in any area, then and the parts indicator is completely blank, then it is usually a generator - when you see the small communication towers that are so tempting to shoot, don't forget that there is always a generator near it's base that is worth several percent.  I was just like you describe when I first started playing, but after I developed my personal style for rapidly navigating using the chute, everything went well.  In fact, I can get around Panau using the chute about as fast as I can using a propeller plane, and way faster than most cars.

[Fiach]

Cheers mate :) Yeah I did grapple, but when the timer starts and the grapple glitches, well its frustrating.

I was wondering if I was missing something, but apparently not.

I find the lift easier as it removes the random factor of the grapple, I was just annoyed between the grapple glitch and the camera getting stuck when I was in the chopper, causing me a couple of re-starts.

I think I'll just leave it until I can call a chopper as I just think its a sucky time consuming mission, I can get to each of the silos in time, its just the glitches that annoyed me.

I'd say the mission takes a good 30 minutes from home base to completion, plus knowing my luck/ineptitude a few re-try's will add about 20 more minutes to it.  :D

I just dont have time to concentrate on it, until maybe later in the weekend, I was just killing a bit of time before breakfast :) 


Thanks again PZ :)

[spaceboy]

That is the mission I was referring to earlier.  It is quite tough, I had to do it a few times before completing.   An easy way out is to use the DLC Chute Thrusters.  Once you get to the top of one tower you can just cruise over to the tops of the others.  So easy.  I used the stairs on my first playthrough, just shooting govmen along the way.  When you say "lift" was there actually an elevator I never saw that you can use?

I haven't experienced a grapple glitch that I recall - do you mean it was just connecting to the underside of a platform instead of the edge?  I have had that but I think its just the angle at which your trying to connect at.