Sneaky Strategies

Sneaky Strategies

When you first start playing the game and you start comparing your play experience in Campaign and then examine the Challenge Mode it becomes very obvious that you are looking at absolute opposites!  Then you consider some of the Achievements and the situation gets even more convoluted...

In Campaign Mode having a leveled-up player is a good thing, both because it gives you access to the more advanced abilities (and they are really useful) and because it gives you access to the other body types.  But when you approach the Challenge Modes the situation is just the opposite!  You do NOT want to have a leveled character because that makes the challenges worse!

Finally when we examine Achievements in the game it becomes very obvious that some of them -- the encrypted journal collection in particular -- require you to do things in the game that are not part of normal game play!

In the end, with a little careful planning and extra play, you can arrive at the end of the game with all of the elements in place to complete the Achievements without it becoming a major issue or inconvenience -- by using the Freeplay System to acquire your Rank and most of the Journal Entries!

Gaming the System through Freeplay Mode

First Step: Freeplay

To make your life a lot easier, it is a good idea to spend your first few hours in playing through ALL of the missions in Freeplay, using them as a tutorial slash  training system so that you become familiar with both the maps and the primary and secondary objectives, so your first session of play with the map set to any so it randomly rotates you through them all.

Your second session of play should be on the Shipyard Map ONLY -- please watch the video above to see how this plays out -- as your purpose here is to gain XP and Journal Entries and that is pretty much all you are doing.

For both session types you need to set up Freeplay with no bots, using the following settings:

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Game Settings
(1) Private Game-related
(2) Game Mode: Objective
(3) Play Mode: Versus
(4) Visibility: Friends & Invite
(5) Map: Any*
(6) Match Settings: Custom

Match Settings
(1) Min Team Size: 0
(2) Max Team Size: 8
(3) Required Players: 1

The rest of the settings are whatever you like them to be or none.

* Set to any for the first session, set to Shipyard for the second.
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Passive Achievements

As you play you will unlock Achievements without even trying --  just playing through a handful of Freeplay Missions over the course of an hour I got my Security Character to Level 16 and I unlocked the following Achievements:

-- Boom! (10 GP)
-- Cut 'em off at the pass (10 GP)
-- I think I know a shortcut (10 GP)
-- Oh I'm sorry, was that yours? (10 GP)
-- Use the wheel, earn more XP (10 GP)
-- Was it the red or the blue wire? (10 GP)
-- You shall not pass (20 GP)
-- You're going places kid (20 GP)

Note that the leveling up of characters is only for unlocking Achievements and for playing Campaign Mode and PvP/online...  You do not want to use a leveled character for stuff like the star challenges because the enemy matches your level.  For the star challenges you are best off making a new character and doing them at Level 1!

== As long as you leave the game set to Versus Play Mode you also gain audio logs when you play ==

== As long as you leave the game set to Online Mode regardless of whether or not you set it to Public or Private Match, you WILL receive the 20% XP Bonus for Online Play --

Note that when you complete each mission in Freeplay you get the same end assessment screen that you do in Campaign -- your XP is tallied up, you get your Level and Rank increases, and it shows you the items / abilities / collectibles that you unlocked for completing the mission if you Rank up.  As long as you score a reasonable amount of XP and have the game in Versus Mode you also get a new Journal Entry with each match you complete! 

There are a LOT of items / abilities / collectibles in the game -- and though it shows you the abilities you "unlock" you do not actually GET them until you buy them -- and to do that you have to be the right Rank and you have to have the required star points to spend.

-- Completing the Boost-able Achievements --

In addition to the Achievements that you unlock naturally while playing the Freeplay Sessions, there are some that require specific abilities on your character in order to unlock them.  To make life easier on you, here are the steps to take to finish unlocking the ability-related Achievements:

Setting Up Your Character

The first thing we need to do is configure our Level 20 (Rank 5) Character.  So, open the Character Menu and change their Body Type to Heavy under the Appearance Tab.  Now access the Abilities Tab and buy the following Abilities:

-- Universal > Grenade Shooting
-- Universal > Battle Hardened
-- Universal > Sprinting Grenade
-- Universal > Sprinting Reload
-- Universal > Downed Fire

-- Soldier > Kevlar Vest
-- Soldier > Extra Magazine
-- Soldier > Satchel Charge

-- Medic > Transfer Supplies
-- Medic > Self Resurrection

-- Engineer > Gear Head-first
-- Engineer > Command Post Upgrade
-- Engineer > Extra Landmine

-- Operative > Cortex Bomb

Now that you have taken care of configuration -- and yes, you can add other abilities if you like, the above are just the ones you need for the Achievements and to make life a little easier -- it is now time to unlock these. 

Boosting the Ability-Related Achievements

Select the first Campaign Mission -- it does not matter which side -- and then do the following actions:

(1) Set your Objective to Capture one of the Command Posts -- Health or Supply -- then go there and capture it.  Once you have it captured, if you are not already Engineer than make yourself an Engineer, and then access the menu for it and hold it until the timer runs out and you upgrade the Command Post, unlocking the Achievement "Pump up the volume!" (10 GP).

(2) Make sure you are still playing as Engineer -- then plant a pair of mines one next to the other in a hall where you know the enemy will run through -- they will run through detonating the mines in sequence, dying as a result, and unlocking the Achievement "You can place another mine now" (10 GP)!

(3) Change to the Soldier Class at any Command Post and go to the place where you laid the mines as that is a known transit path -- plant a few Satchel Charges then back off to where you can see them and when the enemy is near, detonate them to kill the enemy and unlock the Achievement "It's a trap!" (10 GP).

(4) Change to Operative Class then go to a group of enemy and let them down you - and detonate your Cortex Bomb to take them out, unlocking the Achievement "A bit of a headache" (5 GP).

(5) Change your class to Medic, then transfer all of your supplies to a teammate and you will unlock the Achievement "T'is better to give than receive" (10 GP)

That wraps up all of the elective ability-related Achievements!  Pat yourself on the back and feel good about getting them out of the way!  That also wraps up this section of the Guide.

WARNING: If after you reach Level 20 / Rank 5 and spend your ability points and THEN you sell the points to redo them you will LOSE A LEVEL!  You will be put back to Level 19, Rank 4, and all of the XP for Level 20 is deleted.  Once that happens it CANNOT be undone.  You have been warned.