Tricks and tips

[mandru]

 :-D @ Art


Shangri-la, love it or hate it?

The color scheme at first was shocking but when it settled on me (my realization) that it is a rendering of an other worldly experience I appreciate the consistency of tone that has been present in its development.  It is a paradise world that's being tinged by an intrusive evil.

I know several of you have expressed a distaste for these missions.  I'll agree they are not exactly the style of play that you have purchased this game for but personally while being apprehensive of these missions (because of the tone of those comments) I have found the first two missions to be very enjoyable and I'm looking forward to the third.

(Side note: One of the bodies of water I was admiring was absolutely swarming with...  What else but demonfish.  They say that a player can't be injured by a fall in Shangri-la but I wasn't willing to test that theory in that situation.  )

Yes, I suspect I'm going to hate the final boss because it will change the complete approach I've been using to own the earlier missions.

My first attempt went like this:  I rushed in and was massacred.

Personally, this tipped me off that there's no time limits .  I laid back kicking over to stealth play, using the bow only when necessary letting the tiger's expertise directed by my discretion carry the load and enjoyed each and every successful kill.  >:D

I am coming under the opinion that I would willingly give up every thrown weapon that FC4 has to offer in the real world (of the game) if there was any way to bring the spirit tiger back with me.  ^-^

The first thing to note is that when you or your tiger are injured health is restored by time not spent in conflict.  On occasion (for yourself) first aid (through Heal) may be necessary if you've been too injured by a demon.

While moving through through Shangri-la Watch your Tiger!  By going into invisible mode it is alerting you that there a enemy presence very near.

An eager, willing and very capable companion the tiger tries to anticipate your movement.  It proceeds you as you move through the landscape.  If you want the tiger to hang back a bit you can turn and look behind you at an area you have already cleared.  Soon the tiger will be there in your field of view giving you a moment to move forward towards your objective without the tiger stirring things up among the demons.  I find this practice after using the tiger (to make a distant kill) also keeps him closer to full potential strength should it encounter any additional previously unnoticed demons as it returns to you until you are ready to make the next measured strike.

Used as a stealth weapon setting the tiger against a lone demon who has strayed out of the direct view of its demonic companions will result in a quick clean take down with little or no damage to the tiger and the time spent as the tiger returns to you restores it full reserves for the next strike.  Sending the tiger into a mob of demons will result in it's loss of energy and temporary loss of the tiger's presence through a full recharge.  This also causes increased agitation among the demons which will result in them seeking further afield for you as the directive source of the intrusion.

The tiger at full energy can even take down one of the fire spraying demons unassisted.

When up against demons that are using bows your tiger will often have arrows stuck in it.  I don't know if that actually impairs the tiger's effectiveness as you send it on additional forays but it does make the tiger a source of additional arrows by collecting them for your quiver if it's not topped off.  If my quiver is full I have developed a habit of wasting as many arrows as needed (into a near by rock so that I don't give away my location) to clear the tiger of possible ill effect the arrows may have against it.

Not counting my first catastrophic attempt, by moving around carefully seeking the demons that have strayed away from the rest and using the tiger to the best effect I've cleared the first two levels firing probably less than five arrows directly at demons themselves and only twice in self defense at close proximity when targeted by those demon beasts that one of the demon types are able to conjure.



I've come across some comments where the tiger has turned on a player attacking them.  It makes me wonder if the tiger also has the ally/enemy  distinction ability I mentioned in the elephants tip just above.  I'm not going to shag an arrow into my feline friend to explore this line of conjecture any further.

[fragger]

Nice, mandru :-X

I do admit, the Shangri-La missions grew on me a little, although I'm still not a huge fan. They are quite innovative and imaginative, I will give the devs that. I still haven't progressed beyond doing two of them though, just enough to ring the bells and unlock the breathing skill. I may take them all on for this next go-around.

I do like that slow-mo effect when you aim the bow and draw, that's kinda cool 8)

[Art Blade]

mandru, +1 :-X for that excellent post. :)

I remember my first try and how my gaming developed. I too grew kind of fond of the different type of experience which I didn't think I might, having read about some dreadful experiences of others. I'm still not a huge fan of those missions but the ambiance is stunning. However, I played it with full cheats and that was what made it an OK experience for me.

[PZ]

I didn't mind the first mission with the tiger either - seemed like a fun pet.  However, I personally did not like the environment, and thought it detracted from the immersion I feel in the rest of the game.  I think I'll go Art's way and use cheats simply to get through the missions,

Spoiler

especially the one where your tiger turns on you

.

Even though not too bad, I still felt side tracked much the same as in the boss mission in FC3 - the one with the fire arrows, giant gargoyle, and evil little munchkins trying to kill you

[mandru]

It would have been nice if they had actually made the flying portions of the Shangri-la missions inspiring and fun instead of frustrating.

I had to invert my flight controls to limp through those portions.  :-\\

[Dweller_Benthos]

Another tip for the Shangri-La missions is to try to find the previous seekers, they are the guys who went before you and died in various nasty means, and are currently suspended in time. Find them and interact with them and you get an extra health slot, which might come in handy. I think there are three for each Shangri-La mission.

[PZ]

It would have been nice if they had actually made the flying portions of the Shangri-la missions inspiring and fun instead of frustrating....

Unfortunately "frustrating" appears to be what the developers think gamers like - as if you keep with the frustrating activity long enough so when you finally complete it, you have a great sense of accomplishment.

Nice tip, D_B  :-X

[Art Blade]

yep, thanks, D_B -- I did get additional health slots but never knew why.  :-()

[fragger]

I discovered that although you can only put sidearms in the sidearms slot, you can put additional sidearms into any of the other slots. So if for example you want to carry a suppressed 6P9 for close-up stealth w@&k but still want to be able to fire grenades from your Buzzer, you can - put the M-79 grenade launcher in your sidearm slot for drive-and-shoot, and the 6P9 in another slot.

You can carry nothing but sidearms, four different ones, if you're so inclined.

[PZ]

Nice one, fragger  :-X

[mandru]

fragger, you just described the first two slots of my typical loadout.

I set Slot #2 (sidearms) to automatically pop up when shooting while driving.   But I'm not locked into the weapon in the #2 slot.  On the PC a 1-4 key tap will also call up any other side arms I've got equipped.

The first shotgun to unlock in the Signature group is a side arm, which I typically carry in slot #1 and the M-79 grenade launcher practically lives in slot #2.  When I'm driving and an enemy rams me head on with their vehicle it's too close of range to drop the M-79 on them.  I tap #1 to pull up the sidearm shotty and can often bag both the driver and gunner or a rear passenger with the first shot.  This works out good for me especially if I'm in a car or pick-up.  The shotgun does a whole lot less damage (to both of our vehicles) and makes it quicker to upgrade my ride to an AT.  I'll trade up to a better vehicle whenever possible.

For the point I'm at in the game (I just barely opened the bridge to the North) I find that I've allowed the silenced snipe rifle (Signature Predator) to take up permanent residency in slot #3 for those genuinely long shots and when I need serious oomph to head shot a heavy or if there's a troop far enough away from the rest of the group and out of line of site and hearing range of the others.

For slot #4 while I wish I was better with the recurve bow (forget head shots) handled with care I can almost always depend on it for ultra quiet one shot kills against most of Min's troops at mid through extended range.

[mandru]

Where I am playing at the Easy setting for the game I have found that the more difficult outposts and Fortresses (both with 3 alarms) will have one of the alarms malfunction and remove itself.  When I first come into the shaded active zone for my assault I'll hear a "Pop... Zzzt" and there will be an onscreen message saying something like "Alarm Deactivated".

I've never been blamed for the malfunction of the alarm as it arouses no suspicion if it's even noticed by the enemy.  They've never made a comment about it.

It wasn't until I approached Noore's fortress that I figured out there was a pattern behind this behavior and highly suspect that it's my difficulty setting affecting it.

[PZ]

Interesting, I never noticed that, but then again, the obvious often escapes me - just ask my wife

[fragger]

  PZ

I haven't noticed that alarm thing either...

I've found that the disappearing body thing happens in FC4, just like it did in FC3 - snipe a bad guy from extreme range, turn you back for a second or two, then turn around again and presto, the body is gone, so there's no risk of the other baddies finding it. However, it doesn't always seem to w@&k. Sometimes simply turning away doesn't do it, I'll have to switch weapons or reload or something. And even then it doesn't always appear to w@&k. It's doesn't appear to be as reliable a glitch as it was in FC3 :-()

Btw, we need a handy term for the enemies in FC4. We can't really call them mercs because they're not mercenaries. How about rags (Royal Army Guys) or mugs (Min's Uniform Guys)? :-D

[mandru]

I came across troops (troop/trooper singular) somewhere and have been using that.  It's shorter than Min's Royal Army.  ;)


I had cleared the map of all Collectable Propaganda Posters but still had two outstanding.  First I went into the adjustments for the map and turned off everything that was blue or things like the places and captured outpost markers.  In short anything that could cover up the icon for posters.  Still there were no markers found after several detailed searches on the entire map.  :-(

I happened to cruise past one of the old Propaganda Centers I'd cleared quite a while ago located at X:396.1 Y:601.0 and stopped for a walk through the area.  There in one of the buildings I found two boxes of posters that were flashing red.  Even though I stood next to the two boxes and moved away they failed to register on the map.

Dropping a C-4 charge between the boxes and moving back to a safe distance to discharge it removed those two boxes and completed that next to the last check list for me.  ^-^

[Art Blade]

How about calling those Bad Guys "BGs" [as in the Bee Gees, "staying alive.." (at least hoping to) >:D ]

[mandru]

This is a long post and I go into some fairly extended detail.  If you are not interested in the Shangri-La missions you might want to skip it but after a long fought final battle I thought that any helpful tips on this subject might be appreciated by anyone inclined to take them on.

I made it through all the Shangri-La missions and enjoyed all of them except the last one.  I'll put my gripes into the description of the final level.  ;)

I'll omit the tutorial screen In Game Tips and the fourth level's special companion (you get to w@&k that one out on your own  ^-^ ).


The best survival tactics I can offer follow.

The demons and their attacks you will encounter are:
basic demon (knife), Archer (some of their arrows are poison and will cloud your vision)
Beast Masters with their demon beasts (beast corpses explode if shot or even kicked  :-[ )
Wizards who shoot flame (I believe they are called that)

Then there's the final level Bird Beast Boss (among other names I've called him while in combat) which flaps around the field of combat conjuring the various demons and also strafing with fire.


On each level (except the last) take your time finding each of the three Seekers that had proceeded Kalinag(as mentioned I believe by D_B) to gain full health bars.  Besides the obvious benefits I found Kalinag's commentary at their discovery added back story and enriched the experience.  They are usually found in out of the way locations that are not under demonic assault so there is time to study the tableau of the frozen moment of their deaths.

If your health bar is down at all and you have a spare moment heal right away.  Kalinag has a disturbingly deadly habit of insisting on standing still while performing first aid and in seriously heated battle it is not uncommon to have stacked injuries.  Your health bar is not restored until all injuries are repaired.  Too often I encountered a situation where I had to slap out a fire, reset a broken finger or wrist and pull a poison arrow out of my arm (to clear my vision) standing stock still in one spot on my last health bar while continuing to be the pinata at a sugar craving kids party where they all have sticks and none of them are blindfolded.

Make full use of the tiger.  In the first four levels if it's killed there are no time requirements so there's no penalty for remaining under cover to allow it to respawn.

Keep an eye open for quivers of arrows and top off whenever possible.

Chain take-downs and Knife throw take-downs are fully functional in Shangri-La.  I found that it was often helpful when pressed so close from behind by a previously unnoticed demon that on those occasions I had to resort to a simple Knife take-down that if I twisted as killing the demon and hit the button for the the knife throw combo out of sheer luck I would also remove a second demon closing in on me.  In other words it doesn't hurt to get in the habit of pairing those two take-down button presses and because the demons appear in sets of pairs when spawned I found it will often help.

In early mission levels you will first encounter urns with a blue spirit flame coming up off them like a lamp which can be used as a weapon.  Shooting one of these urns especially when one of the demons are close to it will cause an explosion similar to the dead bodies of the conjured demon beasts when shot.  I don't believe the urns on the last level are lit (frankly I was too damn busy to make a clear accounting) but I recall them being scattered around on the ground and learned the hard way that shooting one of them to take out a demon when I was too close it injured me as well.


Into the last level.

This battle is particularly tough.  It takes place on a mostly flat plane with almost no cover so there's little chance for stealth.  Staying on top of your health is a must. Knife damage or a simple arrow hit can be repaired while running during the continuous scramble to stay alive that will be encountered here.  There's no limit on healing and first aid so healing simple injuries as they occur can be a literal life saver.

Keep a constant eye out for the randomly placed respawning quivers.  You will also on occasion recoup arrows you've killed demons with during your constant scrambling around.

Besides attack from the demons a death will result from falling off either the outside edge of the battle field or if you fall down the hole the chained Spirit Bell is suspended over in the center of the area.  While the raised lip surrounding the hole under the bell may look like a convenient vantage point to take a shot at the boss, trying to get out of the way of its return fire afterwards caused me more deaths than I care to count.

With the lack of any kind of heads up display or advancement notices I found the total lack of any kind of indication of exactly where you are throughout this battle particularly frustrating.  The bird beast's behavior is constant throughout the battle so don't look to it for clues to determine your progress.

The battle opens with basic demons (knives).  The ever present bird beast flies from place to place over the battle field pausing from time to time to either open it's mouth to scream followed by a series of targeting flame bursts or folding its wings across its face where upon emitting a burst of aural energy to conjure demons to the battle field.

Every time the bird beast pauses it is advisable to try to target its mouth with a volley of arrows should it open it.  Its mouth is the only vulnerable location on the boss but because it unpredictably alternates between a moment where you can injure it and calling for more demons always be ready to cancel your shot to conserve arrows should it become clear that a moment for you to attack will not arise.

Three successful strikes on the boss' open mouth will cause it to fall to the ground and you can direct the tiger to plunge into its mouth to do internal damage and give you an extra chance to get an open mouth shot.  If your tiger is temporarily out of service and awaiting respawn it will not be available to jump down the boss' throat and you will have wasted that opportunity as well as arrows.

It appears when the boss falls to the ground any demons present are removed from the battle field.  While directing the tiger to internally assault the boss and timing an extra shot at its mouth I was never interrupted by one of them.  The time freeze function of the bow and my focus on the boss kept me from looking around to see exactly what happened in those moments.

Edit: My most recent play through (using cheats) has shown the following to be incorrect.

My observations were flawed.  There are no check points.

Corrections are posted here: http://www.openworldgames.org/owg/forums/index.php?topic=3631.msg74338#msg74338

It looks like Check points in the final level are reached if you can (with no personal deaths) successfully down the boss and guide the tiger's direct internal attack three times.

So conditions to determine Check Points reached would follow:

Entry level = basic demons (knives)
First check point = Archers present
Second check point = Beast Masters and beasts
Third check point = Wizards (flame shooting)
Fourth check point = ?

Each sequential check point will allow the boss to call any random mixture of the current demon listed as well as those already seen.  I don't believe I ever saw more than four demons (other than the addition of conjured beasts) on the battle field at any one time.  But I was on the Easy setting and it may be variable depending on the difficulty level.


As for that ? for the fourth check point...  To be honest it was so frantic and I died so many times in the two or so hours fighting my way through this final mission that I completely lost count (this was the easy level?).  I don't know if there was an additional check point before the final round and ultimate defeat of the boss.

[PZ]

That last one sounds even worse than I imagined, mandru  ???

I guess I won't be doing that one

[nexor]

I didn't do the last mission   8-X
On easy I got killed so many times I stopped counting, and I played on easy   ???
How it will be on hard I don't even want to know   :D

[PZ]

This sounds like the dumbest sequence in a game I have heard of.  I detest scrambling around trying to stay one step ahead of ridiculously resistant foes, and being armed with only a bow?  SERIOUSLY!  What kind of an idiot would ditch his weapon set to take on a monster armed with a bow.

It is just this kind of thing that made me so resistant to purchase the game in the first place, and it irritates me that the Ubidiots programmed sections that I will do my best to avoid.

Looks to me like they are trying to throw everything but the kitchen sink into a game to capture as many sales as possible.

[mandru]

I understand that the Shangri-La portion of FC4 isn't suited to everyone's taste.  And yes. I had a lot more fun compiling details and typing up the list of dealing with that portion of FC4 than I extracted from that frustratingly chaotic last level of those missions.

But then I spent a lot more time figuring how to kill the final boss on the old NES game Metroid.  I'm either becoming a better gamer or that last Shangri-La mission wasn't as bad as I made it out to be.  :-D

I'm a cheap old schlub who rarely runs out and spends 50 bucks on a game.  So when I do pick one up I try to milk every bit of gaming experience out of it possible.  It's my nature to take a game apart and consume it in its entirety.  I'm in post game trying to get as close as I can to 100% complete as possible without buying the extra DLC.

Because of being post game there's not really the access to concentrations of Min's troops so I spent two and a half hours last night riding an elephant around to meet the Tusker Achievement by killing 50 enemies but out of that time it only took me forty five minutes to realize that you can't just smash a truck load of the for a double or triple kill.  You've got to get them out of their vehicles or the kill doesn't count as an Elephant Kill.  :D

Beyond meeting that achievement I learned that other elephants will come out and present themselves to you as a fresh ride to take the place of the increasingly injured one you've been riding, also that the entire time I never experienced an eagle attack.  

Then I moved on to earn the achievement requiring 50 kills with a flame thrower.

Actually I'm finding I'm disliking leveling up my Arena rankings to gain the sole remaining locked Bushman assault rifle more than anything else I've encountered in the game.

In the Arena's Unending Rounds competition I died 3/4ths of the way through the 19th consecutive round where upon I earned 1000 points leaving me 1/2 way between  rank 4 and 5.  And that was even after fighting through bonus rounds facing the Fashion Mission's rare animals consisting of that White Tiger, the elephant Thick Skin and the bloody freaking rhino Karkadann.

Oh yeah, by the way you need to reach rank 10 to unlock the Bushman.  ???

[PZ]

Oh yeah, by the way you need to reach rank 10 to unlock the Bushman.  ???

... or be an old cheater like I am - my son threw me one last night as we had a few minutes to free roam  >:D

Pretty slick weapon, but I still like going in low and slow with my 6P9

[Binnatics]

I admire your efforts in achieving all there is in the game, Mandru. I am usually like that as well. Hope you get your Bushman the proper way soon. Although I think the weapon isn't worth all the effort, it's nice to know that you earned it with blood and guts ;) :-X

[fragger]

I haven't bothered with the Arena past about level three, so I've never earned the Bushman (although Art gave it to me when we co-opped, but that was in during earlier playthrough). For a weapon that's really no tremendous shakes compared to the others in the arsenal, the time and effort required to earn it is pretty ludicrous. I would have thought something like the Buzzsaw would have been a more fitting trophy for all that Arena squabbling.

If I do ever decide to go for the Bushman, I think I'll go God mode for the Arena fights. Even then, it's still bloody time-consuming.

I'm like you mandru, I like to try and wring everything I can out of a game. Last playthrough I collected all posters, Death Masks, Journals and Lost Letters, as well as spinning all the Mani wheels and completing every side quest. The only things I left were the Arena, the last two Shangri-La missions and the rest of Reggie and Yogi's missions (after the first one) as these don't grab me much. Oh, and I left about 500 loot crates unopened :-()

Here's a tip for getting rid of the two guard dogs during whichever Brick Factory mission variant you do: throw a bait onto the road that surrounds the main building, near each dog. The dogs will go to the bait and start eating it, whereupon they'll get run over by those two jokers doing laps in the AT. Neither the guys in the truck nor the other human guards will react >:D

[nexor]

Sneaky bugger    :-D