Buddy locations

[Art Blade]

I don't remember exactly but I think I rescued Flora before completing all buddy missions (side missions I think that is) One of the buddies simply had disappeared (wasn't at Mike's any more). I remember that Flora became my rescue buddy but I think without ever offering me her missions. I will pay more attention on my next through. Hopefully :) All I know for sure is there are no side missions left and I only got 36/40. Could be, so if I rescued her (plane crash, too) before completing all buddy missions (one missing I think) and if she didn't offer missions due to rescue buddy status, that'd make sense.

[PZ]

I've been on PS3 for a while now, and due to how (and when) I play, I use a set of stereo wireless headphones - those in combination with turning off the music in the game has improved my ability to locate the direction of the sounds.  I recall sneaking into Polytechnic via the southern road and did not notice that there were a couple of mercs on the east side of the hill that I was sneaking along.  Almost jumped out of my seat when one of them spoke up right behind my right ear.  Quickly I whirled and peered over the hill and there they were, unaware of my presence.  This was one instance in which the sound localization was superb.

[Dweller_Benthos]

I think they made the voices loud so you can actually hear what they are saying, not to locate them, so ignore he voices and go by footsteps and other environment noise to find them.

[Art Blade]

Also, now I have some reputation, a couple of drivers and turned around and fled rather than taking me on which is a good acheivement :-).

I assumed that by "some reputation" you referred to like level 1 or 2.

I'm on my second through and about 70 hours away from the last (and only) time I gained reputation level 3. Now I have gained it the 2nd time (hurrying up now, done that Nitrous Oxide buddy mission). Indeed, I realise that those mercs have changed their lines, now they start showing fear... One line was "It's him! he can't be killed!"  ;D I also liked "1... 2... 3... all dead! where is everybody!" and "I don't wanna die, not like the others, let's make a deal, let me go" (or similar)  ;D They haven't run away though (yet).

[Art Blade]

Buddy locations

I can't find the last buddy in Bowa. All I say is, Houston, we have a problem. Can anyone help me?

My character is 1Andre.

In Leboa, I had those buddies:

2 Josip
3 Flora
4 Warren
5 Paul
6 Michele
7 Quarbani
(at least those are missing)

In Bowa, I have these:

8 Frank (best)
9 Nasreen (ex-rescue, recently deceased)
10 Xianyong (active rescue)
11 Marty (now giving me missions, since Xiang is rescue)

one is AWOL  ::)

I couldn't find him at the Brewery nor in Sedico. What am I doing wrong?

[Art Blade]

Alright, I can answer that question myself now. I was assigned a mission to rescue Hakim Echebbi. Got it in Port Selao.  :-[

[JRD]

He'll be in Sediko right??
I found him there............
It's a nice place to sneak in and use your 6P9

[Art Blade]

yeah... Only before that mission I thought I could free him like those spare buddies in Leboa. To my surprise, no one was there then. I didn't know I had to wait for a rescue mission.

[JRD]

Me neither, but I got that mission early in ACT II, had just one main mission done then... so I never went on setting m buddies free...

[spaceboy]

Here's a question.  When you get to Bowa, you do the barge mission straight away - that's 1 buddy, then you meet another (Nasreen for me both playthroughs) at the clinic and she tells you to go out the back door.  Is that supposed to be all until you rescue someone?

I can't remember from the first playthrough, but I was shocked that after saving Frank's butt at Mike's I was driving around having some fun and I wound up going into Mike's and both Frank and Hakim were there.

If that's not normal, I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact I left Leboa buddyless and the game needed to compensate... any ideas?

[JRD]

Here is what I got...
- Nasreen at the barge mission
- Andre at the clinic
- Arriving at Mike's... there is Frank.. out of nowhere
- Sediko - Hakim
Haven't been to the Brewery yet, but I guess Xianyong will be there (he's the only one left)...
That makes five!
I left Leboa with 3 / 6 dead buddies

[spaceboy]

Thanks JRD, I guess it was normal to have a 3rd bud out of nowhere.  Darn I wanted to find something new  :'(

[PZ]

JRD hit the nail on the head with that answer - 6 buddies in the north and 5 in the south - wasn't until my last play through that I finally realized that there are only 5 in Bowa, and that one of them simply appeared at Mike's.  Like spaceboy, I was hoping for another missing buddy, or at least another one to find out in the wilderness that needed rescuing.

[rick2468]

"I couldn't find him at the Brewery nor in Sedico. What am I doing wrong?"

In Sedico I missed the buddy the first time around.  There is a building with a door you have to open.  In that building there is a hole in the ceiling with a ladder (which I missed first time).  If you go up that ladder there is a bolted door where you find the buddy.  Hope it works for you!

Edit: Rereading the thread I see you have found him now! lol

A further development in my buddy missions.  I got 12 buddy missions in the north map and I have now done 20 buddy missions meaning I have 40/40 side missions.  Then a new buddy offered me missions after my number 1 buddy died (I tried 3 syrettes on him and he still died...so it seems that you can't always save buddies!).  I completed the buddy mission and on my stats page it now says I have done 41/40 side missions!!!

I am not sure whether to go back to an old save file and not bother with the extra buddy missions in case it causes a bug later on....what do you guys think?

I am now up to reputation level 4!  Doesn't seem to make a lots of difference to the combat though...only dialogue.

[PZ]

I think that you're correct - reputation level doesn't seem to do much for game play, although it has been reported that the mercs are more likely to hide when your reputation level is high.  The max I've ever achieved is level 5, and that was somewhere around the time of going into the heart of darkness, if my failing memory serves me correctly.

As to your other question, personally, I'd keep the current saved game and try one of the earlier ones.  That way you have an easy way to get back to where you are regardless of what happens.

[Art Blade]

funny read there, rick2468 :) still chuckling

Interesting... 41/40. Are there more survivors (rescue buddies) you could kill? Perhaps they keep assigning missions in turns, once another buddy misses out ;D

I'd do what PZ suggests. And I'd like to know what happens if you continue with that 41/40 save :)

[rick2468]

Ouch...not sure I want to risk it.  I heard this game is buggy!  Don't want my buddies to turn me buggy!

Well I'll press on with the 41/40 game and see what happens.  It was a bit annoying getting more buddy missions because I spent a few days doing all the side missions and was starting to make progress in the main game.

I've done the UFLL missions and 2/3 of the APR ones so I feel close to the end of the game.  I am still annoyed that the missions you do don't relate to the story but I'm hoping my persistance will pay off with a good ending!

[Art Blade]

not revealing too much, it takes a little longer if you don't go with a bang :)

[rick2468]

"not revealing too much, it takes a little longer if you don't go with a bang :)"

Wow...intriging.  Well can you just give me enough info to make sure I make the most of it even if it means a slight spoiler?  I only play games once through so want to get the most out of the ending!

[Art Blade]

that's about all there is... you'll have two options, you'll know what I mean when it's time :) Else, use your savegame. I did that and played both options today.

[rick2468]

Ah right it branches at the end.  If that's the case I'll make a save and play both routes.  Did the same for GTA4.  Cheers again for the info.

[PZ]

Good plan - and let us know what you think about the ending.

[JRD]

Even more... let us know if you DON'T feel compelled to start a new game

[spaceboy]

Well even if you don't feel compelled to go through all the missions straight away - the world offers so much fun (lots of great ideas for causing mayhem on this site)  You can just enjoy the world, take a few missions to buy weapons or simply load old saves at various points to try stuff out.  My "2nd" playthrough is technically only about 50% but I've done so much more to get here - if you know what I mean.  I liked the ending, so let us know what you think.

[Art Blade]

simply load old saves at various points to try stuff out.  My "2nd" playthrough is technically only about 50% but I've done so much more to get here

That is exactly what I did. I finished my 2nd through at a total of 70+ hours, did every mission available. I spent like additonal 20+ hours fooling around with saves. I'll move my savegames except the one where you've got everything, no mission assigned, before the jail part starts. Maybe another one where you got almost everything but still are on sickness level 0 (stamina at max, time between two malaria attacks at max)