Watch Dogs

2014-07-08 01:17:11 pm

ctOS - Hack complete - Hacking SDA

Random_Machine on the act 1 routing ideas right after you gain control of Aiden and narrowly miss being seen by the cops, I can't seem to do, I always get caught and can't seem to figure out why?
Could it be the console difference or am I just missing something blatantly obvious?

Random_Machine

2014-07-08 01:23:06 pm

It might be your difficulty level. Change it to easy in the options if you didn't do that already.

Joeb_

2014-07-08 01:24:21 pm

ctOS - Hack complete - Hacking SDA

Quote from Random_Machine:

It might be your difficulty level. Change it to easy in the options if you didn't do that already.

You were right
Thanks Smiley

Ouga

Edit history:

Ouga: 2014-07-09 12:11:06 pm

2014-07-09 12:06:00 pm

Back from break. Have tried to use all the new strats, some fails and some success on the last run. 4:15:38 pb now, with 3:58:xx sobs. Sub 4 dream getting closer Tongue

Some notes from last run: A3M2 launcher strat worked weirdly for me. The 2nd guy who you're supposed to explode didn't start walking at all almost, might be related to how the first grenade shot hit the building. Maybe I exceeded range requirement for him to hear it? Since I kinda aimed at the fence, not the house. This issue didn't happen a single time while practicing though, for him to remain unmoved.

Slayer's A1M4 bridge jump strat, which seems to be the fastest, can bug the game to think you haven't completed the sub-goal because you reach the end goal at the same time. It's not safe, so better go for the 2s slower strat.

Slayer's A1M1 chase strat seems better usually. However I did it thrice today and once the cops saw me, eventhough I did it the same way every time imo (fail was on the PB). The escape can actually be still pretty fast, but the more competitive it gets, you can't really lose 25s at the 5min mark.

A4M3 kill strat: done it 5+ times, did not find consistency for the fast mission completion even if you just kept chain-shotting grenades for every car without missing time at all. Sometimes it happened, sometimes not. It does feel a bit timer related (faster the better) but sometimes I felt like perfection wasn't enough.

Back from break. Have tried to use all the new strats, some fails and some success on the last run. 4:15:38 pb now, with 3:58:xx sobs. Sub 4 dream getting closer :P

Some notes from last run: A3M2 launcher strat worked weirdly for me. The 2nd guy who you're supposed to explode didn't start walking at all almost, might be related to how the first grenade shot hit the building. Maybe I exceeded range requirement for him to hear it? Since I kinda aimed at the fence, not the house. This issue didn't happen a single time while practicing though, for him to remain unmoved.

Slayer's A1M4 bridge jump strat, which seems to be the fastest, can bug the game to think you haven't completed the sub-goal because you reach the end goal at the same time. It's not safe, so better go for the 2s slower strat.

Slayer's A1M1 chase strat seems better usually. However I did it thrice today and once the cops saw me, eventhough I did it the same way every time imo (fail was on the PB). The escape can actually be still pretty fast, but the more competitive it gets, you can't really lose 25s at the 5min mark.

A4M3 kill strat: done it 5+ times, did not find consistency for the fast mission completion even if you just kept chain-shotting grenades for every car without missing time at all. Sometimes it happened, sometimes not. It does feel a bit timer related (faster the better) but sometimes I felt like perfection wasn't enough.

Random_Machine

2014-07-09 02:40:36 pm

I skimmed through through your run and this is what I saw:

You forgot to use the restart mission trick for a few missions again:
A1M2 (no need for the vehicle because you teleport closer)
A1M9
A2M5 (you remembered, but it was too late)
A2M8
A3M2
A4M5 (you don't even use the vehicle to drive closer)
A4M6

You did the Bedbug teleport/shortcut strats in A2M8 by looking away from his car, but you didn't notice it.

It looked like the 2nd guy in A3M2 started moving around, but he didn't walk in the path of the explosion. You can try to trigger the other explosion near the American flag as a backup strat. This should make him vulnerable to the explosion that you kill him with.

The A4M3 grenade launcher strats are still faster than the blackout strats without the fast mission completion. Like you, I did not figure out a way to get the consistent fast mission completion. Just do the strats and hope that you get the fast mission completion with optimal shooting.

I'm also thinking of new strats by using explosions. Explosions make everyone in the area move towards a specific spot. That way you can just ride the bike around without the guys detecting you. I tried it in A3M4, but those guards are inconsistent. A2M6 could use this explosion strat, but I don't know if it will save time. Don't know if any other missions can use the strat. However, I will look more into A2M6 and A3M4.

I skimmed through through your run and this is what I saw:

You forgot to use the restart mission trick for a few missions again: 
A1M2 (no need for the vehicle because you teleport closer)
A1M9
A2M5 (you remembered, but it was too late)
A2M8
A3M2
A4M5 (you don't even use the vehicle to drive closer)
A4M6

You did the Bedbug teleport/shortcut strats in A2M8 by looking away from his car, but you didn't notice it.

It looked like the 2nd guy in A3M2 started moving around, but he didn't walk in the path of the explosion. You can try to trigger the other explosion near the American flag as a backup strat. This should make him vulnerable to the explosion that you kill him with.

The A4M3 grenade launcher strats are still faster than the blackout strats without the fast mission completion. Like you, I did not figure out a way to get the consistent fast mission completion. Just do the strats and hope that you get the fast mission completion with optimal shooting.

I'm also thinking of new strats by using explosions. Explosions make everyone in the area move towards a specific spot. That way you can just ride the bike around without the guys detecting you. I tried it in A3M4, but those guards are inconsistent. A2M6 could use this explosion strat, but I don't know if it will save time. Don't know if any other missions can use the strat. However, I will look more into A2M6 and A3M4.

Ouga

2014-07-09 07:51:54 pm

No need to remind about restarts, I'll do them properly eventually. Focusing during runs is overrated.

In A3M2 any explosion sound should do the same effect really. In heat of the moment I ended up shooting towards him with launcher, which might have made him more confused than just shooting near myself. I'll just shoot close to myself in the future.

I wonder what causes the IED bug where you aren't able to throw any. It has happened twice now, on Iraq's roof, where it shows where you're aiming it, but will not release it. I forgot to check if it kept going after reloads etc.

A2M6 hrmm. I'm going almost straight lines from place to place on it, ofc killing 3ish people though. You actually shouldn't have explosions at that point, except the frag grenades if you looted them in A1M7. Picking nades there probably costs more than you'd save on A2M6 :p Anyway what happens to me is, I kill the dude at gate with silencer, and the guy near 3rd hackspot tends to always walk there to investigate, thus making it straight line to go from 2nd to 3rd.

I'm wondering what'd be the best way to do A4M2 - to already have cops on you before killing the fixer or not. I've tried to cause alarm by shooting people as soon as you start, and have managed to fit in yellow circles properly, but the alarms turn off once you kill the fixer. I'm thinking I should let cops come to my sight range before killing the fixer, thus starting the escape part faster. During blackout you should still lose them pretty easily. At least at the better fixer spawn this should be better way of dealing with this I think since you have the guaranteed steampipe kill. On the northern one I still use my get-out-of-car-and-glauncher strats that might become problematic if you already have cop cars on you.

No need to remind about restarts, I'll do them properly eventually. Focusing during runs is overrated.

In A3M2 any explosion sound should do the same effect really. In heat of the moment I ended up shooting towards him with launcher, which might have made him more confused than just shooting near myself. I'll just shoot close to myself in the future.

I wonder what causes the IED bug where you aren't able to throw any. It has happened twice now, on Iraq's roof, where it shows where you're aiming it, but will not release it. I forgot to check if it kept going after reloads etc.

A2M6 hrmm. I'm going almost straight lines from place to place on it, ofc killing 3ish people though. You actually shouldn't have explosions at that point, except the frag grenades if you looted them in A1M7. Picking nades there probably costs more than you'd save on A2M6 :p Anyway what happens to me is, I kill the dude at gate with silencer, and the guy near 3rd hackspot tends to always walk there to investigate, thus making it straight line to go from 2nd to 3rd.

I'm wondering what'd be the best way to do A4M2 - to already have cops on you before killing the fixer or not. I've tried to cause alarm by shooting people as soon as you start, and have managed to fit in yellow circles properly, but the alarms turn off once you kill the fixer. I'm thinking I should let cops come to my sight range before killing the fixer, thus starting the escape part faster. During blackout you should still lose them pretty easily. At least at the better fixer spawn this should be better way of dealing with this I think since you have the guaranteed steampipe kill. On the northern one I still use my get-out-of-car-and-glauncher strats that might become problematic if you already have cop cars on you.

Random_Machine

2014-07-09 11:09:58 pm

I watched A3M2 again. It looked like you should have waited longer for the guy in A3M2. He started moving when you tried to go over there with the bike. That was your chance to kill him with the hack.

Not sure what's going on with the IED bug. I've had another bug on that same roof where I used 2 IEDs for 1 thrown. It didn't make any sense for me to lose 1 IED there. This was with a save that started on the roof though.

A bike can spawn behind you after you restart A2M6. That is the thing I'm interested in. The bike can save time for that mission if you drive for most of the mission. Sometimes the bike doesn't spawn so use the regular strats if that happens. But I still have yet to time the strats to see if the bike is worth it.

There must be something different with my game because the yellow circles don't disappear for me after I kill the fixer. I tried it by restarting the mission and there was no difference. Quitting the mission and starting it again didn't change anything. Also, there is a quick kill for both of those spots. Shoot the van with the grenade launcher at a distance where the fixer won't spot you.

I watched A3M2 again. It looked like you should have waited longer for the guy in A3M2. He started moving when you tried to go over there with the bike. That was your chance to kill him with the hack.

Not sure what's going on with the IED bug. I've had another bug on that same roof where I used 2 IEDs for 1 thrown. It didn't make any sense for me to lose 1 IED there. This was with a save that started on the roof though.

A bike can spawn behind you after you restart A2M6. That is the thing I'm interested in. The bike can save time for that mission if you drive for most of the mission. Sometimes the bike doesn't spawn so use the regular strats if that happens. But I still have yet to time the strats to see if the bike is worth it.

There must be something different with my game because the yellow circles don't disappear for me after I kill the fixer. I tried it by restarting the mission and there was no difference. Quitting the mission and starting it again didn't change anything. Also, there is a quick kill for both of those spots. Shoot the van with the grenade launcher at a distance where the fixer won't spot you.

Random_Machine

Edit history:

Random_Machine: 2014-07-11 02:26:48 am

2014-07-11 02:24:56 am

Here's the explosion strat for A3M4. It's risky because the guards do not always act this way. There's the autosave if the guards spot you while you're doing the hack. I'd say it works at least 70-80% of the time.

A4M2: Like I said, killing the fixer doesn't do anything to the yellow circles for me. Also, here's the grenade launcher strats.

Ouga

2014-07-11 08:30:06 am

Yeah I pracced GLauncher strats for A4M2 myself yesterday, improved it by a lot. GL's range seems to be 75ish, while cars don't start traveling until 65m, so there's clear room for launcher strats. Yellow circles didn't disappear to me either when I never alarmed the fixer. For once actually ended up with identical strat on my own. I won't be doing A3M4 GL strats though. But the final position for bike before hacking seems good for not getting out of bike.

I don't do vids, but A2M3 strats have improved a bit too. Haven't seen how slayer exactly does it, but based on what he had said I do it similarly as he. So the difference is killing 2nd roof guys by going to 2nd roof yourself, and this is important because you're closer to Clara's car and can jump straight there afterwards. This is what I didn't realize before, that Clara actually stops idling once Aiden says that one line when he gets to her car, thus you can start retreating faster. I retreat with a car from motel's parking slot without actually killing the last wave of car reinforcements, since they can't chase you.

Yeah I pracced GLauncher strats for A4M2 myself yesterday, improved it by a lot. GL's range seems to be 75ish, while cars don't start traveling until 65m, so there's clear room for launcher strats. Yellow circles didn't disappear to me either when I never alarmed the fixer. For once actually ended up with identical strat on my own. I won't be doing A3M4 GL strats though. But the final position for bike before hacking seems good for not getting out of bike.

I don't do vids, but A2M3 strats have improved a bit too. Haven't seen how slayer exactly does it, but based on what he had said I do it similarly as he. So the difference is killing 2nd roof guys by going to 2nd roof yourself, and this is important because you're closer to Clara's car and can jump straight there afterwards. This is what I didn't realize before, that Clara actually stops idling once Aiden says that one line when he gets to her car, thus you can start retreating faster. I retreat with a car from motel's parking slot without actually killing the last wave of car reinforcements, since they can't chase you.

Joeb_

2014-07-11 03:26:25 pm

ctOS - Hack complete - Hacking SDA

During my latest run I noticed on A1M2 when you're inside Nicky's house I mashed the profiler button while looking then looking away from Nicky and when her phone rang the convosation cut straight to "the police can trace this call" and then I could hack Nicky without hearing the convosation.
Have any of you guys experienced this?

HoboWithaShotgun

2014-07-11 05:22:40 pm

Wake up and be awesome

That trick you saw joeb is something that we've seen before. It's what I like to call the phone call skip. There are lots of ways to do this but the most consistent strat is just walk between Nicky's room and the hallway before the call. If you keep walking back and forth, you'll get the call skip 100% of the time. Look at ougas runs, he does that same strat

Joeb_

2014-07-11 05:49:00 pm

ctOS - Hack complete - Hacking SDA

Quote from HoboWithaShotgun:

That trick you saw joeb is something that we've seen before. It's what I like to call the phone call skip. There are lots of ways to do this but the most consistent strat is just walk between Nicky's room and the hallway before the call. If you keep walking back and forth, you'll get the call skip 100% of the time. Look at ougas runs, he does that same strat

Ah thanks

it really confused me at first Tongue

Ouga

2014-07-12 10:09:52 am

Another DLC issue: apparently the "fedora DLC" gives you +battery and some decent gangster rifle from the beginning. By the looks of it, seems better than AK47, so it's kinda big deal. Also if you have the DLC, there's no way to disable the benefits, so the +battery thing at least stays all times. Slayer also said he got the same half prize for vehicles with the DLC? Blaeh with all the DLC crap Tongue

HoboWithaShotgun

2014-07-12 11:18:48 am

Wake up and be awesome

Well that sucks. I would say ban that new rifle but the extra battery could make a big difference in the run. I'd say just try to always have one battery left and pretend like the dlc doesn't exist but I know that sounds like a crap idea

Random_Machine

2014-07-14 12:47:17 am

You should look at Slayer's A2M3 again Ouga. There is no need to jump off the roof to get to the 3 snipers. Just walk along the same roof to get to the other side. Also, you don't have to wait around at Clara's car. No need to wait for Aiden to say anything either. Going to the car once will trigger Clara to come over there.

That A2M8 earlier was unfortunate. You hit one of the blackout poles and that disabled the cameras. An alternative is to make Bedbug come over there near the fences. Maybe crash the bike into the fence to lure him over. That way you can will able to see him again on the way back without cameras. It should also save some time.

I think that something must be up with A4M2 in full runs. The police disappear in full runs, while they don't seem to do that in practice.

Ouga

2014-07-14 07:24:34 am

Never saw his A2M3, just like alpha version of it 2 weeks ago. Didn't even know roofs were connected Tongue

Had some bad experience in the past, where Clara didn't go to car even if somewhat closeby, unless Aiden told her to.

Right, must have been blackout. I guess I have to look what poles to avoid in it more carefully then.

And noticed the same for A4M2, never messed up on prac file but then on only run afterwards didn't work. Might just have to try on prac to wait until cops are in range until shooting with GL, should be the way.

Ouga

Edit history:

Ouga: 2014-07-16 04:06:27 pm

Ouga: 2014-07-14 07:22:01 pm

2014-07-14 03:55:48 pm

A4M2 is pretty annoying :/ I prob will have to prac it by making post-A4M1 bunker save, and then see how the game reacts. On today's run people didn't even call cops or not sure what happened, but after killing fixer cops didn't spawn once yellow circles found me, apparently due to using blackout too early. I don't know if this is common bug, of enemies not spawning with too early blackout. Anyhow, ended up killing civilians after wondering what's up, thus making circles appear again, and only then did cops finally spawn. I really think the best way to do it to make sure you're hunted before you kill the fixer, and let cops see you, but will have to test on that with earlier save.

Another mission I don't like is A3M3. The heli stopping if you go ahead of it seems like a stupid bug but I can't see how to fix it. There's ways to be at the camp way before it, and would be nice if you could start working stuff there before heli comes, but guess not? Seems lame the only way to fail the first half of the mission is to be too fast Sad

A4M2 is pretty annoying :/ I prob will have to prac it by making post-A4M1 bunker save, and then see how the game reacts. On today's run people didn't even call cops or not sure what happened, but after killing fixer cops didn't spawn once yellow circles found me, apparently due to using blackout too early. I don't know if this is common bug, of enemies not spawning with too early blackout. Anyhow, ended up killing civilians after wondering what's up, thus making circles appear again, and only then did cops finally spawn. I really think the best way to do it to make sure you're hunted before you kill the fixer, and let cops see you, but will have to test on that with earlier save.

Another mission I don't like is A3M3. The heli stopping if you go ahead of it seems like a stupid bug but I can't see how to fix it. There's ways to be at the camp way before it, and would be nice if you could start working stuff there before heli comes, but guess not? Seems lame the only way to fail the first half of the mission is to be too fast :(

Random_Machine

Edit history:

Random_Machine: 2014-07-14 09:59:19 pm

Random_Machine: 2014-07-14 09:57:16 pm

Random_Machine: 2014-07-14 09:57:05 pm

2014-07-14 09:52:56 pm

A4M2 is a strange mission. It didn't change for me even though I did the mission off of a A4M1 save. Blackout shouldn't be used before the scan completes because that can make the cops disappear as well. The full run's A4M2 looks like it is not possible to get the cops on you before the fixer is killed. You can try to test the strats in full runs, but I think the cops will disappear even if the scan is completed. There is also the shortcut to A4M3 that you didn't use. No need to go to the entrance of the tunnel to get to A4M3(check my A4M2 again for the shortcut).

Don't go ahead of the heli if it keeps failing you. Besides, you have to wait for the helicopter anyway to profile the guy behind the fence. You didn't go ahead of the heli until you reached the camp,so try to profile the other guy from further behind. Park the bike further away to be safe. I also tried what you did in your pb by going ahead of the heli. It's doable, but you have a small amount of time to crouch behind the trailer and start the profiling.

Also, I timed the A2M6 explosion strats. They can be faster through optimization but are not worth the trouble. There's too much risk with the strats.

A4M2 is a strange mission. It didn't change for me even though I did the mission off of a A4M1 save. Blackout shouldn't be used before the scan completes because that can make the cops disappear as well. The full run's A4M2 looks like it is not possible to get the cops on you before the fixer is killed. You can try to test the strats in full runs, but I think the cops will disappear even if the scan is completed. There is also the shortcut to A4M3 that you didn't use. No need to go to the entrance of the tunnel to get to A4M3(check my A4M2 again for the shortcut).

Don't go ahead of the heli if it keeps failing you. Besides, you have to wait for the helicopter anyway to profile the guy behind the fence. You didn't go ahead of the heli until you reached the camp,so try to profile the other guy from further behind. Park the bike further away to be safe. I also tried what you did in your pb by going ahead of the heli. It's doable, but you have a small amount of time to crouch behind the trailer and start the profiling.

Also, I timed the A2M6 explosion strats. They can be faster through optimization but are not worth the trouble. There's too much risk with the strats.

Random_Machine

Edit history:

Random_Machine: 2014-07-15 08:05:14 pm

Random_Machine: 2014-07-15 08:05:08 pm

Random_Machine: 2014-07-15 08:05:07 pm

Random_Machine: 2014-07-15 07:59:38 pm

2014-07-15 07:58:25 pm

I found that you can enter the car in A1M2 before Aiden traces the guy's call. You have to quickly dash over to the car after the house cutscene. This allows you to do the quick kill(where you shoot the guy in the head) more easily if you drive closer to the guy's car.

You can get on the bike during the cutscene in A1M7 where the screen focuses on the helicopter. Slayer found it a while ago, but he didn't put the strats in any video.

Random_Machine

2014-07-16 11:04:30 pm

The A1M2 quick kill strat is risky to do. It definitely requires practice to pull off consistently. You can save several seconds if you pull it off. Here's the strat:

Ouga

2014-07-17 04:04:35 pm

I got the A1M2 strat today on a run, quite accidentally. But when I pracced getting to car (loading the save before nicky) I wasn't getting in the car most of the time. I think I'll use that strat only when I enter the car. I'm not sure about dmg between guns, but I think the 2star pistol has better shot at killing him. Feels that way, don't know.

Got 4h04 today. There hasn't been that much huge time savers in some time, so I think I'll grind the sub4 and then take a break. For two weeks, two months or forever. Just seems like a good goal to finish for now. But sub4 is def possible, there were again couple missions where I lost 90secs.

Random_Machine

2014-07-18 12:17:53 am

I have a couple of reload autosave strats. The first one is after A1M1 when Aiden wakes up from the bed. Wait for the autosave to show up then reload. You will skip the walk to outside. Don't have to wait for Aiden to get up from the bed either. It saves around 10 seconds.
A1M5 is another place. Reload the autosave after hacking Bradley's computer. That should skip most of the conversation with Clara. You do lose the bike, so there might be a problem with that.

Ouga

Edit history:

Ouga: 2014-07-18 10:19:05 am

2014-07-18 10:17:27 am

Slayer has been doing the a1m1 loading forever, I just thought it wouldn't save time. Now tried, seems like 9sec save. Damn ain't Aiden slow in getting out of bed!

Tried A1M5 both ways, and initial feel would be that reloading saves time on average. Since first scan comes when you're still on garage and just entering a bad car, you probably won't get easy scan pattern very often. Would be nice if there was guaranteed way to have no moving scans, since those tend to come one at a time towards the end and costing more time. Scan section can really cost over 30s more with bad luck than with the best luck :/

Random_Machine

Edit history:

Random_Machine: 2014-07-19 02:00:48 am

Random_Machine: 2014-07-19 02:00:16 am

Random_Machine: 2014-07-19 01:29:03 am

Random_Machine: 2014-07-19 01:27:02 am

2014-07-19 01:26:21 am

Here's a 20 second time save to your PB. There is no need to get any of the random trucks when traveling to A4M6 because a fixed bike spawn is in the same area. It's somewhere further to the left of the walkway. You should be able to find it parked in the grass.

Random_Machine

2014-07-19 11:52:53 pm

I found another reload autosave strat. This one is after you hack the ctOS tower in the beginning of act 3. 40-50 seconds should be saved because you skip the conversation between T-bone and the guy.