So tips on figuring out the mole and the mastermind (spoilers obviously)

[Jackdaw Mask]

So I've figured out tons of stuff relating to mechanics of the game, but there is still lot I don't understand yet. Like, I have managed to figure out who is the mole on each playthrough, but I still don't know whether mechanically the each mole works identically and what the moles who aren't currently used as agents do.

So first thing first: If you have Melinda and/or Fungus find more info about the mole, they ALWAYS give you info on the correct mole UNLESS they themselves are the mole.

If Melinda is the mole, you can figure it out instantly by calling Vicky and asking her more on Melinda.

As far as I can tell everyone, except Scooter because he is good boi, can be the mole and they always have same clues to them, but the mastermind can be different.

Now what I can't figure out is to how to correctly interrogate them so that they give useful info out of them. Though Wuffric always easily tells who they are working for, but considering he is a spy who knows if he is giving false info on purpose. Either way, Melinda is one if easiest moles to deal with without feeling guilty about it since you can just drag her to rehab :p

Now on mole mechanics, they obviously tend to fail the missions they are good at, but they also tend to succeed missions where the failure would result in agent dying, but success doesn't really benefit you either. Idiot Chase is such an example. If failure results in agent dying, but succeeding is actually beneficial to you, they tend to fail with "Uh, nothing interesting happened" style message.

Another thing about moles is that if you send them on missions to help your other agents, they murder them. I don't know if this applies to all moles, but its one way to spot the moles if Clip Clop, Scooter or such just drops dead when otherwise success and failure in those missions does nothing.

Now on mastermind... Director, Welder and Janitor never seem to be the mastermind. I don't know whether mayor can be the mastermind or not because I don't think you can assasinate her without her sending armada down on you and you losing.

I don't really know how to identify all masterminds, but this is what I've figured out: ??? is mastermind definitely when mayor gets assasinated, Aoife seems to be the mastermind when you ask her on her questions and she doesn't reply with "Umm, we don't do it like that here" and instead responds with "We don't do it like that here" also she refuses to give you premium to stratocast no matter what when she is the mastermind. I could be wrong about this, but it also seems to coincide with professor x protest, in general nothing much violent happens when Aoife is the mastermind before the rebellion. I could be wrong about this deduction though since I one time managed to get event where Aoife was smuggling people on run where she wasn't the mastermind, so I'm honestly not sure what is extend of randomization in the game to throw you off. For all I know, her dialog could be completely random just to make you paranoid. Either way, you know for sure she is the mastermind if nobody tries to assasinate Mindy.

Mold is the mastermind when tons of characters start mobilising forces at same time, I don't know if all agents with that clue work like moles or not. Alberto is mastermind when violent stuff happens, including all prisoners dying and such, but it can be hard to spot difference from ??? before the point where mayor gets assasinated.

But umm yeah, fourth day is the day you will automatically find out who is the mastermind because part 1 of their plan occurs.(on fifth day nothing happens so its kinda reserved for striking back at the mastermind)

[David]

I think you should add spoiler tags inside your OP as well. These are all high-end spoilers because they tell you exactly how to solve the mole, etc. When the first few games are about intuition & guesswork, not certainties.

I've only read the first two tips, I already guessed both of those, but hadn't confirmed them. So that immediately confirms for me who is the mole in my current game. However for people stumble into this thread thinking it's just general tips from the title when it's actually game mechanics spoilers, they might not want to know what they are, they might want to figure them out.

I'm not going to read the rest because you've probably played more than me (only on my 7th run) and so had time to discover more than I have. I'll check back after a few more games maybe.

Fungus blamed Melinda, I was like.. nah I really doubt that.. it's Fungus then. I had the Vicky tip(non-mole one), aaaand Fungus had ties to the suspected mastermind, so I'm all about ready to whack-a-mole her, day 2, I was just checking alternative avenues and testing Melinda before I picked which one to hit.

[David]

I read the rest anyway, because by skimming I saw that it's all stuff I already guessed or knew about anyway. Except for Wurstik interrogation, I'll try that, I was worried he might die in a tangle. Which means that Scooter might get the same result. I already knew the former was good because of the mission results you get from him on certain missions, and the latter has it in his job description.

For the eleven or so moles, when you say it can be any, do you include Boris and Llamason in that? because I'm pretty sure it could never be Burmecia and Mindy .

Are you saying out of eight masterminds, it's always Litso, Mold, Albertino and Sweettooth?

I can tell you that some/all of your deductions about the masterminds seem to be incorrect those signs means they could be the mastermind, but it could be another based on who was the confirmed mastermind in my runs, but all of your deductions about moles seem to be correct, I was just playing to confirm them myself.

The most important mechanics to me right now are unlocking the last character and is it even possible to prevent the entire attack on Mindy? I've only had her likely not be targeted at all.. That's what I've been focusing on, and the achievements.

[Jackdaw Mask]

Ah, I meant that moles can be only characters who can be agents.(hence why I can't figure out who is the final agent since Boris, Butcher, Mindy and Burmy are never the mole as far as I can tell)

But yeah, I'll add spoiler tags in case. I definitely have better idea of mole mechanics than mastermind mechanics, even after 10+ hours(currently my total playtime is 20 hours) I still found new events in the game that I didn't see previously due to randomization and that I've never seen again. So I don't know if mastermind HAS to be one of those four, but as far as I can tell, director is always innocent and Janitor and Welder exists to hint true mastermind by events involving them. I don't know whether Mayor can be mastermind or not, at least I don't see any way to defeat her if she can be.

Oh yeah, on Fungus one thing I forgot to mention that is unique about her if she is the mole, you should never kill her because of her death switch <_< I'm not really sure how reputation affects the game, but I did in one playthrough where Droog went crazy got the authority lost game over, so presumably if your reputation goes low enough that can happen

[David]

How does that interrogation thing work? Wurstik. I tried sending them, but Fungus didn't reveal her master, and then I rang the person I sent, and they didn't know either.

I'm almost certain it's Litso though, her aggressiveness is off the charts, and I even have hard evidence(day 2). If it's not her, she's being framed.

[David]

How far have you got when Litso is the mastermind? I encountered a bug, when given a choice between stairs or elevator I'd recommend trying the latter until the bug is fixed.

[Jackdaw Mask]

I did manage to beat the game when Litso/Aoife was the mastermind, but I've only had that happen once <_< Or at least only once discovered them as mastermind and other times died too early to find out

[Cactusrat]

Originally posted by Jackdaw Mask:

I don't really know how to identify all masterminds, but this is what I've figured out:
Mold is the mastermind when tons of characters start mobilising forces at same time, I don't know if all agents with that clue work like moles or not. Alberto is mastermind when violent stuff happens, including all prisoners dying and such, but it can be hard to spot difference from ??? before the point where mayor gets assasinated.

So how are people figuring out a Mold Mastermind? Im confused by what is meant by "characters start mobilising forces at the same time" since every game every faction does shady ♥♥♥♥. I have figured out Mastermind for everyone but Mold, and I end up second guessing myself every run thinking that the Mold might be the Mastermind because it can literally infect anybody. Maybe I just haven't seen a Mold Mastermind run...

[David]

It's Mold. She's an alien fungus. BURN THE MOLD.

I failed her last time probably because I sent Rat Squad when I shouldn't. Seems like you can't make any mistakes when it's Mold.

[Cactusrat]

Yeah, actually taking mold down is whole other thing. Seems like getting as much help as possible is the way to go. But I'm never sure when she's the Mastermind behind it all.

[Jackdaw Mask]

Gotta agree, I've never won agaisnt the Mold. Heck I'm not sure i if bug that the clue appears on so many characters at same time automatically when you have progressed enough days since there is nothing to imply you found out about it somehow <_<

[Cactusrat]

I'm wondering if a clue early on points to Mold: the one about the furniture in Boris's flat being moved when you investigate the very first crime scene day 1 successfully. It seems like strange behavior for an assassin to do, maybe its one of Mold's drones? It doesn't seem like any other henchman would do that, but... I cant really figure out why it would be Mold either

[David]

Furniture being moved would normally be signs of a struggle or somebody looking for something. Boris isn't actually assassinated, he's kidnapped and he fought back. To be Molded most likely. It's also possible Mold rearranges the furniture because it's a hive-mind and it thinks like an alien. So it doesn't pick up on everything that would appear odd to us.