Shadow Solo Run

[cockadoodledoo]

After my third playthrough on Mission Impossible I was tempted to try out a Solo Run, but not with an IMP-Merc that would be too easy (so I thought). So why not pick an elite Merc and thought yea Shadow is my man, as he was in JA2, where I often used him as one and only merc.
Awesome in theory: Being inspired every turn, being Hidden while running (you could literally kill the enemy while sneaking in broad daylight in front of their noses), high Agi, Str, Health all fine. Ofc his other stats are Bull like Mechanic 12, Ldrship 37....
What started as quite fun, quickly became a money hassle, most of my time I am running around to recapture Mines. At one point my equipment was broken and I was low on money, I was so broke that I had to hire Katlyna (Cheapest Rookie with Leadership 52) to train Militia in my remaining two mines and repair Shadows Equip.
Honestly, at this point the "pure" Solo Run was ruined anyways. Dont get me wrong the actual fighting is amazing sneaking and prowling unseen. Taking out entire Squads only with a knife, sniping out of the woods, silent and deadly, all that is amazing.
Somehow all that worked much better in JA2 or am I missing something, some tricks and cheesy tactics.

[halcyan2]

I also did a Shadow solo run (for the Lone Wolf achievement). It was fun and I really heart Shadow!

The biggest challenge was his low Mechanical skill. I spent much of the solo game self-training Mechanical so that I could install the weapon mods I wanted.

I didn't think money was an issue at all. I had plenty of it (especially only needing to pay for 1 merc) and I largely ignored training militia.

So if you want to do a pure solo run (without needing to temporarily hire someone else), you just have to go in expecting to spend a lot of time training up your Mechanical skill.

I did come to appreciate all of Shadow's perks (even Hit and Run) in the solo run. In a prior game (which was team based), I rarely used Hit and Run and felt it was a waste but it was actually quite useful in my solo run.

[COMRADE]

One thing that really helped me on my solo runs was using the Thermal scoped dragunov that you can buy at the Poacher's camp. You can buy AP ammo there, and HP from Fleatown, and that thing will carry you through the whole game. It respawns every in game week or so, so bring an extra in your backpack for when condition drops too low.

Other than that, accept that you won't be holding much of the map and focus on the objectives you actually CAN complete.

[cockadoodledoo]

Thank you both for the replies, but how did you self-train mechanical skill, from my understanding you can increase it only by 24hr Operation Repair, Modding Weapons and Lockpicking I think.
Oh and yes Dragunov with Thermal is indeed quite awesome, 1 shot = 1 death (if you are luck two ;) )
But how did you both managed the money thing, did you just ran from mine to mine and fullfilling objectives along the way?

[uncle nick]

Originally posted by cockadoodledoo:

...am I missing something, some tricks and cheesy tactics....

Yeah Nah, nobody will admit to it; but there is no need to capture any mines, so no need to train any militia, and no need to do every minor quests. Since you only have one merc, if you need money you can just intercept the diamond shipments. Using Shadow should be a walk in the park. I did it using a Kalyna with a sniper & melee perks build.

[cockadoodledoo]

Hmm yea I see, probably I just wasted time by doing a few sidequests. Best would be to rush A20 Eagles Nest then, though from previous experience I know its tough without Gas Mortar. But then again I should not be aiming for keeping the president alive. Its not that this fight is particulary hard tbh, its more that the president has no will to live...
@Uncle Nick Yea I found Kalyna to be not as bad as many ppl make her out to be, her unique ability is quite strong and was helping my team in another playthrough.

[uncle nick]

Originally posted by cockadoodledoo:

....its tough without Gas Mortar. But then again I should not be aiming for keeping the president alive. Its not that this fight is particulary hard tbh, its more that the president has no will to live...

Game Devs seem to have thought of everything, if you look at the problem like a puzzle, there seems to be a solution to every problem.

If you manage to pull this off using Shadow, i can guarantee you one of the best enjoyable experiences you will have playing this game.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3242856471

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https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3242878664

[halcyan2]

Originally posted by cockadoodledoo:

Thank you both for the replies, but how did you self-train mechanical skill, from my understanding you can increase it only by 24hr Operation Repair, Modding Weapons and Lockpicking I think.
Oh and yes Dragunov with Thermal is indeed quite awesome, 1 shot = 1 death (if you are luck two ;) )
But how did you both managed the money thing, did you just ran from mine to mine and fullfilling objectives along the way?

The methods you described are the ways to gain field experience for Mechanical.

You can self training through the Train Mercs operation. If you have multiple mercs you can have one teach the others. If you have a single merc, you can self Train, but the rate of skill growth is very slow.

I started with Diamond Red in the northwest, then Fosse Noire.

[cockadoodledoo]

Originally posted by uncle nick:

Game Devs seem to have thought of everything, if you look at the problem like a puzzle, there seems to be a solution to every problem.

If you manage to pull this off using Shadow, i can guarantee you one of the best enjoyable experiences you will have playing this game.

Very well done!!! Guess I was overthinking it too much. I will give this a try...

Originally posted by halcyan2:

The methods you described are the ways to gain field experience for Mechanical.

You can self training through the Train Mercs operation. If you have multiple mercs you can have one teach the others. If you have a single merc, you can self Train, but the rate of skill growth is very slow.

I started with Diamond Red in the northwest, then Fosse Noire.

Hah, lol and I thought I would need another Merc to train one, it would not have come into mind that he can be self-taught. Guess there is still a lot to know.

Thank you both very much, this is all very helpful.

[orochiart]

Originally posted by cockadoodledoo:

Hah, lol and I thought I would need another Merc to train one, it would not have come into mind that he can be self-taught. Guess there is still a lot to know.

Thank you both very much, this is all very helpful.

They added this in one of latest patches. Previously you couldn't self-train. Other mercs can train you to 90%. Merc can self train only to 80% and it is much slower.

[cockadoodledoo]

Just a little update, I did clear Eagles Nest with Hit&Run and it was quite fun. In the middle of the night and with sandstorm (the grazing effect on the shots actually helped to keep the president alive).
BUT I made it unnecessary hard on my self, so instead to opt out for damage perks I went full tank perks (with AP Gain Grit and all that Jazz) oh and I did all this without a sharpened Machete - kind of stupid and unnecessary more work.
So thank you all for the replies it was really helpful, as for the Run now Faucheaux is next, thinking about doing Diesel and Gruselheim as well, wish me luck!

[halcyan2]

Originally posted by cockadoodledoo:

Just a little update, I did clear Eagles Nest with Hit&Run and it was quite fun. In the middle of the night and with sandstorm (the grazing effect on the shots actually helped to keep the president alive).
BUT I made it unnecessary hard on my self, so instead to opt out for damage perks I went full tank perks (with AP Gain Grit and all that Jazz) oh and I did all this without a sharpened Machete - kind of stupid and unnecessary more work.
So thank you all for the replies it was really helpful, as for the Run now Faucheaux is next, thinking about doing Diesel and Gruselheim as well, wish me luck!

IMHO, I don't think the Health line of perks is that helpful for Shadow.

He already gets extra AP from Lone Wolf and has high Agility, so the marginal benefit of getting extra AP by not spending it all, is smaller. Plus, if you get Frogleaping, you will want to be next to cover (in which you can already save a small amount of AP for next turn anyway).

And then the Health line of perks includes a lot that gives grit, but Shadow's innate ability lets him get grit and you can only have 30 grit at a time.

I prefer the Dexterity (Deadeye, Sharpshooter, Assassination) and Agility (Frogleaping, Total Concentration or Anatomical Precision) lines of perks instead.

Good luck on the rest of your run!

[cockadoodledoo]

Originally posted by halcyan2:

And then the Health line of perks includes a lot that gives grit, but Shadow's innate ability lets him get grit and you can only have 30 grit at a time.

I prefer the Dexterity (Deadeye, Sharpshooter, Assassination) and Agility (Frogleaping, Total Concentration or Anatomical Precision) lines of perks instead.

Yes I totally agree, but I was already so far in, that I decided to stick with it. Its not too bad, I can stack up to 28 AP, which can easily cover half of the map and it did help to survive some surprising Crocodile encounters ;)

[halcyan2]

Originally posted by cockadoodledoo:

Originally posted by halcyan2:

And then the Health line of perks includes a lot that gives grit, but Shadow's innate ability lets him get grit and you can only have 30 grit at a time.

I prefer the Dexterity (Deadeye, Sharpshooter, Assassination) and Agility (Frogleaping, Total Concentration or Anatomical Precision) lines of perks instead.

Yes I totally agree, but I was already so far in, that I decided to stick with it. Its not too bad, I can stack up to 28 AP, which can easily cover half of the map and it did help to survive some surprising Crocodile encounters ;)

In normal games (with a standard party), you can easily get surprised by crocodiles.

But with solo Shadow, if you are in stealth, you generally don't need to worry about crocodiles.

Also, crocodiles are pretty easy to kill as long as your first shot is to target their legs. Then they really can't get close to you and you can just pick them off at your leisure.

[cockadoodledoo]

Another Update just finished the game Solo and you were all quite right, that was very rewarding. I also managed to get close to a perfect ending:
-President Alive
-Green Diamond in Museum
-Red Rabies cured
-Pierre became Military Advisor
(no Diesel Slide, bad Panta outcome, not enough evidence for Corazon)

But I learned a lot this run and from you guys!!!

Ps.
- I ended up with a bit more than 2million Cash
- got all his stats to 100 except Mechanical 64, Leadership 69, Explosives 60, Medical 63
- loved my Sharpened Knives and Machete, my PSG and my M82

Pps.
Whats next, maybe Blood Solo!?!