Monaco Techniques

[KimonoBoxFox]

I thought it might be a cool idea to take turns sharing tricks we've each discovered here--to the end of helping people, new or veterans, get better at the game. Everything from basic tricks and etiquette, up to advanced techniques and exploits. Knowledge is power, after all.

I'll start with a couple basic tricks regarding alarms.

I call the first one a "Manual Alarm Kill". It's pretty simple:

If you trip an alarm, and don't have a virus or convenient power-out, just walk up to the alarm (the glowing red thing) and use it by hand. Even if you get spotted in the process by the first guard to respond, this'll stop more from coming running.

As a bonus, the Hacker can perform the manual kill much faster (when he lacks an outlet), while the Redhead charms the first respondent, protecting her while she performs the alarm kill. Just make sure it's an alarm you can physically reach. Some get protected behind inconspicuous ropes/props.

The next one, I call a "Co-op Alarm Kill":

When you don't have an item, power-out, virus, etc--manually open an ATM, while your teammate stands by the nearby alarm and disables it. Then, you won't be exposed to an attacking guard (for as long, anyway)!

As one last aside; the locksmith opens ATM's much faster, so a locksmith/hacker or locksmith/redhead pairing can pull this off quick in a pinch.

What about the rest of you? Got a useful trick that helps you out?

[Reality]

When you move through a rotating laser (especially 45 or 90 degree ones) it will track you for maybe half a second (across it's entire range) before going off, but you can get away without it going off in that time. This is easiest to use by following a laser to the place where it changes its rotation, and then running through the 1 row of tiles it covers.

Doesn't work on non moving or flickering lasers.

You can shove guards or civillains before they notice you by running at them. You can move them maybe 3-4 spaces before their attack/runaway AI kicks in and makes them immune. This can let you open locks, double locks, and handscan doors in exchange for health, and be used creatively if you have a place to run in mind before you do it.

Also when you shove a guard, even though it fills his question mark, he'll automatically face away from you so you (at the point where hearing running will put him in attack mode and turn around) but if you start sneaking right after contact, you can get him to stand in place and go his "where did he go" cycle. Not very useful or easy to pull off.

However, if you shove a guard outside a normal door(lock not required) or handscan door, and run back through to the other side, he won't physically see you heading in, and stop after he turns around. You can even do this with gendarme. Pretty much impossible with latency in co-op games though. You can abuse it to a degree with normal corners though.

[KimonoBoxFox]

To elaborate, on the above, here's a trick for fooling AI, that you can use as a follow up to something like shoving them through a door:

The "Force Sneak":

When approaching a guard at any alert level, sneaking 'directly' through their space to the opposite side, will cause them to lose sight and aggro of you for a moment! You can chain this repeatedly, to stall the guard's attacks and slip around a corner, or push past a k9 unit or watchman that has you cornered, before they start attacking. Then you can walk away uninjured (or hey, at least 'less' injured)!

This technique works especially well with gun-using guards like doctors, police, and agents, to reduce the number of potential shots they get in on you. Use it when you're absolutely going to get seen!

In fact, if you are the Redhead, and your charm is free, you can Force Sneak an already-aggro guard, to give you the moment you need to hide from them. This allows you to shake a guard that's after you, with no cover whatsoever, and then charm them. It won't work on guards who are chasing another thief, though your charm works on these guards as normal.

(EDIT:) I've recently found that the "Force Sneak" is also a good way to get a key from an attacking guard. The moment you push through them and break aggro, you will snatch the key from them, as they calm down momentarily.

Also, while we're talking about lasers, let's discuss "Sweep Laser Kills".

As any class, if you approach the base of a 90 degree sweep laser from the side, as it begins to reverse direction, you can still have enough time to disable it manually. Even though it may touch you as it pans back your way, you won't trigger it as long as you finish disabling it before it has a second or two to trip. The hacker makes this technique possible at even tighter approach angles! Practice! It's very useful to have this technique down, when you don't have a virus or power-outage.

[mkzzz12]

If you've played for a while, and seen some of the advanced tutorials, you may have heard of halving (accessing a tile right in front of an AI without allerting them) - what I didn't know until someone I played with actually did it, is that you can do the same thing with lasers:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=526582849

I think the roaming lasers are much easier to do this with; this one works best with controllers (higher range of movement control).

Second thing - it took me longer than I'd like to admit to realize you can disable phones manually, too. Much like alarms, but it's extremely fast.

And that you can see how many coins you need for the next item by how many of those thin fields around you are filled up.

And that secret passages are given away by no shadow on the wall. The yellow campaign is crawling with those!

These are probably obvious to some, but monaco doesn't seem to have that large of a forum community, so it's kind of hard to find some of this info just by browsing.

[KimonoBoxFox]

So, in style, I will now address some of Mekloz's tricks, with some of my own. I tend not to rely on halving, so rather than talk about it, I'll continue experimenting with it til I find a reliable technique to describe.

Instead, I present a use for phones. I call this move the "Phone Clean":

While a phone is ringing, instead of turning it off as the Cleaner, hide nearby, or camp with a disguise, and let the phone draw a victim. You can lure additional victims one-by-one and knock them out, until the phone cuts out on its own. Whereupon you can execute them all with a gun or c4. Then just clean the guard that responds to the shot/blast, and hide any bodies. Why kill the phone when you can turn it on your foes, after all?

But in the event that phones become a pain in the ass, note that, a virus will prioritize a ringing phone over other electronics, and move to put it out, if possible (this can be a bad thing, if you needed the virus elsewhere, such as on a handscan).

Additionally, "Passage Breaking":

If you're in a hurry (maybe being chased), instead of using a secret passage, shoot at it with a shotgun, machinegun, or crossbow, and it will break open. Of course, RPGs work too. The Mole can use secret doors fast, so it might not be worth it if you're playing him. Oh, and one last warning to save your ammo: secret doors placed in unbreakable walls, cannot be shot open.

Oh, and getting hurt while you're 'in' a secret passage, breaks it and makes it a hole in the wall, in the same manner. That can be good 'and' bad, depending on what you wanted to do in that area. Same thing happens with open windows, actually.

Lastly, NPCs can see the other side of secret doors, but they can't actually walk through them (They're a great way to shake Redhead charm victims). Try to be wary though, of whether they spot you as you're shutting one--they might try and detour around to your new location!

[MonkeyPocket]

Shameless plug, a tips and tricks guide I made a while ago (exactly 2 years ago now, coincidence?)
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=182438513

I've learned quite a few new things since I wrote that thing, so it might not have as much detailed info as is being provided here, or you might actually read something you didn't know about!

[KimonoBoxFox]

Superb, MonkeyPocket. Glad to have you on board.

Keeping the ball rolling, I'll talk about weapon items a bit, and how they influence AI.

Guns (shotguns and machineguns) produce each of the following 4 types of reactions:

"Noise Disturbance":

When you fire a shotgun/machinegun, the nearest un-alert, unoccupied guard runs to the location you fired from. Ineligible guards include those currently answering a phone, disabled breaker, alarm, or a previous noise, as well as those returning to a post, patrol, or search. The noise itself does not raise the alertness level of the responding guard. Thus, the Cleaner can use this phenomenon to lure in an easy victim.

"Civilian Panic":

When you 'kill' or 'wound' an NPC with gunfire, all Civilians with line of sight to the corpse(s) go max alertness, and run for cover, becoming blinded to any thieves in the area briefly. Civilians in a state of panic hold on tight to their money, and can't be stolen from. Civilians remain in a state of Panic longer while a thief remains in view (even if they are in disguise). Being wounded by a guard or turret also provokes civilian panic, as does detonating c4 (though only those in line of sight to the actual charge get the full panic, when it goes off--those civilians who just view the blast area suffer a considerably shorter panic and will almost immediately turn and alert).

"Guard Suspicion":

When you 'kill' or 'wound' an NPC with gunfire, all Guards with line of sight to the corpse(s) gain a level of alertness, and begin approaching the killer's location. This occurs whether or not they have line of sight to you at the moment of the act, and even if you wear a disguise--so beware.

"Corpse Revival"

Any corpses produced by the act of killing attract any unoccupied NPCs with line of sight, to try and revive the corpses, within a couple seconds. Thieves are a higher priority over corpses, so NPCs with line of sight to thieves will stop reviving corpses, and will even 'forget' their existence if they are moved out of sight while the NPCs are otherwise occupied (one thief can steal and draw attention, while the other hides the bodies). Conversely, the Cleaner can use corpses as bait, and then interrupt the revival stealthily. The Redhead, meanwhile, can charm a corpse-reviving NPC, and lure them to the next killing.

As an additional note, RPGs and Wrenches provoke the second third, and fourth reactions, but not the first--making no firing noise. The Gentleman, or anyone in disguise, can discretely panic a crowd of civilians and draw guard suspicion toward him, by killing someone. Conversely, if you kill an NPC in isolation with one of these weapons, no guard will come to revive the victim, since there's no noise disturbance.

C4, while panicking and creating a noise disturbance like a gunshot, does not cause guard suspicion, nor does it leave any bodies (in fact, c4 gibs any corpses already present). This makes it an ideal tool for killing in disguise, or cleaning up someone else's massacre.

Lastly, the Crossbow Tranquilizer, which is a nonlethal knock-out, makes none of the above disturbances. It is ideal for an undisguised thief who is trying to keep a low profile amid patrols (like the Hacker), and is the most discrete means of breaking windows and glass walls, to make passages. (Both types of guns, and the RPG, can break glass as well, though significantly less subtly.)

[Iceman Jr.]

The Jack Sparrow:

Around one block as a guard walks around it, you go around the opposite side at the same speed so he passes you and you go unnoticed.

[KimonoBoxFox]

I call the technique of passing directly by an NPC's field of view 'V-sneaking' (you sneak diagonally around their front in a V < > or ^ configuration). Basically, you can pass directly in front of an NPC at minimum alertness, while sneaking, if you round their cone of vision steadily. Try not to bump directly into them. You can also slip in front of a guard as they round a corner, and then circle around them to continue in the direction they came from, which is basically half a V-sneak. (The Cleaner has considerable difficulty performing either version of this move, since he tends to 'clean' guards he's close enough to circle around at point blank.)

If you bungle for whatever reason (say, lag), you can use the "Force Sneak" technique I describe above, to screw with the guard's vision and slip back around a corner, out of sight.

In general, slipping past NPCs the way Owl describes is easiest on the peripheral boundaries of their field of view (the edges of the invisible vision cone projecting from an NPC's face side). Darkness and distance make avoidance even easier. Take note of where lights are, and if they flicker or not. If you are the Mole, bashing walls where such lights are, is not a bad idea, when it's safe to get away with it. Viruses and disabled power also put out nearby lights, and so make stealthing around otherwise-lit areas easier.

[mkzzz12]

If we're talking about sneaking, the guards tend to start moving before they become fully alert. If that movement puts a wall between you and them, they will just stand there for a moment. It's easier to see this at the bottom of the middle floor of.. I want to say escape from monaco?

You can use this to more efficiently sneak through some areas, and even to bait them away, or make them open a door with a hand-scanner for you, though it's pretty hard.

As a slightly off-topic follow up to pick-pocketing money from civilians, it seems to count 3x for item uses. Is this well known? A bug?

[AndyN.]

Check this video out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1&v=7hlMUsOhWzs

[AndyN.]

It should be noted that most, if not all, of these techniques were implemented by design. I'm glad people discovered them :)

[KimonoBoxFox]

I am very happy to have the attention of the devs. Andy and Andy, I'd like to extend my gratitude to you both. You devised a devilishly intricate little toy for me and others to experiment with.

To elaborate on what Mekloz is saying about NPC alertness:

NPCs have three and a half states of awareness, so to speak. Allow me to elaborate:

We'll call 0 to just under 1 alertness the "Oblivious" state.

This is any point of alertness under a full ? mark. NPCs under this threshold simply stand at a post, patrol, or random search, depending on their movement AI (or lack thereof). Additionally, there is a 'follow' AI. If oblivious NPCs are set to 'follow' a specific NPC, they will make every effort to obey that NPC's movement pattern while oblivious. (For instance, the conga-dancing civilians and guard are all set to 'follow' the civilian ahead of them, and the lead civilian is set to patrol the dance floor in a circle).

Oblivious NPCs react normally to noise disturbances (see my section on weapons), killing of npcs, corpses, phone calls, civilian alerts, disabled circuit breakers, and live alarms. They are also vulnerable to being 'Cleaned' (the Cleaner need only touch an oblivious NPC from any direction, either running or sneaking, to knock them out).

Lastly, any Oblivious NPC that passes through an unlocked door (except zombies), will 'relock' that door, if it is lockable. The exception is for security double-lock doors, which always disappear when an NPC (in any state of alertness) enters one.

From 1 alertness through to 1.5, we get what I call the "Suspicious" state.

This is the point that the ? symbol fills over an NPC's head. At the beginning of the Suspicious state, it is as Mekloz describes: the NPC turns their direct attention on the thief who provoked the heightened state of alertness (usually, the first thief in their line of sight). They begin to slowly approach the thief, which increases the thief's proximity to them (and consequentially, the rate at which the NPC's alertness builds, accelerates slightly, unless the thief continues to move away).

If at this point, the thief leaves the NPC's view, the NPC will pause for about two seconds to stare at their current location. If at this point, another thief enters the NPC's field of vision, the NPC will continue approaching that thief, instead (in this way, impatient--or potentially clever thieves can 'catch' another thief's aggro).

If the NPC sees no thief at this point, they boomerang back to the last location where they were oblivious, before being alerted. They do so at a run, taking the shortest route, possible, which can at times be visually confusing (for instance, if you dodge around a pillar, a guard may determine that running 'your' direction around the pillar is a shorter path than the 'empty' side of the pillar, and bump into you even though you hid).

NPCs on this 'return mode' move at a run, and are easily bumped into by careless thieves, so it's important to prepare for this behavior. An NPC's alertness will rapidly decrease at this point,so it is possible to intercept them on their return route and ambush them for an easy Cleaner knockout. Also worth noting is that NPCs in this 'return mode' relock locked doors as if they were oblivious. Lastly, NPCs returning to their position, do not care about impediments like open windows, vents, and bushes--they will climb through these things to get back to where they belong, if they provide a shorter route.

Moving along, however, is the second phase of the Suspicious state, from 1.5 up to just under 2 (max). I like to call it the "Investigation" phase.

Investigation works like this: If you have remained in view of a Suspicious NPC long enough for their ? mark to begin turning pink, the NPC makes a mental note of where they last saw you, and updates it every time you enter their field of view. It is at this point, that you can 'bait an NPC' to a spot you want them to stand (for instance, near a bush). Assuming they get to this point, without seeing you again, the NPC will, again, spend a couple seconds staring at the spot, hoping for a thief to show up, before entering 'return mode'.

Suspicion is a useful mode, because it allows you to fool an NPC into unlocking a door, or opening a handscan, in order to get a closer look at you. An NPC in this state leaves any doors they pass through unlocked, until they give up and go return mode. Additionally, the Suspicious state is the one period where bloaters are not 'cleanable', and do not attempt to kamikaze, meaning that a Cleaner should attempt to make a bloater 'suspicious' and then use the "Force Sneak" maneuver (listed in one of my earlier posts), if he has to pass through one at all (other pricier alternatives include shooting the bloater from a distance, or tanking the blast).

It's interesting to note that 'bumping into' an NPC in the Suspicious state will switch their attention from another thief, to you. This can be valuable for protecting an occupied thief while they're exposed.

Lastly, we have the "Hostile" state--max alertness. This is the point at which the ? reddens and becomes a ! instead.

In this state, the NPC activity differs for guards and civilians.

For guards, the hostile state is very similar to the suspicious state in how it behaves. The guard continues to follow you, noting your last-seen location, albeit now at a run. Gun-wielding guards will pause at regular intervals to fire their weapon, which will connect with merciless precision unless the thief runs behind cover at the time of the attack's execution (agents, in particular fire in bursts, and miss most of their bullets if use of cover is exploited). For the Police and Agent, firing incurs some level of recoil, which can knock either guard backward through a door or around a corner (and consequentially, out of view of an occupied bush--use that, my clever thieves, to hide in plain sight, without blowing your precious smoke bombs).

Hostile guards will remain hostile until they reach their noted 'thief last-seen' location. During this period, they are blind to all other thieves, only hurting them if they step in the way of gunfire. (In the case of watchmen, wretches, and k9 units, passing through while they are hostile incurs a melee hit). At the point in which the hostile guard reaches the 'last-seen' location, without a thief present, they will revert instantly to borderline-hostile suspicion, investigate the area for a few seconds, and then go return mode.

Civilians are an entirely different kettle of fish. While a civilian will begin running, and note your location, upon reaching the hostile state, civilians pick the 'nearest, oblivious, unoccupied' guard NPC at the time when they trigger. If there is no such guard, the Civilian instead enters a helpless 'panic' state briefly (see my post on AI weapon reactions).

A hostile civilian remains blind to all thieves other than the one that initially triggered the state of hostility, and begins running to their chosen guard. When the Civilian reaches the present location of their chosen guard, they drop immediately to a state of borderline-hostile suspicion, and immediately turn 180 degrees to check the area behind them (it is at this point that a civilian can begin 'chain-alerting' guards, so it is important to stay out of sight).

If the guard in question is alive/conscious when the civilian reaches them, the Guard gets a 'civilian alert'. This tells the Guard to run to the civilian's 'thief last seen' location, and gives the Guard a full level of alertness (usually elevating them to investigation level suspicion). This bonus alertness 'does' decrease, as the guard runs to the reported location, unless they spot a thief. So it 'is' entirely possible that the guard will be in an oblivious, Cleaner-vulnerable state, mid-transit, if they were a long ways away from the civilian's reported last-seen location.

It's worth remembering that sometimes, even the closest guard is quite a long distance away from a civilian. Outpacing the civilian to get where you need to be (or to knock out their guard of choice, if you're the Cleaner), is usually the better way to go than waiting around for the guard to arrive and leave.

Like suspicious NPCs, hostile NPCs, whether guard or Civilian, unlock any door they pass through.

Worth noting is that the 'Alarm' takes turns elevating the one nearest, oblivious, unoccupied guard to just under hostile-level alertness, until it gets a guard to successfully reach the alarm without spotting a thief, and begin disabling it. Alarms, furthermore, have no effect on civilians.

[pocico]

mekloz you're a genius! I just tested and indeed it is true that taking money from civilians does give you three coins. I don't think I can describe what I've learned very clearly in words, so I'm probably not going to try. If I can ever record properly maybe I'll make a video. But I will leave you with this - whoever reads this. You can only learn Monaco by practicing it, preferably frequently. In fact, this is probably true for anything in general.

[KimonoBoxFox]

It's cool, avocado. I'll probably see it, try it, and explain it, if I see someone do it. Hopefully some of my writing describes things well enough that people can make sense of them.

If I had some video editing skills, I would totally put together visual demonstrations of Monaco's many techniques and nuances...

[Glass of water™]

Errr.... run hide, run shoot run be stealthy; get seen, run more... In that order...