The Bolo gun -- useless?

[hagathina]

I finally got the BOLO gun but it's proving to be useless because the enemies just lie around for a few seconds and then get back up.

Any tips on how to use this thing so that it's actually useful in combat? I'm failing a mission over and over because there are just too many bad guys in the camp I'm trying to infiltrate, and several of them can't even be punched out, so I'm at a loss as to strategy.

[Bubba]

Actually, the bola gun is all I ever use now. Go for the head-shot against mules/terrorists and they will stay tied-up. If you're at a bit of a distance, aim slightly above their heads as the bola will drop as it travels. If you miss the head-shot and just get their body, you'll need to go up to them while they're down and give them a kick, this will keep them down. If they have something resembling a sideways number 8 above them once they're down, they'll need to be kicked, if they have a sort of star above them, they'll stay down.

In the screenshot below, the mule on right will get up unless kicked, while the one on the left will stay down.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2752958368
Bola gun is also very useful against BT's, especially once you've unlocked the umbilical cord cutter.

[Fiona]

It can be a helpful tool when sneaking around a mule camps to incapacitate mules that are alone.

[hagathina]

Okay, I am REALLY having trouble with this. If I knock them out with the BOLO, I am unable to kick, punch or otherwise do anything to the once they are on the ground. The V command doesn;t come up for me after they go down.

And I decided just to use the Strand, but the MULEs don't stay tied up, so in the end I just end up surrounded by 15 MULEs at a time. It's impossible.

What am I doing wrong? I mean, once I've tied them up and they get free, they all know where I am and come after me en masse.

How do I knock them out PERMANENTLY/? Because I've tried this one area about ten times now and I just can't get past it.

How do I kick them once they are down? I don't get the V command so there is no way to do it.

[lieutenantkirtar]

It is literally just run up to them and the prompt should pop up. If you are having difficulty doing it maybe run back to an earlier mule encampment and practice in an area with fewer mules to get the hang of it.

If it still isn't giving you the option to kick them maybe check your key bindings and see if anything isn't bound to any key. I used a controller and am unsure what keyboard key is supposed to do it.

[Bubba]

Originally posted by lieutenantkirtar:

It is literally just run up to them and the prompt should pop up. If you are having difficulty doing it maybe run back to an earlier mule encampment and practice in an area with fewer mules to get the hang of it.

If it still isn't giving you the option to kick them maybe check your key bindings and see if anything isn't bound to any key. I used a controller and am unsure what keyboard key is supposed to do it.

Yeah, you should be getting the "V" prompt just as soon as get up to tied mule. Check your key bindings in the system menu to make sure V is still bound to Attack.

[hagathina]

V is definitely bound to attack, but it DOES NOT work once they are down, so they just get back up again after a few minutes.

And I tried using the BOLO gun right at their heads, and it knocks them out but again, they just get back up after a minute or two.

I really don;t understand what I'm doing wrong here but I have struggled over to two years to see the point of this games and to get this far and it's horribly frustrating that I can't get any farther after struggling so much to start to enjoy the game. I finally was, and now this.

I was able to KO them ALL permanently in a smaller area, but in this area, they just do not stay knocked out.

The same thing happens if I punch them out. I literally punched out about ten of them and they all got back up again after a couple of minutes. I can never get them all knocked out at once for long enough to finish the mission.


EDIT: I mean to say, I need them all to STAY DOWN. I can knock them out but I need them TO STAY KNOCKED OUT instead of getting up again after a minute or two and all coming after me at once. They just will not stay knocked out.

I've watched how-to videos and I'm doing what they say, but it doesn't work for me. They just get back up again, untie themselves, come back to consciousness and come back at me.

[Seamus]

If they're getting back up after a headshot, you're not taking other people down fast enough and someone is waking them up.

Also: To kick them while they're tied up you have to stop aiming with the bolo.

Shoot> Stop aiming> Run up> Kick

That's how it has always worked.

[Bubba]

Originally posted by Seamus:

If they're getting back up after a headshot, you're not taking other people down fast enough and someone is waking them up.

Also: To kick them while they're tied up you have to stop aiming with the bolo.

Shoot> Stop aiming> Run up> Kick

That's how it has always worked.

[hagathina]

Thanks, all. I'll have another go at it.

I'd really like my love/hate relationship with this game to be more love than hate!

[bad_fur_day1]

There's many different ways of approaching and tackling Mules or using stealth to avoid them alltogether, and you'll be given more equipment to deal with them too. Not sure if you have Smoke grenades available yet but I use them often to confuse them too.

[Seamus]

You can also just beat them in the face with extra cargo.

I generally don't even bother carrying a bolo anymore. I just melee one and whack the next one that comes along with whatever the first one dropped.

[76561199140724733]

https://youtu.be/3JxGT6Qi6Pc

I'd argue the Bola Gun is the best weapon in the game, works great for both MULEs and BTs.

[terryt3535]

You can use the tents or terrain to funnel Mules toward you in single file. A large boulder or tent by the edge of their camp works well because it takes a while for all of them to reach you. Just keep an eye out so they don't sneak up behind you. Keep hitting the scan button so you know where they are.

[Overseer]

The Bola Gun is almost OP. Its wide hit zone makes it easy to shoot even at moving targets. Headshots knock enemies out. Its only held back by obstacles that may be in the way as you are trying to shoot somebody.
And what many people miss and never figure out is it works on BTs. Even suspicious ones that are on the way towards you with handprints. You can just lock them in place.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2753349615

[cyäegha]

it's not useless by any means, in that it's better than nothing at all, but it's the weapon system that is hardest hit by incrementing difficulty in the sense that it has the single lowest ratio of cycle rate-to-effectual damage in the game

you can use it against BTs, but there is no situation in which you wouldn't be better served by throwing haematics at them, or using chiral ammunition against them, assuming the material cost of doing so isn't prohibitive
similarly, it's passable at dealing with MULEs, but as soon as you get to terrorist encampments its poor cycle rate becomes a major liability

this isn't a massive issue on lower difficulties for obvious reasons, but between the bola gun and the upgraded riot shotgun / grenade launcher, there is no sane reason to take the bola gun other than not being far enough in the game to have unlocked the latter
it's only "OP" insofar as being able to knock-out enemies that can't shoot back is considered a virtue; as soon as they start packing automatic weapons, it loses what little utility it still held on "very hard"