Extremely frustrating Freelance mode.

[boris.glevrk]

Yes I know I am inexperienced, but they change so many things to the point that your experience doesn't carry over.
They changed your spawn point every now and then, and remove a few convenient disguises, and add lots of extra people in places you'd want to invade.
I have to keep Alt+F4 for like 5~10 times for some particularly difficult/changed levels. If I don't cheat that way I will keep fail and fail and fail until I have no tools/weapon whatsoever left.

IDK what exactly is wrong but the learning cliff is just too harsh. And you are even denied learning because one mistake and you are basically permadeath.

[boris.glevrk]

Every stage of a mission has to fail and retry like 5 times, and now I just had a client crash on my 15th try, after finally killing the first guy (and then immediately got compromised because someone decided to turn head at the worst moment)

[dbond1]

I can sense your frustration, and I get it. When I started Freelancer I also resorted to Alt-F4 when it all went sideways, and it does. But I can only suggest sticking with it and learning the mode's nuance. Freelancer requires a different mindset than the main campaign or even the other modes available, aside from elusive targets perhaps.

But more than that, it requires mastery of the maps, mechanics and marks. The Freelancer player needs to know all of the tricks, alternate paths, best disguises and where to obtain them. You need to know howto get at every possible target on the map. This takes time.

I suggest abandoning whatever approach you came in with. For me it was always ghosting. Silent Assassin with no trace. But Freelancer sets you free. Don't worry about making noise, or being spotted by cameras, or being messy. The only thing that matters is taking out the targets and making your escape. Consider optional objectives as optional. Kill your marks, and if you can scoop some other stuff up along the way all the better. But focus on the elimination, not the method. Anything goes in Freelancer.

I've completed seven campaigns,which isn't a lot. But the difference in my success rate now versus when I started is off the charts. At the start I could hardly get through a mission without F4. Now I can play through a campaign without it. Don't get frustrated, stick with it, build up your arsenal, your tools and alter your approach to fit the mode.

Good hunting.

[boris.glevrk]

Originally posted by dbond1:

But more than that, it requires mastery of the maps, mechanics and marks. The Freelancer player needs to know all of the tricks, alternate paths, best disguises and where to obtain them.

That's exactly the problem. These stuff keep changing.
I expected to start Hokkaido at the Ninja spot but the game suddenly decides to put me in Thomas Rieper spot. I knew there's a disguise next to the guy in the shower but there isn't. I knew there's one guy in the security room but there turns out to be 3 (2 always there, 1 occasionally coming)
Imagine having experienced Berlin from the biker gang rooftop and expected to see some targets snipe-able, and brought a sniper, only to be spawned in the basement. How am I supposed to plan my mission if I don't even know my point of insertion? How am I supposed to know that if it keeps changing?

And then there are some infrequent bugs. After the client crash in Hokkaido, 5 minutes before I wrote this I just got forced to Alt+F4 in Whittleton Creek due to a target casually walking through walls and out of map border after being hit by a poison dart.

How am I expected to not cheat given all this?

[dbond1]

Originally posted by boris.glevrk:

I knew there's a disguise next to the guy in the shower but there isn't. I knew there's one guy in the security room but there turns out to be 3 (2 always there, 1 occasionally coming)

Well, that's my point. It takes time. Even this part quoted is learning the nuance. The next time on that map you have this knowledge banked. Stick with it. The helo pilot is a good disguise that isn't hard to get.

[boris.glevrk]

Originally posted by dbond1:

Originally posted by boris.glevrk:

I knew there's a disguise next to the guy in the shower but there isn't. I knew there's one guy in the security room but there turns out to be 3 (2 always there, 1 occasionally coming)

Well, that's my point. It takes time. Even this part quoted is learning the nuance. The next time on that map you have this knowledge banked. Stick with it. The helo pilot is a good disguise that isn't hard to get.

But who knows next time will it be changed back to one guy in the security room or not? That's the point. I don't know how many kinds of different settings there are.

[dbond1]

Well you could see that as a challenge to overcome or a reason to be frustrated. If you stick with it and embrace the rules of Freelancer you'll look back at this thread with a smile. But maybe it's not for you. No shame in that. Not for everyone.

You don't know how many settings there are because you just started. Keep playing and honing your Freelancer skills and before too long it will click I think.

[Sig]

That is the beauty of the mode, to make things harder through unpredictability and present you a challenge you don't normally have in contracts mode where you can control most variables.

It is true that some spawn points, like marrakesh school alley, set you for failure if you don't know the map or are new to the game. Like dbond said, it requires mastery of the maps and mechanics to fully enjoy it.

I suggest reaching mastery 20 in all maps before trying freelancer, all the different challenges you will have to do will show you all you need to know to adapt to changing conditions.

[boris.glevrk]

Originally posted by dbond1:

You don't know how many settings there are because you just started. Keep playing and honing your Freelancer skills and before too long it will click I think.

And the point is if I don't cheat I can't even learn. I just get slaughtered repeatedly and lose all equipement.

[dbond1]

Originally posted by boris.glevrk:

And the point is if I don't cheat I can't even learn. I just get slaughtered repeatedly and lose all equipement.

That's a symptom, not a cause. Listen, I get where you're coming from, but you see your troubles as unfair. You need to see it as a challenge and until you do you won't progress. Change your mindset is my advice. We can help you with specifics, how to get at a certain target, which maps and syndicates to focus on, where to nick some good weapons. We cannot make you think Freelancer is worth your time.

[boris.glevrk]

Originally posted by dbond1:

You need to see it as a challenge and until you do you won't progress.

No, I need to have progress or I won't progress. That's the probleml. Just like all the jobs out there who requires you to have experience in order to have the chance to work (and hence having experience).

[dbond1]

If you want to give us specifics we can offer advice on how to approach the mission you're on. Map and which target(s) or where they are

The first syndicate is just three maps. Which maps you get/choose is important. Some are simple, others not so much. Hokkaido is one of the hardest, for me. But regardless of which you choose there will only be one or two targets to take out. The folks here can give you tips to get through it. It might seem impossible to you now, but it's not. In some ways, Freelancer is easier than main campaign. In some ways (like no saves) it is not.

It's not any fun if you feel the rules are kicking you in the teeth. Embrace the challenge.

[boris.glevrk]

Originally posted by dbond1:

If you want to give us specifics we can offer advice on how to approach the mission you're on. Map and which target(s) or where they are

The first syndicate is just three maps. Which maps you get/choose is important. Some are simple, others not so much. Hokkaido is one of the hardest, for me. But regardless of which you choose there will only be one or two targets to take out. The folks here can give you tips to get through it. It might seem impossible to you now, but it's not. In some ways, Freelancer is easier than main campaign. In some ways (like no saves) it is not.

It's not any fun if you feel the rules are kicking you in the teeth. Embrace the challenge.

It was Hokkaido, first mission in last campaign, alerted.
Starting point is Thomas Rieper, targets are the guard walking back and forth in the corridor to loading bay (the one with an aquarium window), a bodyguard walking between canteen and up the sushi restaurant's stairs, and a guy in the sauna.
including crashes I did like 20-25 runs to get it right, of which the first 15~20 was before I even killed the first guy.

The one with bugged poison dart was that something something Creek, target walked away with a dart in the back, penetrated all walls and houses and all the way past map border.

[dbond1]

OK if you have a Sieker you've got some kit? Got proximity explosives? Explosive rubber duck?

Behind the sauna a guard comes through the bathroom and in to the secure hallway behind (where the supplier often is) Follow him in, choke him out, take his disguise and hide the body. Suppliers don't care what you do, they've seen it all.

That should open up much of the map. If you want a better disguise, go to the stairs which lead down from the helipad. In the room there is a guard. Hide him and wait for the helo pilot and take his disguise.

I took out the guard roaming the hallway a few days ago with a proximity

[Kunovega]

Play the regular missions, complete all locations to 100% in destinations

Then play contracts mode, play 100's of random contracts, or at least all of the featured ones

Now you can play freelancer

Until you have completed and understood the normal missions and the contracts mode, you have no basis to complain about freelancer, which is designed for people who have exhausted all other content and want additional random challenges

[dbond1]

While Kunovega gives advice that is certain to work, I will say that doing this isn't necessary. I haven't done all that and have success in Freelancer. But no doubt if you did 100% everything you'd be in a better starting spot for Freelancer. But you can get your Freelancer groove on even if you're less experienced, like me.

Seriously, I understand the frustration. And some people won't care for the rules Freelancer imposes. For others, including me, it's a lot of fun. I really like it.

Sometimes you have to use a scalpel, and sometimes a hammer, metaphorically speaking. Don't ignore loud and messy eliminations. Don't forget sometimes all you need to do is run away. I've completed many missions while compromised. It's all part of the Freelancer flow.