Clockwork Soldiers Combat Guide

[Ashininity]

Hey everyone, here are some tips for fighting Clockwork Soldiers.

Demonstrations and additional tips can be found in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyrJst85pIM

• Clockworks have really good eyesight in front and in back, but are nearly blind to the sides. Use this to your advantage.
  
• A rewire tool will make a Clockwork your ally. The access panel is located on the right leg.
  
• Destroying a Clockwork's head (including the oil tank underneath) renders it blind. An easy way to do this is a drop assassination. A more stealthy way is a direct hit with a hardened crossbow bolt.
  
• Blind Clockwork Soldiers will follow suspicious sounds and are still dangerous if they pinpoint your location. They will also attack any NPCs they hear, including their own allies. Use this to get them to fight each other or other enemies.
  
• Clockworks can be killed by knocking off all of the arms (hit the oil tank on each arm) or by landing a single hit on the oil tank at the back. All oil tanks are protected by armor. (Drop-assassinating a headless Clockwork will hit the main tank and kill it.)
  
• When a Clockwork is about to explode, move out of range or get rekt.
  
• When a Clockwork is charging it's electrostatic discharge attack, blink the hell out of the way or get rekt.
  
• If you're in sword combat with a non-blind Clockwork:
  
  1. BLOCK.
     
  2. BLOCK MORE.
     
  3. JUST HOLD DOWN THE FREAKING BLOCK BUTTON.
     
  4. Eventually, the robot will overheat and go into a slouched position to cool off. This is your chance to attack.

Hope this helps!

[ChevyNoel]

I'm playing through with ghost and clean hands on very hard. I am going very slow, so the mansion is the only place I've fought them so far, but I found that if you have the accuracy upgrades, a bullet or a bolt to the cannister in the back is a relatively easy way to destroy them without being seen.

They also die to just one upgraded stun mine, of which there are many you can pick up throughout the mansion, to keep your supply up. The upgraded stun mines will also attack and kill any clockworks that aren't activated.

[Ashininity]

Yes, stun mines are effective and stealthy. If you're doing a ghostly run, you might find this helpful (a follow-up video with a number of stealth-kill tips):

https://youtu.be/4bA33F81cJI

[grassy49]

I just run to the nearest elevator and shut the door, they cant reach you and you can take pot shots at them unit they blow up

[Knives]

The funny part is I remember seeing gameplay pre-launch of one shot assassination kills on clockworks. Looks like they thought that made them easy pickings. I know there's some kind of blueprint that lets your sword do damage but I haven't tried it out. Most of my games end up being low chaos and it's easier and faster to blink/far reach in and rewire.

[Shadowspaz]

Originally posted by Knives:

I know there's some kind of blueprint that lets your sword do damage but I haven't tried it out. Most of my games end up being low chaos and it's easier and faster to blink/far reach in and rewire.

I just finished my low chaos/low detection run, and that sword upgrade is incredible. Unfortunately, it's pretty late in the game. But with the upgrade, you can sneak up along their blind sides and perform an assassination by targetting their legs. They don't see you, and destroying Clockwork Soldiers don't count as kills.

Zero detection, zero kills, zero soldiers.

[NeXuS23]

They are easy to kill, but i had a hard time with emily performing an drop assasination and not get spotted, i got one and only one and so got the special head collectible for dreadful wale... I tryed a second time and failed 20 times, they always spotted me but there also was no carpet on the floor...

With Corvo this one is sooo easy, stop time and jump that's it, never spotted...

But Emily has nothing like stop time so you must be incredibily lucky, i got it by jumping exactly where the head looked sideways and knocked the head off sideways then landed on a carpet so they don't hear me, because if you land and they hear you = spotted even without head...

A Friend of me also found another Method to get the Head unspotted - Shoot the Head off with a Bolt from far away... But i don't tried it, but i tried to shoot a Grenade even a sticky one from far away, that works = instantly spotted even if they can't see you!!

But else well if they are inactive, simply sneak and place a rewire tool and they attack the others and then explode (of course don't do that if humans are reachable for them if you go zero kills)...

Else if they are active, place a Narko-Mine with triple charge upgrade = instant death and not spotted!

Same for Splitter-Mine with Double Charge Upgrade (But you get that Blueprint only later) so you need to place two Splittermines to kill them instantly else they are only damaged...

Also if Zero Detection doesn't matter well drop assassination is probably the fastest and safest Method...

[Knives]

Originally posted by Shadowspaz:

Originally posted by Knives:

I know there's some kind of blueprint that lets your sword do damage but I haven't tried it out. Most of my games end up being low chaos and it's easier and faster to blink/far reach in and rewire.

I just finished my low chaos/low detection run, and that sword upgrade is incredible. Unfortunately, it's pretty late in the game. But with the upgrade, you can sneak up along their blind sides and perform an assassination by targetting their legs. They don't see you, and destroying Clockwork Soldiers don't count as kills.

Zero detection, zero kills, zero soldiers.

Yeah it being so late in the game... I never gota chance to use it. The only clockwork that I deal with are the one around Jindosh, the one guarding Sokolov, and the one is the Dukes Vault. I avoid all of the ones in the last mission. Maybe when the new game + comes out I'll get a chance to test it out.

Originally posted by NeXuS23:

They are easy to kill, but i had a hard time with emily performing an drop assasination and not get spotted, i got one and only one and so got the special head collectible for dreadful wale... I tryed a second time and failed 20 times, they always spotted me but there also was no carpet on the floor...

With Corvo this one is sooo easy, stop time and jump that's it, never spotted...

But Emily has nothing like stop time so you must be incredibily lucky

With Emily I've had to reload saves. I just end up having to far reach right to the rewire spot on their legs. Most of the time I can smack it on before it spots me, sometimes I have to keep moving with it a bit before I can line things up right.

[NeXuS23]

Ohh and the funniest kill i made was with the one guarding Sokolov --- LOL! ---- I moved the Wall up as the Clockwork Soldier was standing on it = go stuck and crushed between ascending Wall and ceiling and not spotted....