Holdout Guide (No DLC, Solo with bots)

A no-DLC guide for completing all 9 waves of Holdout with 3 bots.

Thanks to Unknown Knight for the base build and strategy.

Introduction

Holdout is a new game mode. You will be placed in a map with a stationary hostage. Enemies will attack in a total of 9 waves, with a brief break in between for players to prepare for the next wave. The objective is to stay alive and defend the hostage from the enemies' rescue as long as you can. The enemies gradually get tougher, dealing more damage and having more hit points, as the game progresses.

You win if:

• You last all 9 waves.

You lose if:

• An enemy frees the hostage.
  
• A player goes into custody. However, if this happens on wave 9 and you manage to clear that wave, it will count as a success.

You may choose to end a Holdout early by trading the hostage in between waves, but your rewards will be less than that of full completion.

To start a Holdout game, click on the blue shield icon just below the Crime Spree icon in crime.net. You can join a Holdout game by pressing F in crime.net online and changing the game mode to Holdout. However, to receive weekly Holdout rewards, you must have been in the lobby from the beginning.

This guide will help you accomplish the goal of completing all 9 waves of Holdout. Additional self-imposed restrictions are to do it with 3 bots (no other human players) and without DLC.

Build and Crew Management

Build

Akimbo Goliaths: 000 Buckshot, Short Barrel, Concealment boost, Tactical Laser Module
Judge: 000 Buckshot, Concealment boost

Crew

Weapons: KSP 58
Abilities: Inspiring, Sharpeyed, Piercing
Boosts: Accelerator, Protector, Distractor

Notes

• It doesn't matter what attachments you put on your bots' weapons. In the hands of bots, modded and unmodded weapons have the same stats. If you like/dislike the sound of silenced/unsilenced weapons, mod them for the bots accordingly.
  
• The Quick crew ability is useless as the only interaction you'll be doing is converting cops and using doctor bags. The other 3 crew abilities are all useful: Inspiring lets bots revive you instantly, Sharpeyed fixes the poor pickup rate of the Judge, and Piercing allows bots to pierce shields. Fun fact: bots with sniper rifles cannot pierce shields without Piercing.
  
• For Holdout, you need high damage weapons as the enemies are bullet sponges on later waves. Wave 9 enemies have *6.75 HP compared to regular Overkill difficulty enemies. Refer to the table below for Wave 9 enemy health stats.

Enemy	Wave 9 HP	Headshot multiplier	Crit multiplier	Headshot damage required for KO	Crit headshot damage required for KO
Light/Shield	1620	6	6	216	36
Heavy	3240	6	6	432	72
Taser/Medic	6075	6	6	810	135
Cloaker	12150	18	18	540	30
Bulldozer	40500	15	5	-	-

1) Damage required for KO includes *1.25 from the Helmet Popping card, but not 512-granularity.
2) Bulldozer damage required for KO is excluded as it may vary based on a few complicated, Bulldozer-specific mechanics. Just know that it's "a lot".

How to play

In between waves

• Move your bots to a position where they can cover a lot of enemies. Don't spread them out; you want them to be able to revive each other if one of them goes down.
  
• Place yourself in a covered camping spot near the hostage, not too far from the bots. Place a doctor bag at this spot. Note that rooms may fill with tear gas on some waves, you may have to experiment to find a spot that doesn't become unusable.
  
• Convert cops if there are any lying around and you don't have two.
  
• Pick up ammo boxes.
  
• Use your doctor bag. On later waves it can be worth using a doctor bag charge even if you're not on your last down, just so you can avoid having to use it during the wave.

During waves (in combat)

• Focus on the specials. You can kill regular enemies too, but specials take precedence.
  
• Tap the aim down sights button to mark specials with High Value Target aced. Aiming down the sights has no startup, despite the animation. Marked specials also take increased damage from bots and converted cops.
  
• Do everything you can to kill Bulldozers or draw their attention away from the bots. Bulldozers will win in a contest of brute strength even against the massively tanky bots.
  
• Kill Tasers if they're stunning your bots. You want your bots to be up and killing enemies as much as possible.
  
• Be careful of Cloakers as they do not offer you the luxury of moving in Swan Song. Your bots may have to break formation to rescue you, and they will not move back on their own. Note that bots can Inspire you out of handcuffs.
  
• If one of your bots goes down, start shooting enemies in his general direction to cover him while another bot revives him. If two of your bots go down, toss a concussion grenade and run in to revive one of them, then let him revive the other bot. You may be knocked into Swan Song in the process.
  
• If you enter Swan Song, start moving towards the bots so they can revive you. Spam your weapons, ammo is free during Swan Song.
  
• Don't spam the interact key. If you call out to a bot, he will abandon his held position and move towards you. You do not have Inspire to boost reload speed, and those are not human players. Try to face away from the bots if you're attempting to take a hostage.

Miscellaneous tips

• Play in offline mode for faster armor regeneration and the ability to pause.
  
• Try to get shotgun-wielding converts.
  
• Regular enemies break your armor in 2 hits on wave 9. However, you have 40 dodge (35 without Distractor) and a stockpile of concussion grenades to stall out the wave if need be.
  
• A full 9-wave Holdout lasts about 30 minutes. Good luck!

Map-specific Tips

Golden Grin Casino

Have 2 bots gather in the center where the hostage is.

Defend from opposite the green car. There's a red seat to your left and a slot machine to your right which you can use for cover. Have 1 bot stop near your defend point for convenient revives and bullet sponging.

Enemies can attack you from your left (casino entrance) and right (back rooms), but they're usually pretty far away when they do so.

The doors at the side of the casino will open up in later waves. One of these doors is right behind you.

Mallcrasher

Have the bots gather near the hostage. Place them on the side closer to the entrance of the mall.

Defend from the escalator near the hostage. You are covered from enemies coming in through the mall entrance.

Enemies can spawn behind you. You can see their legs through the shutters. After you run out to grab ammo boxes, upon returning to the defend point, move a bit further past the escalator to check for spawns.

Snipers will spawn on the rooftops. Your bots are right in their line of fire, so you have plenty of warning when and where they've spawned, as they will have their red lasers trained on your bots.

San Martin Bank

Have the bots gather in the center near the hostage. Have one bot slightly off to the right so he's covering the side entrance too.

Defend mainly from the right side, near the pillar. Jamming yourself into the corner of the pillar will keep you covered from attacks from the front and side entrances.

Peek out of the side entrance and blast any enemies trying to make it in from there. If the right side becomes too heavily attacked, sprint across the front to switch over to the left side.

Enemies can attack you from the balcony above.

The center will fill with gas on some waves, but the bots are immune to it and the defend points are just outside the affected area.

Snipers will spawn, but they are mostly irrelevant as they cannot hit you if you stay in the bank.

This map can be cheesed with a different build and strategy. Requisites are a sniper rifle and Inspire. Gather the bots near the hostage, then hide behind in the teller booth. Kill any enemy that tries to free the hostage with the sniper rifle (it can pierce walls). Inspire bots if they go down.

The Alesso Heist

Have 2 bots gather in front of the hostage between the two ALESSO stumps, and the last bot behind the hostage.

Defend from the popcorn stand. Stay outside of it as it's easier to run out for ammo, get closer to enemies attempting to free the hostage, or circle around the stand to defend from the back that way.

The octagonal table may provide cover for enemies attempting to free the hostage, thus you may have to get closer to kill them. However, sometimes they end up standing on the table instead and are fully exposed.

The short black table on the other side can be used as cover. However, you are vulnerable to enemies attacking you from the stairs here.

Snipers will spawn on the balconies above the entrance and above the hostage.

The Big Bank

Have 2 bots gather at the front of the bank, and the last bot near the hostage.

Defend from the side with the EMPLOYEES ONLY corridor. There is an information panel which you can use for cover.

The opposite side has a pillar which you can hide behind to remain safe from enemies in the front. However, snipers can hit you from here.

Snipers will spawn far above the hostage.

The EMPLOYEES ONLY corridor and the upper floors will fill with gas on some waves.

Map-specific Tips (continued)

Boat Load (Watchdogs D2)

Have the bots gather near the concrete barriers outside the warehouse.

Defend from under the stairs inside.

The rooms under the stairs may fill with tear gas, but you can defend from just outside of them.

The map starts with one of the three large shutters open. The other two will open up in later waves. The best configuration is the one with middle shutter open immediately, since that lets the bots cover the hostage, and you can defend with your back to one of the closed side shutters on early waves.

First World Bank

Have 2 bots gather near the cubicles surrounded by glass, and the last bot near the hostage.

Defend from the wall behind the hostage. Note that enemies can shoot you from the corridor to the right. If you'd like to be closer to the action, defend from the printer instead.

The side office near the cubicles makes a decent defend point if you need to support the 2 bots. You have full view of the stairs leading to the second floor. A flashbang may spawn here though.

You can spawn camp enemies as they file through the security room spawn point on the second floor. The hostage is defendable from the railing. Don't do this on later waves though, it's a long walk back to the bots if you enter Swan Song.

Snipers will spawn straight ahead of your defend position, or on the window above the sofas.

A SWAT turret will arrive on wave 7. Your bots should be out of its view. Putting them far away from the sofa should help with this. Avoid sprinting over to the side office as the converts may get stunlocked by the turret as they follow you there.

The glass cubicles and the stairs leading to the second floor may fill with gas.

On later waves, enemies will start crowding around the second floor balcony. Stay under the balcony, don't let them shoot you from it.

Heat Street

Have the bots gather by the gray car. Put one of them on the side with the fence/bricks and two on the side with the red container. The SWAT turret can't hit them from here. Defend from this position.

Alternatively, have the bots gather near the hostage, behind the blue van. The van will shield them from the SWAT turret. This position can get messy if you go down and the bots' Inspire is on cooldown - if you're by the car, one of them has to break formation to rescue you, while if you're at the van, there's no cover.

Move to the other end of the red container if you need to abandon the position by the gray car (smoke grenades, Bulldozers). It's covered from most angles, but if you look up to your right, enemies can shoot you from atop the stacks of containers. It may be hard to see them because the tree is in the way.

The Diamond

Have the bots gather at the top of the central stairs. They will be in a good position to kill most of the enemies as they spawn.

Defend from anywhere within the chamber. Most of the enemies will go for the bots and you'll have a lot of space to run around in.

A sniper will spawn on top of the central roof window.

The upper floor corridors will fill with gas on certain waves. The left or right side of the chamber may also be gassed.

Videos and Screenshots

Unknown Knight's 2 Sep stream

My stats

(These were achieved pre-Update 199.3, when weekly holdouts with additional modifiers was still a thing)

First World Bank (Weekly, Modifier: Winters shields, shields reflect projectiles):

Boat Load (Weekly, Modifier: Heavy SWATs, cannot be staggered from damage):

Heat Street (Weekly, Modifier: +2 Bulldozers):

The Diamond (Weekly, Modifier: Bulldozer +damage on visor break, Medic +damage on ally death, enemy +damage on Medic revive):

Your K/D ratio may vary wildly depending on how many times you get one-shotted by Snipers and ZEAL Marksmen.

[unga_bunga]

very good loadout
i found it works on safe house raids pretty well too

[🜍Dark Slayer🜍]

thanks dude, i finally got through wave 9 at heat street!

[Skyfry428]

Why does heat street suck so much holy shit man

[Loki]

in the alesso heist i think in the spot on the right side of the hostage is the best facing the entrance so go behind the hostage and to the right is a cylinder one of the best cause you can spot through the glass and see the hostage but he does have good spots and his setup sooo op

[Jellinatrix]

Queen's Wrath is better dps for bots than M60s btw

[Jellinatrix]

Alesso heist - Call the two bots into both sides of the central area and position the other behind the hostage, then lock their positions with Z. Hide beside the hostage under the table and go afk. Completed at level 0 while having a shower. Bonus if you have auto first aid kit skills, 2x jokers or auto revive.

[traitor]

just give all of your ai M60s, put them in useful positions and then hide in the popcorn stand in alesso holdout. free xp

[psykos]

You also win if you trade the hostage after an assault. You get less money and xp, but you still complete the holdout

[Mahinus]

Thank you

[dxdydzd]

Focus on the specials. If one of your bots is getting tased, seek out the Taser. If you see them getting into fights with Bulldozers, join in, because they'll lose without your support.

Enemies tend to form a giant unit ball at the top of the stairs, so the Goliaths can hit a lot of them in one shot.