Harder than r/gonewild

Tips and tricks to guide you through Paradise Lost on POSTAL difficulty.

Disclaimer

This is a repost of my achievement guide as it was originally posted on AStats[astats.astats.nl] in 2016. Since then the game might or might not have received updates that changed some aspects.

Introduction

On the last two difficulty settings, POSTAL and Impossible, civilians not only carry weapons but they also shoot the player on sight, making them a very hard challenge. On POSTAL difficulty they are armed with pistols, shotguns and machine guns, while on Impossible they carry explosives (both launchers and throwables). Some people find avoiding rockets and grenades easier than dealing with enemy gunfire, so for this reason they find Impossible difficulty easier than POSTAL.

To unlock this achievement you have to complete Paradise Lost on POSTAL difficulty. As far as I know, it hasn't been confirmed whether completing the game on Impossible unlocks the achievement or not, so I recommend playing on POSTAL to be safe. This guide will provide you with useful tips for your playthrough. Overall, I think it's easier than the base game so if you completed that on POSTAL, you shouldn't have too much of a struggle with this one.

General Tips

• Explore the town before starting your playthrough on POSTAL. Not knowing your way around will definitly give you a hard time.
  
  
• Complete the speedrun achievement Adderall4All first. Several speedrun skips can make some levels shorter. I recommend following this video as it shows all of the skips. (Made by Useless NPC, I take no credit!)
  
  
  
• Make sure dismemberment is enabled in the options. This allows you to cut down limbs of people with edged weapons (eg.: machete, axe, shears), which makes them unable to attack, or cut off their heads to instantly kill them.
  
  
• Set Population density to the lowest option. To do this enter the pause menu, click on Achievements, click back, select Options and then Performance Options. Doing this will minimize the number of people in town.
  
  
• Use the weapon slot buttons to change guns instead of cycling through all your armory to find the weapon you want to use.
  
  
• Manual saving is limited to 1 save per level (levels are separated by loading zones). Use them wisely. Make sure autosaving is enabled. Occasionally you will also encounter checkpoints (usually before a hard battle). Autosaves and checkpoints don't count toward the save limit. Autosaves overwrite each other and so do checkpoints but manual saves can be done into multiple slots.
  
  
• If you mess up in an area (eg. you lose too much health) then reload your latest save and try again instead of entering a new area and overwrite your autosave.
  
  
• Be aware of fall damage.
  
  
• Firing your gun alerts nearby people. Sometimes a stealth approach is better. Dismember unaware people from behind when possible.
  
  
• Avoid direct head-to-head gunfights whenever possible. If you are in front of an alerted person you are sure to take damage from their shots. Instead, lure them into corners or behind doors and 1-shot them with your edged weapon or shotgun whenever possible.
  
  
• Avoid fighting many people at the same time. Getting in the line of fire of multiple people will get you killed in seconds.
  
  
• Collect the loot dead people drop whenever there is noone else nearby. This way you will be replenish your ammo and might find some food items and money too.
  
  
• Explore abandoned (or cleared out) places. That extra life or ammo you can find behind or on top of obstacles will definitly come in handy.
  
  
• When entering an area through a tunnel you can usually wipe out a few people from the ladder with your pistol. Don't climb up completely but up to a height which allows you to see and shoot them and they won't be able to fire back.

Items and Weapons

• To help you with your quest you are granted a Fish Radar which works infinitely. It is a very useful item which displays the location of people who are on the same water level as you are. A white fish indicates that the person is unaware of you, yellow means they are aware but not yet aggressive and red means they are alerted and will attempt to attack the player. Always keep an eye on the radar to see approaching enemies.
  
  
• You cannot carry any health items with you, instead they are used instantly when you walk over them, like in old school shooters.
  
  
• Medikits and health pipes give you 30 health, bag of food gives 10, pizza slice 5 and dougnut 3. Make sure you collect the right healing item. You don't want to waste a medikit when you have high health and there are food items around.
  
  
• All negative effects from health items (eg. addiction from health pipes, heart attack from fast food) are removed in this difficulty.
  
  
• Your only way to store health in your inventory is to collect dog treats. That's right. Every dog treat gives you only 1 health so make sure to save them for hard times.
  
  
• Bulletproof vests shield you from most of the damage you take. You can have up to 100 armor from blue vests, however green ones give you 200.
  
  
• Catnips are very important items. Once activated, they will slow down the time around the player for a short time, granting a sort of bullet time effect. They are pretty rare and hidden so make sure you save them for difficult battles and boss fights.
  
  
• You can still buy items from vendor machines, including catnips, dog treats, bulletproof vests, several weapons and ammo for them. Be aware that health items are used instantly.
  
  
• The sledgehammer can instantkill people, however its attack is very slow. Luckily you can charge it up in advance. It can be found as soon as Tuesday, on the ruins of the building in front of the WipeHouse. You can get up there by jumping on the derailed train car.
  
  
• Edged weapons such as the machete, the axe and the shears (leaf clipper) can also instant kill non-boss people. I recommend using the shears because it seems to have somewhat longer range. The machete is dropped by one of the biker/punk gang members during the Hideout task on Thursday. Make sure you get one of them as it's very useful in the final boss fights.
  
  
• The default pistol can kill a person with 2 headshots. Cops take 3 or 4. Their accuracy makes them reliable in long range combat too.
  
  
• The alternative attack of the revolver can oneshot multiple enemies (up to 6) in one attack, as long as the red bar on the bottom of the screen is filled. You can fill it up by killing people with the normal attack.
  
  
• Shotguns can oneshot people in close range by blasting their head off. The Lever-Action Shotgun is superior to the base game one so make sure to use that.
  
  
• The sawed off shotgun is the most overpowered weapon in the game and it can be yours as soon as Tuesday! It spawns under a cactus on top of a hill near the entrance to the factory. See 19:53 in the speedrun video above for the exact location. This weapon will make you unbeatable in close range combat but be aware that that it needs to be reloaded after 2 shots!
  
  
• The machine guns are good for keeping enemies under heavy fire and this can usually prevent them from firing back. The M4 is pretty accurate from long range too while the MP5 is better for close range combat.
  
  
• Explosvies (both launchers and throwables) are powerful, however, they are very hard to use. Experiment with them before starting on POSTAL difficulty to see if you can use them well or not.
  
  
• The sniper rifle can oneshot multiple people in your line of fire, acting somewhat like a railgun. Be aware that the weapon is useless when not aimed through the scope, however, it takes long to bring the scope up and the rate of fire is slow so only use it from long range. It can be found in many areas eg. on top of the building in front of the factory, accessible by a ladder.

Enemies and Allies

• Non-boss human enemies can't attack the player if they are on fire.
  
  
• Survivalists (the people in orange hazmat suits) are tough enemies because they are heavily armored and they also carry machine guns. Avoid gunfights with them whenever possible. Slice them from behind or snipe their head from a distance for an instant kill. If you can't avoid gunfight it's best to blast them away with the sawed off shotgun from close range. Sometimes they drop bulletproof vests when killed.
  
  
• The factions that you work for on each day won't attack you on that specific day. Exceptions are female Al-Qaeda members who act like civilians.
  
  
• Allies, such as the monkeys in CCCP on Monday or Uncle Dave at the herb farm on Friday are very helpful as they can distract and kill enemies.

Tasks and Skips

Monday

• Monday is the hardest day because you won't have many good weapons and your ammo will be mostly low, especially in the beginning.
  
  
• The tasks on Monday in which you ask people about Champ and visit the Wiseman are removed in this difficulty.
  
  
• ♥♥♥♥ Asian Food: This will probably be the first task you do and getting inside the restaurant in one piece is tough. There are some dynamites on top of the building, accessible from the garage area to the left of the entrance of the restaurant. Try to throw one through the window, it should kill a few people.
  
  
• CCCP: Free the monkeys (obviously) as they can distract the enemies. There is an extra catnip in this area. See 0:40 in this video. (I take no credit. Don't proceed to the shotgun though, it's not worth it.)
  

Tuesday

• Mall Arcade: You can kill the guy behind the counter by throwing a few grenades in front of it. This will allow you to install the motherboards immediately.

Wednesday

• Asylum: Before exiting each building you should be able to shoot and kill the people who spawned outside (including the rocketeers) through the gaps in the window. Beware of exploding rockets though as they can hurt you through the wall. The person who is protecting the AC part can't be sliced with edged weapons so just blast him away with the sawed off shotgun.
  
  
• Charity: The only way to complete this task is to go after Zack Ward (he is inside the building which was the police station in the base game).

Thursday

• Chemical Factory: A portion of the level can be skipped if you jump over a fence (shown in the speedrun video). After exiting, but before the cutscene where you get robbed you can throw some of your weapons to the ground and pick them up after the cutscene (also shown in the speedrun video). Please note that some of them (if not most) will get deleted by the game although this might depend on your hardware and game configuration. The stuff you didn't drop will be taken to the Hideout.
  
  
• Robot Factory: At the final fight, after the defeating the first wave of robots (machine guns, sawed off shotgun and grenades work well against them), quickly run in front of the platform where the new robots jump down, stand in one place, unzip your pants and just urinate into them as they come. If you are at the right place they all will get deactivated before they can even do anything. Use your water bottles to refill your urine as necessary.
  
  
• Karaoke Club: Try going up to the top floor without alerting the people inside. A well aimed molotov cocktail from above can take out the entire group.
  
  
• Escape from Cole Mines: the minecart part can be skipped if you jump on a few rocks (as shown in the speedrun video).

Friday

• Herb Farm: Make sure to take it slow here, lure the enemies into corners and kill them with the sawed off. Uncle Dave will provide some support. I recommend doing the front area first, then the gym and then finally the back. You should make a manual save after that. When leaving the glass house in the back I advise you to go around the buildings to the right. Make sure to snipe the rocketeers before they can spot you. There is a hidden green armor behind the place where the narcotics attacked from in the cutscene.
  
  
• Lucky Ganesh: You can enter and exit the building through the front door which is covered by a pile of snow. To do this, do a crouch jump in the corner on top of the snow and you should slide between the snow and the doorway. This is demonstrated in the speedrun video. Make sure you kill the assaulting enemies first because you can get temporarly stuck while exiting.
  
  
• Survivalist Encampent: You can skip most of the level by jumping down into the valley under the bridge after the very first firefight (the sniper works well here). After you defeat them go back to the side of the bridge where you came from and then face it. You can jump down to the right of the bridge. Once down, go to the metal fence and jump on top of its side from the small uphill to the right. An invisible wall is blocking you from jumping through so you need to walk to the door area. This will take you right to the item you need to collect. (Demonstrated in the speedrun video.)
  
  
• Hell Hole: The majority of the level can be skipped by jumping on the rope of the fallen bridge from a rock. (Again, speedrun video.) Clear the area of nearby zombies and make a save here because it will take several tries. Make sure to resupply at the vendor before the boss fights.
  
  
• Boss Fights: The alternative attack of the machete is a boomerang throw which can deplete the health of the first two bosses with 1 or 2 attacks! That's 6 out of 7 fights complete in a breeze! The final boss isn't very hard either. Use catnips and empty your MP5 into them refilling your health with dog treats as necessary.

Apocalypse

• Leave Town: You should have little problem making your way back to the train yard to get your hard earned achievement. You can use your remaining dog treats whenever you need to. Try to avoid conflicts. Most people will be busy fighting each other so they shouldn't attack you unless you get too close to them.

[buttertoasted]

thanks i will try to do this