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Re: Watch_Dogs 2

Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2019 5:52 pm
by jztemple2
So I've started off again in WD2. I took advantage of the Ubisoft installer letting me start playing the game while the install was running and it was pretty nice, I actually got to play all the opening cutscenes, the introductory mission (which even on Easy was hard for me :roll:) and then the follow up cutscene at the beach.

The opening mission, where dedsec tests my mad skillz :D
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On the beach (without Ava Gardner)
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Since the game has been out for donkey's years, I'm assuming that no one will be worrying about spoilers.

Re: Watch_Dogs 2

Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2019 7:18 pm
by jztemple2
After being woken up after an overnight bender by a phone call...
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I drive into San Francisco to go to the hacker hideout:
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Their cover is a game shop:
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But in the basement is the "hackerspace", including a ultra 3D printer:
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Re: Watch_Dogs 2

Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2019 1:13 am
by gbasden
While I didn't mind murdering people in WD1, it seems super weird to be streaming mass slaughter to my followers in WD2. What really frustrated me is that the non-murdery tools seemed so lacking. You would stun someone with the drone and they would be back up and moving in a minute. Missions always devolved into firefights which just seemed wrong. Are there any better non-death tools now with the patches and expansions?

Re: Watch_Dogs 2

Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2019 3:01 am
by jztemple2
gbasden wrote: Wed Apr 24, 2019 1:13 am While I didn't mind murdering people in WD1, it seems super weird to be streaming mass slaughter to my followers in WD2. What really frustrated me is that the non-murdery tools seemed so lacking. You would stun someone with the drone and they would be back up and moving in a minute. Missions always devolved into firefights which just seemed wrong. Are there any better non-death tools now with the patches and expansions?
There is a stun sniper rifle and an air shotgun, both non-lethal, these are in addition to your stun pistol. I don't know if they were patched in or part of the DLC, since I picked up the Season Pass from GMG and installed it before playing. Turns out they were added by the No Compromise DLC. The shotgun is a lot of fun, it knocks people back quite a ways.

I do know from my first playthrough that the game can stay pretty non-lethal on your part till
Spoiler:
one of your friends gets killed,
after that there are missions where lethal force is really just necessary to complete them. There were criticisms of this when the game came out, but I think the developers where trying to balance the game.

Stun sniper rifle:
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Re: Watch_Dogs 2

Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2019 4:29 am
by gbasden
Sweet! I'll pick up that season pass while it's on sale and give it a go.

Re: Watch_Dogs 2

Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2019 12:18 pm
by Kasey Chang
I'm starting WD2 myself. I got through the initial mission pretty easily, and did the Bobo Dakes vs the CEO mission too. Will do a couple other things. As I live in San Francisco, I can tell you the road into San Mateo doesn't really look like that. Hahaha.

Re: Watch_Dogs 2

Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2019 6:30 pm
by jztemple2
Just had an epic police chase, probably 30 minutes all told. In Sausalito (north of SF, east of Marin) I was notified of a nearby armored truck (in offline mode). I followed it and finally hacked it so the back doors flew open and it stopped. Unhappily the two guards up front also got out. I took one out with my air shotgun and grabbed the bag, and immediately went to five stars of pursuit :shock:

I headed east to the bridges to Oakland but too many cops and the chopper convinced me to turn around. I ran around the rural areas east of Sausalito, crashed, swapped cars and zoomed through Marin to the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge. I kept moving at speed under the bridge, through the tourist overview and just around there in general, but I just couldn't shake the cops. I was using the explosive steam pipes, but I just couldn't lose the chopper.

I decided to take a chance going south on the Golden Gate Bridge but my car was disabled as soon as I got going. Luckily I was near a ladder taking me down to the shore beneath, but it was a dead end... except for the water. I swam to a nearby boat but the cop boats were all over me. Just as I was approaching my destination my boat caught on fire, but I was near shore and where I wanted to be... Fort Point.

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I ran into the fort and managed to hide for awhile. I got nervous when the search got near me and moved to another location:
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Finally I was down to two stars but it stopped there. The cops knew I was nearby and so they just camped out on me. I tried to make a run unseen but was spotted. I went out to the parking lot and grabbed a muscle car and was off to downtown. There was a lot of near misses and me almost escaping, but just when I'd used a steam pipe to stop the pursuit I'd run into another cop roadblock. What I should have done was to wait till I was temporarily out of sight, then stop, find another car and hide. But I never seemed to have the time.

So after working my way across the city I ended up on the Oakland Bay Bridge, still being pursued. I tried to lose the cops on Treasure Island, but no dice. I continued across to Oakland, took an exit and went into a pond :roll:. I swam across, being shot at by the chopper, stole another car and headed south into Oakland. I was on the freeway but I saw some barrels and jumped through and doubled back. Still being chased :doh:. I went into an industrial area but it was a dead end on the water, so I doubled back and head south again on surface roads.

I saw an electric gate and decided to open and go in and see if I could hide. Turns out it was a gang hideout :oops:. I got shot at from all directions and died. Still, absolutely epic :D

Re: Watch_Dogs 2

Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2019 10:47 pm
by jztemple2
I love that people will photo bomb your selfies:
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And I always need the ubiquitous scissor lift:
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Re: Watch_Dogs 2

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 12:24 pm
by Kasey Chang
Yeah, had an epic police chase when I stole "Cyberdriver" from the studio lot. I ended up all over San Francisco, 3 times, as I keep jumping off those big hills hoping to get away, but they keep finding me (perhaps it's because I can't seem to make turns). Took ten solid minutes before I was able to disengage and went for the garage.

Re: Watch_Dogs 2

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 12:41 pm
by Paingod
Kasey Chang wrote: Fri Apr 26, 2019 12:24 pm Yeah, had an epic police chase when I stole "Cyberdriver" from the studio lot. I ended up all over San Francisco, 3 times, as I keep jumping off those big hills hoping to get away, but they keep finding me (perhaps it's because I can't seem to make turns). Took ten solid minutes before I was able to disengage and went for the garage.
Police chases in this one struck me as more tenacious than in the original - or even those in GTA IV. I often end up having to get a little lost and then hide in bushes, and alley, or under a bridge while they search.

Re: Watch_Dogs 2

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 5:32 pm
by gbasden
When you melee someone, they seem to be knocked out for the long term. Stunned enemies wake up after a short while. Is there any way to stun someone, then move up and knock them out?

Re: Watch_Dogs 2

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 10:11 pm
by Kasey Chang
Not that I've seen. The electrical knockouts are also seem to be more permanent than the air rifle knockouts. I can see the air rifle knockouts bring themselves out after a few minutes.

EDIT: You can restun the ZZZ guys. The number of Z's remaining indicates how long they will stay stunned.

I just did the entire New Dawn mission chain. Cleared the education camp. Good thing I kept the gate locked, as they called the cops but they're locked outside. I killed all the guards after failing to sneak past them. Rescued Jimmy Siska, then ran down to the beach and used the sailboat to escape. Then took down the main camp, using main stun charges. Hacked my way into the main building, got the hacking interface up, kept stunning the guards that keep getting in. FINALLY got the whole thing hacked, got to the tablets, and got the video made.

I was also collecting various money bags. I have over 150K now, which is quite a bit in this game, as typical hack yield is only under $100, and a good yield is about $500.

Can't seem to do any bounty missions, as others just kill me dead. And if I show weapons cops started shooting at me. ARGH. Did a couple online hack missions. It's tolerable, but not that much fun.

EDIT: Just hijacked the truck from HAUM. Turns out the trick is you have to first hack the key from the security supervisor so you can open the doors, THEN call in a gang hit on someone to divert all their attention, preferably in a different part of the compound, then you can just drive on out of there.

EDIT2: Just infiltrated HAUM's sample home, hacked it, and now, its R&D park. I've yet to kill anyone inside the compound... EVERY hostile was knocked out with melee, even the reinforcements. By knocking out the calls for reinforcement, the enemies wouldn't know where to find you. I didn't see a SINGLE enemy after I knocked EVERYBODY out (no stun, full melee KO) while I downloaded the entire data set. When I jogged out, not an enemy in sight except the patrol bots.

I've upgraded my arsenal to a silenced assault rifle and the stun sniper rifle. I've been winning races and collecting money and have no place to spend them. I'm at 250K wealth so far. Not much t spend them on unless I want to fill out my entire wardrobe, which I should be able to, despite the culture of $700 shoes and $500 bottoms.

EDIT3: Wow, just got screwed over by Blume AGAIN, and met Kenny who decided to show up to "lend a hand". Went with Horatio to infiltrate Nudle (i.e. Google) and made it finally down to server farm (after some VERY close calls with the jumper)

Before that, decided to take on an Elite mission alone: steal a hard drive from one, a vehicle from another, deliver to a third place. Steaming the item's easy: stealing the vehicle is a PITA when enemies can summon heavy gunners and have dogs. I've tried sniping, firepower, stealth, diversion. In the end, it's a combination of diversion and stealth that worked. Diversion managed to draw away the dog and the guards, and I was able to stun the stragglers. Then it's a matter of calling a different diversion, wait for it to take hold, then drive out the other entrance.

The sons of Ragnarak also has jammers, who can be VERY annoying if they show up. And there are at least two on this mission... Makes most of your hacks worthless and interrupts your jumper and drone coverage.

Re: Watch_Dogs 2

Posted: Sun Apr 28, 2019 3:25 pm
by Kasey Chang
Okay, seems a member of the Dedsec team met his untimely end... and I just completed his revenge (took out a 3 of the hitters in two separate missions) and I've been collecting the side missions too, like cleaning out OPD with its own links to Blume / ctOS. Just rescued the witness from Alcatraz, of all places. Fortunately I didn't kill any one... My stun gun works great without killing any one, but puts them down long enough for me to resolve the mission, esp. if I shoot them slow enough to prevent them calling for more help.

There aren't THAT many missions left on the map, actually.

Re: Watch_Dogs 2

Posted: Sun Apr 28, 2019 4:08 pm
by jztemple2
Kasey Chang wrote: Fri Apr 26, 2019 10:11 pm I just did the entire New Dawn mission chain. Cleared the education camp. Good thing I kept the gate locked, as they called the cops but they're locked outside. I killed all the guards after failing to sneak past them. Rescued Jimmy Siska, then ran down to the beach and used the sailboat to escape. Then took down the main camp, using main stun charges. Hacked my way into the main building, got the hacking interface up, kept stunning the guards that keep getting in. FINALLY got the whole thing hacked, got to the tablets, and got the video made.
Good gosh you're very aggresive :wink:

I just happened to do these two missions on my repeat playthrough last night. I got Siska out fairly quietly, only alerted the guards at the end. A great help was the mass comm disruption tool, hitting that gave me time to run past several guards. I ran to the beach and happily the security folks of New Dawn had run a car right up to the fence there, so I "borrowed" it and raced away.

I did the main building mission entirely stealthy, my jumper is such a help now. I'm using the cell phone distraction option to keep the guards from noticing the jumper. And I used the quadcopter to help solve the hack puzzle on the ceiling of the temple.

Re: Watch_Dogs 2

Posted: Sun Apr 28, 2019 7:11 pm
by Kasey Chang
Yeah, I generally go with aggression mixed with stealth. Stealth first, but backed by aggression if I don't see a hole to exploit. I booby trap every shock target I spot... They make great reverse traps if I am cornered. And I tend to use the stun gun instead of my stun sniper. Better snap shot capability and arguably faster reload.

In the Alcatraz trip, I stunned all the evil cops that came after me and released their prisoner. I did similar things when raiding other places. The only place I didn't do that was Nudle, as I was able to sneak past the guards with the jumper, which released the door so I can get into the server farm.

EDIT: Just nabbed the Nugle Car from WKZ. Getting in wasn't hard, but my aggressive stand is problematic, where I went for 'stun all guards'. Eventually got them all. THEN it's a matter of protecting the car without driving it. That was a tough ride, playing with vehicle hacks trying to keep the cops off, then do a simple routing puzzle while the the vehicle's still moving. Once I got that, and gained control of the vehicle, THEN evasion becomes easy.

I've also noticed quite a few DLC mission starts, like Zodiac Killer, No Compromise, and more.

EDIT: 2.95 mil followers, level 17 or 18 character. I spread out my points so I'm not strictly one or the other role (aggressor, ghost, trickster)

Just solved the new Zodiac for SFPD, and gotten started on the DLC mission where nanotech firm is using the homeless as test subjects.

Getting the final "key data" pieces is turning into a real PITA. I figured out the one in the refinery (on top of the oil tank) but the one at Lombard I still don't have a clue yet. There's obviously a hole to drop the jumper into. I haven't found it yet. EDIT: According to the wiki, it does NOT require a physical hack. ARGH!

Re: Watch_Dogs 2

Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 10:17 am
by Kasey Chang
L17 for sure, 3.8M followers, just resolved the FBI phase that includes an assault on FBI local HQ in Oakland. :)

Later, Dedsec not only rescued Wrench from the FBI, but also hacked FBI data gathered on the hackers. It was interesting as the place was surrounded by agents and I basically blasted a hole through with my stun gun. Got everybody outside, ran inside and started hacking the data and grabbed Wrench's mask. Then repeated the process to make an exit.

Also resolved the Rensense phase where a pharmaCo decided to use the homeless as their nanotech guinea pigs. Hacked their server, ruined their yield, AND Lenni thought he got one over us? Nope. Again, distraction proven to be key: I called in two gang hits and while they hit one side I ran through the other and started hacking the trailers.

The base itself wasn't that bad.

Re: Watch_Dogs 2

Posted: Sat May 04, 2019 6:05 pm
by Kasey Chang
L18, 3.9M followers. Have just humiliated "Jakofski", only to find he has Bratva ties. Getting the last bits of keydata is also quite painful, as one requires a motorcycle jump up a very tight ramp, then survive the ensuing battle. But just got that.

My attack plan is pretty simple... Walk up to objective, scout the place using my quadcopter, decide on stealth (sneak only) or semi-stealth (stun allowed), find the terminals and hack targets early, decide if I should go after it personally or with the jumper, and start hacking my way through. If necessary, I'll stun everybody, including the reinforcements.

Just finished the Geordi Chin cameo DLC, sneaking through a bunch of Bratva isn't me. I basically sicc'ed another gang on them, and that brought in the police, and that basically cleaned them out. I just kinda waited until the cops disappeared, and I nabbed the objective while the Bratva re-entered the area and I keep my stunner busy.

Nabbing the key data there is tricky. I ended up using the crane to put me next to an upper floor window, so my jumper and go through and nab the case and open the door (optional).

Final stop, hacking the yacht, it's messy, but with Geordi inside causing havoc and I'm outside, using the quadcopter to do all the hacking, it's not hard, just... tedious, as I had to maneuver around a lot of things to get to the hack points.

Just hit L20, 4.22 million followers.

Now it should be close to the grand finale, where I team up with Raymond Kenney to take down Blume once and for all.

Re: Watch_Dogs 2

Posted: Sun May 05, 2019 12:27 am
by Kasey Chang
Just hacked my way through Galilei and then hacked the satellites. It's clear I need to hack all of the Bay area companies AGAIN, and it won't be easy.

No casualties through Galilei, which is fortunate. Didn't rely on jumper at all, it's all personal except jumping in to unlock the room for something else.

Just hit level 21, 4.66 million followers.

EDIT: Hacked the Auntie Shu Boys' barge and infiltrated it with drone and myself. Didn't survive first time as I failed to follow the server up to the deck. Next time, I got on the elevator WITH the server and stuned anyone who came near. That transportation vhoice was a surprise.

EDIT: Just counter-hacked Mark Thruss and iNVite and their plan to throw the election. With a bit of other activities, it's enough to hit L23, 5.67 million followers. According to the game, I'm close to hitting the endgame, at 95% game progression.

Re: Watch_Dogs 2

Posted: Sun May 05, 2019 1:06 pm
by Kasey Chang
NOTE: Destroying items turns out to be MUCH easier with the quadcopter able to carry 5 micro-IEDs. I didn't even go into the compound, simply rained IED from altitude or through windows. It's a bit of "muahahahaha!" as I trigged explosives from a distance, mixed with gangland hit on the compound, which sometimes also attract the police.

Edit: Called the cops on the donut guy

https://imgur.com/a/8xoxx2A

Edit: Just finished the main campaign, took down Blume and the CTO. It's fun as you get to play as Sitara and Wrench, though the wrench missions are tough as he's an all weapons kinda guy, and firepower doesn't really count that much when you have a dozen gunmen pouring lead in your direction. Still, got it done, eventually. Then it's Marcus' turn to infiltrate Blume. I was surprisingly casualty free until I had to break out of the vault to the exit. That chokepoint got me bad, but surprisingly, I had a siege breaker: I simply got my Quadcopter in the air, dashed out, and rained IEDs on the poor guards. Originally it had been stunners, but those guys won't take a hint. I ended up killing every guard. *sigh* and made my way outside.

As there's not much left on the map except a couple ScoutX location badges and a couple DriverX missions, I guess I can pretty much call it quits here.

Re: Watch_Dogs 2

Posted: Sun May 05, 2019 4:13 pm
by jztemple2
Kasey Chang wrote: Sun May 05, 2019 1:06 pm Edit: Called the cops on the donut guy

https://imgur.com/a/8xoxx2A
He deserved it.

Re: Watch_Dogs 2

Posted: Sun May 05, 2019 8:56 pm
by RuperT
You’ll find that a maxed-out quadcopter helps with multiplayer, too - particularly when bounty hunting turtles.

Re: Watch_Dogs 2

Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2019 2:43 pm
by Blackhawk
I'm thinking about playing a Watch Dogs. Should I jump into 2, or should I play 1 first?

Re: Watch_Dogs 2

Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2019 2:51 pm
by Kasey Chang
They are practically different games. In WD1, you practically *have* to go violent in some segments, while in WD2, you can often solve your problem with gadgets (i.e. you don't have to be directly involved unless forced by the plot, like you have to go into a server room)

I'd say play WD1 first, just to get a feel of the overall idea. You get a lot more toys to play with in 2.

Re: Watch_Dogs 2

Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2019 2:55 pm
by jztemple2
Blackhawk wrote: Sat Oct 19, 2019 2:43 pm I'm thinking about playing a Watch Dogs. Should I jump into 2, or should I play 1 first?
WD2 pretty much stands alone, except for a reference in a mission to the main character from WD1. I think WD2 was more fun with a greater expansion of options, but WD1 is still pretty good on its own. The story in WD1 is grittier, while for the most part (with some important exceptions) WD2 has a lighter tone, due to the main characters. Both have excellent gameplay and while the map of San Francisco and environs in WD2 is larger, the representation of Chicago in the first game is excellent with activities taking place on multiple levels which make the map feel larger. While some folks didn't like WD1 because of the gritty nature, I felt the story was more immersive.

Re: Watch_Dogs 2

Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2019 3:35 pm
by Kasey Chang
Jordi, the hitman in WD1, showed up as a DLC mission in WD2.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfNwynfGqDs

Re: Watch_Dogs 2

Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2019 4:18 pm
by Blackhawk
Thanks. I've got WD1, but no DLC, and I have been considering upping for some Uplay+, which I believe gives both plus DLC. I'm in the mood for an urban game, and it seems like it will either be this or Mankind Divided.

Re: Watch_Dogs 2

Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2019 8:27 pm
by Blackhawk
I loaded up 1 and played for a while, and think I'll wait until I sub for 2 instead. 1 has so, so many 'bad port' elements I'm choking on them, like no true mouse support (it is just emulated joystick input) plus forced mouse acceleration. I'm fighting the game more than I'm fighting in the game.

Re: Watch_Dogs 2

Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2019 8:42 pm
by jztemple2
Blackhawk wrote: Sat Oct 19, 2019 8:27 pm I loaded up 1 and played for a while, and think I'll wait until I sub for 2 instead. 1 has so, so many 'bad port' elements I'm choking on them, like no true mouse support (it is just emulated joystick input) plus forced mouse acceleration. I'm fighting the game more than I'm fighting in the game.
Hmm, I only played using an X360 controller so I was unaware of any issues. Shame that this wasn't fixed.

Re: Watch_Dogs 2

Posted: Sun Oct 20, 2019 2:44 am
by Kasey Chang
I play with the Xbox controller myself and didn't notice any issues. The only "issues" was the controls from WD1 is different from WD2 that it took me a couple play sessions to transition over.

Re: Watch_Dogs 2

Posted: Sun Oct 20, 2019 10:30 am
by Blackhawk
Games like this I play using mouse and keyboard for the on-foot/shooting segments, and switch to a controller just for the driving.

Re: Watch_Dogs 2

Posted: Sat Oct 26, 2019 12:10 pm
by Kasey Chang
Autoaim worked well enough for me. I didn't find playing the game too hard on controller. I just play it on controller all the way.

Re: Watch_Dogs 2

Posted: Sat Oct 26, 2019 12:24 pm
by Blackhawk
I don't mind using controllers for game types that are well suited to them (fighting games, platformers) or for elements that benefit from the variable input (driving, flying), but for shooting I want to do the aiming myself. That's the fun part.