Ghost Recon Breakpoint - 10/4/2019

[jztemple2]

I'll keep playing a bit and if I still like it I think I'll pick up the Uplay+ subscription. That way I can play the game all during October and if I decide I didn't really like it after all I can cancel the subscription and so I'll only pay $15 for the month's rental

I did pick up the Uplay+ subscription, so I'm getting the full GRB experience on Tuesday . In the meantime, for the life of me I don't know why, I installed Far Cry 2 from Uplay, just to see if it was different from the Steam version. It wasn't . Still, I played it a bit, first time using keyboard and mouse for a shooter in a long time, and it turns out that in five minutes I got my sea legs, err, fingers back . Still died twice

[Max Peck]

The pre-load for the full game is available on Uplay, weighing in at 41.34 GB.

[jztemple2]

The pre-load for the full game is available on Uplay, weighing in at 41.34 GB.

I couldn't find it, then I remembered I had to go to the Uplay+ section to activate it. Bummer that it is only the Gold Edition, not the Ultimate one, so I miss out on the Ultimate perks. Oh well, I probably wouldn't have ordered the Ultimate anyway if I was paying for it.

[Max Peck]

That's weird. I was under the impression that Ubisoft was including all DLC and add-ons with Uplay+.

Access premium game editions including their additional content such as DLCs, expansions and automatic updates.

[jztemple2]

That's weird. I was under the impression that Ubisoft was including all DLC and add-ons with Uplay+.

Access premium game editions including their additional content such as DLCs, expansions and automatic updates.

I thought so too, but I asked on the forum about it and someone pointed out the fine print on the bottom of the Uplay+ page...

*Where premium or special editions of the game are indicated (for example: Ultimate/Gold/Deluxe Editions), editions included in Uplay+ may not include all premium content. Offer subject to change.

Caveat emptor

UPDATE: They don't have any special information listed on the Ubisoft GRB page regarding Uplay+ restrictions on DLC or special items. However, I did activate Rainbow Six Siege on my Uplay+ account which now shows I have access to the R6S Ultimate Edition, but with the following restrictions:

* Please note the Ultimate edition on UPLAY+ does not include:
- 600 Bonus R6 Credits
- Reknow boost & Alpha Pack boost
- 8 exclusive headgear and uniforms
- R6 charm
- 10% discount on in-game shop
It includes the instant unlock of 20 base operators (without grinding)

[jztemple2]

Launch intel. Main info is on the graphics, click to enlarge. Early access unlocks for me at midnight tonight.

[Max Peck]

It's interesting that Epic is last out of the gate. I'd have expected it to be at the same time as Uplay.

[jztemple2]

Heads up from Ubisoft:

Ghost Recon Breakpoint - Crash while launching the game on PC

If you have participated in the Open Beta and installed the final version of the game in the same folder, you may encounter issues when trying to launch your game.

As a workaround, please locate the file called DataPC_TGT_WorldMap.forge in the installation folder and delete it.

[jztemple2]

So I tried to launch at 00:02 (unlock for me was at 00:00, midnight). No dice. However at five after the "Play" button illuminated so I started the game. Five minutes to get through the initial start up, adjust the gamma, change the Y axis settings and by ten after I was playing.

The game terminated five minutes later

However, it wasn't a crash; instead my internet had gone down. It stayed down for about 45 minutes and as I was about to go to bed, the internet returns and I played another ten minutes, all was well. I have no doubt the internet went down because a million PC players were starting the game at the same time

[Max Peck]

I am old. I went to bed at 2300 and started playing at 0615 after a relatively good night's sleep. So far, so good.

[jztemple2]

Started playing again about twenty minutes ago. So far I haven't seen anything new that wasn't in the betas with regards to the interface, but maybe that's coming. I did run into the same situation I had during Wildlands, if I turn on Vsync my FPS drops at times into the 30s, but if I leave it off it stays near 60, occasional down in the low 50s, sometimes up almost to 70. Since my monitor will only support 60 FPS being above that doesn't help, but I like it being higher overall. By the way, my rig is Intel i7-4770K 3.5GHz, 16GB RAM, GTX 1060 6GB, Win10 64bit Home Edition, 480GB SSD main drive and I'm running at the High graphics preset.

Also, my video card is cooking at 77 degC but that's OK.

[coopasonic]

Since we are still cranking on BL3 I think I'll be waiting for a discount on Breakpoint since I have to buy two copies.

[Isgrimnur]

I did pick up the Uplay+ subscription, so I'm getting the full GRB experience on Tuesday .

You convinced me to go this route. Downloading now.

[jztemple2]

I did pick up the Uplay+ subscription, so I'm getting the full GRB experience on Tuesday .

You convinced me to go this route. Downloading now.

It just seems like a no brainer, if you don't like the game after a while just cancel the subscription.

[jztemple2]

I am still confused about the weapon progression. I have a Class 22 MP5 SMG. Now I know if I apply upgrades using parts those upgrades will affect all MP5s I own. Does that mean at some point I'm going to come across, say, a Class 30 MP5? If so, then I guess I understand, but if not, then it would seem to be wasting a lot of parts on weapons I'm going to toss in a while.

[Max Peck]

I am still confused about the weapon progression. I have a Class 22 MP5 SMG. Now I know if I apply upgrades using parts those upgrades will affect all MP5s I own. Does that mean at some point I'm going to come across, say, a Class 30 MP5? If so, then I guess I understand, but if not, then it would seem to be wasting a lot of parts on weapons I'm going to toss in a while.

Yes, you will get higher Gear Level versions of every specific weapon or piece of gear and if you upgrade an MP5, you upgrade all MP5s that you use.

The Gear Level in Breakpoint doesn't work the same as Gear Score does in The Division, which initially led to a lot of confusion for me. A higher GL weapon doesn't seem to have intrinsically higher stats or damage. The GL of your equipped weapons and gear is used to calculate your personal GL, which in turn determines any applicable level differential effects if you encounter NPCs or drones that are significantly higher level than you. You're never really going to see NPCs or drones that are significantly below your GL, from what I have seen, since the world appears to level up with you while specific POIs such as Wolf outposts and drone defense areas have mobs that are at a fixed (minimum?) level.

From an earlier post (is it gauche to quote myself quoting the devs?):

Developer Q&A – RPG Elements in Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon® Breakpoint

Q: Can you eliminate a max level human enemy with a headshot from a Gear Level 1 weapon?

Yes! Whatever the human enemy level, you will always be able to eliminate them with a single headshot, as long as they are not wearing a helmet – in which case you just need to land a shot once to remove it, and then a second time to take them down.

A skilled and patient player will have few issues doing this if they’re able to maintain stealth. However, high-level enemies are also more lethal and harder to sneak around, and they’re very dangerous once you’re detected.

You can play the game without upgrading, but it will become a lot more challenging and punishing if any mistakes are made.

Q: How does the number of body shots required to eliminate an enemy scale by level?

At the maximum difference in Gear Levels, human enemies will take several more bullets to eliminate via body shots than human enemies at your current level. The scaling of body shots to eliminate a target versus your difference in level has been carefully determined by our team, so you’ll feel those differences, but the encounters stay well within what is expected of a realistic military shooter.

Encounters with human enemies that are high above you in Gear Level will be harder and require more planning and higher precision; however, they won’t feel bullet-spongy.

That entire article is worth the read in order to get a handle on how character progression is intended to work.

[Max Peck]

Just a routine traffic stop, sir. Nothing to be concerned about.

[Isgrimnur]

I got to the cave last night, then had to go to bed. So I guess I got about an hour of playtime.

[jztemple2]

The Gear Level in Breakpoint doesn't work the same as Gear Score does in The Division, which initially led to a lot of confusion for me. A higher GL weapon doesn't seem to have intrinsically higher stats or damage. The GL of your equipped weapons and gear is used to calculate your personal GL, which in turn determines any applicable level differential effects if you encounter NPCs or drones that are significantly higher level than you. You're never really going to see NPCs or drones that are significantly below your GL, from what I have seen, since the world appears to level up with you while specific POIs such as Wolf outposts and drone defense areas have mobs that are at a fixed (minimum?) level.

This is what confused me as well, that a higher gear level doesn't mean better stats. Now I'm just desperately seeking advanced weapons parts

From an earlier post (is it gauche to quote myself quoting the devs?):

Quoting yourself means that you are just referencing a very reliable source

[jztemple2]

Had a good night playing last night. At a gear level of 43 I came across my first Wolves patrol, they were level 30. I took out two with sniper shots and nailed the last with a grenade toss. A little while later I came across three more Wolves, level 46. Took out two again with head sniper shots and tracked down the last by outflanking and shooting from behind.

I'm really enjoying the game after twelve hours. Once I got a handle on the whole Gear Level and weapons upgrade concepts, basically learning to not pay too much attention to them, it's turned into one of the game types I like, a Lone Wolf (me) stealthily moving around, doing missions and inflicting hurt on the bad guys. And as much as I've liked the last two Assassin's Creed games, I'm not really a melee type, I'm more of a "shooting them from far away, when they are not looking" type. It probably helps that I'm playing on Regular difficulty, I'm not much for repeating missions.

And I'm not really thrilled with the 3rd person camera. I've been in staircases where the camera gets jammed right up behind you and I couldn't even see the enemy. I hope they patch in a 1st person camera.

[Max Peck]

I don't always hack turrets, but when I do, this is why.



I've been playing solo, and it's been perfectly viable so far. I'm wondering if that will be the case when I need to go up against a Behemoth, though. Even an Aamon can be pretty tanky, and I haven't had a lot of luck with them unless I can engage them from good cover.

I very nearly hosed myself with the free 50% XP boost that was active throughout the early access. I didn't realize that the XP level is capped at 30 until I was already XP 29. Since I had already maxed out Sharpshooter, I had to use my very last skill point from XP leveling to unlock a second class. There are some lootable skill points out in the world, but for the most part they are in high risk/high reward POIs, so the skill points from leveling up XP and classes are easier to come by.

[jztemple2]

I very nearly hosed myself with the free 50% XP boost that was active throughout the early access. I didn't realize that the XP level is capped at 30 until I was already XP 29. Since I had already maxed out Sharpshooter, I had to use my very last skill point from XP leveling to unlock a second class. There are some lootable skill points out in the world, but for the most part they are in high risk/high reward POIs, so the skill points from leveling up XP and classes are easier to come by.

I'm taking this to mean you can't get more than 30 skill points via XP, right? That's going to put a crimp in my plans.

[Max Peck]

I very nearly hosed myself with the free 50% XP boost that was active throughout the early access. I didn't realize that the XP level is capped at 30 until I was already XP 29. Since I had already maxed out Sharpshooter, I had to use my very last skill point from XP leveling to unlock a second class. There are some lootable skill points out in the world, but for the most part they are in high risk/high reward POIs, so the skill points from leveling up XP and classes are easier to come by.

I'm taking this to mean you can't get more than 30 skill points via XP, right? That's going to put a crimp in my plans.

If I'm doing the math correctly, you get 29 from XP leveling and can get 9 from each class if you complete all of the class challenges. Then there are also lootable skill points at the Wolf outposts and Behemoth defense areas, and at least a few other individual POIs. At the end of the day, there seem to be more skill points available than there are skills to spend them on.

[Daehawk]

Not seeing good reviews. Here is the buy try pass guy ....he says wait on a deep deep sale.

[jztemple2]

Not seeing good reviews. Here is the buy try pass guy ....he says wait on a deep deep sale.

Eh, I'm happy with it. People might not be agreeing with the concept of the game, but the implementation is good. I don't like the third person camera at times and I hope they will put in a first person option. The whole business of disassembling of lesser weapons to make upgrades for your favorite weapons can get tedious, but it isn't by any means necessary to enjoy the game, since each of the three upgrade steps for a weapon adds a small attribute tweak. I also am ambivalent about the "recipes" to create things to eat to give temporary boosts in your ratings, but again it's not that much trouble and once you create a bunch you can go hours without needing to make more.

It's an excellent open world game in the sense of having a lot to explore. I've played about eighteen hours and probably having only uncovered a ten of the land area, if that, which is to say removed the "fog of war" from the map. I mostly travel on foot since I'm not in any hurry to complete the game. And I like the idea of the faction missions which change each day. They take you to different parts of the map and they come in two groups, covering two provinces so that if you don't feel like going across the map to do one group the other is usually near you.

I did try the PVP Ghost War mode. There's nothing really special about it, which isn't surprising. And while I don't have my three AI companions I had in Wildlands I can't say I really miss them, the game so far has been doable in a Lone Wolf style.

[jztemple2]

And a video from Ubisoft that will be helpful for beginners: Ghost Recon Breakpoint: Starter Gameplay Tips and Class Guide | Ubisoft [NA]

[Isgrimnur]

I very nearly hosed myself with the free 50% XP boost that was active throughout the early access. I didn't realize that the XP level is capped at 30 until I was already XP 29. Since I had already maxed out Sharpshooter, I had to use my very last skill point from XP leveling to unlock a second class. There are some lootable skill points out in the world, but for the most part they are in high risk/high reward POIs, so the skill points from leveling up XP and classes are easier to come by.

I'm taking this to mean you can't get more than 30 skill points via XP, right? That's going to put a crimp in my plans.

If I'm doing the math correctly, you get 29 from XP leveling and can get 9 from each class if you complete all of the class challenges. Then there are also lootable skill points at the Wolf outposts and Behemoth defense areas, and at least a few other individual POIs. At the end of the day, there seem to be more skill points available than there are skills to spend them on.

And then there are three character slots for the altaholics.

[coopasonic]

Not seeing good reviews. Here is the buy try pass guy ....he says wait on a deep deep sale.

He also said deep sale to Wildlands, which I loved so a grain of salt is suggested. I mostly trust ACG, but we don't agree 100%.

[jztemple2]

I'm at 21 hours right now and still enjoying the game. I would suggest for those who aren't in a big rush to complete the main campaign, a good thing to do is take on the Faction Missions which are changed each day. There are two sets of four daily. Usually one of each set has a very high gear level, like 100+ or more, and early on (or even after 21 hours!) you'll probably want to skip those. And each set is set in a different province, sometimes in a base, sometimes just in the open. And as you complete Faction Missions you get rewards, like patches, paint schemes for weapons, even weapons themselves. There is one disadvantage for those like myself who are playing in Exploration Mode, where other mission objectives aren't shown on the map until you get close to them, requiring you have to go find them by their description. Faction Mission objectives are shown on the map, no doubt because they change everyday and it would be a detriment to have to search hither and yon for them. It's not a big deal for me.

By the way, I am really liking the Exploration Mode. It makes it imperative to really look around the map, although if so inclined you can use a helicopter to speed things up. There is a lot to see if you go on foot, plus you are always picking up resources like food and other ingredients for recipes. Oddly, in the betas you could shoot wild animals for protein, but that seems to have been taken away.

[Isgrimnur]

I took down a bird and got some meat the other day.

[jztemple2]

I took down a bird and got some meat the other day.

Yeah, after I posted I had the same thing happen. So, giant hog, no meat; skinny bird, meat

UPDATE: I got to Sniper level 8 this evening (morning ) but it wasn't easy. I had to get a head shot at over 250 meters. First of all, finding a bad guy to whom I had a clear line of sight at over 250 meters. Then I had to use the best sniper rifle I had and still I wouldn't get a head shot, just a body shot. Finally after a bunch of moving around and trying I got the right situation. I'm going to keep those tactical goal displays off so I can focus on the missions without obsessing over, say, getting a kneecap shot in a rainstorm at a thousand meters with a squirt gun while doing the Macarena in high heels

[jztemple2]

I got in a couple of hours this afternoon. As per my usual routine, I checked the faction missions and decided hey, sounds like fun. I did all but the one that suggested a gear level of 150+; I'm at just about 100 now. Most were outside of bases, so it was just doing a yomp from the nearest bivouac, taking down the occasional patrol or the Sentinels roughing up some of the locals. The nerve of them!

I did have something I knew was going to happen; one of the Faction Mission objectives was in a base I already attacked and looted. The base was back to being staffed with troops but aside from the faction mission objective there wasn't anything else to loot. So I figured out using my drone where the objective was and then stealthed inside from the nearest opening to the objective. I got in, nailed the objective and sneaked back out. It was oddly satisfying.

Yesterday I had an objective of destroying what I think they called a drone nest. I figured it was some small base with a few troops servicing drones so I sneaked up really close and launched my drone. Bad move. It turns out to be a nest of four armed flying drone and when they saw my drone they freaked out. Suddenly I had four drones coming at me from all directions. I tried an EMP grenade but they were airborne and moving too fast. I used my shotgun and several medical syringes but finally got them all down. I'll take them out from a distance next time.

And today is was a drone of a different type. It came across a Behemoth Drone Tank. It was in its own little base which also had a nice blueprint and a skill point to get as well. I attacked several times and died. I used EMP grenades, the effect lasted only a few seconds. I hacked an automated turret and started blasting the Behemoth, but with no real accumulated damage before I died. Ditto for rockets. I finally realized I was trying to achieve the wrong objective, as killing the Behemoth gave me nothing but the satisfaction. So instead I sneaked into compound and belly crawled my way to the tower with the goodies. I did a quick run to get up the stairs and the Behemoth heard my footsteps, but by then I was on the other side of the structure behind cover. I grabbed the goodies and made a run for it; I promptly died . Still, I learned quite a lot.

[Max Peck]

I heard that Ubi tweaked the prices for things based on popularity during the betas, so those glasses must have been really popular. At this price, you could have an attack helicopter for each eyeball.

Or the price is bugged...

[$iljanus]

It sounds like everyone is playing solo, roaming the countryside and taking care of business. Are you all enjoying the solo experience? I know AI teammates will be added later but do you miss your AI friends?

[Isgrimnur]

A bit, since they made the multishot drone a consumable, which also means that it's limited in your carrying capacity.

[jztemple2]

It sounds like everyone is playing solo, roaming the countryside and taking care of business. Are you all enjoying the solo experience? I know AI teammates will be added later but do you miss your AI friends?

Surprisingly enough I haven't really missed my AI companions except when trying to deal with the Behemoth. Soloing has been lots of fun.

[jztemple2]

My current stats, or at least ones from about five gameplay hours ago. I don't know how long it takes for the latest stats to post. I sure like my headshots



I'm not surprised by the "Main Mission Completion" only being 7%, I've been doing a lot of side and faction missions. I am surprised to find I've only discovered 1.89% of the world. I'm wondering if they are counting all the water on the map.

[Max Peck]

I may have been playing a little too much but, in my defense, I need to get as much time in the game as I can before I set it on the backburner in order to play The Outer Worlds once it comes out on the 25th. Then I'll be playing as much of that as I can before Jedi Knight: Fallen Order comes out on Nov 15. And apparently I'll need to find time for RDR2 somehow, as well...



The explosive kills stat must be bugged. I know for a fact that I've blown up quite a few Wolves and Sentinels with grenades, C4 charges, mines and rockets.

[jztemple2]

Wow, that is a lot of playing

I agree about the explosive kills, I'd had a bunch as well.

[$iljanus]

Decided to buy the game for the PS4 since I'm liking my open world violent games on the big screen these days. Thanks for all your impressions!

I haven't played a Ghost Recon game since Advanced Warfighter I think so I hope it lives up to expectations.