Boy, when it's good, it's VERY good

[Bahger]

After many failures, and a slow, error-strewn path towards a better understanding of the mechanics, I might just be starting, not to "master" this game, that, if it ever happens is a long way in the future, but at least to be somewhat competent at it.

 

By way of a quick AAR: Today I tackled a vault mission (Day 1, Mission 01) using Deckard and Internationale.  I got lucky and found the exfil location only two rooms away from the spawn but the target location was some distance beyond this, past a bottleneck that had to be negotiated by patiently luring one of the two guards out of the room, after which Deckard snuck past.  I had to use another route to get Internationale past this bottleneck.  I managed to maneuver both operatives into the vault with no takedowns or camera gotchas.  By the time I raided the vaults and picked up an artifact I was almost at Alert Level 3 and the guards were beginning to converge.  I decided to knock out both of the guards in the bottleneck so that Internationale could hit one more safe and get some power from that room but I mistimed her exit and she was stuck halfway betwen the safe and the door (but hidden) when both guards recovered.  Meanwhile I had hit the last phase of Alarm State 3 and thought I was probably doomed.  With a guard covering the doorway that Internationale had to use and another standing behind him, I had to use her taser (power restored that turn) to take down the rear guard and used Deckard's cloak to get him behind the front guard to take him out.  In other words, I has to knock out these two guys twice in a row.  With Alarm State 4 blaring, I was able to get both agents to exfil with a haul of over $2000, an artifact and some intel.

 

This was a great mission but I am unlikely to succeed twice in a row based on my past record.  To give myself the best chance, I will need to upgrade Deckard and Internationale wisely and choose the right mission.  I am using Lockpick and Fusion, which seemed to work well in the last mission.

 

My observations/musings, FWTW, about this last great triumph of espionage are as follows, responses from you ninjas are welcome:

 

- There is a lot of luck involved.  You stand a much better chance of succeeding (I'd put it at 150%) if you stumble into the exfil location early and before you find the objective location.  There is also luck involved with steering clear of the guards; you cannot always predict their paths and sometimes you just run out of luck.  In this game, good tactics reduce risk but they never eliminate it.

 

- Distance is a huge factor.  The further you have to travel across the map to find either the objective or the exfil, the higher the probability that you will be caught and the further away they are from each other, ditto.

 

- When people here advise novices to bypass guards wherever possible rather than knock them out, they are right.

 

- It is better to leave an operative inside a cleared room with spare AP rather than use those AP to scout another room if you are not sure you can safely get him/her into hiding.

 

- I think I will stick with Lockpick and Fusion as I seem to be able to move faster than with Parasite and Drip.

 

I still have a lot to learn.  Because I have rarely got past two successful missions, I have little knowledge of or experience with some of the more exotic power-ups that I will now be able to get my hands on in the next mission of this game.  I am not sure whether to spend the money on upgrading my agents or saving it to buy stuff "in the field" (which I suppose makes more sense if I do a Nanofab mission).  I do still believe that the game is a little too brutal on anything but the most dedicated gamer and because I am bad at chess and maze puzzles (I am good at backgammon, which is no help at all with this) I will never be as adept as someone whose can apply a chess-trained mind to anticipating the maximum possible outcomes in Invisible, Inc.  For this reason, I fear I will never finish the game and unlock Endless Mode, but will constantly be doing Missions 01 ans 02 until Hell freezeth over unless the devs take pity on players like me and ease the difficulty levels a bit.

[anhalibut]

 

This was a great mission but I am unlikely to succeed twice in a row based on my past record.  

 

 

I was having trouble succeeding in my second mission so I filled my save slots with teams that had completed their first missions.

I played 4 or more first missions to fill the slots, then I played all the second missions.

It helped me reduce the frustration of near constant failing and restarting.

And it improved my gameplay.

 

 

p.s. - and if you ever get the opportunity, you can eliminate guards by trapping them behind the laser grid.  My lone success last night was cleaning out the vault and trapping 3 guards behind the lasers.

[the truthseeker]

 

 

- There is a lot of luck involved.  You stand a much better chance of succeeding (I'd put it at 150%) if you stumble into the exfil location early and before you find the objective location.  There is also luck involved with steering clear of the guards; you cannot always predict their paths and sometimes you just run out of luck.  In this game, good tactics reduce risk but they never eliminate it.

Actually, consider finding the elevator before even engaging the vault.

 

As for predicting their paths, you can. When near the guards, notice that square you can click on that says "Observe guard behavior?" That will tell you if they are stationary or patrolling a path (or later, investigating or hunting.) if patrolling, it will list their likely next path they will take. 

 

 

This thread also may help. 

[Bahger]

Thanks, guys. Truthseeker, I know about the path prediction mechanic but there are certain limitations, unless I am mistaken.  You cannot predict the path of a guard who is patrolling or hunting and you can get caught out by a guard who is just outside your field of view until he comes barreling in to nail you.  But point well taken.

 

Very good idea, Anhalibut.  Playing a series of first missions is a very good way to refine one's skills while possibly experiencing a little less frustration.

[the truthseeker]

Patrolling guards have this BIG question mark they are going to on the floor. Hunting ones have the exclamation mark. Pathing can still be used generally using this info.