Mercenaries...should I kill the cards?

mattstockton12

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I played the first mission for Mercenaries like, 5 months ago...and I just now picked it up again and plan to play it through to the end. I vaguely remember them mentioning some sort of difference between subduing and killing the 52 cards.

Is there some sort of incentive for subduing a card as opposed to outright killing them, since it keeps track and all? If not I'll just kill them, thank you, as sniping is fun.
 
Bah, that's not worth it, guess I'll kill them all. I haven't even used any of the money I've earned yet. There are vehicles and weapons lying around everywhere, why buy any?

Also, is there an easy way to get a sniper rifle? I found one in a crate, but I'd like to be able to find another easily after I run out of the 35 shots.
 
[quote name='mattstockton12']Bah, that's not worth it, guess I'll kill them all. I haven't even used any of the money I've earned yet. There are vehicles and weapons lying around everywhere, why buy any?

Also, is there an easy way to get a sniper rifle? I found one in a crate, but I'd like to be able to find another easily after I run out of the 35 shots.[/QUOTE]

That's where the money comes in. Just like in GTA, there's random things for you to collect/capture/destroy. It's been way too long, but if you go grab a FAQ, I know the Sniper Rifle becomes an unlockable drop after hitting a certain # of those random things. You'll still need to pay for it of course...
 
Do enough work for the Mafia and they should let you have a sniper rifle air-drop, but it doesn't come until later. They might hand it to you as a result of the early on and ridiculously hard "Kill the Chinese without being seen" mission, or it might not be until Omerta. I really don't remember, but I definitely think that is given from the Mafia.

Yeah, the only thing that changes when you kill cards is half bounty, different radio messages describing the recent A.N. action taking down whatever card you just whacked... You won't be able to call down as many bunker busters without that cash though. :p

Still, shooting cards is tantamount to playing the game on Easy mode. Keep that in mind.

Either way, though, you're in for a great game. Have fun, and if you like sniping, just randomly pull off the road and go exploring the game's beautiful mist-covered scenery. There's always something to find in a niche or valley... usually, an NK outpost.

Okay, not ALWAYS is there something to find, but do some of that old-fashioned Oblivion-style exploration if you feel the wanderlust. Good for the soul.
 
My initial goal was to get all of the cards without killing them. I did it for the first deck and a half, then I gave up. It became ridiculous to try and get some of them out alive from their well-guarded areas. And besides, money is so easy to get in the game... just blow shit up!
 
Aye, but I played for the sport of it all.

Damn near gave up though on the Mafia Spade Face Card. Had to pull him out of a tank and stop the close to a dozen other vehicles in the area from whacking him or the Mafia HQ.
 
I'd like to capture as opposed to kill, but I'm a sniper at heart and there aren't any tranq darts as far as I know. I could just snipe all the guards and then capture the card, but then I'd have to use more precious sniper rounds :)
 
[quote name='mattstockton12']I'd like to capture as opposed to kill, but I'm a sniper at heart and there aren't any tranq darts as far as I know. I could just snipe all the guards and then capture the card, but then I'd have to use more precious sniper rounds :)[/quote]

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Your sniper rifle would also be less useful against the vehicle entourages of the mightier cards.

Tranqs... what do you think this is? A slightly more realistic Metal Gear? :p If you want to take POWs, you'll do it the way REAL people do it, and LIKE IT: A rifle butt to the gut followed by a slapping of the cuffs.
 
[quote name='RollingSkull']General Song: "OMG WTF AWP WHORE"

Your sniper rifle would also be less useful against the vehicle entourages of the mightier cards.

Tranqs... what do you think this is? A slightly more realistic Metal Gear? :p If you want to take POWs, you'll do it the way REAL people do it, and LIKE IT: A rifle butt to the gut followed by a slapping of the cuffs.[/quote]

Ha, I guess so.
 
I've found that the best vehicle in the game is worth the money for every time I had one dropped to my location.

Best vehicle is the NK tank, as it can go up and over MOST mountains with a little coaxing. Best thing to do when trying to take out all of the cards heavy backup(which most of the Aces usually have) is to use the tank. Fire a couple shots at each tank, but keep moving while doing so. Just remember to keep the card you're trying to capture out of range of those shots and you should be fine.

It also helps to shut down any bunkers that you CAN shut down in the area BEFORE venturing in to try and take a card alive, as those bunkers that keep spewing out tanks can deal you a serious case of death if you don't shut em down before going in. It's been a while since I played this game myself, but now I'm starting to fiend to play it through again since I started talking about it.

And, as someone else already said, go exploring, as you never know what you will find up over the next mountain. That's how I found many of the cards that I missed on my first playthrough.
 
Oh, I didn't know you could miss cards. I just typically waited for the intel and then went to the area of the map alluded to. So I'll miss some with this strategy?
 
Yeah, some of the cards you have to typically hunt for, though in the Xbox version I knew where several were on prior playthroughs and they were still in the same location the next time I played through the game.

I think I played through the game with all 3 Mercs and just goofed around on a 4th playthrough, mainly taking out parts of future targets, which sadly were back when I got up to those missions. :whistle2:X

If you manage to grab an NK tank, you can go exploring like crazy for the missing cards.

Just be careful, as in this game like the first two PS2/Xbox GTA games, if you hit water you drown.
 
I'm not sure, but I think you usually do end up getting intel for every numbered card just by beating the normal missions. Usually though you find one or two before getting the intel.

Always check your deckometer to see if you've cleared out a suit before taking on the Ace. If you take down the Ace, all members of that suit not taken down will vanish.
 
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