2nd Playthrough... Ghost Mode or Solo (No AI Team)? | Forums

[Virtual-Chris]

Hi, I’m starting to think about my 2nd play through of this fantastic game. I’m currently working through the campaign and playing it on Advanced Difficulty, with virtually no HUD, and now that I’m Level 30, turning on Tier Mode only briefly at the end of missions to collect points to get rewards and prestige crates to get some added loot. As I’ve made clear in other threads, I have no interest in trying to achieve anything in tier mode beyond some goodies.

I’m thinking my 2nd playthrough will be different, but I would like others opinions on the pros/cons of these two options.

Ghost Mode: I’m interested in trying Ghost Mode, probably on Normal difficulty to see how far I can get. One thing I dont like about ghost mode is being locked into one weapon for most of a mission. I generally do some sniping of the perimeter before moving in where I invariably end up in CQB. I suppose I could use one of my AI team as a sniper, using Sync Shot to assign targets, and then I could carry an AR optimized for CQB. Or I could build an AR that was a compromise and do it all myself. But I think the AI sniper makes the most sense and immersion-wise works well. Of course, the other downside to Ghost Mode is perma-death but that can be mitigated with daily save backups which means only losing a session if I want to carry on after dying. (I may not - I may be satisfied with just seeing how far I can go). The Exo Suit reward has zero interest to me.

Solo: I’m also considering the option of playing without AI team mates on Advanced Difficulty which may actually be very challenging as there are no revives, so it means starting the mission over. This will probably motivate me to be just as cautious as playing in Ghost Mode as wasted time is the penalty here also. I can and will need two guns, but I will lose Sync Shot which will make some missions much more challenging. In particular, some of the rebel assistance missions may be impossible, but I don’t use Rebel support that often anyway.

Any thoughts? Anything I’m overlooking?

[SmoovejAGs]

I used the MK14 with the G28 scope in GM so that in a sense I could where required go auto or snipe depending on the situation.
I used it right up to tier 28 after completing everything. From tier 28 to my current tier 6, I changed out & brought the 416 for the grind & been using only that since.

jAG

[shobhit7777777]

I'd strongly recommend Ghost Mode. It's very immersive and encourages you to fall back to realistic tactics.

[Ghost-Ami]

Ghost mode for sure. It feels more sleek and serious not to have a second large weapon hanging off your backpack, and the other features like realistic reloading and limited weapon switching and friendly fire really do add to the experience. And then of course there's the prestige you get every time you complete a boss mission if you're doing it for the first time.

The Mk 14 suggestion is a good one since you can use it as both a sniper or battle rifle. Only downside really is that it has sniper rifle levels of ammunition, so if you like using full auto you may find yourself running out of ammo a lot. Alternatively consider a SCAR set up for range and accuracy. it will perform similarly to other 7.62x51 weapons and will be extremely effective out to at least 300-350 metres but will have far more ammo than the Mk 14.

But, you know, if you do end up carrying a proper sniper rifle sometimes it doesn't mean you can't do CQC as well. In preparation for Ghost mode and ever since I've been getting way more use out of my sidearm to the point that by stats my FiveseveN is my second favourite weapon in hundreds of hours of game time. It's been gratifying to win a lot of fights with it.

As for playing lone wolf, well, I'm not really sure if I recommend it or not. I'm doing a lone wolf playthrough right now "just to do it", but somehow, even after hundreds of hours, many of them singleplayer, I'm not tired of my AI teammates, and it feels a little lonely and less fun not to have them around. It can be exciting to fight alone with nothing but a handful of rebels occasionally, and I'm sticking to my plan for this playthrough, but I'm looking forward to going back to having a team, dumb as their AI can be sometimes.

If you're curious I'm doing this lone wolf run in Ghost mode with no HUD but have adjusted the difficulty down to "normal" for the first time ever when I have always played on "extreme" before. This is mostly so I can get in firefights sometimes and have a chance of surviving. For once I wanted to try a sort of "action hero" feel and don't always aim for full stealth. I use assault rifles and snipers sometimes but have mostly been sticking to PDWs and SMGs and riding a bike everywhere without flying or fast travelling to give myself a sort of "road warrior" feel.

I'm about half way through the lone wolf playthrough now in terms of cartel destabilisation, and so far I've not encountered any mission I can't do following these guidelines except for Predator because I'm not l33t like The Hand and got tired of restoring savegame backups in that godsforsaken jungle. XD

Anyway I hope you found some of this helpful. ))))

[MikeWeeks]

Currently going lone wolf on a 2nd run thru Bolivia. Trying it on extreme w/ very limited HUD; that includes no mini-map (which I never use anymore in games), plus no markings. Using crossbow and unsuppressed R4 early on as my only main weapons. Have occasionally used a sniper rifle in a pinch, but by my in-game rule, it was a pickup only since didn't have it when leaving a safehouse. Also no fast travel, except when ready to exit the game.

As mentioned, the M14 with G28 scope indeed should be worth acquiring, when that longer reach is needed, beyond the crossbow in my case. Also invested in rebel support/diversion from the start.

With no revives, that's enough challenge in itself for my taste at this stage. The most fun so far, i.e. challenge, was coming up with methods to stop convoys very early game.

Since I enjoy going slow and quiet as much as possible, the lone wolf approach appeals to me. The stand-off/defend scripted missions are going to the most challenging to complete.

[Ye-Jun-Soo]

I just completed the Main game, reached to level 30, and started on Tier mode. Once I reached Tier rank 1, I jumped into Ghost mode and did it all over again.

[Virtual-Chris]

Thanks all. I think I'll give Ghost Mode a try and see how far I can go. Thanks!

[LaMOi]

I’m playing on Solo, no Team AI, Extreme difficulty, virtually no HUD. Main campaign.

Gonna try out Ghost Mode soon I reckon.

[Kean_1]

I’m playing on Solo, no Team AI, Extreme difficulty, virtually no HUD. Main campaign.

Gonna try out Ghost Mode soon I reckon.

I really wish those GM features were in the main campaign as options to give the gameplay that extra amount of a hardcore challenge. They copied over the lone wolf option so I'm not sure why they didn't do it with the rest.

[Kane_sg]

I would suggest to play Ghost Mode, Solo, and without Nomad.