Elusive target Appreciation Thread

*chef’s kiss*

But in terms of other ETs I tend to prefer lore over mechanics because even the best mechanics can’t be appreciated in ETs imo. Plus if it is a good mechanic it feels a bit waste to be used on an ET you can only play once. Also, too love to see IO flex their writing chops. Some highlights for me would be

  • The Appraiser, I remember following her for over an hour just listening

  • The Angel of Death, just a very fun character and her intro is great

  • The Entertainer… One of the more out there ideas, but boy is it good, he runs a carnival of horrors :smile:

Edit: also should plug @Euler13 and their awesome ET dialogue videos

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ETs are absolutely fantastic, one of the very best innovations in the history of Hitman. I dearly hope that as live support for H3 winds down in the next 12-24 months, all the WoA ETs are patched permanently into the game for us to replay over and over because there are some great targets with fun routes and interesting guard placements which would be a real shame to lose forever, but in the meantime there’s nothing that can quite compare to the adrenaline rush of a brand new ET that you’re heading into blind with a real sense of jeopardy in the mix.

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lore is my favorite aspect of ets, they often have really cool backstories and reference back to the main story. Making ets just a small part of a spiderweb of the lore. i love it very much.
in terms of character im quite a fan of

  • the censor, a serial killer grading his victims is a rad idea

  • the fixer, hes dutch and does finger guns what more could you want

and the bookkeeper, as the idea of an old man basically doing taxes for criminals fascinates me

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i think everyone wants them to become permanent at this point, i also really hope they do. But for now im happy they are at least continuing to create new stories,targets and ideas for them. The coolness of going into content you know nothing about in hitman never wears thin

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I really like the ET idea, it’s a very good concept although badly executed in their core but the targets make them very interesting to play, they all fit in the same idea, all vilains of the society but they have reasons to be and just like in the sandbox, you can listen to their conversations to know more about them and make a judgement for yourself

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The Best ET’s in my opinion are the ones that just have a cool concept as someone to kill, like a combination of backstory and how they go around the map. It’s a cool way for us to get unique targets without them having to build a whole map for it.

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exactly, 'tis just a shame these fantastic unique bastards are only available to us for a limited time

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Another aspect of ETs IOI has been (arguably) improving at is the target routes. I remember some infamous 2016 Elusive Targets whose routes were absolutely crap and were a pain to deal with, but recently they seem to be getting better at creating interesting kill opportunities that aren’t directly handed to you. Granted, we only have the Collector to judge so far but I thought he was interesting enough (going into the mansion, hanging around until security leaves, etc). Hopefully we see more of this kind of thing in upcoming Hitman 3 ETs :slight_smile:

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Based off hitman 2 targets i think i can comfortably say that ioi has a new philosophy of going for quality over quantity

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Hitman 2016 would tell us cool things in the briefings about the targets and never actually use it, compare how The Chameleon was named master of disguise and The Collector from H3 who actually used a disguise to get his goal (similar to that the paparazzo also wanted to sneak backstage but never actually did)

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I remember hearing in Gary Busey’s briefing something like “I have the power of invisibility” and I was like “oh neat, they’re doing something different for this one” and it turns out he was just a regular target…

Why’d you put that in the briefing if it has no purpose in the mission?

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I think that was just a joke to tie in the fact that Gary Busey is known as a wacky celebrity. If anything it makes it quite funny seeing as he doesn’t actually have the power of invisibility.

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Maybe I shouldn’t have been so disappointed he didn’t just randomly disappear during the mission :pensive:

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The target itself has many fun dialogues that make no sense and that’s very unique to him

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One of the most favorite ETs to me would probably be none other then Kody Haynes, although some may think of him of just being a Stowaway V2, his unique line of dialogue while doing certain things (AKA killing Alexa) and his route not being a loop till the end (which can change if you KO the guards in Alexas Office) really shows that IOI has gone more quality over quantity with post Hitman 2016 ETs.

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I really enjoyed ‘The Twin’, good story and easy to fail. I totally fiberwired the wrong twin,

I enjoy Elusive Targets that are out in the open, as not every target would expect a Hitman after them IRL.

An occasional easy Target makes it more fun to experiment as well.

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If the ETs aren’t made permanent, then when we eliminate them in H3, they die forever :cry:
RIP Dame Keating, you may have survived that katana to the face, but when it came to the lazer tripmine you just couldn’t survive…

But seriously, there are some great elusive targets that will be a shame to see finally escape the reactivation purgatory, like Kody Haynes, probably the most thought through target out of them all so far. He won’t even get a reactivation for those who already assassinated him

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I liked the identity theft (I think that was his name). He was in Paris and clearly had an escort with him. I mean like a lady of the night type escort. She didn’t follow him around but he would meet her at the bar and then break away for his phone calls and then go back to her. That’s not why I like him, I liked him bc of his clothing. I even fashion drafted and copied his orange slacks and blue plaid blazer. The photo was in the old forum.

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He classy

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HITMAN Elusive Targets Mode is probably one of the best things implemented into those new games, offering us a pack of quality targets with different objectives through all the game maps :+1:

The short time window and the only chance to get your target has brought some thrill, stress but also fun while completing each one of those missions.

Not only that but it allowed to the Hitman community to share a variety of playthroughs with sometimes spectacular and outstanding kills :ok_hand:

However while it’s an interesting concept that should be kept on HITMAN 3, i think that there should be a few tweaks for this mode, especially concerning the previous and already completed targets:

  • Instead of keeping all this previous content locked online, give to the players the possibility to replay all previous targets through Special Assignments.

In that way all the work put behind those targets (which represents a non forgettable part of the game) won’t be wasted and unavailable to play :+1:

Putting all the Elusive Targets as Special Assignments would be a smart move from IOI and would allow the players for more content and replayability on this final sequel :slight_smile:

To conclude, here are my favourite Elusive Targets so far (H1&H2):

#1: The Politician (Hawke’s Bay) :heart:
#2: The Undying (Miami) :ok_hand:
#3: The Stowaway (Isle Of Sgail) :100:
#4: The Entertainer (Marrakesh) :+1:
#5: The Serial Killer (Whittleton Creek) :+1:

Cheers!

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