I have one last showdown. After I’m done with that (assuming I don’t fail) I’m thinking of diving into the hardcore mode. The compulsory POs have got me worried though. I’m at level 60 or 61.
No worries. Just accept you’ll lose the Freelancer tools and all of your money at least at some point. Let your full weapon wall, that’s relatively easy to replenish if you lose one or two weapons, be a comfort.
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These rankings have existed since the release of H3, however the majority of the time they are overridden by the ‘Silent Assassin’ ranking. They’re not specific to Freelancer, they’re just only really useful in Freelancer now that Silent Assassin is not a thing.
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I think a lot of people have gotten themselves over-afraid of it. Your tools are replaceable and you should just accept that your money is going to be zeroed out. If you tunnel vision your Prestige Objective and completely ignore all other objectives it’s doable, especially if you feel okay with the occasional Alt+F4. With that said, here are some extra tips:
- Make sure to bring the garage bomb with you every mission. It’s a hassle to run upstairs and craft it, but remote explosives are like a free kill.
- Always visit the supplier if you can. Your prestige objective payout is always enough to buy up every tool he or she has, which means you can get up to four tools per mission. You don’t want to be forced to pass up an easy prestige objective because you don’t have a particular tool it requires.
- Always take Prestige Objectives that can be completed, no matter how ridiculous, rather than ones that can be failed if possible. Eventually, you will probably get screwed by RNG and get only Timed/SA objectives but minimizing how often that happens is crucial to success.
- Before selecting a syndicate to go after, exit to the menu and then load in fresh. When you choose a syndicate, if your initial prestige objectives are shit you can Alt+F4 and the next time you load back into the safehouse you can choose a syndicate again and reroll those prestige objectives. Once you actually start a mission you are locked in, but this will let you effectively pick your Prestige Objectives for 4 out of 18 missions.
- Learn the body language of syndicate leader meetings. Handover meetings exchange an object, business meetings have a handshake. This can let you identify a syndicate type on suspects through walls and across the map using instinct. Learn the body language of other tells as well, because the tell icon will not appear above leader heads in Hardcore. Also, couriers are not marked in the HUD or the map. Be careful to listen for the jingling noise and extra NPCs that aren’t normally there when planning to be alone somewhere.
- H1 maps are more of a hassle than H2/H3 maps. Avoid them where you can.
- Never ever pick a syndicate with Colorado as a location.
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This also applies to locations. If the syndicate type you prefer includes a location you’d rather not risk playing, you can reset the batch of locations by restarting the game before you select a syndicate.
Probably less useful for Hardcore Mode, where focusing on the PO is smarter than going for all objectives (which means you can just pick any syndicate type that has the best locations to offer), but it’s still nice in case all syndicates contain a location you’re less comfortable with.
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This is a great tip, but sadly that’s not always possible when you’re affected by the bug that makes the fuse impossible to pick up -_-
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I can’t play any syndicate set of contracts if Colorado isn’t in there. So what do I do? 
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Don’t follow his advise.
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In this case you are not allowed to play on hardcore, I’m sorry, that’s how it works.
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Disagree, Isle of Sgail & especially Ambrose Island are far worse than any H1 map for Freelancer.
See above, Colorado is far more forgiving (and alot smaller) than the two mentioned above.
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I seriously doubt this, it’s in the game files now with full name and descriptions. It just seems like an oversight or they were still deciding how to make this unlockable (whether that be through a separate challenge or otherwise).
It’s the same suit used in some of the “mission failed” videos on the loading screen.
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A challenge and reward unlock will undoubtedly be released at some point requiring the player to beat a showdown on every single map potentially in full alert mode.
Why do people dislike Ambrose in Freelancer so much? Is it because of the central public space? The long distances between zones? I don’t get it. I’ve had a much better time in Ambrose than in say, Marrakech or Colorado.
What am I not seeing about Ambrose?
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In a mission with no disguise changes or must hide bodies, or with lookouts, it becomes very difficult to pull anything off from the central crowd.
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shitton of guards around the social hub, annoying targets, lots of traversal.
Especially in Hardcore its the worst
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In addition to the things mentioned, even the huts are pretty bad as isolation spots due to presence of windows that are open a slither, and other spots that have sight gaps that dance the line between wallhack and NPCs just seeing through pixel wide cracks.
It also feels eerily similar to Haven in how viewcones and panic works.
Most of it is fine or manageable for the main mission but for a mode where you’re supposed to be more okay with getting spotted, things can go downhill very quickly in my experience.
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Both times I chose Ambrose, when I thought I had the target secluded (in a hut or under them), was instantly witnessed and paid for it.
Ambrose, even alerted, is pretty easy for me (at least in normal) as there are always 4 readily available explosives on this map (2 molotovs and enough to craft 2 makeshifts), but then again I didn’t play HC much so I don’t really have any experience with that map on HC. It probably would be pretty annoying if I had to do it suit only.
As for Sgail… I love that map but in Freelancer it’s got so many bugs it looks like an anthill -_-
Hardcore Mode Campaign in less than 40 minutes!
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congrats !!
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