Okay it’s even worse than I thought. The tell icon is a massive improvement from the CTT, I’ll never understand the whole “lack of QoL = difficulty” mentality. I just played through the first syndicate in HC for the cat statue (randomly sniping everyone in the showdown until I got the target) and I’m probably never touching that thing again unless it goes through a massive balancing process. They should really have made HC available during the CTT to get feedback because they obviously didn’t playtest it much.
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Yeah, silent assassin objectives definitely need a payment buff, it should be around twice that of normal prestige objectives because of the higher difficulty and larger time investment, additionally silent assassin with further complications should have even higher payment awards (such as no firearms and suit only)
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Was it not there in the CTT? I’m sure I remember seeing tells being communicated through it back then.
But yeah the Hardcore Mode at a glance seems way too hard and restrictive for the sake of being uber-difficult.
I hope changes will be made for it, to make it a viable option for people who want a big challenge but not a terrifying Alt F4 struggle to get through
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Wouldn’t surprise me if they make it so you have to redo within a certain timeframe in order to keep the trophy otherwise it disappears.
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They got nothing on me
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Now that I’ve gotten the hang of showdowns, my only wish, as mentioned before, is that you could hide the bodies of suspects after the real Leader has been eliminated. You’re able to hide the target’s dead body, after all, so why not be able to go back and hide those other bodies of suspects once it’s no longer and issue so that wandering NPCs, including still-active former suspects, don’t come across the bodies and potentially ruin an objective as you make your way to an exit?
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Is there even a way to gain merces with that thing? Or is losing money a guarantee?
I’m not keen on trying for a second time in any case.
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I think its totally random. I don’t know if theres a maximum it can take (it once stole all 5k Merces I had pocketed at once), but at the very least IOI stops you from risking even more money if it gets taken away.
“Come back when you’ve built up some more from a mission” is a nice little stop-gap for people interested in gambling away this fake currency.
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One of the easieast Showdowns I had, all because of the luck the target was at Cassidy’s house and I bringed chlroform. LMAO.
Also helped to get all the challenges for killing guards, specially having the rifles at the house.
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So this mission went well
(Disclaimer: I use instinct a lot when I’m under pressure… its easier to digest what’s on screen in black, white, and other highlighted things)
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Anyone else think it’s a nice, if mildly annoying touch that suppliers will stop standing still and look like they’re busy with something when other NPCs walk by, and won’t go back to doing business with you until they go away? I’m actually impressed at that little detail.
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After my earlier post about still finding Colorado a hard map all these years later, guess what I drew as an Alerted Territory in the 3rd Syndicate group of my current campaign? And the start I rolled was on top of the Water Tower! 
I made it out alive (and with my 3 targets down), but that was a whole hour of nail-biting tension which left me feeling like this as I reached the exit*:
*which I guess is the whole point of the game mode, so good job, IOI!
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Big congrats to @Hitman4726 & @LandirtHome for completing Hardcore mode. I’ve managed to complete multiple Campaigns now for normal difficulty, but I don’t think I dare try Hardcore mode 
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There is no worse feeling in current gaming than this 
You’ve got to that stage on numerous occasions now, so it’s only a matter of time before you get that final showdown boxed off! 
You’ll smash it next time I’m sure @TheChicken 
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That had me literally laughing out loud as every single prompt you had went the wrong way. When you started with the copier… too much.
So sorry you had to lose the sniper rifle, but that was funny stuff.
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I just did a mission in Whittleton, objectives being :
“No Firearms” and Prestige “SA - No Firearms”.
I shot a guard with the Kalmer, and the 2 objectives instantly failed.
I was conviced Kalmer and Sieker weren’t considered like other firearms. That’s new to Freelancer ?
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Moments like these are why I avoid SA POs at all costs.
Later I got this quite surprising target, but at least he pretty much isolated himself.
And I keep on discovering some new obscure elements in Mumbai’s slums. This time it was a traversible hole in the ceiling of barber’s house.
At the end of today’s session I lost my 4th hardcore attempt alongside 250k Merces during the 3rd showdown in Dartmoor. Was rushing things a bit and accidentally got myself sandwiched between enforcers on the stairway leading to manor’s top floor. Lookout got alerted, so I panicked and shot the leader in the head when she started escaping. Then I tried to shoot my way out, but in the heat of the moment I didn’t focus down a nearby assassin, so my attempts at survival didn’t last for long.
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Anybody know what types of poison or ways of poisoning a target count for the “Natural Selection”?
The challenge is really vague on how it works and what will count for the challenge and it’s one of the few kinds of assassination challenges I have left (other than the bulk killing syndicate member and leader challenges, of course).
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@TheChicken Thank you for the laughs. I can relate. Yet to complete a campaign. Either dumb prompt overlaps like that, or I try something experimental or impatient and the whole map just unloads bullets in me.
Can anyone explain to me how leader evacuations work? I’ve read up and down these comments and I must admit I’m a little confused. I get the impression from some comments that not all subjects start running after being spooked — but in my limited time, as soon as a lookout spots me, or a body gets found, or whatever, all the suspects start heading for the exits. What am I missing, regarding narrowing down escaping suspects?
As for Colorado, my two cents are that it’s not a bad map per se, but it does fall short in traversal design. The devs have stated numerous times that they like to keep things fresh and so they made maps with different feels to them. That’s legit. Colorado is the “deep in enemy territory” mission. But I do think it suffers from almost no verticality, and a lack of creativity in getting around. I don’t mind a bit of running, as Hitman is often a “zen and music” game for me (not so much Freelancer), but other maps with a lot of running have interconnecting tunnels and underground labs and stuff that enhances the otherwise flatness of the map (e.g. Santa Fortuna, Haven).
Finally— I doubt I’ll ever touch hardcore mode. Definitely not with these PS4 load times, man.
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