I’ve had that happen too. I’ve never had normal Sapienza even when I was supposed to
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Maybe the best way of using Merces would be with giving us the ability to pay for choosing starting location with regular being cheaper and the ones where we start in disguises more expensive.
Also we REALLY need ability to choose any briefcase we want.
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Agreed - I’ve seen this too. There are a lot of strange discrepancies I’ve noticed with certain maps having their alerted territory/master mode states bleeding into unalerted locations. There’s a guard on the roof for example of the mansion that spawns in on both unalerted and alerted states. Plus cameras all over the mansion and right above the right side mansion stairwell entrance that goes into the laboratory!
However, there are maps where it works as expected. For example on Hokkaido, none of the extra morgue bodyguards spawn in on unalerted territories which is what we’d expect!
So perhaps these are some issues with a few maps only.
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I’m in the camp that this might be a “it’s not a bug, it’s a feature” case…
For better or for worse, perhaps there’s some small element of random added difficulty to Normal maps, just to spice things up, keep you on your toes, or not make every single Normal mission feel like the same routine and strategy every single time.
Are you (and you @Kent) noticing many added guards and cameras to Normal maps when this happens, or is it just a few spots that feel “more Alerted”?
Maybe it really is triggering the full Alerted state accidentally when loading normal Maps (I know I’ve seen a few times some added cameras to normal maps) but maybe it’s only supposed to sometimes give you just a few camera changes and guard additions, for the randomization aspect of the bread-and-butter stuff.
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Mastery-wise that might not be late game, but if you have over a 100k and presumably have all the weapons at that point, you’re definitely at the end game right now, the mastery track is just a passive thing in the background, NOT (or shouldn’t be) the main source of progression.
Still don’t see the issue with that, economy could be rebalanced, but it being temporary tool after a campaign fail is perfectly fine, maybe not useful for you, but not everything will be. It also is the answer to a problem I saw from one comment, possibly you idk, where lots of objectives are basically impossible after a campaign fail (think dart gun objectives).
Definitely should be a price increase, also, we should be able to reset our entire collection and Merces easily so if (when 
) they update freelancer, we can actually appreciate the changes without smurfing.
We definitely should be able to pay to manipulate the starting spawn, but I’d still like to keep the randomness, think paying for different tiers of disguises, as well as having guard disguises being expensive (since they’re usually the best in most cases). I’d also like it if we could pay to smuggle extra items into stashes that are already in the main game to begin with, maybe change it up to make it more useful in the late game when you can bring in a bunch of 1 space legendaries. Anything to have a money sink and more variety/determinism. Heck, you could add an objective to not pay for a spawn (along with many more, we need more variety).
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I‘ve failed multiple campaigns just before or during the final showdown because I tried to use a breaching charge on a save and somehow got killed by a nearby fire extinguisher (be extra careful on Hokkaido). Its my own stupidity but losing two legendary weapons like that when I‘m still short on money is demoralizing.
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I spawned in the water tower in Colorado and head capped all three soldiers on top of the roof. Another guard apparently saw one of the bodies, and that led to this situation, which probably went on for ten minutes before I finally decided to start exploding heads with my assault rifle.
Just to be clear. A slew of guards arrived, pointing their rifles to my position, and would not move from that position, even though I’m not compromised, hunted or in combat.
and this is the final result:
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I made the exact same post last night, the Caruso mansion is scaled up to full Master difficulty edits on normal non-Alerted Sapienza, in my experience.
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I haven’t managed to get online in about a week but as soon as I get some free time, I’ll play a couple of hours and see if I can find anything more!
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That happened to me twice. Both times I ducked into a corner and headshot half the level with an ICA19 until the guards stopped coming (which took quite a while). But yeah I’ll probably avoid alerted Colorado for showdowns from now on, 25% chance to spawn on that tower is a bit too dangerous for my taste.
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I didn’t realise this water tower issue still occurred.
It’s been in the game since Colorado launched in 2016, which makes its use as a sniper nest (which is clearly the intention) completely pointless. Unless you kill everyone, they will never, ever stand down.
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Just completed an alerted Colorado, 4 targets…
Almost was SA, but last target was seen getting knocked out.
What a relief to have it in the rear view mirror for the moment.
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One explanation would be a lookout being nearby. They can alert the other suspects, no matter how far they are
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I didn’t realize this was possible, but a safe in Colorado spawned inside the bunker under the house.
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I hate Marrakesh in Freelancer, especially when it’s alerted as well.
I always seem to have it when the targets are embedded in the market and I can’t get a silent kill on them 
I suppose I could always use a sniper, but someone always miraculously sees me 
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Just did a Showdown in Haven, and I think it’s the best location I’ve had yet. Started right beside the target(s) at the pool.
I did experience one glitch though where the target walked out into the water and off the map, and wouldn’t return regardless of secret meetings called, or alerts.
But I would recommend
Haven, because when I called the group meetings, I did it under a lodge where we were free from outside eyes.
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I wish there were more specific prestige things - like I’m never going to use the breaching charge or some specific shotgun - but if a prestige told me to, I would.
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I was using them to open the safes. Its way faster than using the camera and scanning the clues.
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I don’t bother going to the safes anymore. There’s no point having the money.
Definitely needs to be more uses for merces - let me buy ammo - or disguises from the suppliers. Maybe even a key or keycard for a specific area.
Have half a million with absolutely nothing to do with it.
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Use Hardcore.
Die.
No longer will your pockets be burdened…
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