Syndicate Type Ranking

[The_Elite_Institute]

I was going to make a tierlist but I wouldn’t know how to represent them visually.

Anyway, instead I’m going to rank them instead from favourite to least favourite, along with some general comments.

8: Eco Crime
I really like the idea of this one, but from a practical standpoint it’s very annoying. Trap Kills require very specific equipment, and some of the other accident kills can be near impossible depending on your target. Not a bad type, by any means, I just avoid it.

7: Psy Ops
I don’t really find this one all that exciting. With mainly camera based objectives, and an annoying blind objective that requires specific stuff that you probably won’t have at home, I usually never have any desire to play these ones.

6: Big Pharma
Now we’re getting to some of the better stuff. I do quite like poison themed assassinations, but it does leave the objective variety a little dull. I get excited when I choose this one, but always feel let down when the objectives actually appear.

5: Espionage
There’s some fun to be had with these objectives, even if they’re not exactly the best of the bunch. Doors locked can lead to some interesting routes, and I always love a fiberwire kill. My main gripe is that No Firearms tends to run counter to the prestige objectives on offer thus leaving you with the time trial / SA ones instead.

4: Organ Trafficking
I find close combat to be pretty satisfying, so all these visceral kills are great to do. The dart gun objective feels a bit out of place, but I’ll let it slide.

3: Arms Trafficking
This probably shouldn’t be so high as this suffers from a real lack of variety. With shotgun and assault rifle kills / guard kills being very common, the objectives look very stale and boring.

That being said, missions with this have a tendency to end up slightly chaotic and I rather enjoy the rush - especially if you’re trying to complete all four objectives.

2: Assassination
What can I say? This is the classic set of objectives to make you feel like a hitman. Can’t fault any of the objectives, and I usually enjoy trying to pull off any set. For those who like being a silent assassin, this one is a must.

1: Sick Games
Sick Games, on the other hand, is for those going with the spirit of freelancer. You never know what to expect, and this adds to the random nature of the mode and also helps to keep you on your toes. As this could be anything, it’s the best syndicate for keeping things feel fresh. I haven’t played one in a while as I’m trying to get the 10 defeated in all the other types, but I yearn for when I can return.

So that’s my rating for these eight. How would you rank them? Which do you like/dislike?

Let me know!

[Canucklehead]

[Heisenberg]

I would rank them thusly:

8. Espionage. I didn’t think I’d dislike this one, but after having just finished a full campaign of just espionage syndicates, I can honestly say that the combination of no firearms, no disguises, do not pacify, and doors staying locked that can be among the possible objectives, it’s by far the most tedious, annoying and difficult to complete properly.

7. Eco-Crimes. The need to arrange accident kills with the oil and water canisters really becomes annoying in the higher levels of a campaign.

6. Big Pharma. Well excuse me if I can’t replenish my supply of poisons fast enough to use them on so many missions in a row!

5. Sick Games. Not inherently, but the more annoying objectives from all the others can combine with each other and can really hinder progress at times.

4. Psy-Ops. The concussion explosive objectives wear on my patience after a while, but nothing else too bad.

3. Organ Harvesting. The subtle challenges are doable and fun, and rarely cause irritating difficulty, but it’s not as fun as the top two types.

2. Arms Trafficking. These ones are fun because they nearly always just ask you to shoot someone or blow them up. Guns, guns, guns!

1. Assassination. Straight-forward, simple, diverse and fun, this one is the closest Freelancer gets to normal gameplay, and it’s all the better for that.

[Monwil]

My tierlist would probably mostly overlap with what was posted already, except I’d put Espionage way higher on the list.
When playing the game normally, I like sticking as close to a “touch nothing except the target” playstyle as possible. A lot of that syndicate’s objectives are rules I was already arbitrarily following, so it clicked with me really well and was my first choice when Freelancer was finally released. Not having many objectives that are directly gear-reliant also make it a good money-making choice when starting out or right after prestige.