Safeguard Game Mode

[83457]

Preface: I have scoured the internet, and while this may not be the prettiest nor the most organized thread, this is the most comprehensive compilation of information on the Safeguard Mode that you will find on the Web, enjoy.

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Safeguard: The other alternate game mode. This is a round-based survival mode of 1-4 players versus 'infected' AI soldiers and dogs.

There are a few paths to get to Safeguard;

1. Credited games for leaderboards, XP, squad points, and achievement: Go to Squads> Safeguard>(Safeguard/Extended/Infinite). You may then add a second player for split screen. You may play Solo or split screen or with online party. You may choose Play Now if you do not wish to play with randoms if you have less than 4 in your lobby. When the game ends, you will be joined with a public lobby unless you back out. Simply hit Play Now to play again with just your lobby. Hit Start Match to play in a lobby, with less than 4 players, you will get paired with randoms (usually).

Map will be randomly chosen. Most maps are available but some get withdrawn. Playlist subject to change.

2. Credited DLC Games: Squads>[Current DLC name]> Safeguard. These will be the most recent dlc maps only and 20 rounds only. Solo, split screen, up to 4 players, play with randoms or Play Now to just include your lobby (When the game ends, it will pair you with randoms if your party is less than 4, just back out, hit Play Now...).

Both options, 1 and 2, will give your chosen soldier XP, some squad points, count towards leaderboards, and give an achievement (trophy) if you win a 20 round game.

3. Uncredited local games: Squads> Safeguard>Local. Solo or 2 player split screen. Choose map, Safeguard type (20,40,100), player health and heal rate.

4. Uncredited games, Solo, 2 player, up to 4 player online lobby: Multiplayer> Private Match> Mode> Safeguard. Pick map, health, heal rate, Safeguard type (20,40,100).

5. Uncredited games, solo, 2 player: multiplayer> local> game mode> safeguard. Pick map, health, heal rate, safeguard type (20/40/100).

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Safeguard = survive 20 rounds.

Safeguard Extended: 40 rounds.

Safeguard Infinite: 100 rounds.

I recommend that 20 rounds is a good challenge for 1 or 2 players, once you have 3 or 4, I recommend doing 40 rounds or 100 as 20 is a bit easy with 3 or 4 players. 20 is good for random lobbies of 4.

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Start: you spawn in with a mp443 pistol (xmags + ammo regen) , a stun grenade, an i.e.d. (When replenished, you get 2 of each, max of 2, may only have 2 placed at a time, oldest one explodes if a new one is placed) and, in reserve (like a killstreak/Loot item), a team bot named Ghost Squad. You also start with Resilience, Recon, and (most sites say Tac Resist but it's really) immunity to your own stuns/ied's and friendly fire is off. Note that nothing on-screen shows these perks, they are always active. Note though that your exploding IEDs may destroy your (not your teammates) placed Loot items, so be careful not to place them near each other.

The Ghost Squad team bot will revive you (half-heartedly) and others on your team as well as fighting with his AK-12 assault rifle. Each player gets one Ghost Squad bot. They can't be revived. Try to only call one in at a time. Be wary; if you call it in while surrounded, it will die immediately. Note that, like mp squad mates and dogs, they like to run into battle and die stupidly, often engaging the first wave after a loot round by itself. Note that this can also happen between rounds while getting Support Drops; new round starts, you run to the camp spot, bot runs at enemies and dies. Try to use them wisely, try to protect them, but just let them die rather than getting yourself killed due to their idiocy. You only get 1 per game, per player. Solo, you will get one each 20 rounds (21,41...,81) and if you don't call him in, the new one will simply override the old one in inventory. Probably max of 2 GS in game at a time per player (like M.P.). This squad mate version only exists in safeguard.

Protecting Ghost Squad:

Shield guys are their nemesis; they will simply sit down and let the shield guys kill them in 2 hits (same as player). This is your biggest concern.

Dogs will also overwhelm them almost as quickly in 3 strikes (same as a player), this should be your next greatest concern.

Ghosts Squad eats bullets like they're candy (edit: enemy bullet damage has been greatly increased since I wrote this, both players and squadmates die muchfaster to bullet damage now). Focus on protecting them from Shields/Dogs above all else.

Semtex guys don't seem to be a huge threat to him, clearly not in the Shield/Dog category. But the Semtex does stun him. Unlike most squad mates in Ghosts, this one heals. You may call him in at any time, normally called in when downed (if you go down and are not sure if you will need him or not, make sure to highlight him in your items on the bottom right of your screen so you don't accidentally try to call in a loot item instead and time out/die).

Do not call him in at the start of the game to help you fight. He will die and not be there when you truly need him. Use loot early to stay alive (solo/mp) or get picked up by teammates (mp).

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Note that there are sounds for everything in game, so you can listen for 'start of round' and 'round end' sounds. At the end of most rounds a 15 second timer appears middle-left on your screen, counting down to the next round and the bottom of your screen turns yellow (like cranked mode, cranked screen). This is a good time to go after ungrabbed Support Drop items. Note that there is no 15 second timer before nor after a Loot Round.

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Immediately after the game starts, you get Round 1: Loot Round. Be ready for this. Note that there is no 'start of game' timer in either local mode for some reason; if you don't pick the default class fast enough, the first loot round will start without you.

Loot Round: Round 1 and every 5 rounds after is a Loot Round (1,6,11,...96). 8 care packages will appear and you will have 25 seconds to collect some or all (visual icons can be seen anywhere on the map). You can hold up to 3 total at any time. At the end of the 25 seconds, all ungrabbed items will vanish. A voice says 'additional support granted' even though this isn't the Support Drop.

Loot Packages; These appear on the lower right side of your screen when you have them, just like multiplayer killstreaks (below them will be your Ghost Squad bot). They are called in by pushing up/down to highlight the one you want then pushing right on the D-pad: Vulture, Hind, Helo Scout, Trinity Missile will then start, but Sentry Gun and I.M.S. will appear as a golden, placeable version. Get it where you want, hit RT to place it. These can be moved by holding X to pick it up when you are next to it (be behind sentry gun to pick it up). You cannot call them in while downed.

Hind: Attack Helicopter. Autonomously attacks enemies. Usually quite good. Times out, some enemies can shoot it down. Best on open maps.

Sentry Gun: Tripod-mounted automatic machine gun. Oscillates 90°, fires at enemies with good range. Best loot item. Times out, may be destroyed.

Vulture: Flying automatic machine gun that follows you. Usually second best. Times out quicker, may be destroyed. Because of the quicker time-out, call this in when the action starts, not at the start of the round. (Edit: Now lasts longer).

I.M.S.: 4-Shot proximity explosives launcher. Decent loot item. Times out, can be destroyed. Best slightly hidden from view near your location. Quick-fix for Dogs, Shields, enemy crowds, reviving teammates under duress.

Trinity Missile: 1 User-controlled missile with 2 fire-and-forget smart missiles also. Good for start of round crowds and groups that may accumulate outside of your camp area. (Hit RT to fire each smart missile, then hit RT to boost steerable missile). Your body is vulnerable during use. (At start of round, wait 1-2 seconds, then use this).

Helo Scout: You teleport to the side of a movable helicopter where you must shoot enemies with a sniper rifle with a 4 round magazine. Terrible loot item. It times out or you can be killed. Avoid this for the most part as it takes you away from your team and isn't the easiest or best. Can be used as an emergency escape. Hold X to end it, it drops you off, if you wish to end it early. Not unusual for players to simply ignore this/not pick it up during Loot rounds.

Package Priority: Sentry Gun, Vulture, Hind, I.M.S., Trinity Rocket, Helo Scout. (Maps with lots of cover, take IMS over Hind).

Note: Loot packages are identical to the mp killstreak rewards of the same name (except maybe duration). For descriptions, view the 'the good, the bad, and the ugly' thread in this subforum.

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Support Drop: There is a white bar on the upper left. When this fills up, helicopters drop x+1 Support Drop crates where x=number of players (now maxed at 4 packages). These will stay until the next Support Drop or they are taken, whichever comes first. The voice announces this as 'supply drop' even though it is named Support Drop in the upper left corner.

Each time that you damage an enemy, a +10 appears briefly near the white line and advances the white line. Most kills gives +20, but a knife kill or headshot kill give +50 which will get you to your Support Drop faster. When you complete a Challenge (described later in this post) the explosive ammo will give a plethora of +10s (this has been lessened as it gave you another support drop almost immediately), this is a good time to go after the Support Drop packages that will show up; you will take the Infected out with ease and you will probably get 2 Support Drops during that period due to the large number of +10s (again, this has been reduced for balance reasons, but the idea is still valid).

Support Drops will contain a perk, gun, throwing knife, or refill ammo (visual icon is visible anywhere in the map). First they will be green and contain a gun, knife, or perk, then you can double-tap x to change it to another random gun, perk, or throwing knife, it turns yellow. Then you can double-tap x to change it to Ammo, which remains yellow. Ammo will refill your grenades (stun, ied, tk) as well as bullets. You get guns from these drops only. You may get the option to change to a throwing knife instead of i.e.d.s, but this is not recommended. The first time that you take a gun, you just get the gun with a few magazines of ammo. If you come across the same gun that you already have, it will increase the gun level by 1 and fill up it's ammo to max. Any collected after that will up the level, fill ammo, and may give 1-2 stuns and 1-2 Lethals (still unsure of the parameters).

Support Drop Guns: Vepr (SMG), MTAR-X (SMG), MTS-255 (SG), FP6 (SG), ARX-160 (AR), AK-12 (AR), M27-IAR (LMG), Chain-SAW (LMG), USR (SR), Wild Widow (P). Each with specific attachments (attachments in a later post). I recommend taking a vepr or mtar. The shotguns work well at first, but in later rounds, they can't handle the number of incoming enemies easily and switching guns should only be done in early rounds (except maybe swapping for Wild Widow). I recommend these guns; wild widow, vepr, iar, mtar, over all others. The assault rifles work well, but always have ammo issues. It's best to concentrate on the better guns. I also recommend keeping your starting pistol (unless traded for wild widow) to switch to for it's high movement rate for chasing down packages, players in need of reviving, or escaping dire situations. Some guns only appear at higher levels (M27-IAR, Wild Widow, 10+).

Guns are described in the thread 'the good, the bad, and the ugly' or go to Private Match and check them out. Wild Widow is the Magnum + armor piercing rounds, presumably extra damage added as it is very powerful.

Throwing Knife: this replaces your ied for the rest of the game with no way to change back (maybe if you respawn?). It is a 1 hit kill thrown weapon that can be retrieved.

Support Drop Perks: Reflex, Quickdraw, Ready Up, Stalker, Sprint Reload (On the Go), Steady Aim, Sleight of Hand, Blast Shield, Speed (Agility), Marathon, Focus, Fast Health Regen (ICU). There is a Safeguard exclusive 'no reload' perk called 'Trigger Happy'. Recommend speed, sleight of hand, blast shield, trigger happy, focus, marathon, fast health regen. Some perks only show up at higher rounds. Trigger Happy refills your magazine when you kill an enemy. When it triggers, the bottom corners of your screen will momentarily turn blue.

At first, avoid the less useful perks. Then, once you get some of the better ones, 'cap' them by grabbing a lesser perk or 2 to keep from losing them while being revived. You won't miss the less important perks as much.

Perks are described in the thread 'the good, the bad, and the ugly'. The names in parentheses are the normal names of the perks, Trigger Happy is Safeguard exclusive.

Don't overlook the value of Ammo/refilling your i.e.d. stash.

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Guns have a level which appears top left on your screen above the Support Drop line (shows level, gun icon, blue level bar), each level will slightly boost the damage output of your gun. Melee kills count towards the gun you have in hand. Melee and headshot kills increase the gun level fastest, as well as explosive ammo. While you can switch weapons as you go, it will be at a lower level to start. Try to get an mtar or vepr early and pretty much use it exclusively, trade pistol for Widowmaker if you get it later. If you trade away a gun and get it back later, it will be at the last level that you got it up to. If you get it at an early enough level, or are playing past 20, the M27-IAR is worth switching to.

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AI Drops: Sometimes the enemy will drop red-outlined items;

Star: Hitting this will increase your individual gun-in-hand's level. The voice says 'Weapon level increased' or 'Weapon proficiency increased'. This gives a slight, cumulative damage boost.

Bullets: Hitting this is ammo/grenade refill for all players. Called 'Team Restock', on screen says Ammo Resupply/Team Restock. This is the only thing that Ghost Squad bot will pick up.

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The rounds with lots of dogs or shield enemies are the worst. This is when you really want to use the i.m.s., vulture or a sentry gun. (The gunners are stronger, more of a threat now than when i wrote this, use accordingly).

Carefully using 1 i.e.d. At a time, times each player, can also work wonders, so communicate and don't throw all of your i.e.d.s down at the same time as it will be a waste if they chain explode. These are especially valuable in solo games.

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You can play this solo, but i recommend at least 2 players until you get used to it. For solo or tough maps, you may try private match with double health/fast heal.

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Watch what round it is, so you aren't still holding onto more than 1 loot item before more drop. Also, be ready for the loot rounds to maximize the chance to get good stuff, communicate who is going where, after what loot. Try to save a few sentry guns/vultures for rounds 17-20. Usually a mix of 3 vultures/sentry guns drop per loot round (this has changed since launch).

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A player who has bled out will respawn at the start of the next round.

A player who bled out can go to his death spot and retrieve his gun he had in hand after he respawns. The spot will be marked with a red crate, pick it up. This has a time limit, grab it as soon as you can. Also, it glitches and is not always available.

You can be revived when downed. You can crawl when downed. If you revive a player, your screen edges will turn green like a ballistic vest, you will heal very fast as long as your screen edges are green, which lasts (1 minute?). Note that when down, be useful; block the doorway and keep stabbing enemies until you get revived by a teammate, or keep shooting, throw down an ied, crawl to where you can be revived.

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Enemies, damage, and counters:

Ravager: (Hooded) Bulldog shotgun.

Damage: Short range strong gunfire. Stab.

Counter: Maintain distance. Stab.

Enforcer: Maniac armor, vepr.

Damage: Medium range strong gunfire. Stab.

Counter: Kill them fast/at distance. Use cover. Stab.

Tower: (dog).

Damage: High damage bite, 3 bites lethal.

Counter: Kill from distance, ied, stab.

Striker: (Hooded) Shield.

Damage: Close range bash, 2 hits lethal.

Counter: I.E.D., stab, run in circle and shoot from side. At distance, shoot them as the shield is off to 1 side, or lay down and shoot their feet. Throw down ied, run in a circle around it.

Destroyer: Juggernaut recon armor, mk32.

Damage: Weak explosives that stun, may destroy loot. Stab.

Counter: Blast shield, 2 stabs. Simply walk away from Semtex while shooting them.

Round 24+

Hammer: Maniac armor, chain saw.

Damage: Large magazine, strong gunfire. Stab.

Counter: Use cover, accurate shooting.

Enemy Attack: Their priority when attacking your team is this: They attack Ghost Squad, especially true of shield/dogs. They shoot whomever they can see. They shoot whomever is closest. So, with 2 players on your team, if they only see 1, they go after him. If you are both in view, they go after the closest teammate usually. The strategy to this is; if I'm closest and start to get too hurt, i can move back behind my teammate to make them basically shoot me much less. If my teammate hides behind a corner, they will forget 'e exists and all turn to kill me if I am still in view at the time. Just f.y.i. as knowing this is helpful. Note that this is occasionally false; there are a few games where they concentrated fire on me, behind cover, while ignoring my friend who was half as close to them and in the open (assumed glitch).

At full health, you will be downed by;

2 stabs

2 shield hits

3 dog bites

Too much gunfire

Lots of Semtex

When you take damage, your screen turns red and shows a red, curved dash from the direction that you took damage. Beyond that, there is no damage meter so you must simply become familiar with how much damage/red screen is the limit.

With the exception of Destroyers, they will all die to 1 stab. Loot items will kill any. Be wary of Strikers and Destroyers as they may take out sentry guns. Any shooters may take out the vulture. They may shoot down Hinds, but usually get killed while doing so.

Enemy spawn: they spawn like a lightning strike, some maps you can see the lightning strike and/or upside-down T-shaped cloud where they appeared on the map.

Difficulty Level: just like Squad Assault, the bots have mixed difficulty, just like the difficulty setting from private match bots (recruit/regular/hardened/veteran/mixed), so some of the enemies encountered will be harder to fight than others. Most notable when you get one zig-zagging around your bullets as you attempt to shoot it.

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Additional: Guns level up with a blue level bar while killing. They level up from getting a red star and from getting a support drop of the same gun.

Note: if your gun is almost at the next level (let's say on 3, almost 4), hitting the support drop same gun or red star will max the bar (in this case, to 4). So, if possible, hit level 4 from shooting, then hit the star/sd to jump to level 5. Otherwise these often seem like a waste. If near the end of a level, i will usually just reroll the sd drop, rather than take it.

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When bleeding out, you have 20 seconds until you bleed out. While down, from right to left your perks will flash and then go away one at a time, until you get revived or die. So the faster you get revived (and revive others) the better, to save perks.

A good idea is to hold an ied. If you go down, call for help, then throw this down as you get revived, to keep your savoir safe. Also, if you are about to revive someone, throw this between them and the infected to buy yourself a moments peace while reviving.

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Challenges: Starts on the beginning of round 4, then every 4 rounds you get 1. The whole team is actively working towards the Challenge together. Once achieved, for a limited time (1 minute?) you will have an additional gun; a minigun with explosive rounds. This thing is beast and can get you through a high round easily. The trick is to finish the Challenge at the start of a round so you have the minigun throughout the round. Getting it at the end of a round is usually less useful. So, if you need 10 headshots and got 9, try not to headshot until the next infected round starts, immediately get a headshot, then destroy that round. Note that there will be an icon (Extinction's explosive ammo symbol) above the ammo bar, bottom right when the minigun is put away (cycled with Y). This will be white, but flash yellow and white as it times out, then goes away with the minigun. While you have the minigun, it can be cycled just like any other gun by hitting Y (xbox). Note that during this period, all of your guns have explosive ammo, not just the minigun. Try to finish each challenge before the next challenge round starts or you will not get a new challenge until the next divisible-by-4 round starts. (Currently, you can hold out a sentry from inventory, without placing it, to extend the time of the minigun, like between rounds).

Challenges list: Always 10 kill requirement.

Killstreak (Loot item kills), Melee (Knife kills), Headshot (Killshot to their head, Towers cannot be headshot), Equipment (Every kill counts, including: killstreaks, squad mates, ieds, throwing knives, guns, knife, stun grenade if lethal blow).

Note: most players confuse 'equipment' with 'killstreak' because they are stupid, be wary of this, especially if you're stupid.

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Don't run for Support Drops until it is safe (or you are pro enough at this mode to ignore this warning or have explosive ammo). Having a last dog or guy chase you around as you get these is fine, but don't run out at the start of a round just because the support drop dropped.

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When down, if all enemies are killed, you will get up. So if every team mate is down, and all squad mates are dead, just try to finish the round while down. Early rounds, before you have any perks, you have less to lose, try to clear a round or give your teammate(s) time to get you, as you all try to finish the round, rather than calling in a squad mate prematurely. Call him in on the last few seconds before you bleed out (if he is close, the timer may even hit zero for a second or 2 without you dying). If multiple players are down, it is a good idea to have the player who was down the longest be the first to call in Ghost Squad and communicate to the team a second or 2 before you do. This will give teammates time to say 'don't, because I'll get you up' and also to keep 2 players from calling them in at the same time unnecessarily.

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You can earn a ballistic vest from another method, but I'm not sure what that method is yet.

I've had a vest granted after picking up a Support Drop solo (also was the start of a new round). This one, i had been downed the round before and called in GS.

I've had them appear at the start of some rounds in split screen games. This i felt was for not getting downed for 10 rounds, but that's a guess.

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While many of the enemies are predictable as to what round that they come on, note that there is some variation. Also, different enemies and number of enemies will depend on the number of players.

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Note that an exploding I.E.D. can destroy a sentry, ims, or vulture. Be careful. The same player must control both for this to happen, so keep yours clear of each other.

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Enemies can suicide on some maps. These will not count toward the total number killed, they do not respawn. Example: in solo, there are 235 enemies total, if 5 suicide, the end total will be 230.

If you cause a bot to die with a trap, it will count as your kill. Like dropping Stonehaven portcullis, using Ignition's test rocket.

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Bayview trolley eats Support Drops, get them before it does.

Goldrush minecarts eat support and loot packages very frequently also.

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Sometimes, bots get stuck and you must hunt them down. The way that they load has changed, so this happens less often now.

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There have been quite a few changes to the game since launch, so if you aren't on xbl, there may be some variation from what I've posted here.

Notably: each player used to get a ghost squad each 20 rounds. Enemy bullet damage has increased dramatically, they used to be so weak. You used to get 2 sentries almost every loot round, occasionally 1 or 3, now it is usually 1, occasionally 2, never 3. Now the vulture is nerfed to hardly show up either. My guess is that they want to get rid of the mode, so keep making unwarranted game-ruining nerfs to get people to stop playing it. Map playlist changes often. The enemy damage has increased dramatically since launch.

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Hidden Gems: following this post are threads of discussion, feel free to ask or input anything. Here are some posts to view:

Page 1, post 2: Loot strategies.

Page 2, post 31: Guns + attachments. Enemies by round/ 1&2 player amount of enemies per round.

Page 3, post 44: Strategy thoughts by number of players. 1, 2 player thoughts per round/20r games.

Page 3, post 50: Map spots that I've won.

Page 3, post 51: What this thread needs.

(frequently edited post)

Happy gaming!

Edited August 15, 2014 by 83457

[83457]

Loot Package Strategies;

Saving a package or two for higher rounds is a good idea. Some loot rounds, you may run for the lone sentry gun and get nothing else, this can be bad. In 20 rounds games, 17-20 should have a sentry gun in action.

Hind: if you have one and a new loot rounds starts, call it in and grab 3 new packages, it will last though the next regular round. You may call in multiple Hinds, the new one will arrive when the last leaves, but this can free up a slot in your loot inventory.

Sentry gun: use this in the hardest rounds. Best if placed almost a right angle to where you stand. This way, if the shield guys try to block it, you shoot their backs. If they come for you, the sg shoots their backs. You may place multiple Sentry Guns.

Vulture: is a flying sentry gun that times out quicker. I often consider using it as a follow up to the i.m.s., which won't last long either. Each player may only call in one Vulture at a time.

I.M.S.: use only when a crowd of shield or dog AI comes. You only get 4 shots, best on the crowd. Follow up with Vulture for the rest of the round. You may place multiple I.M.S. at the same time.

Trinity Missile: be ready at the start of a round. Call this in and you should see a crowd crossing the map to your location. This is the only real way to get the most out of this. Alternately, they sometimes clump outside of your camp area. If you are coming up on a loot round and wish to use this first, try for that scenario. You can only use one Trinity Missile at a time, per player.

Helo Scout: this immediately teleports you to a helicopter. You have a sniper rifle and must shoot the enemies from there. Fly it to your camps door, pick them off. It eventually times out or you get shot down, or hold x to end it. It will lower you near the ground and then you drop. In an emergency, if overrun, you can quickly use this to escape. You may only use one Helo Scout at a time, per player.

Additional: say that you save a sentry gun, so the loot round starts, you grab another sentry, grab an i.m.s., drop it quick, grab another package. So you have 3 loot items in reserve, pick up the i.m.s. and bring it with you for a fourth loot item (getting 5 is feasible). You could call in a hind, drop a sentry, drop an i.m.s. Just a little strategy tip. Never try to quick use a Helo Scout or Trinity Missile during a Loot Round.

To get rid of a Helo Scout (they are that bad), call it in, hold x to end it.

Edited May 16, 2014 by 83457

[83457]

Each time that DLC releases, they make a playlist of dlc map Safeguard.

So now that dlc Devastation launched, you can play Safeguard on those maps for credited games.

Don't forget you can always play any map by going mp> private match> game mode> safeguard. But it will not be credited games, just games for fun.

Edit: as of this edit, every starter map +freefall +dlc1 can be played for credited games, but the maps are randomly chosen, just back out and try again if you hate the map. Dlc2 has it's own playlist of credited games.

Additional necessary information added to the original post.

Edited May 1, 2014 by 83457

[83457]

Additional information added to original post.

Edit: Near the end, i will make one post with all of the maps and spots that I've won, and number of players to help other s. Possibly I'll opine on theoretical strategies on map spots for 4 player games (as i usually play 2 man games).

Map spots: i will post some map spots as I win more 2 man 20 round games, so that i know that they are viable before i post them.

The 2 easiest maps, as far as i can discern are included in the regular 'credited' maps.

Warhawk: up the brown steps by the tractor trailer to the 2 rooms. Easily one of the best.

Freight: down the steps by the 'malt booster', with that door closed off. The trick is, the last few rounds, move way back to the end of that hall. You get a bunch of juggernauts firing Semtex which destroys the sentry guns that you should have for the last 4 rounds. By going to the end of the hall, they can not kill them easily. Lay on the floor to shoot the feet of the shield guys.

Edited April 30, 2014 by 83457

[lead_psychopath]

My friend and I had another place, on the map Bayview.

Over on the left side (by the sea), there's a roof spot where you can only get to it by climbing the ladders. We got to round 20 without even using a squadmate.

[83457]

Taking a lead from lead_psychopath, i did an easy 2 man game on top of the lighthouse on Bayview.

Anyone familiar with any other good spots?

We did okay on Stonehaven, but the loot packages load a bit far away. I have since beaten this, with ease, from the top of the castle, 2 player.

I definitely think the game would improve with a minute of loot gathering time.

There is always the run like it's zombies option, which i haven't explored much as i tend to play with a friend that sucks on the run. I got that trolley/no hands glitch, he went down, i just ran the bots around for a couple of minutes. I feel that Bayview is a good design for the run method; the square design and the open paths around everything means that they will track towards you, giving you a safe path to run around the outside. Unforch, i want to best maps that i have not yet beaten.

So, is anyone finding success on the run?

Anyone have a favorite camp spot worth mentioning?

Thanks.

Edited April 30, 2014 by 83457

[83457]

I have 2 man beaten Stormfront and Containment.

To avoid getting stuck playing the same campable maps, we have been working on a new camp method (as 2 man run around is messy and hasn't been very successful, given my friends cod skill). So we have been looking for open corners, somewhere with fairly narrow angles of approach.

Stormfront: camped the sw corner by the tractor trailer spawn. Back by the garbage piles. Sentry guns along the west wall, when needed, to cut across their approach to take out shield guys. We considered behind the bridge in the ne, but have not tried it yet.

Containment: in the nw corner, just outside the red-stripe building. We used to try the building, buy would get overwhelmed by shield guys running up the steps.

While i did beat Bayview on the lighthouse, the ne corner by the coffee shop would probably work for this method.

By being in the open, one can zombie-kite a few shield guys, so your teammate can pick them off.

Other methods for dealing with shield guys include: lie down, shoot their feet. And; throw an ied down and run around it with them in tow.

Round 2-3 advice; with just 2 people, there are quite a few embarrassing round 2-3 downs before we get a support drop. Once you have guns, the early rounds are easy, so don't be afraid to use a loot item to stay alive through round 2, rather than call in a squad mate. This is also sound solo advice.

Come loot round 11, i would suggest trying to get and hold sentry guns for rounds 17-20. But be warned, 12 had a decent amount of shield guys, so expect to need something (ims, vulture) to help with that round.

Happy Safeguarding!

I already enjoy this mode, but switching gears to camp outside has breathed new life into this mode for me (us).

Edit: in 2 player games, there are always 283 total enemies.

Edited May 2, 2014 by 83457

[lead_psychopath]

How do you not get shot at when you camp out in the open?

A few points/suggestions of my own:

If camping on the lighthouse in bayview, the vulture is the number one killstreak to have. Go to prone on one of corners away from the sea-and just wait. It literally kills everything! And you can't get shot at!

On the note of the minigun reward, I personally find it much better to keep using my gun. It still levels up, but you get to keep the explosive ammo, so the damage is increased greatly.

That was a great tip with the perks, I did not know that you get an extended bleed out time with more perks.

On the note of perks, another tip I'd have is: don't get many perks until you have sleight of hand (SOH). You lose perks as you die out, and we always find SOH an uncommon drop. If you have SOH first, then 5 more perks, you'll find by the time you've been revived, you still have SOH.

Don't ever get a sniper.

The wild widow is totally epic, but do upgrade it. I found when ghosts came out, I'd just keep it for emergencies, but definitely level 35+

it starts to take 2 hits (inaccurate shots to the legs/feet/arms). Get the WW past level 6, and you'll be fine.

The grenade shooting enemies are by far the easiest IMO. I've never received damage from their grenades? I think they're more to destroy your equipment. They do melee you though, which can bring you don't very quickly.

The Helo Scout it great for escapes, but be warned, you can get shot at by the heavy machine gunner enemies.

That's all I can think of atm.

[83457]

Being shot in the open is a hazard, but as long as you have just enough cover to keep from hitting the 'down' mark, you heal quick enough. Just get behind what little cover there is and concentrate on the one or two enemies that can still see you. Throwing an ied to buy yourself an extra second or two helps. Also, by being out in the open, you have a long view of the enemies, so you take them out father away and generally take less damage from them than you would while dealing with them within the confined area that you camp.

Wise advice on hiding better perks behind less valuable ones. I will often grab a low value perk, just to cover a good one.

The Semtex guys do hurt you, but not as bad as expected for multiple Semtex. Blast shield makes them a complete non-issue, especially armed with a Widowmaker.

Focus is a must.

Blast shield versus mk32 guys.

Sleight of hand for obvious camp reasons.

Speed (agility) + marathon for package grabbing/ faster kiting and avoision of the shield guys/dogs.

ICU to recover faster when damaged.

Q: you're saying that the explosive rounds affect your regular gun? (Edit :this is true).

Hmmm. I still use the minigun, i rarely level it up and it destroys them easily, without wasting my other guns ammo.

I simply switch weapons if there is a star to pick up.

Edited May 2, 2014 by 83457

[lead_psychopath]

Q: you're saying that the explosive rounds affect your regular gun?

Yep. The only reason I found this out was from the riot shield guys. You don't even need to hit their feet, just shoot the ground near them and they're finished.

Good point with the ammo and minigun, but I/we tend to change the support crates into ammo quite often, so ammo is rarely a problem.

Actually, that's another thing we do.

Neither of us will have the same gun, which is really handy with leveling up weapons when you get the same weapon from a crate.

Also, (geeze, the more I think about it, I keep thinking of these little things!) your weapon level stays the same throughout the game.

Ie. if you had a level 10 Mtar, traded it out for an Arx, then decided to pick up the Mtar again, it won't start from level 1, it'll be whatever level you traded it in on (in this case 10).

Maybe I always have blast shield on, and thats why the semtex guys don't seem to hurt me..

[lead_psychopath]

Also, on a different note, I really like safeguard.

But what would make it awesome for me would be the ability to buy things like a riot shield or armour.

It'd make it easier, definitely. But I'd still love to see it.

[83457]

I saw the explosive rounds in action on other guns, thanks for pointing that out. That explains the symbol a little better; it is always there by your ammo, even when the minigun is away. You did have a good point about using the explosive ammo to level your regular gun, and ammo is rarely an issue. I guess the only real reason beyond cool factor to use the minigun is the large magazine to avoid an untimely reload.

We also use the different gun strategy.

We beat (20) Fog, and we were missing 11 enemies, presumably they fell into the pit in the 'canyons' by the altar, just like the bots do on other bot games. We camped outside by the well, by the fence.

We took (also 20) tremor; sw by the edge of the crater. Easy access via the ladder upstairs for supply drops and routes to loot drops.

[lead_psychopath]

Wow, where on earth were you in fog? We've only gotten to about round 11! Once the dogs start coming, we usually go down!

[Matuzz]

My highest round so far was 68 with 1 friend and 2 pubs who left after a while so it was just 2 of us in the end.

[lead_psychopath]

Well done! What map was that?

[Matuzz]

Well done! What map was that?

It was Prison Break.

[83457]

Where did you hold out on Prison Break?

On Fog, we camped by the closed off road, behind the grainery (main house) where the well is (not the pit in the caves).

It's so counterintuitive, camping in the open, but the farther away they are, the better.

A big part is saving killstreaks, then using them asst the right times without hesitation. A few well-timed beast moments help too; taking out several gunners at once before they can do too much damage. But if it looks like they will get you, drop a sentry or something, even though you would prefer to hold it.

Edited April 25, 2014 by 83457

[Matuzz]

We camped on top of the truck next to a wall near the guard tower. It's a good place to hold out but its absolutely must to deal with the shield guys so that they don't have time to climb on top of the truck.

 

EIDT: Correction it was round 63 not 68.

Edited April 25, 2014 by Matuzz

[lead_psychopath]

That's still amazing! Must try both those spots myself.

We've gotten into a terrible habit if doing either warhawk or bayview because of them being slightly easier.

[83457]

Yeah, this new style stemmed from boredom of playing maps that we thought were campable (freight, warhawk, later bayview). Now we have many more to choose from.

The Prison Break spot that was used was one that i considered as it was one of the best ways to go positive while playing regular bots 1-11. They must climb the front of the truck. While they could technically shoot you from the tower, i never encountered that. We were considering PB last night, but passed on it.

The biggest issue now when picking a map; is the loot accessible enough?

We found a ledge in Ruins that connects two lobes on the eat side of the map. If you each get on, enemies climb the wall, making them easy to shoot, and then fall to their death. But you can't see when they are coming and reloads tend to end you. But the biggest issue is getting stuff and returning to the ledge.

Edited April 25, 2014 by 83457

[Matuzz]

What special weapon features you know? The Wild Widow is always 1 shot, the M27-IAR has a push back and throwing knife is also always 1 hit kill, anything else?

[83457]

What special weapon features you know? The Wild Widow is always 1 shot, the M27-IAR has a push back and throwing knife is also always 1 hit kill, anything else?

I can't think of any other weapon specific effects.

But, characters do have some modified form of Recon; when there is an explosion, or you use the stun grenades (actually fairly useful), enemies can be seen through objects like Recon or Oracle or marked by Odin.

Agility is called Speed; this could be either an early name for agility that didn't get corrected in Safeguard, or it means that it has extra abilities. Maybe you pick up packages faster? Maybe it gives a higher speed boost than regular Agility?

Trigger Happy is the no reload perk; (inncorrect info removed)...

/more info.

Edited April 26, 2014 by 83457

[Matuzz]

I tought trigger happy gave you the ammo back to the clip if you just hit a target, but if you missed you lost the bullet.

Edited April 25, 2014 by Matuzz

[83457]

Edit: Trigger Happy refills your magazine when you get a kill. The rest of this post is wrong.

I'm fairly certain that it just moves ammo into the magazine without a reload animation, but i may be wrong.

I'll try to compare our hypotheses next time that i get it, to get the correct info.

Edited April 26, 2014 by 83457

[lead_psychopath]

Wow. Did not know what trigger happy did. I always swapped it out for ammo!!!!

I literally thought it was a useless perk!