----------------------------- Crackdown Skill Training FAQ ----------------------------- By: Samurai_King (Stewart Heddle)(Redhot53@hotmail.com)(Gamertag: Hailo666) -------- Contents -------- 1. Contact Information 2. Version 3. Brief Introduction 4. Agility 5. Driving 6. Explosives (Weapons) 7. Strength 8. Firearms (Weapons) 9. Training Continued 10. Copyright & Thanks ---------------------- 1. Contact Information ---------------------- This Guide/FAQ was written to help those who are trying to get the most from Crackdown and want a fully evolved character. In this guide I will give you information on the BEST ways to train your character as well as some on depth details on the afore mentioned training. Emails to me are welcome but please just questions if possible, if you see something, not in this review, don’t email me about it because if you know it, then there’s no reason for you to be reading this FAQ. ---------- 2. Version ---------- 1.0 (Updates to come) 1.2 (2 updates: updated the Training Continued section and added a suggestion from a fellow Crackdown player called Kylko Angre, many thanks to him. --------------------- 3. Brief Introduction --------------------- WELCOME TO YOU, Our Newest Agent. The agency welcomes you and is very grateful that you have volunteered to use your skills to serve the good people of Pacific City. You are basically the last hope to rid this city of crime. the huge, expansive city is presently controlled by 3 gangs Los Muertos, The Volk and the Shai-Gen. In order to take out these gangs out your going to have to be a very powerful and skilled agent and this guide will help you to become just that. I’m taking into consideration that the people who read this already know how to play the game (controls etc). Also while playing through this game pick up as many Hidden and Agility Orbs as you can. ---------- 4. Agility ---------- In the top right corner of your HUD, under your Health Bar is your 5 key skills. Agility is the top one. OK these skills can all get to 4 Stars/Levels and after that can be Maxed Out, although maxing out the agility does NOT give you 5 levels of agility, it only gives you 4. There are many things you can do to gain agility experience which I will explain now. The first and most obvious way is to get the bright green Agility Orbs that are on almost every roof-top. There are 500 of these around but you will almost defiantly reach 4 stars before you get them all. I still only have just over 450 and my Agility is Maxed out. Usually the higher up the orb is the more Agility Experience it is worth, you can tell how much by how many smaller Orbs are floating over the top of the main Orb. For instance an Agility Orb with one smaller Orb above it will be worth less than one with 3 above it. One thing to remember when your getting these if you need to jump for one and you think the fall will kill you, GO FOR IT because if you hit the Orb you will get it. Then if the fall kills you it doesn’t matter because every single time you die you can just regenerate. Also something worth knowing is that when you find any Hidden Orbs (Blue ones with a ? in it) they give you a small amount of every skill including Agility. Another way to gain Agility Experience is when you shoot someone with a gun (not including Rockets or grenade launchers) as long as your in a high place when you do it you will get Firearms Experience plus a small amount of Agility. You can even get a small bit if you kill someone while jumping, not loads but every little helps. Stick to this and you will jumping the tallest buildings and running rings around those criminals in no time. All Agility Experience is coloured Green. ---------- 5. Driving ---------- The 2nd Skill below Agility is Driving, now this one is actually pretty simple but if you anything like me you wont use it all that much, (I preferred to jump around the city on foot) its not all that useful. There are two main ways to gain Driving Experience which I shall now outline. The first is to run down lots of gang members. They give you a decent amount of Experience each time you run down 1 gang member, but it can be quite difficult and annoying sometimes due to the fact that they move out of the way as I’m sure you would to. The other way to get this Experience is to do stunts, front flips, back flips, barrel roles and long jumps. As long as you land on your tires you can get the Experience. Good places to do these jumps are from the back of those Ramp Trucks, or coming out of the Agency Tunnels. Another good place is in the North, of Los Muertos and is basically an indoor stunt park for cars, its the same place that one of the 21 bosses is in. its called The Easy Riders Garage. Also if you go up the side where the ceiling is broken using the Agency SUV on Driving level 3+ you can fly out of the roof and get the Front Flipper and Hazardous Hang time Achievements. Another thing worth a mention is that, depending on your Driving skill 1-4, the Agency Cars will transform and change their appearance and also on Level 4 gain an ability, the Super car ends up looking much like the Bat mobile and gains two machine guns complete with unlimited ammo. The SUV, my favourite car, gains huge tires and the ability to jump on command using the (B) button and acts much like a monster truck. And the Truck Cab (which I feel is over looked) Gains a nitrous boost and can smash aside almost any other car in the game and blow it up if the impact is large enough. All Driving Experience is coloured Purple. Also its worth pointing out that on level 4 in Driving the Agency SUV can drive up vertical surfaces, which is always fun lol. ----------------------- 6. Explosives + Weapons ----------------------- The 3rd skill down the list on the left of your HUD is the Explosive skill and this one is defiantly one of my favourites. This one is actually pretty simple all you have to do is blow stuff up (ALOT) and the orbs will just ooze out from absolutely everywhere. Now you may think explosives just means grenades, well it doesn’t. The Grenade Launcher, and both rocket Launchers both count as using explosives and not using firearms. A good way to use these and get lots of Experience is shoot the CAR that the gang members get out of. Because it will make a big explosion and kill everyone around. The Grenade launcher is by far the worst of the 3, I would say that you should use the Rocket launchers when ever possible as they are better. Use the Hothead less than the Firefly, because the Firefly is a lot better than the Hothead. Explosives Experience is coloured Blue. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Watson HE79 'Grenadier' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is a grenade launcher which is semi-automatic, and is used by the Volk. It has 4 grenades before it has to reload and has 12 in stock. It really can blow the living hell out of anything they hit, people, cars, buses, anything. 6/10 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Watson HE99 'Hothead' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is one of the 2 Rocket Launchers that are in the game, this is the weaker of the 2. Sadly its only single shot before it has to reload and has 10 in stock. Again this is used by The Volk and has a similar power to the grenade launcher but is very slightly stronger. It has a scope attachment and a very poor rate of fire, but it does have an incredibly long range. And like the 'Grenadier' it can blow up almost anything in one hit. 7/10 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Watson HE99-X 'Firefly' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is the 2nd of the 2 Rocket Launchers in the game named Firefly and is the best weapon in the game hands down. This launcher has a heat seeking feature meaning it almost always hits whatever your aiming at/ locked on 2. Its semi-automatic and has a good rate of fire with a very long range and used always by the Shai-Gen. It can damage things just a tiny bit more than the others and also has a very long range. It can shoot 5 rockets before it has to reload and has 15 in stock. This can be used to get the Body Juggler and Car Juggler Achievements. 10/10 ----------- 7. Strength ----------- The 4th skill down the list is strength. This skill is also pretty easy to level up, if you kick with the (B) button and kill gang members with it you will get tons of Strength Experience. The other way to do it is pick up items along the street like bins, cinder blocks, car doors things like that and basically throw them at gang members and kill them with the item. floods of Strength experience will be coming your way. As you level up you will be able to lift many different things and throw them further with every level you gain. At the start its things like I mentioned above but as you level up you can pick up skips/dumpsters, Cars, Buses and even satellite dishes! And using them to crush your enemies. There’s not to much else to tell about this skill although when you level up you will be able to kick things very far. For instance if a car is speeding towards you and you think its gunna knock you over press (B) to kick it when on level 4 and the car will go flying. Strength Experience is coloured Gold. --------------------- 8. Firearms + Weapons --------------------- The 5th and final skill in the list is firearms which I’m now going to tell you about, and also I’m goin to give details on the weapons you will be using to dish out your punishment. The firearms skill is very obvious and easy to do, i personally got my Firearms Skill to level 4 before anything else. Basically this governs your effectivness with guns and your ability to kill with them. When you have a gun equiped, get the recticule over (or even near) an enemy and hold the left trigger to lock on to that enemy. While locked on you can jump around and shoot, strafe left and right, use the (B) button kick and choose where about you want to shoot this poor gang member that you've singled out. While locked on you can use the right control stick to choose where on their body that you want to shoot, a small symbol of a man will appear and on this symbol the RED area is where your shooting at. You can choose legs, arms, torso or head, when you choose an area you will notice that the aiming recticule gets bigger and then closes in, the more closed in that it is the more accuracy you have. The weapons take quite a long time to lock on to the head area because one bullet even from a machine gun or pistol will kill the character your aiming at in one shot (except Bosses). Firearms Experience is coloured very light blue/green. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Colby 'Master' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Used by the Peacekeepers and also its your starting Pistol. Semi-Automatic, 12 Rounds before reload with 180 in stock. Its got a scope and its got a pretty good rate of fire and accuracy, its short range and has a decent amount of power. You don’t really ever need to use it that much, so try and pick up something better. 3/10 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Smithers 'Punisher' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is pretty much a high-tech pistol with scope, used by the Shai-Gen. Its semi-automatic with 16 rounds before reload and 160 in stock. Its power is a little lacking (like all pistols really) but it makes up for it but being just that little more accurate. This gun is also short range and once again if you have the option to pick up something better then pick the better option. 3/10 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kokov 'Diktat' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is i think the worst gun in the game, this should only be used if your in absolute dire need of it. If not you may as well stay away from it. its semi automatic like the other pistols and is used by the Los Muertos gang members. Its got 8 rounds before reload and has 80 in stock. It also has very poor power and has a pretty bad rate of fire and accuracy, once again its a short range weapon. 2/10 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dempsey SO-6 'Stub' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is the first of the 2 shotguns in the game its semi automatic and used by the Los Muertos, it takes 4 shells before you need to reload it and it has 40 in stock. One shot and very close range can instantly kill an enemy and in turn you can take a lot of damage if you get to close to one of these. Sadly it does have a slow rate of fire and pretty bad accuracy unless its used at very close range. Good secondary weapon early on in the game though. 6/10 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dempsey 190 'Equalizer' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The 2nd shot gun, its power is pretty much the same as the 1st but it just seems to fire at a faster rate than the 'stub' its semi-automatic and is used by all 3 gangs. It has more shells before it has to reload it has 8 round and then 80 in stock. Sadly again it is purely a very short range weapon. 6.5/10 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ingalls X80 SMG ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The first of the 2 SMGS (Sub Machine Guns). This weapon is fully automatic and is used only by the Los Muertos. It has 32 rounds before reload and has 320 in stock, it has a good rate of fire, not so much power though. Its accuracy is pretty good and its a short range gun. Its ok for a secondary weapon. 5/10 ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Harman MP-50 ~~~~~~~~~~~~ The 2nd fully automatic SMG this time used by Volk and Shai-Gen is the MP-50. Its pretty much identical to the Ingalls X80. Again 32 rounds before reload and 320 in stock, this one however is fitted with a scope. Again a short range weapon that can be used as a secondary weapon. 5.5/10 ~~~~~~~~~~~ Colby EAR50 ~~~~~~~~~~~ This is the 2nd weapon of the Peacekeepers and also your 2nd starting weapon. Its a fully automatic assault rifle, its got good power and a good rate of fire. The accuracy is also pretty good and its a long range weapon. I used this as my main weapon through all of the 1st island. Its got 32 rounds before reload and a massive 480 in stock. It also has a fitted scope. 7/10 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ingalls MG-60 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This gun is pretty much identical in spec to the Colby EAR50 in power, rate of fire and accuracy. Its used by all gangs but has less ammo capacity than the EAR50. It has 32 rounds before reload but 320 in stock. It is also a long range weapon, and can be used as your 1st weapon in the start of the game. 6.5/10 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Harlington HMG-90 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I just cant rate this gun highly enough, i mean it cant take out people like a grenade can but its defiantly the best firearm in the game. Again its fully automatic and used by all gangs. It has a belt of 80 rounds before reload and has an incredible 800 in stock. It has very good power, rate of fire and of course accuracy. Its a medium- long range weapon. its everything you need in one package this was my primary weapon for the entire game after i found it. 9/10 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bastion SX900 'Longshot' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is the More powerful of the 2 sniper rifles and has amazing power. It fires in a single shot and bolt type round. Its used by the Peacekeepers and the Shai-Gen. 1 round before reload and only 10 in stock, making this gun lose marks. It has scope obviously but with a poor rate of fire it becomes obvious that its lacking somewhere. It does have amazing accuracy and a very long range though. I would suggest that if you want to use this weapon make sure you have the Harlington HMG-90 as you other weapon. 7/10 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bastion S600 'Long Eye' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The weaker, but better sniper in my opinion. This sniper rifle is semi-automatic and used by the Los Muertos gang. It has 5 rounds before reload and has 20 in stock. Obviously with a scope and great power. Its rate of fire is ok and it has brilliant accuracy. Another very long range weapon. Once again i would still suggest using the HMG-90 as your other weapon. 7.5/10 ~~~~~~~ Grenade ~~~~~~~ The Starting grenade, gets a lot better when your Explosive level goes up. Used by all the gangs. You get 8 at a time. All grenade type weapons in the game have the same power and explosion. 6/10 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Colby 'Limpet Charge' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ They are available from all supply points in the game and are not used by anyone accept you. They stick to everything except bodies and you detonate them by remote control, Basically throw them where you want and hold (RB) to detonate. You are given 8 at a time. There just isn’t much call to use them though. Same power as all other grenade type Weapons, although if all put in one place will create more explosions. 5/10 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Shrapnel Grenade ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is used by the Los Muertos and releases shrapnel in the explosion to maybe cause some extra damage. This has the same power as all other Grenade type Weapons. 6.5/10 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cluster Grenade ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is my favourite grenade in the game, the explosions look much better than other grenade type weapons but it has the same damage overall. Its just you have more of a change to hit what your aiming for with this. Its used by the Shai-Gen, when it explodes it release a cluster of smaller grenades. Very fun indeed. 7/10 --------------------- 9. Training Continued --------------------- Besides the Rooftop Races, Road Races and Stunt Marker Rings this section of the guide will also include training suggestions from other crackdown players that can email me. Its worth just mentioning a few things in this section: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rooftop Races ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Those huge green tubes of light that you can see around the city are in fact Rooftop Races. If you stay in the green tube for 3 seconds the race with start. Look on your map in the bottom left to see where the next marker appears, you basically have to jump around and land in all the markers. If you complete the race within a certain time you will receive some Green Agility Experience. There are 12 in all and you can unlock an Achievement once you finish them all. ~~~~~~~~~~ Road Races ~~~~~~~~~~ Those huge purple tubes of light that you see are Road Races. As with the Rooftop Races if you stay in the light for 3 seconds the race will start. I Would advise being in the car before you enter the light. Its exactly the same except you have to drive through the markers instead of jumping to them on the tops of buildings. And there are 14 of these Races in the game, and again once all are completed it will unlock an Achievement. Once you complete a race in the time set you will receive Purple Driving Experience. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Stunt Marker Rings ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Also dotted around Pacific City are purple Stunt Marker Rings. But they can only been seen if you are in the right position to attempt to start the jump, like at the bottom of a ramp or something like that. Although i have her rumours that you can get your friend in ONLINE CO-OP to pick you up while your in the car and throw you through it. It will still count as if you jumped your car through it, although i haven’t tried this myself but i intend to very soon. ---------------------- 10. Copyright & Thanks ---------------------- {Thanks}~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -Thanks to my girlfriend Lauren Selfe for letting me sit there for 10 hours ignoring her in order to play this game then the 4 hours it took to write this FAQ. -Thanks to Kylko Angre for pointing out that on level 4 in Driving the Agency SUV can drive up vertical surfaces. -Thanks to Microsoft and Realtime Worlds for producing this brilliant game that was so much better than i ever thought it would be. -Thanks to Bungie for including the Halo 3 Beta Test Invitation in my copy of Crackdown. -Thanks to my Xbox 360 for not dieing until i had finished the main story. -Thanks finally to all the people that read this review to help them and trust in my FAQ enough to follow it and get in contact with me. If people have any feedback for me i would happily read it, Thank you. {COPYRIGHT}~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I the Samurai_King (Stewart Heddle) claim full ownership of this FAQ/Guide. This FAQ/Guide MAY NOT be copied, sold, distributed or used for any other public purpose unless the proper permission is asked for BEFORE use. Copyright 2006. Samurai_King (Stewart Heddle)