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[Moff]

damn, I fucked this up good

first elusive I ever failed

Spoiler

the courier part was easy, I even played it safe and did not pick up the diamonds, so I could restart if the embassy went wrong

well it did, but after I killed the target. I killed him and the ambassador and although we were in a closed room the alarm went off, well shit. I hid in a box but the guards found me anyway, combat status, about 10 guards stormed in and shot me in the box

I still liked the elusive, though, I like every elusive where the target can't simply be sniped or bombed in 10 seconds

 

[Remembrance]

In retrospect, the Marrakesh level was built for exactly this kind of mission - trailing someone through dense crowds.

But it's strange that they left the "smart" AI out of the main game - where he will stop and turn around every now and then to check for a tail.

So, for the courier:

Spoiler

If he goes to the school, he has the diamonds,

correct?

Yes.

 

[PowderedToast]

i'm fond of the concept behind this mission, it's cool and feels very hitman. but i really dislike their decision to introduce a completely new mechanic (tailing) in a scenario where you get one chance. i still don't fully understand how it works. i don't know what the parameters are, what the fail states are, it was all too vague

a shame because on paper it sounds great, but they fumbled the execution. all they needed was some kind of tutorial.

 

[Metal-Geo]

I'd be fine with that if they mentioned anywhere that the Courier can't be touched.

I assume running into him shouldn't count as an attack but maybe it counted as an exclamation mark and that causes it to fail? I don't know.

It's badly designed.

You only bumped into him and the mission failed? That's very odd; I've bumped into the courier many times myself.

Absolutely loved this elusive target. My descisive run took 22 minutes. Top players in the leaderboard all took about 8+ minutes as well.

 

[Hank Scorpio]

i'm fond of the concept behind this mission, it's cool and feels very hitman. but i really dislike their decision to introduce a completely new mechanic (tailing) in a scenario where you get one chance. i still don't fully understand how it works. i don't know what the parameters are, what the fail states are, it was all too vague

a shame because on paper it sounds great, but they fumbled the execution. all they needed was some kind of tutorial.

I noticed when tailing the courier that there were a lot more 'blend in' spots that aren't in the default Marrakesh mission. They were always near shopkeepers too so I knew something was up when I saw the 'blend in' icon pop up. There is one in in lamp market and one near the soda machines close to where the graffiti dudes are working. It was in this area where the drop took place for me.

btw I wish they removed the option to change into disguises from killed targets who were shot in the body. If disguises are bloodstained they should be unusable. Was this feature not in previous games? Maybe I'm thinking of the Death to Spies series where this was a feature.

 

[GeeTeeCee]

I completed the Elusive, but it went so ridiculously badly that I don't think I even deserve the win.

Spoiler

Spent half an hour (at least) and several restarts tailing the wrong person, even though I was spawning mere metres from the actual courier each time. Whoops.

Quickly took out the embassy lady and soldier on the rooftop in case I needed access to the embassy. So far so good. Catch the courier getting the diamonds, and watch as he heads down an alley towards the school.

No way am I trying to get to the courier in the school, and the Fixer in the embassy, I think. Too much hassle. So I chuck a coin down a side alley and wing a soda can into the courier's face. At least two different soldiers saw this happen- I am now hunted. I sprint to the diamonds and leg it.

I desperately weave my way through the narrow streets of Marrakesh, bullets flying everywhere - and quite a few hitting 47. I'm pretty sure I was one bullet from death several times. I subdue several soldiers in my escape, even though those particular soldiers weren't even hunting me.

I pick up the soldier outfit from the roof, collect the sniper rifle, and calmly headshot the Fixer through the embassy window.

Ended the mission with a 3/5 star rating. Somehow. It was like the Bourne sequel I've always wanted.

 

[Metal-Geo]

Was playing a contract on Sapienza today and found this:

(The woman in the image 2nd from top, 2nd from left.
Potential Hokkaido target or elusive target?

I know it's not an unusual female hairdo - but seeing as IO like putting in small connections / hints to future content in the game.

 

[Foffy]

Seems like

Spoiler

they should have mentioned "there may be a courier associated with the diamonds on site, 47. Do not raise unneeded suspicion.

to at least allude to the vague fail condition.

I know the teaser image alludes to it, but never once is it alluded to as a fail condition.

 

[The Dear Leader]

I failed this on spectacularly, if something could have possibly went wrong, it did. I liked the concept but this one just didn't go well for me.

 

[Meneses]

You only bumped into him and the mission failed? That's very odd; I've bumped into the courier many times myself.

Absolutely loved this elusive target. My descisive run took 22 minutes. Top players in the leaderboard all took about 8+ minutes as well.

It was almost certainly a bug.

Oh well, sucks to have the first failed target under these conditions.

 

[Bebpo]

Well that was a load of shit. I spent 30 mins finding the target and following him to the courier to figure out a plan. Then I restarted and went for the plan of taking out the courier discreetly, taking the diamonds and then killing the target, only to find out the second I knock out the courier I get an mission fail. They really should have a big warning in the intro that if you kill/knock out the courier it's an instant fail for the whole mission.

*edit* reading the last couple of pages of the thread, I see what happened. Yeah, I didn't get what the mission was from that intro. I thought Strandberg's guy, the target, was going to buy diamonds from the courier to take to Strandberg and I saw what I thought was them exchanging something in the cafe so I figured the courier started holding the diamonds. Eh, I usually like to go into elusives blind, but I think from now on I'll read the thread before giving it a run. Didn't help that it's been a few months since I played Marrakesh since they haven't been releasing much on it, last time I probably did the stage was the Gun Runner elusive and I've totally forgotten how to get around in terms of where to grab the right outfits quickly for tracking people through the various locations.

 

[Remembrance]

The good news is that Torben Ellert, who writes all the elusive target briefings, took the reaction into account right away on Twitter.

The problem is that Torben seems to like to make elusive target objectives vague. People have now requested that fail conditions need to be always explicit.

By the way, I just made a custom contract (on PC):

I apologize in advance for the title because I only actually managed to beat it in four minutes. But I'm sure there's plenty of room for improvement!

 

[Foffy]

Well that was a load of shit. I spent 30 mins finding the target and following him to the courier to figure out a plan. Then I restarted and went for the plan of taking out the courier discreetly, taking the diamonds and then killing the target, only to find out the second I knock out the courier I get an mission fail. They really should have a big warning in the intro that if you kill/knock out the courier it's an instant fail for the whole mission.

*edit* reading the last couple of pages of the thread, I see what happened. Yeah, I didn't get what the mission was from that intro. I thought Strandberg's guy, the target, was going to buy diamonds from the courier to take to Strandberg and I saw what I thought was them exchanging something in the cafe so I figured the courier started holding the diamonds. Eh, I usually like to go into elusives blind, but I think from now on I'll read the thread before giving it a run. Didn't help that it's been a few months since I played Marrakesh since they haven't been releasing much on it, last time I probably did the stage was the Gun Runner elusive and I've totally forgotten how to get around in terms of where to grab the right outfits quickly for tracking people through the various locations.

I've learned to always wait two days after an ET launches to get a general impression of the mission, and if there's any oddities within in.

 

[IgotElbows]

So after finally playing Hitman 1-4, I started Hitman Absolution.
And it's really crazy how much they changed the game. I really don't understand the 'hide your face' mechanic, it really made me stop playing the game. Like the whole point was to change outfits to be stealthy...
It's funny. I really enjoyed the story of every Hitman game, but with barely starting Absolution, I'm really not crazy about it.
Especially with

Spoiler

Diana dying.

Spoiler

Maybe they can retcon it but saying, someone saved/captured her after Agent 47 left.

I own HITMAN as well, but the game is super unoptimized.

 

[Blitzrules240]

Well, I passed The Fixer but you guys aren't going to believe this story.

Setup

Spoiler

I decided to be a Janitor in the consulate, I took with me the Pale Duck and the Exploding cell phone.

Attempt

Spoiler

So with the Pale Duck and Exploding Phone in hand, I tailed the Fixer to the Cafe, he went inside and stayed outside the door, he met up with his courier and I had the guy pegged. I dropped the Pale Duck in the Fixer's path and he picked it up. I did not explode him right away though, I wanted the Diamonds first.

So I start tailing the Courier and we hit about three stops and I noticed he was heading towards the school and I had realized he had the diamonds by now, so with some quick wit, I dropped the cell phone in the hallway before he reached the guards at the school. The dummy picks it up, seconds later, I call his phone and he explodes.

I'm frantically looking for the diamonds on his body and a soldier spots me and I got into suspicious mode (fuck). I back out and hide in an open alley, I see them dragging away the Courier's body into a storage room. I then notice the bag of diamonds is lying on the ground by the place of the explosion. With no soldiers around, I grab them quickly.

I then detonated the Duck, eliminate the Fixer and find an exit for sweet victory.

These goddamn elusives are making this my GOTY.

10/11 Elusive successfully done.

The Prince will always haunt me though.

 

[Remembrance]

Someone did what I longed to do for this elusive but didn't have the nerves to carry out:

Kill the Fixer by

Spoiler

shooting the cafe sign as he leaves the cafe.

I would never have tried this unless I were safely on the west rooftops.

 

[Jintor]

I get really sloppy on Elusives since my policy is "Get the job done and get out". But I did it.

Spoiler

I knocked out the courier on the steps inside the School, didn't bother hiding the body or anything, just grabbed the diamonds, ran past the guard and out back into the streets. Got into the Embassy, disguised as the masseur, found the target and the normal target hanging out, when Klaus lay down and the guard left I slit the target's throat and legged it without bothering to hide anything

still got two stars lol

 

[LordOfLore]

New survey seems to be out. Should we create a thread with a link? Seems they want to know what other games you've played like Deus Ex, Doom, Overwatch etc and a bunch of other things.

 

[CaptainofIndustry]

Are there any advantages to buying this digitally vs waiting for the physical edition coming out in January (other than being able to play the game right now)?

 

[LordOfLore]

Are there any advantages to buying this digitally vs waiting for the physical edition coming out in January (other than being able to play the game right now)?

Elusive targets.

 

[MUnited83]

The good news is that Torben Ellert, who writes all the elusive target briefings, took the reaction into account right away on Twitter.

The problem is that Torben seems to like to make elusive target objectives vague. People have now requested that fail conditions need to be always explicit.

By the way, I just made a custom contract (on PC):


I apologize in advance for the title because I only actually managed to beat it in four minutes. But I'm sure there's plenty of room for improvement!

1:53 here

 

[Remembrance]

1:53 here

Awesome!

I made this contract because I figured out a way to knife all four of them without using distractions (you need to bring both unlockable knives). Didn't notice until after publishing that you can blow up the fifth guy before he enters.

This is probably close to the perfect solution for this one. I'm trying to come up with more short yet open-ended contracts where you have to get around risky conditions - just trying to get a feel for how difficult they actually are in reality.

 

[tearsintherain]

Glad I waited a few days to do the ET, I for sure would have fucked up if I went in blind since even knowing who the courier was I almost bumped into him and failed it. I followed the MrFreeze guide and got it that way pretty simple, although I followed the courier just to hear all the stuff he says (its pretty funny/cool).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4cfIzuLFZk

A really fun ET although it would be incredibly frustrating if you went in blind and failed because the instructions were a bit vague.

Still have to finish up Colorado, have only spent 15 mins in the level but I really just don't like it at all, not sure if its the open setting, the number of guards, or too many targets.

 

[DrSlek]

So I managed to get kill the Fixer, but only barely escaped....and I mean, barely.

Spoiler

I managed to get myself detected by an embassy staff member while shooting at the fixer from a toilet. The staff guy came around the corner just as I took the shot....and missed. So that disguise was now useless. The guards spent the next 10 minutes searching for me while I hid in the toilet. After a while I was able to come out and the target was right next to the toilet entrance, so as he passed it I threw a knife into his head. Target down, great right?

Well I was still trapped in the toilet with a compromised disguise. When a guard came in to search, he turned around just as I went to incapacitate him. So of course everyone nearby heard the combat. Just as a guard opened the door, I disguised myself as the guard I knocked out. The body was just out of sight next to the door. The new guard hesitated before entering, allowing me to sprint past the 5 guards surrounding the toilet door, downstairs and out of the building. Mission accomplished.

With these elusive targets I really don't care about getting silent assassin. As long as I'm able to complete the missions.

 

[FrontalMonk]

baaaah. I botched the fixer last night.

Spoiler

a guard saw me choke out the courier and gunned me down before I could get away with the diamonds.

 

[Oldest Snake]

Tried the new ET last night,

Spoiler

couldn't hear what the courier was saying to the shopkeepers because the other NPCs kept talking over him. Ended up quitting as he head towards the school because I wasn't 100% he had the diamonds on him.

Would I be right in saying that if I just wait in the school he'll eventually turn up and will definitely have the diamonds on him there?

Colorado is still sitting mostly unfinished, no Mastery & achievements not unlocked. First episode that I've given up on completely. Feels bad man.

 

[Hank Scorpio]

Tried the new ET last night,

Spoiler

couldn't hear what the courier was saying to the shopkeepers because the other NPCs kept talking over him. Ended up quitting as he head towards the school because I wasn't 100% he had the diamonds on him.

Would I be right in saying that if I just wait in the school he'll eventually turn up and will definitely have the diamonds on him there?

Colorado is still sitting mostly unfinished, no Mastery & achievements not unlocked. First episode that I've given up on completely. Feels bad man.

He appears to just go to that location after the handoff. Then he just repeats a cycle of going upstairs and downstairs for a smoke. I'm not sure if the player has to observe the handoff for him to go to that location.

It's pretty obvious though when the handoff takes place as the two guys shake hands and they break off the coded language, questioning each other about why all the secrecy etc.


Are you not feeling Colorado?

 

[Xenoboy]

I bought the intro pack and finished Paris a few days ago. It was fun and I'm gonna buy Sapienza as soon as I get the time.
After that, which one should I buy, Marakesh or Bangkok?
I'm not looking into buying all episodes chronologically or at all.

 

[Remembrance]

Bangkok is the better-designed level overall and has a lot of unique events. Marrakesh has more unique equipment unlocks (the remote explosive duck and emetic poison), but Bangkok has the exploding phone.

He appears to just go to that location after the handoff. Then he just repeats a cycle of going upstairs and downstairs for a smoke. I'm not sure if the player has to observe the handoff for him to go to that location.

Everything happens by itself even if you're not watching (in fact it is likely to happen faster because the courier has no chance of getting spooked by you following him).

On last Friday's official livestream they confirmed that originally the "Track the courier" objective would automatically complete by itself (and prevent you from restarting as soon as it did). They made the right call in turning this off, although the elusive had to be delayed by a week as a result.

 

[Hank Scorpio]

I bought the intro pack and finished Paris a few days ago. It was fun and I'm gonna buy Sapienza as soon as I get the time.
After that, which one should I buy, Marakesh or Bangkok?
I'm not looking into buying all episodes chronologically or at all.

I'd probably go with Bangkok as well but if you are planning on buying Sapienza as well would you not just get the upgrade? I dunno how the bonus episodes become available for episodic buyers.

Btw can anyone recommend some really challenging contracts?

I roleplayed my own in Marrakech recently. I tasked myself with getting Silent Assassin while disguised as the prisoner. It was a lot of fun as everywhere is hostile. I completed the mission with 4 extra fatalities and didn't get Silent Assassin but it was good craic.

I actually wish IO would make a Prisoner Challenge pack akin to the Vampire and Fortune Teller ones. An objective could include smuggling the prisoner out too. Could exit the mission with him in the Jeep outside the school as the keys to it can be stolen.

 

[Oldest Snake]

He appears to just go to that location after the handoff. Then he just repeats a cycle of going upstairs and downstairs for a smoke. I'm not sure if the player has to observe the handoff for him to go to that location.

It's pretty obvious though when the handoff takes place as the two guys shake hands and they break off the coded language, questioning each other about why all the secrecy etc.

Are you not feeling Colorado?

Nope, I've tried it a few times now and it just doesn't work for me.

I think I'll just wait for the guy in the school in that case, seems easier. Thanks.

 

[Remembrance]

Btw can anyone recommend some really challenging contracts?

If you haven't done it yet, Improv Night at Club 47 from the Featured Contracts list is ingenious.

It actually forces you to improvise - there is no way to do this one the same way twice.

 

[Hank Scorpio]

If you haven't done it yet, Improv Night at Club 47 from the Featured Contracts list is ingenious.

It actually forces you to improvise - there is no way to do this one the same way twice.

Just doing it now lol. Once I saw the black suits in the mission briefing screen I knew it would be those geezers sitting at the table together.

 

[bodyofanamerican]

If you haven't done it yet, Improv Night at Club 47 from the Featured Contracts list is ingenious.

It actually forces you to improvise - there is no way to do this one the same way twice.

Is this the one with the 4 guards in Sapienza huddled around a table?

edit: Welp

 

[ZeroX03]

Fixed the Fixer. That's my 10th escalation completed too, got the suit.

Spoiler

Started as soldier. Went to the cafe. Dropped the phone in front of the target as they entered the cafe. Followed the courier until they went to the school. Subdued. Took diamonds. Blew up target. Escape.

 

[Joeku]

Okay, so, my experience with the ET:

Spoiler

I figured out after a previous run where I bailed out (and a hint on here) where that the courier went to the school and walked back and forth after getting the diamonds, so while he went down that one alleyway towards it I tossed a coin into the nook to the right that had the dumpster. I clocked him with a crowbar hoping I was out of sight of the guard but I was wrong. I stupidly locked myself into this run by immediately picking up the diamonds, so from that moment, I went into Elusive Target One Shot Improv mode.

I hopped into the dumpster immediately and after waiting for the heat to move away I found a soldier and lured him behind a humvee and stole his uniform after knocking him out. Then I dodged that heat and headed to the consolate. I didn't realize that I couldn't head in the front door as a soldier so I kinda of screwed myself again and dodged further heat by knocking out a consolate security guard, taking his outfit, and getting far enough away that nobody would recognize me.

I then had to dodge the security that would recognize me, got a janitor outfit, and headed up to the top floor to watch The Fixer's route for the first time. It's pretty funny/clever that The Fixer follows Strandberg like a guard, so after a loop I had knocked out the guard in the massage room, the guard outside, and hidden them both behind the paper wall. Then when Strandberg and the Fixer passed I threw a crowbar just so to get him in the room, then tried to hit him with another after closing the door but he was so close to it I am pretty sure I hit him while it was still closing, triggering guards near the stairwell. As such I hid back by the massage bed, took out my silenced pistol, and did what I never do and just shot those motherfuckers that came in in the face. I shot the unconscious fixer in the back too, before heading off into the office, killing a few more security from behind cover, and stealing an outfit just before more came into the room to give me the cover to bolt past them downstairs and then knock out Engstrom and grab his masseuse outfit.

From there, I had easy sailing to an exit and closed out an experience that pretty much singlehandedly justified the release model of this game's content. I played a mission with unique mechanics, in a way I normally wouldn't, set off alarms that would otherwise make me reload, and closed out the mission with a heart rate higher than anything the core missions give me. This was peak Hitman.

 

[FrontalMonk]

I finally broke down yesterday and did something I really wasn't planning on doing...but the talk about S1 doing well and us possibly getting S2 built on top of the existing framework made me double dip for the PC version.

Oh my god. That framerate. Those loadtimes. Why did I wait so long.

(especially now that I have to unlock everything again *cry*)

 

[Terra_Ex]

Messed up the ET, got the diamonds no problem but as I was preparing a room to take down the target a security guard spotted me moving an unconscious person. Things fell apart pretty quickly from there and I was swiftly reminded how squishy 47 is in the face of bullets in this game. Good ET though, I enjoyed it, despite my failure.

 

[tearsintherain]

If you haven't dipped your toe into Colorado yet I definitely would, the story cutscenes are quite good and move the plot forward.

I was a little overwhelmed with 4 targets so have been putting it off but honestly just follow the couple of opportunities and you can knock one target out after another pretty easily, I screwed up a lot but still made it out with only a few reloads. Went from level 1 to 12 or so in just one run, and now a bunch more stuff is unlocked.

 

[Xenoboy]

So I did some escalations yesterday, the one where you kill a Palace staff in the kitchen on 1st floor and the one where you kill a guard in Sheikh's room.
The first one was really easy, I did all of the subsequent missions after that and it wasn't that hard.
The one with the guard, oh boy! It took me several tries and forever to even get there with the Palace staff disguise, I had to knock out a few guards and get to the room through a freaking window, lol

I find the escalations to be really fun, adding another layer to the game.

 

[The_Hitcher89]

Before I start this, am I allowed to neutralise the courier?

 

[Remembrance]

Before I start this, am I allowed to neutralise the courier?

Don't touch him until you are sure he has the diamonds in hand.

The meeting between the target and the courier, and the courier's pickup of the diamonds, must be allowed to play out or you will fail.

 

[The_Hitcher89]

Don't touch him until you are sure he has the diamonds in hand.

The meeting between the target and the courier, and the courier's pickup of the diamonds, must be allowed to play out or you will fail.

Cheers
So the order should be

Spoiler

target meets courier, courier picks up diamonds elsewhere, steal diamonds by any means necessary, eliminate target

Will undoubtedly screw it up, but here goes

 

[endlessflood]

Cheers
So the order should be

Spoiler

target meets courier, courier picks up diamonds elsewhere, steal diamonds by any means necessary, eliminate target

Will undoubtedly screw it up, but here goes

Not necessarily.

Spoiler

I blew the target up just after he met with the courier (making sure he was far enough away from the courier that the courier never knew). Then I waited for the courier in the area where he heads to only after picking up the diamonds.

 

[Foffy]

Not necessarily.

Spoiler

I blew the target up just after he met with the courier (making sure he was far enough away from the courier that the courier never knew). Then I waited for the courier in the area where he heads to only after picking up the diamonds.

Spoiler

I got swerved by that. He made a detour from there, and I thought like one of the earlier Paris ETs, it meant his paths were random.

Sufficed to say this is why I have 10/11 ETs successfully finished now.

 

[Dremorak]

So, I managed to do it in a satisfying way

Spoiler

I tailed the target to the meeting, and then when he had the diamonds I lost him Tried to go into the school where it looked like he went, couldnt find him anywhere.

So I broke my rule of not restarting, always doing it on my first run through, and I restarted.
I went to the area near the deal, I took out both guards, and another nosy one that saw a gun they dropped (doh!) hid the bodies, waited for the courier to get the diamonds, killed him, hid him. THEN Thankfully I had the foresight to use the large drop on the rooftop for a silent sniperrifle, went to the rooftop, aimed at the consulate and waited. Sure enough...the target stops near the window! Headshot, slide down a pipe, ESCAPE!

Felt pretty great I love this game

 

[Remembrance]

Spoiler

I got swerved by that. He made a detour from there, and I thought like one of the earlier Paris ETs, it meant his paths were random.

Sufficed to say this is why I have 10/11 ETs successfully finished now.

Like I keep saying,

Spoiler

he will only take detours if he notices you following him! (Which is why he will often stop to look behind him)

It's supposed to throw you off!

 

[Screaming Meat]

Completed my first Elusive. Sloppy yet satisfying.

 

[Chumley]

I wonder what the next Elusives unlock will be. Don't really want another suit now that we've got BM and Absolution covered...

 

[MUnited83]

I wonder what the next Elusives unlock will be. Don't really want another suit now that we've got BM and Absolution covered...

It's the regular Hitman 2016 suit but with gloves.