While my first two ability sets guides focused on builds specifically for Deathmatch and Assassinate game modes, today’s setup is instead centered on a situation.
It’s a common one, something we’ve all faced: being on the hunt against targets whose primary goals are:
While taking down players like this isn’t necessarily difficult with well coordinated teams, those aren’t always available. And in game modes like Corruption, there aren’t any teammates to rely on. The players on your “team” are technically your competition! Additionally, there may be plenty of times when you need to handle Santa Claus roofers or other generally annoying players in modes like Wanted. This profile exists for all those scenarios.
As I mentioned in my other Revelations articles, the Hidden Gun is good at what it does – punishing players for high profile activity. You want to try to bait me into a chase? Or use the roof for an upper ground advantage? I’ll gun you down like I just don’t care. This may not award me a great number of points (although I’ve gotten 1200 and 1300 point gunshot kills before), but it performs the more important tasks of:
The utility afforded by the Hidden Gun is simply too good to pass up, provided your teammates (if you have any) are not competent enough to help prevent all the scenarios listed above. As long as the best defensive strategy remains “blend, smoke, stun, and run,” the best counter-strategy will be forcibly injecting lead into their skulls.
Of course, nobody spends all their time running, and a build using only Hidden Gun and Throwing Knives would be crippled in any situation that made it difficult to identify the target. Both Firecrackers and Templar Vision give you the information you need, though they each have considerable limitations.
Templar Vision is very straightforward – you’ll be able to identify your target(s) in a matter of seconds from a considerable range, with a price of a considerable cooldown. Depending on how discreet your are, your contracted player won’t know that you know who they are, but neither will they be helpless to do anything about it.
Firecrackers, on the other hand, is more of a blunt instrument. By merit of using it, your opponent(s) will be instantly alerted to your presence and intentions, and he/she will know that you know the jig is up. Of course, they’ll also be practically blinded and unable to lock on to anything for several seconds. Most players will drop a Smoke Bomb or run for their lives… or both. Of course, if you’re using Firecrackers at range (by throwing them), you have the luxury of seeing how they react and moving in for the kill or gunning them down as necessary.
Ultimately, the choice probably depends on game mode most. In Corruption, odds are you won’t need to use this slot more than once, and you’re competing against other players, so I’d bet on Templar Vision. For something like Manhunt, Firecrackers would be better… especially with an uncoordinated team.
If you’re going to be chasing quarry around the map, nothing beats Hot Pursuit. It combines two perks from Brotherhood into one slot. First, it increases your running speed when chasing a target, allowing you to catch your victim more easily. Second, it decreases how quickly your detection meter drains in high profile, ensuring that when you do run, you retain more points in the following kill.
Chase Breakers are the bane of everyone on the offense, since they’re designed entirely to prevent killers from catching their prey. The Easy Chase Breakers perk literally opens doors (sorry, red carpet not included) by resetting most Chase Breakers as you approach them. Players who rely on slamming gates in your face to escape will be surprised to see you were content to let yourself in.
You’re not going to be getting a large number of kill streaks, but cautious use of the Hidden Gun and your revealing skill of choice should also limit the times you get stunned. Don’t count on this for points, but don’t be surprised if you land a 500 point pistol kill occasionally.
There isn’t a lot of utility in Minor Hack, but there’s a lot of hilarity in it. And honestly, if you’ve been stunned five times in a row, you should probably keep your distance from your assassination targets. I’ve never actually had this ability activate, but its use would draw the ire (and thus attention span) of any player unfortunate enough to get hit by it.
The only thing I’d really consider changing out of all these choices is the second ability slot. While Firecrackers or Templar Vision are great when your enemy is being especially elusive, they serve almost no purpose against foes who prefer high-profile hijinks.
Consider Throwing Knives, Closure, or Mute. Throwing Knives adds an extra anti-climbing, anti-parkour weapon to your arsenal for fleet-footed foes. Closure can severely fuck over your quarry’s plans of escape, giving you an easy (and surprising) kill. Finally, Mute can help prevent stuns, and it can be used to protect your teammates or the VIP. Unfortunately, it doesn’t prevent the adolescent on the other end of the microphone from calling your racial epithets.
What ability sets do you use while on the hunt? How do you stop targets that rely on running and stun-baiting?
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