Oh Jackie, always getting into trouble. At least that’s how the combat section opens up. Jackie will talk to a nice girl at a hotel and then some of Doggeye’s crew will walk up behind you and cause some trouble. This section of the game gives a good introduction into the fighting mechanics in Sleeping Dogs.
First is the Basic Combo. This combo will be important for the beginning parts of the game. Chaining multiple punches and kicks together is important for keeping some of the enemies occupied. The basic combo is basically just a mash of the X button 5 times.
Then there is the heavy attack. The heavy attack is good for knocking blocking enemies off balance and interrupting other enemies attack. The heavy attack is done by holding X. Later in the game you will get more combos that will incorporate the heavy attack in the basic combo to create better opportunities for stuns and grapples.
One of the heavy attack combos is called the charge knee strike. The charge knee strike is good in a lot of cases and can even stun attackers later in the game after you get a couple of power ups. To perform a charged knee strike double tap X and then follow that with a hold of the X button. Make sure to use this when you can to keep enemies from surrounding you.
You can also add a heavy strike at the end of a basic combo. This will perform a roundhouse kick that will knock enemies to the ground. To do the round house kick press X 3 or 4 times (either one will work) and then hold the X button. This again is another move to keep enemies on the ground to keep you from getting overwhelmed by attackers.
Grapples are probably the most useful attacks in the game in my opinion. You can use a grapple on almost all of the enemies except for tougher characters, melee wielding characters and fat grappling attackers. They are especially effective against characters that will block your punches and regular attacks. Once you grapple onto an enemy you can take a couple of different paths to taking out your newly grappled enemy.
One of your options is to strike enemies. Striking grappled enemies is a good way to get in some free shots. You can strike enemies in a couple of different combos that basically are a combination of X presses. Later in the game you can get some hold combinations that will break arms and legs and keep enemies flinching around you.
Another option you will have is to throw enemies in a direction. This is good if you just want to get rid of an attacker in area. To throw an enemy hit the right trigger button. Look for railings and other objects in the area to throw your attacker at. Even other enemies are a good option as it will clear some space for you to fight in.
A third option you will have while holding on to an enemy is sprinting. It’s hard at first to realize why you would want to sprint while grappling an enemy but it does come in handy. To spring with an enemy hold the A button. If you just want to get rid of your attackers you can sprint them head first into a wall to do some extra damage
The last option you will have is to use things in your environment to take out your enemies while they are grappled. Use these objects in your environment to your advantage. They are a 1 hit kill and can weed out a pack of enemies quickly. When you grapple an enemy things in the environment will shine red that can be used. Sprint over to them and press the B button when prompted. This will initiate an environment take down and is usually quite gory.
Counters are also very important in a fight in Sleeping Dogs. To counter all you have to do is press Y when enemies flash red around you a la the batman games. Make sure to counter whenever you can, even when you think you are out of range. Sometimes players will have a wide radius of attack on their kicks and can really break a combo. Some enemies can only open up to damage with counters so after you counter make sure to attack with the basic combo and some heavy hits.
That will end the Sleeping Dogs Combat guide. Keep checking out the site for more videos and guides and we will be posting a bunch of content very regularly. Hit us up in the comments if you want more info on Sleeping Dogs!
