Crysis 2 Weapon and Enemy Guide Guide Started: April 2, 2011 by Alan Chan (joylock @ hotmail.com) The latest version of this guide may be found at www.gamefaqs.com. The Usual: This document is mine. Please don't rip it off or take credit for it. That being said, feel free to post it on any site you want, provided you a) don't make any changes to it, and b) don't charge money for it. You don't even have to get my permission to post it (as long as it remains unaltered), but it would be nice if you emailed me and let me know (joylock @ hotmail.com). Please do credit me if you use any information taken directly from this guide on your own guide or website, though. Also, it took me a few hours to get all the stats from the game files and compile them into an easily readable format, so if you got the stats from my guide and post them elsewhere please credit me. However: If you do post this guide on your web site, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES REMOVE !!ANY!! PART OF IT, INCLUDING THE HEADER WITH CONTACT INFORMATION AND DISCLAIMERS. ESPECIALLY DO NOT REMOVE THE LINE "The Latest Version of This FAQ can be found at www.gamefaqs.com". Thank you. I want to thank Luigi Auriemma, writer of QuickBMS, which helped me view the game data and NPC/Weapon files. Purpose of this Guide: Well, since I wrote a Weapon/Enemy guide for the original Crysis, I figure I might as well write one for Crysis 2 as well. I discovered some helpful stuff that I wanted to share, such as the full multiplayer damage values of the various weapons (hopefully they haven't change due to patches), and some easy ways to take out the Ceph Heavies and Pingers. This guide is marginally less in-depth than my previous ones, as I am trying to write it in a bit of a hurry due to not having as much free-time as I did back in the day. I do plan to edit and format it a bit later after the initial release. TABLE OF CONTENTS: - Game Mechanics - Health and Suit Functions - Weapons - Primary Weapons - Pistols - Submachine Guns - Shotguns - Assault Rifles - Other Weapons - Special Weapons - Explosives - Heavy Weapons - Enemies - C.E.L.L. Operator - C.E.L.L. Gunship - Ceph Tick - Ceph Grunt - Ceph Stalker - Ceph Grunt Commander - Ceph Stalker Commander - Ceph Heavy - Ceph Pinger - Ceph Guardian **************** *Game Mechanics* ******************************************************************************* - The game's difficulty setting mostly affects enemy A.I. On the higher difficulties, enemies have faster reaction times and better situational awareness. Enemies also seem to have better aim and fire in longer bursts on the higher difficulties, making enemies with automatic weapons noticeably more dangerous. On all difficulties, enemies have the same amount of health and do the same amount of damage. The major exception is that, on the highest difficulty setting (Post-Human Warrior or Supersoldier, depending on the version you're playing) there's no split-second invincibility after you're hit, allowing you to be damaged by each consecutive bullet in a spray of automatic fire. As a result, you die a LOT faster against automatic fire when not in Armor Mode. In Armor Mode, however, your durability seems pretty much the same. - Crysis 2 uses a "smart" cover system, similar to Call of Juarez: Bound In Blood or Killzone. When you're up against a low wall or crate, you can lean your weapon over it (or, alternatively, lean back down behind cover) by moving your aim up and down. When pressed against a wall, you can also lean left or right around corners by pressing the left or right direction keys while aiming. *************************** *Health and Suit Functions* ******************************************************************************* - In single-player, you have 1000 health units. As a result, it takes about 6 direct assault rifle hits to kill you when not in Armor Mode. Armor Mode completely absorbs all damage you take, as long as suit energy is available instead. Health quickly starts regenerating after about 5 seconds if you can avoid taking any damage. The Deflection suit module lets you survive about 50% to 100% more damage, but is very expensive in terms of nano catalyst. It also has no effect on the effectiveness of your Armor Mode. In multi-player, each player has 130 health units. It takes about 5 SCAR rifle shots or 4 Nova pistol shots to kill a character in multi-player if they aren't in Armor Mode (which, interestingly, makes a multi-player character roughly as durable as a C.E.L.L. Operator from single-player). Armor Mode reduces the damage a player takes to about 65% as long as suit energy is available, so it takes about 7 SCAR rifle shots or 5 Nova pistol shots to kill an Armored player. - You have 100 units of energy for your nanosuit. Your various suit powers consume energy at different rates. After using a suit power, there's a delay of about 2 to 3 seconds before your energy will begin to recharge. Once energy begins to recharge, it recharges at a rate of 30 units per second (60 units per second if the Nano Recharge module is equipped). The majority of suit powers can be used at the same time, although the energy drain from using multiple powers at once is signficant. The only exception is Armor Mode and Cloak Mode, which are incompatible; only one can be used at once (although other suit powers, such as Speed, Strength, or Nano Vision, can still be used while Armored or Cloaked). In many cases the multi-player suits are much weaker than the one seen in the single-player campaign, due to multi-player characters being equipped with weaker mass-produced nanosuits rather than Prophet's unique N2 nanosuit. Thus, the mass-produced suits' modes drain energy much faster, and the Armor Mode offers noticeably less protection as well. ARMOR MODE: Acts as a hardened "shield" that absorbs all damage taken by the suit, leaving your health unscathed. Unlike games like Halo or the original Crysis, Armor Mode is not the default mode, and has to be activated manually. Also, when Armor Mode is active, it slowly drains your suit energy at a rate of 2 units per second (1 unit per second if the Armor Enhance module is equipped) which means you have a maximum of 50 seconds of Armor Mode (100 seconds with Armor Enhance) before running out of energy. Additionally, any damage you take will further drain suit energy while in armor mode. Every 40 points of damage drains 1 unit of suit energy, so at full power you can withstand 4000 units of damage (about 23 assault rifle shots) before Armor Mode fails. While Armor Mode significantly improves your durability, it also slows down your movement speed down to about 82% of normal. In multi-player, the weaker mass-produced suit's Armor Mode withstands less damage, with 10 points of damage draining 1 unit of suit energy. Also, the Armor Mode only absorbs 35% of incoming damage instead of 100%, so 65% of damage will still get through to your health. Also, this Armor Mode is completely ineffective against gauss rifle rounds, sniper rifle rounds, and microwave beams, which all do 100% damage regardless of Armor Mode. The Hammer pistol, Majestic Pistol, and Grendel also have enhanced Armor Mode penetration, dealing 80% damage instead of 65% against Armored opponents. CLOAK MODE: Creates a cloaking field that renders you almost completely invisible. The cloak mode still creates a Predator-like distortion effect that can be seen with close examination, but it's less noticeable than in other similar games. Enemies will still be able to spot you at about a dozen feet or so, but otherwise will be completely oblivious to you. Be careful when cloaking around Ceph, though, because if they think you're cloaked nearby they will periodically emit a spherical EMP burst which will drain your suit energy and drop you out of Cloak Mode. Also, unlike the first Crysis, enemies will be able to spot laser sights as well as flashlight beams through your cloak if you have them equipped. Finally, being shot while Cloaked drains a significant portion of your suit energy, which can leave you powerless, vulnerable, and out in the open if enemies notice you while cloaked and manage to shoot you a few times. Cloak Mode drains suit energy at a rate of about 1 unit per second when standing still, and 8 units per second when moving (0.5 units per second when standing still and 5 units per second when moving if the Stealth Enhance module is equipped). This gives you 100 seconds of cloak when standing still or 12.5 seconds of cloak if moving (200 seconds standing still and 25 seconds moving with Stealth Enhance). You can melee in Cloak Mode without draining energy, but firing a weapon while cloaked will completely drain your suit energy, boot you out of cloak mode, and leave you vulnerable and exposed without the ability to run or use Armor Mode. However, you can deactive cloak mode manually, fire your weapon, then re-activate it to fire off your weapon without completely draining your suit energy. This is a very useful tactic for assassinating multiple enemies while cloaked, but it's not as effective as in the first game because enemies are more aware and will spray bullets at your last known position if they see you cloak in front of them. Alternatively, you can fire a silenced Nova pistol while cloaked, which only drains 10 units of suit energy. A single Nova headshot will kill C.E.L.L. troops, and any nearby C.E.L.L. troops who see the kill still won't be able to pinpoint your position. In multi-player, your suit drains energy at a rate of 5 units per second when standing still, and about 11 units per second when moving. This gives you 20 seconds of cloak when standing still, and only about 9 seconds of cloak when moving. Additionally, meleeing while cloaked will completely drain your suit energy, just like firing a weapon. SPEED MODE: Holding down the sprint button automatically activates speed mode, which allows you to run 80% faster than your normal movement speed. Speed Mode isn't as fast as in the first Crysis (where it let you run at 50 to 55 mph!!), but it still lets you move at about 20 mph and also lasts noticeably longer (about 7 seconds at full power, compared to just 2 seconds in the first game). Speed Mode drains energy at a rate of 15 units per second, giving you about 7 seconds of sprinting time and letting you cover about 115 feet of distance. Speed Mode only drains 7.5 units per second and lets you run for about 14 seconds if the Mobility Enhance module is equipped. When moving normally, you move at about 5 m/s (about 11 mph). When sprinting in Speed Mode, you move at about 9 m/s (about 20 mph). The multiplayer nanosuit actually drains suit energy in Speed Mode at a slower rate than the main N2 nanosuit, only draining 7 units per second and giving you about 15 seconds of running at full power. This is one of the few areas the multiplayer suit is superior to the main N2 suit. STRENGTH MODE: Strength Mode can be used to make enhanced jumps, which allow you to make about a dozen foot vertical leap to jump or mantle onto high ledges. This costs 10 units of suit energy (20 units in multiplayer). You can also perform a Power Attack by holding down the melee button. This does enhanced damage and can kill CELL soldiers and Ceph Grunts in a single punch. However, it completely drains your suit energy, leaving you vulnerable, and also doesn't deal enough damage to significantly hurt Ceph Commanders or Ceph Heavies. Since CELL soldiers and Ceph Grunts can be killed with just 2 or 4 regular melee attacks, the Power Attack doesn't really seem useful given it's extreme energy cost. When standing next to a car, you can hold down the melee button to perform a Power Kick and boot the car up to 50 feet. The flying car will generally kill any regular enemies it hits. However, again, this attack completely drains your suit energy, and has limited utility other than sheer fun factor. NANO VISION: Nano Vision is a combination of night-vision and heat-vision, significantly improving visibility in dark areas as well as outlining the heat signature of enemies (which also allows you to spot cloaked enemies). It drains energy at a rate of 2 units per second, giving you 50 seconds of usage at full power. - Collecting Nano Catalyst from downed Ceph will give you an instant 10 units of suit energy. This is useful for boosting your suit energy quickly in the middle of combat or while stealthing around in Cloak Mode. ********** *WEAPONS:* ******************************************************************************* - In Crysis 2 you can carry 2 primary weapons, as well as Frag Grenades, C4, and a JAW rocket launcher. Unlike the first game, pistols are considered a primary weapon rather than a sidearm you can carry as a 3rd weapon. - Unlike the first game, you do not have a persistent store of ammo in your inventory for weapons you don't carry. So, if you drop a SCAR with 200 rounds in reserve, that ammo drops with the SCAR instead of remaining in your inventory. - Remember, you have 1000 units of health in single-player and 130 units of health in multi-player. - NOTE: My descriptions are mainly single-player focused, but the multi-player stats have been included for your convenience. Note that the performance of some weapons are vastly different between single-player and multi-player. For example, the Grendel is one of the most damaging rifles in the game in single-player, but only does marginally more damage than the Scarab or SCAR in multi-player (but compensates with improved accuracy). - You can perform a melee strike using any weapon. This does 300 damage in single-player and 62 damage in multi-player. - Bullets in Crysis 2 can penetrate light cover, such as concrete, plaster, or brick. You can therefore shoot through concrete roadblocks to kill enemies trying to hide behind them. You cannot shoot through metal, however, even with the Gauss Rifle. Some concrete roadblocks have metal strips attached to serve as armor, these cannot be shot through (although the exposed concrete at the bottom can still be shot through). ================== =PRIMARY WEAPONS:= =============================================================================== ========== =PISTOLS:= ========== M12 Nova: Ammo Type: 9mm Damage: SP: 120 MP: 30 AI: 120 Rate of Fire: 450 rpm Clip Size: 20 (+1 in chamber) Max Ammo: SP: 140 MP: 80 Damage Drop: SP: After 25 meters, 5 damage per meter, lowest is 60 damage. MP: After 10 meters, 0.5 damage per meter, lowest is 20 damage. Attachments: Barrel: Pistol Silencer Under-Barrel: None Scope: Ironsight, Pistol Laser Sight A basic 9mm semi-auto pistol, this weapon is the first one you start the game with, and can be found carried as a sidearm by the majority of CELL soldiers, especially in the earlier levels. It has good accuracy, a good rate of fire, and decent stopping power, capable of killing a CELL soldier in 4 shots or a Ceph trooper in 10 shots. Unfortunately, the lack of a scope prevents you from effectively engaging in long range combat with it. Although generally not as good as an assault rifle, the pistol has two modest advantages over larger rifles and submachine guns. It is extremely stable, and can be fired from the hip or while moving with very little loss of accuracy, making it good for close range run-and-gun firing. The quick-draw time and reload time are also very fast compared to an assault rifle or submachine gun. However, due to the lower damage-per-second and lack of long range capabilities, you should probably use an assault rifle or other primary weapon instead. One advantage of the 9mm pistol is that if you equip it with a silencer, it can be fired in cloaked mode without emptying your energy meter or taking you out of cloak. Instead, each shot costs 10 units of energy. This can be used to kill CELL soldier with headshots without raising an alarm or causing enemies to see you, unlike silent kills or melee attacks. Hammer: Ammo Type: .50 Compact Damage: SP: 300 MP: 40 AI: 175 Rate of Fire: 200 rpm Clip Size: 9 (+1 in chamber) Max Ammo: SP: 51 MP: 54 Damage Drop: SP: After 15 meters, 20 damage per meter, lowest is 150 damage. MP: After 15 meters, 1.3 damage per meter, lowest is 30 damage. Attachments: Barrel: Pistol Silencer Under-Barrel: None Scope: Ironsight, Pistol Laser Sight The Hammer is a high-powered Desert Eagle-style pistol with very high stopping power, capable of killing a CELL soldier in just 2 shots or a Ceph trooper in just 4 shots. Unfortunately, the rate of fire is average at best and the weapon needs to be reloaded after every 10 shots. On the plus side, the reload speed is very fast, noticeably faster than for an assault rifle or other primary weapon. The Hammer is not quite as stable or accurate as the M12 Nova, but it's still much more stable than an assault rifle and thus less inaccurate when running-and-gunning from the hip. As with the M12 Nova, the lack of a scope means you won't really be able to use it for long range combat, especially when combined with the fairly significant damage drop over long distance. Like the M12 Nova, the Hammer can be equipped with a silencer and fired in cloaked mode without dropping your cloak. However, it costs 20 units of energy per shot instead of 10, and the extra power is pretty pointless since a single headshot is all you need to kill a CELL soldier with either pistol. Majestic: Ammo Type: .50 Compact Damage: SP: 400 MP: 60 AI: 250 Rate of Fire: SP: 90 rpm MP: 135 rpm Clip Size: 6 Max Ammo: SP: 30 MP: 24 Damage Drop: SP: After 15 meters, 10 damage per meter, lowest is 200 damage. MP: After 20 meters, 1.5 damage per meter, lowest is 50 damage. Attachments: Barrel: None Under-Barrel: None Scope: Ironsight, Assault Scope This powerful .50 caliber revolver is first acquired about halfway through the game, in Mission 10: Semper Fi Or Die. It has very high stopping power, and at close-to-medium range can kill CELL soldiers in just 1 shot or Ceph troopers in just 3. The bullets are so powerful that a single hit will flip a CELL soldier and send him flying through the air. The Majestic is the only pistol that can be mounted with a scope, allowing it to serve as a poor man's substitute for a sniper weapon. Unfortunately, the Majestic loses power surprisingly quickly over distance, requiring 2 shots to kill CELL soldiers or 4 to 5 shots to kill Ceph troopers at long range, which somewhat undermines its utility as a sniping weapon. The other big drawbacks of the Majestic revolver are its fairly low rate of fire, as well as its very low bullet capacity, needing to be reloaded after every 6 shots. The reload time is marginally quicker than for an assault rifle, but slower than for the M12 Nova or Hammer pistol. ================== =SUBMACHINE GUNS:= ================== Feline: Ammo Type: 4.7mm Compact Damage: SP: 65 MP: 20 AI: 140 Rate of Fire: 1200 rpm Clip Size: SP: 60 (+1 in chamber) (75 with extended clip) MP: 45 (+1 in chamber) Max Ammo: SP: 240 MP: 180 Damage Drop: SP: After 25 meters, 2 damage per meter, lowest is 45 damage. MP: After 15 meters, 0.33 damage per meter, lowest is 15 damage. Attachments: Barrel: Pistol Silencer Under-Barrel: Semi-Automatic, Extended Clip Scope: Ironsight, Reflex Sight, Laser Sight This bullpup submachine gun is carried semi-regularly by CELL soldiers. It does marginally less damage than an assault rifle, requiring 6 shots to kill a CELL soldier and about 15 shots to kill a Ceph trooper. The reduced damage is compensated for with a blisteringly high rate of fire, giving it an overall greater damage-per-second rating than the Scarab or SCAR. However, this also means it burns through ammo more quickly, which is compounded by the fact enemies don't drop ammo for it as often. The drawback of the Feline is that it has significant bullet spread, especially when fired from the hip. Firing while aiming down the sights does noticeably decrease the bullet spread, but it still sprays bullets somewhat off-center and doesn't have the precision of aimed bursts from an assault rifle. Overall, it works decently for close-to-medium range, but is less suited for long range than an assault rifle. AY69: Ammo Type: 9mm Damage: SP: 80 MP: 17 AI: 25 Rate of Fire: 800 rpm Clip Size: SP: 30 (+1 in chamber) (45 with extended clip) MP: 25 (+ 1 in chamber) Max Ammo: SP: 150 MP: 100 Damage Drop: SP: After 30 meters, 0.2 damage per meter, lowest is 50 damage. MP: After 15 meters, 1 damage per meter, lowest is 13 damage. Attachments: Barrel: None Under-Barrel: Semi-Automatic, Extended Clip Scope: Ironsight, Pistol Laser Sight, Reflex Scope The AY69 machine pistol is, along with the M12 Nova, one of the most stable weapons in the game. You can fire it full-auto from the hip while running-and-gunning and still get a relatively tight bullet spread. It's great for close-range room-clearing, and mows down enemies very quickly. It also deals surprisingly good damage, with each bullet being on par with an assault rifle round in terms of stopping power. However, it lacks the precision of short, controlled bursts from an assault rifle, and even while aiming down the sights you still get a moderate amount of bullet drift, which prevents you from using it effectively at long range. Additionally, the AY69 burns through ammo very quickly, and you can't hold much ammo for it and therefore run out of bullets rapidly. It's also very rare, only appearing in a couple levels in the entire game. It can also periodically be found being used as a sidearm by the USMC Riflemen in the later levels of the game. K-Volt: Ammo Type: 6mm Electrostatic Pellet Damage: SP: 50 (120 if direct hit) MP: 17 AI: 50 Energy Drain: MP: 20 AI: 34 Rate of Fire: 850 rpm Clip Size: 50 Max Ammo: SP: 250 MP: 200 Damage Drop: N/A Attachments: Barrel: None Under-Barrel: None Scope: Ironsight, Reflex Sight, Assault Scope The K-Volt is a special submachine gun that fires electric pellets instead of bullets. It has very good stopping power, killing CELL soldiers in 4 shots and Ceph troopers with about a dozen shots. It also has the added bonus of stunning enemies; a single pellet hit will knock a CELL soldier to the ground for a couple seconds, and repeated hits will cause Ceph to stop moving and twitch uncontrollably in shock. This stun ability makes it one of the better weapons for fighting the Ceph with, since it stunlocks them and prevents them from attacking. The K-Volt also has the ability to drain your suit's energy; a few hits will reduce your energy to 0, and Armor Mode does nothing to protect against this effect. This makes CELL Operators armed with K-Volts very dangerous, as they can take out your Armor Mode with just a couple hits. The K-Volt's bullet spray is fairly wide when fired from the hip, but much tighter when fired from aim mode. It doesn't have the precision accuracy of an assault rifle, but is still functional for medium-long range combat. One drawback of the K-Volt is that the energy pellets don't penetrate cover (not even bushes), unlike solid bullets. =========== =SHOTGUNS:= =========== Marshall: Ammo Type: 12 Gauge Shot Damage: SP: 125 x 8 pellets MP: 30 x 8 pellets AI: 325 x 8 Rate of Fire: SP: 47 rpm MP: 55 rpm Clip Size: 10 Max Ammo: SP: 34 MP: 40 Damage Drop: SP: After 15 meters, 10 damage per meter, lowest is 0 damage. MP: After 11 meters, 4 damage per meter, lowest is 5 damage. Attachments: Barrel: Silencer Under-Barrel: None Scope: Ironsight, Reflex Scope The Marshall is a pump-action shotgun that deals very high damage at close range, but has a wide spread and therefore is ineffective at long range. It kills CELL soldiers with 1 shot up to about 15 feet, and with 2 or 3 shots up to about 40 feet. Unfortunately, it simply has no effect past about 40 feet, even when firing from aimed mode. At close range it also kills Ceph Troopers with 2 shots. Unfortunately, the rate of fire is very low due to the pump-action, with a delay of more than 1 second between each shot. This, combined with its very short range, does somewhat limit it's overall usefulness. It is fairly common, especially in the earlier levels, and can be found in enemy weapon stockpiles or carried by Flanker-class CELL Operators. Jackal: Ammo Type: 12 Gauge Shot Damage: SP: 130 x 7 pellets (150 x 7 pellets in semi-auto mode) MP: 14 x 7 pellets (32 x 7 pellets in semi-auto mode) AI: 225 x 7 Rate of Fire: SP: 300 rpm MP: 270 rpm Clip Size: 7 (+1 in chamber) (10 with extended clip) Max Ammo: SP: 32 MP: 30 Damage Drop: SP: After 15 meters, 10 damage per meter, lowest is 0 damage. MP: After 9.5 meters, 2 damage per meter, lowest is 4 damage. Attachments: Barrel: None Under-Barrel: Extended Clip Scope: Ironsight, Reflex Sight A relatively late-game weapon, the Jackal is a full-auto shotgun with a startlingly high rate of fire, capable of firing a full 7 round clip in just a little over a second. With its full-auto fire the Jackal is extremely powerful, and at close range can even pulverize a Ceph Heavy in just a few seconds with just 2 full clips of fire. Standard Ceph troopers can be killed with just 2 or 3 shots, depending on range. The Jackal has a noticeably tighter spread than the Marshall, giving it better range. It can kill a CELL soldier with a single shot at distances of up to 40 to 50 feet. It's still not quite as accurate as the shotgun from the original Crysis, though, which could one-shot-kill enemy soldiers at distances of more than 100 feet. ================= =ASSAULT RIFLES:= ================= Scarab: Ammo Type: 4mm Sabot Scar Damage: SP: 75 MP: 24 AI: 180 Rate of Fire: 900 rpm Clip Size: 40 (+1 in chamber) (50 with extended clip) Max Ammo: SP: 200 MP: 160 Damage Drop: SP: After 50 meters, 2 damage per meter, lowest is 60 damage. MP: After 20 meters, 0.25 damage per meter, lowest is 20 damage. Attachments: Barrel: Silencer Under-Barrel: Semi-Automatic, Extended Clip, Light Shotgun Scope: Ironsight, Reflex Sight, Laser Sight The Scarab assault rifle is the first real weapon you acquire in the game after the starting 9mm pistol, and should serve as your main weapon for the game's first few levels. It's the primary weapon used by CELL Operators, and is therefore extremely common, especially in levels where you fight CELL forces. The Scarab has a higher-than-average rate of fire and decent stopping power, capable of killing CELL soldiers in 5 or 6 shots and Ceph troopers in about a dozen shots. It's got very good accuracy when fired from aimed mode, and can also clear enemies at close range by firing from the hip with full-auto bursts. The only real drawback to the Scarab is it cannot mount a long-range scope, which makes targeting enemies at long range with it somewhat more difficult. SCAR: Ammo Type: 4mm Sabot Scar Damage: SP: 90 MP: 30 AI: 180 Rate of Fire: 700 rpm Clip Size: 40 (+1 in chamber) Max Ammo: SP: 200 MP: 160 Damage Drop: SP: After 50 meters, 2 damage per meter, lowest is 70 damage. MP: After 25 meters, 0.25 damage per meter, lowest is 25 damage. Attachments: Barrel: None Under-Barrel: Semi-Automatic, Grenade Launcher, Gauss Attachment Scope: Ironsight, Reflex Sight, Assault Scope The SCAR is the primary weapon of the Marines seen in the game, and can also occasionally be found being used by CELL Operators (mainly in Mission 4: Road Rage and Mission 5: Lab Rat). It has a slightly lower rate of fire than the Scarab, but also does slightly higher damage. However, the difference in power is pretty much insignificant, as the SCAR and Scarab both take the exact same number of bullets to kill most enemies. The Scarab has a marginally higher damage-per-second rating, but again the difference is pretty much insignificant. The main feature of the SCAR is that it can mount an assault scope with a 3x zoom, allowing you to target enemies at long range more easily. It has good accuracy when fired from aim mode, but the recoil does cause your aim to climb somewhat after each shot. Grendel: Ammo Type: 6.8mm Hollow-Point Damage: SP: 275 MP: 35 AI: 250 Rate of Fire: 500 rpm Clip Size: 24 (+1 in chamber) Max Ammo: 120 Damage Drop: SP: After 35 meters, 5 damage per meter, lowest is 200 damage. MP: After 30 meters, 0.25 damage per meter, lowest is 31 damage. Attachments: Barrel: None Under-Barrel: Semi-Automatic, Grenade Launcher, Light Shotgun Scope: Ironsight, Reflex Sight, Assault Scope The Grendel is a powerful late-game battle rifle with very high stopping power. It fires in fixed 3-shot bursts, but can also be fired in semi-auto single shots by changing the fire mode. It's similar to the Halo 3 battle rifle, Halo: Reach DMR, or Call of Duty FAL. The bullets are VERY powerful, and it can kill CELL soldiers in just 2 bullets, and Ceph troopers in just 4 bullets or a single bullet to the exposed jelly. It's also very accurate when fired from aim mode, making it a good sniping weapon. It's also decent for run-and-gun firing from the hip at close range. Unfortunately, the gun's recoil causes your aim to climb with each shot in a 3-shot burst, so instead of 3 bullets grouped together you instead get a vertical line. The semi-auto fire mode seems superior to the default 3-shot burst, as long as you can press the fire button fast enough. It gives you more control over your shots, and you end up wasting less ammo as a result. The rate of fire is also slightly higher too if you can tap fast enough. Overall, the Grendel's damage-per-second and overall utility are much better than the Scarab or SCAR, and I highly recommend it for the later levels of the game. ================ =OTHER WEAPONS:= ================ DSG-1 Precision Rifle: Ammo Type: .405 Damage: SP: 450 MP: 61 AI: 470 Rate of Fire: 90 rpm Clip Size: SP: 6 (+1 in chamber) MP: 8 (+1 in chamber) Max Ammo: SP: 24 MP: 40 Damage Drop: SP: After 100 meters, 10 damage per meter, lowest is 250 damage. MP: None. Attachments: Barrel: Silencer Under-Barrel: None Scope: Sniper Scope, Reflex Sight, Assault Scope The DSG-1 is a semi-automatic sniper rifle with excellent stopping power; it kills CELL soldiers in 1 shot, and Ceph troopers in 2 torso shots or 1 headshot. The sniper rifle makes long range combat much easier compared to an assault rifle, because you only need to land 1 or 2 shots to kill an enemy, instead of having to land several hits while also dealing with recoil causing your aim to climb. It also has a fairly decent rate of fire for a high-powered sniper rifle, with a delay of a little over half a second between each shot. It's excellent for wiping out enemies at long range, but there's no on-screen crosshair when not in aimed mode, preventing you from accurately firing it from the hip. Surprisingly, the sniper rifle is actually quite accurate when fired from the hip, there's just no crosshair to tell you where the bullet will go. Mk60 Mod 0: Ammo Type: 7.62mm AP Damage: SP: 170 MP: 37 AI: 120 Rate of Fire: 550 rpm Clip Size: 100 Max Ammo: 200 Damage Drop: SP: After 75 meters, 3 damage per meter, lowest is 130 damage. MP: After 35 meters, 0.3 damage per meter, lowest is 30 damage. Attachments: Barrel: None Under-Barrel: None Scope: Ironsight, Assault Scope, Laser Sight This light machine gun first appears about midway through the game, and can be found semi-commonly from that point on. In the later levels, CELL Operators start using it as their primary weapon instead of the Scarab or SCAR assault rifle. It deals about twice as much damage as an assault rifle and does about 50% more damage-per-second, and kills CELL soldiers in 3 shots or Ceph troopers in 8 shots. The LMG holds 100 rounds, allowing you to fire a significant number of bullets before needing to reload. The drawback is that the reload time is much slower than for an assault rifle. The Mk60 has poor accuracy when fired from the hip, although you can still mow down enemies at point-blank range. However, the bullet grouping is surprisingly tight when fired from aim mode (better than that of a submachine gun), making the Mk60 an actually pretty good long-range weapon, especially if you attach an assault scope to it. It's actually a good general-purpose primary weapon for the second half of the game, especially against Ceph Grunts and other enemies that require continuous fire to bring down. Just resist the urge to reload it compulsively, as the reload time is quite long and the 100 bullets it holds makes frequent reloading unnecessary. ================== =SPECIAL WEAPONS:= ================== - Special weapons are considered to be primary weapons; the difference is that you cannot refill ammo for them at ammo boxes due to the special ammo they use. The only way to get more ammo for a special weapon is to take it from another one of its kind (i.e. to get more Gauss rifle rounds, you need to take them from another Gauss rifle). L-TAG: Ammo Type: 60mm Smart Grenade Damage: SP: 1500 MP: 125 Rate of Fire: SP: 35 rpm MP: 40 rpm Clip Size: 5 (+2 in chamber) Max Ammo: SP: 10 MP: 15 Attachments: None The L-TAG grenade launcher fires grenades that bounce along surfaces and explode after a couple seconds or upon impact with an enemy. When fired straight ahead the grenades have a pretty good range of about 100 feet, and when they explode they have a pretty decent splash damage radius and deal very good damage (capable of killing CELL soldiers and basic Ceph troopers with a direct hit). The grenade launcher is good for taking out close groups of enemies, or for use on heavy enemies like Ceph Heavies or Pingers (it takes about 5 direct hits to kill a Ceph Heavy, and 14 or more hits to kill a Pinger). One drawback of the grenade launcher is that the grenades do NOT explode on impact with enemy vehicles, which prevents you from effectively using them against CELL humvees since they'll just bounce off. As with all special weapons, you can't refill L-TAG ammo with bullets from ammo crates, only by picking up other L-TAGs. This, combined with the fairly small amount of ammo you can carry for the L-TAG, does limit your ability to use it long-term as a primary weapon, although it can be useful as a temporary weapon if picked up and used for specific situations. X-43 MIKE: Ammo Type: Weaponized Microwaves, Battery Powered Damage: SP: 100 MP: 11.5 Rate of Fire: SP: 1200 rpm MP: 1500 rpm Clip Size: SP: 500 MP: 100 Max Ammo: SP: 1000 MP: 400 Damage Drop: SP: After 15 meters, 5 damage per meter, lowest is 0 damage. MP: After 17 meters, 11.5 damage per meter, lowest is 0 damage. Attachments: None The X-43 MIKE is a microwave rifle that fires a continuous beam of microwave radiation. It deals very high damage-per-second, and kills Ceph troopers with about 15 units of charge (less than 1 second of exposure). Additionally, certain bullet-resistant enemies do not resist the microwave beam, making it more effective against them. These include CELL Leaders, Ceph Grunt Commanders, and Ceph Heavies. A Ceph Heavy can be brought down with about 150 units of MIKE charge, compared to about 350 assault rifle bullets. The X-43 MIKE has perfect accuracy, but the lack of a scope makes it difficult to aim at long range, especially against an enemy that's either moving or behind cover, making it more suited for close-to-medium range combat. There's also no point in aiming down the weapon's sights instead of simply firing from the hip, since doing so doesn't improve the weapon's accuracy and blocks off the bottom half of the screen. As with all special weapons, you can't refill X-43 MIKE ammo with bullets from ammo crates, only by picking up other X-43 MIKEs. You can carry a decent total of 1000 units of charge for the microwave rifle, which is enough to kill several dozen Ceph Grunts before running out of ammo. M2014 Gauss Rifle: Ammo Type: 10mm Solid Slug Damage: SP: 6000 MP: 115 AI: 890 Rate of Fire: SP: 35 rpm MP: 55 rpm Clip Size: SP: 4 (+1 in chamber) MP: 10 (+1 in chamber) Max Ammo: SP: 16 MP: 40 Damage Drop: SP: After 100 meters, 25 damage per meter, lowest is 700 damage. MP: None. Attachments: Barrel: None Under-Barrel: None Scope: Sniper Scope, Reflex Sight, Assault Scope The Gauss Rifle is an "FPS railgun" that basically serves as a super-sniper rifle. It comes equipped with a sniper scope by default, and kills pretty much everything with one shot except for CELL helicopters, Ceph Grunt Commanders, Ceph Heavies, and Ceph Pingers. However, the rate is fire is very slow, with a delay of almost 2 seconds between each shot. Unfortunately, the Gauss Rifle is kind of overkill against normal enemies, and heavier enemies take significantly reduced damage from it (it takes about 5 Gauss Rifle shots to kill a Ceph Heavy, and 14 shots to kill a Ceph Pinger). It's also extremely rare, only appearing about 3 or so times throughout the entire game (which is a problem since you can't get more ammo for it except from other Gauss Rifles, which in turn severely limits how often you can actually use this weapon). It should be noted that although the Gauss Rifle has better penetration than a standard rifle, it still won't penetrate surfaces that a normal bullet wouldn't, like metal plates or shipping crates. The only thing the Gauss Rifle will shoot through that normal weapons won't is nanoglass, which only appears briefly in one level during the confrontation with Commander Lockhart. ============= =EXPLOSIVES:= =============================================================================== M17 Frag Grenade: Damage: SP: 1500 MP: 140 AI: 600 Max Ammo: SP: 5 MP: 1 Frag grenades have a 3 second fuse and an effective blast radius of about 40 feet. Unlike most post-Halo FPS games, you can't throw them with a hotkey without switching from your primary weapon. Instead, the game tells you to tap the weapon select key twice to switch to grenades. Grenades can be fairly commonly at grenade resupply boxes, and can be very useful due to their high damage and larger-than-normal blast radius for an FPS game. C4: Damage: SP: 2500 MP: 250 Max Ammo: SP: 4 MP: 1 C4 high explosive charges are tossed several feet in front of you. They stick to solid surfaces, and will only explode once detonated by pressing the detonator button (the zoom/alt-fire button). C4 does extremely high damage, and kills standard CELL or Ceph infantry instantly. C4 also does extra damage against Ceph Heavies and Ceph Pingers. It only takes 2 direct hits from C4 charges to kill a Heavy, and a direct C4 hit will take away about 25% of a Pinger's total health. C4 is somewhat rare, and can generally only be found just before you fight a particularly difficult enemy such as a Heavy or Pinger. JAW: Ammo Type: Dual Purpose HEAT Warhead Damage: SP: 6000 MP: 225 AI: 950 Rate of Fire: 20 rpm Max Ammo: SP: 4 (glitched, you receive +1 missile every new level even past max amount) MP: 1 The JAW is a single-shot rocket launcher that does heavy damage, and is intended for use against heavy targets such as enemy vehicles, Ceph Heavies, and Ceph Pingers. They can be found scattered throughout the game's levels, usually before a major fight against a large enemy. If fired while aiming down the scope, the JAW's targeting laser can be used to guide the course of the rocket in mid-air, similar to in Half-Life 2 or the original Crysis. It is very powerful, and can kill a CELL helicopter in 2 shots, a Ceph Heavy in 3 shots, and a Ceph Pinger in 7 or 8 shots. However, you can only carry a limited number of JAW rockets, and the Jaw must be reloaded after each shot, which takes a few seconds to accomplish. ================ =HEAVY WEAPONS:= =============================================================================== - Heavy weapons can be picked up and used at any time. However, you cannot run, mantle, or switch to another weapon when carrying them. To switch back to your primary weapons, you need to drop the heavy weapon. They also have fixed ammo which cannot be reloaded or refilled. HMG: Ammo Type: .50 HMG Damage: SP: 450 MP: 120 AI: 180 Rate of Fire: 400 rpm Clip Size: SP: 150 MP: 100 Max Ammo: SP: 150 MP: 100 Damage Drop: SP: After 100 meters, 10 damage per meter, lowest is 100 damage. MP: After 10 meters, 2 damage per meter, lowest is 70 damage. These powerful mounted heavy machine guns can be found stationed throughout each level, usually being manned by CELL forces. With your Nanosuit-enhanced strength, you can rip them off their supports and carry them around as a man-portable weapon. The HMG is VERY powerful, killing CELL soldiers with just one hit and Ceph troopers with just 3 hits. Accuracy is also pretty good too when you consider the fact you're firing from the hip. The only drawbacks of the HMG are that they slow your movement speed down noticeably and prevent you from mantling up onto ledges, and also that they have a fixed, non-replenishable amount of ammo and must be discarded once empty. Swarmer: Ammo Type: Damage: SP: 450 MP: 60 AI: 250 Rate of Fire: 900 rpm Clip Size: SP: 64 MP: 24 Max Ammo: SP: 64 MP: 24 The Swarmer is a large, multi-rocket launcher that is quite rare, only being found a few times throughout the entire game. It fires a swarm of 8 drunken missiles, and includes a laser-sight for directing the path of the missiles. Each individual missile is weaker than a single JAW rocket, but the swarm of 8 missiles will spread the total damage over a wider radius. Like the HMG, the Swarmer has the drawback of noticeably reducing your movement speed, and cannot be reloaded. You'll usually find one just before a major battle, such as against a Ceph Pinger. ********** *ENEMIES:* ******************************************************************************* - Enemies in Crysis do have the same amount of health and deal the same amount of damage regardless of difficulty. Difficulty only affects their A.I.; i.e. reaction time, awareness, accuracy, and duration of burst fire. ========== =C.E.L.L.= =============================================================================== C.E.L.L. Operator: Damage Modifiers (Standard Armor): Head: Hip shot: 200% Aimed shot: 2000% Torso: 100% Arm: 100% Back: 200% Leg: 75% Damage Modifiers (Heavy Armor): Head: Hip shot: 100% Aimed shot: 2000% Torso: 75% Arm: 50% Leg: 50% Back: 150% Microwave Emission: 100% Description: CELL Operators are PMC mercenary soldiers in the employ of the CryNET corporation, and will be your primary human opponents throughout Crysis 2. They're equipped with advanced body armor and can survive slightly more damage than the North Korean soldiers from the original Crysis, requiring about 5 or 6 hits from an assault rifle to put down. Their tactics are fairly standard for a modern FPS soldier-type enemy; they run for cover when attacked, can slide into cover from several feet away, take cover behind corners or low walls, lean out of cover to fire or blindfire around cover, move from cover to cover, can leap over low walls or jump down from higher platforms, and occasionally toss frag grenades to attack you or flush you out of cover. If you return fire at them aggressively, they generally dig in behind cover and do their best not to get shot. Conversely, if you hide behind cover yourself for a long period of time, they'll often advance on you aggressively and try to get around your cover to overrun and shoot you. Their A.I. is decent (glitches aside), but there are often instances of them standing still in one spot out in the open while firing, which makes them an easy target. While they do occasionally strafe quickly from cover to cover while firing, CELL Operators tend to hold still or advance forward slowly while firing, and if shot at will usually stand their ground and continue firing instead of trying to dodge or strafe away (in contrast to the North Korean soldiers of the first game, who tended to strafe away while still firing when shot at). Overall, CELL Operators are easily dispatched individually, but can pose a threat in groups of several at once. If you don't have Armor Mode up, they can kill you in several bullet hits. You can either use Stealth Mode to evade them, or Armor Mode if you want to Rambo your way through a straight-up fight. C.E.L.L. Operator (Assault): Appearance: CELL soldier with black body armor over light grey uniform. Health: 400 Armor: Standard Primary Weapon: Scarab Assault Rifle (180 damage) SCAR Assault Rifle (180 damage) Feline Submachine Gun (140 damage) K-Volt Submachine Gun (50 damage) Mk60 Mod 0 Machine Gun (120 damage) Grendel Battle Rifle (250 damage) Sidearm: M12 Nova Pistol (120 damage) Hammer Pistol (175 damage) Majestic Pistol (250 damage) Other Attacks: Frag Grenades (600 damage) Melee Attack (250 damage) The Assault-class CELL Operator is the basic CELL soldier, and the most common CELL enemy you'll face throughout the game. In the early levels of the game they're generally equipped with Scarab or SCAR assault rifles, while in the later levels they often carry Mk60 Mod 0 light machine guns. They can also occasionally be found using Feline submachine guns, K-Volt submachine guns, or (most rarely) the Grendel battle rifle. C.E.L.L. Operator (Flanker): Appearance: CELL soldier with white body armor over light grey uniform. Does not wear a backpack. Health: 400 Armor: Standard Primary Weapon: Marshall Shotgun (325 damage x 8 pellets) Jackal Shotgun (225 x 7 pellets) Sidearm: M12 Nova Pistol (120 damage) Hammer Pistol (175 damage) Majestic Pistol (250 damage) Other Attacks: Frag Grenades (600 damage) Melee Attack (250 damage) Flankers can be identified by their white body armor and lack of backpacks. They are equipped exclusively with shotguns for their primary weapon, using the pump-action Marshall in the early levels and the full-auto Jackal in the late game. Due to their use of shotguns, they're more effective at close range and less effective at long range. Tactically, they behave similarly to the Assault-class CELL Operators. Flanker-class and Assault-class CELL Operators are by far the two most common types of CELL Operators. C.E.L.L. Operator (Demolitions): Appearance: CELL soldier with black and red body armor over dark grey uniform. Health: 400 Armor: Heavy Primary Weapon: Scarab Assault Rifle (180 damage) L-Tag Grenade Launcher Sidearm: JAW Rocket Launcher (950 damage) Marshall Shotgun (325 damage x 8 pellets) Jackal Shotgun (225 x 7 pellets) Other Attacks: Melee Attack (250 damage) Demolitions-class CELL Operators can be identified by their additional black armor pieces (i.e. shoulder pads and leg guards) as well as red highlights on their armor and backpack. They have 2 possible weapon loadouts; some Demolitions CELL Operators are equipped with Scarab assault rifles, and also carry a single-shot JAW missile launcher for long range use. Other Demolitions CELL Operators are equipped with L-Tag grenade launchers, and carry a shotgun as a secondary weapon. Their high-powered explosive weapons make them a priority target, due to the significant damage they can deal to you. Like Leader-class CELL Operators, Demolitions-class CELL Operators are equipped with heavy body armor that reduces the damage they take from most weapons. They can typically survive 1 or 2 bullets more than a standard CELL Operator, and most notably require 2 DSG-1 sniper rifle shots to kill instead of just 1. C.E.L.L. Operator (Sniper): Appearance: CELL soldier without helmet, instead wearing balaclava mask and red electronic monocle. Also wears light kevlar vest instead of heavy armor plates. Health: 400 Armor: Standard Primary Weapon: DSG-1 Sniper Rifle (470 damage) Sidearm: Feline Submachine Gun (140 damage) Hammer Pistol (175 damage) Majestic Pistol (250 damage) Other Attacks: Melee Attack (250 damage) CELL snipers can be spotted easily by their lack of helmets, instead wearing a black balaclava ski-mask with a red electronic eyepiece over one eye. They're equipped with DSG-1 sniper rifles, and have very good accuracy with them. Snipers are typically found perched in high-up sniping positions such as balconies or guard towers, scanning the area for you and sniping at you once you're spotted. Fortunately, their weapons do high but not extreme damage, and even without using Armor mode it takes 3 shots to kill you on Normal difficulty. Snipers also carry a pistol or submachine gun as a secondary weapon, which they will use to fight you if you confront them at close range. C.E.L.L. Operator (Leader): Appearance: CELL soldier with black and blue body armor over black uniform. Health: 400 Armor: Heavy Primary Weapon: Scarab Assault Rifle (180 damage) SCAR Assault Rifle (180 damage) Sidearm: M12 Nova Pistol (120 damage) Hammer Pistol (175 damage) Majestic Pistol (250 damage) Other Attacks: Frag Grenades (600 damage) Melee Attack (250 damage) CELL Leaders are easily distinguished by their green helmet visors, and their all-black body armor and uniforms. These units lead squads of several regular CELL Operators, issuing orders and coordinating their movements and tactics on the battlefield. They're always equipped with a Scarab or SCAR assault rifle as a primary weapon, with a pistol as a sidearm. Leaders have enhanced body armor that reduces the amount of damage they take from most weapons, allowing them to survive one or two additional bullets compared to a regular CELL Operator. Most notably, it takes 2 torso shots from the DSG-1 sniper rifle to kill a CELL Leader, compared to just 1 shot to kill a regular CELL Operator. C.E.L.L. Gunship: Appearance: Blackhawk-style assault helicopter in the C.E.L.L. white color. Health: 5000 Weaponry: Two side-mounted minigun turrets (125 damage) Missile battery (400 damage) Damage Modifiers: Bullet: 35% LMG Bullet: 25% Gauss Bullet: 35% HMG Bullet: 15% Explosion: 45% Frag Grenade: 50% Melee: 0% Description: A blackhawk-style military helicopter painted in the distinct white of the CELL, CELL Gunships will attack you periodically in the first several levels of the game, and you fight one in a fixed "boss fight" in Mission 5: Lab Rat. CELL gunships typically slowly hover through the air while firing at you with one of their two mounted turrets. The gunship has a minigun turret mounted on each side, operated by a CELL soldier. These turrets are the gunship's primary form of attack, and can be disabled by killing the CELL soldier manning them. However, each turret operator benefits from the damage resistance of the gunship, so they'll take more bullets to kill than a normal CELL soldier. Killing both turret operators will usually force a gunship to retreat. However, in Mission 5: Lab Rat, the CELL gunship you fight inside Gould's lab will resort to bombarding you with missiles until you shoot it down. CELL gunships can be brought down with 2 direct hits from a JAW rocket launcher. If you don't have a JAW rocket launcher, they CAN be shot down with a few clips of assault rifle fire, although it does take a lot of bullets to do so. =========== =The Ceph:= =============================================================================== Ceph Tick: Appearance: Cat-sized mechanical tick, with a needle for a mouth and a large red organic sac for a body. Health: 90 Description: Ceph ticks are small insect-like robots that the Ceph use to gather up the organic goo that their virus has melted the populace of New York City into. While there are a couple occasions near the beginning of the game where they can be seen attacking civilians and CELL Operators, Ceph Ticks don't actually fight you. They simply scuttle around the level gathering goo, and will flee from you at high speed if you attack them. The only reason to kill them is to collect the 20 units of nanocatalyst that they drop on death. You can either shoot them with a couple of bullets, or press the melee key while standing over them to step on them and kill them instantly. Ceph Grunt [Ceph Combat Unit]: Appearance: 7.5 foot tall metal humanoid exoskeleton, with a "Robocop 2" style faceplate helmet. Health: 1200 Primary Weapon: Ceph energy rifle (250 damage) Other Attacks: Charged shot (500 damage) Melee attack (250 damage) Damage Modifiers: Torso: 100% Head (armored): Hip shot: 20% Aimed shot: 33% Head (exposed): Hip shot: 300% Aimed shot: 800% Exposed Jelly: 150% Exposed Jelly (back): 400% Exposed Jelly (tentacles): 300% Sniper Bullet: Body: 250% Head: 1000% Aimed headshot: 2000% Exposed Jelly: 600% Microwave Emission: 100% Microwave Emission (exposed jelly on back): 150% APC Cannon: 450% Description: The Ceph Grunt is the basic Ceph infantry unit, consisting of a red alien blob wearing a metal exoskeleton that gives it humanoid arms and legs. Ceph Grunts are armed with full-auto energy rifles and fight like soldiers, taking cover behind objects, firing over cover, and moving from cover to cover. Instead of throwing grenades, Ceph Grunts can fire a charged shot that sticks to surfaces or enemies and will explode after a couple seconds, dealing heavy damage. Unlike human soldiers, Ceph Grunts have superhuman jumping ability and can leap more than a dozen feet into the air to climb up onto higher platforms or on top of crates for a better shooting position. They can also jump distances of more than a dozen feet to traverse from platform to platform. Grunts are capable of running at surprisingly high speeds, but most of the time they slowly and casually walk towards you while firing away with their energy rifles. Additionally, Ceph Grunts can emit a spherical EMP burst with a radius of about a dozen feet. This EMP burst will completely drain your nanosuit's energy if you're caught in it, cancelling out your Armor Mode or Cloak Mode. Ceph periodically emit EMP bursts while searching for you if you're using Cloak Mode to evade them. Fortunately, they don't use it in actual combat, even at close range. Their armored exoskeletons give Ceph good durability, and they can survive about 3 times as much damage as a human CELL Operator. It takes about 12 assault rifle shots, 2 shotgun blasts, or 2 sniper rifle shots to the torso to kill one. Their exoskeletons do not completely protect them, however, and their soft, squishy jelly body is exposed in the back of the suit as well as through small gaps in the front. Shots to their exposed jelly do increased damage, with a single shot to the back from a decent weapon such as the Hammer pistol or Grendel battle rifle being a one-shot-kill. The sniper rifle is also very effective against them, and can kill them with just 2 shots to the armored torso, or a single headshot. Overall, Ceph Grunts can be killed using the normal tactics you'd use against other enemy soldiers, it just takes somewhat more bullets to get the job done. It helps that they're a slightly larger than normal target, and tend to walk around the battlefield casually while returning fire instead of running around to dodge your shots. Ceph Stalker [Ceph Assault Unit]: Appearance: 6.5 foot tall metal humanoid exoskeleton, hunched over with forearm-mounted claws and tentacle "dreadlocks" on the back of the head. Health: 1500 Primary Weapon: Claws (730 damage) Wrist-mounted energy fletchette launcher (200 damage) Other Attacks: Leap attack Damage Modifiers: Torso: 100% Head (armored): Hip shot: 20% Aimed shot: 33% Head (exposed): Hip shot: 300% Aimed shot: 800% Exposed Jelly: 150% Exposed Jelly (tentacles): 300% Sniper Bullet: Body: 300% Head: 1000% Aimed headshot: 2000% Exposed Jelly: 600% Microwave Emission: 150% APC Cannon: 850% Description: Ceph Stalkers are fast, agile, melee-oriented Ceph, which seem to serve a more scout/assassin type role in contrast to the basic infantry Ceph Grunts. They're somewhat less common than Ceph Grunts, but still appear with reasonable frequency throughout the game. Stalkers are very fast and agile, able to quickly run from place to place and spring-jump off walls and objects to climb up to higher areas. Stalkers attack primarily by running towards you and striking you with their arm-mounted claws. They can also leap at you from more than a dozen feet away and hit you with a powerful strike that will knock you onto your back and send you flying backwards several feet. Their melee attacks are very powerful, and can kill you in just a few hits if you don't have Armor Mode on. Stalkers are also armed with dual arm-mounted rapid-fire energy fletchette guns for ranged combat, which they typically use at long range or if you're in an unreachable location such as a high ledge or on top of a crate. Like Ceph Grunts, Ceph Stalkers will periodically emit a spherical EMP burst while searching for you if you're hiding using Cloak Mode. Being caught in this burst will completely drain your nanosuit energy, knocking you out of Cloak Mode or Armor Mode. Stalkers can be mowed down with about half a clip of assault rifle fire or a couple shotgun blasts while they're charging at you. Additionally, for a sure kill you can grab them just as they run towards you for a melee attack, then instantly kill them with a throw or melee execution. This is best only done if you're only dealing with a couple enemies, since it takes a couple seconds to perform a grab-and-throw kill, and you're completely unable to shoot and are vulnerable to enemy fire during that time. Stalkers are particularly annoying when fought together with Ceph Grunts and/or Heavies, since they can knock you on your back with their melee attacks and leave you vulnerable to weapons fire from the Grunts or Heavies for a few seconds. For some reason, Stalkers will damage you and knock you backwards if you're standing next to them when they die. It's not clear if this is deliberate, or a bug, since they don't explode on death or anything like that. Ceph Grunt Commander [Ceph Combat Command Unit]: Appearance: 7.5 foot tall metal humanoid exoskeleton, with a long, triangle-shaped helmet. Health: 1800 Shields: 2000 Primary Weapon: Ceph semi-auto energy rifle (350 damage) Other Attacks: Charged shot (500 damage) Melee attack (250 damage) Damage Modifiers: Torso: 75% Head (armored): Hip shot: 20% Aimed shot: 33% Head (exposed): Hip shot: 200% Aimed shot: 300% Exposed Jelly: 100% Exposed Jelly (back): 200% Exposed Jelly (tentacles): 200% Sniper Bullet: Body: 75% Head (armored): 200% Head (exposed): 100% Head (exposed + aimed headshot): 200% Exposed Jelly: 125% Exposed Jelly (back): 200% Gauss Bullet: Body: 25% Head (armored): 50% Head (exposed): 100% Microwave Emission: 75% Microwave Emission (exposed jelly on back): 150% JAW Rocket: 40% C4 Explosives: 200% APC Cannon: 450% Description: Ceph Grunt Commanders are the squad leaders of the Ceph infantry, with single Commanders appearing at the head of a squad of several Ceph Grunts. They're easily spotted due to their tall, triangular helmets and glowing red shield surrounding their bodies. Commanders first appear about halfway through the game in Mission 9: Dark Heart, and appear periodically in each level afterwards. They're semi-common, typically with several appearing throughout each level. Ceph Grunt Commanders have a glowing red Armor "shield" surrounding their bodies, similar to your nanosuit's Armor Mode. You need to bring down the shield before the Commander himself can be damaged. Also, if the Commander doesn't take damage for a long enough period of time, the shield will regenerate. Finally, the Armor shield prevents you from grabbing the Commander, although they can still be stealth-killed from behind if unaware of your presence. In addition to their Armor shield, Grunt Commanders also have somewhat more health than standard Ceph Grunts. Overall, Grunt Commanders can survive about 3 times as much damage as standard Ceph Grunts, and it takes about a full clip and a half of assault rifle fire to bring one down. Overall, they can survive about as much damage as the "Heavy"-type enemies from other FPS games, such as the Heavy Armor soldiers from F.E.A.R. Additionally, Commanders have special resistance to sniper rifle bullets, gauss rifle rounds, JAW rockets, and the microwave beam of the C-43 MIKE. It takes several sniper rifle rounds to kill a Commander, compared to just 2 for a standard Ceph Grunt. They also take 2 Gauss Rifle shots or JAW rockets to kill. Grunt Commanders are also armed with a different energy rifle than standard Grunts. Their energy rifle has a lower rate of fire (150 rpm, compared to the 450 rpm of the standard Ceph rifle), but it does more damage per hit and also has better accuracy. Like standard Grunts, Commanders can fire a charged shot that sticks to surfaces and explodes after a couple of seconds. Other than their Armor shield and more precise weapon, Grunt Commanders behave the same as Ceph Grunts; they fight intelligently and make use of cover, can make superhuman jumps to climb to higher areas, and typically walk casually towards you while firing their weapon. Overall, they can be brought down with the same tactics you use against standard Ceph Grunts, although it takes a lot more bullets to do the job. More powerful later-game weapons such as the Grendel battle rifle, Jackal full-auto shotgun, or Mk60 Mod 0 light machine gun are generally more effective against them. Ceph Stalker Commander [Ceph Assault Command Unit]: Appearance: 6.5 foot tall metal humanoid exoskeleton, hunched over with forearm-mounted claws and tentacle "dreadlocks" on the back of the head. Health: 1500 Shields: 2000 Primary Weapon: Claws (730 damage) Wrist-mounted energy fletchette launcher (200 damage) Other Attacks: Leap attack Damage Modifiers: Torso: 100% Head (armored): Hip shot: 20% Aimed shot: 33% Head (exposed): Hip shot: 300% Aimed shot: 800% Exposed Jelly: 150% Exposed Jelly (tentacles): 300% Sniper Bullet: Body: 200% Head: 100% Aimed headshot: 200% Exposed Jelly: 400% Microwave Emission: 150% JAW Rocket: 40% C4 Explosives: 200% APC Cannon: 850% APC Rocket: 550% Description: Similar to the Ceph Grunt Commanders, Ceph Stalker Commanders serve as squad leaders over standard Ceph Stalkers. They're actually rather rare, and only several appear throughout the entire game. The first Ceph Stalker Commander you encounter is in Mission 10: Semper Fi Or Die, at the head of a huge pack of nearly a dozen Ceph Stalkers. Later Stalker Commanders will appear alongside smaller groups of Ceph. Stalker Commanders behave similarly to regular Stalkers, except for the glowing red Armor shield that protects them from damage and regenerates over time. Just like the Armor shield of Grunt Commanders, the shield has to be brought down with weapons fire before you can damage the Stalker Commander itself. Stalker Commanders are particularly annoying since the shield prevents you from grabbing them, which is the best way to counter a Stalker's melee attacks. Like Grunt Commanders, Stalker Commanders can withstand quite a lot of damage, requiring about a full cip and a half of assault rifle fire to bring down. Their high durability can be annoying when combined with their relentless melee attacks. High-powered or close range weapons such as the Jackal full-auto shotgun, Grendel battle rifle, Mk60 Mod 0 light machine gun, or AY69 machine pistol are particularly effective against them. Ceph Heavy [Ceph Devastator Unit]: Appearance: Massive, bulky, 10-foot tall Ceph exoskeleton, with a minigun for one arm and a rocket launcher for the other. Helmet greatly resembles Frank Horrigan from Fallout 2. Health: 10000 Primary Weapon: Ceph minigun (100 damage) Ceph mortar launcher (750 damage) Other Attacks: Melee attack (900 damage) Damage Modifiers: Body: LMG Bullet: 20% Assault Rifle Bullet: 15% SMG Bullet: 15% Pistol Bullet: 15% HMG Bullet: 25% Sniper Bullet: 200% Grendel Bullet: 15% Gauss Bullet: 33% Microwave Emission 75% Melee Attack: 50% All Other Attacks: 75% Head (armored): LMG Bullet: 20% (50% if aimed headshot) Assault Rifle Bullet: 15% (33% if aimed headshot) SMG Bullet: 15% (33% if aimed headshot) Pistol Bullet: 15% (33% if aimed headshot) HMG Bullet: 20% (50% if aimed headshot) Sniper Bullet: 75% Grendel Bullet: 25% (50% if aimed headshot) Gauss Bullet: 100% Microwave Emission 75% Head (exposed): LMG Bullet: 500% (1500% if aimed headshot) Assault Rifle Bullet: 500% (1500% if aimed headshot) SMG Bullet: 500% (1500% if aimed headshot) Pistol Bullet: 500% (1500% if aimed headshot) HMG Bullet: 250% (500% if aimed headshot) Sniper Bullet: 300% (1500% if aimed headshot) Grendel Bullet: 250% (500% if aimed headshot) Gauss Bullet: 200% Microwave Emission 75% Exposed Jelly: Sniper Bullet: 250% HMG Bullet: 100% Gauss Bullet: 50% Microwave Emission: 75% All Other Attacks: 100% Exposed Jelly (back): Shotgun Shell: 1000% Gauss Bullet: 100% Microwave Emission: 150% All Other Attacks: 200% Exposed Jelly (tentacles): Gauss Bullet: 50% Microwave Emission: 75% All Other Attacks: 100% Damage Modifiers (Explosives): L-Tag Grenade: 150% Frag Grenade: 150% JAW Rocket: 60% C4 Explosives: 300% APC Cannon: 450% APC Rocket: 750% Description: The Ceph Heavy is a HUGE Ceph infantry unit, equipped with a rapid-fire 1200 rpm minigun-like energy weapon for one arm, and an energy rocket launcher for the other. Heavies usually appear singularly, accompanied by several Ceph Grunts or Stalkers. However in the later levels there are times when you'll have to fight two Heavies at once. A total of about 30 Ceph Heavies appear throughout the game, with 2 or 3 appearing in each mission in the later stages of the game. Heavies don't bother to take cover or use advanced infantry tactics, instead simply walking towards you slowly while blasting away with their energy minigun. If engaged at long range, they'll launch energy rockets at you with their rocket launcher. Heavies are also strong enough to casually toss cars and other objects aside while they relentless storm towards you. Besides having extremely high health, the Heavy is also equipped with reinforced armor and takes significantly reduced damage from most small arms fire, with most bullets only doing about 15% to 25% normal damage. This makes Ceph Heavies EXTREMELY resistant to most standard projectile weapons; it can take about 350 assault rifle bullets to kill one. The electric pellets from the K-Volt submachine gun and microwave beam from the X-43 MIKE are reasonably effective against the Heavy, but it still takes about two and a half clips of K-Volt fire or about 150 units of X-43 MIKE fire to kill one. Explosives are probably the most effective way of killing a Ceph Heavy; it only takes 2 charges of C4, 3 direct hits from the JAW rocket launcher, or about 5 frag or L-TAG grenades to kill a Heavy. In the later levels of the game the Jackal full-auto shotgun is also very effective against Heavies, and at close range can kill one in 3 or 4 seconds with 2 full clips of full-auto fire. Finally, it's possible to knock off a Ceph Heavy's helmet with a dozen or so direct bullet hits from an assault rifle or machine gun, exposing their more vulnerable jelly head. Once their head is exposed, they can be killed with several more direct headshots. This is best done while firing from cover to avoid the Heavy's return fire. Ceph Pinger [Ceph Armored Assault Drone]: Appearance: 25-foot tall giant robot, consisting of a huge crested alien robot head walking on three tripod-like legs. Health: 20000 Primary Weapon: Pinger cannon (120 damage) Other Attacks: Plasma Rocket (750 damage) Sonic emission Damage Modifiers (Armor): LMG Bullet: 33% Assault Rifle Bullet: 25% SMG Bullet: 25% Pistol Bullet: 25% HMG Bullet: 25% Sniper Bullet: 50% Gauss Bullet: 25% APC Cannon: 450% Microwave Emission: 25% Melee Attack: 50% All Other Attacks: 100% Damage Modifiers (Weak Point): Microwave Emission: 100% Sniper Bullet: Hip shot: 100% Aimed shot: 500% Gauss Bullet: Hip shot: 100% Aimed shot: 150% HMG Bullet: Hip shot: 25% Aimed shot: 50% APC Cannon: 450% Melee Attack: 2000% All Other Attacks: Hip shot: 50% Aimed shot: 100% Damage Modifiers (Explosives): Swarmer Missile: 50% APC Rocket: 350% JAW Rocket: 50% C4 Explosive: 200% Description: The Pinger is a 25-foot tall, AT-ST style walking tank, somewhat similar to the Hunter Exosuits from the original game. They are equipped with a powerful nose-mounted automatic cannon, which can also fire a powerful charged "plasma rocket" shot that sticks to objects and will explode after a couple seconds. They can also periodically emit a spherical EMP shockwave which will completely drain your nanosuit energy if you're standing too close. Their auto-cannon is extremely powerful, and can shred you very quickly even with Armor Mode activated, so it's very important to find good cover to hide from the Pinger's attack. These huge robots are used as "boss-like" encounters; a total of 3 of them are fought on foot throughout the game, with one appearing at the end of Mission 11: Corporate Collapse, Mission 14: Terminus, and Mission 15: Power Out. A 4th Pinger appears during the vehicle segment of Mission 18: Out of the Ashes, but is easily destroyed with your vehicle's onboard weaponry. Pingers are heavily armored and extremely durable; small arms fire is largely ineffective against them (in theory it would take almost 900 rounds of assault rifle fire to kill one), so they are best destroyed with explosives. Even with explosives it takes a lot to bring one down; it takes 7 or 8 direct hits from the JAW rocket launcher or 14 to 15 hits from the L-Tag grenade launcher to kill one. The HMG is also moderately effective due to its high damage, and a full magazine of 150 HMG rounds will take off a little more than 3/4ths of a Pinger's health. Likewise, a full 200 rounds of Mk60 Mod 0 fire will take off a little over 1/2th a Pinger's health. Fortunately, the areas in which you fight them usually have explosives and other powerful weapons lying around in stockpiles for you to use against them. While Pingers have a barrel-sized power-core/weakspot on their backs, you don't actually have to shoot them there to damage them. Indeed, it's better just to shoot the main body a lot instead of trying to hit the weak spot, since the Pinger will constantly and rapidly twist its head to face you and prevent you from getting line-of-sight on the weak spot. It is possible to get a good shot on the weak spot by using Cloak Mode to sneak up behind the Pinger (but only after the latest patch, see notes below), but you'll only get a few shots off before the Pinger manages to spin around and face you again. Also, the weak spot only matters for bullets, explosives deal the same amount of damage regardless of where you hit the Pinger. Pingers do have one major weakness: they have no resistance to the Grendel battle rifle or Jackal shotgun and can be killed surprisingly quickly with either weapon. It only takes about 73 Grendel rounds or 22 direct close-range Jackal shots to kill one. You don't even have to shoot the main body; you can hide in a low doorway where the Pinger can't see you, and shoot it in the legs until it dies. NOTE: Before the most recent patch, Pingers could see you even if you were cloaked and would continue shooting you. This no longer seems to be the case after the patch, although the Pinger will still occasionally swivel it's head in your direction and seem to stare at you. Individual Pinger Strategies: Mission 11: Corporate Collapse: The first Pinger you face has no support, and you'll have a handful of Marines on your side firing at it from the two nearby buildings. The battlefield has a pair of JAW rocket launchers hidden in two alcoves nearby (marked on your tactical display), as well as a stockpile of C4 and frag grenades on top of the bridge in the middle of the courtyard. While there are not enough JAW rockets around to kill the Pinger by themselves, it is possible to get on top of the bridge and drop C4 onto the Pinger from above; C4 charges deal very high damage to the Pinger and a couple C4 charges combined with a few JAW rockets should destroy it. You can also bring an L-TAG grenade launcher into the battle from earlier in the level. Also, if you managed to get a Jackal shotgun from the CELL troops earlier in the level (a possible but rare drop), you can use that to take out the Pinger with close-range shots while taking cover indoors. Mission 14: Terminus: The second Pinger is fought in the middle of Grand Central Station, and is accompanied by endlessly respawning Ceph Grunts. You have a couple Marines on your side, but they die pretty quickly (often before the Pinger even shows up). HMG turrets, L-TAG grenade launchers, JAW rocket launchers, Grendel rifles, and even 2 Swarmer missile pods can be found scattered around the upper platform, but moving about up there leaves you heavily exposed to the combined automatic fire from the Pingers and the Ceph Grunts. The easiest way to take out this Pinger is to take cover inside one of the stores on the lower level, and shoot the Pinger in the legs with your Grendel until it dies. Alternatively you use explosives and fire from the cover of the lower stores, and only venture up to the upper platform using Cloak Mode to retrieve more ammo. Mission 15: Power Out: The third Pinger is fought in Times Square, and is accompanied by endlessly respawning Ceph Stalkers. You have about 3 Marines on your side (depending on how many survived the earlier battle) and they actually survive pretty well, but don't do much good against the Pinger itself other than distract it occasionally. Again, there are about 3 or 4 JAW rocket launchers scattered around the area, as well as a few HMG turrets. Again, the easiest way to kill the Pinger is to shoot it with the Grendel from behind solid cover, occasionally stopping to kill any Ceph Stalkers that get too close to you. Alternatively, you can hit it with a few JAW rocket shots, then finish it off with an HMG turret, again being sure to fire from solid cover to hide from its return fire. Ceph Guardian [Ceph Advanced Assault Unit]: Appearance: 6.5 foot tall metal humanoid exoskeleton, hunched over with forearm-mounted claws and tentacle "dreadlocks" on the back of the head, and a "Sauron" style horned helmet. Health: 10000 Primary Weapon: Claws (730 damage) Wrist-mounted energy fletchette launcher (200 damage) Other Attacks: Leap attack Damage Modifiers: Torso: 100% Head (armored): Hip shot: 20% Aimed shot: 33% Head (exposed): Hip shot: 300% Aimed shot: 800% Exposed Jelly: 150% Exposed Jelly (tentacles): 300% Sniper Bullet: Body: 300% Head: 1000% Aimed headshot: 2000% Exposed Jelly: 600% Microwave Emission: 150% APC Cannon: 850% Description: Ceph Guardians are "Overlord"-like Ceph Stalkers who are equipped with unique cloaking devices, similar to the Cloak Mode of your nanosuit. They can be found observing you from a distance at several points in the game, but only fight you directly as a "final boss battle" at the very end of the game. You confront a group of 4 Ceph Guardians at the end of the final level, guarding the entrance to the Ceph Lithoship's core. In addition to their cloaking ability, Ceph Guardians have the agility and speed of Ceph Stalkers, and the incredibly high health of Ceph Heavies. Their high speed and very high durability makes them very formidable enemies. While they lack the enhanced bullet-resistant armor of Heavies, they have the same extremely high health and can survive a very large amount of damage. It takes more than a 100 bullets from most weapons to kill them. Ceph Guardians also cannot be grabbed in melee, although stealth kills still work against them provided they're unaware of your presence. Guardians behave similar to regular Ceph Stalkers, although their cloaking devices make them significantly tougher to spot and track, as they run around while invisible and only decloak just before they attack you. The cloak is also more subtle than the ones used by other similar FPS enemies, and can be difficult to spot even if you know to look for it. You can spot them while cloaked using either Nano Vision or the Cloak Tracker suit module. The only real advantage you have when facing the Ceph Guardians is the fact that they can't see through your own Cloak mode. If you cloak before triggering the cutscene in which the four of them appear, the battle will start with them unaware and standing still, giving you a chance to sneak up on them and stealth kill them. You can usually manage to stealth kill 1 or 2 of the Guardians before the remaining ones catch on to your presence. Once actual combat starts, you'll want to use hit-and-run tactics, firing as many bullets as possible at the nearest Guardian, then quickly running away before it can corner you and melee you to death. The area you fight them in has many branching canyons and plateau platforms for you to run and dodge around to evade them. Powerful weapons such as the Grendel rifle, Mk60 Mod 0 LMG, or Jackal auto-shotgun are very helpful here. The K-Volt can be used to stunlock individual Guardians, but don't try to make a stand with it if you're facing more than 1 at a time. Guardians can also be killed with 2 JAW rockets or 2 Gauss rifle shots (provided you saved the Gauss rifle from the previous level). The Gauss attachment for the SCAR is less effective, requiring 5 shots to kill a Guardian. One VERY easy way to kill the Guardians is to exploit the fact they won't follow you into the water at the beginning of the area (presumably the CryEngine A.I. has finally learned that it drowns instantly from the Trigens in Far Cry and the North Korean soldiers in Crysis). You can fire at them with impunity from the shallow lake, while they're stuck on shore. If their return fire drops your Armor Mode, you can take cover using the cliff walls to regenerate. END OF TEXT Copyright 2011 Alan Chan