Combat Arms -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Desert Thunder Walkthrough _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Platform: [Microsoft Windows] Free Digital Download Game Type: First-Person Shooter Developer: Doobic Studios Publisher: Nexon Latest Patch: 47 [07/01/10] Author: superweapons Type: Map/Level Walkthrough Version: 2.0 Start Date: 03/19/10 Latest Update: 07/14/10 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I. An Introduction to Combat Arms: ---------------------------------------- Combat Arms is one of the leaders in the free-to-play FPS arena, alongside the well-known America's Army (although it is nothing like the latter). It boasts a large weapon pool and features advanced weapon and player customization. Gameplay-wise, Combat Arms bears a hefty resemblance to fast-paced shooters such as the famous Counter-Strike. Several gameplay modes are featured, including easily recognizable names such as "One Man Army", "Capture the Flag", and "Elimination", as well as some more unique modes including "Spy Hunt", "Quarantine", and "Fireteam". What makes Combat Arms so unique compared to high-profile shooters like CoD is that the game is completely free to play. Of course, Nexon makes money off of "NX", the in-game currency which is obtained through payments. "GP", or gear points is other currency which is obtained level-by-level. Every time a round is completed, GP and EXP (experience points, used to level up your character and unlock better hardware) is added to your Combat Arms account, the exact amount depending on how well you perform. What is "Desert Thunder"? Desert Thunder (often abbreviated to "DT") is one of the two currently available "Fireteam" maps. Fireteam is cooperative game mode pitting human players against a vast number of computer-controlled NPCs, and in the case of Desert Thunder, following a linear quest across the fictional city, Sand Hog. Especially on the harder difficulties, Desert Thunder can be infuriatingly difficult to newcomers and even veterans at times. My personal playing style for Desert Thunder is a mix between aggressive and passive. For most of the game, shooting from range, behind cover, or dispatching enemies in the blink of an eye is a very general summarization of how to play. Knowing exactly when and where to halt or advance means the difference between life and death or success and failure. Well, that and how good your trigger finger is. II. Guide Relevancy and Depth ---------------------------------------- The actual walkthrough portion of this guide is very lengthy and detailed, giving you suggestions of who to kill first (since all enemies are scripted) and where to take cover, exactly what direction to move in, what technique you should use to kill said enemies, et cetera. However, I can only guarantee that this guide is accurate up to the latest game patch (see the guide info at the top of the page) and even then it might take you hundreds of tries before you can even come close to 'mastering' Desert Thunder. Some patches can significantly ramp up the difficulty level, requiring you to take a more defensive stance and keeping your HP up in the earlier parts of a section. It may take up to a few weeks for me to update this guide depending on the number of changes I need to implement. 1.0 to 2.0 of this guide required me to rewrite and restructure the entire walkthrough portion of this guide as well as adjusting the loadout section in order to compensate for the late Spring 2010 difficulty increase and new gear. ------------------------------------------------------------- 0. Table of Contents: [0.0] ------------------------------------------------------------- To navigate this FAQ quickly, search (Ctrl+F) for the number sequence in the brackets ( [ and ] ). Foreword: ---------------- I. An Introduction to Combat Arms II. Guide Relevancy and Depth _____________________________________________________________ 0. Table of Contents [0.0] 1. Terminology [1.0] 2. Loadout [1.1] 3. The Team [1.2] 4. Desert Thunder Guide [2.0] 5. Insertion Route [2.1] 6. The Temple [2.2] 7. Road to the Intel [2.3] 8. Acquiring the Intel [2.4] 9. Exfil [2.5] 10. External Links [3.0] 11. Credits [3.1] ------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Terminology [1.0] ------------------------------------------------------------- Even outside of the actual game you'll see players using Desert Thunder-specific terminology, most notably "NO GATES", occasionally accompanied by various exclamation marks and/or other caps-locked text. The term refers to the second point in the map where players are designated to open two gates, one on each side of an open courtyard surrounded by a menacing overhanging walkway. Regardless of which side players open, the gate will be locked, forcing them to run over to open the other gate, all while fending off a large number of enemy militants that will be raining bullets down on their sorry heads. So, why "NO GATES" when it's the only solution to pass this part of the mission. There's a glitch, as some players would like to call it, that allows the team to bypass the gates and avoid the issue of cutting down dozens of soldiers, saving valuable time and increasing their chances of survival. The method works even if the gates have been opened, but the glitch is always used to bypass them; any gate opening usually makes the team's game even harder if they've already advanced to the next part where another ambush comes up, forcing them to deal with the force of two combined ambushes at once--the worst possible situation. No gates is by far the most important term in Desert Thunder, and often the most anger-infused one. Even good teams get cut down by the double formation of enemies due to insolence of players who either don't know what no gates means, or just want to see the team fail. Personally, I'm fine with gates or no gates as it's possible to win on either as long as you situate yourself correctly in each situation. Don't ruin a game, and if you aren't sure, ask before opening at least to serve as a warning to the impending ambush for players who aren't paying a lot of attention. Also, sometimes players will say "Site A", "Site B", or "Site C". This refers to the part of Desert Thunder where the team is tasked with Acquiring the Intel (section 2.4). It's pointless to say this before reaching that part of the level, as the player doesn't decide; Combat Arms chooses the site with the intel. Going to the wrong site still spawns enemy AI though, but there will not be a laptop to interact with once players reach the incorrect intel site, forcing them to go to the correct one after realizing their grave mistake. This is explained in further detail in section 2.4. ------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Loadout [1.1] ------------------------------------------------------------- Weapons: Choosing the right loadout is essential to racking up a good number of kills. In general, I wouldn't recommend using a low-power SMG, even though they might be great in Elimination or other game modes. The sheer number of enemies and the accuracy and range required in some situations drops the effectiveness of most SMGs in favor of assault rifles and light machine guns. Many pistols also lack the firepower to take out the enemies in Desert Thunder. Rockets and other explosives can be incredibly handy in some situations, but for the most part, equipping a grenade or two will satisfy the pyromania Nexon desires. Mines are useless. Period. If you have the time to place a mine, you might as well spend it returning fire. As far as mouse sensitivity goes, just make sure it's set to a speed where you can turn on a dime (actually, a lot faster than that, but it's hard to say just how fast). It should be as fast as you can be proficient with your primary weapon since most of the fighting is at non-sniper range. My laptop mouse works best at a setting of 14 while my broken destkop mouse used to work the same scrolling speed at a sensitivity rating of 7. It all depends on the hardware and how fast is too fast for you. You can change it on-the-fly by using the bracket keys in-game ( [ and ] ) or through the game settings in the lobby. The more weapons the better. But using the standard backpack with two primary weapons equipped (one primary and one in the backpack) will be enough, at least ammo-wise since in Fireteam, a high percentage of enemies drop resupply crates. For maximum effectiveness, you should have at least an assault rifle, a grenade, and a weapon in the secondary slot. For example, my current Desert Thunder loadout consists of: G36E (GP assault rifle) M9FS pistol (default) M9 Knife (default) M67 fragmentation grenade (default) M16A3 (default) The G36E is cheap (950GP per day) and doesn't require an very high rank to acquire. It's often touted as an overpowered weapon even with 3 nerfings in performance. Its strengths are good bullet damage, high accuracy, and a sniper-magnification integrated scope, making it about the best GP weapon for Desert Thunder. It can be a bit unfriendly to new users though, as the gun works far better when tap-firing (repeatedly tapping instead of holding down the fire button), especially so in the many of the medium to long range engagements in Desert Thunder. Also, for sniper-range kills, the reticle is offset just a bit, requiring you to aim down and to the left ever-so-slightly in order to accurately gauge where the bullet will land. Be wary of the G36KE and the G36C, as I've heard that the tap-firing method is borked. Tap-firing can be helpful in some instances, although other times short bursts will easily do the trick as well. Alternatively, the M416 (fitted with an ACOG scope) is also great for Desert Thunder, but its high rank requirements (Master Sergeant 2), 1100GP-per-day price (plus 150GP for the recommended scope), and low damage make it a less desirable than the G36E. The M416 does, however, excel in recoil control making spray firing childs play. Adding any silencer decreases the M416's already low damage too much, requiring nearly 5-6 shots to kill compared to the 3-4 shot kill with an unsuppressed G36E. In addition, the ACOG scope lacks the magnification necessary to perform sniper-range kills. The AK-103 is easily a good choice for Desert Thunder as well. Its strengths are a powerful 3-shot kill, great accuracy, and controllable recoil. If not for the G36E's sniper scope, I would have a hard time choosing between these two guns when given the choice. It's hard to find though, since you either need the colossally-high rank of Lieutenant Colonel 3 to buy it directly, through HiSec cases, or by purchasing Supply Crates. Equipped in the backpack is the default M16A3. It should be rarely used outside of the Temple area and with luck, someone else will have dropped a weapon for you to use instead of this. Using an LMG (i.e. RPK) would add some variety/flexibility to your loadout, although an assault rifle makes finding ammo much simpler. I personally find the RPK's recoil to be relatively tame while still having good overall specifications, making it a lot more attractive than other machine guns. But any machine gun you're comfortable with should do well to mow down the waves of enemies that throw themselves out at you. Additionally, a sniper rifle can be used to good effect, but I only find range to be an issue in 2 parts, both of which can be handled with the use of a G36E. If you have NX, I find the M417 SB to have incredibly good potential in the right hands (although it's only available in supply crates). The cosmetic variants of the weapons mentioned above are good as well. They primarily include the M416 CQB, M417 Combat LE, G36E Valkyrie. If you own a weapon with a permanent iTech reflex sight (i.e. M416 CQB, M417 Combat LE), then I recommend tossing in a G36E or a sniper rifle into an extra backpack slot to engage longer range targets. On Hard and Extreme, health packs are a lifesaver (literally!), but require either NX or a high rank and a lot of GP. Respawn tokens are handy, but your usage of them should be limited to only the finale (explained in further detail in section 2.5). For a starter loadout (i.e. Trainee), this worked better than I had expected: M4A1 (GP assault rifle) M9FS pistol (default) M9 Knife (default) M67 fragmentation grenade (default) M16A3 (default) This loadout essentially only involves purchasing the M4A1 for a meager 800GP per day and dropping the default M16 into your backpack A slot. The M4A1 lacks the accuracy for sniper-range kills, so in the section where you rush the bus (2.3), you'll have to wait for someone else to snipe the enemies or rush it and hope you make it through alive. Gear: Having fast gear can help a lot in Desert Thunder. Any sort of increase in running speed will help you jump up when using the no gates tactic and when rushing the tank. At the very least, don't impede yourself with any gear that will slow you down. A heavy vest or tanker vest is not advisable and if you want an extended backpack, make sure you have some counterbalance in the form of headgear or a light/recon vest. Personally, I just use the default vest, the default backpack, and a Combat Beanie to increase my running speed by 3%. If you have NX, you can get the Skull Bandana which will increase running speed by 7%. ------------------------------------------------------------- 3. The Team [1.2] ------------------------------------------------------------- Fireteam is all about having the right team to back you up. Combat Arms requires as least 4 players to start any FT game. From my own experience, you only need 3 experienced players to pass Desert Thunder on Extreme (3 experienced players and 1 filler player to start the game). However, it's difficult to do the same with a team full of inexperienced players. It's absolutely essential that you have a good team, but after mastering the techniques in this guide, with quite a bit of "luck", you can probably "solo" at least up to Acquiring the Intel on Extreme difficulty, and likely the entire level on Normal and Hard (theoretically). The difference between success and failure boils down to your team. Telling a "good" player from a "bad" player can be hard. Someone who's awesome at Elimination, Spy Hunt, or CTF may not be anywhere nearly as good in Fireteam. The Fireteam Info tab when looking up a player's stats gives a general indication of their battle performance but nothing is quite as good as gauging them in-game. Playing with your own ring of friends is probably the best way to go, since you not only know their battle effectiveness, but their playing style and loadout as well. Desert Thunder is all about cooperation: playing alongside friends rather than with complete strangers can mean a lot. Oh, and the Fireteam Info tab is also good for telling apart hackers from the rest. I can pretty much guarantee you anyone that has on average over 80 kills per Desert Thunder game is most likely OPKing (the higher it is, the more obvious). ------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Desert Thunder Guide [2.0] ------------------------------------------------------------- The part of the guide you came to read about. This is only one way to play through Desert Thunder, but it's the most effective way to play from my experience. This is written using my preferred loadout: a G36E along with the standard outfit of weapons. When I refer to tap-firing, that would be the equivalent of the mid-long range technique for your assault rifle, while any sort of bursts/short sprays are for close range. "Scoping" refers to using your assault rifle's scope (G36E integrated sight or ACOG sight; reflex sights lack the magnification) to attack enemies at range. Grenade-escape points added for good measure; you'll encounter them most on Hard and Extreme difficulties. In Desert Thunder, there are 5 types of enemies, sorted into their respective groups by their accuracy, weapon of choice, and clothing. Generally speaking, Group 5 represents the lowest threat while Group 1 represents the highest threat. As you move down the list, they become fewer and fewer in number, but their deadliness makes up for it. I also included a very, very rough breakdown of the percentage of troops are in which group according to a complete 120-kill game. ------------------------------------------------------------- Group 5 (GRP.5) [42%] Your run-of-the-mill grunt, armed with an assault rifle or a machine gun and clad in basic clothing. They aren't going to cause a lot of trouble for most players. However, when running head-on towards a sizable group (i.e. rushing the Insertion Route on your own), you'll get cut down quickly, especially on Extreme. Moreover, there are a few high-skill Group 1 enemies hidden alongside the grunts which even the best of players should take seriously due to their aimbot-like accuracy. Group 4 (GRP.4) [40%] The "elite guards," "black-clad guards," and the "black-clad elite guards." Armed with what appears to be a measly Uzi and wearing a full-black outfit complete with shemagh. They're really only intimidating in larger groups or when their accuracy magically skyrockets like with Group 1. Their base level accuracy is only a step above that of Group 5 enemies and their overall threat level reflects that. Group 3 (GRP.3) [11%] Grunt + RPG. Group 5 AI armed with RPGs that will wreak havoc on your HP at the harder difficulties. In some cases, they're more deadly than Group 2 enemies due to the nature of an RPG and the fact that you'll run into these guys more often. Even if you kill them fast, they might have managed to fire off a shot. One shot from most other AI wouldn't matter, but one shot from an RPG-touting AI can be the death of you. It probably won't hit you directly, but even from a few feet away, the shrapnel and damage radius of this weapon is notable. This happens most often in the Temple ambush section, especially with gates open. There are also a few enemies with RPGs strapped behind their backs (and using the Group 3 clothing scheme) but end up being Group 5 enemies in terms of weapon choice and overall deadliness. Group 2 (GRP.2) [06%] Grunt + sniper rifle. The second shot rarely ever connects (since you'll kill them before it happens, of course), but that first shot can easily chop a significant portion of your HP off. They aren't particularly accurate, but if you're standing still straight in their line of fire or running towards them, expect to see a dramatic drop in health. Following this guide, you'll run up against groups of them (2 or 3 to a group) only 3 or 4 times in a game. Group 1 (GRP.1) [01%] Super-AI. They are the aimbotters among aimbotters. Almost all of the shots they fire at you will connect if you aren't in cover. Even with only your head sticking out, there's still an uncomfortably high chance of them hitting you. Their skill is greater than most human Combat Arms players. Fortunately, they're hard to find and their weapons aren't particularly potent compared with the heavy-hitters from Groups 2 and 3. At most you'll only run into 2 of these guys in the entire level if luck is against you. They're visibly the same as Group 1 enemies, but their accuracy is multiplied by a factor of 5 or so. They appear almost always only when Acquiring the Intel, especially around Target B. I also included a probability rating for GRP.1 enemies at each location that I've run into them more than a few times. "High" probability of appearance is about equivalent to just around 50% (1 out of 2 games) "Medium" probability of appearance is around 33% (1 out of 3 games) "Low" probability of appearance is approximately 25% (1 out of 4 games) "Very Low" probability is for everything less than low probabilty. These estimates are accurate to around 20%, more or less. ------------------------------------------------------------- Using this strategy, I can score between 60-140 kills on Extreme (14,000-30,000 player points), 80-175 kills on Hard (9,500- 19,000 player points), and upwards of 175 kills on Normal (around and above 4,500 player points). Extreme rewards a bit more than 200 player points per kill; Hard rewards around 100 player points per kill; Normal rewards around 25 player points per kill. These numbers reflect the total amount of points earned per kill, including points from damaging enemies. For racking up even more points, using a low-damage weapon may be preferable, although you do run a much higher risk of getting yourself killed if you can't manage your ammo or kill them quickly enough. Since version 2.0 of this guide, I've revised the format to make it easier for people who scream "TL;DR" upon eyeing the length of this guide. Ahead of every paragraph is a summary providing a very basic outline of what to do. The consequent paragraph goes into meticulous detail about the way I've learned to perform it as well as offering a few tips that can greatly improve your performance in that specific part of the level. -------------------------------------------------- 5. Insertion Route [2.1] -------------------------------------------------- If your computer is faster than the other players: 1. Reach the corner at the intersection, stand or crouch between the telephone pole and the corner, and gun down the first few guards. Run up (with your knife to go faster) and crouch slightly behind the intersection where the wall and the lamp-post meet. Have your asault rifle out and gun down the 4-5 GRP.5 AI right there. Stay put, taking out the AI that spawns by the opposite lamp-post until at 1 or 2 players reach your position. Depending on how fast they get to the battle, you can rack up quite a few kills. As soon as they arrive, run 270 degrees around the lamp-post and sprint 5 feet or so alongside the wall/tarp overhang to the pillars. There should be a protrusions on the left side and pillars on the right side; sprint behind the nearest protrusion. This is a good place to reload; do so now. 2. Advance forward, holding to the left most side of the road. Stay in cover and tap-fire at 3 or so waves of enemy AI. Run off to the right side of the road. From there, you can strafe very slightly to the right. In front of you will be a breakable box that will serve as your cover, top of the cover you get by exposing the smallest amount of your body possible. Take out two or three waves of enemies with your assault rifle, scope returning to cover and reloading when necessary. Make sure to check back on the open area where you took out the first 4-5 guards as they'll still spawn and you can kill them if your team doesn't do so fast enough. This will usually raise your kill count to somewhere between 8-12. From there, I prefer to run out of cover, slanting off to the right after checking for grenades and run towards the cinder block where some guards may have been hiding behind before. 3. Slowly work your way forward (continue walking down the road with your scope out). Dispatch all enemies before they land too many bullets on you. Pick off targets from range while micro-strafing or standing still behind cover. Keep advancing forward and work your way through the road with your assault rifle, manually reloading after every few kills. You can really just walk straight down the road with your scope out, killing all the targets before they can fire off more than a few shots and reload behind cover. Hopefully, your team has caught up to you as this should make things a bit easier. You can take cover behind the overturned metal sheet after making sure the guys within stabbing range are dead and reload if you don't want to do it in the middle of the crossfire. The breakable box to the right side of the road is a good cover spot as well. 4. Vault over the broken/collapsed part of the wall and open the door to the Temple. Once you take care of most of the enemies that spawn on the road itself, dive to the right side and vault over the half wall (which is sandwiched between a cinder block and a breakable box) after taking care of the enemy that spawns there. Turn back a full 180 degrees to look at the road and pick off any targets that haven't been taken care of yet. You can leave the AI behind the shipping crate alone if he isn't already dead. Run over to the left side of the door to the Temple and open it to reach the second portion of Desert Thunder. On a slower computer: 1a. If your team is fast, just catch up and kill off any stragglers. 1b. If your team is slow, choose the appropriate step from above (depending on how far they are) to pass this area. After your teammates take care of the 4 AI that are obscured behind the corner, weave your way through the road. Depending on how good they are, you'll either have to follow or lead. Just start from the corresponding paragraph above and follow the guide just the same from there on. -------------------------------------------------- 6. The Temple [2.2] -------------------------------------------------- 1. Take out the guards on the far ends of the room (there should be 2, sometimes 3 in total). Run to the center of the room to reach the checkpoint. Medium chance of a GRP.1 AI under the left doorway. As the door opens, use your scope to take out the 1 or 2 guards directly diagonal across the room from your position. Once they've been dealt with, you can run to the opposite side of the door and hide behind the cylindrical pillar to take out the 1 GRP.1 AI there (appears to be closer to GRP.1 than GRP.5). This guy can and probably will deal a lot of damage to you even if you're behind cover, so if you're in the red zone for HP, wait for someone else to finish him or sprint ahead into the room and reach the checkpoint to auto-restore your hit points. 2. Run to the right exit out of the room. Strafe left along the wall, killing all targets. As you reach the left exit (back into the room), pick off the guard standing on the far end of the second floor of the courtyard. Sprint to the center of the room to reach the checkpoint that will replenish your health and ammo reserves. Hop over the long rectangular wood block in the center of the room and dash to the right side where the 1 or 2 guards had just been. Scope any enemies that are within immediate sight and work your way to the left, keeping your back a few feet off of the wall. You'll want to zoom in as you acquire your targets and zoom out as you move left looking for more. You should get a 3-4 kills out of the 4 AI guards from this. Before reaching the doorway on the opposite side (where you previously dealt with the high-skill guard), scope the guard that is situated on the overhang on the opposite side of the courtyard (he may or may not be partially obscured by the pagoda). Sprint back into the room with the wooden block through the left archway. 3a. If the ambush spawns on this side (the left side) of the courtyard, immediately take out the two guards standing by the inoperable door. Work your way through the rest of the ambush. 3b. If the ambush spawns on the other side (the right side) of the courtyard, run around to the right side of the room. Stay inside the checkpoint room; don't run through the courtyard. Eliminate the ambush. Upon killing any one guard on the second floor after all the guards on the ground are dead, an ambush will trigger. Around 6 guards will spawn at various places along the wall of one side of the courtyard. If they spawn on the side you're on (the left side), enter your scope and take out the 2 guards that are immediately next to the inoperable door. Then take out the single guard by the pillar next to the 2 you just took out. Step out of your cover to engage the AI that's further down the open courtyard. Tap fire to get rid of the 2 AI that step out into the open. Once you've killed those two (or once someone else does), step out to as far left as you can get in the courtyard. Take out the final guard previously obscured by the pillar; that should be the last of that ambush. Walk back towards the center of the courtyard, towards the pagoda. There should be one soldier on both sides of the surrounding overhang. Note that sometimes they may be obscured by metal sheets or pillars, so you should take a good look before deciding that they've already been taken care of. Keep in mind that you can and kill AI guards through metal sheets or pillars if even only their arm sticks out (you can even headshot them without obtaining a direct line of sight to their heads). Likewise, they can fire back through cover. The only other noteworthy tip I can provide in dealing with these 2 guards is to watch out for their grenades which will wreak havoc on your HP. There should be one last guard standing on the overhang on the far side of the courtyard, directly next to where you had killed a guard earlier to cause the AI ambush. Afterwards, pick up one of the yellow or red ammo crates to replenish any lost ammunition. It's a good idea to stock up on some ammo before finishing off the last few guards if you find out that you can't do it before the ammo crates time out. 4a. Open Gates. 4b. Closed Gates. The courtyard should be entirely clear of enemies now. From here, many players perform the no gates glitch by destroying the explosive trap set up on the left side (two little black rectangular boxes and visible red lasers attached to a pillar). Closed Gates: WARNING: Nexon considers the "No Gates" strategy a "bannable glitch". There have been reports of temporary bans. Perform this trick at your own risk. 1. Find a good angle to shoot the left side trap and destroy it. In order to perform the glitch, find a good angle to hit the trap. The usual spot is to stand in the area between the pagoda and the left courtyard wall, directly in front of the left corner of the stone palm-tree-container. Only by standing here can you achieve the high angle-of-attack necessary to destroy the explosive trap. It's obscured from view partially by a large white banner. Take your time lining up your rifle (while scoped) with the top black rectangular box. 3 G36E rounds or 1 high- caliber sniper round is all that's needed to trigger the explosive, causing a large part of the walkway to crash down. Grenades are ineffective most of the time. 2. Advance to the cover spot (depending on the difficulty, how many players are left, and your HP). I usually prefer to find a good cover spot right now, rather than going up one level to trigger the next wave of AI. Many inexperienced players die from running into the rubble too early while the animation and smoke are still settling, giving them an early death. Getting shot at from behind does make sprinting to your cover spot that much more challenging. 2a. With Extreme difficulty, regardless of the number of allies still alive, return to the left side of the Temple room (not the courtyard). Position yourself right at the wall adjacent to the doorway and shoot through the area between the pillar on your left and the wall to your right. It should be a very small gap, but big enough to shoot through and engage most of the targets. Strafe over to the left out of cover to engage enemies on the left side of the Temple courtyard (the ones closest to the rubble). On Extreme difficulty, you'll want to camp inside the first room of the temple. You should be standing in the doorway where you killed the skilled AI guard much earlier on, in the left side of the room. From this position, you should be able to find the tiny angle between the pillar and the wall and just shoot at the elite guards from here. Grenades aren't thrown this far and rocket will either collide against the pillar or hit the wall 6 feet behind you. Only in rare instances will an AI be able to hit you using his gun and even then you should have no difficulty taking them out before they deal too much damage. Don't get cocky and run up unti after at least a few waves unless you want to quickly throw a grenade and retreat back. 2b. With Hard or Normal difficulty, as long as you have a good number of teammates left (preferably ~6), and a comfortable amount of health (50+ HP) you can take a more aggressive stance. Otherwise, assume the position of step 2a. To perform the 'aggressive defense,' go to the back left side of the courtyard. Jump up, standing next to the palm tree there. Strafe and move around as you gun down the waves of enemies. Jump off and take cover behind the pagoda when reloading. On Hard and Normal difficulties, assuming you have a decent amount of health (50+ HP), you can jump up next to the palm tree on the left side and just scope the enemies as they rush out. Strafe around to avoid getting shot and jump off, rushing behind the pagoda to reload. Rinse and repeat. If you run low on health, retreat back to the camping site for Extreme games. 3. Throw a grenade into the enemy spawn point when you find a good time (usually when you're down to your last clip of your assault rifle). After unloading all but your last clip into the enemy base, pull out your grenade and run up beside the pagoda get a good angle and lob one up. This might take a bit of practice before you can get it right. Switch back to your assault rifle and run to the highest point on the angled rubble. Fire controlled bursts through the scope at any remaining enemies. 4. Jump up to the second floor from the rubble. Now, you have to jump up. This is part is difficult for new players, as there's a specific technique to jumping up. Make sure you have a good running spec, since your running spec directly influences how high you can jump. Try not to lose more than 5- 10% total speed (i.e. stay away from anything more than an extended backpack). Start at the top of the angled rubble. Leave a few feet of space to sprint. Sprint and at the last moment before you jump, turn yourself so that you're angled slightly to the right (your reticle should be aimed toward the center rather than the edge of the walkway). If you can't get up, let others go first. With practice, you should be able to eventually get up on your first try. Also know that the default knife is much more portable than a heavy MG, so switch to it when you get to this part. 5. Sprint across to the other side of the second floor, picking up ammo for your assault rifle. Check your map (press M). Clear the room. and exit to the next area. All you have to do is storm the room now. Check your map (press M) to see if anyone is still inside (sometimes, all of them are killed). If you have any grenades left, use them. If not, just hold out your assault rifle and pick off the targets in the room with your scope. You might want to sprint to the far side and let someone else clear the room for you if you're low on health. Once completed, sprint to the door marked "Target" on your HUD. The ending cutscene should play if you made it in time. Otherwise, you'll be faced with the challenge of looking for the right target when trying to acquire the intel. You'll probably hear someone say "take his wallet" in a futile attempt to be funny. Fake a LOL and reminiscence how hard you laughed the first time you heard it :) After the cutscene plays, walk into the room with the dead soldier and over to the wall now marked as the new target and run down once the explosive triggers to enter the next area. Note that you have to get within very close vicinity of the wall to trigger the explosive. It will not damage you in any manner. Open Gates: 1a. Should someone else open a gate before you, immediately forget what you're doing and run over to open the other side. Gun down all the AI there. It may take a while. Strafing across from one side of the gate to the other side work well. Make sure to kill the AI at the top of the stairs from the bottom by shooting from a high angle before advancing upstairs. If the gates get opened some point in the process of this area, immediately head over and open the other gate, shooting the first guard there at the same time. You want to stop the AI as quickly as possible, so run off to the other side of the gate and reload as it opens. Strafe back towards the gate and take out the 2-4 clumped guards there. Run back to the far side of the gate (where you were earlier) and scope the guard standing at the top of the stairs from here. Reload again and aggressively force your way up the stairs to stop the soldiers from respawning. Retreat when necessary, and above all else, make sure you don't lose a lot of your health here. Grenades and point-blank knifing are fatal here. By the time you make it to the top, the rest of your team should have taken care of almost all of the militants up top, except for maybe 1 or 2 which you can finish off yourself. 1b. Ask your teammates first on whether or not to do gates. Activate the right side gate. Run over to the left side gate and open it. Follow step 1a on how to move upstairs. Should you wish to open the gates yourself, first ask your teammates. If they don't want to do gates, don't ruin their wishes. With their blessing, activate the right side gate. It should stay locked. Sprint over to the left side gate and open it. See the directions for step 1a on how to hold them back and advance up. 2. Destroy an explosive trap (the left side may make things a bit easier later). Activate the enemy spawn point. Run back and take cover behind the furthest pillar that still offers a clear line of fire for you to gun down any AI that decide to flank your team. Trigger an explosive trap on either side by firing a few shots at it. Destroying the left side trap is preferable since guarding the right side is a bit easier. Run to the other side of the second floor and activate the enemy spawn point (you only have to reach a bit past the corner). Run back after throwing a nade at the doorway and crouch behind the furthest pillar so that you can hold back any enemy guards that try to flank your team. You should have a clear line of sight to shoot the AI that tries to walk around. Make sure you hug the pillar as bullets may still fly your way and the pillar will be your only form of cover. From here, it boils down to how well you've mastered your weapon, your team, and your luck. If you can't control your recoil and as a result, fire accurately, you may not be able to kill them off fast enough. If your team doesn't do a half-decent job of holding off the AI, and the whole lot of them rush you, you'll probably get killed. And you might just get unlucky and run into a super AI that will finish you off in less than half a second's time. 3. Stick to killing only the guards that are walking around and avoid losing focus. Focus on killing only the guards that are trying to flank your team. Avoid looking away and trying to sneak more than a kill or two from the main group that's being hit by an onslaught of bullets; you're here doing the most important job of them all. If you die, it's pretty much all over for the rest of your team if they can't recover fast enough. 4. Once the AI's stopped respawning, snipe them from high angles from the far side of the second floor of the courtyard. Clear the room and reach the next area. After they've stopped respawning, you can usually find a high angle and snipe the black-clad guards from the otherside of the temple's second floor, making the job of clearing the room that much simpler. X. Should someone open the gates after the elite guards start pouring out, try your best to hold them back and advance upstairs quickly. If the gate opener activated them after most of the elite guards were defeated, there's still a good chance of passing this stage. If the gates are opened right after the black-clothed elite guards start coming out, follow the same procedure above and try to stay alive. Chances are half of your team will be gunned down or 'naded within the first 30 seconds of the crossfire. The rest should be slaughtered by the combined force of militia and elite guards storming down to the first floor of the courtyard. You have to have quite a few "great" players on your team to pass this. -------------------------------------------------- 7. Road to the Intel [2.3] -------------------------------------------------- 1a. With a sniper-range engagement rifle (i.e. G36E, sniper rifles), kill the enemies in the bus from right to left. Taunt the tank and prepare to rush it. 1b. Without a sniper-range engagement rifle, taunt the tank and prepare to rush it. After dropping down to the shipping crate, run ahead to reach the checkpoint, automatically replenishing any lost ammunition and HP. Sprint to the oblique-angled shipping crate situated beside the shipping crate that is perpendicular to the road. Do not head into the alleyway. From here, if you have a sniper-range engagement rifle (G36E, sniper rifle, etc.), continue reading on. If not, skip to the next step.Run back towards the previous area and jump on top the rubble intersecting the wall. Pull out your G36E or sniper rifle and headshot the militia that enters the bus, picking them off from right to left. The third guy from the right may prove to be more challenging as he's blocked by a telephone pole when he sticks his head out so you'll either have to snipe him when he's in cover in the bus (a very small part of his head), run around to find a better firing position, or just forget about him for now. After taking out the 4-5 combatants, whip out your knife and start pacing around the shipping crate on the right side of the road to taunt the tank into firing. Due to the tank's limited field of fire, it will only hit the shipping crate and not you. 2. As soon as the tank shell hits the shipping crate, make a mad dash forward. Break off to the left and hide in the crevice. Allow your stamina to recharge. Run out again and stick to the right side of the road just as before, running around the pole. Run to the right side, jumping to dodge the crossfire, and make it behind the tank. Sprint out from your cover straight ahead as soon as the tank fires, moving parallel to the building. Continue sprinting through the crevice between the breakable box and the building. Break your sprint and slant off to the right towards the corner formed by the two intersecting wall faces. You may want to throw a grenade down the perpendicular alley if there are still some enemies there or save it for later. Wait a few seconds for your stamina bar to refill, reloading your rifle while you're at it. Then take off again down the road, sprinting parallel to the wall. You should see a lamp-post not far ahead. Maneuver around it and continue on your original course, sticking to the very right side. As soon as the altitude between the wall face and ground closes, jump over and continue sprinting, jumping to help dodge any bullets sent your way from the snipers across the street and above your head. Run through the small opening between the tank and the building right beside it. 3. Clear the area of enemy snipers (1 across the street, 3 in the building to the left, and 1 that may appear later on the rooftop even further left). Jump on top of the tank, using the bus hood if necessary, and knife it until a flame starts. Knife it again and jump out and onto the roof of the bus. Switch to your pistol to destroy it. Jump off the bus and inform your teammates of the current status of the tank. Run around the back of the tank and reach the other side of the bus. Change to your assault rifle and scope (preferably headshot) the open sniper across the street. Then turn to face the building you had just passed to kill 2 or 3 militiamen with your assault rifle as well. If there's a soldier up on the far rooftop (the rooftop of a building to the left of the building you had just cleared), snipe him as well. From here, jump up onto the tank directly or with the help of the bus hood. Get above the exhaust vent and use your knife to damage it. If it doesn't start to smoke, move around a bit to find a better position. If someone starts shooting at you, check the rooftop mentioned earlier first and then check the road you sprinted through in. Continue knifing the vent until a flame starts, and then knife it again (only once more; any more than once can be potentially fatal). Jump back onto the bus hood and then onto the roof, pulling out your pistol and shooting the exhaust vent. It shouldn't take more than a single clip to destroy it. Once the tank is destroyed, hop off the bus to the left (putting you back to the position where you had scoped the various enemies) and notify your teammates of the tank's destruction by typing "tank down" or using the verbal command, "Sector Clear" (V+9). 4. Sprint in between the tank rubble and turret. Throw a grenade behind the barricade before triggering it. Run back between the rubble. After hopping off the bus, run in between the tank rubble and the tank's turret. There's a small pathway in between the two parts where you won't die an agonizing death. Run through (do not sprint) and throw a grenade once you're about 10 feet away from the barricade. Keep on advancing and the next ambush should trigger. Make a fast 180 degree turn (this requires a high mouse sensitivity setting, as explained in the Loadout section). If your turn is too slow, you'll run directly into the rubble and die. Sprint (a sprint, not a run) back through in between the rubble like you just did. 5. Sprint forward and make a hard right to dodge the RPG. Continue jumping and weaving your way through to the back of the alleyway. Take cover and dispatch the initial group of enemies that can fire at you. Move to the center of the road and kill all the waves. Headshots to conserve ammo and to increase the number of kills-per-second. Continue sprinting until you've reached about halfway through the bus's full length. Make a hard right and start bunny hopping. You'll see an RPG land right at where you previously were or fly forward and miss. Weave over to the right side and look for the two openings/archways where you can hide in. Run and take cover in the first one. Crouch and move ever-so- slightly out to see the enemies. Pull out your long-range engagement weapon (any scoped assault rifle) and systematically take out the forces there. There should have been one enemy trailing you, so take him out first. For the most part, you shouldn't take much damage here so long as you take them out before they can retaliate. This hiding spot is much better than in the bus since the AI won't bother even trying to approach you (although the first few can shoot you) and it offers a wider view of the road. Once the first group that could shoot you is dead, run over to the middle of the road. Crouch and headshot them if you have a G36E, otherwise bodyshots will do if you have an ACOG scope. If you get hit repeatedly by bullets, retreat back into the opening and stick your head out again and take out continue on working your way through the enemies. Eventually, the AI pool should dwindle to a low enough point (or if you run out of ammo for your primary weapon) that you can sprint up to engage the remaining soldiers in a close-range firefight. After defeating all the enemies, sprint up the road to reach the next and final checkpoint. -------------------------------------------------- 8. Acquiring the Intel [2.4] -------------------------------------------------- 1. Run to the second alley to your right. Mow down the ambush ahead. Advance out of the alley northward. Take out all the enemies to your left and right. Medium chance of a GRP.1 coming from the direction of alleyway A. Run past the first alley to your right. However, if the elite guard sticks runs out of his cover, drive 4 rounds into him. As you reach the second alley, run all the way to the center, between the corner and the lamppost. Walk a few steps into the alley with your scope drawn, ready to burn through 3 enemies and an RPG guy. Walking a few steps into the alley is a precautionary tactic since sometimes, a rooftop guard from the previous section can hit you and remove a chunk of your HP at the worst possible time. Once the first group of 4 enemies are eliminated, turn to the left and engage the 1 or 2 enemies currently visible. Run further into the short alley and engage the machine gunner once he runs behind the breakable box. Make sure not to go too far and get hit in the back due to the enemies from the other side. Run to the other side of the alley (the far left side of the alley) and take out all the troops visible (there should only be 3 or 4 of them). Prepare yourself for a super AI (Group 1 enemy) around this time as there's a chance that one will spawn in this area, especially if it's Target C that is the right one. He'll probably be approaching from Target A and shoot you in the back as you turn the corner to the Target C alleyway. 2. Identify the CORRECT target to attack. Do not choose your own target. Now, check your HUD. You should see only one target, conveniently labeled "Target A", "Target B", or "Target C", depending on which site contains the actual intel. Scan across the horizon, checking for the right label. To reach Site A, take the left- most path; Site B, the center path; Site C, the rightmost path. Report it to your teammates, swatting down any other sites they may prefer. Use either the vocal command "Alpha Site" (V+5) or "Bravo Site (V+6) or type out "site c" quickly through the in-battle message system. Site A: It's preferable to approach Site A through alleyway B if you have doubts about your team or if you want to rack up more kills. Attacking directly through alleyway A can be riskier due to the lack of cover and constant downpour of respawning enemies, but going solo on alleyway B can be easily as risky. If you do choose to go through alleyway B to reach target A, use the instructions designated for Site B, but skip everything past step 4 of the Site B guide and link up with step 4 of this Site A guide. 1. Approach alleyway A and decimate the ambush. First, run towards alleyway A, all the way to just around where the 2 guards and a machine gunner were. Wait for the ambush to trigger. Immediately fire off a burst on the militiaman that vaults over the breakable box to your right. Then use your scope and tap-fire to take out the 2-3 enemies that come around the corner ahead of you. Walk forward, reloading and picking up an ammo crate. 2. Scope the 3 snipers on the ridgeline. Find cover and hold back a few respawn waves of AI. Sprint up to the building on the right side and enter the mini-alley. When you approach the corner where you had just killed the 2-3 militiamen, use your scope to take out the two enemies perched on top of the opposing ridge line (it's elevated significantly above the rest of the road). Try to kill the third man that runs past the two snipers while you're at it. Once you've taken care of them, aim down to street-level and strafe a bit to the left and kill the soldier who is walking past the white cinderblock. Sprint up to the cinderblock and scope all of the enemies stationed down range. Try to headshot the men situated in the windows above. If a teammate has already sprinted down the road, provide covering fire by taking out the GRP.3 enemies in the windows where the GRP.5 enemies had just been. If a teammate doesn't head up, sprint up to the next building. 3. Kill the GRP.5 camping here. Take cover behind the cinderblock (this is important). Scope the man in the hotel second floor balcony and the 4 men behind the pillars. High chance of a GRP.1 spawning as the leftmost guard of the 4 men behind the pillars (the one closest to your current position). Run towards Target A. Take out the guy hiding inside this mini-alley. Run out the back and toward cinderblock in the center of the open area. Engage the enemies here. There should be 4 by the pillars, 1 GRP.2 in the hotel, and another GRP.2 in the hotel that can't shoot you). Of the 4 enemies hiding by the pillars, the leftmost has a very high chance of being GRP.1, while the other 3 are GRP.5. Once they've been dealt with, slant off to the left and back towards Target A. 4. Eliminate all enemies around the Target building. Kill the enemies attacking you out of the third-story windows in the building across from the Target building. Enter the Target building and sweep your way upstairs, falling back when necessary. As you turn toward the Target building, shoot any guards right in front of you with your scope out. As you near the wide entrance to the building (a few feet away from the column holding up the second floor) look up to the building across the road. There should be 3 enemies there attacking you from out of the window. Eliminate them and enter the Target building through the wide entrance. You may want to check your map before hand to make sure there aren't any guards coming downstairs right now. Once ready, move upstairs through the doorway at the back of the room. A GRP.4 guard may come downstairs to intercept you. If you don't time it right, you could get seriously injured in a melee or close-range engagement. Additionally, there's a chance that a GRP.5 regular enemy, a GRP.3 RPG enemy, or a GRP.2 sniper may come downstairs. After he has been dealt with (a quick un-scoped burst will do the trick), retreat from the grenade he probably dropped. Continue upstairs to meet with multiple GRP.5, GRP.3, and GRP.2 enemies, as well a single GRP.4 elite guard. Stop before reaching the top. Scope and take out all the enemies in a right to left sweep, using large bursts or tap-firing. Retreat a few steps down the stairs if anyone of them drops a grenade. In the process, you probably walked all the way up to the second floor. 90 degrees to your right should bet the GRP.4 black guard mentioned earlier. Kill him from behind the unbreakable box, where you are standing right now. Walk through the room, keeping an eye on the corner directly outside of the room (the wall should be blown out to reveal the second floor rooftop). If an elite guard (GRP.4) walks over to that spot, make short work of him. Head to the opening and check the open rooftop for any elite guards still left, firing a long burst while scoped. Then, head back into the room and approach the desk with the laptop on it. Hold 'E' or your remapped action key to retrieve the intel. Finally, walk down from the rooftop where you last engaged an elite guard. Do not jump down (don't jump with your space bar) as it will cause you to lose health. Site B: 1. Enter the alley. Throw a grenade at the group of 6 GRP.5 enemies. Take cover behind the dumpster. High chance of a GRP.1 enemy spawning from behind the 6 GRP.5 enemies. Head down the central alley. Depending on how quickly you eliminated the enemies earlier, a low-level GRP.5 may already be in front of you. Use a quick scoped burst to take him out and step back if he dropped a grenade. Continue on through the alley. After rounding the corner (a 90 degree S-bend) to the right, throw a grenade to the large horde of AI about 10-15 feet ahead of you, giving you a 6-kill combo. Maintain your rightward strafing momentum and take cover behind the dumpster. From here, you can easily scope the 2-3 GRP.5 guards here. If they get close (i.e. walk around the dumpster), drop out of your scope and land a quick burst on them. Additionally, there's a high chance of a GRP.1 enemy spawning from behind the 6 GRP.5 enemies. Take caution in dealing with him. 2. Move up and trigger the ambush. Take cover behind the breakable crate. Decimate the ambush. Take out the guards on the second floor. Walking forward after eliminating the group will trigger an ambush to your right. Move up to the breakable crate. Tap-fire with your scope up and take out a good chunk of the force while strafing from behind the breakable crate before retreating behind the wall or the dumpster to reload. Either go back in and gather a few more kills or allow your teammates a shot at them. Keep an eye out for any enemies that may try to flank you from the left alley where you had previously killed the 6 guards. Strategically aligning yourself and moving around so that you can't get shot at from either there or from the second floor guards which you can take out after finishing off the enemies in the intersecting alley. 3. Run forward. Stop the 4-man ambush. If possible, finish off the guard in the second floor of the hotel. Sprint into the crevice to your right. Take out the guards on the rooftop on the other side of the alley. Start down the alleyway where you had 'naded the 6 guards. Don't go more than a few feet past the corner of the Target building. Make sure that your scope is out and prepare to quickly eliminate 4 guards as you step a few feet past. Tap-fire like you did earlier to take them out. Although it's not necessary right now, you can take out the guard in the hotel second floor ahead. The guard situated higher than him won't pose as a problem so it's alright to forget about him. Sprint forward and take a sharp right into a small crevice. If you're clip is running dry, reload. Otherwise, headshot the 4 guards situated on the rooftop opposite of your current position. They might appear in waves; make sure you get all 4 of them. 4. Sprint across to the cinderblock. Kill the 4 pillar guards and the second floor hotel guard if not done already. High chance of a GRP.1 enemy spawning as the leftmost pillar guard. Once they've been eliminated, sprint across to the left side (towards the cinderblock) and yet another group of enemies should spawn, the same one that you faced in the site A guide. Take cover behind the cinderblock and work your way from left to right, starting from the GRP.1 enemy. The rest of them are relatively easy to handle. Take shots at their protruding limbs to be safe. If you haven't already killed the second floor hotel sniper, it might be preferable to crouch while behind the cinderblock and take him out before dealing with the pillar guards. Walk back to the Target building entrance after picking up some ammo. 5. Sprint back to the Target building entrance and enter the doorway. If a teammate already entered and already cleared out some of the enemies, follow behind them and skip down to the approrpiate step of this guide. If not, work your way down- stairs, killing the two grunts. Clear the two adjacent rooms, making sure not to trip the scripted ambush. Walk backwards away from the wooden door and stop the ambush prematurely. Sprint away from the grenades that they drop (preferably back up the stairway). Dash back to the Target building's entrance and enter. At the corner of the stairs, there should be a GRP.5 low-level guard. Finish him and assume his position. From there, you can shoot the limbs of another guard at the base of the stairs. Be wary of grenades. Walk down to the basement level and open the door with your weapon drawn and gunsight zoomed in. If you have a close quarters weapon on-hand, you can use it now. Otherwise, stick with your G36 which should be more than enough for this section. Camp here by the door and take out any enemies directly in your line of sight. Once they've been eliminated, head into the room, strafing left with your back against the wall. Do not head out too far into the middle of the room (i.e. don't go past the midway point of the table) while engaging the enemies in the next room. You can kill them by shooting through the large openings in the wall. As soon as the two rooms have been cleared, move right in front of the wooden door on the very left side of this room. Face it and walk backwards with your scope drawn. As soon as you reach about the halfway point mentioned earlier, start applying a hail of bullets into the closed door which now has AI flooding out to ambush you. You should be able to eliminate all of them without a single scratch. Immediately after dispatching the 3 guards, backtrack up to the base of the stairs where you had camped the room earlier in order to avoid any grenades that they drop. 6. Walk out of cover and clear the two rooms again. Open the metal door to your right as you enter the second basement room. Crouch and walk backwards and eliminate the 4 enemies as they walk down, shooting at their legs. Turn back around and trigger the ambush by opening the wooden door. Sprint back into the first room and fight off the ambush. Exit the way you came in after retrieving the intel. Enter the next room containing a metal and wooden door (the wooden door leads to the target). Turn to your right and open the metal door. Immediately crouch and back up to the point where you can only see the soldier's legs. Shoot his legs with your scope up and the 3 others who spawn there using the same technique. Before opening the door to the target, make sure your teammates are in good positions to kill the enemies that come out. As soon as you open the door, run back to the first basement room. Use your assault rifle to efficiently pick off all the GRP.4 guards. Once the 6 or so enemies have been finished with, head inside and retrieve the intel. Walk back out through the way you came in and advise your teammates to do so as well. You can avoid confrontation with a nasty group of grunts and snipers by going this way. Circle all the way around and take the path you cleared earlier. Site C: 1. Take the rightmost alley and clear all the enemies in your immediate vicinity. Scope the enemies near Target B. Very low chance of a GRP.1 enemy spawning amongst the enemies immediately around the corner. Take the rightmost alleyway to reach Target C. You may have to engage one or more GRP.5 enemies at point-blank range, so be prepared with your assault rifle. There's also a very low chance of a GRP.1 enemy spawning among them. Scope and strafe right to take out the enemies that spawn down the intersecting alley near Target B. Kill them as quickly and efficiently as possible by tap-firing. There may be more than 1 wave of enemies spawning from that location. Retreat to the very right side, hugging the wall to reload. Check your flanks as there may be 1 or 2 GRP.5 or even GRP.1 guards trying to make a move. 2. Run forward and strafe left with your back to the wall. Eliminate the two guards. Run forward and decimate the 4-man ambush. Take out the 2 snipers perched on the balconies. After eliminating all of the enemy waves, run forward and strafe left. Immediately take out the two enemies (one regular grunt and one RPG-armed soldier) down the long strip of road. Sprint to around one third of the way through the road and immediately switch to your scope. Using a very rapid tap-fire, take out all 4 of the ambushing enemies before they spread out. Immediately thereafter, dive behind the breakable wooden box. In a standing position, take out the sniper on the far balcony outside of the game world by shooting through the wooden planks. Then run out of cover to eliminate the sniper perched on the balcony closer to you. Stay sharp and move erratically to dodge any of the lethal sniper bullets that they send toward you. Do not step past the corner of the metal wall to your left when you're trying to take out the snipers as that will cause the next group of enemies to spawn when you're not ready. 3. Strafe right facing the metal sheet wall. Quickly get rid of the ambush with a scoped tap-fire like before. Strafe further right after rounding the metal sheet wall corner and scope the 3 guards spawning within the walled area. Trigger the next ambush by strafing past the end of the metal wall parallel to the street you're on. Scope and fast-tap-fire all of the militiamen before they disperse like you did before. If they manage to get away, retreat back behind the metal wall, reload before popping out of cover to kill them. Strafe right towards the opening in the metal wall and use concentrated bursts (with your scope out) to quickly finish off the 3 enemies that spawn there. You should kill all 3 of them before the grenade that the first one drops explodes. 4. Enter the first room and eliminate all guards. Walk to about midway into the room and get rid of the GRP.5 enemies that pour into the room you're holding (1-3 guards may come out). Enter the next room. Eliminate the 1 or 2 guards you can see from here (1 inside and 1 outside). Walk to the doorway leading outside and scope the enemy located further down the alley. Run outside and kill the GRP.4 elite guard to your immediate left. Assume his position to eliminate the last guard you can see. X. Should an ally run far enough down the previous alley, at least 7 enemies will spawn in an ambush. Take cover and eliminate at least 3 of the 4 enemies on the rooftops before engaging the 3 snipers in the several stories high in the hotel building further along. Finish off any enemies that you missed earlier and make sure to keep an eye out on any guards that approach by ground. Once the 3 AI grunts have been taken down, open the double-door. Standing on the left side of the door (you shouldn't actually be inside of the room), kill any soldiers that are within view. Then take a few steps into the room and quickly dispatch any other enemies inside, hopping out to avoid the grenades. In total, there should be 3 GRP.5 guards inside. Run further into the room just past the 2 or 3-step elevation. Crouch and eliminate the ~2 guards that come out from the neighboring room. Continue foward through the way they attacked you from. Dispatch any enemies in this room. Should he drop a grenade, run back into the first room and take this time to reload. Run past both rooms and shoot the guard crouching right outside of the doorway. From here, you should be able to scope a GRP.5 guard down this mini-alley. Walk out of the doorway and look to your left, shooting the guard there. Retreat back inside if he drops a grenade. Otherwise, continue on to where he was camping to grab the last kill for now. 5. Trigger the AI ambush. Sprint back to cover. Eliminate the guards as they pour out. While running toward the next doorway, reload again. Right before you enter the room, make a sharp 180-degree U-turn and sprint back to the two rooms you cleared earlier. Wait for the GRP.4 elite guards to exit the room and engage them as they run outside. Once all of them have been killed, enter the now cleared room. With your scope, walk towards the doorway leading to the next room and quickly kill the last elite guard that's usually hiding behind an unbreakable box. If you're low on HP here or feel the need to save up, allow someone else to do this job since, in close quarters combat, even a single GRP.4 guard can inflict some serious damage onto you at Hard or Extreme. 6. Exit through the garage. Take a right and trigger the AI ambush. Eliminate the 3-4 GRP.4 guards that ambush you. Open the garage door by pressing 'E'. Turn right and walk a few steps past the corner of the hotel (where you eliminated the 3 snipers in the additional step X). Whip out your scope and tap-fire to eliminate at least 2 of the enemies before taking cover in the crevice between the Target building and the hotel. Reload if necessary before running out of cover to eliminate the 1 or 2 enemies left. -------------------------------------------------- 9. Exfil [2.5] -------------------------------------------------- The last part. There's two ways to approach this part, passive (camping) or aggressive (run-and-gun), depending on how many players are still alive, your HP, and the difficulty. It's important that you don't do anything reckless here unless you have backup. Oh, and this is the only part that you should use respawn tokens in (although usage in the Temple section is debatable). Site A, Site B: Sites A and B funnel into the same entry point. After defeating the guards at that spawn at the pillars, take a look at how many teammates are still left, your own HP, and the difficulty setting. Aggressive/Offensive: -Prerequisite: 5+ players, Hard or Normal difficulty, 50+ HP on self and most others If there's at least 5 players left (with a good amount of HP on each, including yourself), then you can use an aggressive attack strategy. If you're playing on Extreme, don't even think about trying this strategy unless you have a nearly full team of decent players. 1. Grenade the spawn point. Trigger the barricade. Shoot from in between the wooden pole and the wall corner. Run up with your team to the barricade, grenades in hand. Throw them in to take out the first wave of elite guards. Position yourself in between the wooden pole and the corner. Using your scope, eliminate all enemies in sight. Strafe around a bit to manipulate your field of view. 2. Jump back away from any grenades that they may throw. Avoid the other AI spawn points. Grenades are the biggest issue here since you'll have to rely on keen eyesight or some good listening skills. Whenever you jump out to avoid a grenade or to reload, jump back towards the pillars (toward Site A and B). This way you won't accidentally spawn another group of elite guards on the other side. Avoid the alleyway that intersects Site B's secondary door (the one that you cleared by shooting the guards in the feet). That area spawns a wave of 4 deadly enemies by the pillars and if you move far back enough, it will spawn another ambush of at least 8 soldiers. 3. Cut through all the waves of enemies (there a lot) and finish the level. Additionally, you can grab a few more kills by entering an AI trigger area if you're not going to be the one to set the C4. Once you've taken care of all of the enemies (there are quite a few waves to take out), wait a few seconds for the grenades to explode and then move in to activate the bomb. If someone else is taking care of that, run back to the secondary B alley exit spawn another wave of pillar guards. In the 5 seconds or so that you have, you can probably grab another 2 kills. You can use your map (M) to keep track of how many enemies are left, but you'll probably be too preoccupied mowing down the AI to be able to do that. Passive/Defensive: 1. Trigger the barricade and throw a grenade in. Run back all the way to the furthest pillar. Headshot the guards as they turn the corner. If you're dangerously low on health or are playing on Extreme, stick to this Defensive strategy. Upon triggering the barricade and throwing a grenade in, run backwards toward the pillars. Go all the way to the pillar farthest away from the action, exposing yourself just enough to shoot any enemies that walk out from the corner. The G36E's sniper-scope is very effective here as you can headshot them with ease as they walk between the corner and the wooden pole mentioned earlier. Avoid getting body-shots unless they get close as you'll need to conserve your ammo. 2. Check the map from time to time. If there's less than 4 enemies left and they are no longer respawning, assume the Aggressive/Offensive strategy to finish the level. Occasionally check the map (M) to keep an eye on the number of enemies left. In total, should you solo this part, you'll run into around 25 GRP.4 guards. When they're down to what appears to be 4 guards, you can run up and shoot from in between the wooden pole and the wall corner like you did in the Aggressive/Offensive strategy. X. If someone triggers the group of enemies that spawn by the pillars, quickly dispatch the two enemies closest to you before finding better cover. Then finish off the other 2 enemies and return to your normal posture. Should any inexperienced player head into the secondary B alley, prepare to fight off 4 GRP.5 enemies at very close range. At least eliminate the 2 enemies spawning closest to you before backing into the crevice to your left to reload. Then scope the 2 enemies in the distance before returning to position. Site C: The Passive/Defensive strategy for Site C is a lot more riskier compared to Site A and Site B's tactic due to the lack of range and cover. There's no Aggressive/Offensive attack strategy since it's already difficult enough to hold them back using the Passive/Defensive strategy on Hard difficulty. But if you want to use it, just run up and kill them before they can return fire. Take cover behind the wall when you need to reload and pop out again. Passive/Defensive: 1. Trigger the ambush, throw a grenade in. Sprint back to the area in between the hotel and the Target building and tap-fire your way through the waves of enemies. Alternatively, you can take cover inside of the garage and fire from there. You can also camp all the way back by the metal sheet wall if you're the only one left, but it will take much longer to finish this part. After running up, triggering the ambush, and throwing a grenade in, sprint back toward the Target building. Crouch just outside of the crevice between the hotel and the Target building. Scope and tap-fire to eliminate all the enemies you can. Alternatively, you can also take cover in the back-end of the garage. Although your field of view is smaller, so are your chances of getting hit. There's one last place to camp, and that's all the way back by the metal sheet wall and the double- doored rooms. At that range, the guards can't hit you, but they trickle in so slowly that you're going to have to move up to draw them out. 2. Watch out for any guards who try to take advantage of your left flank. Should you run out of ammo at any point, run up and try to grab an ammo pack. When the respawning stops, you can switch to an offensive attack strategy and finish them off. Keep an eye on the alleyway to the left of the garage (the one with a metal sheet and dumpster) as some of the GRP.4 guards will try to flank your positions from that angle. Once you've run out of ammo, try to pick up an ammo crate ahead. It's risky, but smarter than using your M16. If you succeed, retreat back or switch to the offensive strategy to attack depending on how much health and enemies are left. -------------------------------------------------- Now, you can congratulate yourself and your team on a job well done. Crack a joke. Post "gj team" or any other complimentary words. Deny any false accusations about using aimbots or chams. And so forth. ------------------------------------------------------------- 10. External Links [3.0] ------------------------------------------------------------- Official Combat Arms Site: http://combatarms.nexon.net/ Combat Arms Wikia: http://combatarms.wikia.com/wiki/Combat_Arms_Wiki ------------------------------------------------------------- 11. Credits [3.1] ------------------------------------------------------------- Members: -------- All the credits from my previous Battlefield 2 FAQ, which you can read here: http://www.cheathappens.com/show_download.asp?ID=23711 Neo7, DarthWright, Gamera, yosup, Jackal, insomniac: For their various contributions to my overall knowledge of writing walkthroughs and guides. Nevermore and PWizard for setting up Cheat Happens and helping me enter the world of FAQ-dom. And everyone else I might have forgotten. Combat Arms: ------------ Spl1tShot (http://combatarms.nexon.net/ClansRankings/PlayerProfile.aspx?user=Spl1tShot) Darthscaper (http://combatarms.nexon.net/ClansRankings/PlayerProfile.aspx?user=Darthscaper) For engaging in the 4-man "dream team" that beat Desert Thunder on Extreme, thus compelling me to write this walkthrough. I can't remember the name of the 4th player who helped us beat it though, sorry. Clans SOFOM and HellsRejects who were cool enough to accept me after my 1-year hiatus. http://combatarms.nexon.net/ClansRankings/ClanProfile.aspx?clan=ll%20SOFOM%20ll http://combatarms.nexon.net/ClansRankings/ClanProfile.aspx?clan=HellsRejects Websites: --------- http://combatarms.wikia.com/wiki/Combat_Arms_Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_Arms_(video_game) http://combatarms.nexon.net/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Thanks for reading this Combat Arms map walkthrough. You can reach me in-game by the username "superweapons" and my second account, "swxa" (female characters FTW). http://combatarms.nexon.net/ClansRankings/PlayerProfile.aspx?user=superweapons http://combatarms.nexon.net/ClansRankings/PlayerProfile.aspx?user=swxa You'll find me much more active on my primary "superweapons" account though. Outside of Desert Thunder, you can catch me playing Capture the Flag and Bombing Run matches most often on Short Fuse, Sand Hog, Junk Flea, and Warhead. Please play nice and don't rage kick me since it happens all too often. Questions, Comments, Feedback, or Suggestions? Email me at: superweapons1@gmail.com Alternatively, you can send me a PM (Private Message) at www.cheathappens.com.