TheNightTerror on 21/9/2006 at 09:09
What started as mild curiosity when I survived Antarctica after finding out about universal ammo the hard way has grown into an obsession, and I want to try to complete DX:IW melee only.
I think I can go in with what I have; I'm mainly concerned about the armored Templars who explode upon dying. I'll have to either sneak, or find a way to disable them without causing the explosion. Also, I'm iffy about how to deal with my biomods. I'm not sure if I should lean towards stealth mods since I don't have anything to protect myself with in the way of equipment (thermoptic camo, for example :() in case I get caught. Any tips in that area will be welcome. :)
I'll post some reports on how I do here if I do go ahead with this, although I'd be very interested in compiling a list of objectives to complete for the entire game before I go in. If I had that, I could log notes, or do journal style reports on their difficulty and any advice I have after I complete them. Might be of some amusement to a fellow masochist and look pretty on my site.
Pyrian on 21/9/2006 at 20:58
I completed DX:IW without ever using a weapon at all - without even throwing crates at people. It wasn't even difficult past a certain point. So, if your sole goal is to not use ranged weapons, I think you'll find that easy. But if you want to actually kill everything too (and I know you do ;) ), I really don't have advice for you on the exploding templars; I was never able to get past that in any meaningful way when I wanted to Dragon them.
TheNightTerror on 21/9/2006 at 21:32
I'll have to see if I can arrange accidents for them after I soften them up, then, as long as I can get clear first. I've had a few incidents where they've been so badly hurt that they run into corners and cower like unarmed civilians do when you start murdering the masses in front of them, it was hilarious. :D Anyway, if I can repeat that, they're out of the way and I don't have to deal with their explosions. We'll see how it goes, I just entered Tarsus. :)
Rolander on 17/10/2006 at 17:46
If you use Hazard Drone, at near max health you have a good chance (but NOT 100%) of surviving Armoured Templar Explosions on normal difficulty with considerable damage (I doubt you have much chance to survive on Hard; and I suspect death is guaranteed on Realistic). At level 3, Hazard Drone apparent reduces explosive damage by 75%.
I found that out on a melee+grenade build run, when I experimented trying to take down Armoured Templars directly without grenades.
Sometimes the Hazard Drone will fail to block the explosion damage (resulting in death, of course). I suspect that the Hazard Drone must have line of sight to the explosion to "shield" the PC properly; similar to how the Aggressive Defence Drone seems to require line of sight to prematurely detonate incoming explosives.
Hazard Drone is very useful in the late game since it can protect against rockets (explosive) and Mag-Rail shots (radiation); most experienced players will use Aggressive Defence against all the rocket-toting Armoured Templars on Liberty Island, but Hazard remains the only defense against Mag-Rail.
I strongly suggest you take up Regeneration aug and stock up on Energy Cells if you plan to melee-kill Armoured Templars; you are going to take a lot of damage.
Matthew on 17/10/2006 at 17:52
I was thinking of trying an all-drone run, y'know. Must get back to it. :D
TheNightTerror on 18/10/2006 at 08:52
And I must get back to my melee only game. :o I probably should start over; I played straight through to the beginning of Trier, but I haven't played in a month. :o
I've had no trouble at all, though. The game seems to respond a lot better to a stealth/melee weapon approach, rather than my run and gun and crush and kill style of playing that I used to start with. Destroying the Nassif greenhouse manually was a bit painful, (I set up a crate of TNT next to the air filters I think they were, smacked it with the baton, and lost my good looks) but the only challenge so far.
TheNightTerror on 22/10/2006 at 01:35
Well, it looks as though I pulled it off! Just came back from Liberty Island, I tried to cover all the bases when it came to the ending. When the time came, I joined Apostlecorp, (why isn't Alex a smartass? I had a perfectly good response to "let me see your finger" . . . ) so I pissed off both the Templars, and the WTO, who would be throwing lots of troops at me to stop me, figuring this would be the hardest way to go.
Then, from there, I went with the renegade ending. I don't know if I could've made it any more difficult; I was an idiot and took out all the other leaders before heading into UNATCO, so I had no choice but to upload the schematics to JC. I had originally planned on switching alliances by uploading the stuff anyone but him, but instead, I had to walk right up to one of JC's allies and attack to accomplish that.
As if walking into the statue wasn't bad enough, when I met with Tracer Tong on the island earlier, I released all of the 'bots he needed repaired, (after taking out every living creature in the map) and sent them to the statue. :laff:
So, I ended up walking up to the statue and having Tracer Tong, and 3 hunter-seeker 'bots lined up in a row, with a few grays outside, and JC and Paul watching through the doors. I destroyed a 'bot as fast as I could, then ran like hell to get some distance between us. I took out Tong first, then swept in to take out the 'bots, then dealt with Paul, then JC. I'd tried to spare ol' Nicolette over in the Illuminati area, so unfortunately JC wasn't brought back to life immediately, but bloody hell was that a good fight. :eek:
And it ended with JC killing himself by firing the rocket launcher into my face at point blank range. Wasn't it him himself who said "A bomb is a bad choice for close range combat?" :tsktsk:
Phew! That was rather entertaining, not quite worthy of much of a site, but I might whip up something sometime for it. :)
th|3f on 24/10/2006 at 14:06
Damn, you should have recorded that.
TheNightTerror on 24/10/2006 at 19:52
I don't even want to think of how much it would've lagged if I tried to record with Fraps as well as play DX:IW . . . my laptop would have a nervous breakdown. :o
Jeshibu on 25/10/2006 at 08:12
Ghahahaha. I am thoroughly entertained by the idea of a trained high-tech operative going "well, can't use ranged weapons, now can I? Better blow up that explosive crate in my face with this here baton."
