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Just Cause 2 General gameplay tips

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This article concerns Just Cause 2 General Gameplay Tips.

Stronghold takeover complete

Info about strongholds that appears once the first of them is unlocked.

Similar relevant pages[]

Collectable items[]

Main article: Collectable Items in Panau.

Difficulty settings and hacking[]

Just Cause 2 has 4 levels of difficulty. The difficulty affects the size, power, and effectiveness of the Panau Military units that appear during both missions and free-roam gameplay. It also increases hacking difficulty. Other things, like races and collectible items are unaffected.

Missions that are affected by the increasingly difficult hacking:

The "Hacking/quick time event - timer" Modification increases the hacking time limit. This is meant for anyone who likes to play at higher difficulty, but has trouble with hacking.

Getting through the beginning when low on ammo[]

As always, use the grappler and environment to kill enemies.

For Welcome to Panau, use the Flak Cannon to destroy Radars, Broadcast Towers, SAMs and satellite dishes, use the mounted Miniguns on the two tripods (by dismounting them) to destroy the SAMs and kill the soldiers. There's no need to go all the way up the ramp to the killing zone; you can "hold your ground" much easier from the bottom.

For Casino Bust, you can road kill many of the soldiers at the beginning. Double-grapple the Demolition Officer to something so he can't get too close, or tow him behind a car. Many of the soldiers on the towers can be pulled off and Hijacking the helicopter gives you some nice guns to clear the hallway (and break all the glass) before Skydiving in. In the chase afterwards, you probably won't need any ammo at all. Grappling the cars to the ground (or, best, the side of a bridge) will take care of them just as well.

Using the Protec Grappler G3 to its full potential[]

Travel[]

The slingshot move is really handy for getting around fast. This technique was briefly covered during the first mission, so here is a more detailed explanation: To slingshot, you must grapple near the top of a tall object such as a building or streetlamp, and while you are zipping towards the object, release your parachute (on the PC, hit the space bar), and you should go flying over it with your parachute keeping you in the air. Another way to pick up speed and height while flying is to grapple a nearby building/object as you drift closely to it (aim higher than your current altitude). Your grapple will pull you towards the object (higher & faster) and automatically release at the last second while you stay aloft. This is useful for discovering settlements.

Grappling onto objects[]

Sometimes it is better to grapple into an area instead of parachuting. This simply means that upon exit of the aircraft from where you are jumping, do not open the Parachute. Instead skydive all the way down and grapple the ground when it gets in range. This is great if you want to slip into a base, place a few Triggered Explosives, leave the base, detonate the explosives, wait for Heat to cool down, and repeat as necessary, unless you like going in guns blazing, but it helps to have a few play styles to cater to different situations.

Other[]

The grappler has many more uses. For the rest of them, see the main article: Protec Grappler G3.

Improving your health at the beginning of the game[]

After the first mission.

At the start of the game, follow the main highway ALL the way around the largest island (Tanah Raya). There are "armor parts" under bridges and other useful stashes will be hidden in nearby locations (don't forget to keep an eye on your minimap stash indicator as you traverse the highway). It's very easy to get distracted, but if you follow through, then you should have a lot of stashes accumulated by the time higher levels of heat are unlocked and thus make your game easier. Every fifth armor part picked up increases maximum health and replenishes health.

BASE Jumping[]

Main article: BASE jumping.

In order to perform a valid BASE jump, you need to jump off solid ground or some object (as compared to simply falling off). Jumping out of a helicopter or a plane won't do it. Rico will enter a free fall mode where you can hardly control him. Before hitting the ground open the parachute to finish the jump. Using the Grappler will void the jump.


Getting into a vehicle[]

Main article: Hijacking.

There are multiple ways to mount a vehicle: using the grapple hook, a stunt jump, or the interact key. Civilian occupants are no big deal, but soldiers in the vehicle need to be taken care of. The pilot or driver will force you into a close fight. Here are some hints how to cope with it.

All vehicles can be entered using the “interact“ key when standing or swimming next to its door or seat. Using the grapple hook you can pull yourself to the vehicle. This will put you onto the seat of motorbikes and mofas, but it will put you on top of a car or boat. Same happens when you use a stunt jump in proximity of a vehicle. Grappling to a helicopter will leave you dangling under the body. If there are no soldiers in the vehicle besides the pilot you can press the interact key to gain control.

Moving around a vehicle, defeating occupants[]

When on a vehicle, opposed to piloting it, you can use the move keys to navigate around the vehicle from front to back and sometimes to the side of it. Sometimes you can also lean sideways from a position. Soldiers occupying the vehicle besides the pilot will get out to shoot you. Use the opportunity to shoot back. On helicopters you can move to the windshield – an excellent place to get rid of the copilot. When only the pilot is left the interact key will be enabled and will show up on the right side of the screen.

Close fight with the pilot[]

On entering any vehicle currently controlled by a soldier you will have to fight him on close range. A "quick time" event will then be triggered in which you must complete a sequence of button presses. On a PC this will be a sequence of number keys and on consoles this is a sequence of symbols or colors that correspond to buttons on the controller. If you press the wrong key the driver/pilot will hit you instead and you need to press the same key again. After three successful hits on the driver/pilot, you will automatically enter the vehicle, throwing its occupant out of the driver side window. Sometimes, you can also shoot the pilot, but in that case you'll have to enter the helicopter fast, before it crashes.

General combat tips[]

Tip about explosives

A tip about switching between handheld explosives. On PC, the default button is "G".

During combat, when taking fire from multiple enemies, try to keep moving around and using Tab (PC), R1 (PS3) or RB (Xbox 360) to evade and use Left Analog Stick (PS3, Xbox 360) or left Ctrl (PC) to take cover. It is also a good idea to take shelter in an armoured vehicle of some sort when low on health.

Weapons that you can unlock in the Black Market earlier, when upgraded can be the greatest firepower you have ever witnessed, for example, the Revolver at around five stars, can take out a UH-10 Chippewa in less than 7 shots and a Gas Pump in one shot, making it a very powerful adversary. However, the later weapons have more range. Basically, just stay out of sight and try to kill the enemies one at a time instead of getting surrounded. Headshots are a necessity when low on ammo or health.

Switching between Fragmentation Grenades and Triggered Explosives are also helpful.

Completing missions and settlements[]

Tip about waypoints

Try to resist completing missions early in the game, as this will unlock higher levels of heat before you get a chance to upgrade your health and weapons. However, you can travel between settlements simply collecting armor, weapon, and vehicle crates, which draws less military attention than attacking Sabotage Destructible Objects. Remember to keep your distance from military personnel and bases until you're strong or skilled enough to take them on!

Settlements of any kind will have collectible items so collect these if you can. Keep in mind that the proximity meter above your mini map will help immensely in locating the crates.

Many people like to do it in the opposite way on restricted locations, especially at those filled with destructibles. Though it's recommended to collect all the items before starting to add too much on your Heat level and encountering military air support with either attack helicopters or infantry drop support.

It is possible to set a way point on a location and travel there.

Statues[]

Main article: Pandak "Baby" Panay Statue.

Don't waste Triggered Explosives on statues, as they are fairly uncommon. Instead, try to use the Grappler or the more common Fragmentation Grenades.

Tip about Baby Panay statues
Tip about statues

You can pull them down with a vehicle of your own, or when possible, you can also double-grapple the statue to a passing truck. Double grappling is done by holding the grapple button and waiting. Once a truck passes close enough aim at it and release the Grappler button. This will attach your Grappler cable between the statue and the truck. The truck should continue driving and shortly afterward pull the statue down. Don't forget to leave the Grappler alone until the truck pulls it down, otherwise the Grappler is reset and the cable will disappear.

Statues are also vulnerable to many weapons. Smaller-caliber ones like the Assault Rifle and mounted gun turrets featured on vehicles like the Chepachet PVD are unable to damage them. The minigun, its mounted equivalents (AH-33 Topachula/SV-1003 Raider) on other vehicles and any explosive weapon will make short work of them.

Sabotage destructible objects[]

See: Category: Sabotage destructible objects.

Basic overview of a military base takeover[]

Grab a helicopter, and fly over the base at a high enough altitude to scout things out (destructible objects only--ignore stashes for now)

Be aware that repeatedly using attack helicopters to destroy objects from the air may cause Military Helicopters to respond more often. You should avoid attacking civilian settlements with the helicopters, as they are not restricted and usually do not contain so many sabotage destructible objects. Also there is a much greater chance that air support will arrive if gaining heat while attacking civilian settlements instead of military ones. However, you can eventually do so when being pursued by military helicopters, and spread great destruction over a wide area, also known as the "hit and run" tactic. However, the longer you progress in the game the more often the military will send air support and the more skilled will be their pilots. So it is recommended to attack some of the settlements listed below early in the game. This lists some of the settlements holding huge amounts of destructible objects. The list also includes info about SAM sites at the locations:

SAM sites[]

Destroying SAM sites should be any player's first priority by any means necessary if an armed helicopter needs to be used. Once destroyed, they do not respawn.

The best way to engage one via helicopter is to face it and strafe constantly while laying waste on the SAM. Any armed helicopter should make quick work of them.

If directly attacking them from air isn't an option, it's best to destroy them on the ground. Explosives and large-caliber weapons or certain armed ground vehicles are required to damage and destroy them.

It is not recommended to destroy any SAMs while taking over strongholds during faction missions. They do contribute to the amount of total destroyed SAMs, but not to settlement completion. Any SAMs that survive the takeover will turn friendly and attack enemy aircraft, and by destroying them the player will permanently miss out on their benefits.

Other items[]

Resistance will be pretty heavy if you are in a helicopter, so you may also want to consider the more subtle approach of the SAM's with the other destructibles, as well. If, however, you are in a relatively maneuverable helicopter you will outflank and outmaneuver the resistance with some ease so long as you do not fly low enough to be within range of handheld weapons such as machine guns or sniper rifles. This is because you have no limit on how often you may fire missiles and mounted guns where the AI is limited and will fire less often, giving you plenty of opportunity to rain fire upon them before they come into range and attack you.

Clean up by taking all the collectibles and you're eventually done. Repeat as necessary with base takeovers.

Consoles[]

Tip about consoles

There are three sabotage destructible objects in the game that require console(s) to be used in order for that destructible to be destroyed, being the Pipeline, Bio Fuel Shaft, and Communications Outpost.

Pipelines and Bio Fuel Shafts require a set of characters to be entered in order for the destructible to be destroyed, while the Communications Outpost consists of three consoles that just simply require a tap that will open up a tower revealing the destructible.

The most useful vehicle[]

The Rowlinson K22 is the first Black Market vehicle that the player is advised to max out the upgrades on. Once done, it becomes a very cheap yet incredibly capable workhorse vehicle, useful in an astounding number of situations. When maxed out:

  • It is fast enough to handle all of the flying challenges and the significantly better control than that of a plane will make it far easier to steer through the rings. In fact there are some situations where while running a flying Challenge you'll come close to a Colonel. Its agility means the player can easily kill the Colonel and continue on with the Challenge, while not having to worry about heat and any pursuers.
  • The high speed and control makes it very effective for scouting out locations to enable them for extract to.
  • It is by far the best vehicle to use for tracking down the faction collectable items in Panau (going after the blue dots on the map) that are on the ground.
  • It can be used to complete land/sea challenges, as they technically only require Rico to be inside a vehicle when he passes through checkpoints.
  • For a civilian location (anywhere where you don't get heat just for being there) it is excellent for carefully flying low to the ground to locate the resource items needed to complete the area, easily able to land on rather small rooftops close to the boxes for you to quickly get out and grab the box. If you're having trouble finding a flat area to land, remember that you can shoot smaller trees and bushes to knock them over and open up a flat area and as long as you don't hit any people, vehicles or government destructible objects with nearby soldiers won't bat an eye to this.
  • It is fast enough to outrun military helicopters while flying backwards and firing at them, out of their gun range. Because of the scattering of the fire you will have trouble hitting them at this range, but you could just as easily just keep flying until you're out of range enough to make the heat level drop (which, funnily enough, still has you in easy visual range of the helicopters).
  • Its machine guns are able to damage sabotage destructable objects and enemies who are normally immune to small arms fire like SAMs, statues and Colonels.

Essentially at level 6, it is maneuverable enough to take on just about anything the Panau Military could throw at Rico.

Basic overview of a civilian settlement takeover[]

Grab all the collectibles first. For stashes that might be in a cage, ram the cage gates with a car, as explosions will get you heat.

After you're done with the collectibles, feel free to use any weapons you have to destroy the sabotage destructible objects. Though, you can also place Triggered Explosives on the destructible objects, the best way is not to throw them but go stealthily and silently place the explosives on the objects. It does even work on Propaganda Trailers without getting heat, but then you have to be EXTREMELY careful, sneaking next to the trailer, to avoid getting Heat. A by far much easier way is to place the explosives on a vehicle and place it next to the trailer. It works almost always, so long as you place the explosives and not throw them.

Be aware that even so much as your presence in certain areas may attract heat before you even attempt to destroy anything. Stay away from Propaganda Trailers (If not using the tactics stated above) and fenced off Fuel Depots.

Repeat as necessary after heat is off.

Basic overview of taking out Offshore Rigs[]

All Offshore Rigs in Panau have one SAM site.

Usually the easiest to take out a rig is to circle around the platform in an armed helicopter, taking out all of the chaos objects; then landing onto the top of the rig and collecting the collectibles. Be sure to use the grappler to save time as well. The drilling tower and the Crane are both also destructible, so keep that in mind.

The rig Pelantar Minyak Gerudi Besar, west of the Lautan Lama Desert, should not be destroyed before completing the mission Black Gold, otherwise the game will glitch and softlock the mission.

Getting around Panau[]

When you want to be extracted somewhere, it has to be a discovered settlement or you will not be able to be extracted to that location. Instead you have to travel there first.

Nearly all settlements that are located near the road will notify you of being within that area and because of this, discovering roadside settlements is pretty much easy. Also some settlements actually have a road going through them. These are common as well.

When it comes down to offshore rigs and communication outposts, these are not easy to get to as these are located far away from roads. Use helicopters and parachute climbing to locate outposts and boats and helicopters to locate offshore rigs.

For travelling around on the roads or offroad, remember, most roads have cars driving up and down them so hitch a ride if you need to. If you are travelling offroad, be careful to not have a fast sports car as these are likely to spin out of control and the car will be a wreck after offroading most of the time. Get yourself a sturdy or armoured vehicle and use that instead. These last longer than normal vehicles and can take a lot more damage when tumbling down a mountain.

Travelling through the sky is the most easiest method of transport but difficult in terms of access. Military bases and airports do not take kindly to anyone other than Panauan Military setting foot on their property and will try to kill you if they find you. For combat tips see combat section (above). Getting near where the runways and hangars are should be your primary objective. Use the grappler to speed this up. Some small airports usually have little military presence within but larger airports such as Panau International Airport and Kem Udara Wau Pantas will have a considerable amount of soldiers to deal with. Grapple onto a plane that you can see and line it up to the runway. If you feel confident it know the plane will takeoff quickly, don't bother with the previous step. From there just simply fly away.

Sometimes there are unorthodox ways of travelling as well. The Hot air balloon can be used for travel albeit a slow speed makes this form of transport quite dull. Sometimes ways of travel can be dual hooking a vehicle to an AI controlled vehicle and using the un-occupied vehicle. This is usually done through something light and easy to lift such as a Titus ZJ and grappling it to one of the Aeroliner 474s at Panau International Airport.

Be on the lookout for unmarked locations and items. This includes Gas Stations, Pipelines, ruins, and dwellings (such as the ones near rice paddies in East Tanah Raya with resource items). These can be found by inspecting intersections and formations that stand out from the jungle or desert in the minimap.

Gallery of loading images[]

The pictures that the game uses while loading saved games have gameplay tips on them. Note that these were taken in the PC version and that some of the keys listed in the instructions are not default. Also, the gallery is incomplete with at least 1 rare picture still missing.

Escaping helicopters in a helicopter[]

Simply fly low going around whatever you can to break the line of sight, once you have done that keep on flying low and fast diagonally forward to the direction of the pursuing helicopter(s). If there are ground enemies then you will have to change your path accordingly. Or, far easier, you can just go full speed forward, maybe also holding the ascend button, and do so for at least 1 minute. It has proved to outrun most pursuers. This is likely to be slower though.

Entering Motorbikes[]

It's easier to use the stunt button to enter motorcycles as it acts the same as entering the bike and has a much larger radius in which you can press the button, this makes it quicker too.

See also[]

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