BeforeIplay: Alpha Protocol

Alpha Protocol

General Info Read This First:

-This game really works best over multiple playthroughs. You will want to do at least 2 runs with differing choices or playstyles so you can see how the game reacts. If you feel that the opening is too difficult or frustrating, try a second playthrough with what you’ve learned and you’ll breeze through things that seemed difficult the first time. (Or watch some different playthroughs and endings online. Trust me, you missed something, even if it feels like you did a 100% run.)
-The first mission area is bad. The rest of the game isn’t like that.
- Picking up Recruit for your very first run is both appropriate and not particularly hard if you choose the Recruit dialog option every time you can to get some points back. Veteran makes replays much easier, and you'll want to replay this game. Since this game’s shooting is easier than its stealth, you can also adjust your difficulty by going loud rather than frustrating yourself with stealth.
-The dialog wheel is mostly well written, so there’s no strong need to mix/max just do what you want. Some characters will obviously prefer you to use one side of the dialog wheel with them, but there are tons of curveballs. Even if Thorton says something you didn’t expect, roll with it. Adapt and improvise.
- However, the perks you get based on your handler (Mina for 90% of the game) loving/hating you are much better than the perks for them merely liking/disliking you, so you might as well push their attitude to extremes.
- Pistols are the best gun for stealth, and possibly the best overall gun. They’re this game’s sniper rifle, tranq gun, cowboy pistol, and boss killer wrapped into one. You don’t have to specialize in any gun because points only unlock activated skills, but getting a few rounds of Chain Shot will dramatically alter your game and make the mandatory boss fights easier. Level up the pistol all the way, and use chain shot to snipe enemies or gun down a whole room like a wild west movie. Especially useful as a panic button to keep mooks from raising the alarm, so keep a charge ready if you're in unfamiliar territory. Pressing E when you have Chain Shot lined up cancels the aiming without wasting it.
-Assault Rifle is the other contender for best general-purpose gun and king of damage output. It even gets (generally scarce) silenced rounds. Definitely take this as backup unless you love the Shotgun.
- On PC, if you remap the movement controls, it won't change the conversation shortcuts. They will still be on WASD. Because this game has weaker shooting, a controller is fine. TAB leads you to the map/intel/character screen, "i" leads you to inventory, "p" to your character screen. None of the above is mentioned / configurable in the controls menu
- Pump stealth until you get passive awareness. Being able to see enemies through walls changes the game.
- There are bosses that are bullet sponges. Yes it sucks. There’s a universal way to cheese hard enemies that also works on most bosses. Run up and punch them in the face to either hit them or make them block. While the combat animations run, you can still aim your reticle. Line up a headshot, and stun them if they try to attack you back. Shooting interrupts melee. The Pistol will still hit every time if you fire from the hip at point blank range, so empty your clip into their brains. Run behind cover to reload. Additional tips for bosses at bottom of guide.
- Occasionally you'll get a mission with the alpha protocol logo on it. These missions generally conclude the current portion of the storyline - complete any optional missions remaining before you undertake these.
- I'd generally recommend you explore the areas in the order of Moscow-Tapei-Rome (Rome is unquestionably the culmination of the storyline and where shit gets real) but the Moscow boss might be a bit difficult if you don't have contacts in Taipei. Remember that you can skip between areas to level up and get useful stuff. Before the final missions lock you in, explore the opening portion of all 3 cities to collect gear and contacts.
- Go here and here, make the INI fixes listed there to improve both performance and graphics.
http://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Alpha_Protocol
http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/55163-pc-known-issues-and-fixes/
- Never use Reload Last Checkpoint when you die - instead go through Load Game. Reload Last has a nasty bug associated with it. This is an RPG, keep lots of saves.

Miscellaneous Info Skip to End for Boss Fights:

- You get a chance to respec once at character creation and once when you finish Saudi Arabia, so don't stress overmuch.
- There's no reward for a pacifist / no alarms run (and in fact, both are impossible due to scripted events). Don't frustrate yourself except as a self-imposed challenge.
- You need to level at least one weapons skill, because there are quite a few unavoidable fights. Also, leveling one skill all the way up is far better than leveling two skills half-way. Your backup weapon should be just that - backup. Unless you’re late in the game with points to spare, in which case get your backup gun’s ability unlocked ASAP.
- Generic recommend: Level up Pistol if you want stealth, or Assault Rifle for attack. Shotgun and SMGs are specialty weapons which can beat most of the game, but are best saved for later runs or specific situations.
- Melee is complicated. You have to have more points than an enemy to knock them around so level up as necessary. Some enemies/bosses are immune, but melee still combos with the aiming trick above. Generally, don’t try to do a melee heavy run except for challenge.
- Don't feel compelled to max the hacking/lockpicking skill - in order to get the highest level you have to specialize in sabotage, and it's really not worthwhile. The first bonus plus an armor mod is enough to deal with anything in the game (though some of the later ones can get tricky, if still manageable). One point in sabotage so that you can bypass hacking, lockpicking and keypads with EMP grenades is useful even if you don't plan to upgrade sabotage any further.
- Some doors with the lock-picking minigame have a "break door" button above the "abort" button - use that if you don't mind raising an alarm.
- If you put medkits in different gadget slots, you can chug them down one after the other without waiting for a cooldown.
- Theoretically, if you shoot alarm panels, guys without radios can't raise an alarm. In practice, it's a bit more wonky so don’t rely on it.
- This is an RPG, not a shooter / sneaking game. Use your special abilities for the best results.
- Your best sources of money are blackmail for Halbech intel and allowing bad guys to live in exchange for bribes and/or selling trophy weapons. Still, exploring every corner of every level and hacking every computer will get you more than enough to get by.
- Save your money for gadgets and armor. Even the best weapons aren't GREATLY superior to starting weapons, while the best armor is far better than the starter set. You might want to play through a few missions with stealth in street clothes, just to learn how to avoid situations where you need to rely on your armor, but it's still highly useful. Skills:
- The pistol is the only easily silenceable weapon. Use it whenever you stealth (get the level 3 silencer from the third floor of the CIA post in Rome when that mission pops up).
- You can get headshots on enemies without popping out of cover (great on hard mode). Just center your screen on a nearby enemy, and you'll get the targeting reticule after a while (if you're close enough).
- On that note, a headshot on an enemy will make them fall even if they're not dead. Even if you're sneaking, all is not lost yet - keep your reticule trained on the guy and pop off another headshot once he stands up but before he starts firing for a stealth kill.
- Get brillance, even if you avoid the rest of the skill tree (see above about how useful limited abilities and being able to instantly re-use them is).
- SMGs: kinda suck, but work far better if you run and gun rather than stay in cover, using the special ability to deal with particularly troubling sections. Still, this means that they're very difficult to pull-off in hard mode.
- Shotguns: Unlike every other weapon, you can ready a critical hit while moving around. Just walk forward until you see a guy, then unleash a critical. If you even wing him, he'll drop down long enough for you to waltz over and stomp on him. Stomps count as a non-fatal takedowns. This doesn't work for bosses, who just flip around, but the shotgun special ability can keep them flipping for quite a while.
- Each of the three training courses in the opening chapter has a bonus mission if you ace it. To ace Parker's course, you want to avoid changing out of the hospital clothes (the quietest clothes in the game)(also useful for his follow-up mission), shut down any alarms you sound, and take down both guards. For Mina's weapons training, you want to make every shot you fire a critical for major bonuses, and miss as little as possible. All you need to do with Darcy's course is deal with all the guards.
- If you get to make a decision on whether a boss lives or dies, it will happen in a dialog scene. Don't bother with tranquilizer shots or martial arts.
- Killing mooks from a certain faction won't actually impact your reputation with that factions leaders.
- Having trouble with the final portion of the Moscow embassy mission? You can use the exit to the roof for a better vantage point (though watch out for bad guys spawning behind you) and/or be a dick to Grigori (when you first meet him), which will lead to increased embassy security.

Boss strategies/exploits:

- First AP boss: see the tower opposite of the one the boss is in? There's a sniper gun at the top, and he can't hit you with grenades. Kill the mooks, EMP the door, climb up, free boss kill.
- Moscow: When he gets coked up, he's invulnerable. Either run away until he gets tired, at which point you can unload on him, or use Shadow Operative to snap him right out of it (but you won't get the "tired" moment in that case).
- Taipei: You don't have to follow him onto the balcony - you should stick around in the corridor outside, which has better visibility, a health cabinet and into which his minions will be reluctant to follow. Also, you can use the time before the fight starts to plant some gadget traps on the walls.
- Rome: There's an obvious "pre-boss fight" section with a way to proceed to the actual fight. Before you proceed, you may as well trap the area. Also, his mooks will keep spawning in, so you may as well focus on the boss.
- Final boss: Your handler will suggest taking out the mooks and running straight for the boss - which you might as well do. The easiest way to deal with this fight is to clean out the minions, then run up the stairs all the way to a door which leads to boss room. EMP it, and the fight is practically over.