I did use 1 upgrade early on in the game, the silencers, but these are all captured well after that, and are done with no upgrades. I also started out clearing NERO checkpoints without using any NERO Syringe perks by injecting Focus syringes, but not buying the Focus skill, which is the only way they can be used. In retrospect I could have saved the clearing of NERO checkpoints mostly for the World's End story missions, which would have also given me nearby ammo restocking lockers for some of the tougher Hordes, but I still would have been left with 2 World's End missions not completed. This is because there are 11 World's End checkpoint missions, plus the mission at the start of the game where you have to get sterile bandages for Boozer, and there are only 10 Focus syringes.
This game is also unpredictable as far as whether the percentage of completion toward killing a given Horde will reset to zero once you stray far enough to resupply ammo and grenades. For this reason I only completed the 3 hordes contained in the campaign and a few others, focusing just on the campaign ones capture wise. One of the biggest challenges of killing hordes with no upgrades is Deacon cannot reload while sprinting. I did however complete a few of the challenges, but since they can take time to get gold on each challenge contained in each challenge, and are quite arcade and can be exploited with easy cheeses, I didn't capture any.
This is the knife boss fight against the Ripper faction leader. It shows how to beat him quickly with no damage taken just by making sure you do 5 knife slashes each attack, leaving him stamina drained and open for further attacks.
This is the 1st point where I thought no upgrades might not be possible, but I sufficed by placing a couple of remote bombs, ramming him into the railing, and firing 1 shot to explode his bike. It's pretty much impossible without upgrades via chasing him down though.
This is the first Horde you must destroy in the campaign. I was able to go a little longer via stealth than I normally do, but I always break stealth when there's no more nearby propane tanks to lure them to, as it can be hard to lure a lot of them to farther ones without being spotted. I used the bike to get to a spot where I could run through buildings to slow them down, then zig zagged through the fenced area using explosive barrels.
This bike chase mission was a bit harder than the last one due to being very hard to precisely place and time remote bomb explosions. You invariably get dropped to the point of a Target Escaping warning at the start, but can make up ground just enough by taking a more direct route.
This is the second campaign Horde mission, where you need to collect fertilizer for the truck bomb. It went way faster than I thought it would. I used the bike after the first attack, to make the horde cool down, and refuel. I didn't even use all the tanker trucks I could have. I've come to find this is the easiest of the 3 hordes required for completing the campaign.
This is the 3rd Horde mission the campaign requires you to complete, and at 500 Freaks, also the biggest. It went faster than I thought it would due to using a lot of throwable weapons from a concealed spot. I however struggled as I usually do to kill as many Freaks as I wanted to with the extra large propane tank, only about a half dozen. A Reacher nearly caught and killed me at the 7:09 mark. This fight seems to almost always have a Breaker, Screamer, or Reacher lurking nearby at the start (at least on Survival II anyway). When they come midway into dealing with the horde while you're being chased though, it's extra scary.
This game is also unpredictable as far as whether the percentage of completion toward killing a given Horde will reset to zero once you stray far enough to resupply ammo and grenades. For this reason I only completed the 3 hordes contained in the campaign and a few others, focusing just on the campaign ones capture wise. One of the biggest challenges of killing hordes with no upgrades is Deacon cannot reload while sprinting. I did however complete a few of the challenges, but since they can take time to get gold on each challenge contained in each challenge, and are quite arcade and can be exploited with easy cheeses, I didn't capture any.
This is the knife boss fight against the Ripper faction leader. It shows how to beat him quickly with no damage taken just by making sure you do 5 knife slashes each attack, leaving him stamina drained and open for further attacks.
This is the 1st point where I thought no upgrades might not be possible, but I sufficed by placing a couple of remote bombs, ramming him into the railing, and firing 1 shot to explode his bike. It's pretty much impossible without upgrades via chasing him down though.
This is the first Horde you must destroy in the campaign. I was able to go a little longer via stealth than I normally do, but I always break stealth when there's no more nearby propane tanks to lure them to, as it can be hard to lure a lot of them to farther ones without being spotted. I used the bike to get to a spot where I could run through buildings to slow them down, then zig zagged through the fenced area using explosive barrels.
This bike chase mission was a bit harder than the last one due to being very hard to precisely place and time remote bomb explosions. You invariably get dropped to the point of a Target Escaping warning at the start, but can make up ground just enough by taking a more direct route.
This is the second campaign Horde mission, where you need to collect fertilizer for the truck bomb. It went way faster than I thought it would. I used the bike after the first attack, to make the horde cool down, and refuel. I didn't even use all the tanker trucks I could have. I've come to find this is the easiest of the 3 hordes required for completing the campaign.
This is the 3rd Horde mission the campaign requires you to complete, and at 500 Freaks, also the biggest. It went faster than I thought it would due to using a lot of throwable weapons from a concealed spot. I however struggled as I usually do to kill as many Freaks as I wanted to with the extra large propane tank, only about a half dozen. A Reacher nearly caught and killed me at the 7:09 mark. This fight seems to almost always have a Breaker, Screamer, or Reacher lurking nearby at the start (at least on Survival II anyway). When they come midway into dealing with the horde while you're being chased though, it's extra scary.
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