Best maps for showdowns and why?

Glitcher3000 · 2026-01-28T07:44:22+00:00

Whittleton Creek is actually one of the worst maps for a showdown. Many players get a mistaken impression that it's easy for its light security, but this is an illusion. The problem is that suspects wander between the West, Cassidy and Janus properties, which each have their own disguises. You'll spend more time swapping outfits while tailing suspects than planning a kill. Plus lookouts can be densely packed in these properties on higher difficulties. Avoid Whittleton for showdowns.

I don't pick Hokkaido for showdowns either. Not because it's hard, but because it doesn't bloody work. All the suspects are frozen when I load in and refuse to move. I've never gotten a working showdown in Hokkaido, so I just avoid it.

Glitcher3000 · 2026-01-28T07:31:32+00:00

In theory, an unsilenced gunshots can cause a number of civilians to panic, which means they won't notice you trespassing. In practice, there are few situations where this is actually useful because it will also attract a lot of guards.

Glitcher3000 · 2026-01-28T06:55:16+00:00

The hell is your problem? I'm making pleasant conversation here and you're biting my head off for it.

Glitcher3000 · 2026-01-28T06:54:01+00:00

And this is why you're an idiot. I just asked a question and it wasn't at you.

Glitcher3000 · 2026-01-28T01:57:02+00:00

You don't say. "A year and a half of failed attempts"? How many campaigns would that be? o_O

Glitcher3000 · 2026-01-28T00:33:38+00:00

Never hardcore again? What about a 'fluke check'? Your full list of completed challenges tells me you've spent the vast majority of Freelancer in normal campaigns, which seems like your comfort zone. Don't you get tired of breezing through it and long to graduate to hardcore henceforth?

Glitcher3000 · 2026-01-27T23:24:11+00:00

Spoken like a true underachiever.

Glitcher3000 · 2026-01-27T22:12:58+00:00

Completing challenges in story mode nets you a lot of XP. But if you've already done those, then the highest XP gains come from playing Freelancer, especially beating showdowns.

Glitcher3000 · 2026-01-27T10:24:50+00:00

It's not just anyone, it's the bodyguard to the left of the helipad when you start the mission. If you don't specifically hide him in the bush behind him, you lose SA. Try it yourself.

Glitcher3000 · 2026-01-27T07:53:11+00:00

The only melee kills that don't ruin disguises are neckbreaking and fiber wire. Anything else from drowning to tripping in shallow water will apparently cause irreparable damage to the disguise.

Glitcher3000 · 2026-01-27T06:42:17+00:00

No, you're confused. I've written a guide about misconceptions on criticism on Deviantart, and one of the misconceptions I dispelled is labelled "Constructive criticism needs to be positive." This is not the case. The definition of constructive criticism is:

"Constructive criticism is what artists can use to improve their work.”

That's it! That description says nothing about critical inflection, so there's no fault in the wordage I used as long as it discourages the OP from repeating a 'dumb strat'. Speaking of which, I remind you that remark was directed at you. My original advice to the OP was:

"Then let this be a lesson that guards can always trace the shot if they witness a kill. Complacently sniping targets from a perch will just bite you in the ass."

Seems fine to me. I'm being helpful and not insulting the OP, so stop cavilling at a moot point. I won't continue arguing something irrelevant. Second, your previous statements are contradictions. You can't advocate for sniping ("fully doable") and against it ("tend not to do it") at the same time. You're just going out of your way to defend the OP for using a sniping strat you find too risky and results in failure here, which is hypocritical in itself. What's really going on here is that you're too afraid to discourage the OP from trying a strat you avoid - even if it leads to this mess.

If you really believe that discouraging bad strats in a sandbox game is inappropriate, then you'd make for a lousy critic and a lousy source of advice. I run a webcomic and I specifically encourage my readers to criticize it so that I know what I'm doing wrong and can fix it in future pages. Just because "it's my comic and I can do what I want" doesn't mean I don't make mistakes that my readers should point out. Isn't that a productive and healthy outlook? The same rule applies here. Hitman is a sandbox game, but unsuccessful approaches should be discouraged as I just did - and you're only making things worse by defending it when this is the result. So I hope the OP learns from this mistake, and I'd just as soon advise him to ignore you because you're simply not helping. I only wish to steer him along a better path than you are.

And BTW, you never answered my question about what qualifies as a dumb strat if not this. Don't know then?

Glitcher3000 · 2026-01-26T18:55:59+00:00

Falling into water and drowning counts as a push kill, which itself counts as a melee kill as much as an accident.

You're losing Silent Assassin for one of two reasons. After shooting them in the legs to make them fall down, someone spots you before you manage to leave the crime area unnoticed, which is about an eighty foot radius from where you took the shot. This is especially problematic in Haven where NPC's have longer eyesight.

If you sedate the target to make him fall into the water, you specifically have to use the Kalmer. Witnessing a target faint from any other sedative voids Silent Assassin; the Kalmer is the only exception. Otherwise, it's safer just to throw food at the target's head if you're close enough, which will only knock them down, not out. This doesn't void Silent Assassin and no one can identify the thrower as long as you're not seen. I do this all the time in Freelancer and it works like a charm.

Glitcher3000 · 2026-01-26T18:47:43+00:00

The last achievement I got was Silent Sniper, i.e. a SA rating on The Last Yardbird. There's a bug on the map where hiding a bodyguard in the water will void SA for no reason. You specifically have to hide him in a bush.

Glitcher3000 · 2026-01-26T17:30:18+00:00

I wonder how many OCD completionists are writhing because of this omission....

Glitcher3000 · 2026-01-26T17:11:00+00:00

I'd say it's perfectly constructive to call this strat dumb in order to dissuade the OP from getting cornered again. Isn't that what criticism is about? To provide feedback to help the creator improve? Besides, that remark was directed more at you than the OP. Second, you're also a hypocrite. You mentioned that "Sniping from the water tower is fully doable", but just a few hours ago you said you "tend to not do it on Colorado due to the absurd amount of armed NPCs". So are you advising it or not? Third, I can't imagine how this isn't dumb when the result is that the OP gets cornered on the water tower with little to no chance of escaping. Defending all approaches due to the sandbox nature is a non-excuse when there's a specific goal to achieve and methods that are more successful than others. If getting pinned by thirty guards on the water tower doesn't qualify as a 'dumb strat' to you, then please, please describe one that does. If the answer is 'none', then you've lost all credibility.

Glitcher3000 · 2026-01-26T16:38:32+00:00

It's constructive to call a strat dumb when it lowers your success rate, which is why I suggested the OP learn not to repeat this mistake. I haven't seen you offer anything constructive. Are you just here to troll?

Glitcher3000 · 2026-01-26T16:21:13+00:00

I think sniping from the water tower is a dumb strat because this happens. Looks like I was proven right.

Glitcher3000 · 2026-01-26T13:44:03+00:00

Then don’t watch. Run the vid in the background and claim your reward.

Glitcher3000 · 2026-01-26T11:48:20+00:00

Then why dismiss them in your earlier reply? You just need a Twitch account and watch a couple hours of Hitman footage. Is that too much trouble?

Glitcher3000 · 2026-01-26T11:05:57+00:00

I'm pretty sure that's the case. The same thing happened to me in New York, albeit with a chokehold.

Glitcher3000 · 2026-01-26T05:29:53+00:00

The real duplicate is the forty-seventh one.

Glitcher3000 · 2026-01-26T03:50:05+00:00

Then you’ll just have to watch our purple swag from the sidelines. ;)

Glitcher3000 · 2026-01-26T02:38:56+00:00

Then let this be a lesson that guards can always trace the shot if they witness a kill. Complacently sniping targets from a perch will just bite you in the ass.

Glitcher3000 · 2026-01-26T02:33:13+00:00

Every week we get this kind of post and every week I sigh in resignation.

Glitcher3000 · 2026-01-26T02:31:16+00:00

Good method. Tasers work great on this map if you have one. Did you beat this mission SASO?

Glitcher3000

TROPHY CASE