This guide is about breaking down game mechanics that knowing ahead of time will make the game alittle less about guessing and more about fun.

as with any guide or mod, it's only as good as the feedback provided. if you don't tell me something needs to be added, improved, or changed then it can't get better. i can handle constructive criticism

Don't do like i did, which was do every mission as a Silent Assassin ranking and not move on until then. do that after you played through the entire thing at least once, because once you master the silent assassin the levels will be sucked up of everything exciting to discover and replaying them from a different approach will seem dull. So shoot guns, and just wing it because you can replay all levels when your done anyway.

if you don't kill civilians you get a decent bonus each time you complete a mission so youll get "enough" money to get essentials. going guns blazing is harder than stealth though, so keep that in mind.

No matter how much you hate V-Sync, keep it on in this game

As it turns out, turning V-Sync off introduces game physics bugs and also breaks the ability to shoot your way out of death. During the first mission (not the tutorial) there is a narrow path, and with V-Sync off you can not squeeze through it.

Also, when Agent47 is dying his screen turns red. Indicating that this is the time to get your 3 headshots and come back to life, however if you don't have V-Sync on then the game won't always respond to the FireWeapon key and will cause you to miss your shot and die.

So you could turn it off, but I don't find the input delay to be horrible in this game, and frankly I like shooting my way out anyway.

In Blood Money you often need to get behind your target and close without being seen. To a new player the obvious way to do this is to crouch behind your target and move in on them. This is fine, execpt when the target is moving. it turns out 47 crawls slower than a person walks making moving targets hard to get behind and sedate with a syringe. You could try rushing from behind and hope they don't turn around before you can make your move. or if your stalking your prey while not crouching the target will notice you and turn around to look at you, this is nothing serious just annoying. in my experince this leaves things to chance and i don't like chance in these situations.

One cheap but legit move around some of these chances is to stand still. If you know where your target will be ahead of time, you can just stand in a spot that'll be behind your target. just watch the video below for an example

This video shows 3 ways to sneak up on and sedate or kill your target

What it mostly comes down to is master race vs. controller. On blood money the mouse is a huge advantage if you want to shoot things all gangster like. I managed to complete reqium on pro with the controller after 10 tries, getting those headshots is hard. but on pc i got it on the second try after lowering the dpi.

i have both versions of the game, and honestly the keyboard makes movement clunky. it's alot more to think about when you have 3 fingers in place just to sneak by, and it's not as smooth (meaning going from walking to running has no medium and the keys make it harder to manuver without having short interruptions in movement). i haven't tried any of the third party software apps for controller support but as long as your not trying to score 8-10 headshots with two guns that miss alot it should be a more enjoyable experience...again until you start shooting things in bad situations.

as for graphics, i have pc and 360. pc at max settings 1080p and i gotta say, the difference is mind blowing. the lighting and shadow's really have alot to say with this and it's worth getting it on pc for graphics alone. if you didn't get the pc version, the graphics are still great and as long as you don't play the pc version you would probably think it's fantastic on the 360. in normal gameplay the console version does not suffer any fps dips - until - it does that dual view thing where you see your location and your target or when a camera spots you and it shows you what the camera see's. most of which doesn't happen often unless you missed the security tape on the whitehouse mission (hated missing that tape on console version ugh)

PC has trainers for cheats when you beat the game for alittle more sandbox fun, but the console has acheivements so you have to pick which one you like more there.

for some reason cut-scenes are more grainy on my pc (used the same monitor for both systems)

When agent 47 starts to die time slows down, and your screen starts turning red. during this time you have 0 hitpoints and are basically gonna die in just a few seconds. if you manage to get 3 headshots during this time you recieve 1 hitpoint and time goes back to normal speed. you do not have to get 3 headshots in a row, and this is much easier to do on PC but with diligence possible on controller.

on the final mission you'll be in this situation, and i'm not going to tell you how to get out of it on Pro with 8 guns pointing at you but here's something vital to know about 47's dying process that i didn't already tell you. While dying, when time starts slowing down you have an infinite ammo clip until you get the third headshot or die

In this video when you hear the music slow down that means it's started and you should notice that i shot more bullets than my clip could hold

I just did alot of rigurious testing to nail some questions of my own down on this subject, and i finally have some answers

so here is what i found out, and i was suprized by the results. first the notes i gathed:

Notes:

• all the weapons suck without upgrades
  
• 1st, 3rd, and aiming down scope make zero difference in accuracy; hip fire on all weapons matches the accuracy of the attached scope. So always attach the best scope and pick your favorite style
  
• The W2000 seems to have less sway when equipped with the lightweight frame, tested with no other upgrades (didn’t really look deeply into this)
  
• Dual wielding should be used primarily for body shots, because it’s much less precise
  
• The Type 1 Scope is best used closer to the short end of a mid-range firefight, however the long barrel on the SilverBaller can get headshots on the long end of a mid-range firefight
  
  
• The player, not 47, is actually more accurate when not aiming down scope because no sway is involved
  
• Moving, turning, and shooting increase sway
  
• The Red Dot Sight on the SMG Tactical is 100% horrible in sway and should never under any circumstance ever be aimed down.
  
  
• Please see the silencers section for important details about their effect on accuracy

Conclusion:

• The SMG Tactical at it's best should never be used in more than 2-3 shot burst and at a short to medium range.

• the W2000 without Bolt Action is 100% accurate at the furthest possible distance of Hideout.

• The SilverBaller has great accuracy mid-range with long barrel. Without long barrel it's still good but at the borderline of mid-range. When Dual Wielding you must be at that borderline if you want headshots with long barrel equiped

• The M4's zoom on type 1 scope makes this a good mid-range gun and with the high damage short burst are all that's needed. remember hip fire in this game is as accurate as aiming down scope.

so i tested this more than once using non-dual SilverBaller, and the numbers provided on anything torso related are averages because they weren't very consistent. Arms, legs, and feet however were 100% consistent and provided a solid way to judge damage.

Low Velocity ammo

Is actually as quiet as a silencer. so if you want to skip the silencer upgrade in favor for the Long Barrel attachment on the Silverballer it's viable, however only if you’re doing headshots only because the damage penalty is massive.

6 shots to kill in the foot/leg/arms
The entire torso area including the back took 3-4 shots
Does not pierce at all

Magnum or Armor Piercing ammo

3 shots to kill in the foot/leg/arms
1-3 chest area
1 back
1-2 in the belly/waist area
Does pierce bodies and most other things

Neither ammo type

Damage is identical to Low Velocity ammo
Does not pierce at all

Conclusion:
Some games have choices with drawbacks, but in this case it's clear. Whether you’re playing stealth, or mowing them down in the open Magnum or Armor piercing ammo is the only way to go. The only time you should ever use Low Velocity is if and only if you want the Long Barrel upgrade for the SilverBaller because you can't attach a silencer on that gun with that upgrade. Even then if you get into a gun-fight with that ammo you will lose if it's not a one on one, and should aim for headshots only otherwise you’ll die when your reloading from making 3-4 kill chest shots.

notes:

• the horrible inconsistency from torso shots i suspect has a lot to do with the targets arms getting in the way, even when it seemed i was getting a clear shot to the chest it was still inconsistent.
  
• Tested with the SMG decked out with upgrades for precision, all 3 ammo types had no effect on accuracy or precision with either 1, 2, or 3 burst shots.

I wanted to make special mention about the W2000, it's a 1 shot kill to the foot even with Low Velocity ammo. Totally awesome, and it's pin-point accurate without the Bolt Action upgrade at insane distances.

if you upgrade the M4, you won't regret it. Make sure to get Drum Roll and the extra mags or you will regret it.

Don't ever use the shotgun, i was warned not to but i upgraded it anyway...and it was horrible. It misses in closes quarters combat with all the upgrades! truly horrible gun and will get you killed.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tested each weapon, kill numbers that aren't just one number such as "2-3" mean the results weren't 100% consistent and that was the average. that being said i didn't bother with chest shots because those have proven to be extremally inconsistent and should not be used to judge a weapons damage.

SilverBaller non-dual wield
refer to the Ammo Type section, i used that gun for those numbers.

SP12
Everything is 1-2 shots both types of ammo, with short barrel you have to be within 2 pillars not to miss, 3 without it. either way you still miss alot because of the spread and incredibly short range. this gun should be used in tight spaces and nothing else. neither of the ammo type for this gun pierce. since you can't hide this gun it makes no sense not to choose the M4 over this gun.

SMG Tactical

Magnum Ammo
5 bullets to kill in the foot/leg/arms (4 with Short Barrel)
3 in the belly (2 with short barrel)
2 in the back (1-2 with short barrel)

Low Velocity Ammo
10 bullets to kill in the foot/leg/arms (8 with short barrel)
5 in the belly (4 with short barrel)
5-6 in the back (4 with short barrel)

M4

Magnum Ammo
3 bullets to kill in the foot/leg/arms (4 with Low Velocity Ammo)
2 in the belly (2 with Low Velocity ammo)
2 in the back (2-3 with Low Velocity ammo)

There are 3 upgrades and 3 ways to silence your gun: Low Velocity ammo, Silencer Type 1 or 2, and both ammo and silencer put together.

Before i get into sound: the description on the Silencer says it reduces damage, after extensive testing i can say with confidence that it does not. Not even a little on any body part, in any way, with any ammo type or upgrade. The to Kill numbers in the Ammo Types section were exactly the same with the type 2 silencer equipped.

Sound:
As it turns outs silencing your weapon does 2 things. When you fire your gun you have two sources of sound, the first is the impact point of the bullet and the second it from the gun itself. Then to determine if your shot was heard it comes down to a set radius, if your target or anyone is near you or the impact point the shot is heard. What determines the radius depends on the upgrade you use, and testing has showed that all 3 upgrades combined with each other or not have the same impact radius . It also turns out the Low Velocity ammo and silencer do not complement each other, combining these two did not reduce either the impact nor origin of fire radius.

What this means is you should never combine the ammo with the silencer, and it means the only difference between the 3 upgrades is the origin of fire radius. LV ammo can be heard from a greater distance, Silencer Type 1 has a shorter radius and Type 2 has the shortest. The differences are significant if the area is crowded, however closed doors significantly dampen sound between rooms making even the ammo option viable. Surprisingly having your back to someone reduces the radius noticeably. If the shot is heard and their within range of your origin radius they will head in your general direction, otherwise they just look around randomly.

Note: you can shoot locked doors without being heard and they don't seem to notice it's shot

The red dot on the wall is how far Impact Radious travels to the NPC
Silencer Type 2's gunshot origin sound radius is actually as short as the impact radius itself.
Silencer Type 1 origin radius
Low Velocity ammo origin radius

Notes:

• Both Silencers but not the ammo have a strange effect on weapon accuracy. Before many precision upgrades are availible the silencers make accuracy worse, but a decked out silverballer at mid-range has decent accuracy, when i equip either silencer it suddenly has pin-point accuracy. i tested this many times to be sure, so at the very start of the game go with LV ammo and ditch the silencer until you can get Magnum/Armor Piercing rounds then switch to silencers.

Early game:
LV ammo on the left picture and silencer on the right picture

Mid to late game:
No silencer on the left picture and silencer on the right picture

Disguises, your primary weapon in Blood Money on you first playthrough. On the pro difficulty your not going to get far without them, and i'm just going to touch up on some things here.

Disguises in this game are suits, and wearing a specific suit means different things on different missions. There's only one univseral suit and that's 47 being himself. With his suit he can't walk into restricted area's without going into the yellow or red. in some places his suit gives 0 suspicion, meaning his bar is void of color (it's not green, yellow, or red) however in other places it's green.

the same is true of other disguises: most of them have area's their not allowed, some of area's the have a green bar and others don't raise the suspicion at all even when seen. there is no rule of thumb that tells you which disguises will raise no suspicion at all, but their usually the best. Some disguises that raise suspicion to green can and will slowely climb to yellow and red if one npc is within sight of you long enough, making some weapon scan points impossible to stand by and get checked out if your notoriety is anything other than 0. also, some maps are harder on disguises than others i.e. on some maps the rate at which suspicoin raises is faster than others the longer your noticed by one npc. suspicious disguises don't immediatly start climbing from green, their's a delay and that delay also various from map to map. if an npc starts noticing you because you've been standing around too long you just need to move out of their sights and when you come back 15 seconds later it'll be like you never met.

Here is a video breaking it down


if your patient you can find a way to any disguise on any map

sounds an alarm when you:

• bringing a mine out of your inventory
  
• been seen placing an item in a container

Yellow alert actions

• climbing (but maybe not always?)

i haven't tried this yet...

but it seems there is some limited support for controllers. according to this post the game supports everything but the D-pad and if you have a 360 controller the triggers don't work...

however also according to that post you can use that limited support in conjunction with a third party controller software to fill in the gaps nicely

this section is for things or thoughts i have but haven't organized, implimented, or confirmed yet. Anything with a question mark means it's not confirmed

-having an npc turn to face you because you walked to close possibly changes how long they stand at their next point ?
-sometimes i have a witness even though im sure no one seen me, so what gives
-i want to add cheat trainer links
-add a section covering basics of Silent Assasin rating, since the other guides are just major spoilers