***IMPORTANT***
Due to the announcement that Sword With Sauce will no longer be in development, this guide is also reaching the end. With no new updates bringing us content to add to this guide, my attention has been turned to other games. This means, aside from little updates every so often to minor details, this guide is finished. Thank you all for your support for me and Diatonic Muffin and I hope you all will join me in wishing them the best.

The golden rule: It's all about having fun.

If there is any information that we have missed, please let us know. We want to be able to give you guys as accurate a guide as we can. Leave a comment to help us to help you, We'll even give you a shout out for your advice! (If you don't want the shout out make sure to let us know).

Make sure to keep an eye on the update dates and times for this guide. We're constantly updating things all around and, if you're not paying attention, we might sneak in some information updates. We've had people comment before on stuff that we'd already changed.

We delete comments that contain tips and tricks after we add the info in an effort to organize ourselves. If you want to say something like "OMG You are soooo awesome!" and you also want to inform us of the proper use of some gadget that we suck at using, make sure you leave them as separate comments. Please note that we are only deleting these types of comments and everything else will be left alone. (so stop messaging me saying that I delete random stuff, because I don't.) If we do leave a comment containing tips and tricks it is because said comment sparked a conversation and deleting it would make reading the conversation awkward and/or difficult.

We do not just copy and paste comments, and we certainly do not post information that we have not personally seen and tested multiple times. If this is ever not the case, which it rarely isn't, we will expressly write in what we didn't test and why we didn't test it.

I (Lovable Viking) don't typically accept friend requests unless I've played a game with you. That's just a personal rule so if you've sent me one and I've denied it don't be sad. On the flip side of that, if you play a game that I own I'm more than happy to play that game with you.

Also, don't forget to throw us a thumbs-up if you found the guide helpful. ^.^

Feel free to also comment your own builds for each mode/map. Make sure to include why you choose what you do.

https://discord.gg/EH8DD3d

The link above is for the official Sword with Sauce discord chat. Please read the chat rules. A copy of them can be found below.

#1. Please don't harass people. Jokes are all in good fun, but if you're pushing someone's buttons and they're telling you to stop, just let it go.

#2. No NSFW, NSFL, or otherwise illegal content. If you're into freaky illegal stuff, please take it to DMs.

#3. If you're gonna fight, which is more than likely inevitable, please take it to DMs. Otherwise the whole chat will just spiral out of control.

#4. If you need help, the moderators are your friends. Simply @Swords and our online moderators will hopefully be of use to you.

#5. Sword With Sauce speedruns can be submitted to http://www.speedrun.com/sws
#5.5 If you need your Sword With Sauce speedrun to be verified, simply @Speedrun Connoisseur and he'll help you out.

This guide works hard to maintain up to date information on all the features of Sword with Sauce. I am constantly updating and adjusting both minor and major aspects of my guide, so if there's something that you want to know about that I haven't posted about just drop a comment and I'll get to it as soon as possible.

I will NOT be attempting to create a section for the map creator. I am, sadly, too busy at this time. Trying to attend school and run a business is no simple feat.

We recently hit 3000 unique visitors. Thanks for all the support!

Alpha 2.3.2
OCTOBER 8 - DIATOMIC MUFFIN
Custom Level Editor Grouping and Steam Workshop item protections.

Fixed Steam workshop Update function, new grouping mechanics, flight controls for the editor and Protection for workshop content creators by tracking the original creator and preventing copy-cats.

----------Protecting Workshop Content---------

All Workshop Items uploaded/Updated before this updated are currently un-protected and can be copied. To fix this simply update your workshop item with in the game. This can be as easy as downloading your item from the workshop then creating a copy and then Updating the item.


Updated Steam Workshop Item Protection
Workshop items will now track the original content creators and prevent anyone from uploading copied items. That means in order to upload an item to the workshop it must have been created by you. If you have downloaded someone elses item through the workshop and then created a copy you will not be able to upload it no matter how much you have edited it.

Custom Level Grouping!
In the custom level editor the player will now be able to Shift select multiple Items and Ctrl Select to de-select them. While you have multiple items selected you can Group or un-group them using the buttons on screen or the a hotkey (Default= "G"), to un-group with the hotkey just hold down shift. While holding multiple items a new window will appear called the Oultiner which will show you all the items you have selected as well as all the groups they belong to. You can also select items from the Outliner.

New Editor Flight and menu Interaction
Along with the new multiple selecting and editing functionality comes an easier way to move the editor around while keeping items selected. Holding down the right mouse button will give the player control to move the editor WHILE keeping the menus open and items selected. To hide the editor menus simply press the right mouse button without holding it down.


Minor Changes:

- "Custom Games" option from the forge has been re-named to Gamemode Editor.
- Selecting Custom Gamemodes with restricted loadouts will remove loadout visibility
- Fixed update steam workshop item bug fix
- Name change "Run" Changed To "Sprint"
- AI pathing sometimes not working in custom levels bug fixed
- Loading screen visual for custom levels.
- Custom level Default weapon mesh bug fix
- Removed scale restrictions. X,Y,Z scaling now separately edited for all basic shapes

Alpha 2.3.0 and Price Change
SEPTEMBER 22 - DIATOMIC MUFFIN
Price change and new Workshop filters, rating buttons and more options in the level editor.

New items added in the level editor as well as a few more option to change including larger scales, UI rotation handles and block types. The workshop page also gets an update with new filters to search by, rating buttons in game and more stats visible.

Following the last big update of the level editor Sword With Sauce will be increasing in price. The price will be going from $3(USD) to $6(USD). If you already own the game on steam you will NOT have to pay anything more. This price change will only affect people who do not already own the game. Price change will take affect in couple of days.

Steam Workshop Page Updates

- Workshop Filters Added
- workshop rating buttons now work
- Subscriber count now visible
- last date updated visible

Level Editor Updates

- Increase Scale options up to 100
- Increased Actors limit for all items. Cube limit increased from 400-2000
- Click and drag check option
- Glass added
- Rocks added
- Block Types option added
- UI Rotation wheels can now be used to adjust rotation
- Rotation limit extend to -720 - 720
- Using UI translations will now show used direction

Bug Fixes

- Workshop items loading duplicates bug fix
- Selecting item not showing correct menu tab bug fix
- Survival spawner enemy type bug fix

Alpha 2.2.1
SEPTEMBER 19 - DIATOMIC MUFFIN
Bug Fixes

Following the recent update a few bugs have shown up, this is just a quick patch to fix them.

- Misclicking in advanced menu no longer selects the background
- Secondary colour bug fix
- Rotation bug fix
- scrolling with menu open won't change editor speed
- Visible kill boxes in default maps bug fix
- Atrium Doors bug fix

Alpha 2.2.0
Sword With Sauce: Alpha - Diatomic Muffin Map Editor! as well as a few bug fixes.

Thank you all for your patience in waiting for this new update, I know it has been awhile but I wanted to make sure everything worked and was as smooth as possible.

The new map editor option is now available! which means so is the tab in the workshop page. Create, edit and share your own custom maps which can be as large or as small as you like. The boundary sizes for the custom map is far larger than any of the maps already available.

Editor
In editor mod you can place and edit almost everything in your custom map. This includes position, rotation, scale, colour and certain advanced options for specific items. Decide what enemy spawns where, what type of doors you want and whether they are locked and if they start open or closed. Place various weapons around the map and even boundary boxes which can be set to allow for parkour for smoother wall running on more detailed surfaces.

Basic shapes
A variety of basic shapes are available which can all be scaled and coloured how ever you like for a huge variety of different level designs.

Enemies
Place where enemies spawn, which type of enemy it is and decide whether to have them stand still, wander around or follow a specific patrol pointed path.

Patrol points can be placed around the map and used for multiple enemies. Once an enemy has been allocated to it a small blue line will appear showing the path the enemy will follow. Once an enemy has reached the last patrol point it will walk back to its starting position and then repeat.

Survival game modes
Custom maps also support survival game modes. Place survival spawn points around and decide what types of enemies can/will spawn from each.

Then place re-stock pod locations and decide what angle to have them fly in from, just make sure there is nothing blocking their path.

Minor Updates and bug fixes
-An error will appear if you try to upload a workshop item that has the exact name as an item you have already uploaded.
- Death crab pick up bug fix
- Drone sometimes not recieveing look input bug fix
- Weapon grab assist cleaned up
- New loading icon on the steam workshop page.
- slight resizing on workshop page

Alpha 2.1.1 / Future update note
JULY 29 - DIATOMIC MUFFIN
Quality of life and player HUD update. Also a quick future update note

Mainly a patch to clean up and fix most bugs as well as create a smoother gameplay experience.

Future update
Everyone has now gone from "Will there be multiplayer" to "When will there be multiplayer" and the quick answer is I can't say when. Multiplayer is a HUGE thing to add into any game and will take a lot of time. I can say for the future though the next big update will be the level editor and once that is in place then work on multiplayer will begin.



Updates
- update HUD to show both weapon and gadget
- damage modifier effects sword,fist,shield and sniper impact force
- Crouching will cancel sprinting and sprinting will cancel crouch
- New key re-bindings now show up correctly in game
- updated drone HUD
- increased vision goggles distance by 25%
- can now mark enemies through walls with vision goggles on (But reduces mark distance to only highlighted enemies)
- New marker sound


Bug Fixes
- Boomerang and death crab not damaging enemy bug fix
- Headkill visual bug fix
- Wall running leaning bug fix
- Steam VR headset incorrectly opening bug fix

Alpha 2.1.0
JULY 27 - DIATOMIC MUFFIN
Workshop Item updater, bug fix and toggle crouch

Workshop and custom game editor

Following the last update there is now a button to update your workshop items in game.

There is also a restriction on custom games just being uploaded to the workshop with a name containing "Customgame". All workshop items containing the word "Customgame" will no longer show in the workshop window and you will be unable to upload an item in game with that name. This is to avoid spamming of custom games that lack any changes.

Lastly, Custom game editor window now has a prompt that will appear when there are un-saved changes to your custom game which should help make things a lot clearer.

Bug fix and settings added

- Bug fixed where having the hook equipped would stop the player mid air
- Toggle crouch setting added back into the game
- Workshop Items now have the owners name appear correctly

Alpha 2.0.0!
JULY 23 - DIATOMIC MUFFIN
A whole new menu layout, Revised settings options and Steam workshop!

The biggest and most apparent change to 2.0.0 will be the menu layout and options menu.

The new layout allows for a whole new system in place that now offers multiple game modes and loadouts to be created and shared, as well as room to grow for multiplayer and custom maps.

The settings menu has been completely re-designed to offer even more settings including windowed modes and V-sync.

Major changes

- Menu layout is now much more compatible with most common monitor sizes.
- New settings options added as well as the ability to change them in game
- Multiplayer loadouts with custom naming
- Multiplayer Game modes with custom naming
- Steam workshop available through the game client.


Settings Updates

The way the game handles settings has been completely changed to now be much more reliable and offer even more options as well as adding the ability to change them in game.

- Settings menu now available through pause screen
- Added extra audio channel that effects the interface sound
- Better Resolution options
- Added Windowed and windowed full screen (Border-less) option
- Added gamma and brightness slider
- Added V-sync option
- Changed sensitivity to effect X and Y axis independently
- Changed keybinding to have only 2 available inputs for each
- Added Show timer option to settings


Custom Game modes and steam workshop update

- Added the ability to create multiple custom game modes
- New settings for game modes including custom naming
- Upload and subscribe to items in the workshop in game


Minor Changes

renamed crab and throwing stars
renamed throwing knife to throwing stars
Changed insane mode to not tag last 10 enemies
Rifle Accuracy Increased
Drone spotting accuracy increased
weapon de-spawn time increased
Hooking the drone bug fixed
Exo-knife bug fix
Updated loading screen to show Map and Game mode
Difficulties now available for Ninja mode
Tutorial Sniper Scope bug fix

Alpha 1.6.1 Patch Fix
JUNE 14 - DIATOMIC MUFFIN
Following the last update certain settings weren't loading correctly, most specifically the "Easy" game difficulty was at times failing to load and ended up loading a mix of insane and medium...

All difficulty settings now load correctly as well as a few tweaks to spawn locations on the temple map.

Alpha 1.6.0
JUNE 13 - DIATOMIC MUFFIN
New map, custom game settings, updates and bug fixes.

New Map - Temple!

Custom Game Difficulties:
Added 3 custom game difficulties to adjust from the level selection screen. Currently the settings only affect the enemies but more settings will be added soon.

Bug fixes:
Exo-knife bug fixes
Gadget switching while scoped bug fixed
Destruction Disc made much more reliable
Fixed the play rotation getting stuck bug

New options:
Timer option added to options screen to either show or hide the timer during the game.

Updates:
Thrown guns (rifle, shotgun, bow and sniper) now deal damage.
New timer added during game and post level screens.
Difficulty and game mode now appear on the post level screens.

Alpha 1.5.7
MAY 16 - DIATOMIC MUFFIN
Mostly a behind the scenes update with bug fixes, new Hotkeys and new gadgets.

Bug fixes
Can no longer get stuck inside of cranes on harbor level
Deflecting bullets now works point blank
Door functionality cleaned up
Wall running now works with rebound key
More spelling mistakes fixed
Hopefully mouse locking to the middle of screen has stopped. ( can not be certain though)
Picking up arrow no longer crashes the game.
Sniper zoom throw bug fixed.

New options
Resolutions re worked to include all available for your display.
Fov Slider
New Hotkeys for each gadget (1-8)
Weapon to gadget can now switch back and forwards by tapping the Gadget key
The Drone can can now be picked up

3 new gadgets

I.D.S
Activate the IDS to become temporally invisible. Be careful as you Will still make sound and can not use other gadgets or weapons while stealth. Only works on enemies who are NOT Cautious or Alerted and aren't currently spotting the player.

Boomerang
Once thrown it will fly forwards damaging all enemies it hits before eventually returning to the player. Hold down "Left Action" to throw it further. Will get stuck in walls.

Freezer
Hold to throw. On impact will freeze all enemies for 30 seconds.
Will explode on impact, freezing all nearby enemies for 30 seconds. Hold down "Left Action" to throw it further. (Duration reduced to 10 seconds for Insane mode.

Alpha 1.5.4
APRIL 6 - DIATOMIC MUFFIN
Small update that focuses on the detection status, the AI, a new enemy and new difficulties.

New Difficulties:

New difficulties added to both Normal and Survival modes.

Easy - Inaccurate enemies, damage taken being significantly lower and enemies dying from taking much less damage

Medium - No real change to damage taken or enemies aiming accuracy.

Hard - Enemies take less damage while dealing more and being more accurate. Some weapons and gadgets will not kill instantly unless you aim for the head.

Insane - Enemies deal a ton more damage while being incredibly accurate and taking very little damage. Most weapons and gadgets will not kill instantly unless you aim for the head. Some gadgets have their affect reduced as well.

New Enemy:

The Sniper will hold down a position while scoping out the area. While undetected the sniper can see no further than any other enemy how ever once they are cautious/alerted they have no limit to their range. If the player ever gets to close to them, they will run away. The sniper will also appear in survival mode, sometimes spawning at much higher up locations.

Undetected - Cautious - Alerted:

Changed the status of the games detection to now mean-
Undetected = No one knows you are around
Cautious = At least one enemy knows you are around but can not see you
Alerted = At least one enemy can see you

Minor Changes:

Wall jumping tweaked slightly to launch the player more forward and less sideways.

Using Throwing Knifes against a window will no longer crash the game.

Alpha 1.5
March 22 - Diatomic Muffin

Updated parkour, gadgets, a new map and weapon as well as a few more changes here and there.

Major Updates:

- New map - Atrium!
- all new icons for parkour
- Wall running now sticks to wall
- Ledge climbing now puts you on the ledge
- New weapon - Sniper
- New gadgets - sniper & shotgun ammo
- Shotgun is now a main weapon and can be selected from the menu
- Pistol now has suppressor attached
- "poll-o-matic" changed to "Destruction Disc"
- Bloom and motion blur settings added
- Toggle crouch added
- "AGAIN" now re spawns you from the last place you touched ground.

Minor Updates:

- Crouch walk speed increase
- Crouch transition speed increased
- Can now hit dead bodies with swords for more blood!
- Hook range increased
- Hook now climbs ledge after finished
- various tweaks to hook to be more consistent
- Detection removed from: coma darts, throwing knifes, Headkill, Sticky lightning, destruction disc
- Spinning death detection level lowered
- Dragging bodies now a lot tighter and slows the player less
- Can now drag weapons
- Picking weapons up is now a little more forgiving
- Falling executions happen instantly and don't require sword
- Grabbing sword out of bodies no longer crashes the game
- placing Headkill time lowered

Alpha 1.4 Is Now Live!

February 5 - Diatomic Muffin


There are now more settings to change as well as custom keybindings and a handful of other fixes and tweaks here and there.

1.4 updates:

--All settings, controls, gadgets, weapon, map and game mode changes will now stay saved.

More Settings!

- Resolution setting added
- Key rebinding added
- Mouse sensitivity option added
- Mouse Inverted option added

Other changes:

- Main menu resized to fit better with most display ratios
- Drone spotting will now "spot" all enemies visible after a short delay
- All gadgets and weapons can be thrown outside of the map
- Updated arrows to hopefully be more accurate and hit their targets
- slightly decreased the damage enemy bullets deal. 17 -> 13
- Did you know dieing has nothing to do with death?

These things are worth noting before stepping into a game:

Alert status now (version 1.5.4) refers to individual enemies and is treated a bit differently now. As far as Ninja mode is concerned, however, nothing is different.

Alert status doesn't really matter unless you are playing the Ninja Mode. Don't worry too much if you've managed to raise yourself to yellow or red alert in Normal or Survivor mode... In fact, if you play survivor mode you are pretty much guaranteed to hit red.

Getting yourself into yellow alert will make enemies that have noted your presence patrol new paths and become slightly less predictable.

Physics affect gadgets and weapons differently. Some thrown gadgets experience no drop while others can drop so severely that you blow yourself up. (I'll make another section to list which are which later)

There are 3 different kinds of gadgets: Passive, Toggled, and Deployable. Passive gadgets are orange and include all the ammo varieties and the exo-knife. These do not require you opening the equipment radial to use. Toggled gadgets currently only include the 2 varieties of mask. Their effects are toggled on and off from the radial. The deployable gadgets are white and include everything else. These are activated by selecting them from the radial menu and then pressing either the left and/or right mouse button.

Thanks to the new (version 1.5.4) difficulty settings the AI can be set to really stupid or really OP. Now everyone can stop complaining ^.^ (ps: they probably won't, people like to hate)

"Whatevs" points out that crouching allows you to balance on smaller ledges.

When you are finished using your gadget and want to pull out your weapon again tap Q

As of 1.6.0 throwing your ranged weapons (rifle, sniper, shotgun, and bow) now deals damage to the enemies they hit.

The game features customizable difficulty settings. As of 2.1.1 these customizable settings include a lot of stuff. The easiest way to tell you is to show you.

Head Kill:
Trap placed on any flat surface that will instantly kill the first enemy to walk in front of it.

Black Hole:
The pocket sized Black Hole will, after a short delay, suck in all surronding things for a brief amount of time.

Destruction Disk:
Throw out a small disk which will land on any flat surface. Will cause a small explosion once triggered that will launch the enemy into the air.

Clean:
Clean up those unfashinable blood stains and avoid detections

Coma Dart:
Small dart that will immediatly immobilize a target. Warning: if target is not hit directly in the head or body, affect will not be instant and you may get detected.

Death Crab:
Release a crab which will hunt down the nearest enemy and blow their stupid little head off.
Remember: Crabs can't open doors.

Drone:
Once set loose the drone can be controlled to fly around and 'spot' targets.

Exo-knife:
Add the ability to sneak up behind enemies and silently kill them. Press your "interact" key when you see the icon appear.

Gas Mask:
Used to avoid all harmfull toxic and/or poision that may be in the air.

Gas Grenade:
The Gas Grenade will continue to release toxic gas for 30 seconds immediately dropping anyone that walks through it.

Vision Goggles:
basically X-Ray googles that highlight enemies.

Hook:
A grappling hook to reach those high up spots or a handy tool to grab any weapons that are lying around.

Impact Grenade:
Hold down to charge up and throw the grenade further. Will explode on the first thing it contacts.

Sticky Lightning:
Will stick to the first thing it lands on. Once activated will electrocute and immobilize all targets in a small radius. Makes no noise.

Pistol:
Additional little side arm to help out. Works like other weapons but cannot be thrown and has an attached suppressor for minimal sound detection.

Pistol Ammo:
2 extra mags for the pistol.

Machine Gun Ammo:
2 extra mags for the Machine Gun.

Sniper Ammo:
2 extra mags for the Sniper

Shotgun Ammo:
12 extra shells for the Shotgun

Quiver:
Used to store up to 30 arrows.
**Make sure to also equip the bow by selecting the weapon inside the gadget wheel.

Spinning Death:
After a short delay it will fly forwards until there is an enemy nearby for it to kill.

Throwing Stars:
Small blade that will instantly kill an enemy if hit in the head.

Freezer:
Will explode on impact, freezing all nearby enemies for 30 seconds. Hold down "Left Action" to throw it further.

I.D.S.:
The Invisibility Device Switch will cloak the holder for 10 seconds (10 second cool down). Only works on enemies who aren't alerted, cautious or detecting the player.

Boomerang:
Once thrown it will fly forwards damaging all enemies it hits before eventually returning to the player. Hold down "Secondary Action" to throw it further.

I guess the easiest way to do this is in the same order as before.


Head Kill:
The Head Kill is a nice trap. I use it to keep choke-points (narrow areas) clear of hostiles. For the city map this means places like stairwells, for the mansion any hallway could be considered a choke-point, and for the harbor the best place to throw them is on the corners of crates.
Note: The Head Kill does raise your alert level to yellow if an enemy comes across it and does not get immediatly killed.

Black Hole:
The Black Hole is a thrown gadget that, when it activates, completely consumes any enemy (or player) within range. Lovely for taking care of tightly packed groups.
Thank you "Dexx Torress" for letting me knw that the Black Hole does NOT raise alert level, quote "provided you can suck in everyone in the radius." "OPswinger" tells me that the Black Hole also sucks up corpses, meaning that on Ninja mode this can be a great tool to use in combination with Clean to keep enemies unaware of you.

Destruction Disk:
"Communist Banana" gave me a hand with this one. In his/her words: "The Destruction Disc requires the enemy to stand on the gadget, causing it to explode. Not useful for stealth, but its basically a more lethal head kill with area damage. Does apply blood, if indoors to the roof, not sure otherwise. Does not immediately alert, but does make nearby enemies cautious." "Communist Banana" also would like to point out that the disk does NOT shatter glass.

Clean:
This is a pretty decent tool for keeping your alert level down. Any bloodstains can be cleaned up with this tool, but it doesn't help much if you forget to move the body.

Coma Dart:
Coma Darts come in a set of 10 darts that kill a enemy in one shot no matter where it hits them (death effect is not immediate if you hit arms or legs though). They are completely silent too, and no bloodstains! They can even be thrown through windows for now (thanks "Hektor" for reminding me to say that), but if you hit a wall they visibly stick out giving a little danger in Ninja Mode if you miss the shot.


De-crab-itation:
These little guys are wonderful at patrolling small enclosed areas (such as the City map's stairwells). They do explode quite loudly however, so they will raise your alert level if any enemies are within ear-shot.

Drone:
My best friend. The camera is a bit weird to controll, but this is an invaluable tool for spotting enemies in the open. On the Mansion map they are not as useful since most enemies are inside, but on City and Harbor the Drone can spot most enemies on the map.
Note: Enemies seeing the Drone does not alert them, but if you fly too close the noise will. (It's weird, I know)

Exo-knife:
This is the gadget altervative to the Sword weapon. This gadget allows for silent kills, with no bloodstains, so long as you approach crouched and from behind. The main use of the exo-knife is during Ninja missions due to it's silence and fewer bloodstains. I only truly find it useful in Ninja mode however. This is because the player MUST be pretty much touching the enemy, and be directly behind them, to even hope to use it. I imagine future updates will fix it, but for know I find it only truly viable for Ninja mode.


Gas Mask:
As of yet, no enemies use gas weapons against you so this is only useful if you carry gas grenades yourself. It'll completely protect you, but will slightly obscure your vision and turn your view green.
Note: Remember to equip it from the radial menu, it does not come pre-equiped.

Gas Grenade:
This is an amazing tool for slaughtering large numbers of enemies in a relatively large radius. Just remember to have a Gas Mask so you don't accidently kill yourself.

Vission Goggles:
These are an alternative for the Drone. The vission goggles can be used anywhere and they provide a whole new level of awareness. They allow you to see enemies through walls which is an amazing thing if you are worried about being flanked. In the close quaters areas, which includes pretty much all of the Mansion map, this tool out performes other visibility gadgets every time.

Hook:
While I believe the Hook should have a system like that of "Worlds Adrift", though the Hook is still a great mobility tool. If you are a player that enjoys taunting enemies that can't hurt you then this is totally for you. "Zeta 014" reminded me that the Hook can also be used to grab weapons off the ground from a distance and is helpful in hiding them away. Smaller weapons are harder to grab, for obvious reasons. "W1fi" points out that grappling to the ground will allow you to land silently, which means that the Hook's viablility in Ninja Mode is much greater than I once thought.


Impact Grenade:
Impact Grenades are pretty standard issue in shooters. Point, throw, boom. Immediatly raises alert level if any enemies are in ear-shot... but honestly if you're using grenades you don't care.

Sticky Lightning:
I love the Sticky Lightning. This gadget is completely silent, so far no enemies have ever noticed it, and it hits area effect on command. It's a great room-clearing tool for my fellow Ninja Mode players.

Pistol:
The Pistol is a gadget version of the Rifle, though it has a smaller clip and only fires semi-auto. As of 1.5.0 the pistol has a silencer (sound suppressor) to reduce the detection range from the sound of firing. This makes the pistol much more viable in Ninja mode, so long as you aim for headshots.

Pistol Ammo/Machine Gun Ammo/Sniper Ammo/Shotgun Ammo:
In the effort of saving space I count these as one. Extra ammo is important if you are planning prolonged fire-fights. This pretty much means they're for Survivor Mode. I have no real reason for carrying extra rounds in Normal mode because each enemy gun comes with 30 rounds for rifles, and 6 for shotguns and snipers. The Pistol is not used by enemies so don't expect to pick up one from them.

Quiver:
This goes right along with the Bow. I wrote everything about it down in the "Non-gadget Weapons" section.

Spinning Death:
The Spinning Death is a target-tracking throwing knife that is guaranteed to get a headshot and instant-kill if it finds a target. It only comes with 6 blades though (compared with the throwing knife's 20). I belive it is also a silent weapon. Thank you "Queq" for letting me know the number of blades had changed since last update.

Throwing knife:
If you ever want to feel like a true Ninja, use these. They come in a set of 20 and instantly kill a target if you hit their head (anywhere else and they'll only get injured and raise your alert level). They are a completely silent gadget, just don't go smashing windows with them.

Freezer:

The Freezer is actually much more useful than it would first appear. This gadget allows you to freeze all enemies in a given radius without raising detection level. This means that grouped up enemies can be killed with ease without risk to your ninja name. This makes close-quarters maps like the mansion a breeze, but be warned: this effect does not travel through walls and floors so make sure you're covering your back. Another benefit is that, unlike most area effect weapons in this game, the freezer can be thrown right at your feet with no worries.The freezer will not stop blood from going out of the body.Just remember that when 30 seconds is up the guards you froze are not going to be happy about their newly acquired frostbite. This gadget also DOES make noise, so you're not 100% safe using it, just mostly safe.

I.D.S.:
A useful gadget in its own right, the I.D.S. grants the user invisibility. The devs (dev? I don't know if there is more than one, haven't done my research yet) patched out alot of my personal greivances with this gadget making it very useful in the field, and actually quite flexable. "GABO" wanted to say, likely in response to complaints by players, that when you are using the IDS you should be crouching so as not to make noise, the invisiblility works just fine. Upon my own testing of the device I also noted that, while crouching stopped all player-made walking noise, you can still be detected by walking into a guard (seems obvious, but there are games that lack that simple mechanic). The use of the exo-knife is also not restricted while the IDS is active affording the player more options for killing guards that like to sit in corners looking out.

Boomerang:
You know everything you love about the Shield? The ability to throw it long distances, the amazing multi-kills, the phenomenal slaughter (What? Did you think the shield was just there to keep you safe?). This new gadget covers all of that with the added bonus of returning to its rightful owner. As of recently the boomerang has become a gadget I almost always use in my normal and survival games.

There are currently 6 non-gadget weapons, all of which you can equip before the match. They are the Sword, the Bow, the Shield, the Rifle, the Sniper, and the Shotgun.


The Sword is a melee weapon that kills silently but leaves bloodstains. If you right click you can block incoming attacks (including bullets). Pretty fun and a classic choice. Pressing r (like any weapon) will throw it, but you can actually kill people by throwing the sword at them, which is super fun. According to "to Shpee or Not to Shpee" the sword does not block shotgun fire. (A litte clarification here. The sword does block some shotgun pellets, but since they are in a tight cluster there is not enough time to hit all the pellets away. You can still avoid some damage by blocking. Thank you "King Banana XXII" for pointing this out.) For an added bonus "SpadraigGaming" says that if you drop onto an enemy from above with the sword equiped that you can press 'e' and stab them. He says it looks awesome, and I'll definatly be giving it a try. "Fiddle Frick McCree" adds that the sword can also be thrown into a wall and used like a Pole-o-matic, something which sadly no longer exists in Sword with Sauce.


The Bow is a silent ranged weapon, but requires you to sacrifice one gadget slot to equip its arrow quiver. A decent choice for Ninja Mode, if you are a good shot (I suck at shooting). You need to right click (and hold) to "ready arrow" otherwise it won't fire. This weapon comes with 30 arrows ("Yojimbo Mcdazleburger" would like to remind you that you only get one quiver) and can one-shot enemies if you hit their head or body. Legs and arms will not cause one-shot kill. It's a great choice for somebody just starting out, but should be replaced with other weaponry if you actually want a challenge. This may be a glitch with the bow's mechanics but "ABadlyDrawnCoke" and "LegoCollecter14" found that shooting arrows in close proximity to a wall would allow said arrow to phase through the wall completely allowing for cover-penetrating kills.

The Shield is a very versatile "weapon". You may not expect it, but the shield is actually a great choice for clearing out rooms. You can use the shield to block bullets and sword attacks and you can also throw it Captain America style. When blocking bullets, the bullets ricochet off your shield which can lead to enemies accidently shooting themselves, which is hilarious. (Does that make me sound like a bad person?) "to Shpee or Not to Shpee" also wanted to mention that bullets do sometimes pass through the shield. "Squiddythegod101" added that, when using the shield, you can still be hit in the legs so you should crouch down when under fire and put yourself against a wall or similar barrier to avoid being flanked. "Ponda Baba" tells me that the shield does not protect you against sniper shots, so always be looking for that tell-tale red laser. "GABO" pointed out that the shield does not leave bloodstains so it may be a suitable replacement for the sword in Ninja mode. "GABO" also pointed out that there is a slight delay between when you hit the attack button and when your character actually deals damage. It's not a major delay, but one that could cause trouble in Ninja mode if not timed right.

The Rifle and Shotgun are very similar. They are loud, bloody ranged weapons useful for wiping hords of enemies. They can be aimed by holding the right mouse button and fired using left-click. The key difference between the two weapons is, obviously, bullet spread and fire rate.



The Sniper is new to version 1.5.0 and is a slow firing, but extremely accurate weapon. It features a zoom ability, activatable with Q and E, and is useful for the new Atrium map, the City, and the Harbor. It's not very useful in the Mansion because of its fire rate and the poor hip-fire accuracy. The Sniper CAN hit multiple targets if they are lined up. I've not been able to test exactly how many enemies a single bullet can kill, but I have confirmed that at least 2 people can be killed in one shot so I'll be testing that soon enough. "hazzane1" says that the max is 3 guards. Also, do NOT attempt to fire this gun without looking down the scope. The shots randomly go outward, sometimes sideways, from the gun and it's impossible to know which way it'll decide to go. "ABadlyDrawnCoke" says that the sniper can penetrate solid masses (the example they used was the boat in the harbor). I took some time to test this and it turns out that the sniper rifle really does pierce walls and crates. I managed to strike a target through 2 walls. Using the sniper rifle and vission googles could be a potentially over powered way to take on enemies without putting yourself at risk.

It's finally here! I've finished testing, and can now say with absolute certainty how each and every gadget and weapon works when thrown. Enjoy!

P.S. I only included weapons and gadgets that can be thrown. If the gadget you're looking for is not listed, then it's not throwable.


Black Hole - Very little drop, but noticable. Detonates before it gets too far for drop to matter.

Destruction Disk - No drop what-so-ever. Have fun.

Coma dart - No drop at all... Somebody record a Youtube video with an across-the-map shot and link it in the comments. I'll add the video here.

De-crab-itation - Very severe drop making it much more useful as a deployable as opposed to a long-shot machine.

Gas grenade - Doesn't drop very much, but will be very noticable at long range.

Grenade/Freeze - These are the only gadgets that feature a throwing meter. If the meter is at the bottom, the weapon will drop like a bowling ball carried by an infant. If the meter is at the top, you can throw further than Babe Ruth hits his home-runs.

Sticky lightning - Moderate drop rate, makes 10 foot throws with ease, but anything past 30 requires some weird angles and calculations on the thrower's part.

Sword - Very limited drop. Seems as though there is no drop at all until long range.

Spinning death - No drop, but it seeks out enemies so... doesn't really matter...

Throwning knife - No drop

Shield - No drop and also features a richochet ability useful for clearing concentrated groups of guards

Rifle / Shotgun / Bow / Sniper - All four have the same drop rate... it's a moderate drop that'll stop you throwing them any further than about 40 feet, while testing this, I also accidently hit a guard and they apparently stun enemies for a short time. Fun fact.

Boomerang - No drop and returns to player unless it hits a wall.

Normal:
Kill everyone without dying.

Ninja:
Kill everyone without getting detected

Survivor:
Survive as long as you can as endless waves of enemies spawn

Ninja mode is its own breed of difficult.

It demands the best of every player, and is not recommended for casual players. By all means try it out, but if you're not prepared you WILL fail.

Ninja mode does not allow you to be detected at all, meaning that stepping into the yellow or red detection levels will result in a game over.

This is everything that gets you detected:

Stepping into an enemy's line of sight
Running or walking within ear-shot of a guard
A guard witnessing a kill
A guard seeing blood
A guard seeing deployed gadgets
A guard hearing deployed gadgets
A guard seeing a body
"Zeta 014" also says that weapons seen with no owners also cause detection

Not a long list, but a difficult one to manage. The very nature of certain gadgets render them totally useless in a Ninja senario. (these are covered in the "My gadget choices for ninja mode" section)

You need to always keep in mind various things like guard patrol patterns. Taking a few minutes to study these from a safe perch will always pay off in the end.

To quote my own (deleted) comment to Ralph_Vaughan_Williams "Ninja mode forces you to be at your very best. It requires you to keep tabs of every enemy, keep an eye on their movement patterns, ensure that your weapons are silent and your kills are clean. You have to think about each and every action and execute it without hesitation. You also need to be extremely familiar with mobility moves and gadgets to be certain that you never are in an enemies line of sight. It's alot to demand of one person, and it's a true victory when you finally see that "You Win" screen."

If you find you are getting frustrated with Ninja mode take a minute to breathe and play some normal mode till you're happy with your murderous abilities.

"A Sad Pineapple on Wednesday" asked if there was a section on mobility moves such as jumping and wall runs, so I figured: why not?

There are only a few different mobility actions, all of which use the spacebar by default. (The exception is wall running which uses shift) These actions are:

Jumping
Wall jumping
Climbing
Ledge Climbing
Wall running
Climbing jump

Now, like I said before, all of these are activated with the spacebar. The key to doing a particular move versus another is your angle and proximity to a wall and/or ledge.

Jumping can be done anywhere that the ground is beneath you.







To wall jump, you must be in the air and touching or almost touching a wall when you press space.







When you wish to climb a ledge you will get a prompt when looking at a ledge, if you are close enough, that looks like a man climbing up a ledge (a really self explanitory picture). Press the spacebar when you see this prompt and you're golden.






After update 1.5.0 wall running is extremely easy. Simply run parallel to a wall and hold shift. So long as you stay close to the wall, it does not matter if there is ground beneath you... you're wall running after all.






Update 1.5.0 also brought along climbing which is nearly the same as ledge climbing but for shear walls instead. There is even a similar prompt with a man who looks like he's climbing a wall. Press space when you see it and you'll be just like Chris Sharma. (one of the most famous rock climbers in the world if ya didn't know)

The climbing jump is a really fun mobility move. To do it you simply have to set yourself up like you are climbing a ledge, then tap the spacebar mid-climb once or twice and you'll be lanched high into the air.

Another way to move around in maps is by using the drone and the hook once again thanks to "Hektor" for mentioning this game mechanic you now can grapple on to the drone,however it is a good Idea to make sure you dont have to jump to reach it you could fall down into a pit of enmeys or fall into the endless abyss,also make sure that the drone is near so you can reach,it the phsyics of it however will fling you through the air and give you no control over yourself.

That's all I really have to say about mobility. Combine these moves with the Hook and you'll be scaling buildings like a true ninja in no time.

Each of the 3 maps currently avaliable require different levels of stealth, mobility, and surveillance and have different ways to limit your abilities.


HARBOR

The Harbor is a wonderful place to test out different gadget combos. The stacked storage crates give you plenty of places to hide and offer a test for your parkor skills. It's a wonderful practice map. Another bonus is that almost all of the map is outdoors allowing you to mark nearly every enemy with the drone (if you have one). Focus on mobility when playing this map. Most of the enemies will be located on the ground patrolling the crate-covered area, sometimes in groups, so there is still opportunity for close-quarters weapontry and area-effect to be viable.






MANSION

The Mansion map challenges you with a close-quarters indoors environment, limiting your ability to spot enemies and challenging you to infiltrate a building without being 100% aware of what's inside. Definatly a place to use area-effect gadgets and silent weapons.





CITY

The City map is a brilliant combination of the Harbor and the Mansion. I actually like to think of the City as 2 maps in 1. This map forces you to be versatile and utilize high mobility builds, area effect weapons, and silent tactics all in one. The difference between moving within the buildings and sneaking around the streets is huge.






ATRIUM

The Atrium is a map introduced in the 1.5.0 update that is a huge open area. Like the City, there are large enclosed areas as well as wide open outdoor areas. The entire map is suspended in the air (who knows how) so wall running and other mobility moves are a bit more dangerous than normal.






TEMPLE

The Temple was introduced in the 1.6.0 update... I have to be honest, I am super duper happy with this map and I nearly started crying when it came to me in the wee hours of the night. This map is exactly what I wanted and wished for since the introduction of sniper rifles: a large open area with a ton of vantage points. Needless to say this is officially my favorite map (and it's only been out for barely a half hour now).

This is a kill-by-kill tutorial on how to complete Ninja Mode for the City map. I encourage you to try the game mode and map out on your own first so you understand what building and landmarks I am refering to. It's also really fun to fail a few times and go guns-blazing before settling down and winning, though I am sadistic and that could just be me. This particualar run took me 40 minutes and 21 seconds, but that includes the time it took to walk around taking screenshots and the time where I went to grab water and accidently left the game unpaused.



As always, we start with our loadout. The choices made here affect how easy this game will soon be. Knowing the map is probably the most important part of deciding your loadout, but this one that I made is a very good one for all the maps because of it's versatility.

For a majority of the game you will see the I.D.S. in my hand. I call this device "the Ninja's fail-safe". If for any reason I find myself trapped by patrols or accidently falling down a building into a group of enemies I always rely on it to save me (even if it turns out the noise I make upon landing is enough to get me caught). It's important to note that the I.D.S. will NOT help if the guard has already started to spot you.

The uses of each gadget will be discussed as we go, but please note that in this particular run I never ended up using the throwing knives, and that was because I had the pistol. The throwing knives were there in the event the gun started to glitch (a problem only I seem to have, but that I've noted in the "Problems I've Seen" section).

Now that I've made my gadget and weapon selections it's time to start.










We begin on the roof of a building, from here we want to sprint at the corner aiming toward the darker wall.










Jump before reaching the wall then jump off the wall and that should get you to the roof of the staircase. If you can't quite get it then by all means use the hook, I just think it looks cooler to jump it.










From there we will proceed to sprint-jump off our starting building and onto the highest ledge on the tallest building.











Proceed along the edge, making sure to crouch so as to not fall off, and go around the corner so the brown building is in sight.











Using the pistol (or throwing knives), shoot the guard partoling the top-most balcony.











Hop over to the balcony from the ledge, there is no need to move the body. It's actually safer to keep the body where it is than to drag it into the room because the windows in the room are being looked through by the guards in the building on the other side. Proceed down the stairwell.










Stop before coming out onto the balcony to avoid the next guard spotting you. Wait until they come to the stairwell, stop, and start walking back down the hall before moving in to kill. Using you weapon of choice, take down the guard. Walk down the next stairwell and repeat. So as not to be caught incase you don't time the exit from the stairwell right, use the I.D.S. to keep yourself safe.




















After going down the stairs once more, you should be on the ground floor. Spot the enemy that patrols the bottom of the stairs as well as the guard that stands in the corner to the left and the two in the area to the right.











Climb back up the stairs to the top floor of the brown building and jump across to the ledge on the tall building. Try to stay up on the white ledge and not the blue, this will help you avoid detection. Travel along going to the left, turning the corner.











There should be one guard patrolling underneath you, and one more that patrols the area from your starter building back to the corner near you. While the latter guard is not nearby, drop a sticky lightning behind the first guard and zap him.











It should now be safe to drop down from the ledge onto the ground level. From here, kill the other patrolling guard with your weapon of choice. I personally chose to use I.D.S. to sneak up and exo-knife him.











It is safe to leave the bodies where you killed the first ground-level guard.

With the first two ground level guards down, we have established a safe place to start chipping away at the rest of the guards from.

Headed back past the brown building there is a swordsman who patrols the area between the brown building and the white glass building with the bridge and a sniper on top. I was thinking out my next few moves so I decided to kill him for fun while choosing my best course of action.












After a little thought I chose this guard as my next target, but before taking him out there is a guard inside the building to the right that needs to be dealt with. If you don't kill him first he could easily look out the window and spot the body of the guard in the hallway.










Using the I.D.S. you can sneak past the first guard and get into the building. Note: opening and closing doors does not currently raise alert level even though it makes a lot of sound. From here you kill the guard and push his body as close under the window as you can so the hallway guard can't see him.




















Now we can easily sneak up behind the guard in the hallway and stash his body.











The next step in eliminating the ground crew was to kill the ones in the open area near the starting building. Inside that building however is a guard constantly looking outside. Just like the other window-watcher, we sneak into the building with the I.D.S. and eliminate him. You should time the kill so that the people walking around outside don't have the window in their line of sight. Since I was here anyways, I decided to clear the rest of the building.




















Traveling up the stairs, I kept the I.D.S. in hand in the event that the stairwell guard came down and met me. I snuck into the 2nd floor room and killed the one guard inside. This guard patrols the windows so using the I.D.S. to sneak up on him isn't a bad idea.











Next I headed up the stairs where I did end up meeting the stairwell patrolman. I quickly activated invisibility and dealt with him.











After that I moved on to the 3rd floor and killed that guard, then moved to the 4th and killed him, and that brought me to the roof where we began our mission.











After a short water break (which I forgot to pause for) I moved back to the ground level.

Moving out of our starter building, I decided I wanted to take care of the guards that patrol near and under the brown building.











The tricky part of this would be timing the death of the stationary guard. He protects many of the guards that patrol through here, but is also kind of protected by them as well. Having previously marked these guards took much of the guesswork out of timing my kill, but it was still a hard target regardless.











Regretably, I forgot to screenshot my next kill, but I took out the guard patroling the hall between the tallest building and the brown one. He's the big red marker on the left.










After taking him out, I decided it was safe to move to the path underneath the brown building. After putting markers on some more guards I decided it was fairly safe to take out the swordsman near the fence. It would still take some timing to avoid detection by the guard on the backside of the bridge support, but it wasn't bad compared to my previous couple of kills.











I did, at the time, forget about the guard whose marker is in the middle here, but after a quick jumpscare and an emergency I.D.S. I took care of him.











Killing the guard behind the support pillar required the kill to be as far away from the white building since I neglected to kill the guard standing in that window.











From there I went back to the arch under the brown building and snuck my way from there into the room with the window-watcher. After killing him I moved outside and killed the last of the ground crew.




















With the ground crew taken care of, I could finally take on the snipers. (If you kill the snipers they like to throw their guns over the edge of the building, an action that usually gets you spotted if you haven't dealt with the ground-level guards.) I began my ascent of the tower who's 1st floor guard I had already killed. I decided to start with the top floor and work my way down. I ended up sparing the sniper's life until I took care of the guard in the opposite tower.











After removing the patroling guard from the top floor, I moved down one level to the room that leads to the bridge connecting the two buildings. (The body to the right is the same from the top floor. He clipped throught the floor/ceiling.)










After moving the rougue body into the stairwell I primed a sticky lightning charge and waited for the two guards to cross the bridge into the room. After they were dealt with I killed the window guard and crossed the bridge under stealth.











From here I killed the guard who walked in, then killed the guard looking outside. From there I moved to the top floor.











I killed one more guard that had suprised me in the stairwell, I neglected to grab a screenshot of the event. Upon reaching the top floor I decided it was better to kill the sniper first, so I went back across the bridge to deal with him. In an attempt to not get spotted, I ended up throwing the body off the building. (This is why killing the ground crew first is prefered.)











Now that the sniper was taken care of I noted that I was on the last 8 enemies and they were now auto-spotted for me. Note: They are auto spotted after you reach the final 10 (a wonderful game-mechanic if you ask me) I'm just stupid and haden't noticed I was that far along. (as of 2.1.1 Insane mode will no longer auto-spot the last ten enemies for you.)

Next came clearing out the adjacent building (the one connected by the bridge). Now that enemies were all marked I could very easily keep track of where everyone was and what rooms were clear. The floor I chose had my favorite two guards. They stand side-by-side and are stationary so they are easy to dispatch with a little lightning.











After that I took down the solo guard on the top floor that I had been saving.











And then I was down to my final 4. I had the choice between the sniper and rifleman ontop of the tall building or the 2 guards who patrol the big bridge. I went with the sniper and rifleman. Climbing the stairs of the starting building I came out to the roof. Doing a little wall jumping I got up on the roof of the stairwell just as I had when we first began. From here I grappled to the weird building-less ledge adjacent to the sniper's tower, and I made the jump (with a little help from the grapple) to the building.




























It would have been much easier to take the elevator... but it looked much cooler doing it my way. From here I easily killed the rifleman and the sniper.











Now it was time for the final two. I hopped back over to the starter building and threw out a freeze grenade so I could savor my final kills.




















And that's how to beat Ninja Mode on the City map.

My build for the ninja game mode is the same no matter what map I'm on.

Drone - makes it easy to spot enemies that are outside (cannot spot through windows). When playing Ninja it is essential to know where enemies are.

Clean - It's important to remember to clean up after yourself. While Ninja mode only fails you if YOU are spotted (in the red), putting yourself into the yellow because you were a bit messy is an unessesary risk and makes your enemies walk more random paths.

Exo-Knife - Silent kills are a great thing. The sword can bring you equally sound-less kills, but the Exo-knife makes the kill without leaving the messy bloodstains, meaning less for you to clean up.

Vission Googles - This is to compliment the Drone. The Vission Googles will let you spot enemies you see directly, so you can spot those ones that you missed behind windows and in rooms.

Hook - Lets you get up to places you might not be able to reach with parkor (Jumping and running) skills alone.

Sticky Lightning - This is an extremely useful trap for clearing a room out silently without alerting your enemies, or for covering your back. I choose this over the Headkiller because the Headkiller actually attracts attention and raises your alert level before it kills its target.

Throwing Knife - This is my favorite ranged gadget because it is completely silent and includes far more ammo than any other gadget. There is some skill involved though because if you miss the headshot you WILL alert the enemy to you.

Sword - The sword is my prefered weapon because it allows you to get kills silently and at close range. "But Dwarven Empire," you say. "Isn't that what the Exo-knife is for." Yes you silly, that IS what the exo-knife is for, but the exo-knife only allows you to hit from certain angles, making the Sword much more versatile.

Coma Dart - This is almost the same as the throwing knife, but allows you to hit head and body to make the kill, less ammo is a downside though.

I don't use the bow, nor do I use the quiver. Having one and not the other is a waste because without a quiver you have no ammo and without a bow you have nothing to shoot the arrows with. This means that you'd have to sacrifice your weapon slot and a gadget slot to use it. I don't like that sacrifice.

The pistol and by extention the pistol's ammo are not items I generally use due to the space having both would take up. It's the same reason I opt out of using the bow.

Things to never use:
These gadgets and weapons WILL get your alert level raised:

Impact Grenade
Gas Grenade
Rifle
Sniper
Shotgun
De-crab-itation
Headkiller
Destruction Disk
Boomerang (if difficulty setting is above "Normal")

These gadgets have no real use here:

Gas Mask
Rifle Ammo
Sniper Ammo
Shotgun Ammo

Alright, here's where stuff gets tricky.

For normal mode, it really does not matter if you get seen (alert status red) which means there is a wide variety of things you can do now... The whole arsenal is open to you, so I'll be going over the types of weapons and gadgets that are most useful in each map.

HARBOR:

The harbor map is a wide open area allowing the player to utilize mobility to get the drop on enemies. Don't let the wide spaces fool you though, enemies will appear in tight groups and patrols. In this map it is all about range so I recommend these weapons and gadgets:

Stick Lightning
De-crab-itation
Drone
Hook
Machine Gun
2x Machine Gun Ammo
Spinning Death
Throwing Knife

"Squiddythegod101" recomends the shield (something I've not explored too much) for it's ability to be thrown and hit multiple enemies. Thanks for the tip! I'd still hang on to those spare rifle mags though, just in case.

"Dexx Torress" mentioned that the Black Hole is "very effective on Harbor where the guards are all clumbed up at by the boat," and "if you time it perfectly, you can get all five of them with the black hole." So maybe consider the Black Hole for your arsenal of destruction.

MANSION:

The mansion map is all about surviving close quarters combat without knowing where the enemy may be. To counter any surprises (which are bound to occur) use area effect gadgets and traps to watch your back. Here is a sample setup:

Head Kill
Black Hole
Gas Mask
Gas Grenade
Impact Grenade
Machine Gun
Machine Gun Ammo
Spinning Death
Hook

Remember to stay clear of your own gadgets, area effect affects you too. The gas grenade is the only exception, but you have to remember your mask.

CITY

The city map is a nice combination of wide open spaces and close-quarters combat. It's recommended to stay versatile and remember where your enemies are. I like this build for tackling this map:

Sword
Pistol
Pistol Ammo
Spinning Death
Gas Grenade
Gas Mask
Drone
Sticky Lightning
Coma Dart

I feel that the hook isn't really necessary for this map. Most buildings are close enough to one another to simply allow you to jump from one roof to the other.

ATRIUM

The atrium is very close in style to the city, offering just a bit more as far as space. Long range weapons are highly recomended here.

Sniper
Snper Ammo
Pistol
Pistol Ammo
Spinning Death
Drone
Sticky Lightning
Impact Grenade
Hook

Because the Atrium is suspended it's important to bring the hook incase of accidental falling. (or in my case the weird urge to just jump off the edge while dragging enemies' bodies)

This is a super fun gamemode with a horde-mode like objective. You kill enemies continually and at certain mile-stones of murder you get a resupply drop. This drop does not let you switch out equiptment to my knowledge, but it restocks all your expendable gear (darts, throwing knives, ammo, etc.). It's an all-out bloodbath, so have fun! Here's what I usually play this mode with, but nearly every build is viable here:


Impact Grenade
Gas Grenade
Gas Mask
Rifle
Black Hole
Sticky Lightning
Rifle Ammo x 3

I like this build for its ability to just wipe out large groups very quickly. Alternativly, it's also enjoyable to get right up in the bloodshed with the Sword and trade the rifle ammo away for the Hook and other gadgets.

Thanks to "Auron Starglider" for giving me the idea, as well as some content, for this portion of the guide.

"Auron Starglider" had a lot to say about rifle battles, mainly that 'the secret to getting the upperhand in rifle vs. rifle is to side-strafe.' The AI in Sword with Sauce do not understand the concept of leading shots and will end up shooting empty air, so long as you keep moving.

The Shield should also see some great use in firefights thanks to its bullet blocking abilities. The sword is also very good at blocking incoming fire, but the shield's ability to be thrown and hit multiple targets is its advantage. The sword is, in its own right, a great weapon for fighting but will likely end in a gameover if shotgun guards show up.

The bow is a decent weapon also, but its slow fire rate means that you MUST have good cover. I say "slow fire rate" but it's just one-stop short of semi- auto. It's all about who's shooting. The slower fire rate also means that if you get rushed you will die. Having a pistol for backup is a good idea. Don't be fooled by the charge-up time and necessity of good aim, however. In the right hands, the bow is a great weapon that's able to silently one-shot enemies from quite some range.

When using ranged weapons you should aim for the head at all times. Headshots deal more damage which means fewer bullets per kill. This is a general rule-of-thumb for most fps games.