Freedom Force Character Guide
-----------------------------
Version: 1.0 (Date: 12 April 2002)
Author: UnSub (evilasahobby@graffiti.net)
Version History
---------------
0.9 - Written off the top of my head, so I made a number of mistakes.
1.0 - Fixed up the mistakes as much as I could. Added Attribute and Power lists
for each character. Added Contents List.
Contents
--------
1.0 Introduction
2.0 Disclaimer
3.0 General
4.0 In-built Characters
Minute Man
Mentor
El Diablo
Man-Bot
Alchemiss
The Ant
Liberty Lad
Microwave
Eve
5.0 Recruits
Sea Urchin
Man O' War
Law and Order
Bullet
Supercollider,Iron Ox, Blackbird (Cheats)
6.0 Bugs
7.0 Messages
1.0 Introduction
----------------
This is my first faq, so be gentle.
I really enjoyed FF, even if it is a little short, and the character AI leaves
something to be desired (I've lost count of the number of times I yelled "Hit
him back!" or "Shoot him!" at the screen). Hopefully some patches will iron out
the problems of the game. Otherwise, it's a really good rts, and you really
start to agonise over the character development choices you make. Hopefully
this guide will help make some of those decisions easier.
This faq does contain spoilers, but I will try to keep them to a minimum.
This is not a character creation help guide - this only focuses on the in-built
characters within the single player game. At this point anyway. I'm part way
through the game for a second time, so I've added a bit more that I have
discovered.
2.0 Disclaimer
--------------
This my opinion, and it reflects how I played the game, so don't snipe at me
with how wrong I am about character X. The copyright is also mine, but this
guide can be freely distributed providing you don't change anything on it or
charge for it (either whole or in part) without my permission. Email me if I
have something factually wrong, but don't ask me "how do I..." or "where is..."
because I probably won't reply. Read the other faqs at www.gamefaqs.com.
3.0 General
-----------
When playing FF, the important part is diversity. In selecting a team, I tried
to put a tough melee fighter, a good distance attacker, a good group attacker
and a jack-of-all-trades for each team. Sometimes one character can take up
several roles, but (especially at the start) this is rare.
My big tip - always take at least a jumper / flier / climber on a mission.
Nothing is worse than starting mission only to find some canisters / the
mission target is on top of a building and you can't get to it. The Deja Vu
mission with the clone ray on the roof of a building was almost aborted since
the team I had picked only had one character (Ant) who could get to it. It then
took about 16 years for him to destroy the ray, but that's another story. You
can also see more if you are higher, so Fliers / Jumpers are useful as scouts.
Firstly, you can find out what a power does before buying it by floating the
cursor over the name of the power. The brief description tells you a bit about
what you are about to get, and you can make a decision based on that.
Secondly, none of the characters in built in the single player game are
completely bad. All have strong points. All can have their weaknesses covered
by other members of the team. The secret is to pick the team that best suits
your play style, and your favourite characters. I really liked Man-Bot, so he
got a lot of field action. Mentor, on the other hand, kept the base clean.
Thirdly, look at the resistances and weaknesses of your team and the enemy.
Watch for the blue (resistance) and red (weakness) damage indicators. Although
you can find this out by placing your mouse over the character in question and
looking at the red and blue sections of their description to find this out, in
all the excitement of battle you may forget, or not know the damage type of an
enemy attack. If you see one of your heros taking red damage, get them out of
there, or focus on that damage source and knock it out as quickly as possible.
If an enemy is taking red damage, keep it up! The short of it is that red
damage can take something out very quickly. If you see a hero doing blue damage
to a target, you don't have to stop, but be aware that you may have another
member on your team that could take that target out more quickly.
Lastly, I recommend you rotate your team roster to give everyone of the heroes
experience (this doesn't have to occur for recruits though). This is because
you will have compulsory heroes on some missions, or have objectives such as
"Minuteman must survive - this is personal". It seems to me that heroes that
must survive attract the most attacks from those levels, so having a hero that
can take the damage is crucial. Also there's nothing worse than having four
characters but only three of them are useful.
4.0 In-built Characters
-----------------------
Over the course of the game you are slowly given access to a range of
characters that you can (generally) choose for missions. After a little while
you have quite a range to choose from. Which is a bit of a problem given the
length of the game. Either the game is too short, or the list of characters to
choose from too long! You will only be likely to max out one or two characters
attributes _and_ powers. Especially if you pick up and use the recruits as
well. Still, it gives you a lot of options in choosing the field team.
I've included a list of the character's attributes and powers to give an
indication of character advancement as you spend cp's. I haven't included
individual descriptions for each because you can read them easily enough when
you get access to the character, or in the character creation menu. Each hero
has two power lists, usually based on different themes. You have to purchase a
certain level of a power (about 2 -3) to obtain access to the next higher
power.
Minuteman
---------
Attributes - Jumper, Disciplined, Heroic, Extra Heroic
Powers -
Patriotism: Smash, Strike for Freedom, Vanquish, Patriot Whirl
Vigilance: National Guard, Eternal Vigilance, Minute Missle, Rally the Troops
Your first hero. Minuteman is a good all-round melee figher, but is really let
down by his lack of ranged attack. Minute Missle is okay in certain situations,
but as the enemies get tougher, these situations lessen. Having a group of
stunned enemies is nice, but when compared with a group of fried and ko'd
enemies thanks to El Diablo's Inferno or Hellfire, I know what I would want.
So you're left with a melee fighter. His big advantage is his speed - most
other melee fighters aren't as fast as he is for the same amount of punch.
Upgrading his passive (Eternal Vigilance) and active defenses (National Guard)
is always useful, although at a point in the game you'll stop caring about him
catching a bullet (I think fighting Pinstripe was the last time I used National
Guard) because he won't take that much damage. Vanquish is very useful in
fighting bosses, so I recommend you get it if you use Minuteman a lot. I don't
think I ever used Rally the Troops, depite spending points on it. Purchasing
Minuteman's advantages is very useful too - getting the extra hero points can
be the difference between having him knocked out or still in action, especially
if he is always on the front line.
Minuteman starts out as a the key to your team, but gradually fades away in
importance as the enemies get tougher and better at dodging melee attacks. He
fares well against flesh targets, but is completely useless versus the Mech
Men. You can also see how quickly he goes down when Microwave appears on the
scene due to his Radiation weakness.
Although not my favourite character, Mentor serves his purpose during the early
stages of FF. Instinct Dominance is good for groups of enemies (or even two of
them) provided they are far enough away not to attack one of your heroes
instead. His melee attack takes forever to power up, and two bat guys can pound
Mentor senseless in no time. So keep him at a distance. Cortical Suppression
can be useful, but does require him to run close to enemies to use it. This can
also be a problem if you have heroes in range of the Suppression - they can
blank out too. Mentor's Electron Beam attack is probably his most useful
attack, but even then there are others who do beam attacks better. Mentor got
left at home once I could choose someone else. I suppose his greatest attribute
is that he does Mental damage - against enemies who are weak against this (eg
Purple Darkmen, and that's about it), he is useful.
El Diablo
---------
Attributes - Flier, Hot Headed
Powers -
Tier A: Swift Punch, Fire It Up, Flaming Fist, Absorb Heat
Tier B: Tongues of Flame, Inferno, Ignition, Hellfire
Although he starts out weak, El Diablo can easily become the artillery of any
team. His Swift Punch and Tongues of Flame are okay, but the fact is that El
Diablo is the first member of your team to fly. This is really useful since
flyers can travel faster than non-flyers and get to locations before the rest
of your team (usually). I also think the game gives advantages to those who are
higher when attacking, so that's another bonus. You will find El Diablo running
out of energy often, and may have to land him to melee attack or regain his
energy more quickly, but this is a small price to pay for some of his later
abilities. El Diablo is also strong enough to pick up medium-heavy objects, so
use this if you need to. Early on I recommend you use Tongues of Flame at close
range if you want to hit the enemies you are aiming at - he seems a bit of poor
shot with it.
Once you can get Inferno, I recommend it. Being able to blow up multiple
enemies at once is great, especially if he is first on scene (which he is often
with his flying). He can really soften up the enemies before your other heroes
get there. Hellfire is also great for this. I found aiming at the ground near a
group of enemies was more effective than aiming at the enemies themselves since
bad guys have a tendancy to run towards you and blow El Diablo up as well.
Ignition is great for dropping buildings or blowing up cars to damage nearby
enemies. Since I focussed on the explosive side of El Diablo, I can't really
comment on how good Flame Punch is. His Fire It Up (a shield) seems pretty good
though.
*SPOILER!* El Diablo Verus the Space Aliens: The Aliens arrive through the
portal just in time to see El Diablo Inferno the ground under the gate. Those
that aren't ko'd by the explosion find the fall back to earth is too much.
*SPOILER END!*
Ahh, Man-Bot. My favourite character, although with perhaps the cheesiest name
of any hero. Off the bat he is strong, has a decent ranged attack, but is s-o
s-l-o-w. Like El Diablo, I recommend using his Focus at close range when he
starts out, especially against nimble villains who can dodge his punches.
Man-Bot is also hard to knock back, which can be a useful attribute.
My recommendation for him is this - upgrade is basic Punch and Focus to the
max, and then put all of his cp into his advantages until you have bought
Flier. Once Man-Bot flies, he is no longer as slow as a wet week. Flying is a
lot quicker than walking! A friend of mine (who wishes to be known as Judas)
recommends you use the first two levels cp's to buy Grim Resolve and Flier
before doing anything else. This will make Man-Bot quicker rather than a better
fighter early on, but speed is probably more important.
Once you've done this, make your own choice on how to develop him. I focused on
his energy powers, of which Transfer wasn't really used (although El Diablo
received it a few times) since Man-Bot was usually at close range with enemies.
Disruption was useful in the destruction of materials to damage enemies, and at
higher power levels has a fantastic range.
Man-Bot's tendancy to explode when taking damage is a fantastic ability,
provided you haven't got the rest of your team standing right next to him. I
would send him to fight Mech Men by having him Focus on them at long range,
then maybe with time for one Punch, then the leave the Mech Men to keep
knocking him down until he explodes, taking them out or severely damaging them.
Release Energy does give you a bit more control over this process, but does
drain his energy stores a the same time.
*SPOILER!* My choice of Man-Bot as my favourite character was justified by him
becoming Master of the Universe at the end of the game. Although it does suck
that the character I spent so much time with can't be used in the final set of
missions. *SPOILER END!*
Power:
Sorcery - Smite the Wicked, Arcane Bolt, Repulsion, Vengence Curse, Arms of the
Goddess
Dimensional Summoning - Alteration, Blessed Aegis, Aloft, Purgatory
This southern harpie (watch out for her clashes with Eve!) is a good support
character, and the only one who can close portals. I do my best to keep her out
of melee situations, using Arcane Bolt to pepper enemies at range (and it does
have a good range and accuracy). Her main advantages are her abilities to
change the state of characters, using Alteration or Vengence of the Goddess.
Alteration is a bit too random for my liking, but is useful if one of your
heroes is getting progressive damage (say from acid or radiation) that you'd
like to stop. I had about a 20% failure rate for Alteration, which is to say
that the Altered character may have stopped taking Acid damage, but the
resulting state wasn't too helpful either (eg Ant went from taking Acid damage
to being Hypnotised, stunned the rest of the team with Ultrasonic Squeal, then
started beating them up!).
Hexing an opponent (using Vengence Curse) is great - as far as I can tell, a
hex stops the opponent from using their powers. This is really useful when you
can pull it off. Aloft is good if Alchemiss is surrounded or attacked at close
range. It throws all enemies (bar Mech Men!) up into the air, causing them
damage when they impact on the ground.
I used Alchemiss sparingly, so I can't tell you about her other abilities. Most
annoying is Alchemiss' tendency to panic after suffering damage (Timid).
Although it doesn't happen all the time, it does happen enough to be annoying.
The Ant
-------
Attributes - Heavy Lifter, Wall Climbing, Nimble
This Spiderman-esqe character is quite fun to use, but lacks to strength to
make him a great melee fighter, and doesn't have enough power at range to use
him as artillery. His Shove attack is great on targets that can take knockback,
and really great if you shove the enemy off a high location to the ground. His
punch isn't bad in melee situations, but isn't as good as some of the other
fighters. Acid Bomb is great when it hits (given the widespread enemy weakness
to Acid) but getting the grenade to land in the right spot to hit the maximum
number of enemies is really hard. It also seems that Ant is unable to throw the
Acid Bomb far enough be really useful - the bad guys just close too fast. With
all that in mind, a well-placed Acid Bomb is a thing of beauty.
I rarely used Burrow, but it does serve a defensive purpose if Ant is going to
get pummelled. Tunnel Travel was also used sparingly, as I never saw any
tactical advantage in having Ant travel underneath the enemy and attack them
from behind. Tunnel Travel doesn't have the range to be especially useful
either. His Ant Swarm is also of little use, but then I prefer to do direct
damage rather than blinding an enemy. I didn't get Metabolize or Pincer Punch,
so I can't talk about them.
*SPOILER!* Ant is best used against flesh targets (Mech Men can't be Shoved)
and can be very useful in the final set of maps where the bad guys (and you!)
can fall off the edge of the discs. *END SPOILER!*
Liberty Lad
-----------
Attributes - Nimble, Jumper, Danger Sense
Powers -
Rumbling: The Ol' One Two, Schoolyard Taunt, Flipkick, Tumble, Throw Voice
Molecular Control: Stun Grenade, Energy Grenade, Proximity Grenade, Molecular
Excitation
I can take or leave Liberty Lad. His speed is useful, and his versatility (good
melee fighter one-on-one, good ranged offense abilities) is also good. He
dodges attacks quite often, so he takes less damage overall. But... he doesn't
have the hit points to take too much damage anyway (Sea Urchin is tougher than
him!). He throws grenades, which are hard to aim with. You can throw them in
front of enemies, but they have a tendancy to keep rolling. His melee attacks
(Ol' One Two, Snap Kick) aren't bad, and are fast and don't seem to be dogded
that often. Schoolyard Taunt can be useful, but more as a distraction against a
number of enemies rather than a winning ploy.
I didn't really use Liberty Lad, as there are others who can do what he does
and do it better. He sits above Mentor in the usefulness stakes, but then so
does Eve. Actually, I would pick Eve over Liberty Lad.
In the end, Liberty Lad is a plucky sidekick, which makes him utterly useless
when you want something done. Why send a boy to do an adult's job? :-)
Since Microwave deals primarily in Radiation damage, which lots of creatures
are weak against, he becomes really useful if you choose to use him. His major
problem is that is he is as fast as a tired turtle dragging a heavy weight, so
you spend a lot of your time waiting for him to arrive. His Teleportation
ability isn't so useful to change this since the range of it is a bit limited.
If he's trying to chase someone, or you want him a roof of a building,
Teleportation can come in handy.
While Interference isn't a bad melee attack at all, doing good damage when
powered up, Microwave's strengths lie in his ranged attacks. Microwave Beam is
an attack that does good damage over a great range to one target, which due to
its Radiation damage type can really do some damage against weak enemies.
Irradiate is also good (if a bit expensive energy wise) since it does
continuous damage to a target and is less likely to be avoided than Acid
damage. I used Displace self once (by mistake) but can see its use if Microwave
were to get cornered and was alone. Even so, that shouldn't happen much at all,
so I wouldn't use it.
Microwave's greatest power (that I could afford) is Genetic Damage. When
successful, this renders the opponent weak against all damage types. This makes
kicking the butt of that really hard boss suddenly very simple. It doesn't last
forever (the time depends on its power level) but being able to do 30 damage
instead of 20 (or whatever) means the enemy will likely fall before it wears
off. I didn't get Clone Self or Particle Beam, so I can't comment on them.
Eve
---
Attributes - Beautiful, Crack Shot, Temperature Control
Powers -
Archery: Arrow, Living Arrow, Acid Arrow, Swarm of Arrows
Nature's Glory: Nature's Kiss, Swarm of Leaves, Binding Vines, Empathy
Hmmm. Eve isn't as bad as Mentor, but she arrives too late in the game to power
up unless you take her on lots of missions. Eve's advantages include a melee
attack that can hypnotise an enemy and some very accurate ranged attacks. Her
Acid Arrow is great in softening up an enemy before sending a melee fighter in
or focusing on with other ranged attacks. But I didn't really use her, so let's
move on.
5.0 Recruits
------------
By spending prestige points, you can recruit new characters onto your team. But
then you knew this because you read your manual. In fact, you're probably
downloading a Spiderman skin as we speak, wanting to recreate him in the game.
That's really sad, you know that? :-)
Anyway, the in-game recruits can serve as useful replacements for your regular
team members. But the drawback is that you usually get them later in the game
when you have less time to earn cp and build them up. Choose your recruits
carefully, as you will find prestige hard to come by (unless you cheat, use the
Deja Vu infinite prestige trick, or some other exploit).
Powers -
Dolphin's Child: Snap Kick, Sonic Shriek, Riptide, Power Null
Bubbles: Bubble Swarm, Bubble Shell, Current Bounce, Bubble Gum
Sea Urchin falls into the "really useful, but don't get her" recruit category.
Why? It's not because she is weak. Her Kick does good damage for a melee
attack, her Bubble Swarm is useful since it deals Acid damage and (at higher
levels) will fire out muliple bubbles targetting characters in front of her
(which includes heroes, btw). You can get Flier for her. Sonic Scream is a
stunning attack, which I don't really like, but it's not too bad. Heck, I used
her to take out Pinstripe singlehanded. But... the other recruits just excel
that little bit more. She is not a primo recruit, unlike...
Man O' War
----------
Attributes - Charged, Cold Blooded, Flier
Powers -
Call the Storm: Electric Arc, Storm Bolt, Magnetic Harbor, Kraken's Scales,
Ball Lightning
Control the Waves: Pressure Punch, Bermuda Triangle, Water Jet, Whirpool
Man O' War is starts off as a good all-rounder who turns into a great
all-rounder. He has a good melee attack in Pressure Punch, and Electric Arc can
be useful against multiple attackers. You can get him Flier for him (which you
should ASAP). But I learned to love Man O' War for his reliance on Electricity.
Because Man O' War is resistant to Electrical attacks, you find him essential
in beating up the blue Darkmen. He can usually punch them into submission
reasonably quickly (unless they cloak). But it is the enduring power of Storm
Bolt that is Man O' War's true talent. As a (short) ranged electrical attack,
it is vital in bringing down those weak against Electrical damage *SPOILER!*
such as Mr Mechanical and his Mech Men. Mr Mechanical didn't get past the
School Grounds with Man O' War flying over to him and doing 50 - 70 points of
electrical damage with each Storm Bolt. *SPOILER END!*
The Storm Bolt also has a chance of stunning enemies, which does add a little
bit more value to it. Water Jet, although doing little to no damage, is useful
and fun for the knockback it causes on enemies. I used it to keep a boss on the
ground while the rest of the team mopped up his minions.
I strongly recommend you pick up Man O' War and use him.
Law & Order
-----------
Attributes - (Law) Blind, Danger Sense (Order) Berserker, Jumper
(Order)
Punishment: Punishment, Hammer Crush, Quake, Hammer Carnage
Fury: Transform, Blind Justice, Condemnation, Order in the Court
Two for the price of one! A great deal, especially since Law and Order are
unique enough that they might be worth buying separately. Law gives the team a
healer, while Order is a powerhouse. I recruited these two too late in the game
to fully power them up, but here are some things I recommend.
Order is very slow, while Law isn't. Use Law to run around and locate enemies,
then have Order hit them (especially with Hammer Crush). Law isn't a slouch in
the offense department either, and can be used to hit the enemies Order finds
too agile to connect with. Law's greatest strength is her Mercy, which heals
heroes at the cost of Law's hit points (twice the healing for the hit point
cost). She should be healing whenever other team members take a beating, and
should really be the one you save red healing canisters for.
Order's weakness is that sometimes he becomes enraged when taking damage. This
is bad for the rest of the team if he gets hit (especially with continous
damage sources, such as Acid or Radiation) but he is slow enough that they
should be able to run away. Order also has the ability in Blind Justice to get
enraged on purpose and do more damage, but I recommend that you do this away
from the rest of your team.
I recommend you get Law and Order for the versatility they give the field team.
Bullet
------
Attributes - Rapid Metabolism, Fast Healing, Solid Skeleton
I love Bullet for so many reasons. Although less versatile than Law and Order
in what he can do, he is more interesting to play with. His speed makes him
great to have around, and I've had him fighting up to 4 guys at once. And
winning easily. Buying Rapid Healing and Solid Skeleton for him is very
important to improve his chances of survival if he gets hit (he can go down
very quickly if you aren't careful). His Punch is quite good, especially at
higher power levels where it can knock an enemy down, meaning Bullet can either
attack someone else or follow up on the prone opponent.
Whirlwind is his only ranged attack, and it moves slowly, but does seem to home
in a bit on enemies. It throws enemies upwards, doing damage when they hit the
ground. This is a bit of a fire and forget move, as you can send it off and
have Bullet go and do other things. I don't know if Whirlwinds will attack
civilians, so be careful in its use.
Fist Flurry and the next one up are also fun, but seem to use a lot of energy
up. I also didn't power these up to the max, so I don't know how good they are
in the end. Bullet is almost solely a melee fighter, but his speed gives him an
edge over most other melee fighters.
My favourite Bullet trick is to have him pick up a light pole and use this to
smack people around. He is usually so fast that the bad guys are out before
they know it. In the case of the Mech Men, who don't fall down, I have Bullet
hit them with the lamp post until they try to attack me, then have him run away
(usually across the street to attack another Mech Man). They can't keep up and
become easy pickings once the rest of the team arrive.
I recommend you get Bullet since he makes quite a few missions very easy.
Supercollider, Iron Ox, Blackbird (Cheats)
------------------------------------------
If you pre-ordered the game at www.EBgames.com, you apparently got three other
possible recruits. Their names are Supercollider, Iron Ox and Blackbird.
Since this faq was first released, I have had emails from Nick Genter , NotOnL8LY@aol.com and Chris Burton about how to get the special release characters. Mr Burton
got his info from www.gamewinners.com and Mr Genter credited Nick Sorg (who
posted the info on www.gamewinners.com, funnily enough).
I am copying the information from Mr Genter's email, which goes:
Note: This procedure involves editing a game file; create a backup copy of
the file before proceeding. Certain game retailers are releasing a bonus
Freedom Force disc. This disc will give you more powers as well as three new
recruitable built in characters for campaign mode. They are Blackbird, Iron
Ox, and Supercollider. Use the following steps to unlock them without the
bonus disc. Use a text editor to edit the "init.py" file in the game folder.
Add the following lines to the file:
Information in this section was contributed by Nick Sorg.
This gives you access to the console through the use of the tilde (`) key.
Using the console, you can cheat. Don't cheat. It only shortens a shortish
game. Anyway, the codes are below (from Nick Sorg and www.gamewinners.com).
Invincibility for entire party - god()
Enemies do not move or attack - peace()
Win current mission - Mission_Win()
Unlock all character powers in current mission - DEBUG_ALLPOWERS=1
Add CP to specified character - Campaign_AddCP('',)
Automatically specified character - Campaign_Recruit('')
Unlock specified built-in character's origin - Campaign_UnlockOrigin('')
Set prestige amount - Campaign_AddPrestige()
To get the extra characters, you need to enter Campaign_Recruit(''),
where is replaced by supercollider, ironox or blackbird. You need those
apostrophes in there to make it work.
I'm going to play some missions with the three new heroes and report back in a
later version of this faq.
Even so, could someone who actually got the bonus disk please tell me how the
characters are introduced in the game, when they appear, etc. It doesn't look
like just activating these characters in this way gives them Origin movies.
What are their origins? Thanks!
6.0 Bugs
--------
I found an Attribute bug (which isn't huge, but is still there). If you hover
your cursor just below the last attribute list entry for a character (I was
using heroes with maxxed out attributes) I got a "Can fly." text box. It looks
like "Flier" is invisible on these attribute lists.
7.0 Messages
------------
From my girlfriend:
help im in love with a nerd boy - save me
please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(and she says I don't include her in anything!) :-)
