Insane campaign tips & strats

Gears 5
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So I’ve managed to solo up to Vasgar at the moment and there’s been a few ’ die, restart and repeat x 10 parts ’ but once you find the meta / start for each encounter and get used to the damage insane . . . doesn’t seem that hard .

Just wondering what the strats are for Vasgar and beyond . .

My strats for the closing act two parts.

  • So that part where you’ve got three scions crossing the frozen water + 300 juvies or something

its mostly the number of juvies that make it bothersome but what I found is that they seem to have a bit of trouble climbing past this . . . railing or something. It’s on the far right hand side where to retro is. That delay was enough for me to deal with them all.

And when the last sions come, they do a lotta DPS so blind throw two frags. GG EZ

  • Vs the snatcher in the mines . . .

what worked for me is just destroying juvie pods before the snatcher spawned them, AI was good bait in this fight. Got about three torque bows there + boomshot but I just stuck to HB.

  • Matriarch boss

took me a while to work it out but after restarting again and again . … it really seems like the talon is the best weapon to use. Per cycle talon can empty two mags, longshot is three rounds, retro is one mag.

I can’t talk about the numbers . . . but using the talon seemed to get her through the stages faster

( there are cryo cannons here but wouldn’t recommend unless co-op )

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On the big frozen area just before the mine, what worked well for me on Insane was to stop at the first two pillars, leapfrogging to the 2nd one after taking out the Drone and Grenadier by shooting the ice under them. Then I used the Boltok zoomed to headshot the Dropshot guy (helps to lower DPI one click).

I then roadie run to the dock and take the position you mentioned, taking cover on the railing. Planting a Shock Trap on the ice just before where the Juvies climb up on the dock helps get any you might miss, and gives time to active reload. The rest I just shoot the ice under their feet, which even kills shielded Scions. The Bastions will only have a few Drones on the far side left to shield. These are the only ones you really need to drop the Bastions and then shoot the Drones, unless you can catch them on the ice.

I didn’t need to use the destroy all pods first method for the Snatcher. Instead I took out the Juvies from near pillar cover via melee with the Retro Lancer and some shots. For the Snatcher I roadie ran to good distance, staying near cover to free aim at it. Takes a little while, but you can use the time it snatches your squad mate to do lots of damage.

The hardest part for me in the mine was keeping idiot Jack alive, who’s scripted to attack the Grenadiers when they come. Once he even randomly zapped the two Juvie pods in the small room between the mine and the big area the enemies take cover in for no reason, which creates a Juvie super spawn. There you just have to stay back as much as you can, then shoot aggressively at the Grenadiers when they come. I managed to get all those whom took cover, and took enough time with it to allow others to come from the long corridor just before exiting, so there were no enemies there when we went out. The protect Jack bit was actually the only really annoying part of the whole game for me, Jack seems lethargic there.

The Matriarch is actually quite easy if you carry a Cryo Cannon and 4 grenades into the battle. Just run to another area when it first freezes in the water. It is always scripted to eventually walk toward you even if it doesn’t hear you. DO NOT shoot the ice, just shoot it with the Cryo Cannon until it’s frozen standing over ice. Immediately drop the Cryo Cannon by equipping a grenade and run behind it and slap it on it’s back, then immediately run back to pick up the Cryo Cannon.

The grenade explosion not only does tons of damage, it breaks the ice, causing him to sink in the water then freeze again, which gives you ample time to run to another ice location, and rinse and repeat. When you get low on Cryo ammo, there’s two others on a wall in a large alcove at the end of the battle area. There is also a cache of two grenades to pick up when you get down to 2 left. This method goes pretty fast.

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I think we’ve now reached 200 + IQ

will take these strats forward if I have to re-run

Best matriarch srat I’m sure.

Also your strats for Act 3 & 4 ?

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LOL, somehow that screenshot reminds me of Baird’s first cutecene in Gears 5, where he talks about having accidentally invented an AI that understands sarcasm. Reason I say that is a lot of times you stumble on the most doable methods via accident. For example, there’s a tough room in GoW 4 where you’re faced with a lot of Drones and Grenadiers, many of which rush you. It’s a long narrow room where they spawn in at the opposite end, the last two of which are snipers. There’s a ton pods, (fortunately none with Juvies inside), and very little useful cover.

I’ve seen a guy whom beat it on Inconceivable using just one of the two pillars right after entering the room for cover while crouched. I couldn’t manage that even on Insane, I kept getting shot. Oddly enough what worked for me was carrying the Buzzkill in from the previous area, then taking cover behind boxes in the middle of the floor. If you lean to the side of the boxes instead of firing over them, you’ll take less damage. Once you know the pattern of spawns and are ready for the rushes, it’s pretty doable. There are also some great ricochets you can do.

On the flip side, I’ve also seen a guy just shoot some clay pots blocking a small arched alcove on the left wall of the room as you enter it. He took cover there and not only took very little damage when popping out, but was also never rushed by enemies. They tend to focus more on your squad when in far, inconspicuous cover.

As for all of Act 3 and 4 in Gears 5, that’s a whole lotta stuff to cover. If you’ve already played through those parts on lower modes (or insane), maybe just say which battles were frustrating for you, and I’ll advise. :wink:

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The most annoying thing about doing the campaign on insane is the bots. They are useless and do nothing. And when u complete the game on insane you don’t get anything for it.

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achievement right?

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How I wish they did nothing given how many times Del’s head appeared in my sniper scope just as I pulled the trigger, or he decided to roll in front of me just as I chuck a frag.

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By far easiest Matriarch method is cryo cannon and tagging her with frag grenades. You can also use Jack’s ultimate freeze upgrade if you need to.

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I used to think that too, but I have found when you take cover from too far back and your squad stand in front of you, it’s a sign you’re better off roadie running forward and advancing from cover to cover. There are places in the game where you CAN stay far back and be able to at least get in shots around your squad. Those places usually have Longshots or Embars laying nearby.

The other spots where a good timed roadie run to advance though, your squad will push forward with you and do quite well. So it’s all in how you use them. The spots where they block you so bad you pretty much can’t get in a shot are not really served well by ranged weapons. Often times the enemies have good cover and include Elites whom will pummel you as soon as you pop out.

My rule of thumb anymore, is if it’s a situation where I cannot do very well from a distance, neither can my squad. That means you’re better off just picking off a couple of nearby enemies, then timing a run to forward cover. Note that although I did not have a Longshot or Embark in such places, I DID try shooting far shots with a zoomed Boltok, even lowering DPI on my mouse to be more precise. I could get them down to like 3 enemies left far in the distance (2nd wave), but it was futile unless I rushed forward. Since there’s often a 2nd wave of troops that come in, you can usually manage the rush just after taking out the closest ones.

Still waiting to hear what parts in Act 3,4 you need help on Carmine?

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Since you take so much damage on insane, I usually found that keeping your distance was helpful. I think I rolled through most of it with an embar and longshot. I’d suggest making sure to pick as many components for Jackas well. He definitely can turn many encounters into easy mode if you use him correctly.

Stim is great for any oh crap moments and can save your life. Cloak is great if there’s a few enemies close together and you execute 2 or 3 and get back jerk safety before the fight even actually starts. It can also be a good escape tool.

The shock trap I found pretty useful for most encounters. Flash with the freeze upgrade is great to use against tougher single enemies. Having trouble with a scion encounter? Just have Jack freeze him and finish him off with a few headshots. You’ll almost feel guilty for how easy you can kill big things that he freezes.

Lastly, don’t forget that you can respec Jack as many times as you want. This becomes less important in the end game when you have more components, but definitely respec him for specific situational builds when you need in the beginning.

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Yeah the ways you can use Jack get to be ridiculously OP at times, which is why I feel an Inconceivable mode is needed. I was thinking of maybe trying Insane with no Jack upgrades, but that would probably be too hard, and then you have to come up with some kind of in between to settle on. Then there’s no way to judge your achievement, because there’s no standard to go by like with an added difficulty mode.

Cloak gets crazy when you add the upgrade that extends it’s duration slightly with each kill. The part where you rotate the train I think is where I managed to get all the enemies from one Scion to the other, but then once it runs out, you have two Scions to deal with. They kinda kept the enemy spawns such that it’s hard to keep spamming Cloak and get away with it.

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Yeah but nothing ingame. Like a skin or a even a banner

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With the fight with the matriarch i kept killing del with the ice. Just to get a bit of revenge.

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For the frozen lake fight, I stayed far left near the dropshot, and then take out all enemies on that side. All the poppers will aggro on Del.

I didn’t really have that many problems with the Snatcher. I liked using the flash with its Ult upgrade on it though.

Act 3: The fight with the dropshot scion in the rocket hangar. I destroyed the bastion then controlled the dropshot scion. So at the end I was left with the scion on its own.

Act 4: fight before placing the last beacon. I used the tri-shot, and was proactive with the e-holes. I stayed near the back and tried to let the AI take much of the damage.

The AI can be frustrating, but they are very useful in the right circumstances.

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Haven’t started act 3 + insane yet but I can see end of act three vs the carrier in the hallway ( I think it was a hallway anyway )

and possibly that part where you get ambushed by a load of drones when fahz is steering the platform thing across to the other side of the ’ facility ’

also looking for ’ riftworm ’ strats as well as near the end of act 4 when the trucks get stuck and there’s a load of snipers + flock

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If it’s the Carrier I’m thinking of, where Juvies first spawn and it’s a long, wide area with dirt, and red gas pipes overhead and to the side, I first take out the Juvies quickly. Shooting the Poppers helps as they can explode and kill other Juvies.

I then shoot both overhead gas pipes just as the Carrier approaches them. Make sure you mark the Carrier so your squad will take aim at it. There’s also a heavy weapon I didn’t even see off to the side just before getting to where the Juvies are first triggered. I think it’s a Mulcher.

I would advise using that from far cover once the Carrier is split open. The place where you first enter that area btw is a convenient duck under, and the Carrier won’t go there. BTW, firing a Shock Trap at it’s entryway can keep any Juvies from coming in, if t here are any left.

The Drones when on the crane I used the Markza and did quick pops from cover. I can’t remember the exact sequence between the crane and my final spot on that fight, but I chose on both Experienced and Insane to climb the ladder once the crane was docked, and took out any remaining Drones and the Flock from up there.

The times when the Pouncer comes after hitting the switch, I used the little duck under to get to the other side while my squad distracted it, then came up the ramp a bit to alternate between free firing when it’s distracted, and ducking under. There’s also a Trishot you can carry into that whole area, and another you can get ammo from in a dark cubby hole just up from the first switch you activate. BTW, Flash freezing Pouncers is boss, and you should easily have that by then.

First Riftworm part is easy, as you only have to quickly shoot the holes closed. Knowing what part of it opens first is key, because you want to pummel it right away and close it, preferably after active reloading in prep. The last part where it spawns a Flock is a bit tougher, but there’s a heavy there you can pick up (Mulcher I think), which makes it a lot easier. You’ll of course want to take the low cover available on the railing side once the Flock is in air. When you fall through to where the rocket blast gates are when fighting the Kraken, I used the Markza on the tongues standing near ammo. Two times of 3 quick rounds kills them. I like it better than taking cover because cover firing is slower and it’s scripted to destroy the cover.

The part where the truck gets stuck I like to take cover on the left pillar, then immediately take out the two coming down on the left, then immediately roadie run up onto the left of the upper area, taking cover behind the nearest pod, then leap frogging to another after each kill. Chances are the sniper won’t notice and will still be shooting at your squadmate below.

I then rush the bus they’re in and take cover and kill the sniper. There’s a Hunter or two that come as well, but they are timid at close range as they use splash damage weapons as their primary. Not too hard to take them out if you avoid their lockon. When the Flock comes, that bus is an excellent spot to take on it and the Leeches that come, and especially to take cover from the Carrier’s Cankers it shoots out. The Carrier takes more time than the rest due to having to be near cover to avoid a deadly Canker blast, so tread carefully. Make sure you mark it and the Torque Bows left behind can deal big damage to it’s open belly, provided you’re near cover to dash to. You’ll spend a fair bit of ammo in that fight on Insane.

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Thanks for the intel control, might try to finish the run today ( didn’t even know the pipes were there on the carrier battle )

Image-3

( Hopefully Carmine gamertag doesn’t give me bad luck )

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Yeah I didn’t at first either, and I’ve still yet to use the Mulcher lying there that I didn’t see until after the final time I did that fight on Insane. The reason I said wait until just before the Carrier comes under them to shoot the overhead pipes, is because they only spew flames so long, then die out. Usually the enemies are too far from the side pipes for them to be useful though.

It’s kinda key to grab the Mulcher first and run back a ways and dump it behind cover. In fact you might be able to do that and still not trigger the Juvies if you don’t go beyond where it’s placed. Might even be best to stash it in the duck under you come out of to go into that area to finish off the Carrier from a safe spot.

If you use that method you may want try placing a Shock Trap just outside that area when the Carrier comes, to distract it. Best to have the upgrade that makes the shock bots chase the enemy. Reason distraction is key when using heavy weapons, is as you probably know, they are much slow to go in and out of aim with, and move around.

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The Talon is stronger than the Retro Lancer?

Edit: What about Tagging Grenades?