Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League may seem like your typical looter shooter in some cases, and that’s not too far off the mark. However, it does have some interesting (and somewhat odd) systems and mechanics that pop up as you explore Metropolis. Here are 15 tips and tricks to keep in mind.
Higher Difficulty
When starting the game, there are three difficulties to choose from – Walk in the Park, Best Pay Attention and Sweating Bullets. Each provides different bonuses, the lowest offering none, while the highest is a whopping 20 percent extra XP and 30 percent more resources. If you’re somewhat confident in your shooting skills, go for Sweating Bullets since it cuts down on the amount of the XP and resource farming. Those versed in higher difficulties for titles like The Division 2 or Destiny 2 won’t find it overwhelming – it’s not quite Hard Mode. However, don’t be afraid to knock the difficulty down if things get rough.
Start as King Shark or Deadshot
The game will teach each character’s traversal skills, but you won’t understand which suits your playstyle without extensive play. So, from the outset, choose King Shark or Deadshot. They each have relatively easy traversal skills, which are also great for getting across the world quickly. The former is tanky and has less chance of dying, though it can be trickier as the enemies start ramping up, and range can be an issue. Deadshot can hang back and rely on ranged damage, swooping in for Shield Harvest kills without getting too close, but has less survivability than King Shark at the start.
Mid-Air Melees
Another benefit to playing as Deadshot and even Captain Boomerang is that their melee attacks are more ranged than King Shark and Harley Quinn. This makes it easier to Shield Harvest but comes in handy once you gain Afflictions. King Shark and Harley can perform diving melee, so try to make a habit of transitioning into a melee from the air when near an enemy instead of landing in front of them and then using it.
Level Unlocks
Telling you to level up if you’re facing difficulties seems like the most obvious tip, but in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, you should. The Charm Slot unlocks at level 25, allowing you to equip a charm and gain more benefits (including set bonuses from Infamy Sets). Later Talent tree upgrades also fundamentally improve damage reduction, outgoing damage and traversal efficiency. Furthermore, Squad Ultimate is unlocked, allowing you to execute maneuvers that can shift the flow of a battle, like Deadshot’s ability to slow down enemies and lock down nearby vehicles.
Gaining Talent Points
Talent Points are earned on leveling up, which you do by killing enemies, destroying enemy vehicles and rooftop installations, completing missions, etc. They’re used to assign Talents across the three trees. The problem is that you earn a separate Talent Point per tree on leveling up, seemingly doled out from left to right. It’s not the most practical way to level a build, but it’s predictable enough. Each tree gets 10 Talent Points to assign to Talents, and you can only choose one from each tier.
How to Harvest Shields
Shield Harvesting involves attacking an enemy’s leg until a blue icon pops up, then using a melee attack. It may or may not kill them, but they’ll replenish your shields. However, it’s not that straightforward. You have a chance for Shield Harvest strikes to occur, which can increase with upgrades and by equipping certain weapons. It’s not guaranteed by default, so keep that in mind when you’re fruitlessly shooting an enemy and not getting any shields.
How Different Shields Work
There are several different gear and weapons manufacturers in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, each with unique perks. That extends to the different shields available, some offering higher capacity while others increase the amount gained from pickups. You also want to keep overcharge in mind since it fills up your shields past their max limit (with the excess decaying overtime). Some good options include a shield with a strong overcharge and amounts gained from pickups if you’re playing as a more mobile character.
Counter-Shots
The Counter-Shot mechanic is an evolution of the counters from the Batman: Arkham series. When the symbols appear above an enemy’s ahead, press L2 + R1 or Left Trigger + Right Bumper to execute a counter-shot. However, there is a slight charge time between shots. It’s thus better to fire and keep moving instead of waiting for the next Counter-Shot to charge up. Characters with assault rifles, pistols and sniper rifles are best suited for countering against snipers. Just about everyone should try to Counter-Shot enemies that are closer (especially the Grunts who crouch down, getting ready to pounce).
Support Squad Missions
The Support Squad of Penguin, Poison Ivy, Gizmo, Hack and Toyman can be incredibly useful, so you should complete side missions to upgrade their services when possible. Whether it’s more crafting recipes at Penguin, a wider selection of Augments at Toyman, more slots for Contracts with Hack (which provide additional XP and resources) or further Afflictions, you should go out of your way to do them.
Riddler Challenges
Riddler Challenges return, and they’re not quite what you’d expect. You’ll receive a notification of a riddle, which involves scanning a part of Metropolis to solve it. The key to doing so is realizing that the subject to scan may not be nearby, sometimes at all. Explore the city and look for sites that could match the riddle instead of attempting pointless scans in the nearby vicinity. There are also AR Challenges to complete (which give cosmetics) and Trophies are out in the open to collect.
Afflictions
Poison Ivy can provide four different Afflictions for your melee weapons (and later, grenades) – Deep Freeze, Venom Frenzy, Livewire Bolt and Diablo Blaze. They’re your standard ice, electricity, fire and berserk statuses, but there are tradeoffs in addition to benefits. Diablo Blaze causes burning damage over time, but burning enemies can’t be Shield Harvested. Venom Frenzy temporarily turns enemies to your side but also increases their health.
Deep Freeze increases firearm damage against frozen enemies, but you can’t deal critical damage. Livewire Bolt increases critical hit chance, but electrified enemies also deal more damage to you. Crit-focused builds can benefit from Livewire Bolt, while Deep Freeze is suitable for crowd control, and so on. Keep an eye out for different Infamy Sets to synergize with Afflictions more.
Nanotech Upgrades
As you progress through the story, you unlock Nanotech Upgrades, which provide upgrade points for a weapon based on how often you use it. These can increase a magazine’s ammo, improve stability, add zoom and so on, allowing you to compensate for some of the issues with certain weapons. Keep checking a weapon by pressing Triangle or Y and spending those upgrade points when they become available.
Read the Signature Perks on Legendaries
It also may seem obvious but read the Signature Perks on Legendary items because some of them can be downright negative or crippling depending on your build. There’s a grenade, which deals increased damage but constantly drains your shields, melee weapons that disable Shield Harvesting and instead cause enemies to drop damage boosts, and weapons that slow enemies but deal no damage. While they can be ideal for specific builds, don’t slap them on simply because of some green arrows pointing up.
Weapons as Stat Sticks
You can equip three weapons – two ranged and one melee – but if you want to rely on a single gun most times, it’s possible to use the others as stat sticks. For example, equipping a sniper rifle that increases your Shield Harvest chance will apply it universally – not just when using the weapon. Keep an eye on perks that say “when using this weapon” and ignore them when necessary.
Focus on One Squad Member in Mid-to-Late-Game
Throughout the story, you’re often prompted to switch to different Squad members who are Psyched Up and can earn more XP. However, in the mid to late game, it’s a good idea to stick to a single character. That’s because the others aren’t leveling up and getting Talent Points at the same rate. So when you switch to them, you’re effectively playing a weaker character (and let’s not even get into issues that arise if you ignored gearing them). It’s simply not worth it, especially in the tougher missions.
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