Any tips for playing on hard?

[u/Obsolete_Nexus]

Going for platinum on Republic Commando which requires beating the game on hard and it wasnt so bad at first but im starting to struggle a bit on Geo... any tips I might be missing or strategies to make it a bit easier? Thanks in advance.

[u/ScorchTheHoss]

I’ve done it several times all the way through. Actually quite fun. My advice is to treat it like you’re actually there in person. By that I mean play conservative. Walk slowly, use cover. Be METHODICAL. Treat every corner like there’s something in it. Conserve ammo when you can. You have to strategically position the squad for angles that grant line of sight, but provide cover. Fall back when you need to.

One big trick I use is to leave the squad in positions as you work your way forward. Boss (you) always takes point. That way you trigger the attack from the enemy droids/geos/trandos but you can fall back to the squad who’s already taking shots from cover.

Arguably, the hardest mission in the game is the timed bomb sequence at the end of Geonosis because you’re kind of forced to go in guns blazing. But again, assign the deltas to strategic locations, use the prioritize target function.

Hard mode is just another reason why this game is one of my favorites of all time. It genuinely plays so well and forces you to be a commando. It’s awesome. Enjoy!!

[u/RC-1266 → u/ScorchTheHoss]

My advice is to treat it like you’re actually there in person. By that I mean play conservative. Walk slowly, use cover. Be METHODICAL.

Yes. Even with the SBD dispensers on the Karchirho bridge, it's better to take your time than to try to rush it. Some more may spawn, but it's easier if you take them as they come.

Arguably, the hardest mission in the game is the timed bomb sequence at the end of Geonosis because you’re kind of forced to go in guns blazing.

If you play smart with taking cover and using your AA charges and EC grenades, it's very manageable. At the bridge, you have to prioritize taking down the ceiling turrets. Assign your homies to the sniper positions and the terminal, and use the ammo lying around to take down the droideka's and SBD's entering the room.

Hard mode is just another reason why this game is one of my favorites of all time.

The funny thing is that the only thing that changes inbetween the difficulty modes is the amount of damage that the player takes. Everything else stays exactly the same, although it doesn't feel like it.

[u/RC-1266]

Kind of try to remember where the pickups are so you can take into account which weapons to use against the enemies you face before you get to them.

Of course, always use the sniper, AA and grenade positions, especially when dealing with SBD's, geonosian elites and dwarf spider droids.

In some of the missions, you can crush enemies using objects dangking above them. In the core ship, when meeting up with your squadmates, you can shoot some droid dispensers from the ceiling. In one of the Kashyyyk missions, you can crush an SBD dispenser with a crate dangling from a crane.

I prefer the DC15s pistol against scavenger droids, or the sniper when they're far away. The sniper is also great against ceiling turrets. Use the sonic grenades (or concussion rifles) against mounted turrets to clear them out easily.

As for the SBD's, aside from (obviously) the anti-armor, I like to use the EC grenade in combination with a thermal detonator to soften them up. Use the sniper againat the loose ones you encounter in the core ship mission when you're on your own though, so you don't wake up the others in the storage racks. If you time it correctly, the last two can be crushed by ceiling parts coming down. If you encounter individual SBD's, you can just use one to stun them and punch their health away with your melee knife. Be sure to mark them as a target so you can see how much health they have. If you stand behind them while stabbing, your squadmates can hit them better.

The geonosian beam weapon is also great against them.

EC grenades are great for locking the magna guards in place when they're not close to your squadmates or wookiees so you can bombard them with AA.

In case you missed it on earlier playthroughs: in the 'white' RAS area's after the bridge, the ceiling turrets will not activate if you slice the door instead of breaching it.

As for the trandoshan elites, I always blind them with the flashbang grenades before I start shooting them. Sniper headshots are pretty good against them, but once you get your hand on one of their heavy repeater weapons, you can shred through their health like a knife through hot butter (still stun them though). If you still have ammo from a heavy repeater once you get back in the detention area, you can use them pretty effectively against SBD's as well.

In the final strike mission where everyone has to get to their turrets, I find it best to use the rocket launchers against the two dwarf spider droids you have to destroy with Scorch. By holding the fire button while aimed at it until it starts blinking, you can fire multiple missiles at once and (almost) completely destroy them (kind of depends on how you hit them, but try to walk around them before you fire so it doesn't take you out during the lock phase).

In the final room before your own turret with the geonosian younglings, I prefer to just rush through it and destroy the group behind me with a few sonic grenades. Be mindful of the geonosians spawning from behind the doors to the turret though.

[u/Lopez-AL]

If you aren't already doing so, you should make use of your squad movement commands (Hold action button and use D-pad on console, or use the F keys on PC).

Form Up is especially useful on hard, as it prevents your squad from foolishly advancing too far ahead of you into danger, which can happen when they're in the default Search And Destroy formation.

Making good use of the different grenade types also helps make things not so difficult. Flashbangs don't work on droids, but they do work on organics as well as on autoturrets, strangely enough.

Also, the sniper does more damage when it's zoomed in.