Contrary to popular belief, I advise against going immediately for the sniper tower in the Combat/Team Combat Austria multi-player level. This sniper tower houses a winter-camouflaged sniper rifle and two trip-mines. It also overlooks the heliport with a rocket launcher for grabs. If the other players are experienced, they most likely know about this trick, but on the ground below, on the path leading to or away from the sniper tower, is a garden of bushes from one end to the other. Unless someone has good attention skills or uses his/her Q-Specs night vision mode, you can go undetected in any patch of bushes by kneeling down into the said shrubbery. This is a great strategy to pick off territorial snipers who figure the sniper tower is the best place. I've used this domain countless times in the past, sniping dead ten people before anyone's the wiser.
In the Combat/Team Combat Casino multi-player level, there are two bookcases just at the top of the left staircase right after where that piano's located (its bench has rocket ammo) and beyond the Lounge gilded sign. If you press E at all three bookcases against the wall a transversal distance from the two tables with armor plates and grenades, twice usually at the last one, the two bookcases in the corner almost straight across from the Lounge gilded sign will open and reveal a secret room containing a Ronin and, I believe, some more grenades. Look closely at the said bookcase that activates the secret room. There are three books that are slightly sticking out. One's black and the other, I believe, are blue.
This level is a sniper's paradise. In addition to all the obvious sniping spots, there are at least six different unusual, seemingly unreachable areas. I will describe them one by one.
The first spot is on top of the metal roof of the boathouse. I refer to this rectangular structure as the boathouse since it is located on the pier, it is situated by the two large rotating water turbines, and inside it has a square hole in the middle of the floor into which you may enter or from which you may exit the water via two grappling hooks. Go to the crate just outside with the Suisse SG5 Commando. Crouch-jump (Ctrl + Spacebar) onto this crate and face toward the water and turbines. There is a red barrel to your right and a wooden fence in front of you; specifically, there is something of a wooden turnbuckle right in front of you. Jump forward just enough to land on top of this wooden pillar. Now, pivot around ninety degrees to your right and run towards the wall while staying on the fence. Turn slightly to your left and run up against the wall so that you are going outward. Instead of falling into the water, you will find that you are on a small stone ledge. Do not go too far out, and you must turn around not even a third of the way out. In the distance, you ought to see a catwalk attached to quite an immense building. This catwalk has a grappling hook that you will notice now more than ever is in direct line of sight of the boathouse's roof. Whip out your Q-Grapple and latch onto the said grappling hook. When you are zipping forward, release when you are just above the metal roof. Voila! You are now on the boathouse roof.
The second spot can be found just on the opposite side of the boathouse and right on the pier (the Storm MP9-32 and Munitions Belga PDW90 firearms are on this pier, stashed on crates and barrels). For this, you will need the grenade launcher from the vulnerable Achilles' heal of the boathouse on a red barrel crowned with a grappling hook. This is a dangerous underbelly, considering you can be sniped from three to four different vantages. Once equipped with the grenade launcher and having full health, kneel down on the ground in a fashion parallel to the black barrel with the Storm MP9-32 and in front of an opening (two large wooden crates with plates of body armor can be found inside). You might want to inch a little farther away. Now, aim your grenade launcher directly below you and tilt it slightly up and away from you, but definitely not too much. Shoot a grenade projectile and you ought to be launched skyward, landing safely on the lower metal roof of the building behind you. Half of your health will be depleted, but this is among one of the safest sniping spots in the level. However, there is still very little of the map that you actually can view.
The third sniping spot is just by where spot two is found. In fact, it is the same metal roof, only this one is elevated a little higher up. A skipping distance from the black barrel anchored down by a Storm MP9-32 firearm is a small crate with a Munitions Belga PDW90. Come up to this crate and turn around so that you are facing away from the crate and its wall. You ought to be looking at a big red metal container. Kneel down with your grenade launcher, like before, and get a few feet away. Do the same as with spot two and you will be launched onto this higher metal roof.
The fourth sniping spot involves that big red metal container you were looking at in spot three. There is a crate just in front of this container. Crouch-jump onto this and get fairly close to the edge of the crate, but make sure to have enough of the crate's surface underneath you. Do the exact same thing with the grenade launcher that you did for spots two and three and you will be launched onto another metal roof that gives you an astounding advantage of plinking careless victims on or at three, four, even five different areas.
The fifth sniping spot is not as beneficial as the previous spots, but it is a sniping spot nonetheless. Inside the impressively mammoth warehouse with stacked metal containers everywhere, one of which is red and has doors left ajar for people to fetch its trip-mine contents, and with two floors (the second reachable via a grappling hook), there is a secluded catwalk in a corner. On top is a rocket launcher. First, in order to get to this catwalk you must zip up to the second floor. Turn left and run to where you see an opening. Do not go outside. Instead, focus your sights on a crate with a Suisse SG5 Commando. Crouch-jump onto this crate and then the hand railing it neighbors. Get just enough momentum to jump to the Leaning Tower of Pisa containers right in front of you. You have to circumnavigate around one container, but when you get to the other side, all you have to do is jump onto one container and then another before climbing up the ladder. Once onto the catwalk, position yourself to the left side of the crawl space from the ladder so that your back is now facing away from where you just scaled up. Armed with your grenade launcher, repeat your actions for spots 2-4. You ought to end up perched atop of one of the three overhead metal girders. Note: rumor has it, according to someone called Dustin who was actually on the middle girder, this can be accomplished without the use of a grenade launcher, but I have yet to figure out how and still suspect the use of the sv_gravity cheat on his part. Correct me if I'm wrong via my E-mail.
The sixth sniping spot is not all that great. As a matter of fact, it leaves you discouragingly exposed and it does not provide much (if any) sufficient view of prey. It is easy to reach. When you went to the crate with the Suisse SG5 Commando for spot five, go outside onto a catwalk bridge connecting the warehouse with another building that has a water compactor on the ground floor. When crossing this catwalk bridge, you will inevitably notice a metal roof very close to your position. All you have to do is run and jump onto this metal roof.
There are a total of three Ronins scattered throughout the Caviar multi-player level. Of the three, the easiest to retrieve is just outside of the mammoth warehouse. Just outside the entrance to the warehouse, which resembles air base hangar doors, there are three large metal containers fortifying this enormous entrance. Across from these containers is a small flight of stairs that leads to a continuous pier floor and to the rooftop (with a sniper rifle) reachable via a grappling hook that is clearly welded onto a small metal container. Instead of taking the flight of stairs, kneel down and go UNDER the stairs to find a Ronin and vest of body armor.
The second Ronin is actually found inside the warehouse. When you zipped up to the second floor with your Q-Grapple for sniping spot five, in front of you were immediately sighted a jumbled assortment of boxes. Get to these boxes again and crouch-jump onto the lowest one to crawl into a tight and darkened confinement. There is a metal grill in front of you, which you can shatter by punching or shooting. Drop down safely on top of what I can only imagine are the mainframes. Leap the gap to the second mainframe to obtain the Ronin.
The third and final Ronin is by far the most difficult to reach, but it is not impossible. It is best to be in the water at the time. By that same rooftop with the sniper rifle and grappling hook welded onto a small metal container is a ladder leading to a small catwalk that merges with a small hut, or sniping crow's nest. Just below and to the right of this ladder is a grappling hook. It is not hard to miss at all. Get close to the pair of pipes running straight from one building toward and into the building with this grappling hook. Begin to swing up, but let go just in time to land onto the pair of pipes. Now, walk in the opposite direction (away from the grappling hook) and toward a small nook to find the third Ronin.
Any metal grills you see can be destroyed. One in particular, in a room straight across from that big red metal container from spot four, allows you access to a vest of body armor and two clips for your sniper rifle.
When you reach that sniping crow's nest mentioned briefly with regard to the third Ronin, go down the ladder inside the hut to enter an isolated room. To your immediate right is a small square hole in the floor, which leads to water. If you look up at the right overhead metal girder, there is a grappling hook. Snag this and get up there to replenish your health if necessary, since there are plates of body armor available.
Although this level is relatively small, namely if no one reaches the main missile launch room, I personally discovered a great sniping spot. When you hack this single-player level as a multi-player map/arena, immediately rush out of the airlock and make your way to the jetpack refueling station (a little Half-Life Dr. Freeman deja vu). Rocket-propel yourself up to the catwalk. From this catwalk, right in front of the corridor leading to sections beyond, look up to see two large pipes conflating into the roof of this corridor. Position yourself in the middle of these pipelines, facing in the direction of the stopped elevator you saw in the beginning. Rocket-propel upward and at the apex of your boost, crouch and push forward. You ought to have squeezed into a confined area on top of the second pipeline. No matter if you are pressing Ctrl, you will remain crouched. Now, just pick off any unlucky targets within your view.
For the record, this is my favorite hacked single-player turned multi-player map/arena. I have three spots at which I often camp. They are part of strategies that have worked for me time and again. In the Japanese building across from the library, there is a staircase leading to a bedroom with a closet containing a locked chest. Outside this bedroom is an oversized clothes drawer and 2-3 plants. Use your Q-Watch laser to break off the lock and where there is a vest of body armor hanging in the closet, position yourself and close the closet door. Back away a little from the chest and wait. Someone's bound to go for the bait of the open chest, which is when you unleash your firepower upon the person.
I cannot believe I have fooled people with this one spot, but it has worked for me. If you jump and crouch into the plant outside the previous bedroom just across from the bottom of the staircase (but it is on the second floor), people actually run back downstairs or into the bedroom without noticing you.
That oversized clothes drawer outside the bedroom has a purpose. Jump onto either the neighboring plant or lantern and subsequently crouch-jump onto the said furniture. Crawl your way out onto the tiled roof (this completes a Bond move, thus do not be alarmed by the sudden 007 theme music) and run toward the three opened sunroofs not too far away. Choose whichever sunroof you want to use as your ledge, but all sunroofs lead to a system of wooden beams that concentrate into one wooden beam. All these beams are high above the ground. The area they overlook would normally have two Yakuza goons and a Japanese servant woman being held hostage. Go ahead and get comfortable wherever you like, but when an unsuspecting individual happens to explore this area, snipe, pen-dart, or shoot the person to death.
There's a hidden UP11 firearm in a crate in the Romania multi-player level. It's on the Red Team's side in that little alleyway by the slope that leads to one of the two character starting points (the larger of the two). Just shoot the crate at the very end for one of its faces to shatter, revealing straw bedding with the UP11 resting comfortably in this wooden cradle.
Lo and behold, there's a second hidden UP11 on the Blue Team's side in the Romania multi-player level. In the similarly situated alleyway by the slope that leads to one of the two character starting points (the larger of the two), you must shoot at the largest box's face on the side (relative position would be on its left). Same straw bedding and same firearm.
The following might be obvious, but I have encountered players who did not know where to find trip-mines or Ronins in the Romania multi-player level. Starting from the smaller of the two starting points on either side (Red or Blue), head straight toward the two archways. One will be to your right and one straight ahead. Go through the opening at the end of hollow archway and jog around a small bend to enter another archway. Now, if you continue this way, you would end up a small flight of stairs and into a rather open yellowish-colored stone area with a bench acting as Atlas to some plates of body armor and rocket launcher ammo. Instead of going up the stairs, come up to the dilapidated double wooden doors on the adjacent wall while still under this second archway. Press E to reveal a secret room containing a trip-mine and Ronin. This room is found the same way on both sides.
During a bout in the Romania multi-player level, one chap managed to hide himself in one of the six trees surrounding the central courtyard (where you find the rocket launcher) in this level. His name was BrilliaPA, and he promised to show me how to repeat this strategy he claims to have achieved without the use of the sv_gravity cheat. I've not heard from him since. One take on this involves using any four of the grappling hooks visible in and from the courtyard. Originally, my surmise is that you had to release at just the right time, such as when zipping from one end of the courtyard (perhaps from the first or second floor of one "sniper" building) to the balcony of the other "sniper" building on the other side. I call these buildings "sniper" since both buildings, right where their balconies are, lead to a sniper rifle. But now we have a formula. Read further...
A leviathan amount of gratitude goes out to on-line NightFire player KixAss(Ger) for assisting via inspiration in the means to perch oneself in the trees surrounding the courtyard. He was telling me about how to get atop of the lampposts from either of the sniper buildings' balconies. When verifying this trick, I realized very soon that someone could leap from the lamppost into a neighboring tree. Thus, perhaps BrilliaPA did in fact use the Q-Grapple, but this is a surefire way to always end up in one of two trees. Go to the third level, to the overlooking balcony with a sniper rifle. The fence in front of you has what I can only describe as stone turnbuckles. The one closest to the sniper rifle (not the one-half pillar spliced together with the wall) is the one on which you must stand. Give yourself a little running space, race forward, and jump toward the lamppost practically aligned with the pillar on which you are standing. You will see the said lamppost; it is green and is very much almost in a straight line with the pillar. Once on the lamppost, inch back a little (crouch if necessary) so that you are not quite off the lamppost but close. Now, go forward just fast enough to jump right into the tree in front of you. Voila! You are now in one of the six trees surrounding the rocket launcher. This works from either sniper building.
Once more, thanks go out to KixAss(Ger). Now, perhaps there are other methods by which to accomplish this, but this strategy has not failed me yet. There are four green lampposts creating a box around the flag base (both sides). A streamer is attached to each lamppost. Let us say the two lampposts by the small grassy knoll and trees are the rear lampposts. The ones facing toward the brick path are the front lampposts. To get on top of the right front lamppost, zip up to what I call the "hotel room." If you exit the larger of the two respawn areas, center your line of vision on a small wooden platform jutting out of a building about 12-13 feet away from the flag. It has two open windows and blue-green wooden shutters as each window's external frame. Inside is a bed, dresser, and locked door. Before readying yourself on the wooden platform up here, acquire the red shoe power icon (it is a green orb of light with a shoe as something of a nucleus). From the position of the wooden platform, face toward the right front lamppost. Give yourself some running space and dart forward. Jump just before the end of the wooden platform and aim for the lamppost. I have managed to pull this off ninety percent of the time. You ought to be on top of the lamppost. My advice to you is to then plant a Ronin on this lamppost. Focus your sights in the middle of the lamppost to ensure the Ronin will drop on top of the lamppost. Unless enemies have quick senses, they will not know from where your Ronin is firing.
This tree nest is not major, but you can silence quite a few enemies if the tree is the one on your opponent's side. There are two small balconies found on both sides. One of these small balconies has a grenade launcher. In fact, you want to zip up to the balcony with the grenade launcher. This balcony is by the smaller of the two respawn areas. It is pretty hard to miss, since you can also see it from the larger of the two respawn areas. Use the Q-Grapple to get up to this balcony. Crouch-jump onto the fence on the edge and dash forward toward the tree to this balcony's right (on the left is a roof you cannot leap to). Time it right and you will land into the tree. If you do this hurried and incognito on your adversary's side, you can kneel down in the tree and dispatch many unwitting victims.
Facing your flag base is a building that has an odd L-shaped balcony. Grapple up onto this balcony structure, which terminates at one end with a wooden crate and Suisse SG5 Commando on top of said crate. There is a green lamppost very close to the wooden crate, right in plain sight. Run and leap toward this green lamppost via crouch-jumping and you will find that you can easily perch yourself on top of this lamppost. It is an ideal location onto which to place a Ronin, crippling the sniping or Ronin-tossing coign of vantage this back alley provides to the opposing team. You could also plant the Ronin on your antithesis' own back alley to confuse them.
Thanks goes out to [XA]Snipa for this scorcher. In the Capture the Flag Romania level, with the armor vest power icon and a grenade launcher at hand, hike to the rocket launcher's location. There ought to be three trees on each side of the rocket launcher. Choose one of the middle trees, though this also works with the remaining two trees facing those small flight of stairs and the green lampposts with four lamp heads that are both perpendicular to the rocket launcher, on either side of the rocket launcher. Stand with your back to the tree and crouch near the wooden bench. Aim your grenade launcher below you, minutely tilted up, and toward the light brown stone edge. Shoot the grenade launcher at the ground and, while you are in the air, hit the backwards walk key a little and you should land in the tree. Now is when your armor vest power icon serves its purpose, since you hurt yourself when you shot the grenade launcher.
There is a ventilation passageway perhaps not so obvious found in the Combat/Team Combat Maintenance multi-player level. Of all the levels, this is the darkest, which is why a Duracell battery power icon is provided. This is the only level of a non-Capture the Flag nature when I have known this power icon to appear. To reach the ventilation passageway, enter through the building's right wing "roof" entrance (from outside and on the side without the communications antenna). You ought to see the exit point of this ventilation passageway as you go through the opened door and look up just by those mainframe-like machines. Go down the long, bending stretch of corridor toward the other opened door at the end. You will know you are in the right direction if to your right at this time, though separated by a thick wall, is the locker room with a Frinesi Automatic 12 shotgun and plates of armor. Go through the opened door previously mentioned. You ought to see the break room with the snack machine and tables. Do not go into this room; rather, there is something of a corridor running parallel to this room. At the end is a door leading to the "utility room," which has four silver barrels, each respectively hoisting two sniper rifle ammo clips, Munitions Belga PDW90 magazines, Frinesi Automatic 12 shotgun ammo, and Raptor Magnum ammo. You reach the passageway by jumping onto the light-brown crates in front of the ventilation system's metal grill, which can be shattered by fist or bullet. This passageway contains two trip-mines and the exit point already indicated.
In the Combat/Team Combat Island multi-player level, just after or before picking up the Phoenix International X6 Annihilator mini-gun and ammo, you will see five white mainframe-like machines. There is a trapdoor on the ground in front of them, triggered by the visible handle (press E). This is found just beyond the room with two large half-circle orange machines (one with a Ronin on top, the other two plates of armor) and a ladder leading to a sniper rifle and the third level of the outside launch area. This is also beyond that septilateral metal grill on the floor. The secret room you drop into contains body armor, rocket ammo, a Munitions Belga PDW90 and magazines, and a Ronin.
There are three wire-frame towers outside in the launch area (called this since it resembles a launch pad without the actual shuttle/missile). The top of the tallest tower (radiated by a red caution/emergency light) can be reached from the pit area way below at about an eighty-one degree angle (relative to the grappling hook's position) facing toward the said tower and pit's small flight of stairs and pushing forward for the entire duration of the trip. This can be achieved from the second and third levels from similar positions. For example, on the handrail huddled close to the bunker/sniping crow's nest with the sniper rifle on the third level.
