Level 82 on Vigilante

[zmoonchild]

I reached Level 82 on Vigilante using the exact same Las Venturas Police Car only, and no other vehicle.

That’s when my game finally crashed.

 

I know that Level 82 may not sound that high, but most records that are higher are based on abandoning a vehicle for a new one, or using the Hunter or Rhino; I didn’t do that, I used the same car for the entire run. Also, I didn’t have unlimited ammo, so I had to constantly find more.

 

I wanted to say that the Police Car definitely ‘hardened’ as the levels progressed. It was either OrionSR or GTA_Phreak (my apologies for forgetting who said it) that stated that a Hunter would take less damage as the mission progressed; that was definitely the case with the Police Car I used.

Bullets and crashes seemed to have no effect on the car.

 

 

I saved a snapshot for every level increase, so I can post those as well; that's over 80 snapshots.

 

NO CHEATS and no mods were used.

[GTA_Vet]

Nice one, and your Cop Car hasnt got a mark on it

Well done

[Ryan]

Once again, nice job zoom!

[gtamodder]

That's great! I would try, but my game would probably freeze before i even get to level 25

[bagga rabbit]

If you save the car in a garage, does it stay "hardened" or revert back to normal?

[GTA_Vet]

That's great! I would try, but my game would probably freeze before i even get to level 25

Me too, i so badly want to have a Jam on San Andreas, like go to the top of Mount Chiliad! Do Vigilante missions! & just race around on a NRC!

[mr_bungle]

your Cop Car hasnt got a mark on it

 

It's all banged up.

 

Nice work zmoonchild.

 

 

[GTA Phreak]

I once worked the figures out:

 

Normal undamaged police vehicle = 100 HP

Complete level in vehicle = +30 HP

Complete level outside vehicle = +20 HP

 

Simply triggering Vigilante will make the tires puncture proof.

 

The total HP can go very high (it isn't capped at 100), - I tried to destroy a Hunter with which I had done 400 levels:

 

1st. I hovered over a SAM launcher and took 100 hits, - no apparent damage. Was a bit difficult since the impacts pushed the Hunter away from the launcher.

Then I hosed it with the minigun for a full minute (I did have unlimited ammo), - no apparent damage.

Then I sprinkled it with Molotovs and got in and out with CJ on fire (that usually kills even fireproof vehicles), - no apparent damage.

Eventually I managed to destroy it by playing with the SAM launchers some more.

 

The hardening outlasts the mission but the vehicle returns to normal if you store it in a garage.

 

Btw. 30HP pr. level isn't much if you kill the targets by drive-by, - so I'm assuming you mainly used the minigun?

 

On my pure drive-by runs I used a pre-hardened policecar: Complete levels 1-2 then cancel and restart several times before going for level 12 (the targets usually don't shoot back on the first couple of levels).

You can also cut damage considerably by bringing 3 heavily armed homies, - they can shoot forward (but often picks a fight with the police or other gangs).

 

Another mixed tactic is to take out all but 1 target car with the minigun and drive-by the last target (pre level 12 there's 1 car that isn't full and therefore won't do as much damage) and still get the full 30 HP bonus.

 

 

[GTA hater]

Yeah, the thing with the hardening vehicles I noticed on Vice City on PS2. When you're up at 9999999...$ and your money amount stays the same your hunter was pretty tough.

 

I only lost because every once in a while a cop would magically appear in the air and pulle me out. In the earlier levels enemies with shotguns can also be dangerous.

[zmoonchild]

 

so I'm assuming you mainly used the minigun?

Yes, mostly the minigun, and sometimes the sniper rifle and the M4.

 

Here are some more snapshots:

 

I also had a strange glitch occur:

I was well into the mission (I forgot which level) and I was in Las Payasadas near the large chicken with the bobbing head.

All of a sudden, a pedestrian said “They’ll give a Pilots License to anyone these days.”

I wasn’t near the airport, and I didn’t notice if it was the same person that says that near the airport gate.

[GTA hater]

I tried to just beat the vigilante missions on a motorcycle. It was fun but tedious to always change your clothes and in case of 3 or more stars get a regular car and pay 'n' spray it, while keeping a police vehicle at hand. *sweat*

 

so how in the world did you deal with your wanted level? I found that to be the biggest challenge in vigilante.

[zmoonchild]

so how in the world did you deal with your wanted level? I found that to be the biggest challenge in vigilante.

I discovered that exiting the vehicle to shoot the suspect, rather than remaining inside the vehicle, allows your Wanted Level to decrease more often than shooting them from inside the vehicle.

 

In other words, by standing outside of the vehicle to shoot the suspect, my Wanted Level had a tendency to drop on it's own; whereas, if I stayed inside the vehicle, it would never drop.

 

My strategy is to also know the cops’ patterns, as to when and how they’ll react when shots are fired, and to shoot the suspects while they’re approaching you instead of heading away from you.

 

I only used three weapons: the minigun and the M4, and sometimes the Sniper Rifle.

 

I’ve also memorized most of the Police Bribe locations, and they re-spawn after six minutes.

[radicell]

Nice work zoom. This stuff about hardened vehicles is all very interesting. Wonder if this only applies to vehicles used in Vigilante mission?

[GTA hater]

Nice work zoom. This stuff about hardened vehicles is all very interesting. Wonder if this only applies to vehicles used in Vigilante mission?

In Vice City I felt that my firetruck lasted forever and was very durable, so maybe it applies there as well. I always liked playing the firemissions till 20 or 30. Also taxis I felt "grow" on to you after you take car for them a while.

 

@zoomzoom

 

Thanks for the tipps. I haven't tried the minigun yet, didn't think about it. Where did you get yours from with all that ammo?

I always used Mp5-drive by on a bike and M16 on foot. Sometimes I give it a shot with satchel charges but that makes it rather tipsy and gives you a high Wanted Level easily.

 

I'll try minigun next time, should be pretty quick.

[GTA Phreak]

 

This stuff about hardened vehicles is all very interesting. Wonder if this only applies to vehicles used in Vigilante mission?

You also get a +20 HP bonus on the firetruck for each completed firefighter level.

 

The Broadway gets its health set to 200 HP (double the normal) when triggering pimping but has no level bonus.

Since pimping can be toggled anywhere/time, this means that the Broadway comes with instant repair. Unfortunately it doesn't fix a flat tire and pushing the Rhinos around during a 6* wanted level is a bit hard with 4 flats

 

The NRG-500 challenge NRG gets its health set to 300 HP (triple the normal) when triggering the challenge.

[zmoonchild]

 

I haven't tried the minigun yet, didn't think about it. Where did you get yours from with all that ammo?

It doesn’t take that much to destroy a vehicle with the minigun, I’m very conservative whenever I shoot by just lightly touching the trigger, just enough to destroy the car.

I can usually do 40 levels with about 2000 rounds.

But, the minigun with the most ammo can be found at Mike Toreno’s Ranch after Vertical Bird, it has 500 rounds versus all other miniguns in the game, which only have 200 rounds.

 

The minigun spawns in 5 locations altogether:

1) inside Area 69

2) inside Mike Toreno's ranch (after Vertical Bird)

3) in two different locations in Las Ventures:

a) in an underground parking garage in Roca Escalante

b) on top of a building framework (that's still under construction) in Rockshore East

4) on top of the Kinkaid Bridge in San Fierro

Thanks to P.D. Escobar for helping me with the info on the minigun inside Area 69

 

Also, one more tip:

Shooting from a distance really helps when the suspects are carrying shotguns. All bad guys (cops, suspects, etc.) always seem to be fantastic shots with those shotguns, and I remember several times being shot and wasted quickly by the suspects with shotguns.

The minigun and the sniper rifle are both excellent for shooting at a distance and keeping out of range of their shotguns. I use the sniper rifle when the suspects exit the vehicle and start walking around.

 

Thanks to everyone for the compliments.

 

And thanks, Phreak, for all the info you’ve posted, that was great stuff!