Advanced Combat Techniques — Intravenous 2: Mercenarism Guide

Master Intravenous 2: Mercenarism's enemies! Learn about their states (Calm, Suspicious, Searching, Combat), levels of expertise, and how to counter their complex behaviors. Your ultimate guide to survival.

Alright, let's talk about the folks trying to put a bullet in you in Intravenous 2: Mercenarism. These aren't just mindless drones; they've got different levels of experience and can switch between several states. Understanding this is key to not ending up as a statistic yourself. ### Levels of Expertise First off, enemies come in three flavors: "Unxperienced", "Experienced", and "Elite". You'll see fewer Elite and Experienced types early on, but they become more common after places like the "Abandonded Warehouse" from the first game. You can usually tell by how they hold their weapons – the unexperienced ones might hold them weirdly, while the more seasoned goons handle them like you'd expect. These levels affect: * Thug's accuracy * Thug's reload speed * Thug's reaction time * Thug's ability to lay down supressive fire ### States Enemies can be in one of several states, and knowing which state they're in will help you predict their actions. #### Calm This is their default state. When they're calm, they're usually busy with one of three things: * Idling: Just standing around or sitting, not doing much unless you draw their attention. * Patrolling: Moving between set points. The mapper defines how long they look at each point and in what direction. Pay attention to these patrols! * Watching cameras: These guys are glued to security monitors. They'll report anything they see: dead bodies, other alerted goons, you on camera, broken cameras, activated sprinklers, alarms, or smoke detectors. Blood and open doors won't alert them, though. *Pro-tip:* While in the Calm state, enemies take 3x more damage. Try to pick them off when they're just chilling! #### Suspicious If something seems a bit off – like a light flickers, a noise is made, or they catch a glimpse of you – they'll enter the Suspicious state. They might even call nearby goons to join them in investigating. If they find nothing, they'll go back to their routine. But if the disturbance happens again, they move on to the next state. #### Searching This state kicks in after enough