Simple strategies that completely break games

[Phediuk]

This thread is not for strategies that you can only do with late-game equipment, or only with difficult glitches or advanced techniques. This thread is for strategies that any first-timer can start doing as soon as they play the game (or very shortly after starting) and obliterate it.

Back in the day I managed to 1CC the original Virtua Fighter in the arcade a few times. My strategy was simple: pick Akira, get just out of range of the opponent, crouch, and continually jab in about 0.75 second intervals. The AI would keep walking straight into the punches, over and over again. If the opponent was knocked down, position yourself, again, just out of their range and continue punching by the time they get up. I was able to core a few double-perfects with this method.

what broken, simple tactics have you discovered, Era?

 

[Transistor]

Demon's Souls

Start the game as Royal

Soul Arrow your way through 90% of the game.

 

[Lemony1984]

Final Fantasy VIII. Turn off random battles so your characters never level and the enemies match your level for the whole game. Profit.

 

[Team_Feisar]

According to my GF, me holding back to block in Street Fighters doesn´t count as a fair move

 

[super-famicom]

Sweep kicks in Mortal Kombat (original game)

 

[SonovaBeach]

In Crysis 3 normal mode you can just activate the cloaking suit and there's just enough time to just walk to the other side of the arena without anyone spotting you. It was totally broken but actually pretty fun.

 

[Deleted member 20471]

Stealth is completely broken in Horizon Zero Down, you can abuse it in comical ways (you can hide in the grass after immediately after hitting an enemy and he won't be able to find you).

 

[TC McQueen]

Valkyria Chronicles 1 & 4 for sure - rush scouts/APCs to the objective to maximize the XP you get, because all the game cares about is how long you take to capture the main enemy camp.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - flick the left stick to parry everything.

 

[Phediuk]

Sweep kicks in Mortal Kombat (original game)

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My strategy in MK1 arcade: pick any character, hold up-left, and dive-kick on your way down from each jump. You'll win every fight effortlessly, except for against Scorpion and Kano, against whom you must periodically stop to block their projectiles, after which you can continue jumping.

 

[Mirage]

Valkyria Chronicles 1 & 4 for sure - rush scouts/APCs to the objective to maximize the XP you get, because all the game cares about is how long you take to capture the main enemy camp.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - flick the left stick to parry everything.

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I was coming in here to talk about the scout rush.

 

[grand]

Grouping up sorta breaks Among Us. Which is probably why most of the updates that have been introduced favor imposters (no confirm ejects, anonymous voting, task bar only updating at meetings, no visual tasks, etc)

 

[Finale Fireworker]

Stealth is completely broken in Horizon Zero Down, you can abuse it in comical ways (you can hide in the grass after immediately after hitting an enemy and he won't be able to find you).

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Even human enemies? I don't remember.

 

[Deleted member 20471]

Even human enemies? I don't remember.

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Yep, even human enemies.

P.S.
Uncharted 4 has the same problem.

 

[Jaymageck]

13 Sentinels - build a bunch of sentry guns early on in a battle

 

[Firima]

- The AI in Brutal Legend is not equipped to deal with an entire platoon of Razor Girls as long as you don't rush the entire group headfirst into the enemy.

- Because of the way that boss programming works in Mega Man IV (and V I think), there are bosses that you can manipulate, taking no damage with minimal effort, like Toad Man, where you shoot two times in close range, he does a short jump, you run under him and repeat until he dies a puzzling death.

 

[Aurongel]

So... The tranq pistol in MGSV is a weapon so good once mastered that I don't think I ever saw a functional reason to deploy without it in my entire 120 hour plus playthrough.

 

[super-famicom]

Even human enemies? I don't remember.

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Aloy: *Whistle*
Human enemy: "What's that? I should investig- *dies*

 

[Baphomet]

DS2, start Dex, get Rapier , upgrade, WIN.

 

[Jamesways]

Dark Souls- Manus. I think I'll just shoot arrows from here...

 

[Grimminski]

Helm/Skull/Brain Splitter in Dragon's Dogma will completely negate fall damage if you don't jump first.

 

[Transistor]

Valkyria Chronicles 1 & 4 for sure - rush scouts/APCs to the objective to maximize the XP you get, because all the game cares about is how long you take to capture the main enemy camp.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - flick the left stick to parry everything.

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Fucking love Scout Rush

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

Use the cape in Super Mario World to skip a majority of the game.

 

[PsionBolt]

Mega Man Legends: circle-strafe, and you'll never be hit again. Since you can't lock-on while moving, you can't perfectly circle enemies unless you use the D-pad and camera buttons at the same time, but you can still make good enough loops that the game's auto-aim will do the rest for you.

Amusingly, while Legends 2 added a moving lock-on, it also feels like they recognized how overpowered circle-strafing was in the first game, so a bunch of the enemies and bosses in 2 are made in ways that hinder it. More shields, more homing projectiles, enemies that turn quicker, etc.

 

[grand]

The AI in Pokemon Red/Blue is completely broken and if you know how it's broken you can cheese the entire game.

 

[super-famicom]

Fucking love Scout Rush

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Some of the images are broken, but yeah I kinda hate that Scout Rush is the only way to get S Ranks. I wanna kill stuff with the Edelweiss too!

 

[Jimnymebob]

So... The tranq pistol in MGSV is a weapon so good once mastered that I don't think I ever saw a functional reason to deploy without it in my entire 120 hour plus playthrough.

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I think fully upgraded Quiet and D Dog with the wormhole fulton are way more game breaking, but yeah, I used the pistol on every mission.

 

[Tarot Deck]

Valkyria Chronicles 1 & 4 for sure - rush scouts/APCs to the objective to maximize the XP you get, because all the game cares about is how long you take to capture the main enemy camp.

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Valkyria Chronicles 1 & 4 for sure - rush scouts/APCs to the objective to maximize the XP you get, because all the game cares about is how long you take to capture the main enemy camp.

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🤔

I might return to VC 1 after this post

Fucking love Scout Rush

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Ok, I will try this today

 

[Boy]

Wcw Revenge wrestling game for n64 - You can always kick out of a pin no matter what if you flick the analog stick. I dunno if it was a glitch.

 

[PMS341]

 

[Doggg]

Back in the day I managed to 1CC the original Virtua Fighter in the arcade a few times. My strategy was simple: pick Akira, get just out of range of the opponent, crouch, and continually jab in about 0.75 second intervals. The AI would keep walking straight into the punches, over and over again.

what broken, simple tactics have you discovered, Era?

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This works for Rise of the Robots, too, except with kicking instead of punching.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

Aloy: *Whistle*
Human enemy: "What's that? I should investig- *dies*

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To be fair, this is how stealth systems work, lol. This is the mechanic working exactly as intended!

Although I agree there is something visually different to a character checking out Aloy, who is barely concealed in tall grass, after hearing a whistle versus Snake knocking on a wall from around a corner, Spider-Man shooting a web against a barrel from high above, or Emily/Corvo breaking a glass bottle from a distance.

 

[Transistor]

Some of the images are broken, but yeah I kinda hate that Scout Rush is the only way to get S Ranks. I wanna kill stuff with the Edelweiss too!

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Fixed :)

 

[Ojli]

There is that electrocuting shotgun in Yakuza 0 that makes any fight laughable

 

[grand]

Valkyria Chronicles 1 & 4 for sure - rush scouts/APCs to the objective to maximize the XP you get, because all the game cares about is how long you take to capture the main enemy camp.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - flick the left stick to parry everything.

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4 (especially after the update) does a lot to fix this but it's crazy they never changed the ranking to be based on more than just turn #

 

[FooF]

Thief ring in demon's souls. Just break line of site for 5 seconds and back stab

 

[Astral]

Fucking love Scout Rush

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Lol I hated this so much. It honestly ruined the replayability of the game for me. Especially Alicia. OP as fuck.

 

[.exe]

Dark Souls

> Start with any class with decently high strength
> Put points into strength to get it to level 16
> Grab Zweihander from the Graveyard
> Run to Pinwheel
> Optional: summon Paladin Leeroy
> Two-hand your Zwei for the Pinwheel fight
> Rite of Kindling get

Enjoy chill souls.

 

[super-famicom]

Dark Souls

> Start with any class
> Run to Pinwheel
> Summon Paladin Leeroy
> Rite of Kindling get

Enjoy chill souls.

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Fixed

 

[Bigg]

Twin Snakes adding MGS2's first person view was cool but also it completely broke the game in spots and Silicon Knights did absolutely nothing to adjust for it. Literally all you had to do to beat Ocelot was aim and shoot.

 

[Yes]

what broken, simple tactics have you discovered, Era?

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Can't name any games*, but multiple times I've used a tactic in which I shoot enemies from far enough they don't trigger. Usually single shots with a silent weapon. After being alert for a moment they go back to being "idle". Then I shoot again. Repeat until enemy is dead.

*Maybe Borderlands, maybe Tenchu, for example. But not sure.

Overall hiding is very exploitable.

Also in Morrowind climb on a rock and use a spear.

 

[.exe]

Fixed

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Or that, haha. But with Zwei you can almost close your eyes and just tap attack :p

 

[Dan Thunder]

I remember playing MGS5 and defeating Quiet by quickly marking her position and dropping a couple of supply crates on her head whilst I hid behind a wall.

 

[asmith906]

Squall Limit Break spam in Final Fantasy 8

 

[Angst]

Play a few card games in ffviii
card mod
profit.

Edit:

Squall Limit Break spam in Final Fantasy 8

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Right on time my dude

 

[shoptroll]

SimCity Classic: Replace roads with trains to curb traffic and pollution complaints

Heroes of Might & Magic 2: recruit ghosts, find low-level wandering mob, dominate the map

Final Fantasy VI: Vanish-Doom/X-Zone

Final Fantasy VIII: Import PocketStation and let the tomogatchi game run for a few days. Refine all materials gathered on import, break game over your knee

 

[aett]

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (and maybe others, I forget): jumping resets your attack animation. Katanas are strong, and have a fast attack but a slow cooldown (as Soma puts the katana back in its sheath). You can easily attack, make a tiny jump to reset the animation, attack again, and repeat.

 

[Tuorom]

Does archery sneak build in Skyrim count?

I believe there is an AI exploit in street fighter 2 turbo where you can spam certain moves and the AI will always run into it. iirc it was Fei Long crouching medium/fierce, and Ken's standing roundhouse.

Diablo 2 necro skeleton army build? Diablo (normal difficulty) is the only real trouble because he has nasty nukes that obliterate your army, but you're extremely safe.

 

[Jay Shadow]

When someone pointed out to me that enemy groups in DMC4 don't attack you if your camera isn't pointed at them it made harder difficulties much easier. Look away, charge up gun, look back, fire, repeat.

It also was amusing to watch people rage at Ninja Theory for this feature continuing in DmC as if it was something new that they added to dumb down the game.

 

[FatalT]

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I have this in my backlog for Switch but blah blah blah what the fuck?

 

[Pasokon Deacon]

In both of the Souls games I've been playing (Demon's PS3 and Dark), backstabs are generally easier to get than they should be. Slow walking behind Balder Knights and one-shotting them works by early-game, among other cases. Damage for parrying definitely wins out, but it's so much safer to backstab everything possible. You can get through a lot of either game if you have just one good Regular damage weapon for backstabs. Apparently this gets nerfed in sequels and post-Dark Souls titles.