Sludges and other enemies?

[zurin]

Is this completely random or is there a way to make it easier for me to enter a mission where a specific type of enemy is present? I did 20 incursions today and saw ZERO sludges. I need to complete the san francisco study and also the sludge trophy but this is driving me insane

[zBode_]

17 hours ago, zurin said:

Is this completely random or is there a way to make it easier for me to enter a mission where a specific type of enemy is present? I did 20 incursions today and saw ZERO sludges. I need to complete the san francisco study and also the sludge trophy but this is driving me insane

If you play on critical difficulty there’s a mutation that spawns sludges after killing an enemy. Otherwise they’re random en make sure to shoot them first to split them up, then finish them off with an impact nade.

[zurin]

On 1/21/2022 at 7:40 PM, zBode_ said:

If you play on critical difficulty there’s a mutation that spawns sludges after killing an enemy. Otherwise they’re random en make sure to shoot them first to split them up, then finish them off with an impact nade.

Ty, that one looks doable then, but the damn Cloaked Lurkers I also cannot find anywhere. They seem to not spawn on Critical at all. I just hate the RNG for trophies

[Brickman0819]

I was just having this problem. And every single guide except ONE told me to increase it to the highest difficulty to try and get that Mutation so killed enemies turn into Sludges. And I went through well over twenty different incursions and I saw nothing.

 

That ONE other guide told me to do the exact opposite, and go on the easiest difficulty. So I did just that, and after three incursions, I found some Sludges. If you're careful, you can get all three Studies from a single Sludge.

 

Hope this helps!

[xxdmcgee2288xx]

On 1/22/2022 at 11:42 PM, zurin said:

Ty, that one looks doable then, but the damn Cloaked Lurkers I also cannot find anywhere. They seem to not spawn on Critical at all. I just hate the RNG for trophies

I’m also having this issue on the game right now.. been on this stupid ass study for like 6-7 missions now and I’ve tried solo and MP.. I suggest that you don’t play returnal (the game) and go for platinum trophy if you hate RNG trophies.. practically all the gold trophies are RNG related besides one.. this study is starting to piss me off tho.. 

On 1/21/2022 at 7:40 PM, zBode_ said:

If you play on critical difficulty there’s a mutation that spawns sludges after killing an enemy. Otherwise they’re random en make sure to shoot them first to split them up, then finish them off with an impact nade.

I thought that the study said destroy one without dividing one.. hmmm.. pretty sure it’s best not to divide it in which case I think you flashbang it? Maybe frag grenade? I’m not sure.. 

[xxdmcgee2288xx]

For anyone struggling with this.. I just figured it out thanks to a YouTube video.. source: 

 

just do tenderloin solo.. I found two sludges right off the bat on the first objective.. 

[Hulsinator1]

Just acquired this, but I would recommend working to a theory of 5. Every incident of the sludge spawning I have found 5 in that sub-zone.  So clear the zone, find the 5, multiply by 3, repeat until they spawn again.  Yet to have an area without 5 sludge spawn.  Most were either tenderloin threat 2, any threat 3 Alaska or threat 4 t&c

[JFKing]

Easy way to get trophy for omg sludges: 

 

1. Get level 10 Jager. 

2. Play as Jagger on level 3 difficulty. 

3. Cycle through games unless you get the Sludge mutation. 

4. You have 15 minutes, alert nests so enemies spawn. 

5. Find a good spot in the middle of 4-5 nests. 

6. Place down both Jager devices (at level 10 the Jager devices recharge once every 10 seconds. 

7. Kill enemies, but don't kill the sludge. 

8. Let your Jager device kill sludge (It's an explosive kill). 

 

You can easily get 20-30+ every 15 minute zone. There are three zones per level, so you could potentially finish it in one incursion. 

 

Be mindful that certain Archaens, like the rooter, can destroy your Jager. Don't stand on top of them to avoid them getting destroyed. 

 

If you play solo, enemies will spawn more slowly which makes it doable and not stressful. 

[poetic_justice_]

On 2/8/2022 at 0:12 PM, Hulsinator1 said:

Every incident of the sludge spawning I have found 5 in that sub-zone.  So clear the zone, find the 5, multiply by 3, repeat until they spawn again.  Yet to have an area without 5 sludge spawn.  Most were either tenderloin threat 2, any threat 3 Alaska or threat 4 t&c

 

Finding five sludge in a single sub-zone has not been my experience. I would only find one to three. However, I was not using the XR Recon drone for most of my playtime. I did not understand what a powerful tool it is. After playing with prestige and max prestige randoms who relied on the recon drone, I started using it. The drone scans and highlights everything around it, and there were probably sludges I never found because I didn't scan. When I started using the drone, I began finding more sludge.

 

Sludge creates a distinct high-pitched squeal, like a small animal or piglet. Nothing else in Extraction makes that sound. When you recognize the squeal (and if it is safe to do so), deploy your drone. The sludge may be on the floor above or below you. 

 

If new players get in the habit of using the recon drone and find an average of three Sludges every other incursion, in fifty incursions the Eeeeew trophy will be complete, regardless of the operators used. Given eighteen operators must be leveled to rank 10 (145,000 XP each), and a solo Moderate incursion gives an average of 13,000 XP, players will run ten to twelve incursions per operator. 11 X 18 = 198, or roughly 200 incursions. Players who are slowly chipping away at Eeeew during these 200 incursions will not need to go out of their way to grind explosive Sludge kills. 

 

The Aura Grenade and Echo's Yokai drone will vaporize Sludges, not explode them, so don't use those. The Impact Grenade, the Fragmentation Grenade, Zofia's KS79 Lifeline, Fuse's Cluster Charge, Jaeger's Active Defense Sentry (ADS) and Hibana's X-Kairos all count for Explosion kills. I don't remember if Nomad's Airjab Launcher or Ela's GRZMOT Mines counted for explosion kills. I think Nomad's Airjab Launcher did.

 

I really like Zofia and Hibana for hunting Sludges (I would have used Nomad too, but didn't think about it till now). Their explosive abilities allow players to equip a Stun or Aura Grenade for Hunt or Takedown missions, yet still Explode Sludges when the opportunity presents itself. Coupled with the Recon Drone (manual scan) or better, XR Recon Drone (auto scan), these three operators are Sludge exploding machines.

 

Fuze's Cluster Charge will also explode Sludges, but it is cumbersome to use. It requires the Sludge to be on the other side of a destructible wall. You can barricade a window if necessary, shoot the Sludge to divide it into three parts, then run behind the window and deploy the Cluster Charge. It takes a long time, the Sludges may move out of range, and the explosions make a racket that alerts every enemy in the area. Fuze is not convenient for hunting Sludges, but man, is he great on Kick the Anthill assignments.

 

 

On 4/1/2022 at 10:15 PM, Jacob Faulk-King said:

Easy way to get trophy for omg sludges: 

 

1. Get level 10 Jager. 

3. Cycle through games unless you get the Sludge mutation. 

4. You have 15 minutes, alert nests so enemies spawn. 

5. Find a good spot in the middle of 4-5 nests. 

6. Place down both Jager devices (at level 10 the Jager devices recharge once every 10 seconds. 

7. Kill enemies, but don't kill the sludge. 

8. Let your Jager device kill sludge (It's an explosive kill). 

 

You can easily get 20-30+ every 15 minute zone. There are three zones per level, so you could potentially finish it in one incursion. 

Have you actually done this, or is this just a theory? The statement "you could potentially finish it in one incursion" sounds theoretical, and in my experience, is misleading. I'm not attacking you, but this idea seems like a half-baked cake. If you have successfully used this strategy, do you have a video you could post?

 

For everyone I know who has the Eeeeew trophy, the process was long and slow, requiring many incursions to complete. I'm not saying your idea couldn't work. Using Jaeger is a great idea, and it would be fabulous if it did work. However, there are factors this theory does not take into consideration.

 

1. A "good spot" in the middle of 4-5 alerted nests is a contradictory statement.  Deliberately placing oneself in the middle of 4-5 alerted nests is the worst possible location to be, particularly on Severe and Critical incursions. Even low-level enemies do significant damage. Multiple enemies attacking from multiple directions simultaneously drastically lowers the odds of survival, particularly enemies with ranged attacks, like Spikers or Rooters. Tormentors and Apexes inviting themselves to the party are even worse. 

 

2. Four or five nests spawning what? The assumption is that all nests are spawning low-level trash mobs, Grunts or Smokers. On Severe or Critical, this will probably not be the case. Rooter or Lurker nests are common. If the nests spawn Bloaters, their death explosions could destroy the nests (although that would count for an Explosion kill if it took out a Sludge too). 

 

3. You don't have fifteen minutes. You have to recon the map, gather ammo, find the ideal location, and decide whether to clear a path to the airlock or retreat to extraction at the 14:00 or 14:30 minute mark, depending on distance to egress. You then have to eliminate any nearby Apexes, Tormentors, or Smashers - both at the sludge spawn location AND between you and your egress - without alerting the nests, and set up your two ADS. If you have eliminated all enemies in the area, you will have to go to another area, find an enemy, kite it back to the nests, and hope your ADS doesn't kill the enemy before it can Howl. Thirty to sixty seconds from round completion, you must retreat to extraction or advance to the airlock. At best, you have twelve minutes, but most likely seven to nine minutes.

 

4. If there is an Apex nearby, this whole idea can go sideways. Apexes love to hover around nests, and an Apex will alert the entire area the moment it sees you. It will then retreat behind cover and begin spawning its own nests. Even two ADS will have difficulty protecting you from that many enemies.

 

5. The ADS is indiscriminate in its fire, and may or may not target the Sludge. It will probably target the fastest enemy approaching, "wasting" shots on enemies to protect you. If a Tormentor is firing projectiles, the ADS will prioritize intercepting projectiles. At rank 10, the ADS holds eight rounds and will recharge one round every five seconds. How many of those rounds will actually explode Sludges in a prolonged firefight with 4-5 nests?

 

6. On Severe and Critical difficulty levels, waiting five seconds for the ADS to recharge can be a lifetime, particularly with enemies flanking from multiple directions simultaneously.

 

7. Jaeger's best primary weapon is the 552 Commando, a thirty-round assault rifle that does 48 damage per round (unsuppressed). For assaulting 2, possibly 3, low-level enemies at once, it suffices. For 4-5 enemies, the sustained fire of a 50-150 round LMG becomes necessary. Death during reloading is a likely possibility with 4-5 alerted nests.

 

8. Destructible cover/environmental awareness. Enemies will create their own entrances, and you may be flanked from an unintended direction. Cover or obstacles in that direction may block the ADS's line of fire.

 

9. The biggest problem is setting up the ADS BEFORE the nests are alerted. Your list says to alert nests, then find a good spot, and then place the ADS. Doing it in that order is not recommended.

 

10. This strategy is built around the assumption Jaeger does not become injured or go MIA. If either of those things happen, players must switch to another operator, run a second incursion for at least 15,000 XP to heal Jaeger to 50% health, and then make a third incursion to reattempt with Jaeger. This process adds grind to an already grindy game. Not fun.

 

I'm not against Jaeger's ADS being maximized to kill Sludge. It is a great idea. However, throwing the untested theory out there and adding, "You can easily get 20-30+ every 15 minute zone. There are three zones per level, so you could potentially finish it in one incursion" is a misleading claim. If a new player tried this and failed (which is likely), it could cause unnecessary frustration.

 

If you have a video showing how you did it, please post. Otherwise, if you haven't actually done it, this sounds like a half-baked cake. The ingredients for success might be there, but it needs to be thoroughly cooked all the way through before it is served to anyone. 

 

Here are three actions that could improve the odds of your Jaeger theory working.

 

A. Using an Aura Grenade to attract unalerted enemies away from the nests allows you to covertly place your ADS, provided the surrounding cover conceals you from enemy sight. However, decide beforehand if you want to detonate the grenade within 45 seconds or kill the enemies with gunfire and then retrieve your grenade. Otherwise, the large blast radius might vaporize your nest(s).

 

B. A solo Abberant Nest Mission is guaranteed to have five nests in relatively close proximity, usually behind non-destructible walls. However, the odds of receiving an incursion with both a Spontaneous Sludge mutation AND an Abberrant Nests mission together is very low, less than 5%. 

 

C. Placing the ADS on the opposite side of a non-destructible wall or up a flight of stairs can lower the possibility of them shooting unintended targets instead of Sludge. However, you would need to gather enough ammo beforehand to kill everything coming around the corner or up the stairs that isn't Sludge.

Edited November 26, 2022 by poetic_justice_

[JFKing]

I appreciate your detailed response. See below.

 

On 11/26/2022 at 1:59 PM, poetic_justice_ said:

Have you actually done this, or is this just a theory? The statement "you could potentially finish it in one incursion" sounds theoretical, and in my experience, is misleading. I'm not attacking you, but this idea seems like a half-baked cake. If you have successfully used this strategy, do you have a video you could post?

 

First, I have not played this game since I got the platinum. Thus, I am unaware of any subsequent reworks, balance, or changes. My response is based on that experience from several months ago. To be fair, I believe they did add some additional enemies after my post?

--

I did use this strategy to grind out the remainder of my sludge kills. The 20-30+ per zone was accurate and included the time to set up the strategy in the zone. However, the "you could potentially finish it in one incursion" was hypothetical and not tested. It was based on the numbers I experienced in the first zone. Sure, it was shortsighted to claim that numbers obtained in the first zone would translate to the second or third, but I believe the "potentially" clearly denotes that I was theorizing that it could be done. 

 

So to answer your question: Yes, I used this method and it got me the trophy incredibly fast.

 

To rephrase the method, I would say that I can only confirm success in the first zone, so extract after the first zone and reload. [or continue, your choice]. Since you're playing on level 3 difficulty with a maxed out Jager, you should be able to exfil after the first zone with minimal to no health loss.

 

On 11/26/2022 at 1:59 PM, poetic_justice_ said:

1. A "good spot" in the middle of 4-5 alerted nests is a contradictory statement.  Deliberately placing oneself in the middle of 4-5 alerted nests is the worst possible location to be, particularly on Severe and Critical incursions. Even low-level enemies do significant damage. Multiple enemies attacking from multiple directions simultaneously drastically lowers the odds of survival, particularly enemies with ranged attacks, like Spikers or Rooters. Tormentors and Apexes inviting themselves to the party are even worse. 

 

2. Four or five nests spawning what? The assumption is that all nests are spawning low-level trash mobs, Grunts or Smokers. On Severe or Critical, this will probably not be the case. Rooter or Lurker nests are common. If the nests spawn Bloaters, their death explosions could destroy the nests (although that would count for an Explosion kill if it took out a Sludge too). 

 

3. You don't have fifteen minutes. You have to recon the map, gather ammo, find the ideal location, and decide whether to clear a path to the airlock or retreat to extraction at the 14:00 or 14:30 minute mark, depending on distance to egress. You then have to eliminate any nearby Apexes, Tormentors, or Smashers - both at the sludge spawn location AND between you and your egress - without alerting the nests, and set up your two ADS. If you have eliminated all enemies in the area, you will have to go to another area, find an enemy, kite it back to the nests, and hope your ADS doesn't kill the enemy before it can Howl. Thirty to sixty seconds from round completion, you must retreat to extraction or advance to the airlock. At best, you have twelve minutes, but most likely seven to nine minutes.

 

4. If there is an Apex nearby, this whole idea can go sideways. Apexes love to hover around nests, and an Apex will alert the entire area the moment it sees you. It will then retreat behind cover and begin spawning its own nests. Even two ADS will have difficulty protecting you from that many enemies.

 

5. The ADS is indiscriminate in its fire, and may or may not target the Sludge. It will probably target the fastest enemy approaching, "wasting" shots on enemies to protect you. If a Tormentor is firing projectiles, the ADS will prioritize intercepting projectiles. At rank 10, the ADS holds eight rounds and will recharge one round every five seconds. How many of those rounds will actually explode Sludges in a prolonged firefight with 4-5 nests?

 

6. On Severe and Critical difficulty levels, waiting five seconds for the ADS to recharge can be a lifetime, particularly with enemies flanking from multiple directions simultaneously.

 

9. The biggest problem is setting up the ADS BEFORE the nests are alerted. Your list says to alert nests, then find a good spot, and then place the ADS. Doing it in that order is not recommended.

 

10. This strategy is built around the assumption Jaeger does not become injured or go MIA. If either of those things happen, players must switch to another operator, run a second incursion for at least 15,000 XP to heal Jaeger to 50% health, and then make a third incursion to reattempt with Jaeger. This process adds grind to an already grindy game. Not fun.

 

Here, I am throwing out some ideas to counter your points:

 

1. Playing solo, at least at the time, was not difficult once you were fully leveled up. Map knowledge is key. Remember that you have two Jager devices on the ground assisting you. An additional tip would be to pick up and replace the Jager device when you have a break in the enemies because, at the time, this reloaded the device to full capacity.

 

2. It doesn't matter. Game knowledge is important. If it's a difficult opponent, target the weak spot and destroy the nest spawning that. Keep the nests you prefer intact. You're playing on level 3 difficulty. With a level 10 Jager on solo, you should have no problem taking on the first zone.

 

3. My calculations include prep and extract. My prep was running to a central location and planting my devices as soon as possible. Running to that location alerted the nests I needed. If I remember correctly, you don't even need to extract or move on for the kills to count. Maximize your time there.

 

4. Do apexes spawn in the first zone?

 

5. Shoot the enemy in a non-weak point at a distance so sludge spawns and travels within ADS range. If it's an Archean that explodes, kill it without an explosion. Place the ADS in a central place where you can get the kills without it killing nests. Nests that are farther away can be alerted and baited.

 

6. I disagree if you're using a maxed out character and level 3 difficulty.

 

9. That is the order I did it because, at level 3 difficulty solo, it was possible in the first zone.

 

10. Would you rather (1) get 20+ sludge kills in 15 minutes [assuming you just extract after the first zone], then speedrun an easy difficulty to heal your somewhat lost health or (2) get up to, say, 5 sludge kills over the course of 45 minutes running a critical excursion? Explosives seem somewhat hard to come by unless you're using Jager.

 

On 11/26/2022 at 1:59 PM, poetic_justice_ said:

If you have successfully used this strategy, do you have a video you could post?

 

No video. I'll redownload the game and record one. A quick google search didn't show a single video referencing my method. It may be beneficial to some. I will say that I'm pretty busy with work, so it's low on my priority. Feel free to remind me lol

[poetic_justice_]

On 11/30/2022 at 0:08 PM, Jacob Faulk-King said:

On 11/30/2022 at 0:08 PM, Jacob Faulk-King said:

First, I have not played this game since I got the platinum. Thus, I am unaware of any subsequent reworks, balance, or changes. My response is based on that experience from several months ago. To be fair, I believe they did add some additional enemies after my post?

--

The 20-30+ per zone was accurate and included the time to set up the strategy in the zone. However, the "you could potentially finish it in one incursion" was hypothetical and not tested. It was based on the numbers I experienced in the first zone. 

 

10. Would you rather (1) get 20+ sludge kills in 15 minutes [assuming you just extract after the first zone], then speedrun an easy difficulty to heal your somewhat lost health or (2) get up to, say, 5 sludge kills over the course of 45 minutes running a critical excursion? Explosives seem somewhat hard to come by unless you're using Jager.

 

 

No video. I'll redownload the game and record one. A quick google search didn't show a single video referencing my method. It may be beneficial to some. I will say that I'm pretty busy with work, so it's low on my priority. Feel free to remind me lol

I don't know about the addition of additional enemies with recent patches. I began playing R6E in November 2022.

 

Thank you for clarifying your "75-sludges-in-one-game" theory was indeed hypothetical. My concern is new players will read it and think, "Wow, that trophy sounds easy," only to end up being frustrated and overwhelmed by enemies, have their Jaeger go down, and constantly have to run additional incursions to extract and heal Jaeger. The platinum grind is long enough as it is.

 

1a. Your response leads me to believe you have more experience with Jaeger than I do. For instance, I was not aware that picking up the ADS automatically refilled it to max ammo capacity. That is significant in making your theory work. Any time there is a pause in enemy attacks, a player can recharge ADS ammo (I believe currently a single ADS carries a max of 8 explosive rounds). One ADS can protect you while you refill the second ADS. I do see a potential problem there, as the ADS closest to the enemy's ingress will expend rounds more rapidly than the ADS farther from the enemies. A player would need to be careful picking up/replacing the exposed ADS, particularly if it is at a "T" or "+" intersection. The second ADS might not be able to shoot enemies through walls, resulting in those rapidly moving enemies damaging the player before the first ADS can be redeployed. Timing is key.

 

This "pick up/refill/repair" mechanic is inconsistent across operators. For example, I played a fair bit with Tchanka. Unfortunately, picking up the deployed LMG did not refill its depleted ammo. However, picking up Alibi's deployed holograms did seem to repair any damage done to them. Other operators, like Gridlock, cannot pick up her deployed skills (i.e., traps) at all. So Jaeger being able to refill/repair his ADS by picking them up gives him an important tactical advantage, providing essentially unlimited ADS ammo. Wow.

 

1b. You're right; map knowledge is key. It takes significant time (multiple hours) to familiarize oneself with the sub-sections of maps. This leads me to believe it is better for players to have a meta-strategy for leveling all operators and learning maps while killing 75 sludges along the way. Rather than rely solely on Jaeger, I think it is advisable to use your Jaeger strategy as a mop-up for sludge kills rather than the primary way to obtain them. This is strictly my opinion. 

 

2. When you say, "It doesn't matter what five nests are spawning," I feel like you're dismissing factors that are beyond player control: nest spawn, nest location, enemy speed, random enemy movements toward/away from nests, ADS fire, weapon recoil causing stray bullets to hit/miss weak spots/cause Bloater explosions/damage nests behind the intended target. Ubisoft purposely designed this game to make combat chaotic. Can players be surgical? Yes. Can a solo player be 100% surgical and 100% accurate in the manner you described 100% of the time? No, not in my experience. It is possible you are more skilled at the game than I am. If this is the case, have you considered that the players reading your approach have at least a 50% chance of being less skilled than you? I don't think many players are going to find the ADS approach to be as simple as it is being presented. 

 

3 & 5. I'm confused. You said your calculations include prep and extraction time, but then added, "You don't need to extract or move for the kills to count." If you don't extract, Jaeger goes into stasis. Also, nest placement is randomized each incursion, so how do players know where this "central location" is without first doing recon? Recon takes time. Map knowledge can cut down on this time (e.g., knowing the three most common places for groups of nests to spawn in a specific subsection). However, acquiring such in-depth map knowledge is best obtained with a two-birds, one-stone approach: level multiple operators while simultaneously learning multiple maps. After acquiring sufficient knowledge to accurately estimate probable nest placements, switch back to Jaeger and use the Spawn Mutation/ADS strategy to maximum effect with minimal time loss.

 

To clarify (I'm sure you know this, but new players might not), running to a nest does NOT alert the nest. What alerts the nest is the Howl, and a Howl can only be performed by a living Archean that maintains you in its line of sight for several seconds. You need at least one living Archean howling by a nest or multiple nests to alert the nests. If you kill every Archean on a map, you can run up to nests at full speed and not alert them. Knowing this makes Foam Nodes incursions much easier. Also, in regards to your theory, it means you can kill every Archean in your central location, set up your ADS, then kite another Archean back to the central location so that it howls around the nests you want alerted. However, all of this takes time.

 

4. Yes, Apexes can spawn in the first zone, although this is rare on Critical. They spawn more frequently in zone 2 and most commonly in zone 3.

 

9. I feel like you're talking about two different approaches. In the first post you wrote about getting 75 Sludge kills in a single 3-objective incursion, yet in your second post you pivot to a new approach of "Only use Jaeger in the first zone, then extract." This second approach seems more forgiving and obtainable for new players. However, players would have to spend potentially three times the amount of time re-cycling loading screens & extracting in the first subzone hoping to get the Sludge Mutation. 

 

10. "Would you rather (1) get 20+ sludge kills in 15 minutes [assuming you just extract after the first zone], then speedrun an easy difficulty to heal your somewhat lost health or (2) get up to, say, 5 sludge kills over the course of 45 minutes running a critical excursion?" This question is worded in a way that implies an either/or fallacy. Either I have to do it the ADS/Jaeger way and obtain 20+ Sludge in 15 minutes, or I do it another way and get only 5 Sludge for 45 minutes. This oversimplifies the complex, multi-factor, interdependent chaos of an actual incursion. What guarantee can you offer that players using the Jaeger method will get 20+ Explosive Sludge kills every time? None. There are too many factors over which the player has no control. Do I still think the method could work? Yes, but perhaps one run out of three will go as intended for experienced players; new players would be doing well to get one good run out of five. 

 

Second, averaging 5 Explosive Sludge kills every 45 minutes is a good meta goal that would eliminate the need for the Jaeger method entirely.

 

• 18 operators X 145,000 XP each = 2,610,000 total XP for Proud Papa
• One single-player incursion on Moderate: 15K XP (avg.) for 15-20 minutes
• One multi-player Assignment on Critical/Severe: 35K XP (avg.) for 20 minutes [This does not factor in lobby wait times]
• One multi-player Maelstrom Protocol clearing nine objectives: 108K XP for 45-50 minutes [This does not factor in lobby wait times]

 

Although MP assignments and Maelstrom Protocol offer the best time/XP ratio, the multiplayer base for R6E is small. Most trophy hunters will play hours of single-player incursions to level up their operators. If a single operator is leveled at the rate of 1,000XP/minute, it will require 145 minutes (2 hours, 25 minutes) to reach level 10. Per your 5 Sludges/45 minutes average, that grants players 15+ sludges for a single operator. That means within five operators, the Eewwww! trophy would be complete (5 operators X 15 sludges = 75 sludges).

 

If players could play more multiplayer assignments and average 2,000XP/minute while maintaining your 5 sludges/45 minute average, the 75 Explosive Sludge kills would be complete within 10 operators (10 operators X 7.5 sludges = 75 explosive sludge kills). You see getting 5 sludge kills every 45 minutes as a problem to be avoided; I see it as the solution to be embraced.

 

Extraction requires between 70 and 100 hours for the platinum (Source: https://howlongtobeat.com/game/68213). If players chip away at Eeewww! along the way - even with a low average of one Explosive Sludge kill per hour - there will be no need to use the Jaeger/ADS method. 

 

Could the Jaeger/ADS method help players who are struggling? Absolutely. Is it worth making a video guide? That is up to you. But if players practice environmental awareness, know what to look for, and carry explosives with them (not Aura Grenades, unfortunately, but Frag or Impact Grenades), they will complete Eewwww! organically during their regular playthroughs. There will be no need to go back and grind Explosive Sludge kills with Jaeger. Ela, Zofia, and Hibana also have innate explosive skills, allowing them to equip Aura Grenades and still explode Sludges.

 

I think if you did a video, it would help a lot of people. Given that Eewww! is the rarest trophy, your ADS/Jaeger theory could help many players complete the Rainbow Six Extraction platinum. Even if players could only kill 10 Sludges with explosive ADS ammo per incursion, that would help players who are stuck finish Eewwww! in seven or eight matches. My guess is that many players reading this thread have at least 25 Explosive Sludge kills already, and feel discouraged with the random chance of getting a map with sludges on it. As much as everyone would like a "one match to finish the hardest trophy in the game" strategy, it is healthier and less stressful to accept the reality that it will take most players multiple matches to obtain 75 Explosive Sludge kills, even if they can get the Jaeger/ADS strategy to work. I think it's a great idea, but not necessarily simple.

Edited December 15, 2022 by poetic_justice_

[GUDGER666]

The cloaked lurker one is the only broken study I have encountered, nothing will unlock it, scan grenades and recon vapour despite saying they uncloak them don't work. They also are the rarest one, it can take hours to finally get 1. Very close to giving up because of this. 

Edited April 5, 2023 by GUDGER666

[Game_Knot]

On 5.4.2023 at 10:51 AM, GUDGER666 said:

The cloaked lurker one is the only broken study I have encountered, nothing will unlock it, scan grenades and recon vapour despite saying they uncloak them don't work. They also are the rarest one, it can take hours to finally get 1. Very close to giving up because of this. 

Use the paralysis grenade.

[shxrpay]

On 12/14/2022 at 6:27 PM, poetic_justice_ said:

Extraction requires between 70 and 100 hours for the platinum (Source: https://howlongtobeat.com/game/68213). If players chip away at Eeewww! along the way - even with a low average of one Explosive Sludge kill per hour - there will be no need to use the Jaeger/ADS method. 

I don’t think that’s an accurate time personally. It’s more like 50 and it’s very possible that it could be a lot less if you’ve played siege before etc.; I have 23 hours atm and I estimate I’m going to have around 35-40 when I get the plat. The website also says 50h is the median completionist time so I’m not sure where you got that estimate from?

Edited April 7, 2023 by shxrpay

[GUDGER666]

2 hours ago, shxrpay said:

I don’t think that’s an accurate time personally. It’s more like 50 and it’s very possible that it could be a lot less if you’ve played siege before etc.; I have 23 hours atm and I estimate I’m going to have around 35-40 when I get the plat. The website also says 50h is the median completionist time so I’m not sure where you got that estimate from?

It really depends on skill and luck. If you have a good team or a group of friends then yea will be much faster, but doing it with randoms is a nightmare, took me ages to get 55k trophy with randoms because they were all bad. And it took many hours on some studies to get certain enemies to spawn. It's a bit surprising you have done all but a few trophies in just 23hrs. My current time is 93hrs. 

[poetic_justice_]

4 hours ago, shxrpay said:

I don’t think that’s an accurate time personally. It’s more like 50 and it’s very possible that it could be a lot less if you’ve played siege before etc.; I have 23 hours atm and I estimate I’m going to have around 35-40 when I get the plat. The website also says 50h is the median completionist time so I’m not sure where you got that estimate from?

HowLongToBeat has two large headings that clearly display "Main + Sides: 48 Hours" and "Completionist: 137 Hours." You are correct that it states 50h Median completion time, but this is based mostly on information submitted by PC players, not PS4/PS5 gamers.

https://howlongtobeat.com/game/68213

 

I compared that with information obtained from PSNProfiles Platinum Club.

https://psnprofiles.com/trophy/15105-tom-clancys-rainbow-six-extraction/1-platinum-performance

 

For example, these are the times of the last five players to earn the platinum:

garyjun77: 103h

NPC490: 46h

stguskhe: 40h

Gianni-Hun: 74h

UltimateNomad: 87h

 

3/5 players are over 70 hours, or 60%. 2/5 completed the platinum in 40-46 hours, more in line with your estimate.

 

Lastly, I looked at how many hours my PS5 recorded when my platinum unlocked (100h). I have played an additional 28h helping other people earn the 30k and 55k trophies, making videos and just having fun.

 

Congratulations on moving along so quickly. However, assuming other players will move as fast as you is not advisable. There are a number of factors which are beyond player control, such as weekly activities (Kick the Anthill will be far more active than Veteran San Francisco) and finding competent partners for incursions or Maelstrom Protocol. Competent partners can triple the amount of XP earned vs. solo play, but unfortunately most randoms in this game act in ways that make them squad liabilities, not squad assets. COD playstyles in R6E will get your squad killed, and most randoms play R6E like it is COD. Also, your high skill level and previous Rainbow Six experience are something the average player will not possess. So I stand by my 70-100h estimate for Playstation gamers based on these realities. If you get the platinum in 40h, congratulations, but realize you are in the minority, not the majority. Most gamers will require roughly double that.

 

47 minutes ago, GUDGER666 said:

It really depends on skill and luck. If you have a good team or a group of friends then yea will be much faster, but doing it with randoms is a nightmare, took me ages to get 55k trophy with randoms because they were all bad. And it took many hours on some studies to get certain enemies to spawn. It's a bit surprising you have done all but a few trophies in just 23hrs. My current time is 93hrs. 

Having mics, approaching the entire match with stealth, knowing the maps, and knowing which operatives to use to complement the squad are required of all three players to succeed on Maelstrom Protocol and higher difficulty incursions. This game is very fun when people know what they are doing, but most of the time, this is not the case.

Edited April 7, 2023 by poetic_justice_

[GUDGER666]

42 minutes ago, poetic_justice_ said:

Having mics, approaching the entire match with stealth, knowing the maps, and knowing which operatives to use to complement the squad are required of all three players to succeed on Maelstrom Protocol and higher difficulty incursions. This game is very fun when people know what they are doing, but most of the time, this is not the case.

It's definitely not required, I never used a mic. Stealth is only required on 1 objective which is nest tracking. All others can be done loud, that 55k trophy is very easy imo, only problem I had was my team would never want to extract, I got about 70-80k 6 times in a row until I finally got a team that was smart enough to extract with low health. 

 

If your team is good enough Imo it's best to go guns loud, and quicker. 

[shxrpay]

On 4/7/2023 at 1:52 AM, poetic_justice_ said:

Congratulations on moving along so quickly. However, assuming other players will move as fast as you is not advisable. There are a number of factors which are beyond player control, such as weekly activities (Kick the Anthill will be far more active than Veteran San Francisco) and finding competent partners for incursions or Maelstrom Protocol. Competent partners can triple the amount of XP earned vs. solo play, but unfortunately most randoms in this game act in ways that make them squad liabilities, not squad assets. COD playstyles in R6E will get your squad killed, and most randoms play R6E like it is COD. Also, your high skill level and previous Rainbow Six experience are something the average player will not possess. So I stand by my 70-100h estimate for Playstation gamers based on these realities. If you get the platinum in 40h, congratulations, but realize you are in the minority, not the majority. Most gamers will require roughly double that.

I realize that, thank you, but I was only basing my estimates off that median from howlongtobeat and the trophy guide at PowerPyx. I do agree that I’m in the minority but I also think 70-100hrs is a little high and even average players could get it in less than that.

[poetic_justice_]

On 4/7/2023 at 0:04 AM, GUDGER666 said:

It's definitely not required, I never used a mic. Stealth is only required on 1 objective which is nest tracking. All others can be done loud, that 55k trophy is very easy imo, only problem I had was my team would never want to extract, I got about 70-80k 6 times in a row until I finally got a team that was smart enough to extract with low health. 

 

If your team is good enough Imo it's best to go guns loud, and quicker. 

Extraction gives XP bonuses for takedowns and stealth kills, whereas going loud gives no XP bonuses. Almost all enemies can be killed by Takedown, with the exception of Apexes and Proteans, which is faster, saves ammo, alerts fewer enemies (if any) and provides more XP. There are trophies for doing takedowns on certain numbers of enemies: Defeated (5 Smashers) and Defused (50 exploding Archeans). Clearing a map with stealth is quicker (most of the time), provides the team more options to approach the next airlock, and far less stressful. You honestly found that going loud against Tormenters, Smashers, Sowers, Rooters, and Lurkers was preferable? No offense, but I completely disagree. With inexperienced and new players, that is inviting a wipe.

 

A few objectives, such as Serial Scan, Sabotage (Archean spines) and Gatweay, are defense-based and require going loud. Some are a mix of stealth+loud, like Decontamination (abberrant nests), Hunt (kill 3 X to attract 1 Y), and Specimen (lure X to extraction pad). In all three cases, maintaining stealth as long as possible is to the team's advantage. Most objectives: Biopsy, Triangulation, Shutdown, and Missing in Action (nest rescue) favor stealth.  A few objectives, such as Rescue and Nest Tracking, can fail if you go loud for too long; the hostage can succumb to wounds from constant Archean attacks and once all nests can become alerted, the objective fails. Hunt and Shutdown, which can be played either stealthy or loud, are easier in stealth, particularly on higher difficulties. No One Left Behind (teammate down, carry him/her to extraction) means everything has gone to crap, leaving one player with a sidearm and one player with a primary weapon to fight enemies that are normally handled by three players firing three primary weapons. In this worst-case scenario, there is zero benefit in remaining loud longer than necessary. Underpowered and attracting more enemies while slowly carrying an unconscious teammate to extraction will result in a wipe most of the time. 

 

PSN shows you at 103 hours without the platinum. The one trophy you're missing is Proud Papa (Equip Headgear on 18 different Level 10 Operators), which is entirely XP-based. Not being critical, but these two facts support the conclusion that going loud is a slow way to Rainbow Six Extraction's platinum.

 

17 hours ago, shxrpay said:

I realize that, thank you, but I was only basing my estimates off that median from howlongtobeat and the trophy guide at PowerPyx. I do agree that I’m in the minority but I also think 70-100hrs is a little high and even average players could get it in less than that.

"average players could get it in less than that" - true. Numerous players (as you yourself prove) COULD earn the platinum in less than 70-100 hours. With a squad of three experienced players, the platinum could be unlocked in less than forty hours. Will most players achieve that time? No. Gudger666's posts, my 100 hour experience, and the 100% Club on PSN show most of us are above the 70h mark and explain why that is. R6E fails to provide an adequately tailored single player experience, which more or less forces gamers to play multiplayer. The online community is very small, consisting mostly of elite diehards who almost exclusively play end-game content, and COD-minded rookies dabbling in the early levels. Extraction is clearly meant to be a squad game, but the online community Ubisoft was hoping to create never materialized. There isn't a large group of experienced players for platinum seekers to join in matchmaking.

 

Quality of squadmates is also a huge issue. One COD rookie can easily wipe the entire squad. I was playing a high difficulty excursion with a new player. As soon the incursion began, he ran blindly into the map, firing at everything that moved. The third player and myself were stealthily trying to eliminate nests with supressed pistols, hoping the rookie would either A) get downed so we could continue the mission in peace, or B. kill enough enemies to make himself a useful distraction. As the rookie ran all the way to the airlock, alerting every single nest along the way, he attracted the attention of a Rooter and a Tormentor. When he discoverd the airlock wasn't open (because airlocks cannot be activated by one person), he panicked. Despite the fact that no one was downed and the third player and myself were near the airlock, trying to accomplish the objective, the rookie back to the beginning of the map and activated the extraction protocol. The third player and myself were left to battle across an entire map of alerted enemies. With too little time and too much distance, we did not make it. The rookie was the only one who extracted, leaving the third player and myself to start a new match rescuing our downed operatives. 

 

This whole "rescue your downed operative" mechanic can eat up a lot of time when playing with trigger-happy rookie teammates. It forces players to 1. lose some of their best operators to MIA status and 2. deviate from high-level missions to low-level rescue missions, since there is a greater chance of success on low difficulty. This makes XP gain even slower and puts certain studies on halt until returning to higher level difficulties. All this contributes to platinum delays.

[GUDGER666]

10 minutes ago, poetic_justice_ said:

Extraction gives XP bonuses for takedowns and stealth kills, whereas going loud gives no XP bonuses. Almost all enemies can be killed by Takedown, with the exception of Apexes and Proteans, which is faster, saves ammo, alerts fewer enemies (if any) and provides more XP. 

I've done multiple clears in stealth and you do not get much more xp, loud = more enemies but done quicker. And like you say sometimes you can't go stealth. Saving ammo is completely pointless as there is far more than enough. 

 

16 minutes ago, poetic_justice_ said:

You honestly found that going loud against Tormenters, Smashers, Sowers, Rooters, and Lurkers was preferable? No offense, but I completely disagree. With inexperienced and new players, that is inviting a wipe.

Like I said "if your team is good enough" Tormentors are easy and quick to kill, they all are, just throw an Aura Grenade and they all go to it for an easy takedown. Sowers, Rooters and Lurkers can easily be 1 shot killed. And I would not do it with new or inexperienced players, I mostly always go stealth or try anyway which always fails with randoms. 

 

31 minutes ago, poetic_justice_ said:

Some are a mix of stealth+loud, like Decontamination (abberrant nests), Hunt (kill 3 X to attract 1 Y), and Specimen (lure X to extraction pad). In all three cases, maintaining stealth as long as possible is to the team's advantage. 

46 minutes ago, poetic_justice_ said:

 

Decontamination is easy and quick, use Fuze and it's over pretty quickly. Up the Ant Hill Assignment is entirely loud based.  Hunt and Specimen also can be done quickly only to your favour if you can't handle enemies coming at you. 

 

47 minutes ago, poetic_justice_ said:

Most objectives: Biopsy, Triangulation, Shutdown, and Missing in Action (nest rescue) favor stealth.  A few objectives, such as Rescue and Nest Tracking, can fail if you go loud for too long;

As I said nest tracking is the only one that requires stealth. Triangulation certainly doesn't. Shutdown is good way to get xp when going loud, or best way to do it is just run, better with Virgil who can cloak everyone, on stuff like Maelstrom that objective can be done in 20-30sec. Missing in action yea best to stealth with randoms or with skilled players just use Virgil, then cloak run in and pick up, or use an Aura its another objective that can be done quickly. 

 

53 minutes ago, poetic_justice_ said:

PSN shows you at 103 hours without the platinum. The one trophy you're missing is Proud Papa (Equip Headgear on 18 different Level 10 Operators), which is entirely XP-based. Not being critical, but these two facts support the conclusion that going loud is a slow way to Rainbow Six Extraction's platinum.

I'm not one of those people who play just for the trophies, I have multiple operators with multiple Prestige levels, I spent about 10hrs yesterday doing Maelstrom for fun.