Aside from the dangerous Infected creatures threatening your life on The Last of Us, groups of heavily-armed survivors, from the Seraphites to the WLF, never fail to always hunt you down. Even if you play using the most manageable difficulties, taking down a human can be a nasty business. Unlike the Infected creatures, humans’ AI is smarter, and sometimes, they take a Guard Dog with them to track your scent.
On this list, we’re giving the top ten tips to take down any human enemy quickly and effortlessly or, at least, help your quest of revenge becoming less frustrating.
10 Perfect Your Stealth Skill-Tree Upgrades
One of the many things you have to do first is to fully complete your Stealth skill branch. To do that, obtain the Stealth Manual Training first. It can be found on your first day in Seattle with Ellie at the Capitol Hill. It is a perfect place to roam around, so make sure to wipe all the collectibles and visit all the possible places before heading to your next route. After getting this Training Manual, you can now craft silencers, improve your listening mode clarity, and stealth-kill faster.
9 Craft
Crafting is pretty tricky because your backpack capacity is limited, and you never know how many collectibles can you find throughout the journey. After reaching a safe zone away from infected or humans, make sure to craft everything you can so you won’t have to run out of place if you find anything on your journey later on. Just keep on crafting and scavenging, because you never know which crafted item you might need next.
8 Explosive Arrows Do Work Wonders
One of the newest features that come in Part II is the explosive arrow, and it can turn out quite useful when you’re trying to take down a group of humans at one. To do that, you must find the Explosive Training Manual first on your second day in Seattle with Ellie.
Explosive arrows are pretty easy to craft because it only needs an explosive and a binding. However, note that it creates a lot noise, so make sure to have every single shot count.
7 Keep a Bottle or a Brick Handy
Bottles and bricks are always useful to survive on both Last of Us games, so make sure to have one in hand to distract humans from going right into your direction. Even if you’ve finished swiping from an entire area, always have a bottle or a brick in your backpack before continuing the journey.
Or, if you’re rad for some action, you can hide behind a counter and throw them right next to you and have your shiv ready. When they come close, stealth-kill them fast before the sound alert comes.
6 Beware of the Guard Dogs & Humans With a Hatchet
During your journey with Ellie, you will encounter humans, and they’ll bring a guard dog to track your scenes. Beware of them, because while most human NPCs can’t physically beat you in a run, dogs always do.
If you ever find a human and a dog, make sure to always eliminate the human first. The dog can only be surprised when seeing its owner dies before its eyes, but it can’t actually alert anyone. After that, you’re free to kill the dog with a silencer or an arrow.
5 Sometimes, the Best Thing to Do Is to Not Kill Anyone
In The Last of Us, ammo and collectibles are always hard to come by, and sometimes, you’ll be trapped in an area full of enemies with no ammo left. Although you might stealth-kill them, it depends on the situation. tThe best thing to do might be to stay on the low and refrain from killing anyone. You can hide between the tall grass or behind the crates to pass your way through them and continue your journey. If you’re already caught, the best bet is to run, but avoid running directly to them.
4 Upgrade Your Weapon
The Last of Us allows its players to upgrade their weapons using parts that can be found, shattered across the dead cities. Each arm has its unique advantage and weakest link. While some guns are more lethal than others for a specific scenario, making sure to always know which one to use is still useful. It all depends on what type of player you are, so it’s best to invest your parts wisely. Check on our guide of best 10 weapon upgrades on The Last of Us Part II here.
3 If You See a Runner or a Clicker, Lure Them Into Humans
If you’re ever stuck in an area of both infected and humans, you don’t always have to take both of them by yourself. Just throw a brick, a bottle, or a smoke bomb to attract more noise to lure the infected into humans and let them fight each other off.
Even if a human catches you red-handed, they will immediately shoot you, and the sound of their gunshot will lead the infected to them. Do your best to avoid getting spotted by the infected, and you’re good to go.
2 Beware of Your Surroundings
If you take a cover and throw a brick to lead two people into your direction before killing them, they tend to not go in the same direction, unlike the infected. Instead, one would take the right side, and the other takes the left side. Pay attention to your surroundings, and make sure to get the best shot of both humans. If you can’t take both at once, you can hold one hostage and point your gun at the other and kill them.
1 In Desperate Time, Tweak Around Your Difficulty Setting
If you have tried all the tips and tried both violent and sneaky ways yet you’re still not managing to get through, you can always pause the game and tweak your difficulty settings. If you play on hard, you can tweak the AI’s onto light or very light and revert the settings back to your preferred difficulty.
After all, playing games is supposed to be fun and not stressful, right? No matter what difficulty you use, you’re still getting the same trophy for finishing the game, so why not work your way around it?
