If you were to define Watch Dogs’ gameplay in a few words, they would probably involve “hacking” and “stealth”. Watch Dogs cleverly uses these mechanics in two simple yet very fun online game modes, namely Online Hacking and Online Tailing.
These modes are tricky because they involve invasion of other players’ games, which can be super-easy against a novice or super-hard for a novice against an experienced and witty person.
To understand Online Hacking and Online Tailing, we’ve set up a guide for yyou which should get you started.
This guide also contains some general tactics that would help you become aware of what your rival may or may not be up to, and how to successfully carry out your invasion or to defend yourself from one.
For more help on Watch Dogs, read our Digital Trips, Shell Game and Online Decryption Guide.
Watch Dogs Online Hacking
When you are hacking, you are known as the Fixer (aka Hacker), who will be entering into a victim’s world to hack him, then install a backdoor, and evade him or stay there.
The key to hacking is remaining unspotted – for the most part the victim will not know his/her world is being invaded, but as soon as he/she finds out, there is only one thing that they will do: kill you.
You cannot retaliate or assault the victim in any way whatsoever, as that will fail the hacking mission.
The person being hacked into is the Target, who will have little to no awareness when the Fixer enters his/her world and attempts the hack.
Note that the fixer will look like any ordinary person within the game, so unless you’re looking for odd behavior, it’s very unlikely you’ll find the hacker until he/she has initiated the hack.
When he/she does, it’s time for you to hunt him down and kill him.
The object of the Fixer is to stay within the zone and complete the hack, avoiding detection or getting killed, while the Target must defend him/herself by eliminating the Fixer altogether.
If you have been a victim of hacking or tailing during, the Fixer’s data is stored, giving you the opportunity to retaliate and take sweet revenge. The data of the last five invaders is accessible.
We will separate the Hacking procedure into different steps, and tell you what will most probably be going on with both the Fixer and the Target.
Step #1 – Searching for a Victim
The Fixer will choose a target from a list of many possible ones. Targets have their difficulty rating displayed next to them along with Notoriety and XP compared to yours.
The difficulty of the Target is determined by how many Fixers he/she has managed to neutralize in the past, with numbers ranging from 0 to 5, including decimals in between.
Anything near or above the 4 mark means the person is an expert at killing Fixers, so you better come prepared. The depiction will generally been from “Very Easy” to “Very Strong” defense, along with the points you would gain or lose depending on the outcome of the hack.
Step #2 – The Invasion Begins
The Fixer will be in the Target’s world, appearing as any other generic human being to everyone but himself. You have to head to the waypoint within 5 minutes, so grab the fastest vehicle you can and do that (bikes are ideal, because they are also harder to spot).
Access the waypoint, and you’ll have one minute to start the hack. Scan the area quickly and decide your hiding spots. Once that is done, begin the hack.
Remember, you can’t use IEDS or traps against the Target, because you cannot harm him/her in any way whatsoever. In addition, the Target will not be alerted until you install the backdoor.
The Target will be going about his business. Did you spot any suspicious driver who was more impatient than the regular NPCs? It’s probably hard to tell because you’ll be doing something or the other that will make you overlook any kind of anomaly around you.
Step #3 – Installing the Backdoor
The Fixer will begin the second phase of the hack, with a second timer countdown of one minute starting.
At this point, your Target will be alerted of the invasion, and a blue area of effect on the map will appear on both your map and the Target’s. Move away from the center of the circle and prepare to hide somewhere.
Note that if you move out of the blue area, the hacking will pause.
The Target will be alerted of the hack! You need to find the Fixer in the blue area and find him fast.
The hacking progress will be displayed on your screen in the form of a percentage, along with the face if you have the Security Footage Notoriety skill. It’s time for you to start profiling everyone within the blue area.
Step #4 – Things Tighten Up
The Fixer will continue to hack, and the blue area on the map will become smaller in size. Yikes! You need to be clever with your positioning and hiding spots, because the urgency for the Target is rising.
Avoid getting out of the blue area, but it you feel like it’s the necessary thing, do so for a short while. Your Target will know when you get out because the progress of the hacking will halt during the time you are out of the zone.
The Target gets closer and closer to finding the invader as the blue area reduces. Search every nook and corner, up and down, in and out of buildings to find the shady little hacker. Check for dodgy characters that might be hiding in the shadows with your profiler, search parked vehicles for anyone sitting in them.
Step #5 – Do or Die
The Fixer will continue to evade the Target’s desperate search till the hack is complete, or will evade if he/she is caught. When you’re caught, you need avoid getting shot and evade the Target for a partial victory and the possibility of losing notoriety.
Do whatever you can to avoid the Target’s wrath!
The Target will lose if the hack is successful. If you manage to find the hacker, take out your best weapon and unleash your fury upon him.
Your objective here is to shoot to kill, and you should not leave any possible option untried. If the hacker gets into a vehicle, aim for the tires to puncture them and halt a speedy evasion.
Use your hacking skills to trap the hacker with steam pipes, blockers, spikes, untimely traffic signal changes, and every other thing you can think of. Once he’s down, you will gain notoriety and raise the fear amongst any other player who tries to invade your world.
Watch Dogs Online Tailing
This is a simple yet fun-as-hell idea for a 1v1 invasion game. The Fixer/Invader in this mode has to invade another player’s game, and stay hidden from side, stalking and profiling him till the meter fills up.
Basically, the Fixer must be a total ghost, and a total creep. You cannot harm the Target in any way or else the mission will fail.
The Target will never really know when his game is invaded during Tailing. He’ll go on about his own business, but if he spots suspicious activity and profiles the invader, he must prevent him from escaping by killing him.
Like with Online Hacking, we’ve divided the game mode into different phases.
Step #1 – The Invasion Begins
As the Fixer,you can find a rival player to tail through your Smartphone or from Online Contracts. When you see the profile and the information, you can begin the invasion.
The Target won’t know if his world is being invaded or not – he’ll be going on about his business like normal, without a care of what is happening around him.
Step #2 – Closing In
The Fixer will close into the target by going to the waypoint on the map, with a countdown of five minutes.
Do this quickly, but make sure you’re doing nothing out of the normal that would make your Target suspicious in any way. Make sure you are out of your target’s line of sight, especially if his cellphone is out as you can get profiled.
The Target will still be unaware, but picking up hints from his surrounding can give a good idea.
Look for certain cameras that you cannot hack into (those are being used by your stalker), or for any suspicious driver or pedestrian on the street. You won’t know you’re being tailed until you start a mission or an event.
Step #3 – The Stalking Begins
The Fixer will continue stalking and profiling the target, hiding in shadows, inside parked cars, eagerly watching.
You need to have the visual on your target to keep the progress going. Use cameras and other indirect methods to keep an eye on your target without making him aware.
Do note that cameras used by you cannot be used by your target, which will rouse suspicion – try cameras that are out of sight of the target. Try blending in with NPCs, and always keeping an eye out on your target from across the street – that’s one place many will tend to overlook.
The Target has some strange feeling of being watched, but he can’t point it out. Did you just see someone standing in the shadow with his cellphone equipped? Did you notice a parked car with a person inside it, just sitting there?
Take out your profiler and start scanning around. When you spot your stalker, the progress will stop, and it’s time to teach what happens to creeps. Go all out and kill him.
Step #4 – Do or Die
The Fixer will either successfully carry out the tailing, or will be spotted by the target, in which case it’s time to run!
You are the target now, and you must now evade your chaser, whose objectives are to kill you. Your target will appear as a purple icon on the map.
Use any means necessary (except hurting your target) to avoid getting caught – try hacking the L-train, luring your chaser inside, and then hacking it again to trap him so you can make a run for it.
Get out of the white zone and stay hidden for seconds to successfully evade, giving you a partial victory.
The Target will have one simple (or not so simple) task: kill the stalker! Use any means necessary, whether it’s steam pipes, blockers, or spikes.
If your stalker gets into a vehicle, shoot the tires to prevent him from going too far, and then eradicate him with clean shots.
