Thanks to Watch Dogs: Legion, Ubisoft fans get a completely new Watch Dogs experience. This time around, players take DedSec's fight against CTOS to the streets of London. The catch now is that players can recruit anyone in the vast open environment to become agents for the global hacking initiative.
However, players might soon realize that it's not always "the cream of the crop" that makes for the best team in the game. In fact, sometimes it takes the right approach to recruiting even the most "mundane" of civilians to make the dream teamwork. How should players approach this process?
10 Get The Deep Profiler
Players who want to take the recruitment mechanic seriously should invest in the Deep Profiler upgrade as soon as possible. They can access this upgrade via the Tech Menu and unlock it for a cost of 25 Tech Points. With the Deep Profiler, players now have the option to know more intimate details about people they encounter in the game. These include access to Recruitment Leads, Schedule, and even Associates.
Players who want to invest in recruiting particular citizens might want to dabble into the Deep Profiler to get a better sense of their routine as well as people they make contact with. These can help players out to look for more specialized recruits and Operatives, such as the Beekeeper and the Hitman.
9 Pay Attention To Bagley's Hints
Bagley, the in-game's AI Assistant, almost always alerts players of targets of interest whenever they view the world map. This way, players can immediately see NPCs of interest — regardless of their profession, abilities, and Perks — that they can pursue. Ideally, players should pursue these contacts right away as their marks disappear from the map after a while. This easily becomes crucial, especially if they encounter rare NPCs such as an Assassin.
However, players who want to "save" these contacts for later pursuit might want to add them to their list of Potential Recruits anyways. This strategy works especially if players are on their way to pursue a high-value target when another rare profession pops up in the world map.
8 Stay On Top Of Schedules
An interesting aspect of the Deep Profiler lies in the inclusion of Schedules. This way, players can become more familiar with a person's daily routine for the day. Of course, players might not have the time to get intimately-acquainted with the lives of their Potential Recruits. However, players might want to consider looking into the schedules of some targets of interest.
For instance, players might want to follow a Potential Recruit with Uniformed Access. After all, these NPCs will at some point go to their work, which gives players the opportunity to see if there are NPCs with better stats. Likewise, contacts with unconventional jobs such as the Hitman might lead players to other interesting NPCs, especially if they're pursuing a mark of their own.
7 Six Degrees Of Separation
Another interesting component of the Deep Profiler lies in its Associates section. After all, each NPC logged into the Profiler — be it a Potential Recruit or an existing Operative — has a list of available Contacts. Players should take note of these people, as there's a high chance of being able to encounter them in the real world. Ideally, outside abilities and Perks, players should pay attention to NPCs with more than two Associates on their list.
Interestingly, the popular social concept "Six Degrees of Separation" applies to Legion. After all, players who positively interact with Associates of an NPC might make it easier to recruit the latter. For instance, a player who saves NPC Associates of their Potential Recruit might instantly activate their Recruitment Mission.
6 Uniformed Access Is A Godsend
Of all NPCs players can recruit, they should pay closer attention to those that provide Uniformed Access. These include people such as Construction Workers (Construction Sites), Paramedics (Medical Facilities), Police Officers (Police Stations), and even an Albion Officer (Albion Locations). These people will most likely have easy access to restricted areas other people might have a hard time getting into.
In turn, this benefit gives the players more time to plan their approaches without the fear of getting caught in the act on the get-go. Being able to masquerade as an official in their professional environment can give player great freedom of movement in missions.
5 Get Insurance Ready
In speaking of Uniformed Access, a lot of people with Uniformed Access end up being some of the most useful Recruits out there due to their Perks. For instance, the Barrister and Police Officer trigger their Bail Out Perk as soon as players end up in prison. With their help, the Operative in question gets reduced jail time.
Likewise, the Paramedic's Triage Perk allows them to significantly reduce the hospitalization time of Operatives in grave injury. Moreover, they come with a Personal Utility Vehicle that can double as a getaway car (or ambulance) in times of emergency.
4 Take Note Of Personal Knick-Knacks
Players who pay close attention to "specialty" Operatives might realize that they possess unique knick-knacks — weapons or gadgets — that belong exclusively to them. For instance, the Drone Expert not only unlocks the "Betray" drone hack that can force drones to turn on their owners. Rather, Drone Experts also have a personal shock drone they can utilize in battles.
In speaking of drones, the Beekeeper can utilize an army of small bee drones that can shock enemies they target. Meanwhile, Construction Workers can summon larger Cargo Drones that can act as a flying vehicle.
3 The Numbers Count
Unfortunately, despite the fun in recruiting NPCs in Legion, players have a hard limit in the number of Operatives they have in their team. In fact, despite having 9-million NPCs in the game world — all of which playable — only 45 Operatives can be kept as active Recruits at all times. Moreover, they can only have around 20 Potential Recruits lying around as well. If players want to get an Assassin from Assassin's Creed, they better save up one spot.
In turn, players need to pay attention to who they want to keep as a part of their team. Ideally, players have to diversify their Operative roles to ensure there's always one person fit for the job. That way, players won't get in tight spots that can't be solved by any one of their recruits.
2 The Enemy Of My Friend Is My Friend
Interestingly, the maxim "enemy of my enemy..." becomes outdated with Legion's recruitment system. After all, aside from being able to recruit civilians supporting DedSec's cause, the player can also recruit outright enemies. These range from Albion employees, police officers, and people with a passionate distaste for DedSec in general. Of course, recruiting them takes much longer than regular Operatives.
Unlike usual Potential Recruits that give access to Recruitment Missions right away, players need to "warm up" to their targets unsympathetic to DedSec's cause. They can do this by looking into that person's schedule and find Recruitment Leads that can help unlock their Recruitment Mission.
1 Remember Everything's Connected
Just like how positive interactions affect recruitment in a good way, negative interactions also affect the way NPCs perceive the player. For instance, harming a close Associates of a Potential Recruit might activate a revenge scenario. In these instances, that harmed Recruit can in turn kidnap or harm another Operative in the team.
In turn, players should remember that actions they commit in Legion can impact the way they interact with another NPC. If possible, players should pay attention to game prompts that state whether an NPC they're looking has connections to an Operative they know.