Ghost Recon: Wildlands was somewhat of a reboot for the series when it was released in 2017 and takes the grounded, tactical-shooter formula to a massive open world.
The beautiful tropical map is based on a fictional version of a cartel-infested Bolivia and is incredibly large. You and your squad of Ghosts are tasked with taking out a series of unpleasant underbosses before getting to the big bad of the game, El Sueño. As with most Ubisoft open worlds, there is a staggering number of outposts to infiltrate, abilities to unlock, weapons to experiment with, and collectibles to discover. It can be a little overwhelming to get your head around at first, so here are a few helpful things that will help you get started in Wildand’s huge open world.
10 Choose Your Skills Wisely
Wildlands contains a surprisingly deep and varied level of customisation when it comes to the skills and attributes of your character. There are a lot of options to play with, so it’s important to pick and choose the skills that will make you the most effective soldier on the battlefield.
There are some essential skills to upgrade early, such as increased stamina for being able to cover more ground on foot, a parachute for avoiding fall damage when skydiving, and a higher ammo capacity to keep you mowing down your enemies for longer. There are also epic skills that give you a huge boost to certain abilities. These include a buff to long-range accuracy, faster healing of injuries, and an increased explosion radius, and are all great to get early on.
9 The Drone Is Your Best Friend
Drones are nothing new for modern tactical shooters and have been a fundamental gameplay mechanic in many Ubisoft-constructed open worlds. They are incredibly useful for scouting ahead and getting a birds-eye view of an outpost to plan the next stage of your attack.
It’s really important to pump some skill points into your drone as early as you can - increasing its battery and range will allow you to scout the cartel for longer periods and from further away without disconnecting. It’s important to get these basics down, but you can later increase its offensive capabilities with EMP and explosive upgrades that will give you more of an edge as you liberate Bolivia.
8 Unlock The Underbarrel Grenade Launcher
Some of the most annoyingly overpowered enemies in the game are the helicopters that will quickly rain down hell on you and your squad. If you don’t have a high-powered sniper rifle on hand, the grenade launcher attachment is an excellent early game counter to those pesky air vehicles.
Unlocked through the ‘weapons’ skill tree, the underbarrel grenade launcher hurls a grenade in an arc at your target. With a bit of practice, you’ll be taking out helis in no time, and it’s also just a good all-around explosive option for when things get a bit hairy mid-firefight. Just make sure the barrel is loaded.
7 Fully Upgrade The Sync Shot As Soon As Possible
The sync shot ability has become a Tom Clancy staple over the years and is something that should not be overlooked. Fully upgrading the ability will allow each of your three AI teammates to line up a shot and, on your command, immediately take out any enemy of your choosing.
As long as they are within a line of sight, this allows up to four enemies to be taken out at once when you also lock a target within your crosshairs. This is extremely useful for clearing out an outpost in a stealthy way and is incredibly satisfying when you pull it off.
6 Discover As Many Rally Points As You Can
The game’s map is exceptionally large for a Ghost Recon game, containing 21 regions and 11 ecosystems, each with its climates and towns to explore. It’s so big that it can sometimes be a drag travelling from mission to mission, as the distances you have to cover are usually so vast.
Thankfully Wildlands has fast travel, which can be unlocked as you discover Rally Points. Once you’ve visited a Rally Point you can fast travel to it, and they are a useful way of cutting out the tedium of getting from one side of the map to the other. Be sure to unlock as many as you can.
5 Don’t Ignore Collectibles
While playing through missions and exploring the open world, you will come across a variety of collectibles that you will need to get stronger and progress through the game.
You shouldn’t avoid picking up the collectibles when you find them, as they give you access to new weapons for gameplay variety, kingslayer files for more information on the bosses you are trying to take out, and important intel that will unlock main story missions. They will also give you a nice chunk of XP when you pick them up, which is always welcome
4 Prioritise Blue Intel
The exclamation points you see on your minimap denote the various forms of intel you can unlock as you explore. When you reach them, you’ll be given a choice between locating Rebel Ops and Supply Raids, which are green, or Skill Points, which are blue.
The Raids offer you more opportunities to gain resources, and the Rebel Ops missions will allow you to call in support from your rebel allies. While useful, these pale in comparison to the various skills, weapons, and attachments you can find with the blue ‘Skill Points’ intel. Prioritising these will allow you to level your character and get high-quality gear at a faster rate.
3 Tag Resources For Greater Rewards
As you explore Bolivia you’ll come across a bunch of supplies dotted around the towns, bunkers, and outposts. It’s important not to ignore these, as they can net you decent rewards that will help you level your character.
You’ll want to look out for green icons on the minimap, and they can be seen shining as barrels, crates, and boxes out in the world. Interacting with them will give you a certain amount of either food, communications, fuel, or medicine and can each be used as a way of purchasing and upgrading your skills - vital for taking down the cartel with ease.
2 Gather Information By Talking To Civilians And Interrogating Enemies
One of the most effective ways of gathering intel is by either violently interrogating your enemies, or politely talking to random civilians. When gathering intel in this way, you will be given the location of various collectibles and resources to help you along your journey.
Whichever way you choose, it is always best to be out of combat and in a relatively safe area. If in danger, you risk the chance of the NPC being killed and all of that sweet loot being lost. Even worse, if you lose a key enemy while interrogating them, you will fail the mission and have to restart, which is an absolute bummer for everyone involved.
1 You Only Have To Clear Two Provinces To Reach El Sueño
In the game, you have to kill the lesser leaders, Buchons, underbosses, and the four department heads before being given the chance to take out the ‘boss of bosses,' El Sueño. For a game as large as Wildlands, going through all of this content can be very time-consuming. You may find yourself a little burnt out with all the outposts and activities to complete along the way.
Luckily, it turns out that you don’t need to eliminate every single Buchon and boss to get to the big bad of the game. You only have to take out two provinces to reach the final boss and reach the game’s ending. Doing so will get you a slightly different ending than if you went through all the game’s content, but it’s good to know for those wanting to reach the end without committing too much of their time.