At the conclusion of the last mission the next one is right in front of you. Now’s your turn to earn that vehicle and stop hoofing it. The playthrough video shows the switch from the starting weapons to the Combat Shotgun earned from the previous mission. It’s always worth testing out new classes of weapons and their variations as they drop to get a feel for what you like and what works best in given situations.
Sniper’s Ridge
Main Mission Code
M03
Description
The Earth Republic rescue team is being picked off by mutant snipers. Get to the ridge and take them out, so the rescue team can access the New Freedom wreckage and evacuate those still trapped inside.
Rewards
50,500, 
500, 
A-Tex Growler Pro Green/Black, 
Respark (common)
Walkthrough
After accepting the mission you hear from Grant, “The rescue team can’t move until you cross the valley and take care of the targets on that ridge.”
Objective: Go to Sniper Ridge. Start running toward the mission marker. You’ll go down a short hill then up a steeper one to reach the Mutant base. Despite the snipers up there you’re unlikely to encounter any resistance until you actually enter the camp.
In-game Tip: When moving, double-tap 
to roll out of the way of attacks.
As in the last mission you get a pop-up saying you discovered a location, in this case, Sniper Ridge. This is the last time this guide will mention these location pop-ups but be aware you will see them often. In fact, except for a single location in Mount Tam, all of the location Pursuits will be fulfilled simply by playing through the story.
Objective: Neutralize the mutant camp. In front of you is a pile of boxes that shimmers on an off. There are also plenty of Mutants. A new indicator appears at the top of the screen that you will come to know as the game reuses locations for other aspects of gameplay. In this case you are at what is known as a “Conflict Site”. If you return to this area after this mission this same indicator will appear, and you must fulfill it’s directive to clear the conflict. These conflict sites will be reused as daily and weekly Contracts. You have a long way to go before you have the option to do those sorts of contracts but remembering your encounter here will help you to be prepared when they arrive. In the bar at the top it reads, “Sniper Ridge Assault” which is the name of the conflict site for future reference. Below it reads, “Sabotage ammo caches” with three diamonds. The shimmering pile of boxes you noticed earlier represents one of these caches. Obviously, there are two more. You will need to interact (Hold 
) at each one to sabotage it. That will also fulfill part of this objective.
Don’t worry about that now, you’ve got Mutants to kill. If you’re using the Combat Shotgun, you’ll find just a couple of good hits is enough to take one out, but the reload time is much longer than some other weapons. This is a good chance to get used to using your melee attack (clicking the right stick 
) in certain situations.
At the first cache you’ll find a few, and once they’re handled more will emerge from the small building behind the cache. Others are already visible ahead near another cache which is normally the third one to deal with. To your left from where you entered the camp is the second cache.
Take out enough of the mutants so you can sabotage the first cache. Once you’ve done this more mutants will emerge but will normally be killed in the explosion you just triggered. This same pattern will occur at all three caches, you sabotage and move away, Mutants emerge and are taken out by the explosion. EGO says, “Target destroyed.” Mop up any survivors.
Now head to your left where the second one is. Here you will find the aforementioned snipers partially obscured by both the cache and other objects. There are three of them to take out. One is standing right next to a barrel with yellow highlights. This is a standard “explosive barrel” so shooting it will quickly take out one of the snipers. Sabotage the second cache and eliminate any survivors.
Onto the final cache. You’ve most likely eliminated the opposition at this point so just run over and interact. Before the final explosion start heading towards the stairs in front of you. You can position yourself for the next part of the encounter by using this brief window of time. After the third cache explodes you get a cutscene.
The cutscene begins with an aerial view of the camp and the exploding caches. It then switches to a shot of a large gray mutant playing with his weapon. Like the Sergeant you took out in the Tutorial, this is one of two types of more powerful Mutants you’ll be dealing with. Where the previous Sergeant had a minigun this one has a Detonator, a type of weapon you’ll acquire soon enough. It fires exploding shells, as you see in the cutscene, that damage a wide area so be careful. When the cutscene ends a Mutant Rifleman emerges from a truck and says, “Intruder! Defend this position!”
If you ran up the stairs earlier you should be close enough to take the Rifleman out quickly. Now turn your attention to SGT. Monroe 2.3.220 as the Grenadier is labelled. Blast him in the face a few times, hit him with a grenade, whatever you like just stay mobile to avoid his attacks. After he’s dead the header at the top of the screen changes to read “Eliminate the Mutants”. More Mutants will appear around the platform so take them all out. After the last one is dead EGO says, “Area secured.”
At this point a Results Card appears. These happen at the end of many encounters while you play the game. Since neither the Tutorial nor Chaos Reigns ever repeat they didn’t have cards which is another indicator that you’ll be revisiting this location. The card includes the name of the encounter, in this case “Sniper Ridge Assault”, a note that this is a “Conflict Site”, and your Score including number of Kills, Downs and Players Revived. As this is an open-world MMO there could have been other players around either doing the mission themselves or fulfilling a Contract at this location. The image of the player with the highest score usually appears on the right side of the card. There are two prompts, press 
to continue and see all the scores and names of people who participated, or press to simply close the card. You also have the option to press 
to inspect the player with the highest score and see details about them such as their EGO Level, Power Rating, equipped weapons and more. The rewards listed here are not part of those associated with the mission so they are a bonus at this point. Where XP and Scrip are obvious the third item is Raw Gulanite, represented by three blue diamonds in a triangle pattern. This resource will be used at Major Arkfall events you encounter later. Once you close the card EGO says, “I think you and I have a bright future together.”
Objective: Return to the E-Rep camp. Grant broadcasts, “The rescue team is clear. They’re heading into the New Freedom now.” Start running toward the marker. Instead of going down the path that lead you to the camp just jump down the mountain. As there is no fall damage in the game feel free to jump off any height when it suits you. Cass broadcasts, “Looks like you convinced Grant that us ark hunters can actually help out here. He said you can take one of the Runners to get around. Pick it up at HQ on your way down. Otherwise you’re going to need sturdier boots and a lot more guns.”
Once you reach camp EGO says, “Nice! We have access to a Runner now! You can use it whenever you want to get around faster.” From now on whenever you press 
you’ll rez your current vehicle. You’ve also unlocked the next mission as well as several side missions.
Mission End
At this point you should also earn a new EGO Level and Class Level. You have a fresh point to spend on the Class Tree, so do that, but afterwards you can now view the Contracts portion of the Goals part of the EGO Menu. You can now start earning rewards that will enable you to purchase better items at certain events. Check out the Contracts portion of the Guide for more details than are presented here.
You now have a choice to make. You can go ahead and proceed with the story or follow the advice from the Introduction to this Guide. If you choose the latter now is the time to take advantage of the No-Look Guide to Fast Travel and then begin hitting Major Arkfalls and other events to raise your Power Level quickly before returning to the story.
