The Last of Us Part II is a story-loaded game (with a pretty heavy storyline), but there's still a lot of fighting between the cut scenes and the clean-up sequences. While there is no right or wrong way to play the game, there are some things to keep in mind both in general and for the different types of enemies you will encounter.
Stealth against humans
The Last of Us Part II dramatically improves on the stealth aspects of its predecessor by giving you much more control over your movements and positioning through the various levels.
- Crouching is a reliable way to stay hidden behind objects and in tall grass. Crouching will also increase your accuracy.
- Being inclined to do this is even better, allowing you to squeeze through mid-height grass and significantly reduce weapon sway.
- Throwing bricks and bottles is great for distracting enemies, but be warned: the humans in this game are slightly intelligent. They will often find that you are trying to distract them, but this can still be used to increase their paranoia and cause enemy groups to converge in the wrong place.
- Frequently use listen mode to track enemy movements. Again, they're not that stupid this time around. Enemies will check around for objects and look under cars.
- Use the silencer gun as much as possible, but keep track of how many times your silencer is used before it breaks. It starts capable of three hits but can be upgraded.
- Killing enemies stealthily is your best bet whenever the opportunity arises. You don't have to be directly behind the enemy to do this. If you move fast enough, you can grab an enemy before they have a chance to trigger an alarm. However, other enemies will certainly find the corpse and be wary of the area. Don't linger too long in one place. When in doubt, it's never a bad decision to run away.
Fighting the WLF
The WLFs are the first type of human enemies you will encounter. It is a paramilitary type organization which, as expected, operates with a certain degree of strategy and coordination. Sometimes you will be able to remove them one by one, but they also move in groups. They'll communicate with each other frequently, warn others when they spot you, or become suspicious when one of their friends suddenly doesn't respond.
Like you, they use firearms, but without a doubt their most formidable weapon is their dogs. Their dogs can pick up your envoy and stalk you, so whenever you see a dog stay as far away as possible or, you know, try to kill the dog. If you kill a dog, be sure to remove its master as quickly as possible. For WLF, bows and arrows are great tools for selecting people as you move through levels. Usually a single arrow is enough, but if you hit someone in a non-vital part of the body, you may have to hit again. The WLFs are a very mobile group, so leaving mines around is a valid tactic as well.
Fight scars
Scars are the second type of human enemies you will encounter. While they don't pack heavy guns or wear bulletproof vests like the WLF, they make good use of the tools they have. These people are pretty good with bows and arrows. If you are hit by an arrow, you will continue to lose health until you use a health kit. They will also come to you with nasty melee weapons.
In general, the best strategy with scars is to keep your distance. When it comes to scars, leaving travel mines is a good idea, and long-range weapons are great. Since they don't have as much protection as the WLF, they descend quite easily. Don't be too intimidated by their hissing, either. It sure sounds creepy, but it's basically just their way of probing suspicion.
Survive infected people
Most encounters with the infected occur in isolated cases from other human enemies. When you don't want to just sneak up on them, you can apply the same strategies against them that you use against humans, although there are unique types of infection that should be treated differently.
- Runners are the tiniest of infected people you will ever meet. They are the most common and, unsurprisingly, will run after you if they spot you. Use your dodge move and you can stab them easily without wasting valuable ammo. If you catch them hanging out in a group, treat them to a Molotov cocktail.
- Stalkers are surprisingly not as stupid as many of their fellow zombies. They will patrol through areas and try to accompany you if they can. Flank them first and use your revolver or shotgun to remove them easily. Stalkers can easily be identified by the fact that they usually wear jeans ...
- Clickers are the people with full cauliflower heads. Since they don't exactly have eyeballs anymore, they can't see you, but they have amazing hearing. If you can sneak up on it and get a stealth kill, great. Otherwise, lay them down with a few heavy rounds as soon as possible, as getting caught by a clicker can be a fatal blow.
- bloating are the big boys you will meet occasionally. They can pull off chunks of their infected flesh and throw them at you like sour grenades, so keep your distance and try to get around them if possible. Use a Molotov cocktail to stun them and get headshots when possible.
- Shamblers are a bit like bloating, but even grosser. Instead of just throwing flesh grenades at you, they'll release clouds of acid from their bodies. If they catch you, they'll give you a hug full of that acid cloud, so keep your distance and follow the same strategy as with Bloaters. Once you've shot them down, get away from their corpse as quickly as possible. They will explode in a last cloud of acid as a final farewell.
In general, sneaking through the infected when possible is probably your best strategy. If there are humans, you can pit them against each other and sit and watch terror for a minute or two and then clean up the one that's left.
Running is always a good option, but fire is definitely your friend against all kinds of Infected. The fire is big against everyone, in fact. Use the tools you have, but use discretion when possible. The res