Story Mission: Grace Under Fire

• Prerequisites: None
• Rewards: Grace Armstrong (Guns for Hire), Medium Resistance (Holland Valley)
• Details: The Project at Eden’s Gate is attacking the Lamb of God church. Help Grace defend the graves of the fallen soldiers who have inspired the Resistance.

MISSION Commencement

Before embarking on this mission, it’s worth stocking up on ammunition, plus a favored fast-firing weapon (ideally a rifle) that you use for taking down multiple enemies over a protracted time period. Couple that with a sniper rifle and you’ll be all set.

You receive a taste of this mission when you first discover the Lamb of God church on the western side of this region. Grace Armstrong is holed up in the steeple, repelling around six enemies. Follow behind the enemies, approaching from the southeast and dropping them while Grace snipes them. This is relatively simple, and you can use projectiles too.

Before meeting Grace and starting the mission, thoroughly inspect the church and the grounds. Check inside the church, the small boarded-up shed (southwest corner) with loose window boards on the west side, and the church roof for ammunition and a sniper rifle. Also prep areas away from the three mausoleums with proximity mines. A couple of good spots are along the north-south road (,).

Now talk to Grace. She needs help, as waves of cultists are soon arriving to desecrate the graves of some good, patriotic soldiers, her daddy among the buried. You have a few moments to take up a defensive position and learn where each mausoleum is located.

DEFEND the Central Mausoleum

DEFEND the East Mausoleum

DEFEND the South Mausoleum

You must now stop enemies from reaching the three mausoleums , as any foe heading there begins to chip away at the grave, wearing it down until it’s destroyed. This takes a while, so it’s not imperative you remove each foe immediately, but make them priority targets. This mission does not fail until all three mausoleums are destroyed, so you can technically ignore two of them. But where’s the patriotism in that, Deputy?

Instead, figure out a preferred location to fire on the incoming foes, who appear in waves of between five and eight. Expect this combat to last for a while and for Grace to tag enemies, too, mainly those in the northern part of the combat zone.

OPTIMAL Path

Start by standing on the church roof at and looking for enemies heading up from the lower rocky ground at or parking a quad or pickup along the north-south road at or . Grace will let you know the compass direction so you have a better idea of where to expect foes. Then optionally (and quickly) tag the enemies using your binoculars.

Enemies may use smoke grenades, so staying above the smoke is a good idea. However, once you drop to the ground, remain in the middle of the mausoleums , enabling you to quickly deal with any and every threat. Use the low walls and other gravestones as cover.

The two outer mausoleums (east and south) are most at risk. Sometimes foes run in from the woods to the west , but most attackers swarm up from ,, or . Don’t expect anyone heading in from the north woods , but if they do, just wait at and dispatch them.

When the foes first appear, lob in a grenade to soften them up before they split apart, especially those arriving by pickup at and . Snipe any foes you can easily see at range. Then pivot left and right to constantly check the outer mausoleums aren’t being destroyed. Dispatch foes with rapid-fire headshots.

Don’t rush foes to the southeast or east; others can easily sneak by and start whacking the graves you’re tending. As the fierce battle reaches its end, expect one or two flamethrower enemies to arrive; blast them in the head, or explode their tank away from the mausoleums so they don’t easily destroy them. Even strangling or punching these foes is a reasonable plan.

As long as you use cover and keep your head on a swivel, the battle is relatively easy to win.

OTHER Paths

Another location you can snipe from is a wooded rock outcrop to the south , which offers good views of the mausoleums, but it isn’t quite as flexible in terms of catering to foes heading up from .

Though RPGs, explosives, and other area-of-effect weapons are a terrible idea to use near the mausoleums, employ them when foes first venture up from the southeast woods , or park their vehicles on the road and .

During a lull in the fighting, leave proximity mines beyond the outer wall of the churchyard that runs north to south, near the dirt pathway, to soften up foes as they advance.

Got a friend? Then get them up the metal tree platform just north of , which offers great views of the foes approaching from the road and is far enough away from the mausoleums for them to use explosives. However, this isn’t a good spot if there’s only one of you; you’re too far from the graves you’re defending.

TALK to Grace

Once the final cult member has either been slain or fled, Grace descends from the church steeple. Speak to her and she thanks you, agreeing to become a gun for hire whenever you need a quality sniper. The mission now concludes, though Side Mission: Exodus is now active if you speak to a Resistance member once they arrive here.