Story Mission: Man’s Best Friend

• Prerequisites: None
• Rewards: Boomer (Fangs for Hire), Medium Resistance (Holland Valley)
• Details: The Project at Eden’s Gate has been kidnapping animals for strange experiments. Rae-Rae’s dog has piqued their interest. Free the dog and see if he likes you.

MISSION Commencement

A friendly but ferocious pup named Boomer is currently caged at Rae-Rae’s Pumpkin Farm. Rae-Rae and her husband have been slain (their corpses are in the front yard by the cottage), and four cultists are in the vicinity.

FREE the Dog

Investigate this area in and around Rae-Rae’s Pumpkin Farm. This mission doesn’t technically begin until you free Boomer.

OPTIMAL Path

A clandestine approach allows you to easily spot and dispatch the enemy. Begin on the wooded hill to the south, creeping around to the ladder attached to the water tower . Climb to the top, and use your binoculars to mark the four enemies, as well as Boomer, who is in the cage (the Story Mission icon). One of the foes has an icon indicating he can summon reinforcements. He’s your priority target.

Drop down, and dispatch the four foes in any manner you wish. Creep into the cottage and strangle the foe who can summon reinforcements. Next, shoot the cage door to open it. Boomer then pounces on a nearby foe. Rake the remaining foes with gunfire.

Be aware that after the mission concludes (and sometimes during the mission, depending on whether reinforcements are called early or not at all), you should expect a pickup and a quad to appear with additional foes. Attack them on the dirt road, near , before they have a chance to disembark.

OTHER Paths

You can sit atop the water tower and snipe at the foes below, shooting the cage door when you want Boomer to attack.

You can sit atop the rocky outcrop in the woods behind and above the farm to the northeast ; this offers good and reasonably direct lines of sight to all enemies.

You can cause a distraction by throwing stones toward the dirt road or shooting the explosive barrels there, then tag foes in the ensuing confusion. Nothing beats letting Boomer out to mangle enemies, though.

You can also quietly creep behind each enemy before they even know you’re there (starting with the foe who can call reinforcements) and throttle each one from behind. Foes still turn up in vehicles afterward, but the initial takedowns are bloodless.

Once this mission concludes, don’t forget to check the bunker hatch northeast of the cottage near the silo. There’s plenty of items to gather in the underground shelter below ground, including a Vietnam Lighter (one of 12 to collect as part of Story Mission: What They Carried).

PET Boomer

Conclude the mission by finding Boomer, who is whimpering near his slain master. Pet him and he licks your face, becoming one of the Fangs for Hire as the mission finishes.