Challenges

Challenges are the final category in the Saintsbook. They represent an achievement system that tracks the completing of various tasks. These cover a huge spectrum, including killing and destructive goals, absurd actions like streaking, and simple exploration. As you complete milestone percentages of the required number of things to finish in a challenge, a message will appear on the HUD. When you finish a challenge, a reward screen will appear, indicating the cash and respect you have earned. Once a challenge is completed it, will be checked off the list and can not be repeated.

We asked the Volition’s hardcore QA Team for their best tips for completing some of these daunting challenges. Here are their insightful comments.

Developer’s Tips

Read through the challenges as soon as they’re available. Knowing what they are will help you determine how to get them quickly, with as little inconvenience to your regular gameplay as possible.

Combat challenges (headshots and nut shots) are easy to do in Prof. Genki’s “Super Ethical Reality Climax,” plus you get mascot kills for it! And lots of profit at the end!

Multi-kills are easily achieved during Helicopter Assault Activity. This prevents the risk of dying by your own grenades or rockets, too.

Tank and helicopter kills—Once you’ve got a combat helicopter, just hover over the National Guard Armory and wipe them out. It takes about five or ten minutes, unless you get shot down.

Car torpedo—Pick a high-speed vehicle with a lot of mass (SUVs, especially the Bulldog), plus nitrous helps a lot, too.

Carjacks—Simply carjack every vehicle you see. It takes a while to get 250. Don’t rely on transportation you already own until you get this challenge. If you always carjack, you should have it in just a few missions’ time.

Hostages taken—You don’t need to complete a hostage diversion to get credit, you just need to take them. Start the diversion and bail out into another vehicle to also get the car torpedo challenge credit.

Streaking time—You don’t need to win to get credit for the time, so don’t lose hope if you fail!

Powerslide—Drift through every turn to get the powerslide challenge. It adds up quickly; you don’t even have to go out of your way to do it. The airport is a good spot for this challenge.

Oncoming lane and near misses—These challenges can be easily combined by driving the wrong way down the center of a highway. Use a sports car to save time. The higher mobility helps you dodge cars that are changing lanes. Driving challenges (near miss, oncoming lane, run people over, etc.) are easily completed just by going to missions and driving in between objectives.

Human shields taken—Grab everyone until you get the challenge. It’s better to get this challenge out of the way early on, when there aren’t as many enemies. Also,the reduced damage from having a shield helps you stay alive even without health upgrades.

Base jumps nailed—This challenge is best saved until the Saints HQ crib is unlocked. Hop off the helipad, nail the landing, take the elevator back up, and repeat.

Survival challenge—Calls happen every five minutes as long as you’re not in a diversion, activity, or mission . . . or in fine aim. Spend some time just standing around, and you’re sure to get a call shortly.

—Brendon Ellis, Senior QA Tester

Destroy Emus and mascot kills—The best place to do both of these challenges is during the survival missions near Let’s Pretend).

STAG commando kills—You can only do these between missions 40 and 46–47 or so. There is no more STAG once you beat the game.

Gang specialists kills (Luchadores, Deckers, Morningstar)—Gangs don’t spawn once you own the city. You will have to find the specialists in activities after that.

Store holdups—These challenges cannot be completed if you purchase every store. Do these before buying them all!

Run over people—A great place to do this is on Zombie Island. In fact, might as well spend the half hour it’ll take to complete the Zombie Survival by doing this.

Grenade kills—If you’re having trouble with these, wait until Zombie Island appears and go nuts there.

Wheelies and stoppies—Try the Cyber Trail Blazing activity. There’s fewer obstacles, you can’t fall off the bike, and the tube helps you keep your balance. The Airport is also a nice place to drive without obstacles.

—Zavian Porter, Senior QA Tester

Kill 30 Brutes

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Oleg
Description: “Do I have any familial sentiment for my pseudo-brethren? No. No, I do not. I would appreciate you removing as many of them as you can.”

Do 500 Headshots

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Pierce
Description: “Johnny always appreciated a good headshot. Do him proud and see how many you can get.”

Do 25 Nut Shots

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Shaundi
Description: “Johnny liked headshots, but why be lethal when you can hit them where it really hurts?”

Get 50 Grenade Kills

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Burton Hale
Description: “We at Friendly Fire are considering offering a grenade sampler for the upcoming holiday rush. Test some out and let me know if they’re worth it.”

Destroy 300 Cars

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: “Scrapyard” Sloan
Description: “Sloan’s Scrapyard pays good money for wrecked steel. Car wrecks, that is. Find me some junk, will ya?”

Destroy 25 Boats

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: “Scrapyard” Sloan
Description: “There’s a growing market for slightly damaged boats. Create some, and I’ll make it worth yer while. Might be exaggerating the ‘slightly’ part . . .”

Destroy 60 Helicopters

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: “Scrapyard” Sloan
Description: “Don’t care if it fell out of the sky . . . I’ll pay good money for it.”

Destroy 25 Tanks

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: “Scrapyard” Sloan
Description: “I pay for scrap steel by the ton, so it stands to reason the heaviest steel things out there pay the most. Time’s a wastin’!”

Carjack 250 vehicles

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Trix Vickers
Description: “Listen, sweetie, I’ll be blunt. FUZZ needs crime footage badly, so sometimes you just have to give criminals a little nudge. ‘Nudge, Nudge!’”

Kill 200 Mascots

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Pierce
Description: “These foam-rubber assholes just creep me out. Ever since I was a kid, man. This hot dog guy, he . . . never mind. Just thin ’em out for me?”

Explore All 18 Hoods

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Oleg
Description: “There is no mistake, this conflict with the Syndicate is war. Getting to know your battlefield would be prudent.”

Find 50 Shortcuts

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Oleg
Description: “Sun Tzu once said ‘The natural formation of the country is the soldier’s best ally.’ This applies to Steelport as well. Find shortcuts throughout the city.”

Take 50 Hostages

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Wellmake Labs
Description: “Wellmake Labs has a stress-relief drug we call ‘Catatonex’. Sales are down. The citizens of Steelport are too at ease. Naturally, we’re turning to you for help.”

Hold Up 15 Stores

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Pierce
Description: “It never hurts to get back to basics, ya know? Holding up a few stores keeps you sharp, and brings in the petty cash.”

Streak for 600 Seconds (10 Minutes)

Cash Earned: $5,000
Respect Earned: 0
Contact: Shaundi
Description: “The Saints need to run a few deals in Steelport that need a . . . nonviolent distraction. Now I’m not saying you have to do this, but it might be fun.”

Big Air a Distance of 5,000 feet (About 1 Mile)

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Speed Phreak
Description: “ You know what I like to see, dude? Fast cars and big air. So you gonna go hit some jumps or what?”

Taunt 50 Gang Members

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Pierce
Description: “Bein’ a Saint isn’t just about the guns, or the clothes, or the money: It’s about the attitude. How about we show off that attitude to Steelport?”

Spend 600 Seconds (10 Minutes) Vehicle Surfing

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Aimee
Description : “Trust me, boss, vehicle surfing is the bomb! Try it out, why don’t ya? You’re gonna love it!”

Windshield Cannon Yourself for 1,000 feet

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Dr. Hastings
Description: “I’m writing a paper for a conference—‘Characteristics of Laceration in Relation to Human Ballistics,’ but I need more data! Care to volunteer?”

Run Over 500 Pedestrians With Your Vehicle

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Dr. Hastings
Description: “When it comes to blunt-force trauma analysis, you can never have a large enough sample size. That’s my opinion at least.”

Drive 100,000 Feet in an Oncoming Lane

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Trix Vickers
Description: “You know, nothing gets people to tune in to FUZZ like a homicidal maniac behind the wheel. What do you say, can you be that homicidal maniac?”

Wheelie a Motorcycle for 10,000 Feet

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Speed Phreak
Description: “You’re pretty solid, but nobody’s mastered the wheelie like the Speed Phreak! I’ll lay money you’re not half as elite as me!”

Powerslide for 300 Seconds (5 Minutes)

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Speed Phreak
Description : “Man, I just love the sound of squealin’ rubber! Show me some awesome powerslides and you’ll have the Phreak’s respect!”

Kill 50 Decker Specialists

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Kinzie
Description: “There’s some Deckers who must be neutralized because they’re on the brink of cracking the Ouroboros Protocols. You . . . really don’t want to know what that means.”

Kill 50 Luchadore Specialists

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Angel
Description: Luchadore ringleaders fight real dirty, which is all the more reason we need to get them off the street.”

Kill 50 Morningstar Specialists

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Zimos
Description: “I figure if you cut off the Morningstars’ head, the chickens’ll . . . come home to roost? Man, screw this metaphor shit . . . just kill these suckers!”

500 Vehicle Near Misses

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Trix Vickers
Description: “People don’t tune in to FUZZ for riveting social drama: They tune in to see people endangering the public welfare. Preferably in a vehicle.”

Car Torpedo 2,000 Damage

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Trix Vickers
Description: “Nothing juices FUZZ’s ratings like big, crunchy, car crashes. Twisted metal and flying body parts tested well in all markets, so . . . you know what you need to do, hmmm?”

Spend $20,000 Modding Vehicles

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Zimos
Description: “You want to roll in this town, baby, you gotta learn to pimp your ride! And who knows that better than the finest pimp in Steelport?”

Use 150 Bystanders As Human Shields

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Wellmake Labs
Description: “For Wellmake Labs, every scared citizen is a potential customer. It should cause our sales of Catatonex to skyrocket. That’s profit we can pass to our partners.”

2,500 Feet on 2 Wheels

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Speed Phreak
Description: “Nothing bores me faster than a car with all four wheels on the pavement. You and me are gonna show Steelport what driving’s all about!”

Get 500 Multi-Kills

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Pierce
Description: “We gotta keep ourselves sharp if we want to survive in Steelport. Layin’ down the hurt fast and furious is one sure way to do that.”

Nail 15 Base Jump Landings

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Mr. Roller
Description: “Here’s a bet I’m sure you’ll jump at, pun intended. Think you can nail 15 landings while parachuting? I’ll give you 3 to 1 odds . . .”

Get 25 Kills Using No Weapons At All

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Angel
Description: “In the ring, you can’t count on guns, or knives. Hell, you can’t even count on your partner. So you learn to count on your only friends: your fists.”

Destroy 50 Emus

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Oleg
Description: “While perhaps irrational, the impracticality of these little vehicles for someone of my size annoys me. Why not encourage people to dive something else?”

Kill 25 STAG Commandos

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Viola
Description: “As I’ve said, STAG’s equipment and training shouldn’t be taken lightly. Taking out some commandos should dull their tactical edge.”

1,000 Feet of Stoppies

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Speed Phreak
Description: “Any newb can do a wheelie. But stoppies . . . they’re a whole ’nother beast, man. Let’s see if you got what it takes to be Steelport’s Cycle King.”

Compliment 50 People

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Oleg
Description: “While the phrase is overused, the idea behind ‘winning over hearts and minds’ is sound. Perhaps you should cultivate some goodwill for the Saints.”

Drive 2,500,000 feet

Cash Earned: $1,500
Respect Earned: 500
Contact: Speed Phreak
Description: “Only way to know the streets of Steelport well enough to be a street racing legend like me is to drive them over and over again.”

Destroy 32 Gang Operations

Cash Earned: $3,000
Respect Earned: 1,000
Contact: Pierce
Description: “Money makes the world move. If we can cut off the other guys’ cash from their operations, we’ll be closer to running this town.”

Complete All 26 Survivals

Cash Earned: $3,000
Respect Earned: 1,000
Contact: Pierce
Description : “Hey, I know you’ve survived a lot of shit, but this’ll prove it to any asshole who’s still got their doubts.”