Upgrades
Wei Shen starts his assignment with enough basic skills to see him through his early missions for the Sun On Yee. As things get more complicated, however, you will need every edge you can muster in order to survive more complex assignments against increasingly larger numbers of opponents.
Enter the Upgrade system. Using a combination of Face, Cop, and Triad points, as well as items hidden throughout the city, Wei Shen can be transformed from a fairly competent fighter to a bone-breaking nightmare that will haunt the dreams of survivors in his wake. He also just happens to have convenient access to shotguns in the back of any police cruiser he comes across.
There are five separate upgrade categories in Sleeping Dogs: Cop, Triad, Melee, Face, and Health. This section will break down each category’s offered upgrades, and explain in practical terms how they are useful.
Cop Upgrades
Using Cop points earned after every mission, there are two distinct paths to follow in the Cop Upgrades. The upper route has an emphasis on surviving a gun battle, while the lower path has many useful abilities related to vehicles. Remember that Cop points are not something whose award amount you can increase during a mission, but they can decrease based on reckless actions on your behalf. If you want to ensure you get enough Cop points to eventually unlock all of the abilities, you’ll need to keep civilian casualties and property damage to an absolute minimum on missions where Cop points are at stake.
Starting Ability: Smartphone
Your smartphone is the first tool you are given by your superiors in the HKPD, and it contains everything you need to crack safes, hack Spy Cameras, take photos, manage your contacts, and set up dates with women. Basically, it is a phone any supercop needs to bring down a Triad in our busy society. You are routinely sent text messages from your Triad friends as well as your superiors in the HKPD, cluing you in to new jobs. As you complete missions, you also receive files that provide more information about the characters you meet during the course of the story, as well as some detailed background information about Wei Shen himself.
Upper Tier 1: Fast Disarm
Early into the first act of Sleeping Dogs, you don’t run into many situations where the bad guys come equipped with guns. That doesn’t make this a useless ability. In situations where you need a gun, but the only one close to you happens to be in the hands of a thug, the ability to quickly take that gun away from him can be the one thing that saves you.
Lower Tier: Slim Jim
This should be the first Cop Upgrade you purchase early in the story. The Slim Jim allows you to quickly break into any parked vehicle, avoiding the mess of having to break a window. That, in turn, prevents guaranteed pursuit from nearby police officers once they hear the glass breaking. It also prevents alarms from going off.
Upper Tier 2: Slow Motion Follow-Up
Building upon the Fast Disarm, Slow Motion Follow-Up enables bullet time after a disarm if you aim the weapon immediately. This is incredibly useful at maintaining the initiative in a firefight, giving you a chance to pop some heads while moving towards cover.
Lower Tier 2: Action Dismount
Depending on your play style, this ability may not seem initially too useful. For starters, it requires a gun to even use. How cool it is can’t be argued. It’s one of the ultimate action movie hero abilities! Drive as quickly as you can in a vehicle, and then make a hasty exit. Wei can then use his firearm to explode his old ride, which is a good way to smash through a roadblock or lose some persistent pursuers.
Upper Tier 3: Recoil Compensator
This lowers the recoil of all guns, making it easier to fire rapidly at enemies. A simple but effective upgrade for the later missions, where guns become a more common factor.
Lower Tier 3: Action Hijack Reduced Heat
The Action Hijack is awesome, and this Upgrade adds some extra utility to it, reducing your overall Heat level for successful use of this skill. Evading the HKPD, particularly at higher levels of Heat, can be a very frustrating affair. Their drivers are persistent, and their presence is seemingly everywhere. Couple that with their willingness to go lethal at high Heat levels, and you’ve given yourself a rough predicament to escape from. Just make sure you don’t Action Hijack something that is significantly slower than what you’re currently driving!
Upper Tier 4: Increased Focus
This ability adds more bullet time both after you disarm a gunman as well as when you vault over cover while aiming a pistol. The only thing bad about this ability is that you will unlock it somewhat later in the game, but it’s one of the most important Cop Upgrades available.
Lower Tier 4: Increased Ramming Damage
Another useful upgrade! During chases where guns are not available, your best weapon is your vehicle itself. This boosts how much damage each Ram Attack does to any vehicle on the road.
Upper Tier 5: Overpressure Ammo
Of the two Tier 5 Cop Upgrades, this one has the most immediately useful benefit. Increasing the damage done with any weapon you come across will help you bring down targets quicker, which is especially useful for the later battles in the game that place you against extremely long odds.
Lower Tier 5: Police Trunk Key
Depending on your mission performance, by this tier in the Cop Upgrades you may or may not be forced to decide between this ability and Overpressure Ammo. In terms of overall usefulness, there are not too many situations over the course of any of your assignments that will require you to break into a police car’s trunk to acquire some weapons. That doesn’t mean it can’t be useful!
Triad Upgrades
This upgrade tree focuses more on getting your hands dirty up close and personal. Armed with blades, or just with fists, the Triad Upgrades help turn Wei Shen into a melee powerhouse who resists taking damage while causing more of it himself. Unlike Cop points, you start every mission with zero Triad points, and you’re required to put on a good and brutal show against hostile gang Triad members in order to receive any of these points. Environmental hazard takedowns, Counters, and avoidance of damage during battle are only some of the ways that will help you earn Triad points.
Starting Ability: Counter
This is it, your ultimate answer to every single melee attack thrown your way. If you are ever in a situation where you are surrounded by enemies, and you can’t seem to get any of Wei’s other martial skills to land hits on opponents, simply stand your ground and let them come to you. When their attacks are about to hit, press the Counter button and watch Wei go to work. Counters vary depending on the attack they are intercepting, the health level of the opponent, and even the direction they come from, but the result is generally the same: you stop their attack and hurt them in return for having thought to attack in the first place. The timing is precise on Counters. Pressing the Counter button too early will have Wei fail to Counter the attack, leaving him vulnerable to multiple blows before he can recover.
Upper Tier 1: Strike Damage Bonus
The first tier of Triad Upgrades has you make a choice based on your preferences. Do you believe that the best defense is a good offense? If so, make Strike Damage Bonus the first of your Triad Upgrades. Ideally, you shouldn’t be getting hit too much, if at all, during unarmed combat due to your Counters. The Strike Damage Bonus helps greatly during early missions, and the gift keeps on giving throughout the rest of the game.
Lower Tier 1: Strike Resistance
Unless you’re playing perfectly, it’s inevitable that the enemy is going to sneak in a few hits on Wei. Early in the game, your health pool is fairly low, which compounds each slip up you make. It’s not a bad call to pick this as your first Triad Upgrade if you feel you’re getting beat up too much in a fight.
Upper Tier 2: Surprise Exchange
This ability allows the player to get behind a locked on opponent during a melee, opening them up to receive a quick combo. This is a good way to stay on the offensive, particularly against enemies who know better than to block your hits with their face.
Lower Tier 2: Rising Kick
Rising Kick makes it possible for Wei to go on the counterattack almost as soon as he’s knocked to the ground. Press the Strike button when downed to cause Wei to lash out at nearby enemies. This is a good way to give yourself some breathing room to work with during a pitched melee.
Upper Tier 3: Melee Weapon Sprint Attacks
Aptly named, this allows Wei to use sprinting attacks with melee weapons. Any situation where you manage to disarm an enemy of a knife or cleaver is an opportunity for you to do grievous damage while closing the distance rapidly.
Lower Tier 3: Melee Weapon Resistance
Unarmed enemies hurt when they land their hits, but tire irons and meat cleavers do far more damage and open Wei up for even greater injury while he tries to recover. This upgrade takes some of the bite out of melee weapons, but it does not remove or lessen the importance of Counters to your fighting method.
Upper Tier 4: Charge Kick Follow-Up
A Heavy Strike is powerful, but typically is slow to execute, and can’t combo off of itself. This allows Wei to add a second hit after a lone Heavy Strike, which is a good way to flatten most basic thugs you’re up against.
Lower Tier 4: Counter Recovery
This is one of the best Triad Upgrades available for players who feel they are missing the timing of Counter attempts by being far too early. Wei will exit the Counter stance much sooner, which gives players another buffer for any errors they make.
Upper Tier 5: Melee Weapon Boost
You don’t get to keep melee weapons on you at all times, and when you do get one, it’s usually for a very limited time. This boosts not only how much damage they cause, but also how long they survive repeated use.
Lower Tier 5: Climbing Elbow Strike
By grabbing a stunned opponent, you can devastate your chosen target with a powerful melee attack.
Melee Training
Early in the story, Wei Shen becomes reacquainted with Sifu, his former martial arts instructor from when Wei’s family lived in Hong Kong. This begins one of the most important side quests in the game: the retrieval of eleven Jade Statues for Sifu’s display at his school. This is the only way you are able to access the upgrades in the Melee Training tree, but it’s completely worth the effort required. Some of Wei Shen’s most brutal and useful techniques are unlocked only from these upgrade paths, so it’s an excellent idea to find all of the statues.
The catch is that not all of the statues are available in the open world for easy access. Some can be retrieved during specific missions. In those instances, the statues will be called out directly in the walkthrough.
Starting Tier: Sweep Kick
Command: Light Strike, Heavy Strike
The Sweep Kick is your first move taught by Sifu, and it makes for a very useful technique to have during the early parts of the game. This can catch thugs off guard and floor them, giving you an opportunity to pick them up off the ground and finish them off more easily. More experienced fighters may be able to evade or block this technique, so be prepared to react and Counter them.
Upper Tier 1: Charge Knee Stun
Command: Light Strike x 2, Heavy Strike
A great tool to have in the box no matter what the situation may be, landing the crucial third hit to this combo places opponents in a stunned state if they failed to block it. It takes opponents several seconds to recover from this blow, meaning that it can be used to temporarily take one enemy out of the fight while you turn your attention elsewhere.
Lower Tier 1: Tackle Strike
Command: Sprint at enemy, Grab, Light Strike
This is a solid way to bring down tougher enemies. Even if the Tackle Strike itself doesn’t finish them off, you’ll be able to pick them up off the ground to give them another pounding of your choice. Be careful with the heavyset Grappler enemy types, as they don’t necessarily respect your attempts to bring them down to the ground and will try to reverse or evade the tackle.
Upper Tier 2: Stun Strike Follow-Up
Command: Light Strike x 2, Heavy Strike, Light Strike
Improving upon the Stun Strike, the follow-up is a front kick that drops the stunned victim to the ground in a hurry, causing heavy damage. This is a good way to get rid of any opponent, especially the Grapplers, who struggle to guard against strike combos.
Lower Tier 2: Leg Break
Command: Grab, Light Strike, Heavy Strike
The first break move you can learn is a doozy. Easy to perform, you might find yourself often using its additional property of forcing nearby enemies to wince in sympathy for their friend who just earned himself months on crutches. You gain a large amount of Face for executing this move, and wincing enemies are not blocking enemies, giving you a momentary opening.
Upper Tier 3: Spinning Heel Kick
Command: Light Strike x 3, Heavy Strike
This combo allows you to hit multiple enemies in front of you during the fourth hit. The roundhouse kick at the end of the combo travels a wide, sweeping arc in front of Wei, damaging and knocking over weaker thugs. When you’re being swamped from in front, this is a good move to use in an attempt to break out from a mob of goons into more open pastures.
Lower Tier 3: Disarm Tackle
Command: Sprint at enemy, Grab
This is one of the most useful Melee Upgrades in the game, and it’s not a bad idea to make a beeline for it in terms of how you spend the early Jade Statues on Sifu’s training. This allows you to immediately disarm any opponent you tackle, making it reasonable to actually charge at a gunman in order to take his weapon and turn it on his friends.
Upper Tier 4: Jumping Power Roundhouse Kick
Command: Light Strike x 4, Heavy Strike
This powerful combo is especially useful against Grapplers, who have great stamina but terrible defense against Strike combos. Its relative length compared to other moves makes it somewhat risky to attempt when surrounded by large groups of enemies, and certain opponents can even interrupt this lengthy combo.
Lower Tier 4: Stun Grapple Follow-Up
Command: After stunning opponent, Grab
Continuing to build on Wei Shen’s Grab techniques, this is another method to quickly finish off or further damage stunned opposition. This move enjoys excellent synergy with the Charge Knee Stun, which provides a quick and easy method to stun most enemies, allowing you to set up the Stun Grapple Follow-Up.
Upper Tier 5: Double Jump Kick
Command: Sprint at enemy, Light Strike x 2
The standard running Jump Kick is surprisingly unimpressive for what it is. Most often it just causes the opponent to stagger back several steps, and Wei is expected to follow up with any of his other techniques. This upgrade adds a second kick that follows directly after Wei lands from delivering the first, which can knock down enemies on the receiving end. A useful way to start a fight can be to pick off some low-level goon on the edge of a group and plant him firmly on the ground with a Double Jump Kick.
Lower Tier 5: Arm Break
Command: Grab, Light Strike x 2, Heavy Strike
The last bone break Wei can learn is similar to the Leg Break found much earlier in the lower tier, but ultimately causes more damage to the victim because of the first two hits used to knock some sense out of the enemy. Unlike the Leg Break, it does not cause the enemy to cringe. It does build up a good chunk of Face, though, and is definitely crippling to the poor schmuck whose arm just got snapped.
Final Tier: Dim Mak
Command: Grab + Counter simultaneously, just before an enemy attack hits Wei Shen
It’s fitting that the ultimate technique Sifu imparts to Wei is the ultimate Counter attack. Extremely damaging compared to the standard Counter, the Dim Mak includes a powerful knockback property that sends the receiving enemy flying away. Consider this technique your siege breaker move. When a wave of goons is charging into you, the bravest of them is a prime candidate for a Dim Mak.
Face Advantages
Of the five upgrade trees, Face is the easiest to fully max out. Through solid play and by accomplishing every mission and side mission that comes your way, you will be able to earn every Face Advantage. You’ll be very happy to earn these upgrades, as they provide serious benefits to Wei Shen in and out of combat.
Level 1: Face Meter Unlocked
The Face Meter is an important asset during combat. Filling it is a matter of hurting the bad guys while avoiding harm yourself. The more brutal your moves are, the more the Face Meter fills. Filling the bar entirely causes nearby opponents to become intimidated by Wei Shen’s very presence, cowering before him or even hesitating to act even if his back is turned to them. Entering its active state once filled, the Face Meter rapidly drains down, but can be maintained through continued combat. Certain Face Advantages are only available when the meter is active.
Level 2: Fine Food & Drink
While doubling the time food buffs last doesn’t sound as outright impressive as breaking an arm in three places to prove a point, it’s still a good upgrade to have. Early in the game, any food buffs you get will probably have to be purchased close to the starting point of a mission. Depending on the length of the job, they may not even last the whole length of the mission. This upgrade will help you stay at your best for that much longer.
Level 3: Disarm
This upgrade allows Wei to immediately disarm any armed opponent while the Face Meter is active, either through a Counter or through a Grapple. It’s easy to forget you have this ability during more hectic battles, but it’s incredibly useful later in the game, when more enemies start bringing out guns and blades.
Level 4: Car Valet
One of the best perks of gaining Face allows you to call up a lackey from your smartphone, and have him deliver one of the vehicles you own to you. This saves you money on taxis, and can prevent causing you trouble with the cops when you’re not stealing everything that isn’t tied down.
Level 5: Toughness
When the Face Meter is filled and goes active, Wei will take reduced damage from all attacks. Combined with Health Upgrades, Wei will be able to absorb fairly absurd levels of damage before the Face Meter is drained.
Level 6: Extra Special Massages
No matter where you get your Massages, the Face bonus it provides is increased by 50%. There’s basically no reason not to make use of a masseuse when you have this upgrade.
Level 7: Uninterruptible
While the Face Meter is active, Wei’s attacks will not be interrupted by enemy attacks. Don’t get too careless in this state, as Wei is still taking damage—he’s just barely reacting to it.
Level 8: Everything Just Got Better
Health Regeneration from food lasts three times longer, while the bonuses from Energy Drinks, Herbal Tea, and Massages are doubled in effectiveness. Yes, everything does get better.
Level 9: Unstoppable
While the Face Meter is active, Wei hits much harder. More importantly, special class bonuses on enemies become disabled for the duration of the effect. This means that Brawlers and Grapplers become as hapless as the average thug. In other words, it’s time to break more bones to make more statements.
Level 10: Dai Lo
You receive a 40% discount when purchasing clothes and cars. This stacks with certain clothing sets that provide their own discounts. By the end of the game, if you want something, you can afford it much more easily.
Health Upgrades
Health Upgrades, much like the Melee Training, require players to locate special items hidden in Hong Kong in order to receive the upgrades.
There are a total of fifty Health Shrines like the one pictured above that can be found throughout the city. They can be found at any point in the game after the initial tutorial missions in the first act. It’s really just a matter of taking the time to find them. For every five that are found and prayed to, Wei Shen’s maximum health is increased by 10%.
Normally, finding them all would be pretty difficult. It isn’t until later in the game, after doing a favor for a character, that you unlock the ability to see where all of the Health Shrines are located on the main map.