The RC Jumper is free from the 3D printer, it’s incredibly useful, and it can be upgraded for even more flexibility during infiltrations. To use it, simply press left on your D-pad, once you’re in a safe hiding place (outside a restricted area, on a roof, or behind cover that enemies don’t patrol near). The RC Jumper becomes controllable.
Entering Vents and Gaps: It’s single biggest strength is entering vents (open or hackable) that usually lead to ducts, then reaching areas you’d normally have extreme difficulty accessing. Check the perimeters of every building in a restricted area in case a ground vent is available to enter. In some locations, these may be gaps in a barrier or wall. These vents and gaps allow your Jumper to remain hidden, find objectives, and even complete entire objectives (or operations!) without physically moving Marcus into danger!
- Going Places You Can’t:Vents aren’t the only areas RC Jumpers can maneuver into. They can jump over obstacles and through open windows and can scale buildings (except ladders) just like Marcus. Jumpers can park under a vehicle, which is helpful for hiding. But they can also park on top of a vehicle, after which you can, for example, remotely control the vehicle from the Jumper. Additionally, when moving around or past enemies, you can scoot by foes looking the other way at a much closer range than Marcus. Don’t forget the Jumper can also take photographs, if you want to see an area from a new angle, especially a ScoutX Landmark.
Enemy Interaction: Obviously, enemies aren’t particularly happy with a remote Jumper on their property, and a white, circular enemy detection arrow appears just as it would when Marcus is inside restricted areas. If the enemies see you, they will shoot, kick, or throw rocks at the Jumper. If any of those connect, the Jumper is temporarily destroyed. It can be spawned again (at Marcus) once a cooldown timer fills up (shown on your smartphone minimap at the screen’s bottom left). If the Jumper is spotted, use Boost and seek cover to hide, just as you would if you were controlling Marcus.
A Hacking Machine: This machine is exceptional, as it can hack every single object that Marcus can. This essentially means you have a remote version of yourself to scout an area with, distract guards, interact with objects (including CCTs and enemies or objects containing access keys), tag guards, and basically complete objectives for you. Can you complete a Network Bypass with the Jumper? Yes! What about hacking data containers and other objectives? Yes! In fact, the only thing this Jumper can’t do is physically untie prisoners and download information within a radius. For that, Marcus must be present.
All the Right Moves: Be sure you inspect the Remote CTRL branch of the ./Research app tree, which allows you to unlock upgrades to this machine.
- Expert RC Engineering: This reduces the cooldown time for the Jumper, meaning once the enemy sees and destroys it, or you accidentally drop your Jumper into the water, and you’re waiting for it to respawn, it doesn’t take as long. This is useful, especially if you have a teammate relying on you. But it’s not a mandatory ability; just take more care with the machine so it isn’t destroyed, or use the Quadcopter or Marcus while the cooldown is occurring.
- Remote Gadgets: This turns your RC Jumper into an offensive weapon, allowing you to drop electroshock and explosive devices and trigger any of the three types of mass hacks. Choose the device and hack from the Equipment Wheel while controlling the Jumper. Need tactics for using devices? Check the “Devices” section earlier in this chapter.
- Taunt: Equipping the Jumper with an internal speak allows you to taunt enemies into chasing you or attract their attention. This is helpful if you have foes near an area and want to move them away from that area without combat occurring. Or, you can create a distraction while a second player completes an objective elsewhere.
- Enhanced Spring: Improving the jump height of your Jumper (hold down the Jump button to reach higher ledges) is of extreme help to your infiltration techniques, as you can obviously climb to higher areas and jump over perimeter fences that were previously inaccessible. It’s well worth obtaining this as soon as you can.
- Speed Boost: Pressing in the left thumbstick now gives you a boost of speed, which is exceptionally useful when maneuvering through open areas or locations where foes might see you, or after a foe spots you and you need to flee and hide. However, it isn’t mandatory, as you can usually head to an important location with more subtle darting at normal speeds, though this takes longer.