A simple guide on equipment and the best way to use them, I.E an explanation of each item and when its most effective.
Equipment Basics
Taser
Briefly stuns enemies, in this time they cannot move or attack, Non Lethal
Pepper Spray
Briefly blinds enemies, serves the same purpose as hitting enemies, with more range.
Flashbang
Stuns enemies, used to clear a large area with a large radius
Smoke Grenade
Hides the player as long as they are in the mist of the smoke
Tear gas
Makes enemies flee from position, can be used to make lead enemies out of rooms
C4
Blasts open doors with the effect of stunning them with the blast.
Lockpick
Silently disengages the locks of doors,.
Sensor Grenade
Exposes the enemies position, can be thrown like a normal grenade.
Foregrip
Makes the spread of weapons less aggressive.
Heavy armor
Allows the player to sustain more shots (2-3)
Ballistic Shield
Protects the player from all weapon types, wears down after 5-7 shots.
Borescope
Allows the player to see through doors
Magnum Rounds
Allows the player to eliminate threats easier
What is most useful?
First, I’ll get the non-important stuff out of the way, that includes Pepper Spray and Tear Gas, as both are very situational and have little use in the main game, the Pepper Spray is a more limited version of the normal Strike and the Tear gas has no real use as it also can affect the player.
Now for the semi useful items, these can be used well but depend on the user, Lockpick, Sensor Grenade, Ballistic Shield and Foregrip, these all vary between players but the Lockpick is just a handicapped version of busting down a door with your strikes, the Sensor grenade is worse than the Borescope, the Ballistic Shield is situational and the Foregrip is really useless because combat encounters should not be your main focus.
Now for the useful items, the ones that you should always have on you, these include, C4, Smoke Grenades, Flashbangs, Heavy Armor, Magnum Rounds, Tasers and the Borescope, these all are extremely useful and are always handy, ever since I equipped these items I’ve always used them during missions.
Flashbangs can make open areas less dangerous, the Borescope can make sure you dont bust into rooms blind, the Heavy armor makes sure you don’t die every time you slip up, the Magnum rounds make sure that if you do get a gun pointed at your head you can take out the suspect rather quickly, smoke grenades can be used to flood small areas, making the suspects oblivious the you even being there and the C4 can open a door and stun the enemies inside.
Your Playstyle
Lethal
Non Lethal
Lethal:
The best items to use are of course, the Ballistic Shield, Smoke Grenades, Heavy armor, Foregrip and Magnum rounds.
The Ballistic Shield is useful for the fact you can burst in to rooms and lay down fire whilst the enemies cant really fight back, this is also useful for multiplayer if you’d like to breach into rooms and take out multiple threats.
Smoke grenades are good for breaching into rooms, as they would see you enter and once they do you would’ve already gotten ready for their attack, as if you are suprised by an enemy you’ll likely die to the hands of them, thats why you need to turn the tables against them.
Heavy armor is obvious as it grants you a few extra shots to your name, though you shouldn’t rely on it as you are still really weak, so i’d still recommend that you don’t burst into rooms with only your gun and your dreams.
A Foregrip is useful for not only being accurate but also not causing any collateral damage, as you can clip a civilian with your gunfire without it, the spread of your gunfire can also fail you as bullets may and will dance around targets.
Magnum Rounds are good for the fact that you can kill an enemy with more precision and less bullet spray, as that would attract enemies and as long as you are careful not to blindfire into a civilians head, you will notice that magnum rounds are good for clearing stages.
Non Lethal:
The best items to use are, The Flashbang, Smoke Grenade, C4, Taser and the Borescope
The flashbang is useful for the fact that you can stun enemies with it so they cant attack you as your arsenal is quite limited in actual ranged attacks, so getting close and personal is a virtual requirement to clear stages.
The Smoke grenade is useful for flooding small areas with smoke, making you able to enter the room without being noticed, this can allow you to get up close and personal and strike the suspect as they are oblivious to your presence.
The C4 is mainly used to open locked doors but it also can blast certain walls and also stuns the suspects inside which is useful for the random ‘hostages’ around certain maps but also in general for crowded rooms and when suspects are looking at the door.
The taser is your only ranged attack for a non lethal loadout but with its very limited ammo and subpar accuracy the taser can only go so far, it stuns enemies and may even prompt them to surrender as they are electrocuted by it.
The borescope allows players to look through doors, this can be used to think before going into the room, making up a plan that can take out tall the supsects into the room, if you dont have this you’ll be opening the doors oblivious to whatever is in there.
Thanks to Johnny Debt for his great guide, all credit to his effort. you can also read the original guide from Steam Community. enjoy the game.