You've just taken prisoner from another country, and you want a very handsome ransom for this very important person's safe return. Kept them in a holding area and now that entire country is after you. But hey, the future is now, old man!

You've got yourself hunkered down from the police bulletstorm, you can't risk looking at another enemy and possibly get into custody, losing the point of that king's ransom at all in the first place! You need backup.

Welcome the General.

This is your man for fire support; strength is in numbers for this character. But first things first, the small stuff.

This is a guide, if you see any flaws in the way it's made, tailor-make it for yourself to suit your playstyle.

This setup works with any armor, but best chosen between the Two-Piece Suit or the Combined Tactical Vest. No ICTV here, and the reason's in the Enforcer skill tree section.


Have I ever told you how bullet-immune the dynamites are? Did you also know that they don't bounce so much? Good. Probably use them instead of any other HE throwables.


You already know this little fella; good ol' Electrical Brass Knuckles. But damn, did you know that Bulldozers can be stunned for 0.01 second after getting hit by this? Do as you wish with that info.


Here's a little tip: If you have AP rounds for your sentries, default them to be used on deployment. Also, you will be taking 4 loud sentries and 2 silenced sentries. Follow the Technician skill tree section to learn how to acquire these sweet guns.

Right, enough with the small talk. Let's dig in.

You'll be packing a lot of guns, but here's a couple of them.

Brenner-21 LMG


Modifications:

• Barrel Ext: Funnel of Fun Nozzle
  
• Boost: Accuracy
  
• Foregrip: Short Foregrip
  
• Gadget: LED Combo
  
• Grip: Ergo Grip

Tatonka SMG


Modifications:

• Barrel Ext: Tactical Compensator
  
• Boost: Accuracy
  
• Gadget: LED Combo
  
• Grip: AK Plastic Grip
  
• Sight: Spectacular Sight

Honestly, there's not much to say about how to use them. The Brenner and Tatonka are going to be personal helmet-removers. Brenner for more damage per shot; Tatonka for more accuracy. However, they're not the reason the General exists. So moving on...

This is the part where the General's skills are displayed.

Perk Deck: Muscle

Being a more defensive profile, Muscle works best so that the General may recuperate while still being able to cover a lot of ground. This perk deck also makes him more durable, able to cause panic whenever his personal guns are fired, and attract a lot of attention from the rest of his crew, with the addition of his sentries pulling even more.

Skill Tree: Mastermind

• Forced Friendship: Aced
  
• Confident: Aced
  
• Joker: Aced
  
• Partners in Crime: Aced
  
• Hostage Taker: Aced

In the Controller subtree, Confident, Joker, and Partners in Crime are part of the General's arsenal, in the form of 2 converted cops, meaning a couple of guns. They improve the General's health and speed, and are pretty tanky themselves. They can also assist in taking away attention from the crew. Meanwhile, Hostage Taker simply amplifies the healing factor of the General, as long as there is a converted cop controlled by him. It also makes replacing sentries within tear-gassed-areas more bearable. Any hostage taken, other than the VIP, counts towards damage absorption, provided by Forced Friendship.

Skill Tree: Enforcer

• Resilience: Aced
  
• Scavenger: Basic

Not much going on in the Enforcer skill tree, but it should be obvious that Iron Man is not obtained, meaning no ICTV, because all the skill points are used elsewhere. Anyway, Resilience makes flashbangs 75% less annoying, and Scavenger helps the General pick up ammo better, so that there can be more for the sentries.

Skill Tree: Technician

• Third Law: Aced
  
• Steady Grip: Basic
  
• Sentry Targeting Package: Aced
  
• Eco Sentry: Aced
  
• Heavy Impact: Aced
  
• Engineering: Aced
  
• Jack of All Trades: Aced
  
• Tower Defense: Aced

The Engineer subtree is what holds the core power of the General. Acing the entire subtree allows him to deploy up to 6 sentries.

These sentries will have the following attributes with such subtree:

• Reduced ammo cost on deployment, and time to deploy and collect.
  
• Protected by a shield.
  
• Increased accuracy, rotation speed, ammo capacity, and health.
  
• Pierce armor with a different firing mode.

Remember that there are loud sentries and silenced sentries, and that the loud sentries should be the primary deployable and the silenced sentries should be the secondary deployable. Don't forget to set their default firing mode to AP rounds.

Aside that, in the Oppressor subtree, Steady Grip improves the General's accuracy slightly, and Heavy Impact lets him stagger his foes, causing disruption in their morale and abilities with ease, combined with the Muscle perk deck.

Skill Tree: Ghost

• Duck and Cover: Aced
  
• Second Wind: Aced
  
• Parkour: Basic
  
• Optical Illusion: Basic

Right off the bat, something's off about the Ghost skill tree, but let's maintain order. Duck and Cover lets the General sprint quicker. The basic version is enough, but if wearing armor, it's better to move those 3 skill points to ace Scavenger, back in the Enforcer skill tree, improving ammo drop rates. Parkour simply improves his agility, Second Wind provides speed to the crew upon breaking armor, and Optical Illusions make the General less likely to be targeted.

Which is ironic, considering the point of this build is to take away attention from the crew, but hang on a moment. This reduced likelihood to get targeted is only applied to the General, not his sentries or converts. This means that he can still take away attention through his resources. It also means that, by this chance, the General's longevity is lengthened.

Skill Tree: Fugitive

• Nine Lives: Aced
  
• Swan Song: Aced

In the Revenant subtree, Nine Lives and Swan Song for the General can be very helpful, especially in certain Holdouts. Nine Lives lets the General live one more down, and Swan Song let him fire as he wishes until he falls. There are a few Holdouts that have SWAT Van Turrets, so Swan Song is crucial if he wants to see his crew unbothered by a giant enemy sentry. Otherwise, the same action can also be applied to Bulldozers.

With the introduction of additional cosmetic customization, on top of the masks and hats, one can now dress and impress as they wish to other people, as the General will.

Mask: General Overkill

This general hat is covered with rainbow material, but dress however you wish; this is the cosmetic section.

Outfit: Murkywater Uniform

Closest any heister will get to an army uniform, as of this post, so it works to show that.

Gloves: Mercenary

Truly matching with the uniform. In fact, it's the default setting, but mixable and matchable.

As with any build a heister creates, a strategy is to be prepared, to synergize with their inventory and abilities. Here, the General's stratagem is simple, but not always easy.


Participating in a Holdout means defending the VIP from getting rescued. Ideally, the General would place his sentries at spots where it not only covers the VIP but also key strategic locations. High spots, or the floor above, would be the first thing that come to mind, and that means more ground can be covered over certain walls. If there is no high spot, a table or a block of rock will do.


However, high spots are not always the way to go. There are times when sentry ammo conservation is required and, when such time comes, these sentries may need to lay low, but still having line of sight to the VIP, to save ammo for more important kills. If ammo is really hard to collect, hope that there's a deployed ammo bag.


Well, there's one.


As long as the General has his own ammo, he should be fine dealing with enemies on his own, even if away from his sentries. Otherwise, having his crew, sentries, or converts kill the enemies for him earns some chance for ammo too. For last resort ammo collection, he can always dominate his foes. Don't forget to sprint out of and back into cover to do a quick grab for ammo that is in a dangerous location.

Other than to just fill the air with death, the General is capable of filling it with panic and stagger. This is more useful on healthier foes, other than the Bulldozer, in case kills can't be confirmed. Use a taser on Bulldozers instead, if having trouble with one.

Always choose to recover health by time instead of resources, and always save medic bag usage for last downs, which is when the screen turns gray after falling down. Let other heisters use their medkits, time on your side in Holdouts. Finally, remember to keep an eye on your sentries and converts.

I, once again, would like to iterate that if you find that the way this guide goes doesn't fit you, make it so that it does.

That is all for the build guide of The General, the fortress of a man. Let know what you think of it once you've tried it. If you're used to the usual run-and-gun style, you might find this a little slow paced but will be worth it in Holdouts.

This build also works on certain heists that have some defending to do, although it could be used anywhere. So have a try at those with this build. Happy heisting~!