The first 12 hours of “Sleeping Dogs” requires some planning and patience to get the best gaming experience out of the underworld crime environment of Hong Kong. As a lowly foot soldier in the Son On Yee Triad, you will need to work your way up, gaining face, money and melee skills as you progress through the story. That does not mean that a gamer must stick to the script, after all “Sleeping Dogs” is full of short cuts and other tricks to help enhance the experience. Here are just a few to get  a gamer started on their way to the top in the Son On Yee.

1. Fast bikes=Fast death

Right off the bat you get a motorcycle and while that is very cool, it’s also very foolish. The bike is plenty fast but the first time you hit a car and go flying, reality hits, as you take damage upon landing. Instead, steal cars at the red light if you must. Then wait for the Chop Shop to open in the southern part of Hong Kong near Yau Ling Park. This is called the North Point Chop Shop and those cars are cheaper and faster than the one’s at the regular automobile lot.

2. Item advantages

It doesn’t matter how ugly something is to wear, wear it if it provides some melee or face benefits. 5% melee extra damage is very little on the face of it, but combined with two or three stacking 5% melee items and it makes a difference. You can even have Wei Shen walking around in his underwear but that is not suggested since it gives no advantages whatsoever.

3. Race car waiting game

Everyone wants a fast car but in this case, patience is key. Wait to buy a race car if you must, the Hong Kong Police Department provides one for the first race you are roped into. The saddest part though? You will only be allowed to use that one but it means your competitors don’t change cars either. You can then use this car for driving around Hong Kong even when you are not racing; much faster than running.

4. Early preparations

Start wandering the city early on and get the lockboxes and health shrines as soon as you can. Be as helpful as possible to your people and build face points at a constant rate. These things will help you develop your life, respect and cash value early on. Do this and you will have better vehicles and clothing options at every turn of the game.

5. Money, money, money

Strapped for cash? Hit up some of the meters on the street for quick cash here and there. The best part is that they do not take of cop points when you damage the meters. Just make sure you do not hit any civilians or nearby cops. Another way is to attack the armored cars which does result in a quick cop chase but is easy to defeat. You are better off defeating them than outrunning them.

6. Juicing up is only for games

Before a big fight or when you have died or quit the mission, take an energy drink or a health generation items in the form of street food to provide that extra edge you need in combat. Then fight hard and fight fast. Do not ignore these items, they last quite a while and help a lot.

7. Hackers skills

There are missions where there are numerical locks for the hacking of cameras with a four digit code. A discerning gamer should pay attention to the coloring of the numbers because green means it’s good, red means it’s the wrong number and yellow means you have the right number in the wrong position. Get it wrong 6 times and you will have to start all over with different numbers.

8. Stun attacks are underrated.

They give you much needed breathing room while you are being choked and could provide that fraction of a second needed to survive the fight. Learn them well and upgrade them on the skill tree. They are hard to execute but feel amazing to perform. Plus you will earn points and intimidate your enemies.

9. Grapple attacks give breathing room

Grapple attacks against an opponent do not leave you open to attack from behind some of the time, so take advantage of this fact when you fight. You must deal with thugs but nowhere does it say you must deal with them all at once. Additionally, grappling opens up a whole network of combat options from environmental attacks to arm and leg breaks.

10. Strategic retreat is smart

For enclosed combat, there are specific areas where thugs will not go. Perhaps this was designed on purpose to give players some breathing room. One strategy once you enter this zone is to create a bottleneck at the entrance of this zone and take care of the thugs one by one with or without a weapon. Another, such as in the ground floor of Club Bam Bam, has a glass divider about knee high. You can jump over it but thugs cannot. Fighting from behind this barrier with knees and kicks will whittle down your number of enemies before taking them on one by one.

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