Playing Michael: the mechanics the campaign never teaches

Before the match starts

Two decisions are made before you touch the map: which civilians are going to be hard to grab, and what you carry.

• A pocket knife makes a grab far easier to escape

  2 sources

  Holding one makes it much easier to break out of Michael's grasp, and one creator says it all but guarantees you cannot be killed by a grab.

  2 sources: Alecdalorian (0:42) · MintSkull (6:22)

• Pocket knives can be a civilian's starting item

  Official

  IllFonic says so itself, and cut how many pocket knives and ice picks spawn on each map because of it.

  One source: IllFonic — Patch 1.0.2 notes

• Read the lobby for the knife

  One creator

  Civilians' starting items can be seen in the pre-game lobby. A closed hand suggests a pocket knife, and against those players you slash instead of grabbing so you are not stabbed.

  One source: MintSkull (0:14) · MintSkull (0:30)

• The kitchen knife is a weak starting weapon

  One creator

  It does little damage, takes too long to break things and cannot be thrown. Its one advantage is a fast execution. He would take the hatchet, the fire axe or the pickaxe.

  One source: MintSkull (7:04) · MintSkull (7:17)

• Michael is never weaponless

  One creator

  If you miss, you still get a kitchen knife back.

  One source: MintSkull (7:49)

• The pickaxe is a gamble

  One creator

  One player found it amazing when the hit lands and bad when it does not.

  One source: BloodThirstyLord (12:20)

The Ice Pick is the other item Patch 1.0.2 cut, and the patch notes have the rest of that change.

Light, power and getting inside

Shape Jump is the whole killer kit, and light is what stops it. Most of the depth is in how to get rid of the light or get round it.

• You cannot Shape Jump in direct light or in view

  Official

  Michael cannot enter or exit Shape Jump in direct light or in a civilian's line of sight.

  One source: IllFonic — Embracing the Darkness

• Michael can put the lights out

  Official

  Lights, fuse boxes and power lines can all be broken, and there are Blackouts on top.

  4 sources: IllFonic — Multiplayer Gameplay Overview · not Otzdarva (4:37) · emph (11:51) · MintSkull (1:46)

• Break the light with a weapon

  One creator

  He calls it an easier and more effective way to turn the lights off: hitting one sabotages the power grid, so civilians need a repair kit to get their electricity back.

  One source: MintSkull (1:46)

• Break the radio too

  One creator

  In a house with the radio that calls Loomis, breaking it makes civilians spend two repair kits to use it.

  One source: MintSkull (1:58)

• Hits to break the power depend on the weapon

  One creator

  The kitchen knife takes two hits. Two-handed melee weapons take one, and Shadow Strike breaks it too. The hatchet has an awkward hitbox up close, so throw it.

  One source: MintSkull (2:07)

• Blackout switches everything powered off

  2 sources

  The in-game description is a localised blackout that disables anything powered for a short time.

  2 sources: Ravenysx (5:07) · ShriekingGhoul+ (14:46)

• Blackout unlocks every locked door

  One creator

  You can walk into the house easily and stealthily.

  One source: MintSkull (2:30)

• Blackout knocks civilians off bikes

  2 sources

  Use it next to a bike and the rider falls off. Break the bike afterwards so it cannot be used again.

  2 sources: MintSkull (3:05) · not Otzdarva (9:10)

• Blackout cancels blinds and stuns

  One creator

  It instantly cancels blinds from flare guns and flashlights, and stuns from firecrackers.

  One source: u/sh4desthevibe (Reddit)

• Standing in light shows you, even in Shape Jump

  One creator

  If Michael glows orange while in Shape Jump, civilians can see him on the minimap. It works through an open interior door with a line of sight.

  One source: MintSkull (0:57) · MintSkull (1:17)

• Teleport into a closet from mid-range

  One creator

  Look at a hiding spot while stalking and press the prompt when it is not red. The one use he found: the closet of a lit house, which puts you inside bypassing the doors and windows.

  One source: MintSkull (4:55) · MintSkull (5:13)

• An open window beats a lit doorway

  One creator

  A lit doorway blocks Shape Jump, but a window that is open or broken lets Michael in even when the room is lit, including one a civilian opened and left.

  One source: MintSkull (5:45) · MintSkull (6:05)

• Hide inside a car when you are being watched

  One creator

  While civilians can see you, you cannot enter Shape Jump unless you spend Reality Tear. Hiding inside a car makes you disappear so you can.

  One source: MintSkull (4:28)

Blackout is one of Michael’s three level-gated abilities; the abilities page lists all of them, and Blackout’s effect on the car exit is on the escapes page.

Points, Bloodthirst and finishers

The scoring rewards chasing the right victims, and Bloodthirst decides how hard you are to stop while you do.

• Priority targets are worth the most

  Official

  They are worth more points than ordinary kills, and IllFonic calls Special Targets incredibly valuable to both sides.

  4 sources: not Otzdarva (1:07) · Middi (3:11) · Alecdalorian (1:30) · IllFonic — What's Coming Next

• Roughly how much

  One creator

  One creator puts a yellow special target at about 1,500 and a blue one at about 400.

  One source: Middi (3:11)

• Chase them, not the players

  One creator

  Ignore the player civilians and the ordinary ones on the map. Getting all three priority targets is worth much more than killing every player.

  One source: MintSkull (8:14) · MintSkull (9:00)

• Execute at stalk tier 3 for Bloodthirst 1

  One creator

  Stalk a priority target to tier 3 and execute them. That gives Bloodthirst 1, and with that power Shape Jump shows the priority targets as yellow markers in the sky.

  One source: MintSkull (8:38)

• A tier-3 execution earns more Bloodthirst

  One creator

  Doing it at stalk tier 3 rather than lower gives more.

  One source: Bryce Games (36:51)

• Each tier makes you sturdier and harder-hitting

  Official

  Higher Bloodthirst means you can take more damage and deal more, and IllFonic lists grab strength, ability cooldowns and Shape Jump speed as well.

  3 sources: MintSkull (9:24) · not Otzdarva (2:24) · IllFonic — Patch 1.0.2 notes

• Going down at tier 3 costs you a tier

  One creator

  Downed by civilians on Bloodthirst 3, you fall back to tier 2 with only a little needed to climb again.

  One source: MintSkull (9:36)

• Stalk the body after an execution

  2 sources

  It pays something extra. One creator says an extra Bloodthirst power, another says extra points.

  2 sources: MintSkull (9:46) · Bryce Games (36:55)

• What a finisher needs

  2 sources

  Bloodthirst 3 for you, and a civilian who is stalked to tier 3 and almost dead.

  2 sources: MintSkull (10:13) · Bryce Games (7:00)

• A finisher gets past a pocket knife

  2 sources

  Nothing is grabbed, so there is no stab to risk. It is the answer to the players you scanned for in the lobby.

  2 sources: MintSkull (10:28) · Bryce Games (41:05)

• Do it in the open

  One creator

  In a more compact space the game does not offer the finisher.

  One source: EvansTacos (0:34)

• Injure them first, but not too much

  One creator

  Wounding a civilian before you fully stalk them frightens them into standing still, which is the easy way to set one up. Wound them too much and they bleed out.

  One source: MintSkull (10:47) · MintSkull (11:04)

• A stumble lets you finish from behind

  One creator

  When a civilian stumbles, from Reality Tear, a push or Evil Presence, come up behind and finish them without a grab.

  One source: MintSkull (10:28)

How the stalk tiers themselves build, and which executions each unlocks, is on the stalk and executions guide. MintSkull says Bloodlust where IllFonic's patch notes say Bloodthirst, and calls the special targets orange or yellow where others say gold or yellow. They are the same things.

The car and the street

Michael can drive, which the game never mentions. What it does for you, and what it does not, is set out on the exits page too.

• Michael can drive

  3 sources

  Two creators say so, and a third describes IllFonic answering the question in a live Q&A by showing it.

  3 sources: MintSkull (3:19) · Aliychu (11:43) · Variety Princess (7:01)

• You can run civilians over

  2 sources

  Heavy damage or a kill.

  2 sources: MintSkull (3:46) · Aliychu (11:43)

• It doubles as an escape from an ambush

  One creator

  When civilians are closing in to arrest you, get in the car.

  One source: MintSkull (3:46)

• Get in, turn the motor on, go

  One creator

  There is one spawned somewhere on the map, and it is the only thing to do to drive it.

  One source: MintSkull (3:29)

• It cannot take you out of the match

  One creator

  The car hits an invisible wall.

  One source: MintSkull (3:56)

• Hide bodies from the street

  One creator

  Hiding the bodies of civilians you kill in the street, for example in a parked car, prevents the police from calling the escape van.

  One source: MintSkull (4:15)

When you are down

Being downed is not the end of a chase, and there is more to do from the floor than press the button.

• Do not hurry to stand up

  2 sources

  Instead of mashing the get-up input, edge it along and watch for civilians who come close to taunt you: you can grab and kill one on the spot before you stand.

  2 sources: MintSkull (11:16) · not Otzdarva (7:02)

• Reality Tear works from the floor

  Official

  You can use it while downed, and IllFonic fixed a bug where Michael would not enter Shape Jump using it while getting up.

  2 sources: u/Brutuscaitchris (Reddit) · IllFonic — Day One Patch 1.0.1 notes

• Against aggressive civilians, never engage without it

  One creator

  It makes you disappear while downed so they cannot arrest you with Loomis or the police.

  One source: MintSkull (11:53)

• But it may only delay the inevitable

  One creator

  A player describing a match against a team of Bobs backed by Loomis says it does not save you when you are stun-locked and downed again.

  One source: u/Brutuscaitchris (Reddit)

• A downed Michael can be arrested

  2 sources

  One creator calls it quite hard. A player who lost to a team of Bobs and Loomis says four downs in a row got them detained.

  2 sources: Aliychu (11:25) · u/Brutuscaitchris (Reddit)

• Go down where they have to go

  One creator

  Downed at a closed exit or a car, civilians have to be greedy and die trying to open it or leave, which buys you time to defend it.

  One source: MintSkull (11:32)

Grinding the challenges

The one place these creators agree entirely.

• Private matches keep the progress

  3 sources

  Progress and XP from a private match are kept, so the Michael challenges can be done there.

  3 sources: MintSkull (12:20) · Bryce Games (443:16) · EvansTacos (1:51)

• Against NPCs only

  One creator

  You can play a private match with no player civilians at all and still keep both the challenge progress and the XP.

  One source: MintSkull (12:20)

The timed challenges are listed objective by objective on the Prestige Challenges page, how prestige itself works is on the prestige page, the story-mode ones are on the challenges hub and you can tick them off on the challenge tracker.

Where the creators disagree

Three questions with more than one answer. None is settled by what has been published.

The car’s owner comes up again on the escapes page, where the same disagreement bears on whether it is the civilians’ escape car.

Watch the tips

The video this page started from. He shows each one in play, which is worth seeing for the closet teleport and the get-up trick, where a description does not do the timing justice.

Posted after Patches 1.0.1 and 1.0.2, so it reflects the game as it now stands. IllFonic has said further balance changes for Michael are coming.

What nobody has published

• Whether the closed-hand pocket-knife tell in the lobby still works for ice picks, or after Patch 1.0.2 cut how many spawn.
• What the get-up trick looks like on each platform, and how long the window lasts.
• Whether the stumble that lets you finish without a grab needs a particular weapon, and which of the three accounts of the finisher is right.
• How much extra a body stalk gives, and of what.
• Whether Blackout's radius or duration is published anywhere. The description only says a short period.
• Whether the car Michael drives can be driven off the map's edge or blocked by civilians.

Questions people arrive with

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