Is there a specific route I need to follow to play this game in such a way that I would enjoy it in its least broken state?

Dumping all your points into Pistols and Stealth is definitely the easiest/most broken way to play the game.

I just did a stealth run since the combat is complete arse gravy. It's still pretty frustrating in a lot of ways but essentially avoiding enemies should be your best bet. At least, it was for me. Having said that, if you're on PC then quicksaves should be your best friend.

Edit: As CannonGoose said, pistols as well. Specifically you should try to reach the Mark And Fire abilities (or whatever it was called) since it's super useful against certain boss battles and whatnot.

Chain Shot.

@CannonGoose said:

Dumping all your points into Pistols and Stealth is definitely the easiest/most broken way to play the game.

This. There is an ability that lets you paint a point on an enemies body, multiple times with upgrades. This can kill bosses with one of these moves if you paint his head 4 or 5 times with silver bullets.

I just started playing it, and I already find the first mission rather frustrating, because there is no way to stealth around the enemies. Someone with a MG is always looking into my direction, and if I fail I have to start all over again as the game won't let me save on the spot I'm standing -.- Guess that game's gonna be another D rank for me.

@CannonGoose said:

Dumping all your points into Pistols and Stealth is definitely the easiest/most broken way to play the game.

Yes.

I couldn't play with guns. So I dumped everything into stealth and pistols, like @CannonGoose said. You *can* stealth your way through the entire game. It's also amusing watching Mike run-shuffle up to guards and judo chopping them in the neck.

The chain shot ability is absolutely bonkers. Late game spoilers:

The final boss on that gigantic mounted gun, such a joke with chain shot. Roughly half a second after the boss intro cutscene had ended I had dotted half a dozen shots onto his forehead and then the fight was over. Truly Thorton is the best super spy.

I did assault rifles and heavy armor and it was fine up until I had to stealth and not kill anyone.

@CannonGoose said:

Dumping all your points into Pistols and Stealth is definitely the easiest/most broken way to play the game.

Yeah, it's pretty easy this way. Lets you enjoy the story more.

Okay thanks for the feedback folks!

Sweet, been meaning to get back into Alpha Protocol. This was just the thread I was looking for.

I think I played through most of AP non-lethally and no detections, using takedowns and tranquilizer darts. It's actually acknowledged in a few emails, which is interesting. I wouldn't recommend anyone do it though, it's such a pain to reload every single time an enemy sets off an alarm. Some levels are particularly egregious.

Oh, also: I recommend playing as a "Recruit" if you ever plan to replay the game. The "Veteran" class (unlocked by beating the game as a Recruit) is simply amazing; it starts with a few levels in every skill, and you can sell all of the levels you don't need and re-appropriate them to skills you want and start the game with high-level abilities. There're also a few interesting conversation choices available only to Veterans. Well, one choice that has a (slight) impact on the story, and a few that give you some more background fluff.

And yeah, don't even think about playing anything but stealth/pistols. I mean, you're a spy, so the choice should be obvious, but also the other weapons are awful.

Edit: I don't know if I'd recommend it, but I played through almost the entire game with casual clothes -- they're the most quiet early on, which is really useful for stealth characters, and if you're going stealth, you're not gonna get shot anyway. I swapped it out for the max level stealth armor at the end, when it was unlocked and I could afford it.

I personally went with full stealth and pistol proficiency, putting points in some other stuff. Just stand somewhere hidden, point the gun at a guy's head until the four dots connect at the center and shoot. Did that for most of the game. Kills bosses pretty damn fast with the better bullets.

Edit: MAN that game had so much potential. I loved everything about it, but it was too flawed.

Yeah pistols are pretty much the most OP skill when maxed out.

But in reality you can play however you want with pretty much any (logical) skill combo, as long as you stick to 2-3 main skills and max them out you should be fine. I played through it with pistols, with melee, with heavy weapons, stealth, no kills runs, guns blazing, light and heavy armored or even trap specialised. As long as you keep in mind that it is an RPG first and your character progression is hugely important there is very little broken about the game.

Other weapons only suck if you don't level them, just like pistols in the beggining, but get say an assault rifle maxed and you can have practically 0 recoil and spread at most times.

Heavy armor, assault rifle, kill everything, don't give a shit badass was a totally fun way to play thru and see things unfold differently and people react to your actions.

@Jrad said:

I think I played through most of AP non-lethally and no detections, using takedowns and tranquilizer darts. It's actually acknowledged in a few emails, which is interesting. I wouldn't recommend anyone do it though, it's such a pain to reload every single time an enemy sets off an alarm.

Oh yes. I realized that during my first mission. I just fail at stealth games ._.

I've only just started playing, about 2 or 3 hours in, but I'm enjoying a pistol/shotgun combo. Pistol while I'm being stealthy, then the shotgun for when the shit hits the fan. The shotgun is so powerful at close range, you only need to find somewhere to camp out and wait for the alerted enemies to come your way and the bodies will start to pile up. I haven't even put a point into shotguns yet (or much else for that matter, playing on Recruit), but it's still super useful for when you're forced into combat.

So from the little I've played, going for the stealth/pistol/shotgun route appears to be pretty effective. I'm actually quite enjoying the combat, but it's still more satisfying to clear a room with neck snapping.

I'm wanting to start this game in the next few weeks. So, I appreciate the feedback as well!!

That's good advice on the pistols and stealth. I'm playing Alpha Protocol, on Recruit mode, and it's been at least a year since I last played it.

I plan to focus on Pistols,assault rifles, stealth, gadgets, and martial arts.

You can basically break the game with stealth and pistols all the way up, as I recall. Fun game, I really enjoyed it.

Whew this thread just confirmed some stuff for me. I just got my specialization option and went for stealth, pistols and the health tree. Honestly though the first couple levels are really hard to stealth properly you can't even get close to a guy to do a silent takedown before he turns on you. Now though i'm up 5 ranks in stealth with that see the arrow ability always on which is much better.

Also I'm pretty sure i'll play this game twice to see the different shit and started this playthrough on normal with recruit background doing all the dick move stuff like executions and purposely pissing people off...I feel bad.

Take it out of the disk tray, put it back in the case and never open it again.

I always went stealth melee.

Pretty much this! Maxing out stealth and chain shot (Pistols) makes the janky combat a non issue. Which made me have a lot of fun with this game. It felt like James Bond and mass effect had a baby.

Are you wearing armor? All of the early armors are too noisy to be useful for stealth, and you're better of simply going unarmored.

In addition to pistols and stealth (aka the "I win" skills) melee skills are also useful. There are a few times just beating the crap out of a dude is helpful and high end melee skills are actually really effective in many situations.

Well I didn't follow any particular route, but I had much fun with the randomness of it.

I focused on Pistol, Stealth, Assault Rifle, and Melee primarily. Worked like a dream. Pistol/Stealth/Melee works wonders for close quarters and for normal dudes, whereas Assault Rifle is good if you need range. Once you get the ability to make blindfire headshots with the pistol, you become godlike in terms of stealth. Also, Chain Shot is a surefire way to kill bosses. It's so beastly. Really, though, the only way you'll make things brutal on yourself is if you go for a Shotgun/SMGs specialization combo. That means you working with nothing but an inaccurate blitz throughout the entire game. As long as you at least have Pistol or Assault Rifle as one of your go-to's, you'll be good to go.

Also, if you want to play stealth, go for either casual clothes or real stealthy armor. The loud, clanky armor will blow your cover way easy.

I maxed shotguns and mixed some points into survivability and stealth skills. Not the best way to play but pretty fun.

i dont remember my build but i wound up quitting at the snow courtyard arena part out of pure frustration. this game had some great things about it though.

Stealth is too broken from what I remember. Pistol is a great one to invest in. I miss this game.

Though you can't save on the very spot, the game does let you manually save from the last checkpoint. That usually can solve your problems pretty easily, if you just save often.

I was gonna say think like Matt Rorie and things should be alright.