Part 57: Interlude 2 - Ocelot!

Update Z: Ocelot MiniChapter

Now that we’ve seen Ocelot in action, let’s take a look at his side of things.



Ocelot…is weird.



Starting up is pretty normal, but the primary difference for what makes Ocelot’s Outer Heaven civilization weird is that we don’t get Great Generals, and we don’t get Settlers. Through combat, we earn a unit that replaces both, making it the first time I’ve heard of a unique replacement for two other units.



You can’t earn a Great General very well early on, so instead of going Tradition you need to unlock policies in the Honor or Liberty policy trees, because there’s a policy in each that gets you a Settler or a Great General. If you plan on expanding fast, you probably should not overlook these. Plus, going Liberty is important for another reason: faster workers. New cities you found are larger than normal, so you take a much larger than normal Happiness hit.

Drebins are businessmen, not soldiers, so they provide absolutely no combat bonuses to your civ. Instead, they make manufactories for building stuff or Custom Houses for generating gold.

Great Generals are only earned through combat with other civilizations, so if you want to expand you pretty much have to fight it out with other civs. But if you can’t or won’t get to that soon, you can get a third Drebin by maxing out the Liberty policy tree, which instantly grants you a Great Person of your choosing—you can make it a PMC Incorporator.



Now this is where Ocelot will start to shine. Every turn that a discovered civilization is at war with another, he starts to earn bonus points towards a Golden Age. This also includes when he is himself at war. During a Golden Age we start to earn Great Generals, or PMC Incorporators, much faster.

Due to his focus on Golden Ages it’s a good idea to try to get the Chichen Itza wonder, and/or that Freedom policy that gives you longer Golden Ages if you want.



This early into the game, we’ll be in our first golden age before we’re even out of the Ancient Era.



And here we go, I got a Drebin from Liberty and put him right here in the midst of a bunch of resources. Killing barbarians sadly won’t get us any more points towards a Great General, but it’s a good idea to clear ‘em out anyway.

Praying Mantis PMC will, once we hit the Rennaisance, start producing gunpowder troops with unique abilities. The first four cities you found are the component companies that work for Ocelot in Metal Gear Solid 4—the Mantis, Werewolf, Octopus and Raven PMCs.

What promotions do they get? Emotive Ammo!



This is a pretty damn nice promotion and I’m glad it comes from the first PMC you build. It’s themed after Screaming Mantis. The other Emotive Ammos are Raging (Enemies get +10% attack but -20% strength on defense) Laughing (adjacent enemies earn 50% less XP) and Crying (Adjacent enemy units lose 5 HP each turn).

Emotive Ammo in Metal Gear Solid 4 was a type of custom tranquilizer dart that made the target have an emotional breakdown. You could only get then in New Game Plus.



Since it only shows up late-game, Emotive Ammo means that Ocelot is kind of a late-bloomer. His forward cities are expected to produce most of his troops, not his capital, which is also weird, and he benefits directly from getting other people into fights. However, since his cities are built bigger than anyone else’s, he can play catch-up surprisingly well.



Plus, as I have mentioned, he favors you prioritizing different policy choices than the usual “Always go Tradition” opener that everyone else favors. All in all, Ocelot is a chessmaster who plays the long game, and is one weird asshole, to be sure.



One final note: Liquid Ocelot is a mental merger of both Ocelot and Liquid, so all his spies are named after people who have both worked for Liquid Snake and Ocelot. Members of Dead Cell, the renegade FOXHOUND unit and his own Outer Haven B&Bs are all possible spy names.

So: That’s Ocelot! He doesn’t play by other people’s rules.

Of course not. Heh heh heh.