Agency Skill Profile: Agility

Front and center, Agent: today’s order of business is Agility. Crime is not to found strictly on the streets of Pacific City. It is found on rooftops. It is found on balconies. It is found any place that can’t be reached from the ground and is a potential haven for crime and the malignant life forms that thrive on it. You will pursue the criminal element by running, jumping, leaping, and climbing, and Agility is the skill you will need to accomplish this.

Up, Up, and Away

First things first, Agent: you’ll need to learn to use your climbing skills. In order to ascend to the rooftops of Pacific City, you’ll have to jump up and grab on to a window or ledge. A simple press of the “A” button will let you jump, and holding the "A" button will allow you to jump further. You only need to be floating near a ledge to automatically catch on. If you fail to catch hold on your first try, try to push the joystick toward it on your next jump. Once you’ve caught hold of the ledge, you can flip onto it by pressing the jump button again. The longer you hold down the jump button, the higher your vault will be. While you’re in the air you have a limited ability to change your direction. This is important in complicated jumps, like when you need to jump around corners, up to wide ledges, or over to buildings positioned at weird angles.

Sometimes you will need to make a running jump to get to where you want to go. This is all about timing. You’ll want to get as much of a running start as you can, then press and hold the jump button right at the edge. When you’re jumping off a rooftop, be careful of any small walls on the edge. If you catch your foot on one of those, you’ll lose your momentum and will find yourself plummeting to the street below.  The Agency will not pay for any divets you make in the asphalt, Agent. That comes out of your pocket.

As you gain Agility, all of these skills will improve. Your vertical and horizontal leaps will both increase significantly. You will be able to better control your movement through the air during a jump. You will also be able to run a lot faster, which will make your long jumps…well, they’ll be longer, Agent.

Pump You Up

The main way to improve your Agility skill level is by collecting a series of glowing green orbs called, aptly enough, Agility Orbs. When you collect an Agility Orb, its power enhances your body’s Agility. There are 500 of these orbs strewn throughout Pacific City, and it’s your job to find them and collect them, so you’d better get started. The orbs are found mostly on the tops of rooftops, buildings, catwalks, rocks, and cliffs. Anywhere you have to jump up to get to, an orb is probably there. Some are easy to collect. Others, not so much.

Another way to gain agility points is to find the light blue Hidden Orbs. Can you guess why they are called that, Agent? That’s right—these orbs are hidden throughout the city. Sometimes they’re in alcoves, sometimes they’re inside caves or buildings, and sometimes you’ll find them behind rocks or obstacles that block your path. They are usually only visible when you are right next to them or look at them from a certain angle. Some are very difficult to spot unless you’re right on top of them. To help you out, both Hidden Orbs and Agility Orbs give off an audio signal you can hear when you’re nearby. These signals are different from each other so learn what each sounds like. You might hear a Hidden Orb signal when there are no orbs in sight. Take special note of this. You can hear an orb’s audio signal through walls, floors, and ceilings, so you may have to go to a different level of the building you are on, or find a way to access an adjacent area.

You can also gain Agility by firing upon an enemy from a great height. This does not include civilians. So don’t get any ideas of going on a citizen genocide mission to increase your Agility. When you shoot and kill a gang member with a firearm, you will gain Agility skill along with the Weapons skill you usually gain. You gain no Agility bonus if you dispose of your enemies with explosive weapons or grenades, unfortunately—but that’s not to say it isn’t fun. Plus, you increase your Explosives skill.

The final method in this briefing for gaining Agility is that harried and hurried event known as the Rooftop Race. Rooftop Races are visible both in your HUD as a green shaft of light pulsating up from the ground and in your minimap indicator as a green dot. This is your starting point for the race. When you stand on one of these, you will receive a countdown and then must race like the wind if you’re to beat the time indicated. It isn’t just a straight 50 yard dash. You’ll have to leap, climb, run, and vault your way from green shaft to green shaft.  As you reach each waypoint, look for an arrow at its base. This will tell you which direction the next shaft of light will appear. Sometimes this will be above you, so look around. When you’ve pounced on every checkpoint and beaten the time indicated, you will receive a reward of cool, creamy Agility bonuses. Take too long and you leave with nothing but your shattered pride.

Once you’ve mastered these methods of gaining Agility, you’ll be well on your way to cleaning up the city. At first you’ll be as feeble as a super-powered child, only able to jump to the lowest building-tops and routinely mocked by grandmothers as they whizz past you in their electric wheelchairs. Soon, though, you will be able to jump higher, leap farther, and run faster than any human has ever done before. Good luck, Agent. Now go reach for the stars!