Far Cry 5: How to Do a Pistol Takedown (Sidearm Takedown)

How to Do a Pistol Takedown (Sidearm Takedown) in Far Cry 5

Far Cry 5 offers up a ton of different ways for players to take down the many Eden’s Gate cultists patrolling Hope County. From remote explosives, to a seemingly pointless slingshot, there’s a weapon to suit every playstyle. Sometimes, it’s better to get up close and personal with your enemy, so you can silently remove them from the equation with a takedown. A pistol takedown is particularly cool to pull off, but, like with any other sidearm takedown in Far Cry 5, you can’t do them immediately.

Instead, you’ll first need to get the Takedown Mastery perk. It’ll cost you six Perk points, which can be accrued from completing challenges or finding Prepper Stashes. Once you’ve got this, you’ll be able to pull off this move on any enemy who has a pistol or sidearm equipped.

When the prompt appears on-screen, press R3 (press the right stick in) and your character will grab your enemy from behind. At this point, you’ll then need to press L2 (LT on Xbox One) when the next prompt appears to pull off a pistol takedown. If there’s another enemy nearby, you can immediately hit R2 (or RT on Xbox One) while holding down L2 to score a headshot on that enemy. This will instantly kill regular enemies, but armored foes and cult VIPs will only be injured.

A pistol takedown can quickly turn the tide of battle in Far Cry 5 and also feels incredibly badass to do.  That’s all you need to do to pull off a pistol takedown (sidearm takedown) in Far Cry 5. For more on the game, be sure to check out our ever-expanding wiki.