Far Cry 5: Tips and Tricks for Beginners

Nab All the Radio Calls on Your Map

Far Cry 5 Beginner Tips

At the start of Far Cry 5, Dutch will have you take a look at your map and advise you to head westward, to John Seed’s region. However, along the way you might notice a few NPC icons on the map with radio calls that play when you hover over them. These are definitely worth doing once you reach Fall’s End, and before you start tackling the main story stuff.

Each of these radio calls will unlock a new companion who can accompany you on your journey. In John’s region, you’ll find Boomer the best doggo, Nick Rye, and Grace. Boomer can scout out enemies and mark them for you, Nick can call in an air strike, and Grace provides sniper support. They’ll make your life a lot easier as you tackle the harder missions, so unlock them and finish their quests as soon as you can.

Use the Bow

Far Cry 5 Beginner Tips

Just like past games in the series, the bow is incredibly useful in Far Cry 5. You’ll first unlock it on Dutch’s island, and the compound bow can be found in the flooded bunker. You’ll need to power on the generator to drain the bunker before heading in to grab your prize. Once you find it, the compound bow can be equipped at any weapons store, even if you have to drop it to pick up another weapon.

The bow is extremely handy in stealth situations, as it allows you to one-shot most unsuspecting enemies. Armored enemies and cult VIPs will take a few more arrows. The bow is also great for hunting animals silently, and the best part is that you can retrieve your arrows after firing them. The recurve bow is still the best bow to shoot for in Far Cry 5 of course, but until it’s available for purchase, the compound bow will serve your needs just fine.

Get the Assassin Perks

Far Cry 5 Beginner Tips

Far Cry 5 also offers a rather extensive skill tree, where you can spend points to unlock perks and enhance your abilities. In our time with the game, we found that the Assassin branch was the most useful one to go for in the early hours, especially if you’re planning to be stealthy.

The Grapple perk lets you climb the terrain easily, Nimble Fingers lets you craft items and disable alarms quickly, and Sneaky Sprint lets you move faster while crouching. Get Sneaky Sprint at the very least before turning your attention to other perk branches. Other useful perks to get at the start of Far Cry 5 include Parachute and Close Combat Gear Bag.

Unlock Weapon Holsters

Far Cry 5 Beginner Tips

After getting all the useful perks from the Assassin branch, you should start saving your skill points to unlock the remaining weapon holsters in Far Cry 5. At the start, you can only carry two weapons – a sidearm and a rifle. However, this is not enough, especially if you want to be prepared for all combat situations at all times.

Start saving your points for the Additional Holster and Weapons Collector perks. These will unlock the third and fourth weapon holsters in the weapon wheel so you can carry an SMG and a sniper rifle, or any other weapon type of your choice. We definitely recommend prioritizing these after unlocking the Assassin perks.

Hunt All the Animals

Far Cry 5 Beginner Tips

Unlike the past two games in the series, you no longer need to hunt animals to upgrade your gear and equipment. In Far Cry 5, animal skins are purely for making quick money, which you’re going to need if you want to buy the best weapons available in the game.

Boomer is great for identifying animals on your screen, and you should have the bow with you at all times to hunt them easily and save ammo. Once you reach the first shop in the game, consider buying the fishing rod as well to go fishing and catch marine life for selling. The Harvest Master perk doubles your loot reward from plants and animals, so this is a good one to go for if you want to grind for money.

Liberate Captives and Talk to Them

Far Cry 5 Beginner Tips

As you liberate outposts and build your resistance force, you’ll occasionally come across captives being tortured by the cultists. Whenever you can, try to prioritize freeing them from their captors and talk to them. Some of them might be available for hire, and will even pick up weapons to help you out in a fight.

You can press the left button on the d-pad to direct them to various locations on the field, and get them to take out enemies as quietly as they can. They won’t carry you through a fight, but they’ll at least be a nice distraction to help you survive some of the tougher encounters.

Do Your Challenges

Far Cry 5 Beginner Tips

Lastly, always do the challenges available in your main menu. This is how you can get your perk points efficiently in Far Cry 5, and it’s especially useful when you’re trying to work your way towards unlocking a very useful perk on the tree. The challenges are pretty easy as well, ranging from getting kills with various weapon types to skinning a certain amount of animals.

Always check the challenge log for easy ones to complete so you can get even more points. This is far more efficient than just playing Far Cry 5 normally and killing regular enemies.

That’s all of our tips and tricks for now. For more on Far Cry 5, be sure to check out our ever-expanding wiki.