Ghost Recon Wildlands solo: how to use your AI squad

No friends online, an empty lobby, and the same old question: can you play Ghost Recon Wildlands alone without it turning into a frustrating walk across Bolivia? You can, easily. In solo mode the game hands you three AI-controlled Ghosts, and if you let them, they will pretty much beat the game for you. The problem is that almost nobody explains how to give them orders.

That's why I recorded the first tutorial of the channel's Wildlands series: the command wheel, Sync Shot, what to do with your squad in a car, and which skills are worth your points. Below is the written summary, with the PC shortcuts and a correction I owed from the video (which is in Brazilian Portuguese).

Holt, Midas and Weaver: who's in your squad

You play as Nomad, the best-known Ghost in Wildlands. The other three on the team are AI: Midas (the one with the bandana), Weaver and Holt. To avoid confusion early on: the Ghosts in your squad show a symbol and their name above their heads. Anyone else walking around with you is not part of the team.

They don't really play on their own: they follow your orders and work alongside you on missions. And they talk to you all the time. Point your gun at civilians, for example, and someone in the squad will complain and tell you to put it away because you're scaring people. Some players love the company, some hate it. I prefer playing with friends, but the AI can carry the campaign just fine.

The command wheel: how to give orders

How do you give orders to your squad in Ghost Recon Wildlands?

On PC, hold Tab to open the command wheel and scroll the mouse wheel to the order you want. The blue part is your squad; the bottom part is rebel support. Let go of Tab and the wheel disappears. Consoles have an equivalent button (I recorded on PC).

On the squad side, these are the orders I use most:

• Fire: they open fire on nearby enemies. This is your mid-firefight order.
• Hold: all three stay where they are while you move. You can check their position on the minimap.
• Regroup: they come back to wherever you are.
• Go to: a marker appears where your mouse is aiming. Click, and they move there.

One detail that catches a lot of people: an order stays active until you change it. In the video I went down, got revived, and all three went straight back into the firefight, because I hadn't cancelled the "fire" order. A "regroup" fixes that.

In a car: attack without stopping

You don't need to wait for your squad to get into the vehicle. If you drive off alone, they show up inside the car right after. The game just makes it happen. And while you're driving past enemies, an F: Order Attack prompt appears. Press it and all three open fire while you focus on the road. R turns off the radio, if you'd rather hear the gunfight in peace.

Focusing on the road, in my case, is a figure of speech: the car physics in Wildlands already earned a whole episode, the stealth run that turned into chaos in Bolivia.

Sync Shot: the strongest weapon in solo mode

This is the reason the AI squad is worth it. Aim at an enemy and press Q to mark them: one of the Ghosts gets into position to shoot that target. Then you have two options: order them to fire through the command wheel, or simply shoot yourself. The moment you fire, they fire with you and the targets drop at the same time. You can mark through your weapon's scope or the drone camera, so you can set up the attack from far away without anyone in the base knowing where the shot came from.

How many targets can Sync Shot take down at once?

Up to four: three marked for your AI Ghosts and a fourth that you take down yourself. But only after upgrading the Extra Sync Shot skill twice.

At the start of the game, only one Ghost takes part: you mark one target and have to deal with the other. Each level of the skill adds one more shooter, and it only has two levels. Fully upgraded, all three AI teammates join the shot. In the video I said "three extra shots" and "four targets, if I'm not mistaken". I checked afterwards: four targets is right, but it's two upgrades, not three. Good news, actually: it's cheaper than I thought.

When you go down, they pick you up

If you get downed (in the video I tested it the most educational way possible, with a grenade at my own feet), the closest Ghost comes to revive you while the others give cover. If they're too far away, the game helps out a bit and they show up nearby. But reviving doesn't solve everything: in the video, with two cartel cars heading our way, the best tactic was to grab a car and get out of there.

The squad skills worth upgrading

Wildlands has six skill trees: weapon, drone, item, physical, squad and rebel support. Each upgrade costs skill points plus a number of rebel supplies. In my save, Revive Speed asked for 1 point and 50 medical supplies. Some skills also depend on your level: I was at level 7, and part of the tree only unlocked at 16. The squad ones:

• Extra Sync Shot: more shooters in your Sync Shot. Only two levels, and it changes every mission.
• Revive Speed: your squad gets you back up faster. Mid-firefight, every second on the ground counts.
• Squad Resilience: your AI Ghosts take more damage. They don't die like your character does, but they lose effectiveness as they get shot.
• Trained Rebels: the rebels fighting on your side become more effective, both the ones you call in for support and the ones roaming the map.
• Bleed Out Time: more time on the ground, waiting to be revived, before you die for good.
• Born Leader: the AI becomes more efficient at shooting.

If you need a place to start as a solo player: Extra Sync Shot first, Revive Speed right after, then Squad Resilience and Born Leader. Trained Rebels can wait until you're leaning on rebel support a lot.

Where points and supplies come from

Skill points come as you level up and collect the cartel medals scattered across the map. Supplies (medical, food, fuel and comms) come from the collectibles marked in green and from rebel missions. If you rush straight through the main missions, you'll run short on resources to upgrade, so it's worth taking a detour now and then to grab what's along the way. The rest of the progression, from the cartel org chart to rebel support, is in the complete Ghost Recon Wildlands guide.

Watch it

In the video you can see every command in action, including the squad clearing an entire area while I just watch from a distance:

Tutorial 2, about your character and your Ghost's skills, is on the way. In the meantime: do you play Wildlands with the AI or only with friends in co-op? Tell us in the video comments, and subscribe to Insert Coin Brasil to follow the series.

Sources

• Gameplay and menus from the game itself, recorded in the video (PC version, campaign at level 7).
• GameRevolution: guide to the best upgrades in Ghost Recon Wildlands (Sync Shot starts with one Ghost, and it takes two upgrades to unlock all three).
• SegmentNext: Ghost Recon Wildlands skills guide (Extra Sync Shot has two ranks, up to four synced shots).
• Gamepressure: upgrading skills (what each squad skill does).