Blood Money

Blood Money
Name	Blood Money
Other Names	BM, Blood, Money, Bank
Size	Relatively Large
Location	N/A
First Introduced	July 28, 2011
Popularity	Very Low
Main Discussion

“	In dealing with the multi-national hydra called NEMEXIS, Command believes that they can deal a devastating blow to the corporation by stealing the gold reserves the company uses to secure credit lines from an international bank. Unfortunately, NEMEXIS has learned about this operation and are offering a reward to a mercenary team to secure the gold before it is stolen.	”
	— SITREP

Blood Money is the 32nd map released in Combat Arms, during the 7/28 Content Update.

It is one of the two available maps that you can play the Hired Guns mode on (the other being Death Row )

Overview

The map consists of the bank and the streets directly surrounding it. The bank itself has three floors, and the vault is located on the basement floor.

Most of the action takes place within the larger confines of the building and the large street directly in front of it. There are two alternate exits/entrances into the bank, and both of them are behind the building (though they require the keypad to be hacked before access is available).

Objective

Both sides aim to retrieve the gold from the bank's safe; one side to steal it, the other to protect it.

The key is to make it back to their spawn with the bars in tow; which will score them points.

The team with the most gold bars by the end of each round wins.

Basic Mechanics

The basic mechanics of this mode are deceptively simple.

Here's a breakdown:

• First, make it across the gap between your respective spawns and the building alive.
• Then, infiltrate through the front or back entrances.
• From there, you must break into the safe and retrieve the gold.
• You can carry up to nine bars without a movement penalty.
• For each bar over nine that you retrieve, your speed will be reduced by greater and greater amounts, starting at -3% and eventually maxing out at -48%.
• When someone is viewed that is carrying gold, a bar symbol and the number of bars they are carrying will be visible beside their name.
• If someone dies carrying gold, then a bag will be dropped containing all the gold that they person had at the time of death. This gold does not return to spawn, nor is its location explicitly indicated on the map. Anybody can pick up this gold and try to take it to their spawn.
• The team with the most gold (even by one bar) at the end of the round, wins.

Sounds easy, right? Well, in actuality, it's much more difficult than it sounds. There are a few factors that make gameplay a little more challenging, although some may be bypassed by skilled players.

Things to Take Note Of

The first thing to take into account is that the back entrances to the buildings and the entrance to the safe all take time to open, similar to locking and unlocking the safe rooms in Overdose during Quarantine Regen matches. However, the back doors can be entirely bypassed by taking the front entrance. This is very risky, however, as it leaves you completely open to attack on all sides.

Another thing to keep in mind is that a message will appear on your HUD when any of the entrances or the safe open. The safe's opening will also be accompanied by an alarm.

Probably the most important thing to remember is that the player that retrieves the gold will need backup. Most likely, they will take as many gold bars as possible, incurring a heavy movement penalty. Be prepared to escort any such players.

Playing Styles

There are many possible different roles in this game mode, but they can mostly be boiled down to three basic types: The Rushers, the Defenders, and the Escorts.

The Rushers

Similar to in Capture the Flag, the Rushers in this game mode will often not be concerned about kills. They will try to run into the building as quickly as possible, opting for high-portability guns or knives and large amounts of speed gear. Often times, they will only take small amounts of gold at a time in order to avoid any speed penalties. The key to being a good rusher is to keep in mind that you don't have to stand and fight everything. Use cover as much as possible and utilize your speed advantages to secure just enough gold to make it back.

The Defenders

The defenders, will mostly be after kills - against enemie defenders and gold carriers. Players who partake in this play style will often pick a spot on the map and hold their ground there. The most popular spots for defenders are the alleyway, the cars by their spawn, and the lobby of the bank.

The alleyway defender and lobby defender will mostly be killing enemies who enter the bank, and rush out of it with gold. They will often use mines to block off the back doors, and vault entry doors. For defending in the alley way a sniper is recommended in order to get quick kills.

Those who camp by the cars at the spawn will mostly use snipers. They will be sniping enemies as they exit their spawn. One should be cautious when defending this area as defenders on the other side, and enemies who breach the alleyway, will be very dangerous.

The Escorts

Escorts are the players who go with the rushers as they take the gold back to the spawn. As the name implies they will be their main defence against oncoming enemies and snipers. They are also an insurance if the gold carrier is downed, as they will be the nearest to the gold bags that drop.

Criticism

As one of the least-played modes in the game, Hired Guns has received mostly negative reception from the Community.

As it is called "Hired Guns," it features the unique ability to summon "mercenaries" to aid you in battle.

However, there are a lot of issues surrounding even that.

One, while mercenaries should play a major role in gameplay (which the mode is aptly named after), you can easily play and win/lose games without ever having to use the hired mercenaries. They are more of an accessory rather than a major advantage, and sometimes, they can even be a nuisance.

Furthermore, the mercenaries you spawn are often very glitchy themselves. While they each have their own "prices" and varying vests/weaponry, they all seem to perform on the same level---that is, very badly. Even as NPCs with built-in hit boxes, they often get stuck in certain areas and don't even bother to shoot the enemy right in front of them.

Also, while the game has players retrieving gold, they are paid very little for their efforts. Neither side (the thieves or the guards), receive anything notable in terms of monetary payment. Therefore, Hired Guns is a very inefficient mode to farm GP, despite what it features.

Trivia

• Blood Money has many similarities to the areas surrounding Ghost Town and Short Fuse, though they are all unrelated location-wise.
  • However, they all share a common link; an involvement with NEMEXIS.
• The taxis in this map are emblazoned with "NYC Taxi", suggesting this is in New York. But the telephone booths and architecture style resemble those of London.

Lobby of bank

Lobby of bank

The merc's vehicle

Inside of the truck

Two of the mercs

Police cruiser on Alpha site

A motorcycle near Brave secondary entrance

A window from inside the bank

Stairway leading up to safe

Balcony above safe room

Hallway behind stair case

Closed safe

Open safe

Inside doorway of safe

All shelves have 6 gold bullions

Gold bars close up

Emptied shelves

Emptied shelves