Get ready to patrol Averno City in The Precinct using our best tips and tricks to prepare you for the beat. My goal is to improve your experience while also teaching you some neat tricks you may not know about. After completing the game, I’ve learned a lot that you wouldn’t immediately know.
Tip 1 – Don’t Try to Memorize the Handbook
Your first shift starts with the handbook opening up and it is an information overload. This can be intimidating if you plan on reading every single page and think you have to memorize them. However, you can open the handbook at any time you want. This makes it much easier since you can refer to it when unsure of how to handle a situation.
For a while, I referred back to the handbook to remember the restrictions on what levels of force are okay. Such as tasing someone committing a non-lethal crime, but not a non-violent person fleeing. Similarly, the handbook is great for understanding the intricacies of certain charges too.
Tip 2 – When to Call For Cop Escorts
You’ll learn early that you can escort a criminal to the station or call for a cop escort instead. I typically prefer cop escorts since you don’t have to make the trip back. And you can spend that time focusing on other crimes or other criminals in an ongoing situation.
With that said, you get more experience bringing criminals back to the station. I recommend doing this at the end of your shift when returning to the precinct. But honestly, you don’t even have to do it then if you don’t want to. However, it is worth mentioning that the shift timer pauses when inside the station.
Tip 3 – Watch For Gang Vehicles and Clothing
The unfortunate reality in The Precinct is that profiling is an efficient method to collect the evidence you need to progress. Search for the unique outfits and cars of the gang you’re looking to gather evidence against.
There’s no guarantee that they’ll have a warrant out. But in my experience, it’s common that they’ve violated the law or are about to. One trick is to pull over gang vehicles or commandeer them, causing a violent response. Otherwise, you can scan gang vehicles or check pedestrians who are wearing gang clothing.
Tip 4 – Don’t Wait For Kelly to Get in the Car
As rude as it may be, you don’t have to wait for your partner Kelly to get in your car. You can drive off and he’ll teleport into the passenger seat relatively quickly. The main reason I bring up this tip for The Precinct is because there are many moments where you can’t waste time.
For example, if you’re chasing someone on foot and then they steal a car, you’ll need to rush to catch up. This means you may not have time to wait for Kelly to run across the street. Plus, there doesn’t seem to be any penalty or negative of driving off without him.
Tip 5 – It’s Okay To Work Overtime
Despite movie cops frequently complaining about overtime and the game telling you to end your shift, you can continue patrolling. Certain achievements revolve around difficult goals to complete in one shift so this helps with that. Such as earning 10,000 experience in a single shift or reaching first place on the shift leaderboard.
The primary reason to end your shift is to commit your experience toward leveling up and unlock upgrade points. Otherwise, it may help push the homicide case storyline along. I’m sure it isn’t random, but I don’t know what triggers it either. Regardless, I haven’t noticed any penalties from working outside your shift hours, so that shouldn’t be a problem.
Tip 6 – Strafe in and out of Tall Cover During Combat
The Precinct’s combat often revolves around ducking into cover, taking shots, and waiting to heal after getting hit. While most of the level design forces you into low cover, I recommend taking using larger walls too. It’s much easier to strafe in and out of cover while standing as opposed to popping up from half walls.
I’ve had a better experience with my aiming not breaking while strafing compared to using the cover-based system. During the pre-release version, my crosshair would always start off to the left instead of where I was looking. Another issue was that it would save the position of where I last aimed. This is a pain especially when you don’t realize it’s happening.
Tip 7 – Take Shortcuts During Car Chases
When I first heard The Precinct prevents you from being a bad cop, I also assumed that would include reckless driving. I couldn’t have been more wrong. It’s practically a requirement to drive off-road and break through fences when pursuing fast suspects.
Don’t be afraid to drive through alleyways or cut corners a little too close as you crash through barriers. This will also help you win street races if you choose to do those optional side activities. As mentioned in my review of The Precinct, I would recommend it for the little bit of story you get.
Tip 8 – How to Spawn a New Car in The Precinct
Certain shift types encourage you to patrol on foot which means you’ll likely walk far from your vehicle. This can be a problem if you end up in a situation where you need to get somewhere quickly. For example, many dispatch calls have a countdown for how long you can take to get on scene. This is why I like to get a little closer before accepting a call.
If you find yourself far from your patrol car and don’t have the Commandeer upgrade, you can summon a new vehicle nearby. Opening the support menu (V on PC) has a “New Patrol Vehicle” that spawns one close to you. This won’t remove your previous car if it has criminals inside.
Tip 9 – The Best Upgrades to Get First
The grind for unlocking upgrades in The Precinct isn’t too bad but I do have recommendations for when you’re just starting out. These are some of the best ones even though there are many helpful passive upgrades too:
- Timed Breath (Physical)
- Additional Holster (Combat)
- Commandeer and Riding Shotgun (Vehicle)
- Max Support Tokens and Riot Van Support (Policing)
Tip 10 – Ending Shifts via the Support Menu
I didn’t realize for a while that you can end shifts using the Support radial menu. This is a neat trick that accomplishes the same thing as returning to the station and ending it at your desk. I’m sure it was added as a way to prematurely end your shift. However, it works perfectly beyond that as well.
That’s all there is to this list of tips and tricks for The Precinct. Hopefully you learned something new and are ready to clean up Averno City.
Jeff is a journalist with over 10 years of experience writing, streaming, and making content about video games. With an associate degree in journalism, he’s a sucker for RPGs, survival games, roguelikes, and more.