John Carpenter's Toxic Commando Guide: How To Survive The Sludge Solo
Running a four-player co-op shooter by yourself usually feels like a punishment, but John Carpenter's Toxic Commando actually gives you a fighting chance.
If you do not have a dedicated squad of friends to back you up, the game fills your empty roster slots with AI companions. Surprisingly, they are not “completely” useless. They sometimes actually shoot the infected and follow basic commands. However, they lack the critical thinking required to survive the higher difficulties. If you want to make it out of the sludge alive, you have to be the tactical backbone of the entire operation.
You cannot play this game like a lone wolf. If you sprint ahead of your bots, you will get swarmed by the undead and dragged into the mud. You have to micromanage your team, hoard your resources, and pick the absolute perfect loadout.
Setting Up A Solo Match
Before you can even worry about loadouts, you need to know how to actually get into a game by yourself. The menus in Toxic Commando heavily push you toward online matchmaking. If you just click "Play" on a mission, the game will automatically try to drop you into a lobby with random players on the internet.
If you want to play entirely on your own terms, you have to bypass the matchmaking algorithm. When you choose a game, put it on private and then you get to play with bots as teammates. It is a simple toggle, but the game does not explicitly advertise it. Once your lobby is set to private, you can select your mission and difficulty without some random player screaming into their microphone and ruining your immersion. Keep in mind that the game still requires an active internet connection even when you are playing in a private lobby with bots.
The Best Classes For Solo Players
There are four distinct classes in the game: Strike, Medic, Operator, and Defender. In a full co-op lobby, you want one of each. When you are playing solo, your priorities completely change.
I strongly advise against playing the Medic or the Defender when running solo. The Medic is fantastic for healing real players who make stupid mistakes, but the AI bots are generally good at staying alive on their own. The Defender is great at dropping shields and holding choke points, but as a solo player, you need offensive stopping power, not passive mitigation.
The Strike Class (The Best Starter)
If you are just starting out, pick the Strike class. It is the most straightforward, aggressive class in the game, and it is perfect for solo runs. You get the Fireball ability, which is an explosive projectile that deals massive area-of-effect damage.
When you are playing solo, getting overwhelmed by a massive horde is your biggest threat. The AI cannot clear crowds fast enough to save you. The Fireball instantly deletes clusters of zombies, giving you the breathing room you need to reload or reposition. Once you fully upgrade it into Power Strike, you can wipe out entire waves with a single charged shot.
The Operator Class (The Advanced Pick)
Once you get a feel for the game's pacing, switch over to the Operator. This is arguably the most powerful solo class because it literally gives you an extra gun.
The Operator deploys a combat drone that automatically tracks and engages enemies. It gives the zombies another target to attack, pulling aggro away from you and your bots. When things get chaotic during defense segments, having an automated turret watching your back is invaluable. Upgrading the drone to use the Impulse ability gives it a concussive blast that knocks enemies down, acting as a massive get-out-of-jail-free card.
Crucial Early Skill Unlocks
You upgrade your character using Sludgite, those glowing orange crystals scattered across the map. Grab every single piece you see. You use Sludgite to unlock nodes on your skill tree. Do not waste your early points on minor stat bumps. Go straight for the game changers.
General Survival Tactics
You have your class and your skills locked in. Now you actually have to play the game. The rules of engagement are different when you do not have human teammates communicating over voice chat.
Micromanage Your Bots
Your AI companions are blind until you give them directions. The ping system is your best friend. If you see a special infected mutant charging at you, ping it immediately. The bots will stop whatever they are doing and focus-fire the target.
You also need to manage their inventory. Spare Parts are the most important resource in the game. You use them to build turrets, fix gates, and set traps. Every character can only hold one set of Spare Parts at a time. If you find a crate of parts on the road, ping it so your bots pick them up. During a tough defense segment, ping the turret placements so your bots spend their parts to build defenses, saving your own stash for emergencies.
Ditch The Sniper Rifles
The gunplay in Toxic Commando is incredibly satisfying, but some weapons are actively detrimental to solo players. You need to leave the sniper rifles and specialized shotguns behind.
Sniper rifles are great for picking off stragglers, but when a horde of fifty zombies crashes through a fence, a bolt-action rifle is useless. You cannot rely on your bots to protect you while you slowly reload. Stick to high-capacity assault rifles and SMGs. You need to be able to spray into a crowd and thin the herd without constantly managing a slow reload animation.
Get A Car Immediately
Some of the maps in this game are massive, and sprinting through the mud is a death sentence. Your very first priority upon loading into a mission should be securing a vehicle.
Vehicles are not just for transportation, they are mobile fortresses. If a horde ambushes you in an open field, do not try to fight them on foot. Get into the driver's seat. You are completely safe from standard melee attacks while inside the cabin. You can sit there and honk the horn while your AI bots lean out the windows and gun down the horde for you. If you manage to find a truck with a mounted turret, you basically win the mission. Just remember to scavenge for gasoline, or your tank will become a very heavy coffin.
