Strategy Guide

## Overview

Hard Truck 2: King of the Road is a relatively open ended game. While there is an end goal, the game does not end upon the player reaching that goal. Players may enjoy the game however they like, whether it is collecting vehicles, exploring, or evading the police and mafia. This below guide, however, generally explains what is considered to be the easiest strategy to achieve a 51% market share which is required to win the game. The process of reaching that market share can be split into the 3 sections labelled below.

## Early Game

All players begin the game in Southgate with either a Zil 133540 or an Offroad HL and $40,000. Players are tasked with obtaining a 51% market share by delivering loads, hiring drivers, and winning races at the circuit. It is highly recommended that players immediately accept a cargo load that will take them by a repair station. During their maiden voyage, players should stop at the repair station and purchase a forced engine upgrade as well as a stealth body paint upgrade. Other upgrades, such as an extra tank, are smart to acquire if a player so chooses it. Players should then go around, delivering loads as quickly as possible, taking care not to be noticed by police nor to heavily damage any cargo. It can be easy to rely on dialing 911 to return your truck to the road frequently, but it is advised to not do this. Dialing 911 will cost the player at least $1000 each time, and this can quickly add up and eat into your profits.

Additionally, players should try to repair, refuel, and upgrade their vehicle between trips whenever possible. It can be debilitating, especially in scenario difficulty, to need to stop for repair and refuel in the middle of a delivery, where the player is competing to arrive at their destination first. Players may also benefit from taking some time to explore the game world. There are plenty of hidden, high value cargoes to be found as well as shortcuts that can shave several minutes off of your delivery times. Players should not be afraid of purchasing more upgrades for their vehicle as they raise capital. The money spent on these upgrades can always be returned by uninstalling the upgrade or when exchanging the truck for another.

Once players are able to reliably make income, their main goal should be to win races. Winning races grants players licenses to hire drivers. Players will need a license and a fair amount of money to be able to afford a driver, as players will need to pay for the driver's truck as well. Once the player has hired drivers, they will find receive supplementary passive income from these AI employees.

## Mid Game

Once players have hired their first AI driver, they are effectively in the mid game. Focus will quickly shift between making money and earning licenses as players look to expand their fleet. Players should take great care at this point to not let their funds dip too low. If it comes time to pay a driver and the player does not have enough money left, the hired driver will immediately quit, leaving the player down a driver and the money that was put into that driver's truck.

This point in the game may be a good time to look into replacing your own vehicle with something a little more reliable. The starting Zil is by no means a bad truck, but players may find more success by driving a Storm, a Renault, or any number of higher quality vehicles. Players should be primarily focused on expanding their fleet however. Once players have hired around 10 drivers, they will find that their passive income will become much more significant, making the purchase of new drivers and vehicles much easier. At this point, players may shift their focus towards mainly earning new licenses and hiring new drivers.

## Late Game

Once players are able to mostly rely on the income of their hired drivers, they have entered the late game. At this point, players should have a healthy company and be focused on hitting the 51% market share required to win the game. Market share is calculated by the total tonnage of the player's truck fleet. As more drivers are hired, it may become slow and inefficient to hire drivers one at a time. Instead, since players may have a lot of capital and unemployed drivers may become less common, it may be wiser to replace their current fleet with better trucks. Players should look through their fleet and see if they have any hired drivers that are operating smaller cars or Zils. The player can switch places with these drivers and replace their low tonnage vehicles with alternative vehicles with a much higher tonnage, like Volvos or Mercedes brand vehicles. Specifically, the KamAZ 54115 offers a fair amount of tonnage for a low price. However, vehicles like the Storm or the DAF can offer far more tonnage if the player is willing to pay a bit more.

Whether by hiring more drivers or replacing smaller vehicles, players should have little trouble reaching the necessary 51% market share in a few play sessions.

## Post-Game

Once players have hit the 51% market share, they are greeted with a congratulatory screen. They are then given the option to continue the game. If the player continues, the game continues as normal. The player can earn or lose money, hire and fire drivers, make deliveries, win races, and otherwise function with all of the freedom that they had during the game. This is a great time for players to just purchase new vehicles, explore, challenge themselves, and generally enjoy the game world.

It is worth noting that after the player has won the game, several new vehicles will become available at the various car lots around the map. Players will be able to find and purchase previously inaccessible vehicles such as the Volga, the Mini, and even the Bus. Players are encouraged to test out these vehicles and to enjoy their unique characteristics.