How to Find, Use and Keep the "Fangs for Hire" in "Far Cry 5"

Meet Boomer, Cheeseburger and Peaches, your new adorable weapons of mass destruction.

Far Cry 5 is finally available, meaning you can get to work freeing the people of Hope County, Montana from the apocalyptic cult that has taken over their area.

But why go it alone when you can bring along a trusty pup, or a carnage-creating mountain lion, or a bear named Cheeseburger?

The latest Far Cry instalment (now available on PS4, Xbox One and PC) allows you to add 'Fangs for Hire' to your co-op roster, proving you don’t really need human companionship (in video games as it is in life).

Over the course of the game, you’ll be able to find and potentially work with Boomer the dog, Cheeseburger the bear and Peaches the mountain lion.

We caught up with Dan Hay, executive producer and creative director of Far Cry 5, to learn about each of the 'Fangs for Hire', including where to find them—and how to make sure you don’t lose them.

Firstly, what are 'Fangs for Hire'?

Basically, they’re just like the 'Guns for Hire' you can recruit to join you on collaborative missions. Except, they’re animals.

"What’s really cool about these different animals is that a lot of the times when you’re out hunting in the Far Cry games, you’ll run into a bear, or you’ll run into a wolf, or you’ll run into an animal from another Far Cry, and invariably those animals are all over you and it’s really tough, and you don’t necessarily have the ability to hold your ground," Dan says.

"For the first time, in this Far Cry, you’re able to push the field back. It’s amazing to have Boomer with you; maybe a wolf shows up and all of a sudden, they face off, and you’re able to spin the plates. Boomer will keep the wolf—and even a pack of wolves—busy; at the same time, you’re able to take out the other AI in the space."

What’s the difference between the 'Fangs for Hire'?

"Boomer’s almost a drone; an organic drone," Dan says.

"You take boomer out into the field, and [he] has the ability to go out and actually isolate—just like you would with a camera—all these different [artificial intelligence] AI in the world and tag them.

"So, for an intentional player, Boomer is the perfect weapon to be able to go out and tag everybody, and then, very strategically, you can go and pick which character you want to take a weapon from."

If you’re not so "intentional" in your playing style, Cheeseburger might be more your speed.

"Cheeseburger’s a tank," Dan adds.

"If you have a pet bear, it’s total carnage. Total mayhem. You send in Cheeseburger and he does all kinds of damage."

If you’re perhaps hoping for a Fang that can cause a lot of trouble, but still want to play with a little bit of strategy, Dan reckons Peaches is your gal.

"Peaches has the ability to go out and do a bit of stealth, and to attack, but when you decide to attack with Peaches, it is absolute carnage," he says.

"And there’s a terror quotient to it.

"When the AI’s looking at Boomer, they’re not afraid of Boomer. When they look at Cheeseburger, they’re gonna be terrified of the bear, but they’re also gonna try and attack it a certain way. Once you have a big cat, everybody’s scared to hell of that thing and basically gets the hell out of there."

Where can I find each of them?

"The game is designed to have you go out into the world and explore, and you meet people and you hear stories about characters or missions that need to be done or side quests or micro stories in the world, and we also wanted to make sure these characters knew of the 'Fangs for Hire' possibilities," Dan says.

"So it’s not going to be that every single character knows of Boomer, or knows of Cheeseburger, or the location of Peaches, but if you decide to go North, and you decide to go into Jacob’s Region, people are gonna hear about Cheeseburger; they’re gonna talk about it, and they’re gonna give you hints: 'Hey, you might want to head in that direction.'

"For Boomer, you go to John’s Region, and that’s to the West. Boomer’s got a personality where everybody knows and loves that dog."

And what about the mysterious Peaches?

"If you decide to head East and go to Faith’s Region, you’ll hear rumours of the cult being afraid of this cougar, and not being able to do anything about it," Dan says.

"And then, when you show up to that mission, you’ll understand why, because Peaches is going through them like a knife through butter."

What’s the best way to use them?

As a rule of thumb, if you’re facing down a pack of wolves, call on Boomer. If big cats are on your tail, send in Peaches.

But what if you’re facing down a dude with a giant cannon on their shoulder?

"If you’re going against the very specific type of heavy who’s got an M60 [you may say], 'Look, I need to have the bear in this moment,'" Dan advises.

He also says that the more "nimble and quick" 'Fangs' are better suited for enemies using fire.

Thankfully, you can indeed roster-on all three and swap between them when necessary.

"It’s kind of like digital chess," Dan says.

Am I at risk of ever losing them?

Same rules apply for your pets at home: treat them badly, and they won’t stick around.

"Once you do the requisite work to get [your roster] to trust you, they’re yours," Dan says.

"If you put them in harm’s way, they can effectively go away for a time and you’ve got to wait to get them back."

Far Cry 5 is now available PS4, Xbox One and PC.

Photo: Ubisoft