Shanath Arena

The Shanath Arena is a location within Southern Kyrat in Far Cry 4. Here, Ajay can participate in various wave-based matches against large numbers of enemies. The Shanath Arena is headed by Noore Najjar, who was forced to run the place by Pagan Min in exchange for her family's safety.

Description

The games seem to have the Royal Army split into several teams (up to four, marked in color: red, blue, yellow and green, with the enemies being covered in colored powder signifying who is who). All teams will try to kill the opposing teams, and Ajay (who is on a team by himself). Animals do not attack animals of the same species, and tend to focus on humans more.

Far Cry 4

Player starts combat with a single weapon which changes depending on their arena level, but can loot improved weapons from enemies. The latter include all types of infantry and animals including elephants. The combat is split into rounds, each round lasting until Ajay is either dead or kills every other living being in the arena. While each round is in progress, new participants cannot arrive, except for the rhino in the last rounds of Weapon Challenges. The last round is always Ajay versus a team of enemy infantry, or a pack of animals.

For the fight, Ajay receives points depending on how spectacular his killing blows are. He does not get any points if an enemy is killed by another enemy. A regular kill (human or animal) awards 10 points; a stealth kill, explosive kill or headshot awards 25; thrown knife kill or stealth heavy infantry kill awards 50. Even if Ajay dies, he adds these points to his total rank. For a spectacular kill (25 or more points), Ajay may get a drop from spectators, either a health syringe (green smoke), ammo (purple), weapon (blue) or explosives (orange). Weapon drops can contain a weapon that is otherwise unobtainable from enemies corpses(like the U100, D50, or Vector 45.).

During the fight, Ajay will not have access to any of his gear; all of his skills will remain, though. If he carries armor, the armor will be allowed in the arena. Of all weapons, only basic, unmodified versions of guns normally carried by enemies will be available, plus a starting handgun (or smg at higher ranks). Of thrown weapons, only grenades, Molotov cocktails and thrown knives are available. Grenades and Molotov cocktails come from the crowd drops marked by orange smoke.

Accumulating points will increase Arena Rank, allowing to participate in more difficult battles. Reaching rank 10 also allows Ajay to buy a signature weapon, Bushman.

Types of Matches

There are three types of matches:

Endless: the amount of waves are endless. Every 10 rounds, a special wave will be sent, consisting of Heavy gunners, Flamethowers, or 'rare' animals. It ends when Ajay is killed.

Battle: 3-5 rounds, the last round is more difficult, performance is reflected as stars, up to 5, extra points can be obtained by a "star bonus".

Trials: no rounds, must complete the battle with 3 stars or more and fulfill a condition (such as using only one weapon).

All of the above are not available in cooperative mode.

Arena ranks

Rank 1: Fresh Meat - Mark IV
Rank 2: Scrapper - Mark IV
Rank 3: Brawler - 1911
Rank 4: Hunter - 1911
Rank 5: Apprentice - Skorpion
Rank 6: Contender - Skorpion
Rank 7: Challenger - .44 Magnum
Rank 8: Rival - .44 Magnum
Rank 9: Competitor - A2000
Rank 10: Fighter - A2000
Rank 11: Warrior - MP34
Rank 12: Gladiator - MP34
Rank 13: Kyra's Chosen - D2
Rank 14: Kyrati Master - D2
Rank 15: Arena Master - A99

The Arena Rank is account-bound and carries over to each subsequent playthrough. Therefore, one only needs to reach Rank 10 once to automatically unlock the Bushman in every new game started. Keep in mind that winning a single match in the arena may be required to update the rank of the current game to the actual value (which precludes the player from fielding this weapon until they have advanced the main storyline far enough to gain access to Shanath Arena).

Trivia

The loading screen reveals that the arena was built in 1759 to try to provide a rebellion going on at the time, and initially showed elephants and tigers fighting to the death.
- The loading screen in the Dutch version of the game, however, claims that instead of elephants, it were lions and tigers fighting to the death.
A note found during the Shoot the Messenger mission indicates that the animals in the arena are drugged with medetomidine hydrochloride, a synthetic anesthetic and painkiller commonly used in veterinary medicine, presumably to make them less sensitive to pain and more dangerous(however, listening to the guards' who are near the note, they claim it makes the animals tired)
The woman in front of the arena (pictured in the gallery below) comments on Ajay's skill depending on his arena rank, often including sarcastic or annoyed remarks about him staring at her breasts(as she has no shirt on for some reason).
very rarely a flat bed vision of the cargo truck spawns on the road to the west of the arena with two citizens holding AK-47's next to a cage with a bear in it. the citizens could of been transporting the bear to the arena when the cage fell off the back of the truck.

Strategy

To reach an either a 5 star rating or a high score on the leaderboards there's one meta strategy that rewards more points than using guns. This strategy requires the skills; Chain Takedown, Death From Above and Knife Throw Takedown while Heavy Takedown is optional. Takedowns reward 25 points however Death From Above, Heavy Takedown and Knife Throws reward 50 points. Chain Takedowns will reward extra points. Utilizing these skills will build up much more points than headshots. It's best to crouch in the corner beside the large entrance gate (the side with the stairs leading to a small platform). Groups of 2 or more enemies will come out and walk right past that corner. It's best to preform the Chain Takedown on the last person out, that way you'll be able to Chain enemies from behind. Attempting a Chain Takedown while enemies are facing your direction will result in a hail of gunfire while you're stuck in the animation. Use the cover around the arena to break line of sight with enemies. Stay on the side with the platform to initiate Death From Above takedowns which can also go into a Chain Takedown if there are any nearby enemies. As you Chain Takedown the last enemy near you preform the Knife Throw Takedown, pan the arena while continuously pressing the fire button (RT/R2/LM) to end a Chain with an extra +50 points. This strategy can be difficult, Chain Takedowns will leave you wide open for attacks. Upgrading health is very important. Avoid takedown attempts on enemies that are focused on you, they will perform a knock down within melee distance. Use guns on animals or if you can't close in on a soldier (always go for headshots). Move quickly so the enemies don't end up killing each other which will not count towards points. Look out for the explosive barrels if attempting to move in for takedowns, enemies will shoot it.
There are a few different strategies for the Rhino. With a weak weapon it's best to use the explosive barrels around the area. Stand in the path of the barrels then get the Rhino's attention either by shooting or throwing a Molotov Cocktail. Shoot the barrels as the Rhino passes them. The Rhino can keep up with you even while sprinting, so avoid running in the path of the barrels if he is close behind or else they'll explode as he runs them over. For the cheesy strategy go to the platform at the end of the arena. Stand on the edge while shooting him, if the Rhino gets too close walk off the platform. The Rhino will have to go to the stairs, shoot at him till he gets close then run up the stairs or climb up onto the platform again to bait him into running around while you shoot.