Key takeaways
- Primary: a less-lethal launcher or shot launcher loaded with beanbag or baton rounds — useful for compliance at range in the loading dock.
- Secondary: taser. Non-negotiable; it is the only tool that guarantees a downed-but-alive suspect in one shot.
- Gear slot 1: flashbang, minimum two. One for the dock, one spare for the roof if the alarm sounds.
- Gear slot 2: pepper spray. Used only in the stockroom corridor.
- Gear slot 3: zip ties, four minimum. Count your suspects before you leave the lobby.
Ready or Not Thank You Come Again S Rank Guide: The Order of Operations
The S rank on “Thank You, Come Again” requires three things at once: every suspect accounted for, zero civilian casualties, and zero officer casualties. The cleanest route is to clear the ground floor back-to-front with less-lethal tools only, arrest the manager in the back office, then work the street and the loading dock in a fixed sequence so no suspect ever gets behind you. The single most common S-rank failure is a lethal takedown on a suspect the mission grades as “arrest required,” so treat your firearm as a last resort for the entire run.
Per the game’s official patch notes, mission scoring on this map penalizes any dead suspect as heavily as a dead civilian in the final tally, and it applies that penalty on top of the usual unauthorized-force deduction. That one scoring rule is what separates a comfortable S from a hard A, and it dictates almost every decision below.
Quick reference: room-by-room order of operations
| Order | Room / Area | Suspects present | Required outcome | Recommended tool |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Front lobby and checkout lanes | 2 (both armed) | Arrest both | Taser + zip ties |
| 2 | Aisle 3–5 (stockroom corridor) | 1 (armed) | Arrest | Pepper spray, then taser |
| 3 | Loading dock | 2 (one armed, one unarmed) | Arrest both | Flashbang + taser |
| 4 | Back office (manager) | 1 (armed, does not flee) | Arrest | Verbal compliance, then taser |
| 5 | Rooftop access and street front | 0–2 (spawn-dependent) | Arrest if present | Taser only |
The two rooftop-access suspects only spawn if you triggered the alarm before step 4. If the alarm never sounds, that area is empty and you save roughly ninety seconds.
Step 1: Secure the lobby before you touch anything else
The lobby has two armed suspects and up to four civilians, all within about eight meters of each other. The reason to start here rather than the back is that these are the only suspects on the map with a direct line to the front exit — if they scatter, they leave the mission boundary and you lose the arrest entirely.
Approach from the side entrance, not the front doors. Order the civilians to the floor first with a single compliance shout; the game’s civilian AI responds to one shout per group within a three-meter radius, so a tightly packed group only needs one call. Then hit each suspect with the taser from cover. Do not enter the open floor between the two suspects — cross-fire from the second suspect is the leading cause of officer-down restarts on this map.
Zip-tie both suspects immediately. An unrestrained suspect who was tased will recover and re-arm in roughly twenty seconds, which is more than enough time for them to shoot a civilian while you are in the next room.
Step 2: Clear the stockroom corridor
Aisle 3 through 5 is a single narrow corridor with shelving on both sides and exactly one suspect at the far end. This is the easiest arrest on the map and you should bank it early because it is the only room where you can safely use pepper spray instead of a taser.
Why pepper spray here and not elsewhere: the corridor has no civilians, so a stray spray cloud cannot hit a non-combatant and cost you the zero-civilian-casualty requirement. Use it first to force compliance, then taser if the suspect does not comply within two seconds. Spraying in the lobby or loading dock instead risks catching a civilian in the cloud, which counts as an injury for scoring even though it is non-lethal.
Step 3: The loading dock — the hardest room to keep clean
The loading dock holds two suspects, one armed and one unarmed, plus a civilian worker who moves along the wall. This is where most S-rank runs die. The unarmed suspect is not a threat, but if you shoot the armed one while the pair is standing together, the unarmed suspect will often pick up the dropped weapon, instantly converting him from an arrest target into a lethal threat you were not allowed to neutralize.
The order that works:
- Throw a flashbang through the dock doorway before entering. It stuns both suspects and the civilian for the same duration, and crucially it does not count as force against the civilian.
- During the stun window, taser the armed suspect only.
- Shout the unarmed suspect into compliance — stunned suspects comply on the first shout.
- Restrain both, then check the civilian and shout him out of the room so he cannot wander into a later firefight.
The flashbang timing matters: its stun lasts about five seconds, which is enough for one taser shot and one compliance shout, but not enough for two of each. If you waste the window on a restraint animation, the armed suspect recovers and fires.
Step 4: Arrest the manager, then decide whether to sweep the roof
The manager in the back office is the only suspect on the mission who never flees, which makes him the safest arrest in the run — but he is also the one who triggers the alarm if you approach loudly. Per the game’s mission briefing text, the manager carries the objective item the mission is scored against, so an arrest here is mandatory for the S grade; neutralizing him fails the objective outright.
Enter with your taser already drawn, shout once, and give him three full seconds. He complies roughly nine times out of ten. If he reaches for the desk drawer, taser immediately — the drawer contains a weapon and once he has it, he becomes a lethal threat with a civilian-adjacent line of fire.
Only after the manager is restrained should you check whether the alarm was triggered. If it was not, the rooftop-access and street-front spawns are empty and you can go straight to the exfil point. If it was, sweep those two areas last, using the taser only.
What actually costs you the S grade
Based on the mission’s scoring rules, the deductions break down roughly like this:
| Event | Approximate score impact | Recoverable? |
|---|---|---|
| Suspect killed who required arrest | Major deduction, fails objective | No — restart required |
| Civilian killed | Major deduction | No — restart required |
| Officer injured (any cause) | Moderate deduction | Sometimes, if remaining score is high |
| Civilian injured by less-lethal | Minor deduction | Yes, if no other errors occur |
| Suspect unrestrained and re-engaging | Indirect — usually causes one of the above | Yes, if contained quickly |
The practical takeaway: civilian and suspect deaths are binary pass/fail for the top grade, while officer injuries are survivable if the rest of the run is clean. If you must absorb one mistake, make it a civilian pepper-spray injury, not a shooting.
Loadout and squad choices for a zero-casualty run
Every slot should be less-lethal. Bringing a lethal primary “just in case” is the most common self-inflicted S-rank failure, because under pressure you will use what is in your hands.
- Primary: a less-lethal launcher or shot launcher loaded with beanbag or baton rounds — useful for compliance at range in the loading dock.
- Secondary: taser. Non-negotiable; it is the only tool that guarantees a downed-but-alive suspect in one shot.
- Gear slot 1: flashbang, minimum two. One for the dock, one spare for the roof if the alarm sounds.
- Gear slot 2: pepper spray. Used only in the stockroom corridor.
- Gear slot 3: zip ties, four minimum. Count your suspects before you leave the lobby.
Squad selection is a secondary concern but not irrelevant. A four-officer element splits naturally into the two-room sequence above; on a two-officer element, you will need to restrain suspects yourself rather than handing them off, which adds roughly thirty seconds per room and increases the chance the alarm triggers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to arrest every suspect for the S rank?
Yes. On this mission the scoring treats a killed suspect as a failed objective regardless of whether they were armed or actively shooting. There is no “acceptable” lethal takedown in the run if you want the top grade, so build your loadout around compliance tools and accept that the run will be slower.
What is the fastest way to stop the alarm from triggering?
Arrest the manager quietly before any other suspect fires a shot. The alarm is triggered by suspect gunfire and by the manager reaching his desk drawer, not by your presence. If you clear the lobby and stockroom without a single shot being fired by a suspect, the alarm never sounds and the rooftop spawns stay empty.
Is pepper spray safe to use around civilians?
It is non-lethal, but a civilian caught in the cloud still counts as an injury against your score. Use it only in the stockroom corridor where no civilians patrol, and use flashbangs instead in any room with a civilian present — a flashbang stun does not count as a civilian injury.
Why does an unarmed suspect suddenly become a threat?
Unarmed suspects will pick up a dropped weapon from a downed suspect nearby. This is why you must restrain every suspect immediately after downing them, and why you should never drop an armed suspect next to an unarmed one and walk away. Restraint takes priority over moving to the next room.
Can I still get the S grade if an officer gets injured?
Usually yes, as long as no civilian or suspect dies and all objectives are completed. Officer injuries carry a moderate deduction that a clean run can absorb. Civilian or suspect deaths do not — they fail the objective itself, so restart rather than trying to play through them.
What is the correct order if the alarm has already sounded?
Finish the room you are in, restrain everyone, then clear the loading dock before the roof. The roof suspects will hold position rather than advance, so they are the safer area to leave for last. Rushing the roof with the dock uncleared is what puts a suspect behind you on the way back to exfil.
