Dvali

The Dvali, Dvali family or Dvalis is an organized crime syndicate that operates in Eastern Europe. It is the largest of its kind in the region. The Dvali originated in Georgia where it was founded in the by Iakob Dvali and his sons.

As of 2028, the head of the Dvalis in Czech Republic and surrounding areas is Radich Nikoladze, who is based in Prague. His power is consistently under challenge from other close resident cousins of the Dvali family such as the Botkovelis, who are headed by Nikoladze's second in command Otar Botkoveli. Another family, the Kadleks, headed by Máša Kadlek, remains influential but unlikely to assume control due to their native Czech roots.

Criminal Activities
The Dvali family's activities include arms trafficking, drug distribution (including black market Neuropozyne), theft, extortion, smuggling, gambling, prostitution. Slow to embrace new technologies, they have only recently begun exploring the possibilities of cybercrimes such as hacking, electronic theft, and illegal tracking, although they are perfectly at home with finding clients online, and covering their tracks while doing so.

Their primary criminal activity, however, is human trafficking - either willingly as fugitives from the law or unwillingly as slaves. With a smoothly-functioning pipeline already in place across Europe and parts of the Middle East, the Dvalis are well-situated to capitalize on Human Augmentation Technology, treating kidnapped Augs as just another - and very lucrative - specialty item on the prostitution menu. And when transporting live cargo proves impractical, they are quite content to traffic the augmentation parts alone, acquiring them through whatever means necessary.

Troops
Dvali thugs can be identified by their brown jackets, and/or kevlar vests, with their family logo on the back. If the logo wasn't enough of a give-away, their insults and combat dialogue make it extremely easy to tell them apart from other enemies. Dvali thugs have more durability than other thugs, metro cops, assorted low-lives, and some merchant bodyguards. It really comes down to the type of Dvali Adam's up against. Low ranking Dvali are fairly young, no older than their early- to mid twenties, have few if any tattoos, and only occasionally wear baseball caps, shades, glasses, and other embellishments. All low ranked Dvali have sleeved jackets. Occasionally, you'll see certain 'young brothers' employ frag grenades if Adam sticks to cover for too long, but this is very rare. They wield pistols, and machine pistols. Rarely, you'll see some with shotguns. Their accuracy's poor, regardless of what weapon they're equipped with. They lack the metro cops' discipline, so rather than hold good defensive positions and only ever giving them up when all is lost, a crafty player can slay/incapacitate merely a single young thug, then run off. It'll be about 3 seconds before the rest of the group leaves their cover to pursue Adam. They have the lowest morale of all the game's enemies, and if caught by surprise, will scatter like headless chickens. One can also effectively pin them down in buildings, behind cars, etc. simply by taking potshots with any of the weapons that cause terror (full-auto pistol, sniper rifle, classic diamondback, etc.) In general, they won't pose much of a problem, and gradually get phased out as the game progresses. They are trooper tier enemies, and can withstand about one more bullet than ordinary criminals. Dvali muscle are the rank-and-file soldiers of the family. Commonly decked out in fancy leather shoes (rather than the sneakers and boots the younger members of the organization wear), and sleeveless white or red shirts under contemporary kevlar body armor, with plenty of pouches to presumably store extra ammunition and grenades. The majority have tattoos, and at least some bling-bling (mirrored shades, glasses, fancy moustaches, etc.) They favor shotguns, and while they're not quite as accurate with them as the cops, a group of these guys can really ruin Adam's day in about 3 seconds flat. They also sometimes use combat rifles, which they - like the armored police - fire on full-auto. Their aim's not quite on par with armored cops, though, so they seek out cover to reload between their constant spraying and praying. Dvali muscle operate a bit like armored cops, although not nearly as sophisticated. They'll use cover to advance, but not hold it, and employ a somewhat effective buddy system, where the last guy with a loaded magazine lays down suppressive fire, while the rest of the group reloads. They universally have frag grenades, but make rather poor use of them, often blowing up their own allies, or killing gangsters you merely knocked out. A select few have EMP grenades, and some carry smoke grenades. Occasionally, you'll come across Dvali muscle wielding sniper rifles, and they should be exterminated with extreme prejudice. Morale-wise, they're about average. They are trooper tier enemies, possessing about the same durability as metro cops, minus the obligatory police helmet. Their awareness is about on par with armored cops. Dvali specialists are easy to spot, because they'll either have a skull tattooed on their face, or wear digital camo pants. Most also have shades or glasses, some kind of hat, and are covered in miscellaneous tattoos. They're usually patrolling important areas, have almost shadow operative awareness, and are crackshots with their shotguns. Some instead equip combat rifles, which they use almost as well as armored cops. Most Dvali snipers are of this type. Specialists are almost exclusively found on theater grounds, as well as patrolling its halls and auditorium, but there's a few at Otar's casino, and some guarding the red light district. Like Dvali muscle, they universally carry frag grenades, but most have concussion grenades as well, and some carry EMP grenades. While they're still counted as trooper tier enemies, don't underestimate them, as they can take more damage than metro cops, are far more accurate, and have rather high morale for gangsters (but you can still break them if you persist.) In battle, they fight like armored police, but will actually hold beneficial defensive positions, and unlike the Dvali thugs, it's impossible to bait them to follow you. While nowhere near as dangerous as shadow operatives or armored cops, they're not far behind.

Tactics
As stated above, the basic members of the faction can be tricked to rush after Adam if he lands a particularly vicious killing/incapacitating hit on one. They also have a habit of scattering, and don't often support each other; patrolling alone, not always notifying their allies when they spot Adam, and so on. If you're having problems dealing with large groups, simply throw some boxes around, then when each individual goes to investigate, take them out one by one.

Due to their lack of armor, all Dvali are vulnerable to most normal ammunition. The machine pistol, pistol, and sniper rifle loaded with standard .416 cartridges, all make quick work of them. Because of their health, you should remove any silencers if you're going for bodyshots, or keep them on if you're good at scoring headshots.

Dvali are completely pacified by smoke grenades/mines. On rare occasions, they'll push through the smoke and continue the battle, but most of the time, they take up defensive positions while the cloud dies off. Their awareness means Adam's cloak isn't an insta-win, either, especially if there are specialists involved. Don't think you can walk up to a group of smoked Dvali with your cloak on and simply kill them all with takedowns like you can with metro cops.

As noted above, Dvali aren't exactly the most proficient users of frag grenades. Wait for a patrol or group to scatter, make some noise in cover, then bail. Half the guys are going there to investigate, and the other half are priming grenades or shooting suppressing fire at your last known location. Two seconds later, 4 guys get blown up, one of them shouts 'you call that a killing blow!?' and the gangsters throwing the grenades scatter to the four winds.

Their primary weakness is their low morale. Sniper fire, the typhoon, full-auto pistol, charged nanoblade...they're all great tools to mess with Dvali.

Trivia

 * Muscle and specialist Dvali have a habit of uttering things when you kill them. Some of the more common phrases are: it's just a scratch; that didn't hurt...very much: my mamochka hits harder than you.
 * Specialists patrolling critical locations (such as Otar's office at the casino), take their jobs very seriously, and even when you think their patrol's taken them someplace else, they'll be back as if they never left to begin with. It's recommended that you stealthily remove any specialists from critical areas, then hide their bodies in some out of way place.

Associated Locations

 * Dvali Theatre - a derelict theatre in Prague that serves as the Dvali headquarters.
 * Red Queen - a strip club owned by Máša Kadlek.