 |
Author |
|
 |
|
The Warlock
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Posts: 3
|
 Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2003 3:20 am Post subject: Re: miners |
 |
|
| be_andrew wrote: | I had a Devastator with quad torp launchers and 2 missile drones ...
It could chew through screens of baddies without a scratch.
Only the torps don't really have "smart" homing, so it wasn't so great at taking out miners, or the big grav ships, as they wouldn't target the vulnerable spots particularly well. I tried not to use that ship so much though, as it kinda detracted from the fun, I found. |
That right there is the balance factor on torps. You need some kind of directional weapon, such as a beam, to hit weak points, since the missiles almost always hit the armored areas. I no longer use torps, I have only beams and nova bombs now. |
|
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
 |
|
deleon
Joined: 25 Sep 2003
Posts: 9
|
| Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2003 2:47 am Post subject: |
|
|
| I'm on the last boss, and I can't call the Aegis back to heal or switch out a destroyed ship. Is it supposed to do that? I didn't see anything about it in the dialog, but I might have missed it since i only read through it the first time. |
|
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
|
|
GutterGeek
Joined: 29 Oct 2003
Posts: 1
|
| Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2003 7:27 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: | | I'm on the last boss, and I can't call the Aegis back to heal or switch out a destroyed ship. Is it supposed to do that? I didn't see anything about it in the dialog, but I might have missed it since i only read through it the first time. |
Before you fight the first boss you get a message saying the Aegis has to leave because it would be too vulnerable, or something to that effect. Based on what I've seen of the bosses, this seems to be true. Turrets or not, the Aegis is a big slow target with no shield generators. Even some of the non-boss capital ships can easily wreck it if you let them. However, I know you can summon it during most boss encounters to switch ships. (I made a bad assumption during my initial post: Since I was playing the game on Normal, I just reloaded whenever a custom ship got wrecked. It wasn't until I played on Hard that I had to call the Aegis during a boss battle, when I got my ship destoyed by Zone Three boss. Twice.  My mistake; sorry for causing any additional confusion.)
Apparently you can't summon the Aegis during the final boss battle until you've destroyed the boss and collected the dimension drive component using the gravity beam. I'm not sure why this is yet; is it a bug or a feature? (For what it's worth: I once fought a boss battle using a ship not equipped with the grav beam, and it let me use the beam anyway to pick up the component successfully. A failsafe, I guess?)
I just finished the game tonight on Normal. I had replayed the boss level at least a dozen times the previous night, partly because I also misunderstood exactly what I was supposed to do about the "weak points". (It was late and I was tired, and didn't notice the destructible parts on the legs immediately.) Having had time to rethink my strategy, I reloaded my last save tonight and defeated it on the first attempt by playing very cautiously and taking on one phase at a time from a relatively safe distance. (Escorts, then docking bays, then legs.)
Overall, great game. I'm thinking of starting again on Hard soon. 
(Update: I did, and it's worth it.) 
Last edited by GutterGeek on Fri Nov 07, 2003 7:08 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
|
|
CidHighwindFF7
Joined: 31 Aug 2003
Posts: 104
Location: Mt. Savage, Maryland, USA
|
| Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2003 1:52 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Beating the final boss is much easier if you put a straight-firing weapon on the outside weapon slots of a devastator, preferably a beam. This makes getting a good angle behind the legs much easier. Ive never tried using the lightning attack, but it migh work. If you need a cheap shot, charge blasters, the wave attack gets a hit 75% of the time.
Stay out of range of the blasts if the legs are in, this avoids needless hurt. And above all else, watch the green blasts, and stay clear of the yellow discs, they have a tendency to smack into you. |
|
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
|
|
HunterXI
Joined: 26 Dec 2003
Posts: 476
Location: Playing like there is no tomorrow.
|
| Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2004 10:54 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| CidHighwindFF7 wrote: | Beating the final boss is much easier if you put a straight-firing weapon on the outside weapon slots of a devastator, preferably a beam. This makes getting a good angle behind the legs much easier. Ive never tried using the lightning attack, but it migh work. If you need a cheap shot, charge blasters, the wave attack gets a hit 75% of the time.
Stay out of range of the blasts if the legs are in, this avoids needless hurt. And above all else, watch the green blasts, and stay clear of the yellow discs, they have a tendency to smack into you. |
This is true. with particle weapons, you have a much better chance of killing him... though before the final boss battle you should:
Spoiler (highlight to read): | change around all of the weaponry on the ship you're using so that you have as many nova bombs as possible... this will help SO much with the fighters... and besides, you dont need the grav beam, cargo pods, or batteries anymore |
but yes, I find the cautious approach much better, because if you try to get an up close-and-personal shot, you will be fried by the green shots so fast... its a guaranteed-death approach. Even if you dont get caught in the grinder trying to manouver into the right position.
as for the charge-up tactic... doesnt work on the boss, because the lightning just goes in a straight line towawrd the docking collars, which means it hits the impenetrable armor on the grinders... and plus, it takes too long to charge up |
|
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
|
|
X-Fighter
Troll
Joined: 07 Mar 2004
Location: ...
|
| Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2004 9:44 am Post subject: |
|
|
Firstly, I don't see how you'd screw up on destroying miners. The missiles don't have a "smart" seek feature, but they also don't leave a nice 90 degree wedge that equates to "straight ahead" from when you fired them. If you angle your ship away from the area where mines are being released (or aim straight ahead if they're comming from both sides), you never fail.
Spoiler (highlight to read): Why the Aegis is "too weak" for bosses, I don't get-- you can drag it to where you want it with the beacon command(default "r"), and it fires on nearby enemies. It's not much work to glide it into proper position to help pulverize an enemy fleet, and the relatively slow moving bosses are easy to line up weakpoints with-- just build a main cannon of some sort, face the Aegis towards the boss, and let it go-- I easily creamed the first 3 bosses with nary a scratch using this technique.
As far as the final boss being too difficult, with the exception of using nothing but torpedoes, it's exceptionally easy(the torpedoes aren't quite quick enough to catch the boss's "sweet spot", since it's constantlly moving; It makes for an extremely interesting battle.
Also, if you notice, each time a weakspot is destroyed, fragments of it blow off in a nice shiny display that moves out a nice distance. When you see the little sparkly white debris, you know you can move on.
As far as the fighter cover, if you link 1/2 your nova bombs to your primary fire, you get 6 blasts with it, which helps clean out all the defenders quite quickly(just remember that your first 3 primary-fire shots actually count, so you don't waste them on singular enemies).
One curious note: an ion cannon blast that hits in the general area of the weak point will not bounce into it, even if it bounces off the "ball" defending it. |
|
|
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
|
|
ME
Joined: 07 Nov 2004
Posts: 1
Location: Europe
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 5:14 am Post subject: |
|
|
Buahahaa! I beat the final boss on first try and i wasn't even doing my best.  |
|
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
|
|
Chibi
Joined: 01 Oct 2003
Posts: 271
Location: Denver, CO, United States
|
| Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2004 4:39 am Post subject: Mothership knows best. |
|
|
The Aegis is the combined intellect of every science officer onboard the vessel. I'm sure that they realise the importance of preserving the mission. Notice; The Aegis only has four slots, maybe two of which you use for weapons, one for a mining lazer, and one for a scoop. So two good shots by any enemy, and the Aegis is now a sitting duck.
You armed it with four lazers, you say? Well then, it has four hitpoints. Sure, you can dodge the attacks of the final enemy, but is the Aegis that smart? Would you really risk the lives of your entire crew and the mission itself for four hitpoints of extra firepower? You can always rebuild your own ship, but you can't rebuild a new Aegis. You can always send another pilot out into the fray, but you can't piece together parts of an obliterated Frigate-class Vessel. Not while sitting in the cockpit of your fighter.
Your 5, 10, 15, 20 crewmembers realise this. |
|
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
|
|
Toren Kanesun
Joined: 06 Mar 2004
Posts: 52
|
| Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2005 3:39 am Post subject: |
|
|
I just can't beat the final boss... details below...
Spoiler (highlight to read): | UGH!!! I am not sure if the final boss got harder, but there is NO way "sporadic" means every 2 seconds. There is NO way for me to get into the gaps and fire on the vulnerale parts and at the same time avoid the green projectiles. I can't even get close enough to use the beam weapon either! It just spits out a constant stream of green projectiles that is neither sporadic or occasional; it happens so frequently it's impossible to do anything. |
|
|
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
|
|
Poo Bear
Pod Team
Joined: 14 Oct 2002
Posts: 4121
Location: Sheffield, UK
|
| Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2005 6:56 am Post subject: |
|
|
| It is possible to line yourself up so you fit inbetween the blasts, takes skill but it can be done, then you should be able to get a few shots in before having to move. |
|
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
|
|
Pkunk
Joined: 04 Dec 2005
Posts: 12
|
| Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2005 5:37 am Post subject: |
|
|
| X-Fighter wrote: | | One curious note: an ion cannon blast that hits in the general area of the weak point will not bounce into it, even if it bounces off the "ball" defending it.[/spoiler] |
I noticed this, in my earlier tries, I tried to make a "Pool shot" with the ion cannons. I shot the ball at an angle hoping that the ions would bounce off and hit the sweet spot. |
|
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
|
|
The Dark Bunny
Joined: 07 Dec 2005
Posts: 24
Location: Abilene, TX
|
| Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2005 6:23 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Ions will bounce if you do it right, but it's always a near thing. They also work on the weakpoints of the last boss, if you can get it to work. |
|
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
|
|
tieron_asaki
Joined: 04 Dec 2005
Posts: 37
|
| Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2005 4:58 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Pkunk wrote: | | X-Fighter wrote: | | One curious note: an ion cannon blast that hits in the general area of the weak point will not bounce into it, even if it bounces off the "ball" defending it.[/spoiler] |
I noticed this, in my earlier tries, I tried to make a "Pool shot" with the ion cannons. I shot the ball at an angle hoping that the ions would bounce off and hit the sweet spot. |
Toying around with the Ions on my friend's game I managed to beat the bosses with them easily. You have to pay attention not just to the angle of the surface you are shooting, but the angle and velocity of your own shot, the texture of what you're about to hit, and any bumps/obstacles. It's just like playing pool on a table that hasn't been taken care of. There are problems all over the place, but as long as you keep your shots clean and careful... It took me forever but I wiped out the fifth boss with just Ions and a couple Nova Bombs at the end. |
|
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
|
|
Pkunk
Joined: 04 Dec 2005
Posts: 12
|
| Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2005 8:55 pm Post subject: Any way to avoid the EM blast ? |
|
|
I've tried a few times to avoid the EM blast at the end but it is quite difficult to stay out of range.
Has any of you done it ? Ei destroyed it without getting paralized ? |
|
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
|
|
Anticheese
Joined: 17 Nov 2005
Posts: 159
Location: New Zealand
|
| Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2005 9:27 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Err no, The EM blast is a part of the cutscene and is thus impossible to avoid.
Spoiler (highlight to read): | Besides, The captain then blasts that podship clean out of the sky |
--
P.S, I know that Pkunk got his name from a hippie-like alien race in Star Control II (A.K.A The Ur-Quan Masters)  |
|
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
