Act 1 - Mission 3: Joint Forces - Lost my wingmen

I'm stuck on this mission and I think I messed up the scripting. I received the wingmen, but then I went back to the hangar and saved before heading off to the marauder's base. However, when I left the hangar the wingmen were gone. Unfortunately I saved over my only savegame. I've tried to destroy the marauder's base without the help of the wingmen, but haven't succeeded yet.

Is there any way to get the wingmen to reappear? If not, is it possible to complete this mission without their help? I'd prefer not to restart the game or cheat.

Thanks

Sorry, unless you have a previous save the mission script is pretty much gone.

I can send you a save game which takes place just before that mission. And I've done quite a bit of pirating, so the inventory is stocked. Email me at shanemaness (at) netscape.com and I'll send it along.

Edit: You can survive the mission by yourself... but you have to be good. I usually tell my wingmen to halt 80 km from the station and do it myself (just for fun).

Approach slowly until the four corvettes start to come after you. Then retreat a bit so you won't stray into the gunstar or stations field of fire. Take out the corvettes.

Now you have a choice when dealing with the gunstar and station. You can dock to the cargo pods, accelerate to about 1000 m/s at the station, undock and veer away, and let the pods kill the station and gunstar.

Or, (what I do) is to accelerate on a vector which will carry you right past the gunstar/station, hit the 'N' key to disable flight assist, and blast away. Coast until you exit the LDSi field on the other side, turn, and do it again. Start with the gunstar first (it's the most dangerous) and then take care of the station second. It should take about 3 or 4 passes for the gunstar and 5 passes for the station. Then call Jaffs in to haul away the pods of explosives.

... and never save during a mission. But I guess you know that now. We all learn this stuff the hard way. Good luck!

Cool, I'll give those techniques a try. If I can't get it, then I'll use your savegame.

Something I forgot; if you're using the coasting method, try to coast between the gunstar and the station. They'll usually end up shooting each other as you pass right between them. It helps a bit.

I can only manage to take out one of the corvettes. I only have a rapid-fire PBC. Are there any techniques for destroying these corvettes? are there any weapons/upgrades that would help?

Thanks

I tend to stick to PBC weapons... I only use missiles for special occasions. And ammo-based weapons rarely. Hate running out of ammo during a fire-fight.

A single rapid-fire PBC probably won't cut it. Do some pirating until you get the goods to trade and grab another. At this stage of the game, a tug mounting two rapid-fire PBC's and a Quad-light (on the light hardpoint) can put out a superior rate of fire to any corvette (almost any ship) out there. Add on a few missile magazines (loaded with dogfighting or disruptor missiles) and you've got a hard-hitting loadout.

Personally I find this loadout works far better than using T-fighters. Controlled by the AI, they just don't hit their targets as quickly and often as I can myself.

When you draw the corvettes out, select one and hammer away; start by throwing a few seeker (or harrower) missiles at it, then switch over to your rapid-fire PBC's. When the rapid-fire PBC's are drained of energy, switch over to the Quad-light. By the time that's drained the Rapid-fire's should be about 60% recharged.

Use your thruster overrides... ignore the throttle setting. Overrides are better for combat. And constantly jig left or right (starboard or port for you naval folks) to avoid shots.

Don't forget to bootleg. It's a great maneuver to get you in close. To bootleg you quickly tap your 'L' button twice. Your LDS drives will engage for a moment and you'll end up heading the direction you were pointing and traveling at 1000 m/s. This is a wonderful tactic to avoid 'jousting matches'.

Since EoC utilizes Newtonian physics, there are a number of tactics which the player can use in combat... and it's an interesting read. Check it out: i-war2.com/tactics.htm

Also, if your combat skills could use some polish try out Instant Action. That tends to get me up to speed fairly quickly.

In this battle you're outnumbered. So you've got to hit hard and move fast... never sit still, hit them with everything you've got, and kill each ship as fast as possible.

Of course, upgrades in autorepair and hull systems will help.