I'm flying a modified Corvette, the S.S. Transfiguration , and doing the Rebel "Destroy Alien Cruiser mission and I'm stuck! I've already hired two Lightning escorts (I hate hired escorts - they're such a drain on your budget) and I have the tractor beam and the cloaking device. Almopst every time I get into the system there is a Confederate or pirate ship, so the Rebel Cruisers deal with THAT first instead of the Alienships. The closest thing I can to do victory is to use the tractor beam to get the Alien curiser and proton turret it till dawn, but then it goes out on the map and beam me, and in any case I always get destroyed. Can anybody help me?

God bless,

UE Patriot

------------------
(url="http://"http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/cgi-bin/vftp/show.pl?product=evo&category;=plugins&display;=date&file;=ReignOfTheUEv12.Bin")Reign of the UE(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/cgi-bin/vftp/show.pl?product=evo&category;=plugins&display;=date&file;=PersonsOFTheEVOWebboardv2.Bin")Persons of the EVO Webboard(/url)
"From sour-faced saints, O Lord, deliver us."- St. Teresa of Avila

The destruction of the alien cruiser is probably the only real challenge in EV, at least in my not-so-humble opinion. I do not know the best way to do it, but let me tell you my strategy:

Drop the escorts. They will be dead in seconds. Don't worry about the Rebel's assigned to help you. They are totally useless against aliens. Let them do whever they want. Max out on proton technology, and make sure you have an RCS upgrade. Get a torp launcher and some torps. Get up behind the cruiser and unload into him with everything you have, always staying to his back so he cannot use the heavy fusion beam on you. Once he is dead, leave. Do not worry about the fighters. And you have to be dodging seeker drones all the while. That can be a bit hard... Just keep trying, and you will get it eventually.

------------------
--ares
(url="http://"http://www.saberstudios.f2s.com/")Saber Studios(/url)::(url="http://"http://home.cfl.rr.com/aresev/")The Legion(/url)

My method, similar to ares':

Like he said, load up on proton weapons (as well as shield modifiers). Ditch the escorts. Don't worry about the escorts. When you jump in, launch every missile and torpedo that you have; the mission pays 10 million credits, don't worry about your budget on those. Get directly behind the cruiser (as close as you can to being directly behind it, don't do it on the side, as it might be able to turn slightly and still nail you), target it, start firing your primaries, and hold it in place with your tractor beam. Slowly move the two of you forward, until you're accelerating rather quickly; this will make it harder for the fighters and seeker drones to get you. If the cruiser starts to turn, turn with it; hopefully you can stay out of its range long enough to kill it.

Good luck.

------------------
(url="http://"http://www.evula.com/")EVula,(/url) your friendly (url="http://"http://www.evula.com/")self-promoting(/url) EV & EVO Boards/Addon/Newswire moderator
(url="http://"http://www.evula.com/")EVula.com(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.evula.net/")evula.net(/url) | (url="http://"http://pftn.evula.net")Pilot File Trade Network(/url) | (url="http://"http://plugs3.evula.net")Plugs3(/url)

Quote

Originally posted by EVula:
**When you jump in, launch every missile and torpedo that you have.

**

Missiles? A torpedo takes like .5% sheilds from the alien cruiser. You should probably sell all missiles to make room for torps, because missiles will do practically nothing to an alien cruiser.

------------------
--ares
(url="http://"http://www.saberstudios.f2s.com/")Saber Studios(/url)::(url="http://"http://home.cfl.rr.com/aresev/")The Legion(/url)

Quote

Originally posted by ares1:
**Missiles? A torpedo takes like .5% sheilds from the alien cruiser. You should probably sell all missiles to make room for torps, because missiles will do practically nothing to an alien cruiser.

**

shrug Do you have any idea how long its been since I've played EV, much less that mission?

Anyway, in retrospect, you're right.

UE Patriot, don't use missiles.

------------------
(url="http://"http://www.evula.com/")EVula,(/url) your friendly (url="http://"http://www.evula.com/")self-promoting(/url) EV & EVO Boards/Addon/Newswire moderator
(url="http://"http://www.evula.com/")EVula.com(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.evula.net/")evula.net(/url) | (url="http://"http://pftn.evula.net")Pilot File Trade Network(/url) | (url="http://"http://plugs3.evula.net")Plugs3(/url)

(quote)Originally posted by EVula:
**shrug Do you have any idea how long its been since I've played EV, much less that mission?:D

------------------
--ares
(url="http://"http://www.saberstudios.f2s.com/")Saber Studios(/url)::(url="http://"http://home.cfl.rr.com/aresev/")The Legion(/url)
**

Professional opinion from someone who's been fighting Aliens a lot over the course of testing my plug, perhaps?

First, the Corvette is the best ship for the job. You don't need any escorts. Ditch all of your weapons except 5 Proton Cannons and 2 Proton Turrets, the most a Corvette can hold. Fill up the rest of your space with all the shield and armor enhancements you can get you mitts on. It doesn't matter if you can't sell them, since you'll be getting 10.00 mil and the ability to buy Rebel ships after the mission, you can just trade it in.

Once you get in the system, concentrate on the Cruiser. Grab it with your tractor beam as quickly as you can. To do this, you'll have to match the Cruiser fairly close on speed and direction, so your relative velocity is low. Once pinned in the beam, the cruiser can't break the lock or even turn in it. As long as you aren't right in front of it when you grab it, the only thing you'll have to worry about is the fighters. Just point your ship at the cruiser (autopilot) and start shooting. Like EVula said, slowly accelerate to harder for the fighters to get you. Don't get up to top speed, since you may go off the screen, but keep moving. Ideally, the Rebel Cruisers tend to go after two of the figters, so you may only have one harassing you, and thy aren't that powerful (at least, not in the stock scenario ). After a couple of minutes of pounding on the Cruiser, it should die, and you should quickly hyper to the Guiron system and land at Akio to save your pilot, then go back home.

------------------
- Macavenger | e-mail: (url="http://"mailto:e-gamerguy1@home.com")mailto:e-gamerguy1@home.com(/url)e-gamerguy1@home.com

Quote

Originally posted by ares1:
I havn't played that string in months, either.

Months? Hehe, try years.

Quote

Originally posted by Macavenger:
...you should quickly hyper to the Guiron system and land at Akio to save your pilot, then go back home.

Hmm, very good point; nothing is worse than beating the Alien cruiser and, on your way home, get the snot beat out of you by some randomly passing ConFed or Pirate fleet before you save your progress..

------------------
(url="http://"http://www.evula.com/")EVula,(/url) your friendly (url="http://"http://www.evula.com/")self-promoting(/url) EV & EVO Boards/Addon/Newswire moderator
(url="http://"http://www.evula.com/")EVula.com(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.evula.net/")evula.net(/url) | (url="http://"http://pftn.evula.net")Pilot File Trade Network(/url) | (url="http://"http://plugs3.evula.net")Plugs3(/url)

If you have a cloaking device, you can cloak when you get to the system the cruiser's in, and the aliens will not move. Then wait for your Rebel friends to kill 'em while they sit there waiting for you. This is, however, almost a cheat- it depends who you ask. If you don't want to cheat- listen to the above people. Make sure you buy a lot of shields and armor, too, once you run out of space for proton weaponry.

------------------
Write your complaints here: O
Please don't write out of the space.
------------------
(url="http://"http://www.homestead.com/lukenj/index.html")Luke's Website(/url)

Quote

Originally posted by Luke:
**If you have a cloaking device, you can cloak when you get to the system the cruiser's in, and the aliens will not move. Then wait for your Rebel friends to kill 'em while they sit there waiting for you. This is, however, almost a cheat- it depends who you ask.:p **

I consider that a marginal cheat, but it's best used in a Scoutship. Even an upgraded Corvette doesn't really carry enough fuel, I don't think. You'd have at best 5 jumps when you get to the system, which doesn't allow a lot of cloaking time.

------------------
- Macavenger | e-mail: (url="http://"mailto:e-gamerguy1@home.com")mailto:e-gamerguy1@home.com(/url)e-gamerguy1@home.com

Quote

Originally posted by Macavenger:
**I consider that a marginal cheat, but it's best used in a Scoutship. Even an upgraded Corvette doesn't really carry enough fuel, I don't think. You'd have at best 5 jumps when you get to the system, which doesn't allow a lot of cloaking time.
**

So as you run out of fuel, position yourself behind the cruiser and use the techniques we've already mentioned.

------------------
(url="http://"http://www.evula.com/")EVula,(/url) your friendly (url="http://"http://www.evula.com/")self-promoting(/url) EV & EVO Boards/Addon/Newswire moderator
(url="http://"http://www.evula.com/")EVula.com(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.evula.net/")evula.net(/url) | (url="http://"http://pftn.evula.net")Pilot File Trade Network(/url) | (url="http://"http://plugs3.evula.net")Plugs3(/url)

(quote)Originally posted by EVula:
**So as you run out of fuel, position yourself behind the cruiser and use the techniques we've already mentioned.;)
**

(quote)Originally posted by Macavenger:
**Yes, and then your tractor beam nicks one of the Mantas, and the Rebels all come after you, plus the Cruiser launches it's fighters...:) Yep, you should get a scoutship before attempting the enter-the-system-then-cloak-and-wait-for-the-Rebels-to-do-your-work technique...

------------------
Write your complaints here: O
Please don't write out of the space.
------------------
(url="http://"http://www.homestead.com/lukenj/index.html")Luke's Website(/url)
**

Quote

Originally posted by Luke:
**If you have a cloaking device, you can cloak when you get to the system the cruiser's in, and the aliens will not move. Then wait for your Rebel friends to kill 'em while they sit there waiting for you. This is, however, almost a cheat- it depends who you ask.:p If you don't want to cheat- listen to the above people. Make sure you buy a lot of shields and armor, too, once you run out of space for proton weaponry.

**

I haven't been able to get that to quite work before, but maybe it was because it was MY escorts who were trying to attack while I was cloaked...

By the way, does anyone remember back in the day a discussion on the effectiveness of proton vs. laser? If the number of turrets you have isn't an issue, go with lasers, because they're actually more powerful (although this generally applies more with cannons than turrets).

As for the seeker drones, decoy flares work on those. If you've got the tractor beam fixed on 'im, you won't have to worry about them anyhow.

------------------
Mike Lee (Firebird)

Actually, Proton Turrets are undeniably more powerful. The thing that makes the Cannon debate interesting is the Laser's better repeat rate. With Turrets, that's a non-issue, and Protons are also more accurate (6 vs 8 degrees)

------------------
- Macavenger | e-mail: (url="http://"mailto:e-gamerguy1@home.com")mailto:e-gamerguy1@home.com(/url)e-gamerguy1@home.com