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Thread: Alliance Pilot Tier 4 (what kind of ship should I use?)
Thanks for all the useful replies and that gave me faith in trying harder in the space missions. /bow
Probably Imight need to get myself ax-wing as fast as I could
I soloed all of Vortex's (same squadron as you) tier 3 and tier 4 missions yesterday. (Woot for triple exp with Master Bonus!) I did it fair too, no pre-tricked out Heavy Z-95s sitting in my datapad with lvl 7 gear when I dropped. I used my first time ace equipment and looted or crafted parts only. I don't have any access to good RE either at the moment. Vortex is harder than the other alliance squadrons but not so much that its unmanageable.
Get an X-Wing, a regular plain old "can be blown up I don't care about decay" 100k mass 100k cost X-wing. If you get the advanced, save it for Deep Space, imo or your Vette run.
Level1-4 reactor, ~14000 energy (should loot a few of these on the way up)
Level6, Tier 3 Reward Engine (Income Military Grade Starighter Engine)
Level5 shield, crafted ~1300 f/b. Should not cost too much.
Level3 armor, 650ish f/b. Should not cost too much.
35 or better recharge capacitor. Probably looted several, but go with a lower mass capactor that is ~35 rather than waste space on some reward or looted 40+. You will need that extra 5-10k that the lower capacitor will give you.
2Level 6-7 blasters. There should be several around ~13000/14000lbs with damage up to around ~2400 that drop. If not, find a crafter and buy a tier 7 crafted.
1 Lower Tier blaster if you cannot stack on another 6/7. (My regular X-wing can take 2 tier 7s and a tier 6.)
*Make sure to use all blaster weapon hardpoints*
1 Image Rec-Mk II or equivalent Proton Torpedo Launcher (saved for Decimators in the last 2 tier 4 missions).
Level 4 Astromech: (This is important) Capacitor to Shield Shunt 4(!!), Reactor Overload 3, Weapon Overload 3, Capacitor Overload 3, Engine Overload 3. A Level 4 R Unit can take all these, you will need them.
Why X-wing and not A-wing? Because an A-wing packs 1/3 the firepower of an X-wing. It is fast and maneuverable, yes, but Tier 4 Havoc is about killing targets as fast as possible. If you can pull it off in a lightly armored, lightly gunned A-wing, that's great. I would rather not.
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Tier 4 Vortex missions are all about dogfighting and the mission will pit you against 12 or more TIEs on more than one occassion. Get used to using boosters to give you a minor range advantage to recharge your capacitor or shields so you can use shield shunt whenever your shields are taking a bit of damage. You will learn to time when the best time to hit that boost is for the most advantage.
On the escort missions, it takes about 1/2 the time to disable a target (except for standard, no-shield TIE fighters) that it takes to destroy it. On the 3rd Tier 4 mission, you will have to escort a standard TIE. He has no shields. Disable is the best way to neutralize targets quick enough to keep the other 11 (yes, this mission throws 12 at you almost at the same time) TIEs off the escort.
3 Overloaded Level 6/7 blasters will punch through Decimators shields in one strafing pass. In the last 2 Vortex tier 4 missions, you will have to take out a Decimator and its escorts (6-8 fighters depending on mission). Strafe in, boost close, boost out and shield shunt vs the Decimator, ignoring its escorts completely until its dead. You should destroy it in 2-3 passes, especially if you brought torps/missiles. Keep your booster going and distance between you and the escorts for as long as possible to recover your shields. Decimator turrets, like most turrets that aren't on the ISD, rarely miss.
Defeating a target and hitting IFF scramble is a good way to reduce the difficulty of a mission. On the Inquisitor hit on tier 4 mission 2, take out the inquisitor fast and IFF scramble is vast horde of guards to escape the fight with minimal damage.
If you are getting hit and see a large flashing blob on your radar behind you, break off. The 1 guy ahead of you that you are shooting is not nearly the trouble that the 6 on your tail are.
Keep these things in mind and the missions will become a lot easier. Most only have 2 objectives, unlike the marathon tier 3 missions.
Alarien wrote:
Level 4 Astromech: (This is important) Capacitor to Shield Shunt 4(!!), Reactor Overload 3, Weapon Overload 3, Capacitor Overload 3, Engine Overload 3. A Level 4 R Unit can take all these, you will need them.
Kodpese wrote:
As for missiles - I say don't bother with them except maybe for the vette. They are not very useful against fighters, against the vette you can use them without having line of sight on your target so they can be a big help there as you can sit in the blind spot and take it out at your leisure.
I agree and disagree. Missiles are a waste on fighters. Missiles are not necessary on the Vortex missions vs the Decimators (the first time I killed the 3rd mission Deci, I forgot to group my Image Rec Mk IIs... blah) but they will make it easier, and they aren't very expensive.
I disagree with using missiles to shoot out the shields through the body of the Vette. I'm sorry but its cheap. Its not that hard to make a missile run in from the low front after Gun 5 is gone.
I also disagree on weak armor. The strongest shield a regular X-wing can take is rarely above 1400 f/b, which is crap. If you have the space, get some crafted level 3 armor at the minimum. I took armor damage in both my last 2 Vortex missions last night and survived. I had no room for a larger shield (most over 1400 are also about 20k lbs) but I could definitely take some extra armor in and still fully stock out my weapons.