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Message Edited by Yeevle on 11-05-2004 12:49 PM

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Jaeryk wrote:

Some more info on mission T3/M2...

The second time you do the escort of the Hutt smuggler ship there is at least one Tier 4 Nym's Captain in a Z-95, make sure you take him out first (I disabled him, then went after the others).

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Optathlete wrote:

I'm cross-posting this to both the Jump to Lightspeed and the Pilot board, as I've read many messages asking for help regarding the Tier 3 Black Epsilon missions. After much hard work and many four-letter words I cannot post on this board, I've made it through the frustratingly-difficult missions, thanks in no small part to my incredibly helpful and talented wingman. He certainly deserves as much, if not more credit, for our eventual victory.

As I said, I noticed many people have had problems getting past these missions, so I wanted to post a quick guide to help those who are still having trouble. Before I start, let me make a few things clear:

1. This is not a guide to soloing the missions. I was able to do Mission 1 and Mission 4 solo, for 2 and 3 I required a single wingman.


2. This is nota comprehensive or exact guide, but it will give you an idea what we did to complete the missions.

Anyway, let's get started:

Tier 3, Mission 1

Ship Used: TIE/In

Skills: 2/2/2/2

Wingmen: 1

Wingman Ship: TIE (Normal Tier 1 Version)

Mission Strategy: This mission starts by disabling a Rebel spy and docking to get the information he carries. He flies an A-wing and is often found away from the waypoint in your NavComputer. Cycle through enemy targets until you find him. Wingman can sit back on this, or engage local rebels, just disable, inspect, and dock. Kill him for the xp. Next, HUSTLE to the new wp. Have your wingman engage the fighters that spawn once the shuttle jumps in, and provide cover for you. Dock with the shuttle, using CapShunt to keep your shields up if you are getting hit. The waves will stop spawning as soon as you dock. You wil then escort the shuttle to a safe jump point. The next follow-on mission is to capture a rebel officer. He is a Rebel Flight Leader in a tier 4 Y-wing with an escort. Escort him once you capture him.(Thanks Jaeryk, I quoted you specifically to save time).

Tier 3, Mission 2

Ship Used: TIE/Ln (Heavy Tier 1 Variant)

Skills: 2/2/3/2

Wingmen: 0

Wingman Ship: N/A (I am trying this solo once, will post results)

Mission Strategy: This is the first mission where we ran into any real trouble. I honestly think the only reason we got past it was because SOE toned down the difficulty (or fixed it) from the first time we tried it. It might be soloable now, but once again, I'm just repeating what we did. The first few steps of this mission are straightforward enough - escort the ship, fight off the waves, escort again. With decent Tier 3 equipment you should be fine. The last step is the real challenge. I suggest closing in on the Hutt ships slowly until the Nym ships jump in, then only engage when you see the message saying that the fight has begun. Between myself and my wingman, we were able to clean up the Nym ships fairly effeciently. Do not shoot the Hutt ships, as it seems to cause them to become hostile as well, which will likely end your mission in a very prematurely violent manner.

Alternatives: Although my wingman was in a TIE Interceptor, he wishes he had gone with the Equipment box first. You should be able to do this mission with two people in TIE/In's with Tier 3 equipment.

Tier 3, Mission 3

Ship Used: TIE Bomber

Skills: 3/3/2/2

Wingmen: 1

Wingman Ship: TIE Interceptor

Mission Strategy: This was the trickiest mission, and perhaps has the most possible alternatives. Luckily, it's fairly short (compared to Mission 2 and 4) so you won't get quite as frustrated if you fail. The first leg of the mission is simple - dock with the disabled freighter and escort it until it jumps out. The second half is the challenge - you face a Tier 4 Nova with 7 Rebel fighter escorts. Here is how my wingman and I approached it. There are almost certainly better ways of doing this (see the Alternatives section), but this is what worked for us. With myself in the TIE Bomber and he in the TIE Interceptor, we slowly approached the Nova. With about 1k out, I did the following, in this exact order: Trigger emergency weapons, transfer power to weapons using the flight computer, begin jump to hyperspace point nearest the Yavin station. Yes, you read that last part right, trust me. Once you've done this, charge the Nova head on (you should have good Tier 3 armor and shields and two good Tier 3 blasters), making sure you're targeting its engines, and slowing down when you get intoblaster range.With the extra damage, combined with the extra shots you get while closing slowly, you should be able to disable the Nova's engines. Once this is done, accelerate away from the Nova as fast as you can and avoid the fighter escort until you jump away. You will likely be heavily damaged, but can limp back to the station to repair while your wingman takes out the remaining escorts, safely out of the disabled Nova's range. Once repaired, you can go to your wingman's aid and together finished off the Nova.

Alternatives: Looking back, I would have done a few things differently. First, it's best if the wingman (rather than the mission owner) is in the bomber, so if they get killed during their disable run, they can repair and head back to the fight. Secondly, the wingman might actually want to be at 2/3/3/2 skill rather than 3/3/2/2, thus letting them use Bomber Strike, which is incredibly useful against the Nova. Once I finished the mission and trained to 3/3/3/2, my use of Bomber Strike made the mission much easier, as it distracted the Nova and its escorts giving us much more time to disable and disarm it. The difference between a TIE/In and a TIE Interceptor shouldn't change the mission difficulty too much as long as you have Tier3 equipment. On another note, you might be able to solo this mission in a TIE Bomber using my strategy, but I haven't tried it and certainly wouldn't recommend it.

Tier 3, Mission 4

Ship Used: TIE Interceptor

Skills: 3/3/3/2

Wingmen: 0

Wingman Ship: N/A

Mission Strategy: This mission wasn't nearly as bad as I'd imagined, almost certainly because of the wonderful Bomber Strike skill. It starts off simple enough, destroy the Tier 3 fighter escorts of the Tier3 Nova and disable the Nova. I believe one side of the Nova is missing a turret, so once you've disabled it, just stick to that side while it's being captured. Next comes the usual escort, after which you must take out another Tier 4 Nova and its escorts, just like the end of Mission 3 - although this time you have both an Interceptor AND the Bomber Strike. Once you get 2-3k away from the Nova, call in the Bomber Strike, and when you feel the Nova and its escorts are suffeciently distracted, move in for the kill. Between you and your temporary wingmates, you should be able to take out the Nova, although it's far from 'easy' - I lost most of my forward armor in the process. After this, you will have to defend a location from several waves of fighters. This can be tricky if they become overwhelming, but by now you should be able to handle this sort of thing. It helps if you disable the fighters rather than destroy them, as I believe waves are triggered upon ship destruction. This seems to be true for any time you have to defend an area against waves of fighters. After this comes your final challenge - a Rebel Gunboat guarded with a few fighter escorts. As you did with the Nova, call in a Bomber Strike, and when you feel its time, charge in. I noticed the Gunboat seems to get pretty distracted by the escorts, to the point where I could shoot at it while staying on its tail without it ever targeting me. I may've just gotten lucky, but my wingmate did the mission before me and repeated the same thing. Once the Gunboat and its escorts are history, you are officially past Tier 3. Congradulations!

Alternatives: It's possible you can do this mission in a TIE Bomber as well, but I didn't try it. The extra firepower would certainly help against the Nova and the Gunboat - ideally, you could bring a wingman in a Bomber while you stay in the Interceptor, but the mission is certainly soloable if your wingman is unavailable.

Beyond that, all I can say is good luck. These missions are certainly not easy, and getting past them is a real challenge - but as with all challenges, you will certainly feel as though you have achieved something once you've succeeded.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask, although I may not remember certain specifics, such as exactly what equipment I had or exactly what types of ships I fought. Also, if you have any additions or corrections, please post them.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you've found this guide somewhat useful.

- Silellak, Teras Kasi Master and 3/4/3/3 Imperial Pilot, Black Epsilon Squadron

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