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Thread: Black Epsilon Tier 3 Guide (Possible Spoilers)

Kalaf
Wed Nov 03, 2004 3:31 am
#1

Very nice write up. Our Guild as a group has been doing these this week. #2 was a pain at first then we figured out the last part. You have it nailed.. The mor ethe merrier to


The 3rd Mission seems to be buigged now and then. If you kill the Nova and don;t get all teh escorts really quick they jump away now and then/ This means no way to complete the mission. To avoid this I would suggest taking 2 or 3 wingman. Last time I helped last night we had 2 or 3 INTs and 2 Bombers.PLus one of the guys had Bomber strike.


We fly together to get ready for the PvP area.


Kalaf

Kettemoor
YamadaMan
Wed Nov 03, 2004 5:10 am
#2

very smart hyperspace ide for mission #3, it's been 3 days I'm on it.

grats for the frikin' guide, you're the boss

/bmoc



"This morning, the team made a decision to delay the Smuggler profession revamp to Publish 11." TH

Loot Shop (Painting, CAs etc...) Coronet/junction (860 -4724)
-- Kojirou Sasaki - Emperor's Eye (Black Epsilon Ace)
-- Chieko - Master StyleSmith (Master Tailor)
-- Aki'xianghua - Twilek Thug (Master of the LongPole - Rarities Collector)
torgo23
Wed Nov 03, 2004 8:07 am
#3

Awesome Post! I'll try this out tonight.



Stoked Taco <DFP> ___ Master Architech * Master Artisan * Master Merchant
Deridex <DFP> ______ Imp Tech. Expert * Master Smuggler * Master Commando
Apextorgo <DFP> Master Doctor * Novie Politician
Skara Brae, Naboo, Research Center
Dark Force Protectors<DFP>

Dextrix
Wed Nov 03, 2004 8:33 am
#4

I've done the exit quest for teir three 5 times now. The first time one of my wingman destroyrd the first ship we were supposed to dissable.

No big deal it had just started. The four times after that I got all the way to the last part. We destroy the Gunboat then start in on the escorts.

Problem is ONE OF THEM IS MISSING ! I cant complete the quest if I cant destroy ALL the escorts. Where the hell does this guy go?!


Four times in a row, is this a bug or what?





Dex Fay'Scatha
{Leader of Rua Dona }
\ Rua Ardan ~ Dantooine /
Optathlete
Wed Nov 03, 2004 1:23 pm
#5

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/ln


Skills: 2/2/2/2


Wingmen: 0


Wingman Ship: N/A


Mission Strategy: I honestly do not remember the specifics of this mission, as I did it quite awhile ago, but I know I completed it fairly easily my first time through solo. I used a TIE/In with fairly-high level Tier 2 equipment.


Alternatives: None



Tier 3, Mission 2


Ship Used: TIE/In


Skills: 2/3/2/2


Wingmen: 1


Wingman Ship: TIE Interceptor


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

Optathlete
Wed Nov 03, 2004 1:24 pm
#6

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/ln


Skills: 2/2/2/2


Wingmen: 0


Wingman Ship: N/A


Mission Strategy: I honestly do not remember the specifics of this mission, as I did it quite awhile ago, but I know I completed it fairly easily my first time through solo. I used a TIE/In with fairly-high level Tier 2 equipment.


Alternatives: None



Tier 3, Mission 2


Ship Used: TIE/In


Skills: 2/3/2/2


Wingmen: 1


Wingman Ship: TIE Interceptor


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


Jaeryk
Thu Nov 04, 2004 9:31 am
#7

Mission 1 Part 1 is capture a rebel spy, there was no mission specific craft at the wp, but in the area was an A-wing tier4(named Rebel Spy)that was involved in attacking a Lambda shuttle that I was able to disable (after a looong time..those things are FAST).


Part 2 was take the data from the Rebel Spy and dock with a shuttle and then escort the shuttle. This was waves of mostly tier 2-3 fighters (all types).


Part 3 was capture a rebel officier. This will be a flight of reb fighters with a Rebel Flight Leader in a tier 4 Y-Wing and tier 3 escorts


Part 4 was escort the captured Rebel Flight Leader against the usual wave of reb fighters.
Buchi-Ollin
Thu Nov 04, 2004 9:39 am
#8

Thx alot, this post is just what i needed, when i needed. Also i hope everyone that is flying for black epsilon is having as much fun as myself I think it was the perfect fit for me (particulalry the early missions where we are going to bomb an imp base and then blame the rebels for it !!!!)



There is no peace, there is anger. There is no fear, there is power. There is no death, there is immortality. There is no weakness, there is the Dark Side. My only redeeming quality is that I hate rebels more in real life than I do in game.


"Better or worse" Zim
RM-125
Thu Nov 04, 2004 10:20 am
#9






Dextrix wrote:

I've done the exit quest for teir three 5 times now. The first time one of my wingman destroyrd the first ship we were supposed to dissable.

No big deal it had just started. The four times after that I got all the way to the last part. We destroy the Gunboat then start in on the escorts.

Problem is ONE OF THEM IS MISSING ! I cant complete the quest if I cant destroy ALL the escorts. Where the hell does this guy go?!


Four times in a row, is this a bug or what?






Are you using Bomber strike? There used to be a bug that still exists for the bomber strike. If one of the bombers you call in takes out the escort, it will not count. This bug used to be the same for members in the group who were not the mission holder. What we did in beta was to have the wingmen help in killing the gunboat then bug out while the mission holder mopped up all of the escorts.




RM-125
Medical Corp
Stormtrooper Detachment Epsilon
IcedInferno
Thu Nov 04, 2004 10:32 am
#10

Here's a helpful hit on the last mission, concerning the bigger ships (couriers and gunboats)

For the first courier (that you disable), this courier will not try to maneuver -at all-. You will also notice that his 360-degree turrets are only on the TOP of his ship.
Take out his escorts first, then maneuver yourself until you're under the bottom of the courier, and fire away.

For the second courier (that you destroy), this courier WILL try to maneuver. However, its turrets are on the top of the ship as well.
Bombstrike the courier to distract him, take out the escorts one-by-one, and then follow the courier, being careful to stay on the bottom.

For the gunship, turrets are on both the top and the bottom of the ship, AMD it will maneuver.
Bombstirke it to keep it busy, take out the escorts, and then HUG THE TAIL OF THE GUNBOAT. If you stay as close as possible to the aft of the gunboat, directly behind it, its turrets cannot reach you.


Good luck.

-Khylan-

Message Edited by IcedInferno on 11-04-2004 12:33 PM

Optathlete
Thu Nov 04, 2004 11:38 am
#11






IcedInferno wrote:
Here's a helpful hit on the last mission, concerning the bigger ships (couriers and gunboats)

For the first courier (that you disable), this courier will not try to maneuver -at all-. You will also notice that his 360-degree turrets are only on the TOP of his ship.
Take out his escorts first, then maneuver yourself until you're under the bottom of the courier, and fire away.

For the second courier (that you destroy), this courier WILL try to maneuver. However, its turrets are on the top of the ship as well.
Bombstrike the courier to distract him, take out the escorts one-by-one, and then follow the courier, being careful to stay on the bottom.

For the gunship, turrets are on both the top and the bottom of the ship, AMD it will maneuver.
Bombstirke it to keep it busy, take out the escorts, and then HUG THE TAIL OF THE GUNBOAT. If you stay as close as possible to the aft of the gunboat, directly behind it, its turrets cannot reach you.


Good luck.

-Khylan-

Message Edited by IcedInferno on 11-04-2004 12:33 PM





Great advice there! Thanks for adding some specifics; I know my Mission 4description left a bit to be desired.


- Silellak, 4/4/3/3 Imperial Pilot, Black Epsilon Squadron, Happy Owner of Shiney New TIE Advanced
Jedi_Master_Raider
Thu Nov 04, 2004 3:51 pm
#12

bump



Alucard Nightstrider
JediMaster
Avoid Incap PWNS J00!!!!
Mattrekie
Thu Nov 04, 2004 4:04 pm
#13

Not sure if I'm bugged or what but I have a question:
I just trained in my last Tier 2 Skill. It made me do some stupid mission where I had to patrol Correllia sector and now I have to do duty missions. Is this what is supposed to happen?



Sanaddilla Rimuca
Scylla Galaxy
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