Spying

Svarog · Post by **Svarog** » Wed Oct 27, 2010 1:03 pm

Hi all , I am currently at the I.M.G. quest point where I must spy on a enemy ship guarded by 4-5 hostile fighters. First I kill all those little red buggers but when I try to get close to the capital ship and began scanning he immediately starts with heavy barrage fire accompanied with the dozens of missiles. I try to circle close around the ship but i always manage to survive about 30 sec. I can't get to multiplayer and cry for help cause my internet speed sucks. Any tips would be appreciated, thanks.

SeeJay · Post by **SeeJay** » Wed Oct 27, 2010 1:08 pm

Hi Svarog.

I have managed this missions in the following ways.
1 - use a clogging device and stay close to the ship.
2 - position yourself close to the ship and build a shield array and stay in the "bubble".
3 - without any devices I cleaned of the fighters and positioned myself under the ship appr midships.
then dispatch CM:s as necessary.

Good luck to you.

Svarog · Post by **Svarog** » Wed Oct 27, 2010 1:18 pm

Yes the quest mention the clocking device but they suggest that I do it without one, as for shield array i never try it, actually i never built anything so far in the game, will check later when i back home from work.
Thanks SeeJay:)

PandaBear · Post by **PandaBear** » Wed Oct 27, 2010 1:21 pm

Originally posted by SeeJay
Hi Svarog.

I have managed this missions in the following ways.
1 - use a clogging device and stay close to the ship.
2 - position yourself close to the ship and build a shield array and stay in the "bubble".
3 - without any devices I cleaned of the fighters and positioned myself under the ship appr midships.
then dispatch CM:s as necessary.

Good luck to you.

Come in at the middle will help. Click "m" to match speed and shoot off the missile and CM as needed. Also help to have your shield at max and charge your shield to max where you get shield damage.

Svarog · Post by **Svarog** » Wed Oct 27, 2010 1:25 pm

Originally posted by PandaBear

Come in at the middle will help. Click "m" to match speed and shoot off the missile and CM as needed. Also help to have your shield at max and charge your shield to max where you get shield damage.

I actually try that, but with no luck, guess I need more practice.

Aures · Post by **Aures** » Wed Oct 27, 2010 1:31 pm

I usually manage to complete spy missions without using my clogging generator

.

And I never take out the enemy ships, my only problem is when the cap ship dies before I can complete the scan.

The barrage fire is nothing to worry about, its kinetic effect knocks you around but I have never noticed the damage from them (at least with my class 10 shield). BTW a class 10 shield set to +5 shields is very handy for spying.

Circling close is what I usually do, but it depends how close. If you get close enough the ship can't hit you with barrage fire and any missiles it launches at you will tend to hit the cap ships shields before they hit you (hence my problem with the ship blowing up before I can scan it

. I have probably done over 50 spy missions using that method (but in an evoch-e, your ship probably isn't as agile) and I am kind of disappointed in myself if I take a missile hit during one (happened I guess in about 15 of the missions). It helps if you know how to use countermeasures properly, I usually use less than a pod (25).

In Legends I used to use a cloaking (but I think I now prefer the term clogging, thanks SeeJay) device to do spy missions but I always found them quite difficult. I have done one spy mission with a cloak in Mercenary, but I think the cloak lasts longer now so it makes the mission pretty trivial. Unfortunately because you are in the middle of the IMG quest you probably don't have access to one, but you can just use some disposable cloaks if you are having trouble.

Spy missions are kind of tricky (I think only escort missions are harder) but they are great fun if you don't do something boring like use a shield array. I really enjoy blowing up cap ships just after I have finished scanning them, serves them right for shooting themselves with their own missiles (we should call close circling a cap ship the "stop hitting yourself" method of blowing them up). But if you just want to get on with the IMG quest a shield array or a couple of disposable cloaks should get you through no problem.

Svarog · Post by **Svarog** » Wed Oct 27, 2010 1:57 pm

Thanks for reply Aures, I was trying to scan without taking down escort but that is very hard (for me:) at least) focusing on one big ship when 4 or 5 enemies blowing me with rockets and guns:D.

Aures · Post by **Aures** » Wed Oct 27, 2010 2:10 pm

No problem, btw I got the urge to try a spy mission in something a little less flash after I wrote that post. I just did the close circling thing in a talon with level 1 everything (except shield boost X5, couldn't be bothered swapping that out for a X1 as I would have to travel several systems to find one). I still didn't notice the barrage fire, in fact the mission wasn't any harder than it normally is (though I did notice the reduced acceleration). I only used 10 countermeasures (no missile hits, doubt I would have survived if I had taken one), I even managed to blow up the cap ship after I scanned it.

I expected it to be a lot harder than it was, I just loaded my main save to test it out since I happened to be in a war zone. I didn't plan on saving it but now I will continue with this as my main profile because I was happy with my performance.

I totally ignore the escorts. I just focus on circling the waist of the capital ship (by pointing my nose at the target marker in the middle of the ship and afterburning when my forward velocity goes negative) and keeping an eye on incoming missiles. Even the ones that don't get absorbed by the shields have a hard time tracking a ship circling a cap ship so I have plenty of time to fire off a countermeasure if required.

You will have plenty of time to focus on doing spy missions the fun way once you finish the IMG quest. I advise you get a deploy constructor or a couple of stealth fields and turn the mission into a piece of cake.

Svarog · Post by **Svarog** » Wed Oct 27, 2010 2:29 pm

I guess i am still a noob on flying mechanics, must practice more

Aures · Post by **Aures** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 2:19 am

Circling around cap ships while spying on them is about some of the best flying mechanics practice you will get outside of MP. I used to find it hair raising but now it is pretty routine, doing it has definitely honed my flying skills. Not to mention how much better I am at using CMs now. I also am a lot better at taking out cap ships, I just wish there was a separate kill statistic for them.

Maarschalk · Post by **Maarschalk** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 5:10 am

LOL....Clogging and clocking devices have different purposes then a cloacking device........one messes up your intestinal passages, the other is used for relatively measuring time and the last one is the one you are talking about for the spy mission....

:P:P:P:P:P:P

SeeJay · Post by **SeeJay** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 6:06 am

LOL, I never thought a type-O could render so much fun. I'm just a crazy Swede dusting of my english.

:P:P

Aures · Post by **Aures** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 6:08 am

Hmm, a cloacking device you say? Never heard of that one:), sounds like something used for impregnating birds, reptiles and amphibians. Is it some kind of tool you use to breed Vonari? Maybe it is the thing we are always trying to get scans of Vonari cap ships for? The ones ordering the military missions must be a bunch of pervs (or naturalists).

This mistyping is infectious, I'm the only one who has been able to type cloak or cloaking in this thread without making a slightly hilarious mistake

.

A "crazy Swede dusting of my english" sounds like some kind of British-Scandinavian fusion cuisine, probably a dessert.

[Edited on 28-10-2010 by Aures]

SeeJay · Post by **SeeJay** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 6:14 am

A "crazy Swede dusting of my english" sounds like some kind of British-Scandinavian fusion cuisine, probably a dessert.

[Edited on 28-10-2010 by Aures]

I could be, but I'll probably taste bad!

:P:P

Aures · Post by **Aures** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 6:33 am

Funny timing, I just posted on another board in response to an example of modding someone came up with where vulcans from Star trek have a taste for human flesh (Swedish or otherwise).

I wonder where you can buy crazy swede dust these days...

Svarog · Post by **Svarog** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 1:21 am

I finally did it:)
After hours of combining and trying various strategies i was able to finish this IMHO toughest assignment so far in the game.
The task was much harder considering 12 navy ships protecting the cruiser, but i manage to drag them far away from the ship (about 25k) and then quickly jump back to the lonely cruiser.
Rest was easy.
Thank you for all the tips:)

Maarschalk · Post by **Maarschalk** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 5:00 am

Originally posted by Aures
Hmm, a cloacking device you say? Never heard of that one:), sounds like something used for impregnating birds, reptiles and amphibians. Is it some kind of tool you use to breed Vonari? Maybe it is the thing we are always trying to get scans of Vonari cap ships for? The ones ordering the military missions must be a bunch of pervs (or naturalists).

This mistyping is infectious, I'm the only one who has been able to type cloak or cloaking in this thread without making a slightly hilarious mistake.

A "crazy Swede dusting of my english" sounds like some kind of British-Scandinavian fusion cuisine, probably a dessert.

[Edited on 28-10-2010 by Aures]

LOL......my American is better than my dusty old Dutch but worse than my English......Cloack looks so much better thou then cloak....but then again that is what a Turkey says in Afrikaans...Cloack, Cloack.....

:P:P:P:P:P

[Edited on 10-30-2010 by Maarschalk]