Touch of Fate (Multiplayer Mission)

From FreeSpace Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search

Medal given: Imperial Order of Vasuda.

Minimum difficulty for medal: Hard.

Background

A Vasudan routine patrol detects the last remaining stronghold of the NTF in the Sirius system. Galactic Terran-Vasudan Intelligence sends the 11th Vasudan Battle Group, led by the GVD Shai, to destroy these seeds of the NTF Rebellion before they can regain power.

Walkthrough

You overall goal is to keep Shai and Renenet alive. To do this, the game host should be on anti-bomber duty pretty much 100% of the time, with 1-2 reliable players dedicated to debeaming any incoming warships. These players won't get many kills, but it is something that has to be done to beat this mission. Everyone else can be in general space superiority roles, but should prioritize any bombers currently in the mission. Only the host should worry about the bombs themselves unless things are truly desperate.

On entry, you will find an enemy warship right in front of you. Debeaming it is a good idea even though it will die very soon, in order to minimize damage done to the ships you are guarding. After that, you will face four main waves of capital ships:

Wave 1: Hades-class destroyer. This ship is equipped with two heavy beams and a large number of smaller ones, and the top and near-side of the ship must be cleared of turrets as fast as possible. Once debeamed, allow friendly warships to kill them and concentrate on antifighter/bomber ops.

Wave 2: Two Leviathan-class cruisers - Debeam as usual. Of these, Fenrir may turn traitor to the NTF and join your side, so concentrate on Jormurgand first and get Fenrir after if it stays hostile. As before, once debeamed let your friendly capitals deal with them.

Wave 3: Orion-class destroyer and Aeolus-class cruiser. Debeam the Orion ASAP, then do the same for the Aeolus. Again, leave them alone once their teeth are pulled.

Wave 4: Hecate-class destroyer and Iceni-class frigate. Destroy the front beams on the Hecate ASAP, but do not ignore the side beams either as they sometimes fire through the hull at the ships you're guarding. Give the Iceni the same treatment, then forget about them.

Throughout all this, you will be pummeled by wave after wave of fighters, with regular arrivals of bombers. Anytime bombers arrive, anyone not on turret duty should give them priority - Ideally, no bomber wave should be able to launch more than one volley of torpedoes, and preferably none (though this is impossible in some cases). Near the end of the mission, around a minute after the Hecate arrives, you will get hit by very high end fighters (Ares, Erinyes), so if you have any reinforcements left, this would be a good time to call them in. Further, if you have more than four players then at this point you will also get hit by several waves of Artemis D.H. bombers equipped with Helios torpedoes. It is absolutely essential that these are stopped before getting close to Shai, or you will not get your medal. Throw everything and everyone at them if need be, but stop them.

Tips

  • Loadout advice: Trebs for everyone, though the host should also bring Tempests to take down bombers fast. The Tauret is a good ship choice, but a dedicated turret-killer may want to go with a Sekhmet kitted out with all Trebs and a Maxim. Kaysers are available and always a good choice, but if you have problems managing energy in the Tauret, the Prom-S may be a better choice.
  • The heaviest turrets on the Hades are located top-front and top-rear (on top of the spoiler-like protrusion). Get these first. Following that, the turrets on the top-rear engine pods are priority, and everything else after that. Turrets on the side facing away are of no concern.
  • On the Orion, the front-bottom and middle-nearside turrets are the heaviest, and must get priority.
  • On the Iceni, the two front and two top beam turrets are heavier than the rest.
  • If you disable Jormungand outside the beam range of friendly capital ships, you get a window before the arrival of the next wave where you can clean up a lot of enemy fighers, perhaps even running one wing out of waves prior to the tough bit at the end of the mission. This, however, does get a bit boring.
  • You have a reinforcement wing available. Don't forget to use it.

Notes

  • If you play with 4 or fewer players, the Helios bombers at the end do not show up. This can make the mission significantly easier.

Key Ships

Technical information

Touch of Fate (Multiplayer Mission)
File name: Filename
File size: File Size
Author: Author
Total number of objects: Number of objects
Total number of wings: Number of wings
Number of mission events: Number of events
Number of messages: Number of messages
Event music: Mission Music
Briefing music: Briefing Music
Retrieved from "https://wiki.hard-light.net/index.php?title=Touch_of_Fate_(Multiplayer_Mission)&oldid=30296"