Speed Run

[dragonspear]

Hi,

New to the forum and the game. Enjoying it! I've played to the point where my Captain is Lvl 11, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the plot. 

Although, I have to ask. Is there more?

I've blazed through several levels after discovering the speed run strategy, and odd as it sounds, it seems like I can buff up the toughness, willpower, and troop's ability to dodge, then rack on the speed with soldier and captain's buffs for the team. I just ran a mission where I hardly had to fire a shot (I did, you know, because I could). I think it was called trench warfare. I boosted my beserker to a speed of 9 and there was nothing stopping him. He was like a impenetrable boulder careening down the trench. 

I even started up a second game at ironman to play a few levels, and if anything, moving fast seems like an even better strategy than before, because those critters just keep coming ...

So. Are there more strategies than running really fast? I feel like I'm just racing to victory and its starting to feel a little easy. I've got 658 RP stocked up waiting to be spent (demanding difficulty after trench warfare), and I don't seem to need to use them. If I understand ironman right, those RP number would become even higher with a speed run. And you can respec the crew for speed runs when they occur. I've tried to avoid running ironman completely blind because it would bite if a mission went haywire due to not understanding a game feature.

Maybe the speed run strategy is a little too easy? When a mob spawns, I just leave them in the dust. They can't run up fast enough to reach me with my rapid speed. 

The other thing I don't understand is it doesn't seem to matter (much) which characters I bring to the party. With the minimum being a percentage of the captain's xp, unless I have the same guy stay with every single mission, it doesn't seem to matter if I rotate through characters or if they get killed off. Skipping a guy for a few missions just sets him with everyone else.

I had an idea of playing ironman with a set team and just not replacing them if they get killed off. That might be interesting.

Moving on and looking for the roadblock that can stop this juggernaut...

Cool.
 
For those that are curious, my favorite team so far consists of sword & shield captain, axe & shield beserker, sword & shield paladin (when I can get him in), Soldier with rallying charge. He hardly uses overwatch anymore, surprisingly. And either engineer or scout, depending on the mission, mostly for scan, and mostly due to SP caps. Limiting myself to low-heat attack powers, lots of auto-block, and lots of buffs. Its working very well.

[fallen]

dragonspear - thanks for the post! Certainly, you are playing a elite strike team. Speed is a big part of success. Small, elite, and likely to overheat ... it can be hard to stay long in levels.

I would say if you are at the first of the levels in the Rychart prime arc, you've just got started. When fighting humans, I am not surprised that you can overpower them with speed if you've dedicated your build to it. I'd say, keep playing. Go into the Kaldun Scittering hive. There are terrors waiting your squad

If you're finding one difficulty level too easy, upgrade! Demanding is only 3rd rung on a ladder of 7, basically just above Normal.

Also, playing on demanding, so low level, and not very far into the campaign, then yes, your Templars who are not coming on missions will equal out at an average level. Upgrade difficulty or keep playing.

[ntsheep]

If you haven't checked it out already, read this thread for some game play tips,

startradersrpg.proboards.com/thread/12426/templar-battleforce-game-guide

[Cory Trese]

Try Nightmare difficulty ... the run past everyone strategy only lasts about ... well it doesn't last very long. <3

[Brutus Aurelius]

Oct 4, 2016 9:05:25 GMT -5 Cory Trese said:

Try Nightmare difficulty ... the run past everyone strategy only lasts about ... well it doesn't last very long. <3

Death to the Xeno! Leave none standing!

[capthawk]

dragonspear
First, welcome to our Forum and to the Trese Brothers Universe! With a special welcome to a fellow Templar. Always great to see someone new get into this awesome game.

Is there more, you ask. Oh my, yes.

1. Difficulty level: EVERYTHING ramps up as you climb difficulties. Enemy are tougher, obviously, but that's not all. Heat management becomes more and more crucial, as higher difficulties both generate more heat and dissipate heat slower. Often, you have to decide whether to engage a talent and risk heat lock, or risk a Xeno coming out of the FoW.You get less and less SP to start a level with each harder difficulty. Misfires and whiffs are more common, and so on. I found tactics I'd used at one difficulty just wouldn't fly at the next. As fallen once said, at the higher difficulties the bandwidth for success shrinks!
2. One big change is in Squad management. I mention this as you specifically noted it. At lower difficulties, the percentage of captain's level for a minimum level knight is high enough it keeps everyone with plenty of talent/gear points to spend, even if they seldom deploy. As you ramp up difficulty, the percentage drops. You may not notice it at first, but for example at Capt level 10, a recruit is at level seven vs. level six. Combine that with less SP to start any given level, and choosing who gets deployed, when and even why become important for future success.

3. Speed run! I'm with you. Get the hell away from those nasty critters/ gun toting cultists whenever possible. However, it isn't always possible. Again, especially at high difficulty, see Cory Trese 's comment😝
Basically, some levels you can speed run, some you just can't, and some are more or less hybrid; you may want to reach the first objective fast, but you'll need to chill and dissipate when you get there.

Luckily, we have unlimited respec! I'll admit, for a long time I considered respec as just a do-over, a mistake eraser if I didn't like how my Knights were performing. I was stuck in a mode were I wanted my Knights to be as ready for any scenario in general as they could be. My Battle Force gaming enjoyment has gone to a whole new level now that I respec, as well as chose gear, for each level specifically.
For a relevant example, I'm playing Ironman difficulty currently, and my speed run set up does Trench Warfare in three turns, with both secondary objectives.
However, trying the factory at Kaldun series with the same set up exclusively, I'd certainly get murdered. Blitz Kits go back in the locker, speed talents respec toward offense... you get the idea. I'm lucky to barely make turn goal, never mind beating it, on any of those levels!

[contributor]

Just to add one more car to this train. Speed is great, keep playing though and you're going to get to some really big levels where speed only goes so far and you'll have to respec your strategy.

[dragonspear]

Thank you for such a warm welcome, fellow soldiers!

My impenetrable boulder has continued its devastating pace, smashing through the Drayan Core (11 turns) and the Drayan Palace (11 turns again), although my party's starting to feel the heat you warned me about. I don't think I could have pulled that off at nightmare. All my troops were overheated at the palace doors and the rebel cultists were screaming bloody murder at our heels. My scout barely escaped their machine gun fire after diving into a ditch and making one last dash for the doors where the rest of the team had put the xeno scum to the sword.

I admit it was pretty awesome to dash past the first set of AA turrets without them getting to fire a shot, though. 

Now I am nervously eyeing the next mission on the queue, Extermination Protocol, Open Deploy and *24 turns* as a goal. 

That is either a really big map, or a long bloody haul, or both. I've no idea if speed will cut it.

Respec is great when you know what's coming, but this one, I haven't seen before.

Maybe I'll try out a neptune. Haven't given them a chance yet.

For Shalun!

Thank you for all the great feedback. I look forward to writing in the forums more often. Assuming I survive. 

[capthawk]

dragonspear

For Shalun indeed, Templar! Again, great to see you posting here in the Battle Force Forums. I play quite a few of Trese Bros titles, but TBF is my favorite. It's really great to see new faces, nerds like me love when their fave have takes off.

Sounds like you're having a blast, I like the way you describe Drayan Palace. I destroy two AA in this first room, then sprint past the last two. I don't slow down until the last room, then manage healing, heat and buffs as I creep up on the final objective. But that's about the only difference, and I ran Ironman where heat is just savage.

Extermination Protocol is no joke, it's a brutal slugfest. I can't do it with a speed team anyway, lol. I respec to deal damage although I keep Rallying Charge at 4. But that's about it for speed, maybe a couple points for Overdrive.
IF you want to preview the level, check out this link by ntsheep:
startradersrpg.proboards.com/thread/12426/templar-battleforce-game-guide

Or go YouTube with mal and his video tutorial.
startradersrpg.proboards.com/thread/14063/templar-battleforce-video-guide-missions


Looking forward to the tales of your Lineage, Captain!

[fallen]

dragonspear - excited to hear that your tactics are getting tested. I assure you that Extermination Protocol is not a mission you can beat with speed

[mushroom]

Oct 5, 2016 15:53:02 GMT -5 fallen said:

  Totally true. You need Crippling Shot, too.

[abysmal]

I know the game does awards for getting the mission completed in a timely fashion, but I wonder if the coding would actually allow players that are confidant in their fighting tactics to get rewarded for killing an exuberant amount of Xenos... surely if I killed 400 xenos in a level I should get something really cool and shiny as extra credit.