Single Level Kill Record?

[Cory Trese]

What's your personal best for xeno kills on a Templar's first deployment?

this templar hit 14 =)

Attachments:

[slayernz]

Hate to burst your bubble but Cyrus thumped all of us with a hideous record:
startradersrpg.proboards.com/post/57682

If we limit the first deployment to a first level of a campaign, then at least Cyrus's record will not be counted <grin>

[Cory Trese]

LOL. Yeah, wow.

Bow to that Templar, by Shalun.

[abysmal]

How about set a time limit per the mission? Then it'll be balanced...maybe...er...ok

I'd thought what I'd do, was pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes- Catcher in the Rye/G.I.T.S SAC

[AA]

Mines 30 i think

[Blunt Eversmoke]

I'll admit it first, grinding is a form of cheating (in TA, at least), ruins the game and thus, sucks.
However, as long as it presents a challenge, I say it is legit and fun!

I play on Brutal, with a Naval Veteran as the Captain's profession (as I just don't find the other two any worthwhile).


Campaign: 
Chase for Gux Thulun 

1.

I have, so far, found Alperio Caliga, the first map of the Hunt for Gux Thulun starting campaign, to be one where grinding is possible technically, but damn near impossible to extract after (at least on Brutal):
This is the very first mission, no upgrades, no XP, nothing; the Captain is the only one with a barely adequate Warrior skill; the four Xeno spawning points are in three points on the map well away from each other.
In addition, I have found a bug on this map - a bug causing the game to forget that you've run to all the check points if you have been grinding for too long (and you will). This means you will have to do the checkpoints during retreat, after grinding and before extraction - which makes it even harder to grind and then get away with your sour-earned kills. Also, because of this, I limited my amount of kills to maxing out each Templar's prestige (about 1500 total, 250 min. for the squad, 500 min for the Cap), and then bugged out, because I didn't wanna risk losing four or eight grand of kills to some stupid bug.



How did I do it? You will find it under the spoiler. All I will say openly is that, in addition to a Naval Veteran Captain, I opted for a Neptune and two Hydras. Working with just one Hydra might also have worked (but I see the possible disadvantage of having to split up your squad during the retreat, later, I'll explain why), while going in without any Hydras at all might make extraction after grinding impossible (although this map as such may be workable without any heavy weapons at all as long as you aren't after grinding). I have had to re-fuel one of the Hydras mid-way during retreat, and have had him fire two or three times after this, but making do with what fuel the other one had left over would probably had worked, too.

Bottom line, you most likely need at least one Hydra; you're safer off with two Hydras and a Neptune if your Captain is not a Naval Veteran.

SPOILER: Click to show

The infestation of the „Alperio Caliga“ has four Xeno spawning points. One is on the bridge in the south, the other three in the north. You can plug up the two spawning points in the cargo bay and use the third, northmost one, to grind. This is easier to do, as you will have to go to that point, anyway, it is easier to get there with the Captain going first – and it's the Captain who'll do the backing for the other troopers (who're less skilled in Warrior) during the grinding, so him going first ist just right, anyway.

Alternately, you can plug the northmost one up with a Hydra trooper going in there first; he'll be the only one who'll grind at that spawning point (I strongly suggest that it be the faster one to make later extraction easier).



Similarly, there are four check points. Ignore the check points for now. Have the Captain and the Neptune gunner run northward up the corridor you start in, but have the Hydra troopers move over to the parallel corridor in the East. Have the faster one of them continue northward after this, and the slower one turn back and fire into the corridor he just left to secure your six, then follow the faster one. Have the Captain turn West at the next junction, and the Neptune gunner continue northward two tiles per round to play it safe. Have the slower Hydra fire into the midway passage connecting the two corridors as soon as both the Captain and the Neptune are safely away from the blast.



The Captain now goes on around the Engineer's bridge to enter the cargo hold from North-West. Xenos probably won't appear on his way right until he's midway up the corridor leading directly to the cargo hold, so you're safe to have him make four to five tiles per round until then.

Have the Neptune stop one tile before the junction from which the passage to the cargo hold splits, and provide covering fire for the faster Hydra who'll come back through the northern passage connecting the two parallel corridors. As soon as it is safe to do, have the Hydra come over and fire northward so you can continue to the cargo hold undisturbed. Have the Neptune move into the passage to the cargo hold, but keep at least one, better two AP just in case. Have one of the Hydras fire southward into the corridor where the Neptune just stood, as well. Have all three advance to the cargo hold two tiles per round; it may be necessary to leave a final fireblast behind, so have a Hydra go last. Don't worry about the southernmost spawning point, it ceases function after you reach the cargo hold and picks up again only during your retreat.

If you have timed it just right, the Neptune gunner and the Captain will enter the cargo hold at the same time, effectively backing and covering each other and minimizing risk and ammunition expenditure. Have the Captain kill the Xenos that come from the spawning point in the north of the cargo hold, then move over it to plug it up, and have the Neptune and the faster Hydra trooper (or, if you've opted for a Soldier or Scout instead of the slower Hydra, then the Neptune and the Soldier/Scout) do the same with the Xenos and the spawning point in the south of the cargo hold.

Now it is time to decide where you'll be grinding, in the cargo hold or at the northmost spawning point, as there is no possibility for the Templars to switch places over there, and you need to cover it up no matter what. Depending on that, you choose who'll go first to cover up the northern spawning point. If you wanna grind at the northmost spawning point, then have the Captain go first, and the Neptune second, he'll cover the Captain at the turn to the East (if you went with a Scout/Soldier instead of the second Hydra, by all means pick him instead for his Phalanx fire ability, as he can cover the Captain all their way to the spawning point).

If you wanna grind in the cargo hold, then I advise you to have the faster Hydra go to the northmost spawning point first so he can secure his own extraction after the grinding, with the Captain (or the Scout/Soldier if you ommitted the second Hydra in his favor) providing covering Phalanx fire.


Depending on your skill and luck, you should have reached and covered up all three active spawning points with little, if any, wounds and low ammo expenditure, and can now start grinding. If you grind at the northmost spawning point, have the Captain plug it up as you exchange your actively grinding troopers; keep the ones in the cargo hold plugged at all times.
If you grind in the cargo hold, have the Captain run up to the trooper currently doing the grinding to back him up in case he misses with all his AP. Either way, you will only be grinding at one spawning point at a time, so I see no advantage or disadvantage to grinding in the cargo hold.

Retreat, checkpoint running, extraction



Once you have enough, you must retreat and complete the map's objectives, then extract. I don't advise being too greedy on this map, as it was buggy, at least for me, and there's the risk of losing your kills because of this bug when you cannot extract even after running to all the checkpoints.

Anyway, I only know how to do retreat and extract after grinding at the northernmost spawning point, with two Hydras in my squad, so if you make different choices, your results and methods may vary.



Have your faster Hydra grind last. Have him walk westward, past the southern turn, and turn around and wait there; the Captain, meanwhile, plugs up the spawn point and turns westward, as well. When the Hydra has passed the turn and turned eastward, have the Captain run up to him, turn south and run on; then have the Hydra fire at the Xeno pursuing the Captain, and then follow the Captain.

The Captain and the Hydra both pass on to the eastern corridor; before that, the Hydra fires northward one more time.

Meanwhile, the Neptune gunner and the slower Hydra start retreating, too. It is imperative to have the Hydra plug the northern spwaning point in the cargo hold, and the Neptune plugging up the southern one. Meeting in the middle of the cargo hold, they cover each other so the Hydra can set both spawn points ablaze before both walk out eastward, Neptune going first. The Hydra can and probably should fire westward one last time from the passage.

Arriving in the Western corridor, the Neptune and the slower Hydra start moving southward, synched with the Captain and the faster Hydra in the Eastern corridor. Have the Captain move through the midway passage between the two corridors and to the passage leading to the Engineer's bridge to cap the checkpoint there. The faster Hydra caps both checkpoints in the Eastern corridor, (maybe also fires into the southern passage between the two corridors), then returns to the midway passage. Meanwhile the Neptune proceeds, two tiles per round, to the ship's bridge, his back protected by the slower Hydra until the midway passage; if the faster Hydra fired through the Southern passage into the Western corridor, the Neptune will just have to walk up to the flames and have Xenos die on the enflamed tiles, thereby extinguishing the flames tile by tile. I didn't have the Hydra fire there, so the Neptune got to the Captain's bridge pretty fast.

As soon as the Captain returns from the Engineer's bridge and passes southward, the faster Hydra fires into the Western corridor, securing the Captain's back, and then runs southward down the Eastern corridor.

The slower Hydra stays to guard the Western corridor, while the faster one secures the retreat of the Neptune and the Captain after these have capped the southernmost checkpoint, on the captain's bridge of the ship.



Now you can proceed to the extraction area and, hopefully, end the mission – if this map's bug doesn't get ya.