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| Part
1a: Evading Lasers
Half the battle is knowing
when to turn around and head for the hills, and in X-Wing
this is a big truth. Mastering a few basics on evasive
maneuvering can save your ass many times, and thus,
the asses of your escorts as well. Seriously, this is
a big deal.
Let me start by explaining
why these tactics work. While the enemy logic and AI
(artificial intelligence) in X-Wing is very impressive,
it isn't perfect. Simply put, the enemy can lead, but
not predict. This means that enemy fighters and starships
have a deadly knack for watching your current heading
and laying down lasers that will intersect with your
course moments later. Not a difficult concept... everyone
who played Wing Commander 2 will remember the "targeting
leads" your computer put in front of enemy ships
for you to fire at. This is basically what the enemy
algorithms in X-Wing do. And everyone who played WC2
will also remember that those lead targets didn't always
work. Especially when the enemy ship was in the process
of changing course.
So the drawback to the
enemy logic in X-Wing is that it cannot predict course
changes like a human can. I'm sure this is just around
the corner, programming wise, but it hasn't been seen
in commercial simulations yet. If you're pulling back
on the stick and doing a constant loop, chances are
really slim you'll take much laser damage (notice I
said _laser_ damage... more on that later). The constant
course changes throw the enemy's leads off. They'll
still fire, but they'll expect you to continue on a
straight line, so they'll miss. This all sounds great,
but when you're pulling a constant loop, you're unable
to get much work done. There's a couple things you can
do to help shake laser fire and still get somewhere.
They are designed to get you away from a vessel in the
quickest manner without taking much (if any) damage.
- "Box" evasion:
Pick a point ahead of you in space and trace a four-point
"box" around it. At each point, pause for
a moment. The size of the box and the length of the
pauses should vary with your distance from the attacker.
If you're close, trace a larger box with very small
pauses. If you're farther away, a slightly smaller box
should work, with longer pauses.
- "Circle"
evasion: This is identical to the Box method, but it
is a little more difficult to master. It's more effective
because you are constantly moving (in a circle around
a chosen point instead of a box). The reason it's harder
is because it's easier to "drift" off of your
point and end up facing the enemy again. Again, the
further you are from the baddies, the slower the circle
should be. If you're too fast, you may end up getting
tagged by shots fired at you on the last pass.
These are pretty simple,
actually, but can be very effective at times. When fleeing
your attacker using these techniques, be sure to keep
him centered in your rear radar scope (or forward scope
if you're attacking). You should rarely have need to
look at your main view once you get the hand of this.
It also helps to have a friendly starship or nebula
to keep as your focus point ahead to help prevent drifting.
The main advantage to
using these methods instead of just jinking around like
crazy, is you can still attack something in front of
you while you're evading incoming fire. When approaching
the enemy instead of fleeing, you'll probably have to
widen your "box" or "circle" slightly.
Pause every now and then and get a couple good shots
off and you'll be fine.
Don't get me wrong, you'll
get damaged allright. These aren't foolproof methods,
and there's always fighters off to your left or right
making things even more interesting. So keep an eye
on those shields and take breaks to charge up now and
then (_especially_ when attacking the Star Destroyers...
you'll need to take _many_ such breaks... more on those
later). |
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| Part
1b: Evading Missiles
I've seen a lot of discussion
about this on the 'net. Missiles in X-Wing may seem
hard to shake at first, but once you get the hang of
it it's almost fun (*gasp!*).
Enemies who fire missiles
at you (TIE Bombers or Assault Gunboats) are rarely
very close to you. This will almost always give you
a few seconds to prepare.
- When you get the warning
that a missile has been fired (from your R2 unit or
a wingman) immediately find the amber dot on your radar
(the missile, of course) and turn so it's in your forward
scope.
- At this point the missile
should essentially be coming right for you and it shouldn't
be changing course too much. Put the dot on the very
outskirts of your front scope (see SCREENSHOT #1) and
wait. By taking this approach, it is _very_ difficult
for the missile(s) to "cut the angle" and
hit you on the first pass.
- If all goes well, the
missile will pass you and end up in the center of your
rear scope. Now, spin around and put the missile right
in front of you (you should be able to see it as a red
and orange streak on your main view).
- By following the missile
around, keeping it right in your sights, you're once
again preventing it from turning sharp enough to catch
you. Don't bother shooting at it, you _won't_ hit it.
Follow it around until it runs out of gas, and bingo!
You're home free.
With a little practice,
this becomes very easy. I've only had about five in
a hundred reach me, and that's usually because the bogey
was unusually close when he fired, or there were several
missiles inbound. With a little fancy flying, you'll
soon be able to get two or three missiles in front of
you like this, trying in vain to reach you.
Like I said, I wouldn't
bother shooting at them. It's impossible to hit them
from their sides like that when you're following them.
I've watched many people claim they shot them down like
that, but when in reality, they just fired at the instant
it ran out of fuel and exploded. I'm not saying they
can't _ever_ be shot down... just not from that angle.
I've tried hundreds of times, and the only time I've
ever shot one down is when it's just been launched and
is heading straight for me. If you can pinpoint it in
front of you fast enough and get some laser shots off,
you might get lucky (I've managed this only five times).
The only drawback to
the above evasion method is the time consumed. It takes
a good fifteen-twenty seconds for a missile to run out
of juice, and those can be precious seconds sometimes.
You have to evaluate whether you can spare the time
or you should just take your chances. Strong, two-layered
shields can take three or four solid missile hits if
you manage your shields right... But if you decide to
take your chances and not follow the missile, at least
line it up like I described above and let it fly back
to your rear before you take off. You'll have a much
better chance of eluding it. |
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| Part
2a: Tracking
If you expect to get
very far in X-Wing, it's mandatory you learn how each
of the enemy vessels (specifically fighters) move. This,
along with accuracy with the lasers, are by far the
two most important skills to have in this game. When
you get some idea where the fighter you're pursuing
is about to turn, you can greatly increase you chances
of taking him out. Here's a brief summary of the observations
I've made about each fighter:
TIE
Fighters:
This is an average fighter,
all around. It usually runs somewhere between 90-100
kps in combat, and has moderate mobility. Mostly goes
side to side, and rarely moves up and down much. When
attacking, it basically heads for the target and shoots
until out of range. Very simple AI.
TIE
Interceptor:
These are a little tougher.
They tend to run faster than the Fighters, but have
less vertical mobility. From what I've seen, when they're
moving sideways, they can only manage about 30 degrees
of vertical movement. This is their weakness. They're
very tricky when attacking, they tend to swerve sideways
into range, pop off two or three quick ones, and continue
to swerve off the same side. Be ready for this.
TIE
Bomber:
Key word here is SLOW.
They run about 70-80 kps, but this can be a real pain.
When you haul ass up to a wing of Bombers getting ready
to dump their load on your escort, it's hard to brake
quick enough to keep from overshooting. 2/3 speed works
very well. Once you've matched speed, their easy targets.
The Bombers are also exceptionally easy to nail on the
first approach (see First Pass under Laser section).
Assault
Gunboat:
These guys run about
80-90 kps, and have much greater mobility than the other
TIEs. They have no problem with vertical movement and
use it excessively. One thing I've noticed is they tend
to bank more before turning than other ships, making
it easier to predict course changes. They use lasers
more than the Bombers, so stay awake.
Advanced
TIE:
Nasty, nasty little buggers,
seen only in the late missions of Tour 3. They have
great mobility in all directions, and hardly _ever_
stop moving around. I found no major weaknesses, but
by the time you see these mugs, you should be ready
to take anything on. These dudes are the worst!
The bigger ships don't
move much, so that's about it. An excellent way to learn
about a ships movement is to take some good long camera
films of heavy combat. By moving the Camera Position
behind an enemy ship, you get a bird's eye view of how
it moves around, and it's limits of movement.
Also remember that the
Rebel fighters bank when turning side to side. This
means that if you're trying to do a 180, don't go straight
to one side... you'll never get there. Vertical movement
is necessary when you're attempting to reach targets
behind you. |
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| Part
2b: Using Lasers
I put tracking and firing
under the same category because it's mandatory to learn
both at once. You won't get far in X-Wing if you always
run ahead of your target, stop, then shoot. In order
to take ships out fast enough, you need to be able to
make fast, accurate shots while constantly changing
course to match your target. I can't emphasize this
enough. The Proving Ground is a good place to practice
your marksmanship, but combat is the only place to master
both tracking and firing. Here are some basic tips for
each of the Rebel Starfighters:
X-Wing:
I've think that in the
X-Wing Fighter, using the dual-linked shots is best.
The S-foils are so far apart, using single shots is
almost useless at moderate to close ranges. Save the
quad-linked firing for large targets like Freighters
or Corvettes... Since you can only get two or so shots
at once to land on a fighter, using four is usually
a waste of energy. Torps are sparse on the X-Wing, so
make 'em count.
A-Wing:
This is my favorite,
fast and agile. I keep the speed pretty high unless
I'm tailing a Bomber or something that's too slow. The
best part of the A-Wing is the concussion missiles.
They run faster and can turn tighter then the protons.
They're almost as powerful and there's more of them.
Can't go wrong.
Y-Wing:
Slow, but tough. The
big advantage is the close proximity of the two laser
cannons. When using dual-linked firing, it's really
rare to see one hit and the other miss. If you need
to disable something in a big hurry (an all too common
occurrence in the Tours), knock its shields down with
torps or lasers first, then tap on it with the ion cannons.
Much faster. (also see note about Gunboats & ions
in the Tips & Hints section).
Attack
Tips for All Rebel Fighters:
First Pass: When you've
got an incoming flight of fighters/bombers you need
to take out quickly, try to do it on the first pass.
This is not as hard as it sounds, especially if they're
coming straight at you. Get the nearest one targeted
before they're in range. When the red dot appears in
front of you, center the targeting reticle as accurately
as you can. As soon as you get in range and the reticle
starts flashing and beeping, let go with three or four
laser bursts (or a missile). There are always a few
seconds to fire at them before their lasers reach you.
As soon as you see the glimmer of yellow in the distance,
get ready to move to avoid the incoming lasers. This
long-distance attacking is a skill worth practicing.
On several occasions I've been able to knock out all
three TIE Bombers in a flight before they've even made
the first pass.
Just remember, when using
lasers, most of your attention should be spent in following
your target and anticipating his moves... staying one
step ahead. Firing should be an afterthought.
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| Part
2c: Using Missiles
Missiles can be a real
waste of time if you're not patient. Just because you've
got a lock on the fighter you're tailing doesn't mean
it's going to hit it. If you're gunning for a fighter
(or one of the bombers), wait until it hesitates and
is flying relatively straight away from you. This is
obvious, of course, but the missiles (especially the
slower torpedoes) have a hard time playing catch-up
after an initial miss.
Unlike Wing Commander,
once you have a target locked, you can stray away from
it to some degree and the missiles will still remained
locked. Once you've gotten the lock buzz going in your
ears, you should be able to swerve away from the target
thirty or forty degrees. Even though the buzz stops,
the missiles will still find the target. This is of
_great_ benefit when you're attacking a capital ship
that's firing at you steadily. Once you get lock, you
can still jink around a bit and avoid some of the fire
while getting good shots off.
Study the dynamics of
the proton torpedoes vs. the concussion missiles...
they're very different. Watching some recorded missile
shots helps. |
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| PART
3: Tips & Hints
This section is just
for miscellaneous hints and pointers I've come up with.
Some of these tactics are obvious, some aren't, so take
them for what their worth.
Ion
Cannons:
Like mentioned earlier,
if you've got a strong bogey to disable (i.e. Corvette,
Frigate), use missiles & lasers on until the shields
fall, then hit it with the wimpy ions. Saves time.
The
Gunboat Ploy:
You guys will love this
one. There are at least three or four missions where
you pilot a Y-Wing against one or more Assault Gunboat
flights (among other types as well). If you find yourself
getting maimed by the Gunboats then DISABLE THEM! The
Assault Gunboats are the only Imperial Fighters strong
enough to get disabled with ion cannons without blowing
up. Once you've disabled one, use SHIFT-I to tell your
wingmen to ignore it. Voila! The SOB just sits there,
unable to do anything. The best part of this is, if
you keep most of the disabled Gunboats around, no new
ones will show up! This makes the mission just a wee-bit
easier to deal with. When you've completed the mission
goals, just tool around and scrape up the kills! Like
shooting ducks in a barrel.
Full-Screen
Notes:
Use full-screen mode!
Once you've gotten used to the controls of the starfighters,
there's no real reason to keep the cockpit view around.
The only instrument not available at all is the missile
lock indicator (the one for you). If there's a lot of
missile-laden bogies out there, you might want to keep
the cockpit view. Otherwise, the full-screen view gives
you a much greater angle and perspective to the battle.
Much easier.
Star
Destroyers:
As mentioned in Tour
2, mission 10 when (and if) you attack any Star Destroyers,
go for the shield generators first (the two towers on
the bridge section). This is mandatory. After that,
try hitting the half- sphere on the underside of the
Star Destroyer, this appeared to me to be it's primary
weak spot.
Occasionally you can
find a "dead spot" around a Star Destroyer
where you are safe from its turbolaser batteries. The
only places I've found them are behind the STD, near
the engine exhausts (see SCREENSHOT #2). These spots
vary according to the number of other rebels in the
area the STD has to deal with, but they're worth finding.
After clearing out most of the escorts, I was able to
take down the Intrepid with help of the dead spots.
Cloned
Wingmen:
This borders on cheating,
but if you find that your wingmen can't cut the protoplasm,
try this one. Go into the XWING directory and make several
copies of your .PLT pilot file. Call them WING1.PLT,
WING2.PLT, etc. or another whatever name you want. Then
when you're at the flight prep room (the one with the
pilot's mug shots), assign the generic pilots to the
other flights in the mission. Because they are have
your skills, the computer will do its best to emulate
your statistics, making your wingmen MUCH more effective.
Seriously, it makes a big improvement. Don't forget
to update their .PLT's occassionally as your skills
grow.
Shield
Tips:
Learn how to manage your
shields. This is more important than laser and engine
management put together. My general rule: every time
I get hit more than two or three times (or once with
a missile) I hit "S" three times quickly.
This evens out your fore and aft shields, helping to
keep any "weak spots" out. After awhile you'll
be able to guess pretty accurately how your shields
are holding up without looking, even from full-screen
mode. It's a pretty obvious tip, but definitely make
a habit of it if you're a beginner.
If you've got any dead
time in a mission at all (like waiting for an escort
or another enemy wing to appear), throw all the power
you can into charging your shields. Every spare moment
should be spent doing this... never know when you'll
need it. And don't forget... you can hit ['] to get
extra shield boosts from your laser reserves in dire
situations.
Train,
Train, Train:
Seriously, if you plan
to advance out of mediocrity in X-Wing, you must train.
Go through ALL of the Proving Grounds (see Appendix),
get your badges, and move on to the Historical Missions.
These are invaluable in teaching you the hundred aspects
of combat fighting. |
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| Appendix:
Pilot Proving Grounds
The
Maze Made Simple
When I started doing
the maze, I was so bad I thought I would never get my
flight badges. I was wrong.... As of this writing, I
have made it to level 10 in all 3 starfighters. I have
learned some tactics that should help everyone.
1.) You can make it thru
all levels with your speed set to 70-80 KPS. Energy
can be reconfigured around this "base". If
you can go faster, that is of course better.
2.) Set your shields
to 1 notch below normal charging. Use the ['] to shift
power from lasers shields as needed. Lasers should be
set to increased charging or full charging.
3.) Missing one of the
gates is NOT a disaster. You may even be able to miss
2 of them and still complete the level.
4.) Crashing into a platform
is much preferable to missing a gate . I have crashed
many times and still completed levels. When you crash,
use that time to blast the laser boxes on that platform.
Coming to a complete stop (crashing) and blasting the
boxes while I was accelerating, was much better than
missing a gate.
5.) On levels 1-7 set
your shields to double front. Not much will shoot at
you from behind on these levels.
6.) Any time saved thru
one level will not be added to the time alotted on the
next level. Finishing a level with more time remaining
will affect your score though.
7.) For the higher levels,
work on destroying the boxes on a platform at the greatest
distance possible. As you exit one platform start targeting
the next platforms' boxes.
You should keep ALL this
in mind as you fly the maze. Level 3 is by far the hardest.
You only have 3 minutes, forcing you to blast more boxes
than you might otherwise. (Each laser box blasted adds
2 seconds) When I completed level 3 for the X-wing,
I had 15 seconds left, with 13 gates to go. I thought
this was impossible. All of these final platforms are
loaded with boxes. I shot enough of them to keep my
time at 15 seconds; and I completed this level. It was
a pretty bizarre feeling. I actually shot enough boxes
so the warning beeper stopped! Once you get past level
3, concentrate on flying cleanly thru all the gates.
Blast boxes if you can, as they now shoot at you more
accurately. You don't need to blast them for time, as
much as to prevent them from draining your shields.
You will now get from 5.5 to 4.5 minutes per level.
I noticed some things
that were particular to the different starfighers.
X-Wing: The lasers are
spaced just the right distance apart. This allows you
to fly right at a gate, and blast both boxes without
much correcting.
Y-Wing: Much more power
is able to be transferred to the shields. This is due
to the ION guns storing energy. ION guns were not that
effective for shooting boxes.
A-Wing: Much of each
level can be completed with a speed over 100 KPS. This
gives much less time to target and destroy boxes. Reducing
your speed to 80-90 KPS gives you more time to destroy
boxes. Aiming in the A-wing is more difficult than with
the other starfighters. The boxes pretty much have to
be in the middle of the targeting reticle.
Completing level 8 is
how you get your flight badge. These have laser boxes
behind the gates. They shoot at you after you fly thru
the gate. These can be destroyed by shooting thru the
base of the gate before you fly thru. After all, the
gates are holographic projections. Destroying these
boxes is not a problem, since you are using the FORCE
anyway! |
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