Ep.3 Minelaying mission

[Sharpshooter]

Currently replaying Standoff on Ace... I have to ask, what was the point behind making the minelaying mission so impossibly difficult? Forcing the player to play the Sao Paulo mission? In any event, I think the difficulty should have been lowered a little (hey, you keep asking for negative criticism ). Making the minalaying mission 5 times harder than the Snakeir mission is a really, really bad idea.

You pretty much lose at least one minelayer at the first nav point no matter what you do, you have to be *extremely* fast/skilled/lucky not to lose one at the seceond nav point... And you'll most likely lose at least one minelayer at the last nav point as well.
If you failed to destroy the Snakeir, the Kilrathi forces seem to be even more overwhelming, and the mission is probably impossible. Again, not a good idea.

Other than that, it's been fun - I've been learning a few new tactics in the process.

EDIT : Nevermind, I figured out the trick to bypass the last wave at Nav 3, which seems to be the key to winning this mission on Ace. I have once again failed in my attempt to criticize Standoff.

 

[Wedge009]

Bypass? I don't remember bypassing anything in the mine-laying mission. Care to share what you have learnt?

 

[Sharpshooter]

If you have 5 Clydesdales when you reach Nav 3 and destroy the three Sarthas there quickly, the minelayers will be able to complete their mission before the Kilrathi ships reach your position. Then quickly autopilot and you're done. If you're not quick enough and let the ships at Nav 3 appear, your chances of winning the mission are much lower.

And that's another great thing about Standoff... It makes you think a lot and has you find unusual tactics.

 

[Wedge009]

That's interesting. The mine-layers always seem to take several minutes before they say they're ready to move on. Or is it one of those moments where the auto-pilot light comes on briefly before switching off again as more enemies are spawned into the area?

 

[Sharpshooter]

I never said that the minelayers would do their job very quickly... just quickly enough to give you time to flee. It's a bit like that Backlash mission in the Ep.4 losing path. If you're quick enough, you can destroy the fighters and the three capships (Fralthra, Ralatha, Ralatha) before the Kilrathi reinforcements come.

 

[Quarto]

Yeah, I think that might have even been intentional, allowing the player to get away like that.

I don't think the mission is harder than the Snakeir mission in any case... the difference is, people for some reason get more frustrated when failing defence missions than when failing offence missions. So, it doesn't bother most people here to play the Snakeir mission fifty times a day until they get it right - but if they have to replay the minesweeper mission, they get mad .

(...not that they have to replay the mission in any case - we try very hard to ensure that all the hardest missions can be bypassed. Though of course, in many cases you'll regret such a failure for several missions to come... )

 

[Sharpshooter]

Mad? Not at all. Just because I was close to pulling my hair out doesn't mean I was mad, does it?

As previously stated, now that I've found this trick, I do think the minelaying mission is easier than the Snakeir mission.

I've just finished Episode 1's losing path (on Ace as well), and it gave me quite a lot of trouble too.

 

[Dundradal]

I'm actually at this point in my current replay.

My biggest complaint about having to replay the minelayer mission is having to listen to all the initial mission dialogue before you can get to doing your job

 

[Wedge009]

That can happen with some of the longer plot-related speech in Secret Ops too.

 

[Falcon988]

I didn't find it -that- hard on my last playthrough, but I'd destroyed the Snakeir carrier in the prior mission. I'm sure there's a lot more Kilrathi fighters on hand if you don't.

 

[Sharpshooter]

(Horribly late reply! Gasp!)

Yes, you're right - you have to intercept a strike force that's heading for the Firekka if you didn't destroy the Snakeir. I beat this version of the minelaying mission on Rookie, but never bothered to even try it on Ace. My guess is that it would be horrendously difficult, if at all possible.