Episode 4 Mission Tree [Contains Spoilers!]

Wedge009

Wedge009

Rogue Leader
In the interest of getting the most out of Episode 4 (after all, what's the point of all the team's hard work if people don't find all the missions?), here's what I've found so far (numbers indicate save file in the 'history' folder):

The Battle of Sirius

57 Clearing the Path
58 Torpedo Delivery OR 62 Torpedo Deliveries
66 Moskva's Endgame
69 Skinning Cats
70 Burying the Past
71 Looking for Leyte
72 Tactical Withdrawal OR 73 Out the Back Door
74 Moving On

Mission 58/62 is dependent on success/failure in 57. Similarly, Mission 72/73 is dependent on rescuing the Leyte Gulf in 71.


Backlash in Sirius

78 Supply Run
79 Convoy Hunting -> 83 Cleaning Up
82 Cruiser Escort | 88 Cruiser Salvage
87 Skinning Cats | 91 Skinning Cats
89 Backlash | 93 Backlash
90 Burying the Past | 94 Burying the Past
92 A Monster of Myth | 95 Leaving Sirius
96 Moving On

Failing Mission 79 leads to 83, and from there, the two paths run in parallel. There doesn't seem to be much difference between the two - I can only recall a difference in capship composition in Backlash.

Also, failing Backlash leads the Firekka to Luyten, whereas Moving On seems to lead to Sol.


So... what am I missing? And how many entry points are planned for Episode 5? Two? Three? (Both Moving On scenarios and Backlash?)
 
Well, I'm at work now, and it's hard for me to recall the exact details... I believe you got all the missions, but you have to bear in mind that sometimes there are variations within the missions, as well. This particularly applies to escort capships. For example, if you kill enough escort capships in Clearing the Path to get the winning version of the next mission, but fail to kill all of them, then the survivors will be there to defend the Hakaga. Similar things occur sometimes on the losing path... I seem to recall that failure in Skinning Cats on the losing path affects Backlash.

I'm slightly confused by what you mean asking about whether Moving On leads to a different Ep. 5 entry than Backlash. Moving On is simply the title of the end-of-episode jump-out cutscene, which you always get regardless of what you did in the previous missions (though obviously, depending on how you did, it'll either lead you to Luyten or to Sol).

Anyway, there are two entry points into Episode 5 - either you're on the winning path, or on the losing path. However, like with Episode 4, there are small differences depending on your actions in previous episodes. In particular, since Luyten is isolated from the Confed fleet, you may have a hard time resupplying your fighter wing for the final battle, so how many fighters you saved in Episode 4 might make quite a difference...
 
Sorry about the lack of spoiler warning. I thought I was being vague about details, but anyway...

Yes, I'm aware there are certain minor changes within missions, eg having the Francis Drake along from the Episode 3 losing path if it survived. Although, the Drake seemed to disappear after a while anyway.

Well, there are two Moving On entries in the mission log, so I thought they might have separate repercussions for future missions.

Speaking of saving fighters, once, I had completed one mission only to find Reismann had dismissed Bradshaw for losing too many fighters. Stupid wingmen, why do they like to spread themselves out and get ripped to shreds by flak cannons and turrets? :)
 
Yeah, if you mess up on the losing path and don't kill the Raltha and then get the Fraltha strike mission it's a bit harder when he has some friends around.

The Convoy strike mission is great at thinning out your ranks. Gee, sure am glad those Dorkathi are a bit spread out so they aren't like a wingman killing machine....oh wait :)
 
Yeah, you have to win episode 3 :).

I don't remember what the winning conditions are on the losing path of episode 3. On the winning path, you have to save the Verdun, and possibly destroy the Snakeir (I don't recall for sure). Then you have to save the minesweepers, although IIRC if you lose the minesweepers, you can still win the episode if you save all of DG-2 (just as long as the Verdun made it).
 
That sounds about right - saving the Verdun, killing the Snakeir, but losing the Sao Paulo still gets you the losing path.
 
Killing the Snakeir? I thought it wasn't necessary to do this in order to win the episode. As far as I know, it's merely a bonus. At least, that's what Quarto said in another thread, I think.

Ep.4 sounds great. I expect to be able to download it and play it Sunday or Monday (yep, I still have to borrow a computer to play Standoff).
 
I'm sure that the Verdun is a requisite, and that the minelayers also matter. I'm not sure about the Snakeir and the Sao Paulo.
 
Ok, I finally went back and checked the actual conditions in Ep.3 - on the winning path, you have to save the Verdun, and then either win the minelayer mission, or save the Sao Paulo in the next mission. On the losing path, things are somewhat less complicated, but not easier - every time the Firekka gets attacked, you have to make sure its engines don't take any damage.
 
Heh. Very subtle indeed. Any chance of a mission guide, say, within a few years of Episode 5's release? ;)
 
Hm - I think the Ep3 conditions for staying on the winning path were discussed earlier this year somewhere. Saving the Verdun is required, and you have to either a) succeed at the minelaying mission, whereupon the episode ends, or b) if you fail the minelaying mission, you have to succsesfully defend the Sao Paulo.

I think.
 
Quarto said:
On the losing path, things are somewhat less complicated, but not easier - every time the Firekka gets attacked, you have to make sure its engines don't take any damage.
Click to expand...

About that... If the engines are that important, why doesn't the damage get carried over to the next mission? That way the players would understand why they got on the losing path more easily.

(Bt the way, nice job fixing that nasty bug that made a mission unwinnable if you didn't have the Drake ;) )

EDIT : Say, Wedge, how do you get to that "Burying the Past" mission in Backlash in Sirius?

EDIT 2 : Okay, it's a cutscene. My bad.
 
Sharpshooter said:
About that... If the engines are that important, why doesn't the damage get carried over to the next mission? That way the players would understand why they got on the losing path more easily.
Click to expand...
Because that would make the subsequent missions harder to balance - this way, we know that the Firekka always starts with a fixed number of undamaged components.

(it's a general design decision - the only time capships are damaged at the start of a mission is when we want them to be)
 
I'm amazed no one has said anything about the losing path splash screen yet. Luyten looks like it's going to be a fight we've all wanted to try since we first got a glimspe in WC2.
 
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