WCIV Missile Spam

Antix

Antix

Rear Admiral
So... I'm playing through Wing Commander IV for the millionth time because it's easily accessible via Windows still and I love the game quite so much. I'm getting a little flustered at this point and I'm wondering if anyone else ever noticed this.

The particular mission, in this case, is the Ella system escort (opted not to use the flashpak) though I've noticed this particular problem with many missions. It would seem that the AI is programmed to have fighters launch missiles at players if they get too close to several objectives. Apparently, all capital ships as well as all bomber class craft are no-fly zones for the AI and it will empty its missile bays into your Dragon if you get too close. And I mean empty. I either run out of decoys before the mission ends or simply manage to bite one of the dozen missiles I wasn't able to shake in adequate time.

I never remember that many firecrackers zooming toward me when playing through the game prior. Is it just me? Did system upgrades cause the AI to get really trigger happy because it's processing its behavior at a much higher rate? Is there any way to "fix" this?--though I suppose in some ways its realistic enough save for the fact that all fighters seem to target and dump their loadouts on me simultaneously. Should I just learn to cloak more? Help! I'm desperate and I really hate having to turn on invulnerability... egh.
 
1) Take out the aces as soon as possible, preferably with missiles or nukes (*cough*Mace*cough*).

2) Have your wingman (I recommend Hawk or Panther) go after the Longbows so you can take care of those nasty Hellcats/Bearcats.

If you do this and practice a lot, you should eventually be able to win the mission no matter which ship you pick.

The capships really aren't that bad - the Intrepid can actually handle them with little help from you, and you can even afterburn past the Cruiser after the fighters are gone.

I tend to kill an ace while my wingman's killing a Longbow, then I kill one Longbow, then I go after a Fighter again. Rinse and repeat. Works fine for me. ;)
 
The aces always have the habit of shooting missiles no matter where I'm at, so I'm used to poking them in the eye first. I've also already been in the habit of putting Primate (eh, his stats always look so nice so I guess I'm a sucker) on Longbow cleanup duty. That much I've gotten down. I would not be exaggerating to say I've seen about, oh, say, ten or so yellow dots swarming on my radar at once, though. :(

Guess I'll just keep plugging at it!

Regarding the mace, I opted out for Circe on this particular track just to be ultimate in goody-goody.
 
Hmm. Maybe you need to make your ship less "targettable", say by moving around more. You really do need to make sure that aces never get on your tail. If you've got too many fighters chasing you, try afterburning, spinning around, afterburning past them, then spin around again and get on one's tail. I tend to take down most fighters with missiles (especially the Bearcats) until there are only one or two fighters left - at that point I should be able to gun them down.

Taking down enemies very quickly really helps a lot. Good luck!
 
The Dragon has cloacking device! it's very useful when your decoys are finished (they should pack more of theese to fighters IMO).
 
That was just plain cruel. I finally beat the mission... several dings in the glass on my Dragon, Hawk's scan looks like he works for McDonald's, and the Intrepid is reporting situation critical...

And I get a blue screen of death. Fate is a bastard.
 
Ai got pissed you where doing well and crashed your computer! Damn, now that's vindictive.
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