The Dark Reign Campaign. A fond look back... er... forward... ummm... again?
By George Argyropoulos
a/k/a Dragon_Bane
Did... did Kixeye do something universally liked?!?
Yes, yes, I believe they did. I don't know the last time they released a TLC that was this well received. Good work on short notice for both Kixeye and the TFC guys.
Let me first address a little by-line that was going on in the forums. Concurrent to an argument over level locking base hitting, there was another with regard to this TLC being level locked. Putting aside all of the arguments for either side - If you can do this TLC, just raise your level so that you qualify. The reason I say this is because the prizes in this TLC are fantastic and the difficulty level is quite reasonable given the rewards, so if you must, raise your level to qualify. Having asked a few Mods, this is, currently, acceptable to do. Start a resource heavy ship build, then cancel it. Repeat until you reach the qualifying level of 65. I mean something silly like this works:
Silly Rhino build
Now, on to Dark Reign.
Really, a lot of this has been seen before. I'll do a walk through for those that have not done it and want to familiarize themselves with it. I personally used 3 Apollos and a crew to go through all 5 levels. Remember: You have days to complete all levels. It's ok if you limp home after the end of a set with hours of damage. Repair and do the next one later that night or the next day.
The basic build for my Apollos is covered in this article: Basic principles of ship design.
So, let's do a quick run through of what you'll see and ways to mitigate some damage.
There is an overall strategy that can be incorporated throughout the targets:
1. Draw out the ships and engage them one on one at max range as much as possible. Good driving is rewarded here. This will allow you to maximize your damage (if using Switch Blades), allow your Phalanxes to take advantage of the distance to minimize the chance of being overwhelmed, and keeps the Heavy Cruisers from firing on you.
2. Another way to minimize damage when engaging these targets is to minimize Scatter Gun turret damage. The best ways I have found, with Apollos, is to get to speed and engage the turrets at oblique angles or charge directly perpendicular to them making their volleys over shoot you. Using a tank, the same ideas work - oblique angles or charges. Additionally, use the oil slicks to your advantage!!
If using the charging method, remember that you have to go beyond where the AI would make you stop if targeting the turret. Should you stop where the AI wants you to in a charge option, the Scatter Gun does not overshoot you enough to mitigate the damage.
3. Avoid torpedo damage. In the pictures below, I have starred where to go to hit the Torpedo towers without being hit by them.
Target 1:
Target 1 is really rather simple. You want to go to each starred point eventually to kill the torpedo tower.
Target 2:
Again, a simple target. Use the Retro-fit lab to re-target to the torpedo tower to avoid that damage. Sometimes you can hit the bottom Scatter turret from a re-target off of the Sentinel turret.
Target 3:
This one you essentially loop around taking out the ships and then the turrets. With careful driving the Scatter Gun turret can be had with re-directed fire.
Target 4:
The thought process here is the same as with Target 3. Loop around to mitigate damage. The Oil Rigs and their oil slicks can really help mitigate damage from the lower Scatter Gun turret.
Target 5:
Now we start getting into targets that can scratch you. This one does have to be dissected to mitigate damage. They way the fleet is set up for activation though can be ok. to speed it up so long as you can drive well enough and do enough damage to take advantage of it.
BOTH Torpedo towers need you to target the water structures in from of them in order to re-target properly to kill them without engaging them directly. Sometimes it doesn't work, but most of the time it will.
Target 6:
This is the target that can get you a dent or two if not careful. Again, start with the fleets, then turrets, etc. as we have seen, however, note that bottom island. That island's three turrets do as much damage as the rest of the target. Pinch these turrets before engaging and save yourself some damage!
Target 7:
(Level 5 Target 7 Thanks to Snoopy)
Ok, this target has 2 versions. The first, in Tier 3 and 4 is an old A set target. The one in Tier 5 is a slightly stouter 91 that we are used to seeing on the map.
If you have them- this is where you use the crews (you may even want to toss them on after the 3rd or 4th target). A Bullseye Brigade or Disciples of Skullduggery will help you more than any single other thing you can do. Period. Pinches are a close second. Use them, they only take 13 minutes.
In each of these you want to draw out the ships and kill them. Engage a few turrets so that you can clear a path to the mega hull. The best way to mitigate damage from the Mega, other than the aforementioned crews, is to use hit and run tactics. Target a Mega turret, once you are firing, wait a second or two and turn and run. This will keep the Mega's Scatter turret from engaging you and making you it's bitch. Once the Mega is taken care of, clean up the rest of the turrets and you're done.
That, in a nutshell, is the Campaign.
Prizes:
I will go over the prizes very quickly. I'll admit right now, I am lazy so I used Battle Pirates Cribs' slides. They came out nicer than anything I'd probably do. So, credit there. :) I am olny going to touch lightly upon them so I don't draw out this post. If enough people want, I can write something more about them.
CM Loaders and CM Equipment are always good to have in the tool box. Of note is the increased anti-missile accuracy of the CM Equipment but with a loss of anti-mortar accuracy.
Gale Defense Systems... currently, these should be must haves for everyone. They are so far superior to the Hailstorms of old that, should you have opportunity, you should strive to acquire as many as possible.
Resonance Capacitor... is a fantastic tool. It is a great add on to certain Conqueror hulls. For a quick redeux, you can read about them here:
Resonance Capacitor, Resonance Battery and those things that touch them in their special place...
Omega Behemoth... has been very useful in DUBs for many people running cannon Punishers.
Harlock's Citadel.... if for nothing else, this hull is one of the best base defense hulls out there. I ran this in a test server right after winning it and it was insanely good when used properly. It is fantastic in the 109's as part of a Citadel fleet, but I am keeping mine at home for now. I truly wish I could have won a second one of these.
Coaxial Firestorm, is a rather good weapon, but one oft overlooked aspect is the repair modifier on the armor it provides. Other than hulls, I believe, this is the best repair modifier for an armor in game currently.
Zoe's Apollo, is a custom tailored hull designed to significantly increase the efficiency of an Apollo fleet, and performed exceptionally well in the last raid set.
Tokens: These are self-explanatory, however, of note is that the Hyperion tokens only work on the actual building of the Hyperion. That's it.
The Vendetta. I can't tell you how much I enjoy this hull. I had stopped really base hitting for a while, but this hull has me doing more than my Alliance Points chores. Additionally, the idea of re-releasing this TLC to offer this hull was brilliant on Kixeye's part. Coupled with the tokens made available, players will be able to get a few out and participate in the upcoming War Games TLC, which, should it be as popular a second time, should make both players and Kixeye happy.
A look at the introductory level of War Games can be found here.
As always, I hope this helps some players. Feel free to comment, ask questions of even mail me ideas you'd like to see written about.
DragonBaneBP@gmail.com
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