Starlancer Unofficial Strategy Guide and FAQ by Kasey Chang released December 31, 2002 0 Introduction This section is "about the FAQ". Feel free to skip this section. If you like the FAQ, send me $1.00. :-) See [0.3] for details. 0.1 A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR This is a FAQ, NOT a manual. You won't learn how to play the game with this document, and I'm NOT about to add it to ease the life of software pirates. This USG only covers the PC version since that's the only version that I have. Some of you may recognize my name as the editor for the XCOM and XCOM2: TFTD FAQ's, among others. 0.2 TERMS OF DISTRIBUTION This document is copyrighted by Kuo-Sheng "Kasey" Chang (c) 2002, all rights reserved excepted as noted above in the disclaimer section. This document is available FREE of charge subjected to the following conditions: 1) This notice and author's name must accompany all copies of this document: "Starlancer Unofficial Strategy Guide and FAQ" is copyrighted (c) 2002 by Kasey K.S. Chang, all rights reserved except as noted in the disclaimer." 2) This document must NOT be modified in any form or manner without prior permission of the author with the following exception: if you wish to convert this document to a different file format or archive format, with no change to the content, then no permission is needed. 2a) In case you can't read, that means TXT only. No banners, no fancy shmancy HTML borders, no cutting up into multiple pages to get you more banner hits, and esp. no adding your site name to the site list. [Small exception: a "small" toolbar with no banner is acceptable.] 3) No charge other than "reasonable" compensation should charged for its distribution. (Free is preferred) Sale of this information is expressly prohibited. If you see any one selling this guide, drop me a line. 4) If you used material from this, PLEASE ACKNOWLEDGE the source, else it is plagiarism. 5) The author hereby grants all games-related web sites the right to archive and link to this document to share among the game fandom, provided that all above restrictions are followed. Sidenote: The above conditions are known as a statutory contract. If you meet them, then you are entitled to the rights I give you in 5), i.e. archive and display this document on your website. If you don't follow them, you did not meet the statutory contract conditions, you have no right to display this document. If you still do so, then you are infringing upon my copyright. This section was added for any websites who don't seem to understand this. For the gamers: You are under NO obligation to send me ANY compensation. However, I do ask for a VOLUNTARY contribution of one (1) US Dollar if you live in the United States, and if you believe this guide helped your game. If you choose to do so, please make your US$1.00 check or $1.00 worth of stamp to "Kuo- Sheng Chang", and send it to "2220 Turk Blvd. #6, San Francisco, CA 94118 USA". If you don't live in the US, please send me some local stamps. I collect stamps too. 0.3 VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTION Gamers who read this guide are under NO obligation to send me ANY compensation. However, a VOLUNTARY contribution of one (1) US Dollar would be very appreciated. If you choose to do so, please make your US$1.00 check or $1.00 worth of stamps to "Kuo-Sheng Chang", and send it to "2220 Turk Blvd. #6, San Francisco, CA 94118 USA". If you don't live in the US, please send me some local stamps. I collect stamps too. For the record, out of ALL the FAQs I wrote (33 at least count) over the past six years, I've received exactly 7 dollars and 2 sets of stamps, as of release of this guide. So I'm NOT making any money off these guides, folks. 0.4 HOW AND WHEN TO CONTACT ME PLEASE let me know if there's a confusing or missing remark, mistakes, and thereof... If you find a question about this game that is not covered in the USG, e-mail it to me at the address specified below. I'll try to answer it and include it in the next update. Please do NOT write me for technical support. That is the job of the publisher. Please do NOT ask me to send you a list of controls, the manual, etc. If you borrowed the game without borrowing the manual, blame your own stupidity. If you bought the game without a manual, blame your own stupidity. If you copied the game without copying the manual, you're not only scum, but STUPID scum. Please do NOT ask me to answer questions that have already answered in this FAQ/guide. It makes you REALLY idiotic. I will NOT answer stupid questions like the ones above unless I'm in a really good mood. If you send questions like that, do NOT expect a reply. The address below is spelled out phonetically so spammers can't use spambots on it: Kilo-Sierra-Charlie-Hotel-Alpha-November-Golf-Seven-Seven AT Yankee-Alpha-Hotel-Oscar-Oscar DOT Charlie-Oscar-Mike To decipher this, simply read the first letter off each word except for the numbers and the punctuation. This is "military phonetics" or "aeronautical phonetics" in case you're wondering. This document was produced on Microsoft Word 97. Some editing was done with Editpad (editpadclassic.com). 0.5 THE AUTHOR I am just a game player who decided to write my own FAQs when the ones I find don't cover what I want to see. Lots of people like what I did, so I kept doing it. Previously, I've written Unofficial Strategy Guides (USGs) for XCOM, XCOM2:TFTD, Wing Commander, Wing Commander 2, Wing Commander 3, Wing Commander 4, Privateer, Spycraft, 688(I) Hunter/Killer. Mechwarrior 3, MW3 Expansion Pack, Mechwarrior 4, Mechwarrior 4: Black Knight, Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed, The Sting!, Terranova, Fallout Tactics, Starfleet Command Volume II, DS9: The Fallen, DS9: Dominion War, Driver, and a few more. To contact me, see 0.4 above. 0.6 DISCLAIMER/ COPYRIGHT INFORMATION Starlancer is created by Digital Anvil and Warthog. Starlancer is published by Microsoft. Digital Anvil is a wholly owned development studio of Microsoft. This USG is not endorsed or authorized by Digital Anvil or Microsoft. 0.7 REVISION HISTORY 05-JAN-2002 Initial release 31-DEC-2002 Slight fixes and updates 0.8 THE MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Q: Can you send me Starlancer (or portions thereof)? A: No. You can buy the "Triple Action" pack yourself. Q: Can you send me the manual (or portions thereof)? A: No. Q: Can you tell me how to play the game? A: Read the manual. Q: Can you help me get the game working? A: That's Microsoft's job. Q: What do you know about the Dreamcast version of Starlancer? A: Absolutely nothing. Q: Why is your FAQ shorter than other similar FAQs? A: I don't repeat the stuff that's already in the manual or in the game itself. You can read that yourself or look in the game's reference section. Q: What's the latest version? A: There is no patch for this game. Q: Is there a demo? A: Yes, download it from Microsoft.com/games. The two missions in the demo serve as a PREQUEL to the game Q: How do I take a screenshot? A: [Thanks to Lancersreactor.com for this tip] When you're in cockpit, hit ZERO (0), and the screen will be saved as a .TGA file. If you're onboard the ship in "walkthru" mode, you have to use the standard PrintScreen key, which sends output to clipboard. Then paste it into any app and save it in the proper format. Q: Can I modify the fighters or creat my own craft? A: Check Lancersreactor.com for SLEDIT. Q: How do I avoid the ion cannon? A: Some say flying to the opposite end of the cannon (i.e. the "top") and you can avoid it. I can't seem to make that work though. The only SURE way seem to be either destroy the cannon or cloak. Q: Why does the game seem to freeze in mission 15 after the pre- rendered movie? A: Do NOT restart the computer! Just wait, have patience... It'll resume in a while, really. It may act frozen for several MINUTES. Q: After a mission, I got a short movie of a shuttle leaving this base and I got dumped back to main menu! A: You failed the required objective (usually, it's to protect your carrier). Load a saved game and try again. Q: What is the highest rank you can get in the game? A: Squadron Commander, same rank as Enriquez. Q: How do I survive the final mission? I get blasted by the ion cannon no matter what! A: There is no way to hide in space... Or is there? (Hint!) Q: I still don't understand! A: Cloak! Q: My backseater don't give me enough warning about the ion cannon! A: His warning has to be queued with the scripted speeches. Just cloak periodically. Shoot some turrets, cloak. Move on to next set, decloak. Kill that set, cloak. Repeat. Q: Where are the cheat codes? A: See final section 1 Starlancer: Game Information 1.1 STARLANCER BACKGROUND It is the year 2160. The Coalition forces, lead by Admiral Kulov, had just mounted a surprise attack on the French and Italian fleet at Mars at base Kennedy. The base had stood down for the peace treaty. As a result, the French and Italian forces, along with the base, were annihilated. Many of the outer colonies were lost. The German and American fleets have retreated in disarray to Titan, and volunteers are called to duty... You are joining the 45th Volunteers, a new outfit on an old carrier that hadn't seen service in 20 years. You are the rookies in this war, the scratch outfit that nobody would expect to last ten seconds against the enemy forces. It's time to go to war... 1.2 GAME DESCRIPTION Starlancer is essentially the next generation of space flight combat, in the genre of Wing Commander and Freespace. You pilot a fighter or bomber in space, shoot other fighters with guns and missiles, fly/escort bombers, defend your capital ships by shooting down enemy bombers and torpedoes, take out engines, shield generators, and turrets on enemy capships and bases, and take out any other specific targets as needed. Starlancer features improved graphics engine, bigger and better (badder?) explosions, better gun graphics, more missile trails, bigger capships (capital ships), more conversations, deeper story, and more. It features a LOT of dialogue among the different characters while you're in the cockpit, though the accents do seem a bit exaggerated. Starlancer also features a lot of computer rendered scenes, including "walkthru" mode as you move through the corridors of the ship going from room to room, as well as move inside your own room to the various stations. 1.3 HARDWARE REQUIREMENT Starlancer requires P200 or faster (P2-300 with 3D accelerator recommended) Win95 or later with DirectX 7 or higher 32 megs of RAM or higher 300 megs of HD space or more 8X or faster CD mouse or joystick 640x480 or better video card (800x600 recommended), 2 meg or more video memory (3D accelerator recommended) DirectX 7 compliant sound card 1.4 OTHER SL VERSIONS Starlancer was also released for Sega Dreamcast console. 1.5 RELATED GAMES If you want games in the same genre, try Wing Commander series (from Electronic Arts / Origin) or Freespace series (Interplay / Volition). A similar genre is the "Elite" games, which features space combat mixed with trading. Games in that genre includes Elite, X: Beyond the Frontier, Tachyon: The Fringe, Hardwar, Wing Commander: Privateer, and so on. Freelancer is still in production at Digital Anvil and may appear sometime in 2003. No expansion pack is planned, nor a sequel. 1.6 HOW ABOUT SOME WEBSITES? Please check http://www.lancersreactor.com for the forum that helped me through many questions. 1.7 WHAT HAPPENED TO DIGITAL ANVIL? Microsoft brought the entire team "in-house". The team is now a part of Microsoft, not an independent studio working for Microsoft. 2 Alliance Crafts The ships are listed in alphabetical order. If you want favorite, I'd say Coyote/Patriot at the beginning. By mid-game you can get to Phoenix/Reaper. Late game requires Phoenix except the final mission, where you MUST pick a Shroud to survive. (Yes, this is a spoiler) Blind fire is the most useful special you can get. The only other special really worth getting is cloak, and you only get that in Shroud. Spectral shields can be of use in certain situations. Reverse thrust is a gimmick that has occasional uses. Not all fighters are available at all times. As you advance in rank, your access level will improve and you will get access to better fighters. 2.1 COYOTE Special equipment: blind fire Coyote is probably the best early fighter you get, with "blind fire" that makes kills much easier. It has plenty of missile hardpoints (7) so load up on the stuff you want, though its strafing power is a bit weak. If you need to kill Kurgens, load up on Screamer pods. 2.2 CRUSADER Special equipment: spectral shield The spectral shield can protect you for a short while during attack, but otherwise this ship is pretty average. Missile firepower is average with 5 hardpoints. 2.3 GRENDEL Special equipment: none As a medium fighter, this fighter is not as fast or agile, but has better protection. With two sets of cannons strafing power is excellent, and five missile hardpoints is decent. However, lack of blind fire means you need to be a better shooter. 2.4 NAGINATA Special equipment: spectral shield Very light, very fast, and very agile... It's lightly armed (only one set of cannons) and only has 3 missile hardpoints. Spectral shields may help it out of some jams, but don't rely on it. 2.5 MIRAGE IV Special equipment: none Agile medium fighter that sacrificed missile load (just 4 hardpoints) for gun power (2 sets). 2.6 PATRIOT Special equipment: blind fire Patriot is a medium that improved upon Mirage IV, with 2 sets of cannons, blind fire (which only works with one set of cannon) and 5 missile hardpoints. 2.7 PREDATOR Special equipment: blind fire Essentially, this is a slightly better Coyote with 6 missile hardpoints. Use it when you can. On the other hand, Patriot has slightly better armor. 2.8 PHOENIX Special equipment: blind fire, reverse thruster, nova cannon Phoenix is probably the best fighter except Tempest (which doesn't appear until the end). It has lots of firepower, extra power with nova cannon, and very agile. However, it's a bit thin on protection, and only has 4 missile hardpoints. The nova cannon is hard to use and should be reserved for attacking fixed structures. It's useless in dogfights. Basically, you lock a target, then charge it up by holding the trigger. When you release the trigger, you release the "pulse" of plasma. 2.9 REAPER Special equipment: blind fire Fast, but NOT agile, excellent firepower and EIGHT missile hardpoints... You may need to load up on some fuel pods as afterburner fuel gets used up in a hurry. 2.10 SHROUD Special equipment: cloak, blind fire, reverse thrust, AND spectral shields This is a LIGHT fighter, though a nicely equipped one. Guns are a bit weak but blind fire helps a lot. Only 4 missile hardpoints though. Load up on good missiles. You need high clearance to use this one. 2.11 TEMPEST Special equipment: spectral shield Tempest has very good shields, very good firepower (2 sets of guns), 8 missile hardpoints. It is also quite heavy and neither fast nor agile. 2.12 WOLVERINE Special equipment: reverse thrust Heavy, slow, good shields, good armor, good firepower, plenty of missile hardpoints (8). Use reverse thrust to do the Maverick maneuver (get the guy behind you to fly by). 3 Coalition Craft Know your enemy and how to defeat them. 3.1 AZAN Azan is a Coalition light fighter that is quite maneuverable, but die easy. Use afterburner to get away, then turn back and let them have it head-on. Repeat as necesary. 3.2 BASILISK Basilisk is a decent medium fighter with good front-arc firepower. It is flown by the Black Guard and comes with a cloaking device. It has a thin frontal profile so is a bit hard to hit. You can't remain locked on to them when they cloak, so you can't be sure to kill the same one. To fight them, damage one while it's in front so you can make sure it's 'smoking'. Even if it cloaks it will still trail smoke. Then use full guns to manually lead the smoke and kill it. Yes, it CAN be hit while it's cloaked. 3.3 HAIDAR Haidar is a really fat-looking medium fighter with bad maneuverability, above average protection. It'll take quite a few shots to kill them. 3.4 KARAK Smoother contours, heavier shields, but lower armor. Appears only rarely. 3.5 KOSSAC Heavy fighter, lots of armor, average shields, decent firepower. 3.6 LAGG Medium fighter, LOTS of frontal firepower, decent shields. Appears quite often. 3.7 SABER Not agile, not fast, better than average shields, easily killed. Just fly on its tail and kill it. Appears very often. 3.8 SALIN Light fighter, decent maneuverability but otherwise easily killed. 3.9 SARACEN Medium fighter, average or below average everything except acceleration, not that hard to kill. Appears often in late-game. 3.10 KAMOV (BOMBER) They are the primary threat to your ships because they carry four torpedoes. It doesn't matter if you kill them or not, since as soon as they drop the torpedoes, they jump out. You don't have to kill them, just kill their torpedoes. If you can catch one, it can be easily killed with any weapon you have. If you catch one before it launches, kill it ASAP. Killing one bomber is much easier than killing 4 torpedoes. 3.11 KURGEN Kurgen is not a fighter/bomber, but more of a corvette/gunboat that escorts capships or bases. They are not fully shielded like the capships, so killing them just involve a lot of firepower. Screamer pods and full gun salvoes work fine. 4 Guns The projectile guns have an ammo reserve. Usually it's quite high and you should not be able to exhaust it during a mission unless you can't hit the broad side of a barn. Some guns can shoot out to 90K, but effective range for most guns is like 35K. Don't waste your ammo on something too far away! [Chart courtesy of http://www.lancersreactor.com] Name Type Damage Range Fire Energy Rate Drain -------------------------------------------------------------- Collapsar_Gun Projectile High Medium High None Gatling_Plasma Projectile High Medium Fast None Cannon Gatling_Laser Laser Medium Medium Fast High Laser_Cannon Laser Low Short High Low Messon_Blaster Laser Medium Medium Medium Medium Neutron_Particle Particle High Medium Slow High Gun Nova_Cannon Beam High Short Slow High Proton_Cannon Laser Medium Medium Low Medium Pulse_Cannon Laser Medium Short Medium Low Tachyon_Cannon Particle High Long Slow High Vulcan_Battery Projectile High Long Slow None NOTE: I've always thought meson is spelled with one "s"? 5 Missiles Missiles are listed in alphabetical order. Banshee (4 sec lock-on) average early missile, but only one per hardpoint Fuel Pod adds extra afterburner fuel (about 50 second's worth?) Havok (2 sec lock-on) temporary disabler of enemy ships, not that useful. Possible use against torpedo bombers or Kurgens? Hawk (3 sec lock-on) comes in pods of 4, late-era missile, very useful Imp (1 sec lock-on) shield buster, may be useful when combined with Screamers Jackhammer (5 sec lock-on) very slow to lock, but heavy hitting, required on some missions. Can kill a Kurgen in one hit. Raptor (2 sec lock-on) comes in pods of 3, mid-era, quite useful, superceded by Hawk Screamer (n/a) dumbfire rocket pods containing 20 shots, these are excellent for strafing and killing Kurgens/bombers Solomon (n/a) Solomon is a fire-and-forget missile that simply seeks out the closest enemy craft, comes in pods of 4. Vagabond (3 sec lock-on) high powered, even chases cloaked targets, but single In general, you want fast lock-on more than other attributes. You have a hard time pointing your nose at the enemy, must less hold it there for 5 seconds for a missile to lock. This is especially important against torpedoes. Sometimes, you may just want to shoot a couple Solomons and see what they hit, esp. when you're in a big furball with enemies everywhere. 6 Tactics 6.1 PRE-MISSION LOADOUT In Starlancer, missile hardpoints can load any type of missiles or pods. Availability is unlimited, so you can ALWAYS pick the best weapons available (though the really good missiles may appear only later). Therefore, your loadout is dependent on two things: what enemies will you be fighting, and how much afterburner fuel will you need. Slower fighters like medium or heavy fighters need more afterburner fuel to keep up with certain enemies. I recommend at least 150, perhaps as much as 200 seconds of fuel. As most fighters come with about 110 seconds of fuel (check your fighter info!), that means you need to add at least one pod, maybe two pods of fuel. Unless you only have 4 hardpoints (like Shroud), go with at least one pod. In case of Shroud, you'll just have to use afterburner sparingly. If you need to do strafing and you need fast kills of lightly shielded targets (like killing Kurgens), you definitely need Screamer pods. They are available early and they remain useful. I personally have not found the need for Vagabond missiles to chase after cloak fighters like the Basilisks. I just wait for them to decloak and nail it. Or I keep the target in view (you can still see the blue ghost outline) and shoot it manually. Some missions require Jackhammers. Jackhammers are also good Kurgen killers. They aren't too much use in a dogfight though. They take too much time to lock-on and their maneuverability is not good either. When you get Raptors, use them. They are much better than Bandits or even Banshees, esp. because they lock in only 2 seconds. When better missiles become available, like Hawk or Solomon, take those and leave the older types at home. Solomon's problem is you can't designate a target for it. I'd take half Solomon and half Hawk when you get them. I haven't found any use for Havok (EMP pulse) or Imp (shield buster) missiles. I prefer missiles that do real damage, so I never load these "exotic" missiles. 6.2 GENERAL DOGFIGHT TACTICS Concentrate on one target at a time, kill it before moving to something else. If someone is on your tail, hit afterburners and turn, and continue pounding your target until it goes down. Match speed! If you go too fast you'll end up having enemy fighters flying all around you instead of settling into a tail chase. If fighting an ace (who call you over radio and boast), go after the ace first. If the plot doesn't call for the ace to die yet, he will warp out with his squadron, so you don't have to fight the rest of them. Two advanced missiles on him should be enough, follow up with guns. Always fire guided missiles in salvoes or two. Even if the enemy decoys away one of them the other one will get him. Two missiles hit consecutively usually guarantee a kill. Blind fire usually only works with one set of guns in your craft, not both sets (if you have two sets, that is). You will have to switch between full guns for strafing attack and blind fire gun for anti-fighter work. 6.3 SPECIAL DOGFIGHT TACTICS (CLOAK, BOMBERS, ETC.) When fighting cloaked fighters like Basilisks, when you get a lock-on, use blind fire guns. When the lock-on is lost, switch to full guns and lead the target manually. Even when they cloak, you can see a blue shimmer. If they're damaged and trail smoke, you can still see the smoke. Don't head directly at the torpedoes, during interception. You'll likely ram one accidentally and destroy yourself. Slow down, match speed, use afterburner to get in range. When you need to tail-chase a torpedo, use guided missiles. If you shoot guns at the torpedoes and miss, and hit allied ships instead, you'll be branded a traitor. When flying around a large ship or structure doing turret busting, slow down. One trick I use is set zero speed and only move with short bursts of afterburner. If you need to fly in formation with something, match speed with it and use afterburner to move around. Lay yourself flat against the surface of the base or ship and you can sneak up on a lot of targets. 6.4 AFTER-MISSION DEBRIEF Look at the "two guys look at viewscreen" scene at the end of each mission. That tells you how well you did in the mission. If the two did a high-five, you did great. If you just got clap on shoulder, you did okay, and so on. 7 Mission Walkthrough Note: most missions have multiple victory levels, which is shown in the "endscene" when the two guys walk up to the viewscreen. The two guys' reaction will show you how well you did, range from a high-five (great) to throw helmet on the floor (bad). 7.1 MISSION 1 Suggested craft: Coyote Suggested loadout: one fuel pod, take Bandits on all the rest of the hardpoints Objective: escort convoy Just fly out there, hit jump when ready, and when you see the convoy, you see the "escort position" (the red octagons lined up in a row). Fly into it and you'll be in formation. Try to match speed with the ships you're flying with. You'll see a cutscene where a cloaked Coalition fighter blasts a wingman. Turn around and destroy it. You can see a blue transparent outline of the ship when it cloaks. Keep shooting at it (lead it manually), and keep blasting it until it goes down. Initial wave of enemies will jump in. Take them out, keep your missiles. You need them against the second wave. When the second wave comes in, it's time for you to learn anti- torpedo tactics. Stay near the ship you're protecting, slow to ship speed, and use the target torpedo key to target the nearest torpedo and blast it. If the torpedo is too far, use afterburners. Shoot torpedoes with all you got. Required outcome: 1 freighter must survive Best outcome: all freighters survive 7.2 MISSION 2 Suggested craft: Coyote Suggested loadout: one fuel pod, at least two Screamers Objective: fighter sweep, destroy Coalition hunter-killer groups Upon first jump, you'll rendevous with the Pumas, then get a distress call from General Briggs. Jump to rescue. Upon arrival, enemy fighters will jump out, then a Coalition Nanny will jump in hoping to grab Briggs' escape pod. Punch your afterburner and go for the Nanny. When you're close enough, blast that Nanny to kingdom come. Ignore all other fighters. With Screamer pods and full guns it shouldn't take long. Now you can kill the rest of the fighters. Alliance Nanny will jump in to attempt pickup. Protect it and continue fighter sweep. Once all enemies are gone, you get another call to protect a convoy. Jump there. Upon arrival, go into escort position with the convoy, and enemy fighters will jump in with torpedo bombers. Just stay near the ships and blast torpedoes. You'll need to kill all the torpedoes first, THEN go after the bombers (if any), THEN the fighters. Try not to use any more afterburner unless you need to. When you take care of those, the Pumas will call for help. Jump there, and you'll see them fighting a cruiser (Kirov) and its fighters. When you take out the first wave of fighters, another cruiser (Kamov) will drop in with more fighters. Take them out. Help Yamato by taking out the shield gens and engines on both cruisers, then watch Yamato blast the two cruisers. Required outcome: Briggs rescued AND/OR convoy lost only 1 freighter Best outcome: both freighters survived, AND Briggs rescued 7.3 MISSION 3 Suggested craft: Predator/Patriot/Coyote Suggested loadout: one fuel pod, at least one Screamer Objective: rescue, recovery, raid Launch and jump as requested. You'll meet up with Steiner and the Vampires. Jump to next point, and take out as many enemies as you can. However, how did those fighters get so far behind our lines? Jump again. You found debris. You've arrived too late to save the ship, but you can locate a recorder in the debris field. The beeping sounds tell you how close you are to the data recorder. Watch for mines. Stop if you see a mine and shoot it! Fly slowly or zero speed, use brief burst of afterburner to move. Turn to direction with the fastest beeping, and you'll eventually locate the recorder. You will need to gently "nudge" it with your fighter's nose. When you bump it, the data will be downloaded, and when that's done, a warp gate will open near you. A Coalition science vessel flies out, and you'll all be drawn in... And you end up right next to a Coalition base around Venus. You must destroy the warp gate... If you want, you can try to take out some of the other enemy ships around the place. However, you should probably start on the gate itself. Turn around and face the gate, and you'll see a rotating section attached to the gate, looks like a "castor" on the bottom of carts. Blast it (full guns and Screamers) to remove the armor plates, then shoot the core hidden inside. When you confirm the gate's blowing up, afterburner your way into the gate to return. The Coalition science vessel is still there. Blast its engines to disable it (sub-target engines), then destroy all enemy fighters, and you're done. Required outcome: destroy science vessel, destroy warp gate Best outcome: destroy warp gate, disable science vessel, all escorts destroyed? 7.4 MISSION 4 Suggested craft: Patriot/Predator/Coyote Suggested loadout: one fuel pod, load regular missiles (not Screamers), fast locking type Objective: escort Launch and jump out, nothing at first, but Condors claim they detect something. Jump on ahead and kill six fighters. When the Condors jump in and start deployment, eight more Coalition fighters jump in and go after the Condors. Take them out quickly as you have a bit of space between them and the Condors. You can use half of your missiles here. The Condors will jump out after deployment is complete. You then get a distress call to answer to. When you jump there, you find the Black Guard (and Nikolai Petrov) attacking. Go after Petrov and force him to withdraw (use your missiles). When he's damaged he'll run away with his squadron. Do this quickly to save the convoy. When they run, torpedo bombers jump in. Take out the torpedoes (with the rest of your missiles), and you win. Required outcome: save at least one Condor Best outcome: all Condors survive, convoy ships survive [You'll get some yack about Petrov getting away. He's supposed to get away though, so don't worry about it.] 7.5 MISSION 5 Suggested craft: Patriot/Predator/Coyote Suggested loadout: one or more fuel pods, some decent missiles Objective: escort, attack Launch and jump as requested, then you and Cobras will jump together to clear out a nav point. Just keep killing fighters. You can help the capship along by taking out its engines. Keep killing fighters while others take out the capship. You then jump into the middle of enemy convoy. Take out each freighter's shields and engines and then take out the fighters and Kurgen. Rippers will jump in and take out some of the cargo, and you'll leave those for McGann to watch over. Jump back to defend convoy (4 Mammoths) and assume escort position. Enemy torpedo bombers will jump in. Do the standard torpedo defense, take out torpedoes with all you got (guns and missiles). One Mammoth will die, that's scripted. Then wipe out the fighters and you win. Required outcome: don't lose more than 2 Mammoths (besides Sierra Madre) Best outcome: lose no Mammoth besides Sierra Madre (Sierra Madre will die, that's scripted) 7.6 MISSION 6 Suggested craft: Patriot/Predator/Coyote Suggested loadout: at least two fuel pods, missiles Objective: save the Ulysses You are launched to attempt to save the captured liner Ulysses and the convoy Jump in, then afterburner to the convoy ASAP. Enemy torpedo bombers will soon jump in and start shooting. Kill 16 torpedoes as per standard torpedo defense. Use missiles if you need to. If you defended the Ulysses successfully, you'll jump out to Ft. Baxter, then you'll need to jump elsewhere to defend a convoy. When you get there, you found that only cargo pods are left, freighters are dead. Rippers are launched to reclaim the pods, but enemy wings come to visit... Sweep the fighters and you're done. If you failed to defend the Ulysses, enemy launches a Nanny with fighter escorts to go after the escape pods. Kill it and sweep the fighters until your own Nanny get there. Required outcome: prevent capture of Ulysses personnel, enemy Nanny destroyed Best outcome: save Ulysses and the entire convoy 7.7 MISSION 7 Suggested craft: Predator or Coyote Suggested loadout: one fuel pod, at least two Screamers Objective: anti-carrier sweep, escort You launch expecting to destroy enemy carrier Ramses, except you learn that it is attacking Ft. Baxter. When you jump there, escape pods are launched as the base blows up. Destroy the fighters and protect the Nanny as it picks up the escape pods. Continue destroying fighters as the Ramses runs away... to attack the Reliant. You then get called back as Reliant battles the Coalition carrier. There are lots of Coalition fighters around, including the ace Al-Rahan. Go after Al-Rahan yourself and force his squadron to retreat, then take out the rest of the fighters. After that, quickly destroy the shield generator and the engines of the Ramses to prevent it from leaving. When Gamma wing launches, kill any one attacking them and let them take out the carrier. Required outcome: Reliant must survive Best outcome: enemy carrier destroyed, Reliant survived Note: If the enemy carrier gets away, expect to see more enemies in some later missions. 7.8 MISSION 8 Suggested craft: Patriot/Predator/Coyote Suggested loadout: one fuel pod, half Screamers and half fast- locking missiles Objective: escort Reliant needs some repairs at Ft. Carter. When you launch, the Coalition carrier Krasnaya jumps in. The first salvo of torpedoes is handled by the Reliant though you can help out. Then Krasnaya launches three torpedo bombers. Take out the 12 torpedoes they launch. After that, take out the shield gen and engines of Krasnaya, then start turret plinking. When you got all the turrets, Gamma wing will launch. Escort them against any enemy fighters, and the carrier will go down. Then just clean up and go home. Required outcome: Reliant survived Best outcome: destroy Krasnaya, Reliant not hit by any torpedoes Note: If you did not destroy Krasnaya, later missions may be tougher 7.9 MISSION 9 Suggested craft: Patriot/Predator/Coyote Suggested loadout: a fuel pod, two Screamers, rest good missiles Objective: raid, capture You're going after the command ship while the enemy forces are occupied. Jump in, engage fighters, then take out the Kurgen escort. When you see the command ship, take out the shield gen, then engines, then turrets. After that, escort the boarding ship in, take out any other hostile fighters in the area. After that, jump out and take on another Coalition carrier, the Kozah. Same deal. Take out the shield gen, then engines, then turrets. You will need to move fast as this carrier will run soon. You then get SOS. Turns out the McGann had turned renegade and is after the captured data from the command ship. Go after McGann and force him to withdraw or kill some of his men. He'll leave, Reliant will arrive, and you win. Required outcome: marines must capture command ship, boarding ship survived Best outcome: command ship captured, Kozah destroyed, boarding ship survived 7.10 MISSION 10 Suggested craft: Patriot/Predator/Coyote Suggested loadout: one fuel pod, at least two Jackhammers, one Screamer pod Objective: take out asteroid base Your first jump takes you right into the middle of enemy convoy. Take out the two fighters quickly or they'll call in reinforcements. You'll get reloads later. Go after the Kurgens, then the rest of the transports and freighters. Jump to next point, and take out some more enemy fighters. When the Nanny shows up, afterburn your way to the Nanny and get to the docking position. If you don't dock fast enough, the Nanny will leave and you are f***ed. You need to save your Jackhammers from now on. Upon arrival, afterburn your way to the asteroid, locate the comm tower, and BLAST IT. You have a strict 60-second time limit here. Then kill lots of Kurgens and turrets. Keep killing Kurgens, fighters, and turrets until Gamma wing come in and blast the dish. Finally, locate the vent hatch, shoot it to open it, and wait for Jackhammers to lock on, then shoot it into the vent, and watch the fireworks. Required outcome: destroy asteroid Best outcome: entire convoy destroyed, asteroid base destroyed 7.11 MISSION 11 Suggested craft: Patriot (maybe Wolverine?) Suggested loadout: one fuel pod, at least two Jackhammers (REQUIRED!) Objective: anti-ship raid Launch and jump. Upon arrival, take out the satellites. There are a lot of them, but they are fragile and only one or two hits are needed to kill one. Don't use missiles on them (that would be a waste). After that, kill the rear turrets so the boarding party and get in. Shoot plenty of turrets until you get the message about the marines are heading in. You should see a "docking sign" in the rear middle underside of the ship. Move to that position and come to a full stop. The marines will dock and wipe out the shields for 60 seconds. You have that long to kill the ship. Blast the cover in front of you to blow it off. When the cover floats away, launch a Jackhammer into the cover underneath it. When that cover is gone, shoot the remaining Jackhammer into the core, then run! (If you fly the Wolverine, use the reverse thrust!) Then escort the boarding ship out of there. Required outcome: destroy Coalition supercarrier Best outcome: the boarding ship survives, supercarrier destroyed 7.12 MISSION 12 Suggested craft: Patriot/Predator/Coyote Suggested loadout: one fuel pod, at least two Screamers Objective: destroy Stalag defenses, steal fuel, destroy base Jump out and rendevous with Ronins. Jump to asteroid, and take out the defending fighters. Then take out the exterior turrets. When you took out all the turrets, shoot to destroy the main hatch, then head inside and take out the interior turrets. Stick to the walls and shoot each turret. If you fly into the middle every turret will target you. The two Rippers will fly in and grab the fuel cells when you clean out the interior. Just wait for them. In the meanwhile, place yourself right at the exit, facing down toward the fuel cells, speed 0. When the Rippers are clear (you'll get the radio message), aim, fire two Screamers into the fuel cells from distance, turn around, and get out of the asteroid, bounce off walls, full afterburner! Jump back to Ft. Carter. Take out two more waves of fighters to protect the Rippers. One of the Coalition fighters has an ace called Red Dragon. Take him out for the bonus. Required outcome: get some fuel cells (at least one Ripper made it) Best outcome: fuel cells taken (both rippers), asteroid base destroyed, Red Dragon disposed of 7.13 MISSION 13 Suggested craft: Patriot/Predator/Coyote Suggested loadout: one fuel pod, at least two Screamers Objective: trail convoy to renegade base, but with a twist... Jump out, rendevous. Kill the incoming Coalition recon wing. They go after Gamma wing's bombers, so protect them. When ready, the other wing will be jumping back. They brought 4 hitchhikers. Kill all four in 60 seconds or the cover's blown. When ready, jump out and watch the remains of the freighter, then locate the enemy base. Jump to enemy base, and you see this base with a cannon at the bottom. Fly to the cannon and stop, aim your ship right at it, arm Screamers. Watch the cutscene as the ion cannon take out a fighter in ONE shot. Immediately destroy the ion cannon with full guns and Screamers. Once that happens, more Renegades will jump in, along with McGann in the second wave. Take out McGann immediately, then wipe out the rest of his wing. Another wing will jump in with Viper. Take him out too. Then work on some of the turrets to protect Gamma's torpedo run. Watch Gamma wing taking out the base, and you can go home. Required outcome: destroy Renegade base, destroy McGann Best outcome: base destroyed, McGann dead, Viper dead. 7.14 MISSION 14 Suggested craft: Patriot/Predator/Coyote Suggested loadout: one fuel pod, at least two Screamers Objective: destroy Coalition base Launch and escort Gamma wing to nav point, where they'll wait. Jump to the base. When you get there, shoot the two Kurgens first, then some of the fighters. If you have time, shoot at the four pieces of the warp gate. You can't destroy them yet, but you can speed things along a little for later. Unload a full salvo into each of the "flat" pieces around the edges. Then go back and take out the research base's shield gen. When Gamma jumps in, afterburn IMMEDIATELY toward them. They have a Kurgen on their tail and they won't survive if you don't take out the Kurgen immediately. And if they die, you lose the mission. Once Gamma cooks the base, you have 60 seconds to destroy the four power generators on the warp gate itself. A carrier is coming through. Quickly take out all four generators using all weapons you have. If you're fast enough, the gate will collapse on the carrier. Then just leave. Required outcome: destroy research base Best outcome: destroy research base, destroy gate, destroy carrier [If you don't blow up the gate, later missions may have more enemies] 7.15 MISSION 15 Suggested craft: Phoenix/Patriot/Predator/Coyote Suggested loadout: one fuel pod, fast locking missiles and Screamers Objective: escort, torpedo defense Launch and jump. Nine Basilisks will jump you, followed by 8 Vipers. Take them all out without using any missiles (yes, it can be done). Try to save as many of your wingmen as possible. After you get them, Reliant will tell you to jump to Victorious. When you get there, move into escort position, and enemies will attack from lower right, slightly behind. Take out the torpedoes (at least two waves of 2 bombers each). After that's done, take out the rest of the fighters, and watch the movie as Reliant rams the enemy carrier. [Note: it takes a LONG time after the movie for the cockpit to reinitialize. You can wait for SEVERAL minutes before the control will return, depending on individual setup.] Jump to Yamato's nav where it's fighting the Kiev and another ship. Defend the Yamato against 3 more torpedo bomber attacks (yep, more torpedo killing). Yamato must not get hit more than 3 times. Take out the shield generators on the two enemy ships (and their engines) and watch Yamato kill both. Land on Yamato to end mission. Required outcome: save at lest 6 ships from convoy, Yamato must survive Best outcome: lost 2 or less ships from convoy, last two enemy ships destroyed, Yamato must survive 7.16 MISSION 16 Suggested craft: Phoenix/Patriot/Predator/Coyote Suggested loadout: one fuel pod, then split between Screamers and fast locking missiles Objective: anti-ship sweep, you're going after the Morzov Upon launch, Vampires leave with the Bremen. Then Coalition bombers jump in, but Yamato can handle them. Jump ahead to the Morzov. Upon arrival, Shiraz and Morzov are there... Then Shiraz jumped out... It's a trap! Black Guard squadron jumps in with two Kurgens. Take out the Kurgens first, then take out the Black Guard ace Nikolai Petrov. After that, kill the fighters, then standard treatment for the carrier: shield gen and two engines, then watch Yamato jump in and toasts it. You get a distress call from Bremen... The Vampires are gone... Ambushed by the Black Guard... You were just about to call for a Nanny for the remaining life pod when the Black Guard squadron warped in and blew it into pieces... And the fight is on. Locate Ivan Petrov and force him to withdraw with a good dogfight. After that, you can land on the Yamato. 7.17 MISSION 17 Suggested craft: Phoenix/Patriot/Predator/Coyote Suggested loadout: one fuel pod, good missiles, at least one Screamer pod Objective: capture Coalition admiral When you jump out, you run into Coalition patrol. You have exactly 60 seconds to kill all of them. Use your missiles here. [If you don't, more enemy fighters show up at the command ship] When you get to the command ship, kill the two Kurgens first (try not to use all the Screamers here), then do the command ship with the standard treatment (shield gen, engines). Clean out the turrets, then help clean up the rest of the fighters. The marines will board, then Kulov takes off in escape pod, and the command ship self-destructs. A Coalition Nanny jumps in with escorts to retrieve Kulov, so take out the Nanny immediately, then the fighters. Wait for Alliance Nanny to pull in the pod, jump back with it to the Yamato. Upon arrival, more Coalition fighters jump in to take out the Nanny. Take them all out and you win! Required outcome: Kulov MUST be captured. Anything else is an automatic FAIL. 7.18 MISSION 18 Suggested craft: Phoenix/Patriot/Predator/Coyote Suggested loadout: one fuel pod, at least two Screamers Objective: attack Coalition ion cannon Coalition is building a huge ion cannon in order near Titan, capable of taking out a capship in one shot. Jump in, and kill fighters as you go. The cannon will take out the Victorious. That's scripted. Yamato then jumps out. If you hear that the ion cannon is targeting you, you must afterburn out of range. The ion beam has 360 coverage (it can shoot THROUGH itself, really). Some say that the "top" of ion cannon is a safe zone. This is not confirmed. Keep shooting fighters until Alpha 5 locate the shield generator (one of the 4 "fins"). When the shield gen has been located, kill it, then blast the armor cover around the core. After that, shoot the core and run really fast. [Note: It is possible to fail the mission if you take too long to kill the cannon's core.] When the ion cannon's toast, Yamato will jump in, and some more Coalition fighters will show. Take them all out and you win. Required outcome: Ion cannon destroyed 7.19 MISSION 19 Suggested craft: Shroud (no choice) Suggested loadout: 1 Screamer, 3 Hawks or 4 Hawks. Objective: rescue, recovery, raid Klaus Steiner is alive! You are to protect the mission to stop Saladin prison ship and rescue. You MUST choose Shroud for this mission. Upon launch, jump. Upon arrival, kill eight enemy fighters quickly, and jump again. Upon arrival, follow your orders. Cloak and get to the gravity drive section. Use side thrusters to maintain position as the "wheel" rotates. [If you were detected by the Saladin, you fail the mission] Upon order to decloak, destroy the gravity plate, then the other three around the wheel (use reverse thrust to help you move out, and side thrust to line up). After that, take out all the turrets. Once all the turrets are gone, fly toward the boarding ship and take out all fighters that attack. Protect the boarding ship, use half of your missiles here. [If the boarding ship was lost at any time, you fail the mission.] Two Kurgens with Allied POWs will come in and try to use their POWs as human shields. Diceman will tell you NOT to kill the Kurgens, so do NOT engage the Kurgens. [If you shoot the Kurgens before Diceman gives the order, you fail the mission.] Go after fighters. When the Kurgens go after the boarding ship, fly next to the Kurgens. When Diceman order you to destroy them, shoot them out of the sky. Then kill the rest of the Coalition fighters, saving your missiles. When Churchill arrive, you can escort the boarding ship back to the Yamato Upon arrival... More enemy fighters jump in and go after the boarding ship, including a Coalition ace Kariq Madiz. Use your missiles freely here and take out all the enemy fighters quickly. When they're all gone you can land. Best outcome: killed Madiz, Steiner rescued Required outcome: saved Steiner 7.20 MISSION 20 Suggested craft: Phoenix or Reaper Suggested loadout: one fuel pod, Screamers and Hawks Objective: attack You will take out the convoy and all cap ships. [Note: if you did not destroy the Ramses in Mission 7, it'll be here.] Take out the Kurgens first (Screamer strafing runs), then some fighters. Keep killing fighters until a Coalition ace, Katrina Illyana jump in with her squad. Damage her to force her to jump out. When those are gone, start doing the capships with regular treatment: shield gen, then two engines. Repeat for each ship. Then go after the turrets. When you've cleaned out the area, Gamma will come in and torpedo the ships. You will jump ahead to Ronin group. It'll take two jumps. Upon arrival, you found the Ronin group was destroyed. Use the beeper to locate the beacon. When you locate the beacon and got the data, Black Guard jumps in and tries to do you too. Shoot Petrov enough until he withdraws, and you can go back and land. Best outcome: destroy entire convoy Required outcome: must destroy some ships in the convoy 7.21 MISSION 21 Suggested craft: Phoenix or Patriot (Reaper is a bit slow) Suggested loadout: one fuel pod, at least two Screamers Objective: raid on enemy fleet, then fleet defense You will launch in enemy Kamov bombers. Follow orders and stick close to the leader. If you don't know where, a red marker is provided. Match his speed and follow him closely. Point at the carrier, a little further down the hull. Just wait until he says shoot. When he does, hit [shoot missile] four times at one-second intervals to get all four torpedoes out. [You have to launch all four or the mission fails] Pull up and hit afterburners, and start weaving back and forth. Varyag is toast. Yamato will jump in and you need to land on it. Just fly toward it at your fastest speed (afterburners on, use the fuel) and do a little weaving. When you get close enough you'll land automatically though for insurance, always request landing clearance. You will immediately launch in the craft you've chosen initially. You will immediately see separate incoming torp bombers and torpedoes. Kill torpedoes until they stop coming, as they come from two different angles. If more than 4 (5?) torpedoes hit the Yamato, you lose. Upon killing all the torpedoes, kill the shield gen and engines on each of the two capships (Kozlov and Shinnik), and watch Yamato toast them. [If you don't take out the engines and shield gen on the two capships they'll jump out.] Required outcome: Yamato must survive, Varyag must be destroyed, must stay in formation in the Kamov, Shinnik and Kozlov must be destroyed Best outcome: no (one?) formation warning (Bandit warn you to get back into formation during the Kamov phase), Varyag destroyed, Yamato get no hits, Kozlov and Shinnik destroyed 7.22 MISSION 22 Suggested craft: Phoenix or Reaper Suggested loadout: one fuel pod, Solomons and Screamers Objective: supply raid Upon launch, jump. Upon arrival, you see early warning satellites. You need to kill them all in 60 seconds to prevent enemy reinforcements and maintain surprise. Consider using Solomon missiles here. If you don't take them in 60 seconds, you get an incoming wave of enemy fighters, and you have 60 seconds to destroy THEM. Jump out when done. When you reach the depot, kill the comm tower (again). Then the turrets and cargo doors. Rippers will jump in. As they exit, enemy fighters will interfere. Take them out, and follow the Rippers home. Required outcome: 6 pods must survive Best outcome: all pods survived 7.23 MISSION 23 Suggested craft: Phoenix or Reaper Suggested loadout: one fuel pod, lots of missiles (Solomons and Hawks) Objective: destroy the Black Guard Upon launch, jump. Upon arrival, you're at the Pukov, the Black Guard mothership. You can kill the fighters if you like, but I just move straight up to the Pukov and go after the shield generator. If you are right against the deck the guns can't hit you. Take out the shield gen. Now kill the turrets. There are five on the top side and another four at the bottom side. When you finish off the turrets, start killing fighters. If you get reports of torpedo bombers launch, kill them fast. They launch two at a time and you have about 5-8 seconds before they launch torpedoes. If you're fast, you can catch them before they launch. Else kill torpedoes in standard anti-torpedo defense role. You have to minimize the torpedoes hitting the Yamato. If you let past too many, Yamato is toast and you lose. Gamma wing makes its run. Keep looking for bombers and torpedoes and kill them. You will have to keep killing torpedoes and torpedo bombers until Yamato goes in for its own salvo. When Yamato sends in its own salvo, the Pukov is toast. Ivan Petrov comes by and realized his carrier is gone (and his daddy). Shoot a couple Solomons at him and he'll leave with his squadron. You can then land. Required outcome: destroy Pukov, Yamato must survive Best outcome: destroy Pukov, Yamato did not get hit 7.24 MISSION 24 Suggested craft: Shroud (yes, you need the cloak) Suggested loadout: 2 Solomons, 2 Hawks Objective: raid Ivan Petrov and Admiral Kulov are on the Borodin outpost. This is the grand finale... Take them all out... Upon launch, jump. At rendevous point, wait for next jump, jump when ready. Upon arrival, start shooting fighters. After a moment, you'll see Gamma try to make a torpedo run behind the freighter, but the ion cannon took them out. Some torpedoes made it through, but not enough to stop the cannon. Take out turrets. When you got enough, Rippers will be called in to plant demolition charges. This is where cloak comes to play. Cloak and start turret hunting. Cloak, find turret, shoot it, cloak again. Repeat for all turrets. If you get the message that the ion cannon is after you, cloak! [If you don't take Shroud, you won't survive the ion cannon as you can't get out of range.] When you got enough turrets, a whole slew of Rippers will charge in. You need AT LEAST SIX Rippers to survive and plant their fuel pod charges. In their way are two enemy wings. Use your missiles and fry them before they get to the Rippers, Full afterburners! Watch the Rippers plant their charges (fuel pods) and leave. Unfortunately the detonator didn't work. You need to get them off manually. Target one of them and shoot it to blow up the cannon. A section of the station separates. It's a warp core and it just opened a warp gate, but you can't make a dent in it. Steiner then kamikazes into the pod, breaking the armor around the warp core. Kill warp core by firing into the core. Steiner ejected and is in escape pod, then Ivan Petrov jumps in with the remaining Black Guard. Petrov goes after Steiner's pod. If you want Steiner to survive, kill Petrov ASAP! Launch multiple Solomons and Hawks after him. Kill the rest later. Required outcome: Borodin must be destroyed Best outcome: Borodin destroyed, Kulov dead (you killed the core before it warped out through the gate), Steiner saved, Petrov dead 8 Misc. Info 8.1 CHEAT CODES [Thanks to LancersReactor.com for this tip] On the StarLancer main menu, press and hold down the CTRL key as you type "potato" without quotes. When the red mission indicator appears in the upper left corner of the screen ("M1" indicates that Mission 1 is selected), type the number for the mission that you want to play. The mission indicator is updated automatically when you type a new mission number. NOTE: There are 24 missions in StarLancer. To select Missions 1 through 9, type the mission number with a leading zero. For example, to select Mission 7, type 07. After you select the mission that you want to play, select the ship that you want to fly during the mission. To do this, use one of the following methods: * To select only ships that are normally available for the mission that you selected, press CRTL+ENTER to move directly to the Briefing Room, and then select your ship. * To select any ship in the game, press and hold down the SHIFT key as you press the appropriate function key for the ship that you want to fly during the mission (see below). Function Key Ship F1 Predator F2 Naginata F3 Grendel F4 Crusader F5 Coyote F6 Mirage IV F7 Tempest F8 Patriot F9 Wolverine F10 Reaper F11 Shroud F12 Phoenix -- THE END --