You can save Steiner. What I did was to load the Shroud with solomons (the fire-and-forget ones)and save them for the last showdown. After the fireworks, locate Steiner's pod ASAP, stick close to it, and when you hear them commies go for the kill, unleash your fury and finish off the remaining ones. You then have good ol' Klaus join the 45th. Good luck!

Life is only given once ... and most often by accident

I know you can save but should i hes justb as painful as Gamma and Ivan

I dont take money only girl giggles- Thumb Wars

It's optional - you can as well let him die.

Life is only given once ... and most often by accident

It seems I can't even get as far as saving Steiner. I can never save enough rippers to blow the Borodin.

After getting the message that the rippers are coming in I head for them at full afterburner in my Shroud. I then locate nearby enemies and attack. After a couple kills I click through a bunch of friendlies until I see a ripper, then head for that, attack a couple enemies, and repeat. I use up most or all of my Solomons doing this but never seem to kill the enemies fast enough to let 6 rippers set charges.

Am I missing something?

You are not missing anything as far as I know (except the excellence of Soloman missiles) but you might want to stay near the rippers to begin with. Killing the upper turrets helps too.

I have tried this mission with a Shroud about two dozen times and failed almost every time except one (ironically my first...I proceded to get blasted by a Basilisk shortly thereafter) and although I LOVE the ship, I now use a Reaper with a heavy Soloman/Vagabond loadout. The Shroud just does not have large enough guns or enough hardpoints to kill enough ships fast enough. As for the ion cannon -- there are plenty more places to get out of its LOS on the Borodin then on Dark Reign. Have fun and keep 'em flyin'!

EMS,

Thanks for the advice. I'll give it a shot. I am sure using the Solomons. Just can't carry enough of them on the shroud.

I thought having the shroud was critical for cloaked operation while taking out the turrets. I'm guessing you implying to just duck in around the superstructure of the Borodin when the Ion cannon warning comes up. Also been trying to use the cloak as a strategy to get behind fighters and nail them quick. However, doesn't seem much quicker than just going right at 'em.

But how about when you head out to protect the rippers? Do you just take your chances that you won't be targeted by the cannon?

And for me too, I did save enough rippers on my first attempt when I really didn't know what I was doing. (Maybe that's a critical strategy).

EMS,

A couple questions about your response.

You noted " you might want to stay near the rippers to begin with." Don't know how I stay with the rippers since the mission requires I first go to the Borodin to take out turrets. I've been heading over to the rippers as soon as I get the message that they're jumping in. I try to stick with them as best I can. As I noted, once I'm in their vicintiy I kill a couple enemies, get my bearings on the rippers again, and then kill a couple more enemies and repeat.

" Killing the upper turrets helps too." Which are the "upper" turrents, on the opposite end from the ion cannon? If they are what you think they are, on each of the three "wings" of the Borodin there are two "standard" turrets with one of a different type (sends out what appear to be massive slower balls of light). I do take these turrets out while I'm taking out the two "standard" turrets.

Tried using the Reaper. I've got the hang of taking out all turrets and sticking close to the superstructure to not get whacked by the ion cannon. However, when I get the message to protect the rippers and head out, without a cloak, I keep getting targeted and have to dodge back to the Borodin to hide. Makes it hard to kill anything. At least with the shroud, I cloak for a few seconds and used the time to zero in on my next victim.

However, with either the Reaper or the Shroud, I can't seem to protect the rippers. I've even tried (with both Reaper and Shroud) just killing the closest enemies I come across while heading out from the Borodin. This under the theory that maybe the ships jumping in jump in near the Borodin and try and protect it. If I kill enough by the time the rippers head in, they might get through. Also, I suspect that this is what I might have done on my first attempt which did allow enough charges to be set. This doesn't work either.

One option I'm thinking about is when I get the command to hit the turrets, maybe I should stay out and kill all the exisitng enemies before hitting the turrets. That way I've leisurely taken out some of the total of fighters before the rippers jump in. Mission says the time is critical in getting the turrets but is it? It seems like rippers jump in not by time, but when I have taken out a certain number of turrets (can keep count on what this is).

Edited by - jreddington on 4/23/2005 3:04:59 PM

I notice everytime a fighter wing jumps in, they all head directly towards the Mammoth. In a straight line, until you shoot them. If you're right behind them, they won't even react until you shoot them. If you're in front of them, they might shoot, but you'll destroy thm before they destroy you hopefully.

When I said "Stay near the Rippers to begin with" I did not mean for the entire level. They do not even ARRIVE until the turret blasting happiness in done.

Here is what I have done with a Reaper:

(I am using the ion cannon as the "bottom" of the Borodin)

First of all the ion cannon cannot fire straight up through itself. Hence if you stay directly above the Borodin or inside an upside-down cone above it you can manuver safely. Checking the exterior view during long periods of intership chat helps not dying due to the ion cannon too. It just takes some flying.

As for the ships, same thing that Jambo said. The first wing of Sabres comes straight for the Rippers. Firing enough Solomans in their direction hurts them, but if you can get through their shields with guns or something they will bug out for a while.

What I mean about the turrets is that if you pack some spare burner fuel you can nab the six turrets closest to the Rippers quickly. The Yamato will be fine with the antiship cannons (the more massive ones). Besides, if you work quickly enough you can kill them too.

You just need to fly fast and watch your six.

EDIT: I just went through the Borodin mission and shot 20 turrets before the Yamato spoke up. Any other counts?

Edited by - ems Viper on 4/24/2005 6:42:19 PM

As well, don't forget to cloak when you're behind them. The Ion Cannon will recognize you as a threat and start targetting you. You may not get Moose's warning till too late.
An Imp may sound nice to use. Area effect, disables shields. But you move faster then the Imp, and by the time it hits, you'll either have:

1: Been shot down by the Ion Cannon or a Basilisk.
2: Shot a few down to make the Imp seem not so worthwhile.
3: The enemy will hace the shield recharge fast, if it hits before you get there.