Have you gotten past the first mission yet? If you have, I practised by just... flying around. Fly through one of the debris fields at full speed, it works wonders with your manoeuvring skills. And once in a while, you'll be attacked by (comparatively easy -- trust me) enemy patrols. Deal with them as best you can. Eventually you'll get good without even realising it.

If you haven't gotten past the first mission, I guess all I can say is practise. I always thought that the first mission was sort-of like a tuturial. The enemies don't shoot you much. You're in a tiny ship that's hard to hit, and moves like a mouse in Zero-G -- use that agility! You can't be destroyed if no-one can hit you. And make sure you watch out for missiles and keep your countermeasures ready -- that could be what kills you suddenly. I guess the oldies are the best -- practise makes perfect.

"If it aint on fire, you haven't shot it up bad enough yet" - my old teacher on Planet Housten.

I'm on the mission after Lonnigan gets abducted by the dart shooting, electric prodding maniacs. I'm supposed to catch a guy named Ashcroft.

Restarting the game and spending a few hours in the debris field around (what planet is it, Pittsburgh?) shooting down Rogues might be just what I need.

And I'd appreciate tips to avoid missiles as well as making them hit. My missiles just shoot straight forward. Do you need a lock on the enemy?

I guess it all comes down to practice as you say.

You got any tips on weapons and ships so I can get a better start?
And about food and oxygen and the "commodities". You don't need those to survive right?

1. Keep moving! Moving targets are harder to hit. And use your thrusters to vary your speed.

2. Use you nanabots and shield batteries! Don't get so wrapped up in fighting that you forget them.

3. Circle! For some reason, the NPC pilots have trouble hitting you when you circle.
This is especially useful when your shields are down and you are out of shield batteries.

4. Have you added an extra gun? You start out on mission 1 with two, but you have enough money to buy a third. Do so.






Jose Chavez: "Trent! It's good to see my kind of scum."

p.s. Missiles aren't that good in FL, especially the cheap ones. I'd save my money and buy better guns. To dodge missiles, use countermeasures! Drop a couple at a time, if you have to. And make sure you've got enough.

The best guns in the early game seem to be those you tractor in from ships you've blown up. If you are on the mission you say you are, have you bought a more powerful ship yet? You should have enough money to upgrade from a Starflier by now. A more powerful ships holds more bats and bots, plus it handles better guns.




Jose Chavez: "Trent! It's good to see my kind of scum."

I bought a missile launcher on the mining planet (I still can't remember if its Pittsburgh or not), is it better to go with three laser cannons in the beginning?

Oh, and thanks for the replies you guys!

hehe, just ignore my last post.

I bought a Rhino because of it's better armour and all those turret placements, but I realized that I did'nt have money to buy turrets... I tried the mission anyway, which apparently was quite stupid

But it's not only this mission that has given me problems. I actually had to flee out of the debris field a few times cause I couldn't handle the rogues.

But if I could buy turrets to fit the Rhino completely would it be a good choice? Or is it better to stay with the light fighters?

Rhino might be a good choice. But try to get a good shield for it, the maximum one that it can carry. It's more essential on the Rhino than LF. I tend to like LF better.

When flying Light Fighter you don't rely on armor, you rely on dodging enemy's fire. So if you're getting shot at for a quite a bit, hit turbo/thruster and do some crazy turn.

Try to get behind the enemies and stay that way too.

Shoot target that aren't locked on, they're less aware that you're going after them, and often just stands still while you pound away.

And yeah you definitely wanna get some turrets first for your rhino -_- Doing 1/2 the dmg less than what you should is bound to make it more complicated.

hope this helps. Keep us posted if you run to anymore trouble. Of course if it's spoiler there's a different forum for that

This is a neet part of the game because your ship is so vulnerable. The best you can have is a second level shield by now. Your fighting Molly's and they are slow ships. Get used to using the enginekill in combat it helps put distance between you and the enemy and makes it easier to have head to head strafing runs at the enemy. If you still have weak lasers you might want to start over or go back to just before you set out on the mission and pick up the right equipment. Here's what I do at the beginning:

Start with 500 credits.
Sell a couple batteries and nanos
buy lava blade. I think its just under 900

Go through the first mission with King you get 2000
buy your level 2 shield at pittsberg.
Continue on with king and take out the rouge base recieve what is it, 4000?

Now go back to Newark Station and buy a Starpulse laser. That thing eats shields fast. I usually have one of those on my ship for a long time into the SP missions. Also load up on missles.

Now you can chose to level by running missions or trading until Juni calls you. You can make quick cash between Newark and Manhatten running certain commodities, take a look. It actually equals the amount you make in missions at this point for the run.

Now you should be set to chew away the mollys shields and pump out some crushing hull damage with your Lavablade and Javalin missles. Best time to release your missles is when your charging your enemy from a slight angle. The added speed of the missles impact is fun to watch and you'll have Ashcroft in your hold in no time flat.

Welcome to the World of Freelancer. It's a ride.

I just wanted to thank you all for showing patience and answering my questions!

I have now got a much better grip of the game thanks to your advice. It's fun!
Though I think the missions from Juni comes a bit fast. You only have time to do about one mission in between them, that's a shame. I haven't played many missions though so it might get better later on.

But I still have some trouble. The AI-ships seems to be able to do 180 turns but I haven't figured out any good way to do it yet.

I am now flying in a Defender, heavy fighter. But I'm not sure if it is better than the Patriot. Anyone has an opinion on that?
Can you buy other ships in the other houses space stations? I hope so. I like the look of the Rheinland fighters.

Glad to hear you're doing OK and having fun! As for your questions...

I always get the Defender in the SP campaign. For a heavy fighter it's not so bad at manoeuvring, but it's very heavily armed compared to the other fighters available in Liberty. You'll almost certainly need it's extra firepower as you progress further in the game, I'd suggest you hang on to it till you reach a new area (won't say which, spoiler, but you'll know what I mean when it happens).

As for Rheinland fighters: they are statistically better than the Defender, and have much higher energy reserves. However, the least powerful Rheinland fighter is the Banshee light fighter, and you need to be a level 20 pilot to buy that anyway. And then you can't get into Rheinland space to buy one even if you were... you'll just have to wait till the SP campaign is over till you buy a Rheinland ship, I'm afraid. However, when you do finish and have the right level/money to do so, I'd suggest you give 'em a try -- I thought they were fun.

---

The AI-ships seems to be able to do 180 turns but I haven't figured out any good way to do it yet.

---

You can do such a thing too. Cut your engines. You can then spin around which still moving through momentum in the same direction as before -- though pointing backwards. Highly effective if you're being chased at cruise mode, as you can shoot while travelling. I think the default engine-cut key is Z. And then if I remember rightly, you either alter your speed or press Z again to restart them.

_____________________________
"If it aint on fire, you haven't shot it up bad enough yet" - my old teacher on Planet Housten.

The Bounty Hunter Intelligence and Tactical Computer System

Edited by - Bounty Hunter Jackson on 3/13/2004 5:31:48 AM

Let Juni wait! When she tells you she needs you, you can go off and do what you want for quite a while. She will hang around bars and do whatever it is that she does hanging around in bars.

You don't have to rush off when she snaps her fingers. Women are always impatient. Take your time and enjoy the game!


p.s. Towards the end of the game, you can't do that though. Missions come fast and furious.






Jose Chavez: "Trent! It's good to see my kind of scum."

p.s. You can only buy ships of a certain level during the game. I don't think there's a Rheinland ship you can buy until well after you have finished the story line. Your level won't be high enough.

Bretonia ships are generally better than Liberty offers. The Kusari ships are good too. You can buy some of them during the SP game. Also, the Bounty Hunter ships are powerful ... though they look like some sort of mutant insect.










Jose Chavez: "Trent! It's good to see my kind of scum."

The first time I played the SP game, my ship sequence was Starflier-Patriot-Defender-Crusader-Barracuda-Anubis. I finished it without problems(and I'm an old guy). I also spent a lot of time ignoring Juni.

Edited by - richard7254 on 3/13/2004 11:11:05 PM

<< (and I'm an old guy). I also spent a lot of time ignoring Juni >>


Yeah, we know enough to ignore nagging women by now.









Jose Chavez: "Trent! It's good to see my kind of scum."