[Androgeos Exeunt]

For what? Anyone can do ~ + I. They just don't want to.

[Lucika]

For what? Anyone can do ~ + I. They just don't want to.

I envy a guy with 21 posts having an avatar because he done an otherwise non-rewarded game accomplishment.
Make a system for that! Like the badges on Kongregate!

[Androgeos Exeunt]

They're handed out at the same rate as Custom Titles are handed out by Goober, so don't count on it.

[Lucika]

They're handed out at the same rate as Custom Titles are handed out by Goober, so don't count on it.

 


Some very, very hard ones?

Like killing the Sath in the collapsing node in Syrk

[MatthTheGeek]

Hey, you want to laugh ? I managed that mission on the first try, on hard, with a Valkyrie

[Narwhal]

This one is the mission at which I stopped trying to play on insane, 'cause I got instatoasted.

I succedded on hard, though. Here is how :

1. Take a Valkyrie w/ Phoenix. The rest of the team is Hercules.
2. Immediately beeline to the first cruiser. Scan it. You should still be friendly
3. Scan the Shivan disabled whatever it is. You can also shoot it for fun meanwhile. The enemies should turn hostile while you're scanning. Once it's scanned, afterburner out, because there are Leviathan blobs going your direction, not mentionning the Transport (the blobs hit harder, I noticed).
4. Tell your team to ignore the Transport, then both cruisers, then the freighters, so they don't lose their time.
5. Zigzag to the cargo immediately after that. Your wingmates should dispatch the Lokis. If you're lucky, you'll survive. If you're very lucky, you ll even be able to send a couple phoenix on a freighter. If you're not lucky, you will be either dead or too bad to hope to finish the mission.
6. Tell your wingmen to destroy the freighter you re not attacking (the closest to them - they re flying Hercules and you've got a walkyrie, remember ?) Destroy the second freighter, using Phoenix as dumbfire. Scan ASAP. Destroy last freighter with Phoenix and Primary again while your team get rid of the second wing of Loki.
7. Enemy renforcement should pop up about that moment. Beeline to the second cruiser, be behind and slightly below, as close as possible. Pray a lot.
8. Jump out immediately.

I had to try this about 10 times before it succeeds. Part 5 requires some luck, part 6 some luck and skill, part 7 A WHOLE lot of luck : the cruiser don't hit you too hard and no renforcement decide to send you an homing friend.

Remeber that, I believe, Loki will not engage you as long as you don't get close to the cruisers. Except the renforcement, of course.
On a side note, 6 could be slightly easier if Beta wing was something faster than an Hercules, so you send Alpha 2 and Alpha 3 on the closest Freighter, and Beta on the second closest.

[Narwhal]

Hey, you want to laugh ? I managed that mission on the first try, on hard, with a Valkyrie

Nice one. With all the objectives including bonus ?

And you change your ship on your first attempt on a mission ?

[MatthTheGeek]

That wasn't my first attempt, but my first one in hard difficulty.
I actually didn't fire a shot at all. I told my wingmen to cover me (I think they were flying Valks too in order to catch up with me) and scanned in that order : the shivan transport, the right cruiser, the shivan cargos and the second cruiser. Then I fly behind the cruiser in order to buy enough time to jump. Finished.

Speed seemed to be the best asset in this mission. I got all power to engines and my wingmen were close enough to me to be targeted by bandits and buy me some time (Valk may have weak hull and shields, wingmates in hard can dodge quite a bit with them before being killed, and they don't have to be static to scan like you do). I read that topic before and I didn't really expected to succeed with a Valk but I probably had a lot of luck .

Wait, is destroying the two freighters a bonus objective ? Then I agree I didn't completed it.

EDIT : And I nearly always change my ship even on a first try of a mission

[Aardwolf]

The way I beat that, I put my wing in all Valkyries, with double Banshees and dumbfires (Fury).

I immediately scanned the first cruiser, then deactivated targeting, got clear of the cruisers, and blasted the crap out of the enemy fighters... then I continued scanning stuff, and any time a new wave jumped in, I would turn off targeting and blast the crap out of it.

Probably not what I was supposed to do, but it worked.

[Scotty]

To target the Lokis, just have your freindlies cover you, target them, and press the "target my target's target" button (usually just "j") and you can blow them out of the sky.

That's how I always get the Scorpion on the first "SHIVANS!"  mission.

[Aardwolf]

That really shouldn't work.

I knew of a similar trick to target Delta wing in Proving Grounds, but that relied on hotkeys (i.e. the F3 screen)... but something as obvious as that seems... bad.

[Snail]

That really shouldn't work.

I knew of a similar trick to target Delta wing in Proving Grounds, but that relied on hotkeys (i.e. the F3 screen)... but something as obvious as that seems... bad.

Hidden from sensors doesn't stop AI from targetting them, as such you can target them by targeting your target's target.

The "Stealth" flag doesn't let you do this IIRC, but I might be wrong.

[Mongoose]

Hey, if it was a legitimate strategy in "Out of the Dark, Into the Night," it's legit here.

[Aardwolf]

If P and not P then Q.

[MatthTheGeek]

I think the trick "target my target's target" for stealth ships has been fixed in recent builds. I say that 'cause it used to work for me but it doesn't anymore. But I usually manage to beat the first scorpion in hard in those early FS1 missions anyway

[Skafsgaard]

Props for getting it done, with all bonus objectives.
Now, I'd just like to see someone pull the same thing off - on insane!   

[PMY]

Props for getting it done, with all bonus objectives.
Now, I'd just like to see someone pull the same thing off - on insane!   

Not a big deal, actually. It took me only several attempts and about 8 or 10 minutes in total to complete this mission on Insane (with completing all bonus objectives: scan the transport and all three cargo containers). Actually, this is one of the easiest missions in the campaign, in my opinion.

The tactics is fairly simple.
1) My choice for this mission is the Ulysses (or the Loki) + 2 Prometheus (or Prom + S Breaker) for me and for all my wingmen. The Valkyrie has way too weak shields and large target profile so it will be blown fast caught in crossfire. The Hercules has a good shielding but it is verry slow and large, it will be ripped by turrets, and this mission requires more speed and maneuverability than firepower. So, the Uly or the Loki are the best fighters for this mission (but I personally prefer the Uly just because I like it more).
2) The first thing you need to do upon arrival is to order your squadmates to defend you (c-3-8) or to follow you (c-3-7) and then scan the shivan transport as soon as possible because it will soon be towed away by the GTI transport. (don't forget to divert all power to engines)
3) Don't rush towards the other targets to scan after that. Instead, order your wingmen to engage hostiles (c-3-9) and then cycle trough all targetable targets (that will be 2 transports, 2 cruisers and 3 freighters) and order to ignore each of them (c-3-6). This way your wingmen should deal with rebel Lokis more effectively and they won't spend time attacking the cruisers or/and the freighters.
4) And then comes the fun part. Distribute all power between shields and engines. Scan the nearest cruiser, scan the cargo and then scan the second cruiser. Don't try to shoot anything. Fly evasive so that the turrets or the Lokis (if any of them gets on your tail but the wingmen should deal with them) will hit you only when you have to slow down for scanning.
5) Jump out. It's probably a good idea to divert all power to engines again and put as much distance between you and the closest enemy as possible because you have to slow down before jumping out thus becoming vulnerable.