[antihostile]

By some miracle, I managed to save the Neptune in the Exodus level; right place, right time when the Seraphim jumped in and a few lucky shots later, them and their damn cyclops missiles were history....managed to finish the level and keep the Neptune alive, but for some reason I got the "you did not have authorization to leave, etc." message grrr. All the ships had jumped! Nothing on my radar! Oh well ....I don't think the Gibborim jumped in and Lambda 1 had to make a little detour to avoid the Neptune when jumping... What's annoying is that I did it by accident on "hard" and haven't been able to do it again. Damn, this game rules.

[Trivial Psychic]

I think there was talk of giving a bonus objective for saving the Neptu for the SCP-enhanced campaign.  Not sure if they gave it warp-out cues yet though.

As for your problem of the mission not being "done", I think that the events which the mission cues off to determine win or fail, are tied to a sequence which assumes that the Neptu gets waxed.  Could be worth a fix.

[antihostile]

Good point about the mission cues, I wondered about that...also weird that if you can get past the Abraxis, it just kind of sits there and doesn't attack.

A dozen more attempts and still no luck...maybe the kaysers are too slow, it's those damn cyclops missiles, need to hit 'em early so one takes out the rest before they get all spread out....

[Trivial Psychic]

Remember, Maxims have a greater range and fire rate, so they're good for bomb-busting... if you can stomach the energy drain and shuddering.

[Centrixo]

i preferr the Subach for that kind of crap, bomb chasing, if not a weapon then i will use my own ship.

ive tried and tried and tried 400 times to save the nebtuu but i could never save that ship, easy to dispatch the abraxis' beam turrets, manticore's and nahema's but these saraphim jump in launch thier salvo i dunno what, but it seems i try to run into the bombs with my ship or fire my weapons, it goes right through the bomb. that needs a sorting.

[Vasudan Commander]

If you're going after bombers, emp missiles are a MUST. Though they can fry your systems and your allies systems, their ability to stop bombs dead in their tracks is uncanny. During this time, you can take out the bombers, and the allied ship that the bombs were heading towards can take out the bombs headed at it. Allied ships prioritise all firepower on incoming bombs, so if a bomb is standing still, its an easy target.

Oh, and dont underestimate the lamprey / maxim combo. Its rediculously deadly, especially against bombers at close range.

[[DW]-Hunter]

lol, lamprey sucks, and when crossed with maxim you lose your weapon energy fast and about those emp missiles.... useless, they dont get you kills, they just delay the ai from firing for 15 seconds.

[Vasudan Commander]

lol, lamprey sucks, and when crossed with maxim you lose your weapon energy fast and about those emp missiles.... useless, they dont get you kills, they just delay the ai from firing for 15 seconds.

LOL ! what planet are you on ? EMP missiles will stop bombs dead in their tracks, and in 15 seconds, i could take out an entire wing of bombers, and have time to spare.


Oh, and i didnt mean the lamprey.

I mean circe / maxim combo. Circe = 9 shield damage. Maxim = 9 hull damage. U do the math.

[Centrixo]

ok im staying out of this little ***** slapping contest . i use my own weapon combos that work to my style.

so its trebs 6x emp missile 3x. that dont leave much for the gibborims beam turret and the saraphim's, i will try it and keep me out of that fight please .

[Mobius]

Use Kaysers and annihilate the bombers before they launch their torpedoes. You won't need Lamprey/Maxim guns.

[Polpolion]

Isn't the ship called the Nebtu?

EDIT: Centrixo got it right. Not sure about the second u, though.

[antihostile]

Still haven't been able  to repeat the feat...might have to try the EMP missiles...what's the deal with ordering wings to protect a ship, don't they also intercept bombs coming in? I've tried calling in the reinforcements immediately, and telling all fighters to do nothing but protect the Nebtuu (not Neptune), but they seem useless at stopping those Seraphim bombs....the one time I did it was sheer luck. I saw them jumping in and unloaded with the kayser/maxim combo and fired off a double trebuchet and that seemed to take care of everything, don't think even one cyclops hit it...but I can't do it again, even on Very Easy. If I find a technique that works, I'll post it if anyone cares. The other thing is that every mission is a little different, and sometimes the Abraxis gets wiped out fairly early on, other times it survives a bit longer and does a bit more damage....but having the Nebtuu around was very helpful for the rest of the level!

[Centrixo]

Isn't the ship called the Nebtu?

EDIT: Centrixo got it right. Not sure about the second u, though.

does it matter?

[Vasudan Commander]

Use Kaysers and annihilate the bombers before they launch their torpedoes. You won't need Lamprey/Maxim guns.

Actually i meant Circe / Maxim combo. Kaysers are only mountable on certain ships, so the next choice is the Circe / Maxim combo. a Maxim against an unshielded bomber will rip it to pieces in seconds. Lamprey drains guns and afterburners, so i meant to say Circe, the anti-shield gun. 


Unfortunately, the maxim eats into energy reserves very quickly 

[Trivial Psychic]

My choice is the Ares with quad bank of Kaysers, twin bank of Maxims, Missile bank 1 with Tornadoes, Missile bank 2 with Trebs.  For "Finest Hour" I swap the guns since there's more unshielded ships to kill, and I try to get all Trebs for "Clash of Titans II" and the final.

[Vasudan Commander]

My choice is the Ares with quad bank of Kaysers, twin bank of Maxims, Missile bank 1 with Tornadoes, Missile bank 2 with Trebs.  For "Finest Hour" I swap the guns since there's more unshielded ships to kill, and I try to get all Trebs for "Clash of Titans II" and the final.

A very nice loadout. The shake from the maxims is annoying, but it works wonders against the unshielded hulls of cruisers, and makes good for knocking out flak and beam turrets. Only problem is, both those guns drain energy fast, so you'll find yourself re-directing power to guns.

[Mobius]

Isn't the ship called the Nebtu?

EDIT: Centrixo got it right. Not sure about the second u, though.

Nebtuu. Right. The Sobek.

[Trivial Psychic]

My choice is the Ares with quad bank of Kaysers, twin bank of Maxims, Missile bank 1 with Tornadoes, Missile bank 2 with Trebs.  For "Finest Hour" I swap the guns since there's more unshielded ships to kill, and I try to get all Trebs for "Clash of Titans II" and the final.

A very nice loadout. The shake from the maxims is annoying, but it works wonders against the unshielded hulls of cruisers, and makes good for knocking out flak and beam turrets. Only problem is, both those guns drain energy fast, so you'll find yourself re-directing power to guns.

Fortunately, the Ares has better weapon energy than the Erinyes, but I do find myself cycling power around .  Gotta max engine power to get anywhere even close to quickly.  As for the weapons thing, I usually switch between banks to minimize power usage.  Use maxim bank only when shooting bombs or unshielded ships.  Switch to Kaysers for actual dogfights, and both against bombers.  Sometimes I'll start out with Kaysers on a bomber, then cycle mid-assault to linked to get in that Level-8 hull damage as the shields drain.

[antihostile]

Okay, if anyone cares, I think I figured it out....basically you want to play the level on either Very Hard or Insane, that way your wingmen are good enough to take out the first Moloch and the first wave of fighters. You still need some luck to wipe out those Seraphim before they hit the Nebtuu, but it can be done. So, if you do save the Nebtuu, the Gibborim never jumps in and you get some help with the rest of the fighters. But, either way, when you finish the level and jump out, you will get "You did not have authorization to jump" message.

Anyway, lots of fun!

[Goober5000]

Target the Moloch's forward beam cannon and fire a Trebuchet at it the moment the mission starts.  You'll destroy it before it has a chance to fire.  That'll improve the Nebtuu's odds considerably.