[lolwutrly?]

Okay, I'm on that mission where you have to destroy the 4 arms of the sathanas, but I can't ****ing do it. Is there any way to cheat without getting detected so I can get rid of that god-forsaken mission?

[Herra Tohtori]

You only need to destroy two of the main beam cannons to pass the mission. What are you having a hard time with?

Besides, as far as I know FS2 doesn't detect cheating and will let you proceed.

[Scourge of Ages]

It's possible to get all four of them without cheating. You just have to be really really really quick about it.

Here's a hint: http://lparchive.org/LetsPlay/Freespace2/Update%2023/index.html

[General Battuta]

Just take out two beams, then take out the Beleth, then take out all the remaining fighters BEFORE jumping out, and you're fine. It's not actually that hard once you get your bombing technique down.

Alternatively, just cheat. No worries.

[High Max]

#~#

[Gamma_Draconis]

Does destroying the rear beam turret give anything?

[-Norbert-]

For me it helped to shoot a few Trebuchets at the turrets before finishing them of with the Helios. Most of the time that took them out right away, though sometimes I had to wittle down a few percent with the primaries (but never more than 5 or 6 %).

[Dilmah G]

Try this.
It's High Noon, but in a much easier environment. I'd recommend you get your bombing technique down here, and then try it in the real High Noon. I found it helped me learn to take all four cannons out.

(No, this is not shameless self-promoting. And yes, I know that mission is quite poorly done in some places)

[Qent]

The main thing is that you shouldn't launch bombs at maximum range. I usually go in at full burn and fire only within 500m. Once I got that down it was a piece of cake.

[The E]

Yeah, bombing runs in FS2 usually involve flying as fast as possible as close as possible to your target and launching your bombs at the very last second.

[Kopachris]

Also, the actual turrets are in a nook on one of the inside faces of each arm.  Find that little nook, approach it at full afterburner speed, launch a double Helios, and pull away.

[Sushi]

I've found that the turrets are generally easier to destroy when hit from "inside" the arms than outside.

[Rodo]

IIRC the problem with the double helios not hitting is caused by the bombs following the turret, if you launch them from behind or some other weird angle the bombs tend to follow the turret as the sath moves forward, they get closer and closer and one of the bombs gets a little "further away" from the target than the other one, when the closer hits the turret the shockwave (or something else... not sure) makes the other one explode without hitting.

[Thaeris]

The collision model on the Sath (for the turrets, at least) is HEINOUS!

I really noticed this when playing BP:AoA, actually, as getting rid of those forward flack guns is of upmost importance to your general well-being, especially in something like the Ursa. You'll not that "Trebbing" the forward flack guns from most forward angles is redundant as missiles/bombs will explode on the fixed barrels (amusing little low-complexity nitpick, there...  ) rather than actually hitting the turret. This isn't a problem for guns, but unless you've got Maxims, you don't want to be around that madness.

The beam turrets are also bad (in terms of the collision model), but not as bad as the flack guns. Set up your bomb run forward and at an angle above (for the top beams) or below (for the lower beams) when making an attack. Also give yourself some space. The Helios has a rage-worthy tendancy NOT to lock when you're too close to your target, so though making some distance between you and the Sath may take some time, it's time well spent.

[ChronoReverse]

If only the GTVA had kept some stock of Harbingers.  Bad collision mesh or not, NOTHING will eat 51,200 points of subsystem damage.

[S-99]

Hitting those beam pincers on the sathanas is not easy because of how they're shaped. I've played that mission many times where my bombs explode some distance away from the pincers instead of being right on them. You definitely need to get in close.

[Solatar]

I usually pick a random turret and have all my wingmen "destroy subsystem" on it.  If they succeed, I switch them to another one.  That way even if they don't manage to knock a turret out, I could potentially go after one that's at 47% of something instead of 100.  Then I can fire trebs at it while waiting for re-arm, and that can actually deal decent damage.

[Kie99]

I usually pick a random turret and have all my wingmen "destroy subsystem" on it.  If they succeed, I switch them to another one.  That way even if they don't manage to knock a turret out, I could potentially go after one that's at 47% of something instead of 100.  Then I can fire trebs at it while waiting for re-arm, and that can actually deal decent damage.

Problem with that is fighters use their weakest weaponry to destroy subsystems, in that mission they'll use Akheton SDGs.

[The E]

The AI will always choose the best weapon for the job based on that weapons' flags. If the job is "Disarm" or "Disable", it will go to the weapons with the "puncture" flag, and SDGs just so happen to have that.

Of course, Maxims happen to be even better at the job, but since they don't have "puncture", the AI will just go past it during weapon selection.

[S-99]

I usually pick a random turret and have all my wingmen "destroy subsystem" on it.  If they succeed, I switch them to another one.  That way even if they don't manage to knock a turret out, I could potentially go after one that's at 47% of something instead of 100.  Then I can fire trebs at it while waiting for re-arm, and that can actually deal decent damage.

I never once thought of doing that. Very smart idea.