Offline Solo
Online Solo
This is a fantastically productive mission for high weapons farming as the number of weapon crates can be huge. Weapon drops levels will be between 84 and 106 which puts all available DLC1 weapons within its range. You can get the level 100-106 DLC1 weapons for the other classes too just playing with AR.
While the AR had difficulties handling some cave missions in 4.1, his kit had been upgraded so much that he's the best class now to tackle them when you can bottleneck enemies in tunnels. The 2 main improvements that allow this are the flame based FZ-GUNs (that have a quick rebuild time, last for a long period and will stun enemies under its influence) and that now turrets installed on the Depth Crawler (or any other vehicle) won't self destroy it. The Depth Crawlers are more manageable too, it helps.
Essential weapons:
- FZ-GUN MX, even basic which should have 4 turrets, more and better will only improve chances
- ZEXR-GUN, even basic which should have 3 turrets, more and better will only improve chances
- Depth Crawler IV Custom, although IV can be enough, just a lot fewer shells, but dealing more damage, even better with DC V
- either ZEX Launcher (dangerous to use but good against yellow ants and heavy Cosmos), Limpet Splendor ZD or Limpet Detector ME
Armor: 1000+
Basics:
You start in a cave with 2 groups of 3 NPC rangers. There's 4 tunnels, one in front, one in the back, one on the right and another on the left upper sides.
Staying in the cave is dreadful. The front tunnel will spit 2 waves of silver spiders it's a bad option. The upper right one 2 of yellow ants. The back one "only" spits 2 waves of pillbugs and a heavy cosmo, but it's very short and too open to be easy to control, and pillbugs move extremely fast. The best option is the upper left tunnel, which will only have 2 waves, one of normal spiders at start and another of normal ants later but in a manageable time and position.
Plan:
Roll immediately to front tunnel (6-7 rolls). Drop and activate immediately 2 FZ-GUNs and then roll back and 2 ZEXRs (if you have 5 FZ-GUNs use 3 here and 1 ZEXR). This will kill the 1st normal spiders wave. Roll back to back tunnel, capturing both ranger squads. With some luck you'll be able to summon first DC before entering the tunnel, if not no issue.
Roll to back tunnel so you are just after the corner. Throw far one FZ-GUN, and the 2nd nearer, activating them immediately. Roll outside the back tunnel, drop 1 ZEXR, roll again drop another and activate both. This will kill the 1st pillbugs wave.
You're back in the cave, summon DC if you didn't before. Enter it and proceed to let upper tunnel. A 2nd normal spiders wave will spawn at its end. You can handle it with the ZEX Launcher if you arrived before they spawn or immediately after that by launching them towards their spawning point and activating them, and rebuilding them as soon as the last spider dies. You can also use the DC cannons to kill all spiders. Or the limpets. This is easy they're the smaller wave. Some crates will be at this location, health ones will surely be there (there will be crates in the front and back tunnels but only reachable by mission end).
It's important to rebuild FZ-GUNs and ZEXRs ASAP as they will be necessary soon.
You'll be at the tunnel end. It has 2 small openings on each side. If you stay on the left one, looking at the tunnel you'll decelerate the rate at which enemies coming from the main cave will come. The opposite with the right one. A wave of silvers will have spawned in the lower front tunnel at this point.
Your main goal now is to install as fast as possible 2 (or 3 if you have 5 total) FZ-GUNs near the tunnel end on your side and activate them. Install another 2 but DO NOT activate them. You should until almost the end of the mission always install FZ-GUNs near the tunnel end on your side, ZEXRs near your end or mid tunnel, and ZEX Launchers as far into the tunnel towards the main cave as possible. Try to be careful when installing turrets if you're unlucky you can drop them on enemies and they disappear once their corpse is gone.
Looking at the flux of silvers you will probably have to activate the ZEXRs if there's too many silvers as FZ-GUNs can't hold a lot of them alone. When the FZ-GUNs die activate second lot, or try to be thoughtful and activate the second set when you feel enough time has passed. Be careful, 2 or 3 FZ-GUNs can handle 5 or 6 silvers at the same time, but not 10 or more. If the tunnel is crowded either activate the ZEXRs or use the DC cannons to help.
A heavy cosmo will spawn too along the silvers, but for some reason he'll stay at the beginning of the main cave right ramp and will stay there until the end.
Your goal now is to prepare for the next onslaught. Once there's only 5 enemies left (which will be the static cosmo and 4 silvers), 2 waves will spawn simultaneously, one of black ants in the left opening where you are and one of golds on the upper right tunnel.
Towards this rebuild FZ-GUNs when it's safe. The best way is to stay at the left opening to slow the silvers coming from below and just after activating the ZEXRs use this time to rebuild the FZ- GUNs. Another option is to activate the ZEX Launchers that will throw the silvers around the main cave and will take a lot of time to kill them, if they will giving you time to rebuild both the FZs and the ZEXRs.
During this time it's dangerous, but you can use a DC to proceed in the tunnel to pick all the loot there to make space for more crate drops. It's fairly safe with either DC IV as they have 15000 armor, use the cannons to throw silvers to main cave if necessary. Be careful with ZEX Launchers anyway they do massive damage, so just go in and out the tunnel as fast as possible to also avoid your rangers getting all killed.
You should have been preparing a fleet of DC's in the meanwhile (you can have 3, the fourth will destroy the first one). It's EXTREMELY important to install the third one on the right opening pointing the cannons towards the left opening, at mid low level so that you can destroy the normal ants wave that will spawn there. You should also always have a DC with the cannons towards the tunnel to help the turrets if necessary.
Once you see that you have 7 or 6 enemies left and there's at least 2 silvers dying in the tunnel, activate all the FZ-GUNs, and enter the DC that is aiming the ants spawning place. After the first try you'll know easily the spot. Dump the cannons into the ants when they spawn, they should all be dead pretty quick, exit and activate ZEX Launcher or ZEXRs (what you hopefully have more). You can also help by using a DC with its cannons to shoot to the tunnel.
Your goal now is to prepare for the final onslaught. Again once there's only 5 enemies left (which will be the static cosmo and whatever has survived from gold ants or silver spiders), 3 waves will spawn simultaneously, one of gold ants in the upper right tunnel, one of silvers spiders in the lower front tunnel and another of pillbugs in the same back tunnel. Along with 3 flamer heavy cosmos, which will be your lesser issue.
Towards this it's even more important to rebuild FZ-GUNs when it's safe. The best way is to stay at the left opening to slow the silvers and golds coming from below and left and just after activating the ZEXRs or ZEX Launcher use this time to rebuild the FZ- GUNs and all you can. You'll need all you can for the final onslaught.
When the final onslaught start activate everything you can (FZ-GUNs, ZEXRs, ZEXs) the more the merrier. Do use a DC with its cannons to shoot continuously to the tunnel, using another when you end its ammo. This will help a lot as the number of enemies coming from the tunnel it's huge (69 excluding the heavy cosmos).
Once you've killed almost all smaller stuff if will a lot be easier. The 3 new heavy cosmos will either stay with the first or try to enter "your" tunnel. Just keep sending them gifts of each of the turrets (always wait so that they don't all end at near timings) towards the tunnel end (large cave side), it can take sometime but they will all die. If they stay all near the first you can come along the tunnel towards the cave using a DC. You can see them, and their flaming shots won't hit you. Use ZEX Launcher and ZEXRs to kill 3 of them, leave 1 alive. You can also use DC cannons on them. When there' just one left use a healthy DC to visit the 2, lower tunnels surely there will be gifts on both. The cosmo will not be able to destroy your DC. Your rangers will hopefully be at least some alive and they'll be annoying the cosmo too. Kill last cosmo with DC near him, preferably with shots to head to try to get more crates.
I succeed in 60 to 70% of times I do this mission. Usually I die because I get the timings wrong for the last harder wave, or because I take too many risks trying to pick crates when I shouldn't in the tunnel. Still the rewards are exceptional, I've picked 40ish weapon crates in this mission. At the 10th run it will be easy, and you'll have many upgrades to your gear. From what you read using the ZEX Launcher is dangerous but gives you better chances than any of the limpets.
There will be some usual geometry clipping issues and you'll see some loot falling from the map and disappearing into oblivion. Don't try to back too much with the DCs towards the ceiling in the area where you'll stay most of the mission, I've "succeeded" a few times to get myself out of the map and into oblivion too, and even if you manage to get back to the play area, you'll surely be swarmed by enemies.
If you're not greedy and very conservative the mission can even be done with basic armor. I did try to go directly to the safe spot, but spiders are very fast and your NPCs are too slow, most would die at the beginning of the mission as they will try to fight the approaching horde of spiders without much luck, which creates unnecessary issues.
No comments:
Post a Comment