X3TC - Hardcore Mode...try Poisoned Paranid

[vindication]

After about a bazillion restarts, I finally "finished" the Poisoned Paranid start with zero deaths...meaning I made it without dying or reloading. This is hardcore (if you ever played Diablo2, you will know what hardcore mode is)

Here is the hardcore challenge you should try this for a very VERY hard game...

1. Only use the vanilla game (or with the latest official patch)

2. Start Poisoned Paranid scenario...this is for the TIME difficulty aspect as you only have 75 hours to build 25,000,000 credits.

3. Do not fight Yakis OR Pirates (only Xenon and Khaaks)...meaning if you press P, your log should only show "items destroyed" as ships of the Xenon or Khaak races.

4. If you die, you must select "new game" and retry.

Your reward is a very very awesome M6 Corvette (yes you can get it without my hardcore challenge but you'll spoil the "YES...I worked my butt off and I got something cool" reward feeling)

At this point, you may save or benchmark after you get your initial reward. Then you can virtually begin the game with a very nice M6 to be do the Terran main plot or become a pirate, or do whatever....and stay in Hardcore Mode (meaning if you die trying to take on an M2...then you gotta start back at the beginning of your benchmark).

[Stuh42l]

After about 25 attempts I finally succeeded (so far) in my DiD Unholy traitor start. I didn't even make it out of the first sector 9 times of 10.

This time, I made it to Teladi space, sold the PAC's for upgrades and an extra 5 MJ shield.

Then I decided to take a chance jacking a Paranid Tech transporter. I got the Demeter pilot to bail AND leave all 4! of his 25MJ shields in tact.

Things are looking up.

[Deadbeat_Spinn]

Poisoned Paranid isn't all that hard, I made it out alive on my first run (started in Heaven's Assertion) and paid for the cure in less than 8 game hours.

Give Unholy Traitor or Lost Lar a go, those make the PP gamestart a breeze in comparison.

[Threesixtyci]

That Goner one is pretty hard.

Not from blowing up or anything like that, but from pure boredom. You start with zero money, in a ship that can't equip any weapons that is extremely slow, and hardly has any room for cargo.

[vindication]

I prefer to play DiD (Hardcore) playstyle and I also like to fight the Xenon. So when I started a DiD Goner game, I bailed after about 30 seconds...thinking what's the point of being a "good" goner, if you can't kill anything? How are you suppose to subvert the entire universe into being peaceful denizens when you can't kill the Xenon or Khaak (who appears are invasive)? I was going to think about doing a "crippler" with my goner...as in, you fight but do not kill...just cripple attackers so that their hulls are down to 10% and they can't chase you....else make them bail out of their ships and you can capture them. In other words, when you press P, you show no ships in your objects destroyed.

So the other way is to just trade peacefully...but what can you do with all the money you make? Except to build a massive fleet and subvert the entire universe...which I think is the FINAL end game.

[vindication]

I had to restart (again) because I took on 6 Xenon Qs with my Hyperion Vanguard (2 waves of 3s) and was firing at a Q but it was the dark side so I couldn't see it until I rammed it. Oopss...blew up. That's DiD.

Anyhow...just before I turned in my 25M credits to Nula Li for the operation, I saved and found an interesting tid-bit. My Hyperion this time was hell alot slower in max speed...and I was like...what? My last Hyperion was 202.9 m/s max speed and this one was 165 m/s?

Aha!!!! Just like in RPG, where you "roll" your character, this is what I stumbled on...

You CAN roll a M6 Hyperion...I got the max speed so far is 223.3 m/s. If you know any higher, let me know. I tried rerolling about 30 times to get that high.. (reroll is just load game prior to when you turn in 25M, turn it in and see what max speed is..if too slow, load game and turn in 25M again).

[vindication]

You ever try DiD in bankrupted assassin where there is a CONSTANT barrage of pirate bounty hunters after you? I tried it but put it on hold due to the constant shelling (like a guy in a foxhole always getting shelled). Been doing Poisoned Paranid...you CAN do it peacefully or fight...very flexible.

Been doing other DiD...like with the Aldrin Adventurer (great start with a Spitfyre) but you're locked out of the Terran main story line....been thinking of doing a DiD and saving the main story line until I have a MASSIVE FLEET to do that mission....want to stage a bunch of ambushes so when the game is triggered, my fleets are in position.....and wipes out every red dot before the Terran "allies" get to them.

[Stuh42l]

The Unholy Traitor has worse bounty hunters then the BA, and you start in a KoS core sector...