[X3TC] Heretic's End Xenon keep shredding me. Advice needed.

[SFF21]

During the very first mission of the main Terran plot, I do very well against the Pirates (I usually kill one, and the Argon guards take care of the other), but when w reach Heretic's End, the Xenon squad destroys me in seconds. I can't even destroy one before I get killed.

Can I get some advice on how to approach this? For reference, my character is an Argon Patriot with the scenario start Elite.

[thelastslaith]

I don't think you actually need to kill these and the Terran's will take care of them for you if you just run away.

However Id recommend just going away and coming back once youve built up to having a m3 then you will have the sheilds to last the fight.

[Timsup2nothin]

Learn to use your friends. Let the other ships have some of the kills, and look for opportunities to pick off a damaged or isolated Xenon. Stay close to the Scabbard and the other escorts.

But if you are that close to the start the main thing you probably need is practice at combat basics. That Elite is a pretty strong ship for the opposition you should be facing (though I would have traded it in on a Disco Vanguard myself).

Erratic movement confuses targeting. Use strafe drives, weave and rolls...anything to make it harder to lead your ship and hit it.

Maintain range. The further away you are the more you have to be lead to be hit, and the more effective your evasions will be.

Hug up against stations, asteroids, large ships...anything that will cause the enemy to experience conflicts between targeting and collision avoidance routines.

Once you have an isolated target, stay evasive until you get out of their firing arc, then steady out and hit them. Make sure you have fight command one and targeting assistance turned on, or leading and hitting them will be really hard.

Be wary of other enemies coming to their aid. Better to damage them and run than to get damaged or killed by their wingman during an ill advised attempt to finish them off.

[Vim Razz]

An M3 would certainly work, but it's heavy, heavy overkill for the first few Terran missions. And starting as Argon Patriot, it stands to reason that you're more interested in shooting than trading for the time being.

Waiting for the Xenon to engage the Terrans before jumping in can be effective for getting through the mission. The quest ship is indestructible, so you don't need to worry about failing while you're picking things off.


Otherwise, buy Fight Command Software first and learn to use boresight firing with auto-aim. It will make engaging small fighters much easier. Even if you choose to finish the Terran escort without it, picking up Fight Command should be your top priority as soon as you're done with the mission.

Argon Patriot starts you out with enough reputation and almost-but-not-quite credits to buy the software. It also starts you out with an Argon Police License, so if you can manage to kill one or two pirates (depending on size) in Argon space then you'll have enough credits for it.


So, one option is to race back to the Equipment Dock in Omicron Lyree if you kill the larger of the first two pirates you encounter to buy the upgrade. (Killing the smaller pirate wont pay out large enough of a bonus.)


If you haven't accepted the escort mission yet, you might kick around in OL for little bit to make the ~800 credits you need to buy the upgrade. There are plenty of ways to do it -- kill a pirate or two, salvage a missile, small trades, a station mission, or selling one of your starting shields.


As for actually fighting with Fight Command Software, there are two things to know:

1) activate it. Pressing "k" will cycle through auto-aim options. The default setting is "semi". You want it set to "on".

"semi" means that your HUD shows the little targeting reticule that shows you where to shoot, but it doesn't actually help you hit anything. "on" means that you get direct targeting assistance.

2) Auto-aim only works with boresight firing or the joystick trigger. It doesn't work with mouse firing. Using a joystick should be self-explanatory. Boresight firing means using the keyboard hotkey to shoot instead of the mouse. The default binding is the "ctrl" key, though you can re-map it. (I use the space bar.)

It takes a little getting used to, but it's well worth the trouble when it comes to hitting small, fast targets.

[AgamemnonArgon]

Advice : shoot back, letting them have some missiles.
If they outclass you, go to another Sector until you have the firepower to crush them.

[Sirrobert]

There are aLOT of xenon there, but they are spread out. So engage one at a time, and run away if they come after you with to many.

Keep the rapiers out of the fight, and only call them in if you need something to distract the ships pounding at you. If you send them out alone, they will just get outnumberded and killed

[Threesixtyci]

Is your fighter rank high? If so, I suggest using a M6 as your combat ship.

Otherwise, you likely don't have the shields fully upgraded on the Elite so, buy two 25 MJ shields for it and you should be able to get thru those missions. Carrying some fighter drones help immensely as well. What I do is rebind the Drone Attack and Drone Defend to keys that are easy to reach. (I bind them to the arrow keys.... Right for attack, Left for Defend.) To pick them back up you'll have to issue the stop command to them then run over them with your ship. Easiest way that I know to do the stop command is via the My Property menu.

They will run out of energy and self explode after about 10 minutes.

Personally, I like the Mamba as a starter M3 (anything else I found to be too slow for 50-75MJ shields worth of protection.)... you can get a free one over in LooManckStraights Legacy, it's not hidden all that well, either. Should be able to easily find it when nearing the South Gate. Also suggest equipping it with Energy bolt chainguns. 4-8 of those guns will make quick work out of a Q (with you as the pilot, not the AI).

[Nanook]

Learn to use your friends. Let the other ships have some of the kills, and look for opportunities to pick off a damaged or isolated Xenon. Stay close to the Scabbard and the other escorts....

I think he's referring to a much earlier mission where he and a couple of Terran Sabres are sent on a search and destroy mission from Asteroid belt to Treasure Chest, killing all the Xenon they encounter. My advice is to delay the mission until his ship is maxed out and he has some missiles capable of killing the Xenon. This can be a tough mission for a new player in the starting Elite.

[Timsup2nothin]

Learn to use your friends. Let the other ships have some of the kills, and look for opportunities to pick off a damaged or isolated Xenon. Stay close to the Scabbard and the other escorts....

I think he's referring to a much earlier mission where he and a couple of Terran Sabres are sent on a search and destroy mission from Asteroid belt to Treasure Chest, killing all the Xenon they encounter. My advice is to delay the mission until his ship is maxed out and he has some missiles capable of killing the Xenon. This can be a tough mission for a new player in the starting Elite.

I think he's on the even earlier mission...escorting the Terran diplomats on the scabbard back to Heretic's End. The bridge mission for the Argon Patriot start.

[Nanook]

Learn to use your friends. Let the other ships have some of the kills, and look for opportunities to pick off a damaged or isolated Xenon. Stay close to the Scabbard and the other escorts....

I think he's referring to a much earlier mission where he and a couple of Terran Sabres are sent on a search and destroy mission from Asteroid belt to Treasure Chest, killing all the Xenon they encounter. My advice is to delay the mission until his ship is maxed out and he has some missiles capable of killing the Xenon. This can be a tough mission for a new player in the starting Elite.

I think he's on the even earlier mission...escorting the Terran diplomats on the scabbard back to Heretic's End. The bridge mission for the Argon Patriot start.

I don't recall encountering any Xenon then, only a few easily killed pirate M5's. If there were Xenon, they certainly weren't memorable. The enemies are much, much tougher in the later search and destroy mission and that's where most players have trouble.

[Timsup2nothin]

Learn to use your friends. Let the other ships have some of the kills, and look for opportunities to pick off a damaged or isolated Xenon. Stay close to the Scabbard and the other escorts....

I think he's referring to a much earlier mission where he and a couple of Terran Sabres are sent on a search and destroy mission from Asteroid belt to Treasure Chest, killing all the Xenon they encounter. My advice is to delay the mission until his ship is maxed out and he has some missiles capable of killing the Xenon. This can be a tough mission for a new player in the starting Elite.

I think he's on the even earlier mission...escorting the Terran diplomats on the scabbard back to Heretic's End. The bridge mission for the Argon Patriot start.

I don't recall encountering any Xenon then, only a few easily killed pirate M5's. If there were Xenon, they certainly weren't memorable. The enemies are much, much tougher in the later search and destroy mission and that's where most players have trouble.

Pirates in Circle of Labor, Xenon in Heretic's End...two Ms and two Ns last time I did it...which was about a month ago at the start of my current play through. OP did say 'very first mission' and mentioned the 'Argon guards'.

I vaguely remember long long ago when I was a new player I killed the pirates and thought I was all that...and the Ms hit the Elite with missiles that where clean killers for the amount of shielding I had...and of course I hadn't saved since OmLy so had to follow the dead slow scabbard again...and again...and again. Finally figured out that I needed to dock in CoL before I went through the gate int Heretic's.

[Nanook]

You could be right. If so, he's going to have a real fight in the next couple of missions.

[Threesixtyci]

You don't have to be present for the first mission.... (the mission that is skipped if you choose a Terran Start.)

Just start the mission and don't follow them and they will make it to their destination with no incident. Enemies only spawn if you're in sector beyond the starting sector.