X3ap Turn off rapid response ships

[Cursed Ghost]

hi all

I'm curious is there any way to turn rapid response ships off to stop them interfering because every time I try to take on an assassination missions those retards show up and destroy the mark before I can causing me an automatic mission failed.

just now was trying to do an assassination mission and the mark was on a Yaki Akuma so I thought well I don't have one of them so lets take the ship over instead of destroying it, so as usual I clear out the escorts and then call in my boarding craft, however just as I'm calling in the Sirokos the rapid retard ships show up and barrage the ship with missiles blowing it to bits screwing me over in the process, so I figure fair enough I'll just reload and try again this time the ship spawns in a different sector so again I go to work clearing out the escorts and again just as I'm about to go after the Akuma the rapid retards interfere screwing me over yet again.

Needless to say after repeatedly trying and failing to complete this and other similar missions due to the interference of the rapid retard ships I'm becoming extremely annoyed because now assassination missions are completely impossible to complete because every time I try within moments of me commencing the mission the rapid retard ships show up and screw things up

so I'm wondering if there is a way to get rid of these stupid rapid response ships to stop them from interfering preferable without wrecking my reputation in the process because this issue is becoming extremely aggravating.

[Getsune]

One of DrBullwinkle's mod packages seems to solve the problem you described.
You can download it here or search for it in his mod list.

I didn't try it out myself, but it seems like that's exactly what you're looking for.
You'll most likely have to activate the Script Editor to make it work.

Activation of the script editor will add a ***modified*** tag to your statistics - this means that if you upload your stats they will not be shown in the detailed statistics pages.

[Jimmy C]

every time I try to take on an assassination missions those retards show up and destroy the mark before I can causing me an automatic mission failed.

Are you taking these missions within same cluster of sectors every time? Then I suggest you try somewhere else. Just keep looking for sectors where they don't appear. There's no way the RRF will be everywhere all the time.

When it comes to assassination missions, there's one thing to note. The mark will always be in a sector of the race that offered you the mission, as long as such a sector is close enough to the sector where you got the mission.
When facing RRF response, if it appears in one sector of a race when you took a mission, you can assume it will appear in any other sector in that cluster for the time being. You might as well write all of them off as far as combat missions are concerned.

You might be interested to know, there is no RRF in Pirate sectors. You can bounce back and forth along the "Pirate Highway" looking for combat missions. Also take station placement missions while you're there. The more stations are in pirate sectors, the more chances for you to find combat missions in those sectors.

I take combat missions all the time just to capture ships. The RRF is the biggest obstacle to my objective. But I don't complain when they show up. I just go to the next cluster of sectors to look for more opportunities. Sooner or later, I get a clean shot.

No matter what you can't kill or can't capture, just let it go. There will be other opportunities against the same kind of ships in the future.

[pref]

I usually take a skirnir with me in case RRFs try to interfere with my target.
Jump it out before hit if rep is an issue.

There isn't an infinte amount of them, and after you killed all they take some time to respawn as i saw.

[Jimmy C]

I usually take a skirnir with me in case RRFs try to interfere with my target.

I consider that to be an expensive distraction. I use enough missiles to deal with the target as it is. I don't want to spend more to deal with the RRF as well.

And what's wrong with this thread? The reply buttons send me back to the forum index. At least the Quote button works. <See this FAQ. Alan Phipps.>

[pref]

Sooner or later one needs some missile plexes either way.
Then you quickly get to the point where you have to either sell some or cap another TL for storage.
Shadows are quite effective cargo space wise, plus missile defence isn't an issue with them. Best for situations like this, when you need a quick kill on the side. Lets you work towards the real goal without much interruption.

I find it really rewarding to see that irritating friendly rrf vaporize in the background just after the flash of my skirnir's jumpdrive fades away - while i'm listening to my marines' comms about reloading and blowing the next hatch.

[Jimmy C]

Sooner or later one needs some missile plexes either way.
Then you quickly get to the point where you have to either sell some or cap another TL for storage.

I do have a missile plex. You won't believe how many missiles I've stockpiled in preparation for ending the war. I still consider attacking the RRF a waste.
But it's easier to go somewhere else than to do anything about the RRF. Throughout a game, I can figure out which sectors have less chance of RRF showing up.

[pref]

You just need to waste a handful, then there will be peace for some time.
Spending missiles on not having to run from RRF is really worth it gameplay experience wise imo.
Plus a single TL full of shadows can win you any battle in this game alone (about 2 bill damage). No need to have 10s of it.

[Getsune]

You just need to waste a handful, then there will be peace for some time.
Spending missiles on not having to run from RRF is really worth it gameplay experience wise imo.
Plus a single TL full of shadows can win you any battle in this game alone (about 2 bill damage). No need to have 10s of it.

Shadows have been nerfed in vanilla AP, though. They're not much better than Hammer Heavy Torpedoes by now.

I agree with the suggestion to hunt in a different cluster; you shouldn't engage in a little war with the RRF ships
until you're sure you can beat them. Keep in mind that you'll have to regain the reputation
with the respective race faction as well if you have assets in their sectors.

Some of their ships have very nasty tricks which can kill you or your assets in an instant if you're not cautious enough.

[RAVEN.myst]

Personally, while I also often find those RR ships annoying, I also consider them an additional challenge, and as another user has also posted, simply look for ways around them. I keep looking for ways to make the game more challenging, so this is one.

Here's a tip - if looking to capture a capital ship in an assassination mission, it often works well to NOT clean up the escorts first, but to launch the boarding action as quickly as possible - the escorts provide a sort of screen against local defenders. Another thing I make sure to do is to get the capital ship's attention right away, and then pull it out away from the gates/ecliptic - that way, while the locals and/or deal with the escorts, the boardable is chasing me away from the local authorities. This does not always work, but it does improve the odds. Also, if your boarding action succeeds, get between your new acquisition and the local defenders, and keep an eye out for previously-launched missiles and shoot down any that come in - it's most frustrating to get a clean capture, with low/no damage if your engineering skills are high and you were careful, only to have a previously fired missile come in and wipe out your new toy AND your marines before you've beamed them back over.

As for the fire-missile-and-jump-out trick for "untraceable kills" - I consider this a cheaty exploit, and never do it myself - if I kill, steal or mug a ship, I fully expect to face the music. As it is, the consequences are nowhere near dire enough in the first place - one can get away with much too much, I find

[pref]

Think you missed the point..
This is about getting to your quest objective/boarding target before friendly RRFs spoil the fun.
Its not too challenging to watch them destroy the mission target for you - they make the game way too safe in a sense.

And there is no rep cost if you have the M7M jump out before the missiles connect.

Would be nice if you could just communicate with RRF and ask them to withdraw and let you handle stuff (assuming you have high enough rep).
But as long as there is no mod for that shadows will do the trick.

[RAVEN.myst]

I haven't missed the point - the challenge I refer to (as clearly explained above) is about finding ways to beat the rapid responders (or, in some cases, the regular local "authorities") to the punch - and, as also delineated above, I have found ways to do so, and I DO find it enjoyable, most satisfying, in fact, when I, for example, successfully board a capital while a furball is in progress near it, the escorts engaging me and/or the meddlesome friendlies while I decoy the fight away from my prize, and then perhaps intercept a heavy missile on its way to the target at the end, while mopping up the remaining escorts. All this, to me, is the very ESSENCE of challenge - I guess I just like my games a little harder than most other people do.

Regarding no rep cost etc with the orphan missile trick - yes, I am aware of that, and it's exactly what I refer to - I NEVER do that, as I consider it to be an exploit that makes the game too easy - if I blow the crap out of something, I should face the consequences, no cheesy cheats to sidestep that.

Would be nice if you could just communicate with RRF and ask them to withdraw and let you handle stuff (assuming you have high enough rep).

Yes, I've had this thought before - it WOULD be nice to be able to say "Hey, buddy, that's my contracted bounty - back off!" And I like your idea of making it reputation-based (and perhaps make a valid local law enforcement/bounty license also a requirement.)

[pref]

Tastes might be different
As soon as i notice that singleminded argon rrf captain trying to ruin my 15% hull valhalla, i send that barrage flying with a huge grin on my face.
Luckily i dont need to worry about rep, but i probably would not mind the orphan trick if that wasn't the case.

Its a design fail in 'race' AI imo, and as such should be avoided at minimum time cost. They even carried it over to XR, some missions types were not possible to do at all due to extremely effective sector defenses. Though its much less irritating in AP. Might be i just developed a high level of intolerance while spending too much time with tnbt

[Cursed Ghost]

hi all

in the end I just decided to not bother with that mission for 2 reasons 1 because the RFF just wouldn't stop interfering when I don't need there help me and my over tuned Hyperion are quite capable of taking down even the toughest capitals given sufficient time for my CIGs/typhoon/tornados to collapse the shields and failing that I can always just get in to my Carrak and blast them with plasma beams which unlike PALCs actually work properly and 2 for the time being I have enough ships to RE 8 capitals and 5 frigates are going to take me a couple of days as is and for the mo all my capital docking ports are full

as for playing follow the leader and pulling the ship to the outer edge of the sector I do normally do this when its a none mission ship but when its a mission ship I don't normally have time for that due to the fact that capitals only usually spawn with hard or very hard missions and those missions usually only have a 10 to 15 min time limit just enough time for me to knock out the escorts and collapse the marks shield and let my commandoes do there thing because normally if I kill the mark the escorts jump away unless they are fighters so if I'm going to take either the marks ship or one of the escorts I need to do it within the mission time limit normally.

with regards to the missile trick you care to explain that one because I've heard it mentioned but don't really understand how it works and have never been able to pull that one off I always end up taking the rep hit

as for the link to the mod thanks I'll give that a go.

now if I can just find a copy of the x2 script that let my trade ships beam wares aboard when using the special command software that works with TC and AP

[pref]

For the missile thingie you have to launch enough barrages on the target ship to destroy it, then jump your missile boat out of sector before they hit the target - while you remain IS, otherwise missiles are destroyed.
So if its the ship you are flying, you have to order the barrage, switch ships and jump out the one that shot at the target. If you order the barrage remotely, you only need to jump the M7M out (why would you sit in an M7M anyway ).
If you sit in the M7M when firing, you also have to make sure that the target is enemy for both of your ships, otherwise tracking can get messed when you swap and jump.
You can jump the M7M right into the same sector, the missiles will still be orphans (no parent ship for the missiles, so the game cannot know whose rep loss it should be).

So the only thing you really need to watch out for is distance: the missiles must not connect before your ship finishes the jump sequence.
Due to this time limit only M7Ms will work, you cannot launch enough missiles 1by1 to wreck an M2 and still pull off the jump clean.

RRF often jump out at first hull damage, so if you are lucky you don't need the rep trick, with minor rep loss they are gone for a while. Not sure what other ships you might piss of like this, and how effective apology is. Didn't really apologize in AP so far