The "L"

-John- · Post by **-John-** » Wed, 12. Apr 17, 16:43

You guys have been so very nice in assisting me;but,in my pursuit of the "L" I am having a very difficult time. And,I have read very much on this that I know many others have found it ; impossible??????
So am I allowed to vent on this???? Just a tad,hahahaha???
I have destroyed over 50 so far but none want to bell.
Is there a point you may pass where it becomes impossible??
I have been to all Xenon and connecting sectors. I have a Tiger now and I can wreak havoc in those sectors,my latest victim was a J.
At this point, I wanna say the heck with it,but I need it.
Ok,vent over,lol.
John

Ripskar · Post by **Ripskar** » Wed, 12. Apr 17, 17:36

Other than the flak-wagon the usual method was to whittle the hull with a mass driver before you obliterated the shields.
It's still in the lap of the RNG but it helps to massage the odds.

Honved · Post by **Honved** » Wed, 12. Apr 17, 18:15

Clearly, the Random Number Generator has it in for some people. I've visited probably 200 UFJD sectors, and never saw an Aran. In some fights, I've seen several fighters in a row bail with minimal damage, and other times I fight a dozen battles in a row and not a single pilot will punch out before the last sliver of hull is gone. Just remember, each and every time the game spawns another "L", the odds of getting it to bail are about the same as for the previous 20.....low, but not zero.

ubuntufreakdragon · Post by **ubuntufreakdragon** » Wed, 12. Apr 17, 18:37

Xenon in Xenon sectors are much less likely to bail than xenon in missions.
Complete some xenon patrol missions with your Tiger and you should get a nice collection of L's.

jlehtone · Post by **jlehtone** » Wed, 12. Apr 17, 19:12

ubuntufreakdragon wrote:Xenon in Xenon sectors are much less likely to bail than xenon in missions.

I did visit 695 with Tiger and I'm quite sure left four blue out there. I have no need for an L and the RNG must know it ...

All hail the Almighty Random Number Generator!

The Tiger ... Terrans were spamming with missiles. Ran out of Mosquitos, so no more MDM. No worries, the FLAK seems to be enough (unless I waste all the gun energy on something trivial, like the Terran capitals).

-John- · Post by **-John-** » Thu, 13. Apr 17, 02:23

Ive gotten back into Mamba Raider and loaded it with 4 Mass Drivers,but that hasnt seemed to work, matter of fact I watch the shields go before hull when using the MDs.
Hey,no big deal,,,I have luck like this,,,is frustraing tho.
Thanks
John

Jimmy C · Post by **Jimmy C** » Thu, 13. Apr 17, 07:48

One bit of preparation that can help is to put Advanced Satellites covering the gates where Xenon are known to emerge and to link them to the SEWN. Set it to alert you when hostile fighters show up.
The amount of alerts could get annoying, but you're interested in fighters. After you capture the L, you can change the SEWN settings.

Silverbox · Post by **Silverbox** » Thu, 13. Apr 17, 15:25

I had real problems with capping the 'L' too but mainly because of the Rapid Response Fleets! They kept killing my quarry before I had a chance to cap it. Tried around 30 times on a sector patrol mission in Black Hole Sun to no avail.
What I did in the end was use Graxster's 'Rotate and Move Objects' script https://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=225385
I targeted both 'L's that spawned and moved them to Avarice, a nice quiet sector, a few km's from the west gate and then jumped there. No Rapid Response Fleets there and then attempted to cap them. Both bailed on about the 3rd attempt using this method! So if you don't mind a *modified* game you could try this.
RRF's can be a PITA!

Honved · Post by **Honved** » Thu, 13. Apr 17, 15:31

I don't know if the odds are the same in AP as in TC, but mission-spawned Xenon appear to be far more likely to bail (more accurately, to shut down, since there is no actual pilot) than those you bump into otherwise.

In TC, after following an unknown pilot in a Nova back to base, taking out the chase group, and scanning the base, I returned to the scene of the attack and forced two of the three remaining "Ls" to bail. During the escort to Venus, I got another "L" to bail. One of those 3 will be kept as a trophy and possible RE ship for the distant future if/when I get a PHQ, although I'll probably add another 2-4 Ls to the collection during the initial Aldrin encounter, if it goes anything like previous runs through the questline.

As for getting a random L to bail outside of the plots, it's a relatively rare occurrance, but it does happen in most games.

Dreez · Post by **Dreez** » Fri, 14. Apr 17, 02:36

PBE's and IRE's are the best for forcing fighters to bail, high shield and low hull.

My ship of choice to force bailers is a Hype with 8xPBE in main, rest PAC for missile defense only.

FriendlyFirePhoenix · Post by **FriendlyFirePhoenix** » Sat, 15. Apr 17, 04:52

Sshhhhh don't tell John I'm fairly new to the game and got an 'L' bail in the first day.

Snafu_X3 · Post by **Snafu_X3** » Sun, 16. Apr 17, 00:56

Heh

Depends on the game (& RNG ofc); L's seem to have a reduced bailing chance in AP vs previous X games..

Sinxar · Post by **Sinxar** » Sun, 16. Apr 17, 01:51

Snafu_X3 wrote:Heh Depends on the game (& RNG ofc); L's seem to have a reduced bailing chance in AP vs previous X games..

Nah just seems like it cause you need one in AP. Really its all just RNG. I've been on both sides of it. I never had any issues with getting an L to bail until that one playthrough... It was then I realized the struggle people face doing this was very real.

It is like the LX in reunion they are easy to obtain when you don't want one but if you need one because you learned how good they are... yeah good luck!

Ripskar · Post by **Ripskar** » Sun, 16. Apr 17, 03:54

Seems like the LX jumped up a notch since I played Reunion last. Did someone teach the Xenon how to use missiles?

Bill Huntington · Post by **Bill Huntington** » Sun, 16. Apr 17, 04:48

John, I've posted it before. You can use the Script Editor to set up Additional Info and check the Morale of the Ls in an area. I've had my luck with Xenons that emerge from a Xenon sector and do their own mission. If you find an L with morale of 15 or less, that's worth pursuing. Most of them are 26 or above.

If you leave Additional Info active, you're game is Modified. It's a bit of pain to save, check and reload but you can do that and keep your game vanilla. You'll save time knowing. Otherwise you're waiting for the Golden BB.

Good Hunting!

-John- · Post by **-John-** » Mon, 17. Apr 17, 01:40

Thanks guys!!!!!!! Finally,lol. Got one today.
John

Ripskar · Post by **Ripskar** » Mon, 17. Apr 17, 02:48

Congrats mate.

jlehtone · Post by **jlehtone** » Mon, 17. Apr 17, 16:50

-John- wrote:Finally,lol. Got one today.

Good. If they now start to drop like flies, then it cannot be conspiracy ...

How many times you have seen a ship turn blue only to demolish a second later due to the extra shots (or missiles) that you/somebody else shot before realising that you need not?

Honved · Post by **Honved** » Tue, 18. Apr 17, 14:51

jlehtone wrote: How many times you have seen a ship turn blue only to demolish a second later due to the extra shots (or missiles) that you/somebody else shot before realising that you need not?

Worse, how many times have you had an enemy ship turn blue, you fly up near it, eject, and start moving toward it in your spacesuit, only to have a late arriving missile (launched from somewhere beyond your own ship's scanner range) suddenly blow it up in front of you? I hate when that happens.

One of the positives of Phased Repeater Guns is that the high projectile speeds mean very little ordnance is enroute to target at any given moment. The low per-shot effect combined with a high rate of fire and fast bullet speed insures that the damage is very controllable. I often use 4x or 6x PAC to take down the shields and eat into the hull a bit, and then switch over to short PRG bursts to tease a bail, because I'm far less likely to kill the ship accidentally.

jlehtone · Post by **jlehtone** » Tue, 18. Apr 17, 20:21

Occasionally, after you have ejected, your ship rotates. That is quite scary, if it doesn't stop in time.

More predictably, ejecting from a moving/strafing ship won't stop the ship. Being hit by poorly parked vechile ...

E good thing, when starting to use a new ship is to eject and memorise where and how far your suit is. That is the spot you want near the hulks you want to claim.

The "L"

The "L"

Hunting an L