Ares Level 20

I have played this darned level about 25 times!!! I need help in getting the gate ship destroyed BEFORE the other guys show up and ruin my day. I figured out it took two astroids to destroy it, I just keep running out of time before all those carriers show up and blow me away! Does anyone have any ideas that can help me? That would be great. Thanks!

Hmmm. I always thought the carriers only jumped in-system after you killed the gateship. I guess a timer is started after you hit it with one asteroid...

If thats the case, then its just a matter of speed. Get better at hitting the gateship with asteroids is all I can tell you, no trick there. Once you blow the gateship, I like to zigzag in the asteroid belt and let the carriers ram into the green asteroids until there are only a few left, and then go in with guns blaring. To do the asteroid thing right, you want to draw an imaginary line between you and them, that passes through an asteroid. They'll always take a straighline path to your position, and there are five of them to start with, so its usually pretty easy to whittle it down to two or three. Good luck!

------------------
Pax
sagitar@earthlink.net

" They say that every five minutes someone dies in a car accident, but how often are there seven hundred and sixty one armless and legless corpses in one hangar?" - Terminal 2, Where are monsters in dreams, Marathon Infinity

My favorite trick for running through the asteroid belt is to fly straight at an asteroid and swerve around it at the last second. Another fave is to fly between 2 asteroids that are close together.
This level is funny. I wish the AI could learn, so it didn't make the same mistakes twice.

------------------
We will trade and collect your skulls.

Well, that shouldn't happen, because it gives you the message that the carriers are arriving after the first asteroid hit, and they jump in as soon as the Gateship is killed. However, a good view to use to kill the Gateship once you and the asteroid are close to it is 1:16, because that's the range of the radar and it also gives you good control but still a wide field of view. Heh, I'm a "veteran" now!

------------------
Luca Rescigno
"I have nothing to fear but secret sauce"

Perhaps it is because he is using an older version?

------------------
~(^..^)

The commander there is correct. I have had this experience, but only once. I don't know what it is, or if there's some random element of chance, but I have had the rough experience of being interrupted in my little game of space baseball by a bunch of angry cantharans. The key is to keep a stream of these asteroids going, that way, if you have this same experience again, the time between the first and second asteroids is very small. If you have to, guide the last asteroid in manually. Aim it straight at the planet and move it quickly. If you're too slow, the gate ship sort of sluggishly "dodges" the asteroid.

This post has been edited by Aithon : 04 January 2007 - 06:17 PM

I agree with the others, except that after I've smashed for carriers in the asteroids (which will make a wonderful hazard for civilian pilots in a few years), I like to pick the last one of at long range with the Onas Pulse gun. They can't even hit you at onas range. Like the monty pyton on EV. Hope you do well...

===+Who's 8 Kestrels, you ask? Guess.+===

The best thing to do is just focus on the gateship first, and then go for the carriers. I found it quite easy to destroy the carriers with my Onas Pulse gun. Just stay out of theirrange and blaze away, and don't focus on only one carrier at a time; blast the one that is the closest to you.

------------------
Long Live Apple! Long Live the Mac!

I have little to add here, the others seem to have explained quite well what to do when a bunch of angry carriers rudely crashes your party. However, I do have a few tips on working with asteroids:

• Start by sending a few asteroids, 3-4, floating gently towards the gateship, preferably at very low speed.

• Then accelerate one to a pace at which you can still run rings around it.

• As this asteroid reaches the gateship, hide behind it and make minor course corrections.

• If things get too tight, hyperspace away and use the asteroid from the other direction.

If that doesn't work, well, I can't think of any more advice.

------------------
Sundered Angel ,
The One and Only

I have fun jumping into hyperspace and destroying the carriers from there. You can fire your weapons before they realize you're there. Just NEVER try that on a Salrillian Cruiser. You'll get fried before YOU can fire at IT.

------------------
No, I'm not that cruel. I
don't use the
flamethrower on my
enemies. I save
that for my
allies.
-caalaklael, the trigger
happy

I used SA's method of bringing asteroids down slowly, with slight modifications. I "dribble" the asteroid right down the gateship's throat, and then accelerate and veer off slightly, shooting at the big guy if he pays attention to the asteroid. As the gateship turns to shoot me the asteroid catches him right in the back.
The carriers can be easily disposed of by Pax's method. I found the cruiser, or whatever the smaller ship thats with them is, to be more of a challenge, because hes cloaked and i forget hes there. Once, after killing the carriers, i was limping back towards Earth, wondering why the transports werent showing up and not looking at my radar, when he popped up behind me and finished off my already ailing shields.
Hardware

------------------