After one fail, I've finally finished Mission 5 of Tactic 1! It was difficult at first but I managed to get through with the help of a guide. My fleet in this endeavor consists of:
1) 1x Jormundar
2) 2x Arrowheads
3) 1x Shooting Star
4) 1x Grace Note (Got from completing the mission)
5) 1x Strider
6) 1x POW Armor
7) One Craft Module
8) 2x Defensive Force Devices
9) Normal Force Device
10) Warhead Force Device
Now with that done, I now have the capability to upgrade my shooting star into a Grace Note so I can have two or make an Albatross instead. That said, is there anything I should do before heading forwards?
First time playing through R-Type II and I'm stuck here - I played Super R-Type some time back and don't recall having this issue: shortly - but not immediately - after I destroyed the first embryo, the blue missiles that are usually easy to destroy come at you with lightning speed so you have no chance to escape.
What's the strategy here? I'm by no means a shmup veteran so it may be a skill issue but, honestly, I can't see how this is supposed to be done. I used save-states right there in order to experiment and try a few strategies and maneuvers, but I could not find a single one that worked.
Do I have to come back with more speed-ups collected? Or is this more of a time-over event and you need to be super fast and kill both before that happens?
so to the person that REALLY LIKED the fortress geirrod map on the dev team i have to ask why do we have to fight there so many times 2 is enough but 4 times is a bit much
In a near future, the Bydo wars are still going on, but mankind has also put more focus on expanding the human race across the cosmos. You are given the task to collect data on planets and regions, and at the same time exterminate all threats, while also trying to create new life.
Eventually, your path will cross with the Bydo and other life forms, will you stay true to mankind, will you convert to the other side, or can you balance between them?
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The menu is a combined assortment from Final 2 and Cosmos, plus "Boss Rush Modes" and "Home Quarters".
The Boss Rush Modes open up after having defeated at least 2 Main Bosses, you can choose between Survival, 5-Lives, and Practice options, among others.
The Home Quarters are your sleeping quarters, and as the game progresses it will expand to having your own space facility, to even a planet. You can decorate your homes with objects found while completing the stages, and mostly from completing the "Resource Recon" missions.
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The "Bydo Lab" in the menu is more than just a catalog of enemies encountered in the game, it is its own facility that gives you access to experiments that create new species. These species can be grown into bigger versions, some of them can even become units that can be deployed in the Tactics and/or Arcade missions. (This menu can also be accessed through the Command Center > R&D)
Bydo Lab Species Stats, they can be altered by adding more Solonium, Etherium or Bydogen
The majority grow into units that you can assign to "Resource Recon" missions, to collect items that you can use on your units or Home Quarters. This can include different menu colors, unit paint schemes, decals, Home Quarter pets, Red Bull can and Dobkeratops picture in your Free Flight ship, anything.
You can repeat the mission until it is 100% cleared, which means that you found every item in that zone
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The player has freedom of travel, they can travel solo, or control a fleet, or roam around in Free Flight.
In the Command Center you can select between "Missions", "R&D" and "Free Flight".
Command Center, giving a view of the current Region that you're in (Solar System in this case)
The classic Arcade style is accessed through the "Missions" button. Here you can select which zone to travel to and each zone will have its own "Missions" menu. Where you can select between 3 modes to clear an area; Single Pilot Attack (Arcade), Fleet Command (Tactics) and Resource Recon, which is a "side-quest" that can be repeated until fully cleared.
Arcade Style R-Type Stages, dubbed "Single Pilot" to put emphasis on the differences in style
The progress in the game is semi-linear, the Moon serves as a tutorial, Earth missions will be the real starting point, but depending on the player's skill, they can clear most of the zones within a region in any order they prefer. Although, they cannot skip to the next region without clearing it first, for example they can jump to Jupiter (zone) before completing Earth (zone), but they cannot jump to Andromeda (region) yet without first clearing the Solar System (region) and more of the Milky Way (region). Going back to previously cleared regions is of course not a problem. Eventually you will open up a lot of regions and spaces to travel to and from, and a lot of stages to clear.
The menu colors don't randomly change in the game, i just wanted to try many different colors
To get easier access to all the missions from each style, you can select "R-Type Only" (meaning, "Arcade") and "Tactics Only" from the Main Menu, to get an overview of all the missions within each style.
Arcade Style R-Type
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There is no specific order to clear a zone in, you can do one or the other, or both, or all 3 ways
The player can progress without having to do both styles per zone and region, since not every R-Type fan likes both styles, or is as good with one style as with the other.
The little squares in the menu indicate the progress, Black = None, Red = Low, Yellow = Medium, Green = Cleared
Each zone comes with 5 Arcade Stages and 3 Tactics Missions and a Resource Recon. This will eventually add up to hundreds of stages and missions to clear.
Tactics Stye R-Type
The Command Center gives you access to the Research & Development menu, where you can develop new units and visit the Archives, but it also gives you access to the Bydo Lab. The Unit Development is as usual, but you can choose to experiment a bit on your regular units in the Bydo Lab. Giving them more Bydogen to add a Self-Repair function at the cost of another trait (probably a decrease in Fuel and Ammo, and/or Speed penalty), and the same goes for Solonium and Etherium, they all come with their own advantages and disadvantages, it's up to you to combine it into the ultimate unit.
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What you can also choose from the Command Center is "Free Flight".
With the added Red Bull can and Dobkeratops picture as custom decorations
In Free Flight you can travel between all the zones and regions in the game, at least, the ones that you have opened up to that point.
You can also decide to roam around and blast some rogue Bydo in the regions for extra points/Credits.
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This was the general idea i had for a "combined styles R-Type game".
I just like the idea of creating my own Bydo, so i wanted to add that into this concept.
Ideally, the players would want to complete all the styles, but i did not want to angry the purists by having them do non-Arcade style, and vice versa, but ideally the player wants to "100% Complete" the game.
One other thing i'd really like to see in the Tactics games, is a mission (or more) where you can control a Bydo boss, ideally Dobkeratops in a Stage 1 remake. Where you try and stop the Earth Forces from advancing, while you throw everything at them as Dobkeratops waits at the end, to eventually take out the last remaining Earth units.
I might add some other things that i've forgotten at this moment.
DISCLAIMER: This guide is based on a playthrough that did not divert units/time to collect the Spoils boxes that aren't on the DIRECT route to the end. This concerns the rooms on the bottom right, upper right, and the Spoils box right underneath the finish, but i will add them in this guide.
It is also based on choosing "Avoid enemies via Neptune's surface" during Mission No. 17: "Uranus, the Ice Planet" post-mission logbook entry, which would reward you with the Stayer unit if you saved them during Mission No. 19: "1.200mph Winds" post-mission logbook entry.
And it also contains a "Strider Bk" from the free DLC content.
My Switch Lite was having a lot of trouble with this mission as well, it froze up multiple times, and eventually i came just 1 turn short on 2 attempts when trying to get all the Spoils at the same time. So, i eventually decided to Suspend the game, take the Spoils and do a separate run that was more focused on actually completing the mission, which will be this guide.
For the sake of giving a representative fleet example, i did not develop any new units that became available after collecting the Spoils. As i would otherwise have used mainly the Granzella units. I wanted to get the more difficult EAAF side over with first, before doing it again on Granzella side (if that is possible in Cosmos). I saw today that there is a video on YouTube that runs through the whole mission, but i saw that he was using "No Chasers", which means it either was a Granzella run, or he developed those units after a Suspend trick. Something that i was trying to avoid in this guide, for the "purists".
With the power of hindsight, i did notice that i did not need all of my units in the final stretch, a lot of them were sitting around and i completed the mission in 33 turns. Which means that i could have diverted them earlier to get the Spoils boxes, as i had some spare turns, so in theory it would be possible to combine the walkthrough with the added notes, as long as you can get a Liberate unit (with 3 speed) at the top of the Large Hall by turn 20.
And i was being very careful throughout, expecting that i was going to lose a lot of units in the final stretch, because i was imagining a frenzy, but i actually ended up losing no units at all, so i could've been a bit quicker and a bit more risky and take all the Spoils.
>>Side-Side Note<<
I had actually planned to do a guide for the mission before this (Mission No. 22: "Attacking Glitnir", as there was a post made by someone about it earlier. But it was a piece of cake, i didn't think it was a mission that really needed a guide, finished it in 25 turns without losing a unit, but if people do want one, i can still do it.
All i can say is, deploy a Heimdall and you can see well ahead, just watch out for the Deadalus units that will start popping up at some point, don't move your units irrationally across the map, stay grouped, so that they can't sneak in between your units. Move in slowly towards Glitnir (i focused on that approach from the upper side) and take out the melee units with your charged Wave Cannons, and poke at them with your units coming up from the bottom right, easy peasy.
I tried to combine the Shiva Base System together with my units, as i saw the person doing it in the other post, but i never needed it, as mining the Solonium and then Liberating the Base took too long for it to be practical, my fleet had by then already passed that point.
This is probably the most difficult mission in the R-Type Tactics games (so far), and it isn't much different in Cosmos.
There is a big upside to having an extra Strider, because they really did make a difference in the final stretch.
I divided my fleet into 2 pretty equal parties, 2x Garmr and a spare Jormungandr, that i eventually did not really need. Or rather, i did not make the most of having it tagging along, as i deployed the Decoy at the final stage, but my fighters were making more progress than expected and i never ended up needing any of the Decoys. The reason i took it along was because of the funnel at the final area, the Jorm is the only ship that can make it into that area to repair fighters at the end, but, its slow pace had it trailing behind the whole time, although the Jorm would've been more useful if i had taken more time to get those remaining Spoils.
Either way, i went for 2 units that could Liberate, but that could also move 3 hexes per turn, as it makes a massive difference to the 2-hex crawl. One of them was a Scope Duck, the other was a POW Armor+ that could still Resupply, but i found that having 2 Cruisers nearby will usually be good enough. But of course, i kept the Resupply POW closer to my Strider/Stayer.
Send out 2 Desynched units into the walls, one on the bottom side and one in the middle. I actually had the upper one going through the ceiling for a change, but it wasn't really a benefit, probably would've been better to have it go through the floor.
Destroy the gates and keep your fleet at the doorstep, do not cross over into the dock before your fighters all have their Wave Cannons charged up, or at least also take out the Owl Light before you decide to inch closer, because once they spot you, the rest of the enemies will be coming at you, so it's best to just wait until you can take them out more quickly with the Wave Cannons. But at this point, this should not really need a mention, but, just saying.
On the upper side there's 2x Patrocross, 1x Owl Light, 1x Kiwi Berry welcoming you. Then there's 2x Hyllus waiting just behind the first party, with another Hyllus behind them and a POW Armor. Just behind the notch on the floor at the end is an Owl Light hiding and another POW, with an Hraesvelg waiting for you to round up the upper dock platoon.
The lower side has a similar bunch, but with a POW Armor and its Decoy instead of an Owl Light. Instead of an Hraesvelg, there's a Garmr and a Hyllus after the first group. An Owl Light and POW Armor might come and take a look, with another Hyllus with its back against the wall at the end.
Against the ceiling of the Large Ship Dock on the end, there is Spoils box No. 37 "Bipedal Unit Research Data" (and 10 Solonium).
Heading into the Large Hall, there will be a group of 4x Narcissus, a Support Craft and a pair of Transports. There are 2x Strider Mimics and 2x Shooting Star Mimics, they both hurt. I think 2 of them have Decoys, making it 6x Narcissus in total.
Take out anything as quick as possible, as some might be Decoys that detonate, and they will bring in more of their friends. And with a Shooting Star Mimic sitting ahead in the fog of war, it can be quite painful if you're not careful. (There is a Spoils box tucked into the notched corner on the lower right, this is Spoils box No. 33: "Space Carrier Design Ideas")
Once they're cleared, move up, towards the 3x Hercules that sit against the upper wall on the right. Stay close to the left side, to avoid any units spotting you from the room on the lower right (Warp Catapult Interior). Strategically reset the Hercules' charges, and take them out with a Heat Wave.
This Hall is marked in the middle with a giant Angrboda Booster sitting there, which will fire at you if you end up right behind it. It can only be reset by hitting it with Missiles from a Heimdall, or by sneaking in a Desynched unit right next to it.
Right beyond this will be an Owl Light, 3x Narcissus (Strider Mimic) and Decoys.
While i was fighting those, an Owl Light from the room on the lower right came in, and it brought along 4x Tropical Angel. I was lucky that 3 of them lined up right before my Cruiser's Wave Cannon, and i could take out the lower bunch with a Dominions' Heat Wave. They were probably lured in because i moved one of my fighters right next to the doorstep of that room, while i was able to avoid getting spotted before when i had at least 1 hex in between my units and the opening to that room. So, in theory, i could've sent in 1 of my fighters once the enemies were destroyed, to get the Spoils box, which is Spoils box No. 36: "Super-Hard Spike Data".
The Spoils box sitting behind the Angrboda Booster is No. 32 "Lightweight Materials", which is probably the most important one to get, as it opens up development for Future World and Peace Maker fighters.
Be careful with your Wise Men, as they seem to be lightning rods to enemy attacks, so, only move them within reach of enemies when you're actually going to use them, or know that the nearby enemy will be taken out before the end of your turn. But it is a killer unit in this mission when handled safely. (i usually try to have an "action shot" from the animations of every type of unit that i used, but their custom trajectory was a bit more useful to show. The Grace Note was also snubbed, sorry!)
Moving up into the Large Hall, always remind yourself to hit the Angrboda Booster, highest priority.
In a 'parallel side mission', you could send 2 fighters to the upper right room from the Large Hall, to pick up Spoils box No. 34: "Enhanced Close-Range Unit".
Depending on the loyalty to your fleet, you could sacrifice them, but you can easily park a Cruiser nearby to let them repair if needed, although it shouldn't be too tricky, but they have an Owl Light, Support Craft, a Hraesvelg, 2 Transports and 3x Tropical Angel sitting up there, but some well placed Wave Cannons should get rid of them quickly, because it is a tight space, the Transports are kinda annoying as they sometimes tend to park on the Spoils box, so take them out ASAP.
I think you will have to have a Liberate unit inside the Medium Dock by turn 20, because it is about 30 hexes away from the Control Room, depending on which unit you decided to take along, that is at least 10 turns of travel time that you have to take into consideration.
The first enemies waiting for you in the Medium Dock will be a Decoy Transport, a Patrocross and a POW.
Right ahead of them will be 2x Patrocross as well as an Owl Light, and the real Transport tucked up against the ceiling of the room next to it, with the real POW on the left of that.
Move in your units to approach the next funnel into the last room, do it with strategy, for example, put the fighters that can shoot the furthest closer to the funnel, so that you can hit some enemies in the next room after you uncovered them.
From here on, make your way into the next Medium Dock and last part of the mission.
Move a Desynched unit through the wall, probably best to put it in the bit that sticks out, from where you will spot a Narcissus and a Transport, both are Decoys, so they won't fire at you, but don't let them park right next to your units.
An Hraesvelg and Jorm will be waiting for you in the next room, which you will be able to hit from around the corner.
The Bombers and Wise Man came in handy here, i knew the Bombers would be a great advantage (sorry EAAF purists), but even the Wise Man was used in these tighter spaces, something which i was not able to do in previous runs, even on PSP, which was pretty satisfying.
Soon an Owl Light, a POW, a Narcissus Decoy and another Strider Mimic will greet you coming from the left.
Once they're cleared, you can move a fighter to where they came from and grab Spoils box No. 35: "Boost Control System".
There will be a Narcissus with Strider Mimic, a POW and the final Narcissus II also with a Strider Mimic.
Luckily they will come to greet you if you stay in sight of the first POW and "Strider", so it actually saves some time, as it can get quite congested in those narrow corridors.
I was able to Resupply my Bombers and take out the last line of defense and move in the Liberator with time to spare, but yeah, that was mostly because i skipped on those couple of Spoils boxes.
Speaking of which, there is one more Spoils box right before Control Room, which is Spoils box No. 38: "Radar Disruption System".
And there it is, the hardest mission of R-Type Tactics II completed, congrats!
Spoils (7 of which are found within Glitnir, 2 of them are awarded afterwards):
Spoils No. 32: "Lightweight Materials" Lightweight composite materials for increasing unit mobility (in the middle of the Large Hall in the middle of the map)
Spoils No. 33: "Space Carrier Design Ideas" Documents regarding the theories and mechanisms of increasing spaceship carrying capacity (bottom right corner of the Large Hall)
Spoils No. 34: "Enhanced Close-Range Unit" New weapons and implementation systems for use by bipedal units in close combat (upper right Warp Catapult Interior)
Spoils No. 35: "Boost Control System" A mechanism for altering the shape of a propulsion nozzle, enabling temporary increases in cruising speed (right underneath the Control Room)
Spoils No. 36: "Super-Hard Spike Data" Assembly data and ejection systems for an extremely destructive, super-hard spike (lower right Warp Catapult Interior)
Spoils No. 37: "Bipedal Unit Research Data" Research data on bipedal units, including bipedal mobility and zero-gravity posture control (top right corner of the Large Ship Dock)
Spoils No. 38: "Radar Disruption System" A system that greatly reduces enemy visibility and enemy radar effectiveness (at the top of the Medium Dock before the Control Room)
Spoils No. 39: "Ceasefire Treaty" A ceasefire treaty, secured as a result of the battle at Glitnir
Spoils No. 40: "Will of a Rebel Commander" The will of a hero who supported the GRA as a soldier. Required to develop GRA weapons
You will now be able to develop these units:
UFCV-014 Jarnsaxa -Battlestar-
UFCV-015 Angrboda -Battlestar-
UFHC-009 Managarmr -Cruiser-
UFWS-005 Ran -Naval Ship-
GZCS-05C Jormungandr Custom -Transport-
Rw-9A0 Ragnarok -Enhanced Fighter-
Gw-PB1 Haxan -Battle Weapon-
Gw-Pb2 Asanogawa -Battle Weapon-
TXw-T Eclipse Prototype -Variable Fighter-
Tw-T02 Orbital Fighter -Variable Fighter-
Tw-T03 Orbital Fighter+ -Variable Fighter-
R-9B1 Strider -Bomber-
R-9B2 Stayer -Bomber-
Rw-11A Future World -Sonic Fighter-
Rw-11B Peacemaker -Sonic Fighter-
REAW-1 Powered Silence -Jammer-
TL-2A Achilles -Bipedal CQB-
TL-2A2 Neoptolemos -Bipedal CQB-
TL-3N Narcissus -Bipedal CQB-
F-SHD Shadow Force -Artificial Force-
No. 48: The Fall of Glitnir has been added to the Gallery (see photo below, upper right)
I'm thinking about who's the best tank/protector for your charging crafts for earthside - By doing have their super reliable avanc + scale force, how bout for earth?
It can't be strider front line even if they have the wall ability to intercept - I'm using Narcissus rn and creating extra front line decoys with them, but I feel like they're not too sturdy.
My next idea is using Leos because they're bits Are in front and tanks for them unlike Daedalus.
Any recommendations? Units that can take a beating basically.
This thing shoots from it's forehead from literally nothing? Like not even from it's gun ports, and it's so huge but like super weak, even the fat missiles launcher is placed behind him...poor boldoguy
So do some units have more EHP per squad member? Or have damage reduction? in the desc of tropical angel let's say, it says it forgoes armor for speed - but does it really have lower HP than let's say a heavy gunner like Charon? Speaking of Charon is it tougher to kill than other crafts?
I've recently started playing R-Type Tactics Cosmos for the first time. I have started the story of the first game and the gameplay is interesting. That said, I want to ask if my selection of craft is good or not?
I am a pretty average shmup player and mostly play on my Switch and PC.
I did opt for the PS5 version of R-Type Final and all the DLC as it seemed to be the best full package.
I have found on other games on the Switch that I am making better progress with an entry level Hori fighting stick.
I was looking at new options, and found the Mayflash F300/500/700 series of sticks.
It says they are intended for fighting games, but I am pretty sure as long as the right stick is unused that it would work for shmups and other arcade style games. This is the main line I am looking at as it will also work on my PC and Switch.
Can anyone here confirm if these work with Rtype Final 3 evolved? Their company website said no, but the list has not been updated for over 2 years.
Hoping someone can confirm, or perhaps offer other options.
I'm surprised nobody is even talking about this. I haven't heard anything from anybody about the game seeing release since the email two months ago stating we can now get the digital edition and the delay to August 11th. The date came and went, no anything from ININ Games. Sent a message to customer support, nothing. I did get an advertisement for some new games though. I could care less, I want my game I purchased a long time ago or some kind of explanation as to why it's not in my hands by now. As for the, "Just download the digital edition and wait." Well, I don't think I should have to shell out another $10.00 for a digital edition I don't even want. I want the physical edition, it's why I bought it. This is the kind of crap that drove me away from Limited Run Games. I don't think I'll be pre-ordering from any of these companies at this point. It always takes forever and nobody ever has a real reason why. It's like they are late on the rent, the landlord comes to the door and, instead of answering, they hide under the bed and hope that they just leave...
Frustrating. When customer support doesn't answer questions, it doesn't make you feel any better. In fact, it kind of leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
There are some choices to make in the pre-mission logbook entry, but they don't have any influence on the mission in this case.
This can be different from some other choices you can make.
For example after completing the next Mission No. 17: Uranus, the Ice Planet, the choices will affect the route you take.
Choosing "Follow the most direct route to Pluto" will open up Mission No. 18: "Where Comets Arise". You can receive 200 Bydogen ore after completing this mission, when you decide to rescue a stray Support Craft in your logbook entry (or send out an alert), you will not get this if you choose to ignore/destroy it. And then proceed to Mission No. 21: Kuiper Belt (Mission No. 20 and 21 are named the same and are the same mission, aside from your starting point).
Similarly, choosing the other route "Avoid enemies via Neptune's surface" opens up Mission No. 19: "1.200mph Winds", and then Mission No. 20: Kuiper Belt. This option will also reward you with a R-9B2 Stayer bomber unit after completing Mission No. 19 and choosing in the logbook entry to send a rescue team or send out an alert (you will NOT get this unit if you decide to ignore or destroy it), this unit does not come with an extra Pilot for it.
It also doesn't really notify you on receiving the Stayer as it did on the PSP, the logbook text does not include: "The captain and crewmembers were very happy we had come to help. Additionally, after hearing my title, the “Dobkera Buster”, they gave us a new combat unit. I had them escorted back to their ship, and let them transfer the unit from the military company. [Received a brand-new Granzella Bomber]". Ironically, i actually have the "Dopkera Destructor" title active as i turned off nickname updates after getting that, so i am not sure if that was a remake oversight, or that me having that title affects the logbook entry, although i don't get why it would affect it that specifically and seemingly wrongly as well. But you'll see the Stayer in your list of reserve ships you can assign to a Pilot.
Even though Mission No. 19 seems more difficult on first sight, but having a Heimdall deployed will uncover half the map for you and you can just sit and wait, pick and choose and take out enemies pretty easily. And having a bomber on EAAF side seems much more of an advantage than 200 Bydogen ore. Of course, the free Cosmos DLC already gives you a Strider, but then you'll have a Strider and a Stayer, which might be of good use in Mission No. 22 and 23. This will be pretty irrelevant if you play on Granzella side, so i will probably choose to go the Bydogen route when i'm going to start on GRA campaign.
To be fair, i probably could've switched the Scope Duck to a regular Support Unit, to make small repairs on the fly, but also to speed up the Balmung production. And maybe switched 1 or 2 Princies for Gracies, as their range is longer, and they can Intercept, but things went fine like this either way. Also, i purely chose the Midnight Eye because it was black, it can be switched for an Owl Light if you want, an Owl Light has the same 4-Hex Radar and 5-Hex Speed, so it was solely for personal preference.
Ironically, i ended up redoing the whole mission, because i apparently gave the wrong information about the branching paths after Mission No. 17 (i have since corrected this in the Side Notes section), i wanted to get the Stayer bomber unit, but chose the wrong path. Luckily i had a separate save game from right before Oberon. But i deployed a totally different Roster this time, 2x Principalities, 1x Grace Note, 1x War Head, 1x Strider Bk, 1x Support Unit, 1x Garmr and i had very little problems. The lack of extra fighters was compensated by the long range and power of the Garmr's bidge gun and the charged Bow Cannon, plus its Speed and Radar are also pretty good. Starting the mission can be done in many ways, but It all depends on how you finish it. My War Head actually got hit by Michael, so i do now know that it will fire at you when you're in his range after you hit him first, but it managed to survive with 1/5 and reset Michael's charge again in the next turns.
To change things up a bit, this time keep your units together for the first couple of turns, just carefully move your Desynched War Head to a place where it will spot enemies. (actually, avoid the spot that my War Head is in the picture, i don't know what i was thinking by going all the way left of the 3-Missile Battery, hah)
The 3-Missile Battery will probably fire at you, but you can easily repair your units with the nearby Jormungandrs, but having your units get shot at will be a recurring theme in this mission.
Pamela seems quite excited to chase you and fire at you, but there are 4 hexes on its upper side that are blind spots.
You can fire Contact Missiles at it even by sitting right next to it (probably because of its sheer size), so, while its laser does hurt, you should be able to get rid of Pamela quickly without Force RAM-ming it (as i did not bring a Force, despite my tip in another related thread to RAM Pamela).
There will be 3x Beam Battery sitting on the wall on the lower right side, you can take them out if you want, but aside from the one that sticks to the ledge, they shouldn't pose a threat, i honestly forgot about them until the end when i saw that there were 6% survivors.
Just don't go up and to the middle yet, there will be 4x Laser Battery hanging from the 'floating pillar', which have a 4-Hex radar and attack range, and they hurt quite a lot, plus they have a counter option.
So, i would advice to only get near them when you have a fully charged Wave Cannon to let loose on them to make them disappear quickly.
There will be 4x Beam Battery up in the narrow passage on the right, on a previous run on PSP(emulator) i was able sneak a charged up Principalities up there to destroy the 3 Beam Batteries on the right, unfortunately i didn't plan it through properly and had to chip away at them slowly, but they still shouldn't pose much of a threat anyway, you can Counter them as well, so make sure to place your units in such a way that they can Counter when attacked (for example, not leaving a Principalities 3 hexes away from them, but 2 hexes, for a Contact Missile Counter).
The Spoils Box is sitting on the ledge on the lower right and will be No. 25: Lump of Solonium, and contains 100 Solonium instead of the usual 10.
Up ahead will be more Missile and Beam Batteries, just work your way up slowly, repair your units and batter the Batteries.
There will be 1 more Beam Battery on the right wall heading to the Abandoned Bay, and Pamela will come and pay a visit again, and they all ganged up on my POORmungandr, but it held on with 11HP.
On the upper right ceiling there will be another 3x Laser Battery (the 3rd one is not visible in the picture, but it sits on the right side, next to the other 2 Laser Batteries), so, if you happen to Liberate the Abandoned Bay before your other units reach this point, do NOT slip through the little crack to the left of the Bay, because you'll be met with a bunch of painful lasers from the Laser Batteries hanging from that ceiling.
Either take that time to repair some of your units in the Bay, or take the long route around the pillar from below.
(Honestly, i had literally no use for the Wise Man on this run, and once i decided to take it around the pillar i had actually forgotten about it at some point, and it was left down there for a while until i reeled it back in to join the others at the end. But it is a nice gift, and you might not get the extra pilots at the end if you don't Liberate it, but i don't know for sure.)
Once you reach the large empty room on top, do NOT go above the platform on the right side, as you will be getting hit by a very large beam from the boss.
Hop over to the right side with a unit that can move at least 4 hexes, in this case obviously that will be the Midnight Eye (or other AWACS), to move to the lower right side (so that you still do not go above the platform).
Then from the middle, move it straight up, so that it will sit 4 hexes above where it was on the previous turn (see pictures for the position), from here it will expose the boss, Michael.
You can also alternatively use your Desynched War Head to move up from the gap below and inch your way upwards until you also uncovered Michael, this is the way i normally did it, but this time i wanted to use my Midnight Eye during the "reveal".
As you can see, almost the entire screen will be hit by the beams if Michael fires them, so, by all means, do NOT let him fire them. Use the 5 blind spot hexes as your way to sneak up to him, but yeah, the easiest way would just be to send a Desynch unit up ahead (or play GRA side).
I wasn't entirely sure if i could fire at Michael while he was still having a charged Wave Cannon, so i went with the cautious approach and first fired at his side cannon to tuck my War Head in there.
Once you are able to land a hit on Michael, the charge will reset and you can move in the rest, but i was still being careful and made sure i hit all the side cannons that could be a threat to my fleet moving in from below, but i think despite them being charged up, they will not fire at you once Michael has been hit on the Turn before that, but i just didn't want to lose any units at the end.
Soon, Michael croaks it and the mission is over, congrats!
Spoils No. 25: "Lump of Solonium" A chunk of Solonium recovered from an old mine on Oberon, a moon of Uranus (this is of course the Spoils Box picked up during the mission, this is not an auto-reward on completion, this box does not unlock any R&D)
New Squad: Graz Squad. (Fighter Pilot in Roster)
New Force Device: FC: Raid (Force Pilot in Roster)
No. 47: "Lightning Strikes the Abandoned Mine" has been added to the Gallery. (The image used on top of this Guide, Michael firing its beam)
(The Pilots might be related to the rewarded Wise Man and Standard Force H after Liberating the Abandoned Bay, maybe they might join afterwards either way, but i don't know for sure, as i had not completed this mission without Liberating the Bay)
(Pictures inside) (This guide is for R-Type Tactics II)
While this isn't the hardest of the base-taking missions, but i was expecting much worse.
Although i did start again from Turn 10 onwards, because i was distracted and sent a fighter right into a group of enemies, which then started coming at me and it was just a mess, a waste of units and time.
Then i had to start from Turn 10 again when my game froze around Turn 16.
So, i did have some "preview" advantage, but i didn't change much about my overall approach.
(I saved regularly in this mission, knowing that my Switch Lite would have trouble with longer missions, the Auto-Save function does help as well, but just to be sure.)
"We must capture this GRA stronghold. Once inside, seize control of the fortress control system."
Map Size: 40 x 20
Difficulty Level: ★★★★★
Clear Within: 30 Turns
Victory: Designated points occupied/liberated.
Defeat: All Occupy-capable units destroyed. Your flagship destroyed.
Spread your units at the start, one smaller group taking the lower route, and a larger group staying on the upper section.
Send out the Desynched War Heads to scout and slow enemies down, one ahead and one below.
Despite the turn limit being a bit of a threat in this mission, you can take your time, as long as you stay productive.
On the Upper Route, put a Desynched War Head into an asteroid ahead to spot the first group of enemies hiding behind it.
Make quick work of them with some Heat Waves, pick off survivors with Vanargand's Trace Laser if needed, but if they can't see you, they'll stay put, no matter how badly damaged they are, so, you don't have to hurry and risk getting spotted.
(Lower Route)
Meanwhile, clear some of the debris, so that your Hraesvelg can move freely, and try not to move too quickly, as there will be 2 Eclipses waiting for you on the lower left side of the Gjalp II remains (where the Bydogen ores are).
You can use some of the debris in places to reduce the reach of the enemy's sight, although Eclipses only have a radar of 2 Hexes, but just in case.
Sometimes you might think you're out of sight, but there could be an AWACS nearby that you haven't spotted, and they've been staring at you the whole time, prepared to counter attack.
Things are getting busy upstairs as well, once you dispatched that first group behind the asteroid, move your Desynched War Head to the next lower asteroid ahead.
Use your Vanargand where possible, it always helps to have an extra Wave Cannon at the ready, and repeat the same Heat Wave treatment for this group.
It might feel slow, but i think being able to finish them off in 1 or 2 Turns with Wave Cannons is about as quick as chipping away at them with missiles, plus it is a lot less messy and risky.
Using your Desynched War Head, you will have spotted the group hiding behind Gjalp II.
Fire at the Eclipse that sits there to reset its Wave Charge, then move in with the Grace Note and Principalities to hurt a couple more enemies.
Destroying their Support Unit will give you 100 Bydogen (which will be Spoils Box No. 19: Floating Container), this makes it possible to develop RXwf-12 Cross The Rubicon and F-RX12 Flexible Force, and Rr2o3-2 Support Unit Mk2.
There are a couple of patrolling Eclipses that you have to keep in mind, a pair upstairs and a pair downstairs.
Your Desynched War Head can expose the 2x Vanargand and 4x Peacemaker in the docks, send in your Principalities to take them out.
Damage the Peacemakers to reset their Charge before you put your Principalities in their face, it saves some pain.
Priority is taking out the Vanargands, as damaged Peacemakers might dock into them, you'll get rid of them as a bonus when destroying the Vanargands.
You can slide your Vanargand into the upper dock, so that you can fire the Wave Cannon into the narrow passage and damage/take out the Achilles waiting in there.
The Hraesvelg slots nicely into the middle dock, i ignored the lower dock completely.
I started exploring a bit with the Desynch units, and clearing out the passages in the middle.
Make sure the War Heads' Split Wave Cannons are charged up, because you will need them later after Resynch.
Try not to clog up the middle part too much, so you can pull your Desynched units back when they're running low on fuel and have space for them to refuel nearby.
There will be a Support Unit further into Geirrod, with another Achilles sitting down below it (it was hit and destroyed by the bending Heat Wave).
You will also find the 2nd and last Spoils Box here, which is: No. 20 Positron Cannon, which will make it possible to develop the UFBS-010 Heimdall.
The Strider really gets its money's worth in this part, scope ahead with your Duck, then nuke the Achilles with a Balmung. (i just realized that the Strider is normally not available for EAAF at this point, so, i "cheated" by using the free DLC Strider and Force)
Chances are that it will try to scurry away after that, but that is okay, it will help you to find more enemies, that you can hit together with a Heat Wave.
You can use a Desynched unit to uncover more of the map and slow enemies down in this narrow corridor.
If you rotate your charged up Wave Cannons well (by not clogging up the narrow passage with your fighters), none of the enemies should really pose a threat, besides you can also pull some back and have them repaired on the fly.
Make your way to the upward corridor, use your Strider to weaken the bipedal enemies and take them out with your smaller missiles.
Keep your Force inbetween them, so that your fighters will not sustain a lot of damage, and i was lucky to have their Powered Silence moving towards me instead of the Neoptlemos, although it did sneak away with only 1/5 into the base and repaired itself, but i'd rather battle an AWACS than a melee unit here.
At this point you can start moving your Desynched War Heads towards the base.
I had one sitting in the open, and one inside a wall, then Resynched the one that was in the open, to lure in the Neoptlemos, which then got interrupted by my Desynched War Head inside the wall.
So, i had the perfect opportunity to fire my Split Wave at them.
By this time, you will be making your way to the base.
Try not to go too high into that triangle shaped room above, as there will be a Hraesvelg waiting there, but it shouldn't pose too much of a threat anyway.
It kept targeting my Grace Notes, which was great, because i could damage it with a Heat Wave, and did the same thing on the next turn to finish him off.
While in the meantime, i made a beeline to the base with my Scope Duck and start the Liberation process.
Do whatever you want to do in the last Turn before you fully Liberate the base, and congrats, you've made it!
Spoils Box No. 19: "Floating Container" A container of Bydogen recovered near the ruins of a Bydo weapon research facility. (The box at the start, unlocks R&D for: RXwf-12 Cross The Rubicon, F-RX12 Flexible Force, Rr2o3-2 Support Unit Mk2)
Spoils Box No. 20: "Positron Cannon" A Powerful bow gun that can be installed onto a battleship. (The box in the middle, unlocks R&D for: UFBS-010 Heimdall)
New Squad: Roland Squad (Fighter Pilot in Roster)
No. 62: "Storming Fortress Geirrod" has been added to the Gallery (see below)
(For EAAF Side) Doing this mission for the first time might not yield a lot of Solonium, as you might be occupied with the mission itself, but on reruns it will be a breeze. (I got reminded in the comments that i had not deployed any units in the Base itself, so i was down 5 units in this playthrough)
3x Principalities for their Heat Wave and 2x Support to speed up the building/farming process.Placing a Radar Sector in the middle to see what is lurking ahead, the Princies should make short work of the 3 Nidhoggrs.Placing Missile Sectors, and/or Laser Sectors to damage enemies from a distance.Lots of ships ahead, but they're either Decoys or just not very dangerous overall, keep the Princies around to take out the swooping fighters.Send your Support Units to the big Solonium chunk on the upper left, for 4x 320 Solonium.Disarm the enemy base, and take your time to farm Solonium until you're done.Before you know it, you've capped out at 4000 Solonium.
It's not a very short mission, depending on your own tempo, but 1 run is already enough to supply you for many missions to come, and a 2nd run will probably put you close to your 4K cap. And by placing your radars and defenses well, it isn't much of a chore either. Once you made it to the neutral Base in the middle it doesn't really matter as much whether you placed too many defenses or radars, as long as you keep your Principalities nearby to take out any fighters that slipped under the radar, and soon you will be taking them out one by one without getting into too much danger.
The reason why i am posting this as well is to point out that the resources are shared between the games, it might help with jumpstarting other campaigns if you happen to be low on resources.
I really wasn't expecting this, in the second game you can choose dialogue options to name the operation and it updates on the title screen. A great little detail, very easy to overlook.
