Thursday, June 5, 2014

EDF 2025: Mission 77 for Air Raider

I finally completed Mission 77: Fallen Flagship on Hardest Difficulty with the Air Raider. I can now farm this Mission for Weapons for the Air Raider.

Pro: It is possible to farm high-level Weapons, even with low Armor.
Con: It takes a long time to complete, with much of it spent running. If the Air Raider's Armor is low, more caution is required.

Preparation:
Limpet Sniper F3 Lv55
Elerctormagnetic Prison Lv56 (that was how it was spelled in-game)
BM03 Vegalta Buster Arms Lv52

The Limpet Sniper F3 is preferable to the Limpet Chain Gun M2 Lv58 as it is more accurate at extreme range.

The BM03 Vegalta Buster Arms is preferable to the BM03 Vegalta AW4 Lv57 as it has better firepower at long range and a considerable amount of fighting in this Mission will be at long range. The AW4 has better mobility in addition to being able to jump but is short on ammunition for long range fights. If a vehicle is required purely for mobility, it would be better to chose one that is faster than the AW4.

These equipment are suitable for Hardest Difficulty. More powerful Weapons and a better Vegalta are needed for Inferno.

Execution:
The strategy is a little different from the one for the Ranger. The main difference is the use of the Elerctormagnetic Prison, which will give a lot more time to complete the Mission. Show them Shield Bearers that the EDF has shields too!

The main threat is the Hector at the back of the map. If that Hector should activate and defeat the Ranger allies at the back it will come after the Air Raider. To do so, the Hector will step into the crater and hug the edge. Chances are that it will be at an angle too low for Vegaltas to fire at without jumping into the crater. The Hector may also slip under the Air Raider's shields. And the Hector may 'wall hack'.

At the start, do not recruit the Ranger allies. Consider donating an Elerctormagnetic Prison to protect those Rangers. Be aware of the weird shape of the shield of the Elerctormagnetic Prison.

Move around the crater towards that Hector at the back. At a comfortable distance where the Hector can be seen from the edge of the crater, summon the Vegalta. While waiting, set up the remaining Elerctormagnetic Prisons. Set the shields in a cross formation. That is, one parallel to the crater's edge and one or two perpendicular. The parallel shield will help protect the Air Raider and the Vegalta from the long-legged Deroys and provide a place to hide from the Flying Vehicles. The perpendicular shield allows the Air Raider to step up to the very edge of the crater to shoot at the opposition in the crater.

Before attacking the Hector, make sure the long-legged Deroys patrolling the crater's outer edge is not near and will not be near anytime soon. It is tough enough defeating the Hector at range without distractions. A good time to attack is when the Deroys passes the player's position. Defeat the Hector as soon as possible after that with the Vegalta Buster Arms or Limpet Sniper F3.

By then, the Flying Vehicles and the long-legged Deroys may start attacking. All of the opposition will definitely attack if the Brain (even the armored lower portion of it) is hit - avoid this as long as possible. Defeat the Flying Vehicles attacking the Rangers at the back and the long-legged Deroys as necessary. Hide in or behind the shields if under attack.

If the long-legged Deroys is close to the Air Raider, jump into the Vegalta. The shields will block all attacks except the Deroys's spear-leg thrust. The Vegalta has the necessary durability to protect the Air Raider against that attack. Be careful firing the Vegalta's weapons if the Deroys is using that attack - explosive ammunition may detonate on the leg close enough to damage the Vegalta.

Once the Deroys is defeated, defeat any Flying Vehicles attacking any Ranger allies. By this time, the Shield Bearers may approach the Air Raider and shove their shields in his face. They will seriously get in the way of attacking the Hectors and the Deroys in the crater. Consider defeating them but watch for counterattacks from the Hectors and/or Deroys.

Alternatively, run up or down the crater, out of the reach of the Shield Bearers (temporarily) and attack the Hectors and/or the Deroys. The Vegalta Buster Arms is slow so it may be best to run on foot and use the Limpet Sniper F3.

Watch for counterattacks. The green Hector has plasma cannons with shots that travel fast, have an area effect and is powerful enough to OHKO (one-hit knockout) an Air Raider with low Armor. The red Hector has artillery cannons with shots that are slow, have a big blast radius, travel in a trajectory and can OHKO. The Deroys's plasma cannon is slow and does less damage. The real danger are the lasers in its legs.

All three will point weapons at the Air Raider and/or charge weapons before they fire. Duck behind the crater's edge, duck behind a shield or dodge aside to avoid. Listen for the explosion and/or watch the radar for signs that it is safe to come back up. The Elerctormagenetic Prison can take a lot of damage so it is safe to hide behind one and fire from cover.

After the trio in the crater are defeated, defeat any remaining Shield Bearers in range and all the Flying Vehicles. Grab all the desired loot outside the crater and recruit any remaining Ranger allies. Jump into the pit and that is the end of phase one.

Phase two is almost the same as that for the Ranger.

Defeat any remaining Shield Bearers. Get to a good position to attack the top of the Brain. The right position is hard to describe here with text, but a good position is one where it is possible to hit two of the red panels of the Earth Eaters that the Brain will summon later. Summon a new Vegalta if necessary. Then start attacking the Brain.

After the Brain decides that it has taken enough damage, it will summon Earth Eaters. While the Earth Eaters are moving into position, attack and destroy as many red panels as possible. One is good. Two is great, if it is possible with the slow Vegalta Buster Arms.

The Earth Eater turrets will start firing but the Ranger allies will help as decoys. Also, the turrets do not deal a lot of damage. There should be enough time to clear out the remaining threats, either by attacking the remaining turrets or destroying the remaining red panels. Prioritize those that are close enough to consider targeting the player.

Once all hostiles except the Brain are gone, it is the boring part of marching around the crater and grabbing desired loot. Consider leaving the slow Vegalta Buster Arms and looting on foot.

Feel free to take a few shots at the Brain on the way but stop before the Brain gets fed up and leaves. There will be two radio messages as the Brain takes damage before the end.

Once all the desired loot is collected, summon a new Vegalta if possible and necessary. Attack the Brain until it leaves.

EDF 2025: Contents

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