X3FL - Board Q with 0 Casualty

General discussion about X³: Farnham's Legacy.

Moderators: Moderators for English X Forum, Moderators for the X3:FL Forums

Post Reply
v_make
Posts: 59
Joined: Mon, 10. Sep 18, 07:12
xr

X3FL - Board Q with 0 Casualty

Post by v_make » Fri, 31. Dec 21, 06:39

Boarding a Xenon Q with 0 casualty was easy in TC since one can save load at each deck. Need a little more SL in AP, but was easier than P IIRC. Now it's very hard, but I finally made it after 717 attempts.

So I lower the Q's shield, launch 21 marines, initiate the jump sequence, keep shields low, and save right before boarding pods hit Q. After each reload, once the jump is completed, I open the property menu to watch the marine status, take a screenshot at the hacking stage, save the game, and copy the save to somewhere else.

I wrote a .ahk script to automate the above process, gathering a lot of saves and corresponding screenshots. The screenshots are later processed and clustered using python.

Of all the 793 scenarios recorded, 101 times Q launched a Firestorm Torpedo against me but ironically destroyed itself due to close-range detonation by my anti-missile system.

Of the remaining 692 scenarios, 447 times the marines did not survive till hacking the core. The other 245 (almost) successful scenarios have a distribution of remaining crews as follows at the hacking stage. Note there are occasions when less than 16 marines made it to this stage but were not eliminated.

Only in one scenario, at the 717th attempt, did all 21 crews survive the operation.

Image

https://www.mkmark.net/content/uploads/ ... ly-one.jpg

https://www.mkmark.net/content/uploads/ ... -21-15.jpg
Last edited by Terre on Fri, 31. Dec 21, 07:35, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Images posted directly to the forums should not be greater than 640x480 or 100kb, oversize image now linked
Regards.
Mark

DanKara
Posts: 416
Joined: Fri, 21. Dec 18, 13:19
x4

Re: X3FL - Board Q with 0 Casualty

Post by DanKara » Fri, 31. Dec 21, 13:13

Quod erat demonstrandum!
So now it is proven: There is a random chance to be lucky in X3FL. :lol:

I admire your patience though.
The first time I boarded a Xenon-capship in FL I got away with 19 out of 21 marines. With every further one I accepted more losses. The last of the four types I accepted with 19 out 31. Just wanted to finish this line of blueprints.

User avatar
ubuntufreakdragon
Posts: 5189
Joined: Thu, 23. Jun 11, 14:57
x4

Re: X3FL - Board Q with 0 Casualty

Post by ubuntufreakdragon » Fri, 31. Dec 21, 15:03

If you manage them correctly marines are relative easy to replace if the right ones die.
I plan with about 50 casualties for all Xenon BP, and 300 combat drones + 50 boarding pods.
Just send good fighters but less trained marines first, I tend to have about 40 100 combat 60-80 mechanic 0 else Marines at hand when haunting Xenons.
My elite troops are the reinforcements for the meet grinder.
My X3 Mods

XRebirth, things left to patch:
In General; On Firing NPC's; In De Vries; Out Of Zone; And the Antiwishlist

Sovereign01
Posts: 2128
Joined: Wed, 25. May 05, 14:38
x4

Re: X3FL - Board Q with 0 Casualty

Post by Sovereign01 » Sat, 1. Jan 22, 03:55

You have more patience than me, despite having boarded Xenon in TC and AP I'm nowhere near that stage in FL yet. In TC it would take save scumming at each deck but was possible to board any Xenon casualty-free. AP was more difficult, I found the P and PX to be surprisingly hard as I would always lose 2 marines so the solution was to mix in a couple of grunts in with the veterans and save when the expendable ones get killed and reload if it's a veteran that bites the dust. Of course the Xenon I was the ultimate prize and was the only ship I'd need to send reinforcements and as the last ship I'd typically board losing marines was less of a big deal as long as they got the job done.

I only have 15 trained marines in FL, of which just one is at 100 combat. I'll probably do what a lot of other players do and board Yaki as they already hate me and aren't usually found outside their home sectors. I also boarded an OTAS Boreas, by the time I had the credits to purchase one my notoriety had dropped to the point they were red to me so boarding it was. Weirdly both they and Terracorp hate me despite being mortal enemies to each other.

Hwitvlf
Posts: 484
Joined: Tue, 13. Apr 21, 21:36

Re: X3FL - Board Q with 0 Casualty

Post by Hwitvlf » Sat, 1. Jan 22, 05:50

In 1.3, the fully upgraded marine produces highly trained marines which makes it much less painful when you lose one. It's hard to get an XXL barack, but worth the effort so that you don't have to save-spam to avoid weeks of training replacement marines - really enjoying the flexibility.

I've been losing about 7 marines per xenon capital, but plenty of replacements. You lose a lot more without maxed fighting, but the other stats can be lots lower. I've never failed at hacking and only had problems with the hull on Terran ships.

Sovereign01
Posts: 2128
Joined: Wed, 25. May 05, 14:38
x4

Re: X3FL - Board Q with 0 Casualty

Post by Sovereign01 » Sat, 1. Jan 22, 06:42

Hwitvlf wrote:
Sat, 1. Jan 22, 05:50
In 1.3, the fully upgraded marine produces highly trained marines which makes it much less painful when you lose one. It's hard to get an XXL barack, but worth the effort so that you don't have to save-spam to avoid weeks of training replacement marines - really enjoying the flexibility.

I've been losing about 7 marines per xenon capital, but plenty of replacements. You lose a lot more without maxed fighting, but the other stats can be lots lower. I've never failed at hacking and only had problems with the hull on Terran ships.
Is the player-built marine training barracks really better for training? I can't get the thing to appear in the complex planner, does that mean it cannot be complexed?

Jimmy C
Posts: 1130
Joined: Tue, 17. Jul 12, 02:50
x3tc

Re: X3FL - Board Q with 0 Casualty

Post by Jimmy C » Sat, 1. Jan 22, 06:51

Yes, the barracks cannot be complexed. Though I did find that it's possible to add an existing barracks to a new complex plan. That lets you analyze supplies if you plan on supplying it from a complex.

BrigandPhantos77
Posts: 517
Joined: Wed, 27. Dec 17, 05:47
x4

Re: X3FL - Board Q with 0 Casualty

Post by BrigandPhantos77 » Wed, 5. Jan 22, 22:21

Sovereign01 wrote:
Sat, 1. Jan 22, 06:42
Hwitvlf wrote:
Sat, 1. Jan 22, 05:50
In 1.3, the fully upgraded marine produces highly trained marines which makes it much less painful when you lose one. It's hard to get an XXL barack, but worth the effort so that you don't have to save-spam to avoid weeks of training replacement marines - really enjoying the flexibility.

I've been losing about 7 marines per xenon capital, but plenty of replacements. You lose a lot more without maxed fighting, but the other stats can be lots lower. I've never failed at hacking and only had problems with the hull on Terran ships.
Is the player-built marine training barracks really better for training? I can't get the thing to appear in the complex planner, does that mean it cannot be complexed?
Even if you don't add the extension kits, all the marines come out with way better combat. I am preparing to add the final extension to my own > XXL. You can pretty much expect on average all trainees to finish with +50 or better on each stat. And an acceptable rate of getting 90+ combat marines.

As for the mention of a firestorm, I had a stupid Condor do that to me. I popped each one with a flail barrage and watched him over the course of 3 go from 98% hull to about 35% hull. Helped keep his shields down during the hull cutting phase. I took the ship of course, jumped it out with a jump kit. Took a little while for my drone ship to repair it. Happily, it's been RE now and the replacement ship will soon be under construction. Just waiting on a bunch of fighters to be finished to fill up my Colossus and fleet of Cerberus. I was going to build a fleet for my mobile pirate base, but decided on filling that with capped and used/purchased ships.

Speaking of used ships, got a Consus for only 1.4 million credits. That was nice. Happily added to my BP list.
Peace is a state of mind!
War is absolute!
~ Phantos ~

v_make
Posts: 59
Joined: Mon, 10. Sep 18, 07:12
xr

Re: X3FL - Board Q with 0 Casualty

Post by v_make » Fri, 7. Jan 22, 03:32

Hwitvlf wrote:
Sat, 1. Jan 22, 05:50
In 1.3, the fully upgraded marine produces highly trained marines
BrigandPhantos77 wrote:
Wed, 5. Jan 22, 22:21
You can pretty much expect on average all trainees to finish with +50 or better on each stat. And an acceptable rate of getting 90+ combat marines.
Thank you for sharing all of this! I find it somehow frustrating to know this after my main batch of marines has been fully trained. I was just not expecting a player-owned marine training barracks should be any different from an NPC one.
I was considering whether another investment at my current stage is still worthwhile, given the fact that I have only xenon J and K left to board. (Yes I have boarded P PX Q I and all the RRF that spawned with a jump beacon)
Regards.
Mark

Post Reply

Return to “X³: Farnham's Legacy”