Hatikhav's Trade Plot need serious adjustment

[MKL81]

Am I an unlucky one or does the absolute beginner plot in X4 at one point directs me to plant bombs on SCA station in Nopileos' Memorial, sector which is full of Xenon Ks and Hs just waiting around station to immediately jump on me the moment I show up anywhere near the station? I mean I can somewhat handle it, but I can imagine new person will probably throw a keyboard at the monitor the moment that this happen

[LightII]

If they have the DLC with Envoy, it will be much easier.

[Alan Phipps]

I think the choice of which SCA station is involved in the pier bombing varies from game to game and on the SCA situation at time of mission. A reload to before the mission was briefed or even earlier *might* help with a different SCA station choice. I think there's an earlier part of the HAT plot where the player chooses an SCA station to do something and maybe that choice has some impact on where things might happen later, but I don't know that for sure.

[LightII]

I remember a NPC will remind player about the SCA station in that mission, but players could select anyone if they already known others.

[Alan Phipps]

That's the earlier part of the plot rather than the pier bombing though.

[LightII]

yes, your are right.

[Blaze1st]

If you go scout the sector and the leave again then after a little while there will be a news bulletin that ARG are sending a fleet to deal with them.

As I recall if the SCA station is destroyed before this happens the mission will switch to a different SCA station.

So I think you can just safely wait it out until those Xenon are dealt with.

But yeah definitely easier and quicker to complete if the mission selects any SCA station other than that one!

[MKL81]

I think the choice of which SCA station is involved in the pier bombing varies from game to game and on the SCA situation at time of mission. A reload to before the mission was briefed or even earlier *might* help with a different SCA station choice. I think there's an earlier part of the HAT plot where the player chooses an SCA station to do something and maybe that choice has some impact on where things might happen later, but I don't know that for sure.

I simply believe this particular sector should be excluded from even being considered for this mission, if possible.

I remember a NPC will remind player about the SCA station in that mission, but players could select anyone if they already known others.

You are probably thinking about a previous mission in Hatikvah's Plot, where you need to scan a data leak. You cannot choose target for the bomb placement mission.

If you go scout the sector and the leave again then after a little while there will be a news bulletin that ARG are sending a fleet to deal with them.

Not sure if this was the fleet that I have encountered, but ARG has send a single Behemoth and a some s/m mix (possibly as emotional support, so that the destroyer will not feel all alone while dying). This "fleet" was eradicated in a minute. Honestly, I did this mission like 8-9 times already after Timelines, the Nopileos part has never happened to me before.

[Manawydn]

Look man, if there's one thing I've learned, its to give the GOAT Dal Busta what he wants.

[MKL81]

Update: I tried to play this sabotage mission once again in Nopileos, this time without destroying Xenon forces, and this plays out absolutely like garbage. Basically you place bombs, the transporter materializes, the Xenon destroy the transporter, Dal Busta announce success, you don't get any cutscene of bombs going off like before, everything feels off and will cause a first time player to scratch his head, asking WTF just happened. This plays terrible and really need to be adjusted in some future version.

[elijahgalador]

Am I an unlucky one or does the absolute beginner plot in X4 at one point directs me to plant bombs on SCA station in Nopileos' Memorial, sector which is full of Xenon Ks and Hs

Happened to me as well, and I completely agree — this is indeed bad luck compared to how easy the mission is supposed to be. What I can add is that I had a save directly before that part of the mission and tried to spam reload, but to no avail. I cannot be completely sure, but I think the choice of the SCA station is tied to the specific game, and there is nothing you can do about it.

I believe you have already found a solution by now, but in case it is still helpful, here is what worked for me: invest in a nimble S-class ship with the best compromise between weapon mounts and strafe/forward speed. I would vote for the Pulsar, but I didn't have access to it at the time and chose the Quasar as a fallback variant. Outfit the ship completely with S Burst Rays Mk2 and Mk3 all-round thrusters (for strafe speed). Just swoop in, quickly disable the drives of the Xenon ships one by one, and let the Argon intervention fleet take care of the rest. It's still not real fun, but it finally worked in my case.

I would also vote for the Nopileus' Memorial station to be taken off that mission's list; otherwise this is a tough nut even for X4 veterans