X3[TC] OTAS Missions - General advice required please

[zapza]

X3:TC vanilla on a Mac - no Bonus Pack or Mods

I've grudgingly started the OTAS missions as this is the only way for me to get my hands on a Sirokos.

After over 12 months of this current game I have massive resources at my disposal and I'm hoping to get through this "grind" as quickly as possible, so I'm not too bothered about how many ships and/or missiles I expend along the way.

My aim is to get the Sirokos and then use it to build a fleet of Xenon capitals.

My OTAS question is based on my early experiences with the missions being offered. So far, after about a dozen missions I've noticed that all of these are taking place within a few sectors of Legend's Home.


In respect of the combat oriented missions (assassinations & defend station) would it be to my advantage to deploy a number of battle fleets in every one of say the 10 sectors nearest to Legends Home?

I can do this fairly easily. My rationale is that having heavy 'overwhelming' forces immediately to hand might speed up the process, especially when it comes to killing off the enemies generated for the mission.


So, would this approach be worth the effort, or am I likely to be sent much further afield on combat missions as I progress through the OTAS ranks?


Any comments, help or suggestions would be much appreciated.

[pref]

If i remember right, more than half of the missions were combat missions in the same 2-3 sectors.

[TTD]

A long time since I did that one.

Although i did each mission as they came,without preparation like that, I did have a large (65 M3s) at my disposal , tucked in my Split carrier.

I had used most of them,plus a few more that died in combat ,for the Defend MO missions , in the OFF plot.

I had dumped them in sector.
When they had completed the task, I parked them at the MO until next Defend MO mission came.
I did this until OFF was complete.

So what I am saying is, your plan seems to have merits.

[Bill Huntington]

zapza, the OTAS missions after the first one, are not that hard, just a grind like you say. And the Sirokos is worth the effort. It is the fastest M7M, and it seems the most maneuverable. Decent shields, too. You usually have to have a support ship to lower the shields of the target, since it does not carry Hammers and Flails

The first mission can be a nightmare, so I avoid the problems by accepting that mission and NOT entering the sectors that has the fleet to be escorted. So no enemy is spawned. So that escorted fleet proceeds unhindered until the end of mission. Not fun, but it works.

I gather all the missiles that get called for by Missile Supply missions, and keep a 2x supply of them on a big TS in OTAS HQ. The hard ones are Disruptors, Banshees and Firestorms. I usually just accept and abort a mission that includes Disruptors. Unless you spend a lot of time in the Xenon sectors, they are hard to come by. I do all the other missions, though the Follow the Pirate missions are very time consuming.

Assassination missions are perhaps the easiest, so no special effort is needed, just a bigger ship than the target, well equipped. Just jump to the target and kill it. Nothing subtle. You have to kill it to get credit for it. And try hard not to kill the escort. If you kept fleets prepositioned, you would just clog the traffic lanes for when you jumped in. You would also have to cover every single gate of five sectors. The other gates of the target sectors would probably be having multiple collisions while you engaged the target, because collision avoidance is engaged in the whole sector.

I always try to keep up my pirate and Yaki rating. So I try very hard not to kill them in the Defend Station missions. I will take their hulls down to 10% or less, making them slow enough for the local police to catch. Sometimes I will get them to follow me to the police. If I have to kill them myself, I will use my Viper and Tomahawks, so I don't get credited with the kill. I get credit for the Defend Station mission, not for killing the pirates or Yaki.

Here is a nice little trick to earn multiple free rewards. You get the Solano where you make Armaments Pro rank, you get the Venti when you earn OTAS Master Chief, and you get a Skiron when you finish and get the rank of OTAS Legend. You get a message to land, and then you get your reward. If you accept a mission without landing, you have earned two reward ships. Some missions you must accept and not abort without breaking the mission. Like a transport mission. My last mission, I only got one Solano, one Venti, and 8 Skirons!

Good Luck !

[Rhox]

I have a similiar approach for corporation combat missions:
I have a fleet of 4 Tyrs stationed at one of my HQs. I usually hide them away from frequented sectors, so they're not anywhere near where corporation missions take place. As soon as I get a combat mission, I look at the offer to see which gate is closest to the station I have to defend or on which gate my target will emerge. I then decline the mission and sent the fleet to assume position between the gate and the station. After the ships are in place, I accept the mission offer and jump into the system myself.
For me, the rewards you get for the missions simply don't justify the expenditure of having a few M2s at every gate in 4-5 sectors.

best regards,
Rhox

[zapza]

@ pref : thanks mate, that's exactly what I wanted to know


@ Rhox : I too have a few fleets stationed nearby and a fully loaded EQ in Aladna Hill. So far I've not really called on any of them other than to use a light screen of Skirons during the "follow" missions. The three or four I've done so far have all passed without incident or drama.

I'm trying to get through most of this alternating as required between Hyperions, Cobras and Scabbards.

I'm up to about rank 3 at the moment: can I expect the missions to get more challenging as I progress, or will it be just more of the same?



@ Bill Huntington : good to hear from you again Bill.

I actually did the first 'escort convoy' mission about 12 months ago with a very low fight rank. Can't remember too much about it other than I recall vowing never to bother with any of the Corporations ever again. As you can see from all of this, I'm easily swayed.

Reference the missile deliveries, I've followed your lead and parked a mammoth at the Argon shipyard in Legend's Home - it's packed out with hundreds of each missile type and enough Flails/Hammers/Pods to keep my Cobras going for weeks.

I take your point about fleets clogging-up the gates etc. So although they're fairly close to hand I don't think I'll deploy preemptively, time will tell.

Bill, you mention in your post that when it comes to killing Pirates/Yaki you use your Viper so that you "don't get credited with the kill".

Not sure I understand how that works. How is it that you don't get credited with the kill? I'm not bothered about Pirate rep but I have an extremely well developed and lucrative chunk of "Empire" in the Yaki Sectors. Although I could wipe 'em out I'd prefer to keep the Yaki onside for now. Could I upset the Yaki to the point of war by completing these OTAS missions? And what's the deal with the Viper?

Anyways, nose back to the grindstone, OTAS are calling for me again; it seems that someone broke a pencil in Akeelas and I've got to go and erm, have a word . . .


Thanks for all the comments guys.

[marksman021]

I think what Bill is talking about is the exploit where you tell a M8 to launch missiles remotely, then jump it away before the missiles hit while you stay in sector. This kills the target, but since the ship that launched the missiles is not in sector anymore, the missiles are now counted as unowned. Thus, it does not count as a kill for you.

[Bill Huntington]

marksman021 got it right.

If you get a low pirate or Yaki rating, you will be punished for it. Yet there are times you have to kill one or more of them. OTAS missions are one of those times. If you keep a high rating, then the missions to keep them high can be taken at your convenience.

You can check those ratings with "Thereshallbewings".

[zapza]

marksman021 got it right.

Thanks both.