Flying Tactics for X-Wing Alliance, XvT, TIE Fighter, and the original X-Wing

If you have any tactics that seem to work for any of you in any situation inside the cockpit of any starfighter or starship post them here. I especially want to see how each of you react to recieving a missle lock, targeting specific components on starcraft (which parts to destroy first, only in X-Wing Alliance), and flight tactics while against faster or slower craft than you have. I mostly play X-Wing Alliance, but this thread can be used for all of the flight sims. Any sort of tactic is fine here. As we go on we can make up different flight senarios and find the best ways for dealing with them. For instance...

A TIE Defender gets a tractor beam lock on you and is fully loaded with warheads. You...

And then you can answer. Although this is an almost impossible situation to get by without ejecting or getting turned into flotsam, senarios that can be solved without screaming and pounding the keyboard in frustration are welcome also.

 

In that T/D scenario, it depends on what ship you are on.

If you're in something with turrets, you know what to do.

If not, I'd sugest activating a chaff (undoes the tractor beam) then simply going evasive till you can fire on the T/D. Works well.

btw, XWA isn't....popular much anymore here, so a new thread probobly isn't necessary.

However, a bunch of us post in this thread about multiplayer games, stratagies, and mods for XWA. Check it out!

 

missile lock? depends on the exact situation but generally:

1. determine who launched it. if it was a capitol ship, get the heck away from immediately. if its a starfighter, return the favor

2. dispose of it with whatever is convenient, i.e. countermeasure, or fly straight at the missile and take it out with a laser shot.

this is of course assuming that they enemy actually fired the missile. I find that very rarely does an enemy get a missile lock and not launch a missile.

what to take out first? depends on the ship and the situation but generally:

1. warhead launchers
2. shield generators
3. engines
4. hanger
5. bridge

you hardly ever get past number three though. either the ship is destroyed or you are.

 

If you're good, you can take out the shield gens first, then the warhead launchers. It takes a little longer because you have to avoid the occasional missile being fired at you, but you can finish it off quicker. Make sure you use unguided warheads when firing at a turbolaser-equipped ship, especially in XWA, because it'll just shoot 'em before they even get near the ship. Hopefully that's obvious, though.

 

Run away. Recharge shields. Head back in to the melee. Repeat as necessary.

 

Use decoy beam whenever you have it (great for temporarily breaking missile or craft targetting locks).

 

I know unfortunately that not many people play these sims anymore. Most people think that the newer the game, the better. They are wrong. I always play classics like the X-Wing games, Jedi Knight I, Racer, etc. Maybe I am trying to renew interest. Or maybe this guy is: http://njoproject.skywalkeronline.net/ns/index.shtml


Well, usually the ships have concussion missles with them. So you can take it from there or make your own senario.

A really good training exercise is a skirmish in a mine field with the mines that fire missiles at you when you destroy them. Put about 6 in each group and then give them 10 waves each. Might sound extreme, but it really helps you. Better than the Training Grounds in some cases. You get tired flying in rings all the time.

 

You get tired flying in rings all the time.

You obviously haven't tried the other options in there.

 

Right. I haven't. I just play this game about every day almost. Sure I do! I really like the one where you have to rescue Artoo. I usually just make skirmishes though, and fly the actual missions.

 

To take out a flight of Ties in XWA, pull in behind and use advanced torpedoes(if you have em) and fire an unguided missile into one of them, blast takes them all out.

 

I love that tactic.

 

That tactic is specially useful when taking out flights of bombers, though it's more effective when taking them out just as they leave the ISD's hangar.

 

I'm sure most people do this anyway, but just in case: Whenever I need to turn she ship more than 30 degrees, I hit the 1/3 throttle key (or use my throttle wheel, but it's been acting up lately) and toggle back and forth between it and full throttle. This gives you the most maneuverability (unless you're playing TIE Fighter or any game before it).

When dealing with missiles, they're easy to avoid. Just fly around in a loop until you can target it with your lasers (they're so slow in maneuvering, that a loop-de-loop works easily).

Advanced missiles are another story. You fly in a loop, you're toast. Especially if you're on the hardest difficulty. To deal with them, you can use countermeasures, yes, but I prefer not to waste them, especially on a mission with many craft that are armed with them. First, like with any missile warning, you want to target the missile immediately and make THAT your priroty from any other target you have acquired (normal missiles aren't super priority depending on the situation, but an advanecd missile MUST demand your attention). If you can take out the missile from a distance with your lasers, then that is ideal.

I prefer to save my countermeasures for the craft that acquire a missile lock that are right on my tail. Advanced missiles at close range are difficult to avoid (not impossible, but not fun). But the ones that are closing in on you from a distance from behind, can be avoided. The trick is to turn at 90 degree angles. You nose dive hard, and then let your craft fly straight for a little bit (instead of immediately jerking back up) and do the same the opposite direction. Turn sharp, fly straight for a few seconds, repeat. You can get the missile in front of your nose easily this way, and shoot it down. Any other way takes too long to avoid it, and by that time you've already got a second or third missile incoming.

Against capital ships, I always take out the weapons systems first. Warhead launchers are priority, especially if they fire advanced missiles. After that, I can take it down at my leisure. As soon as it's shields are down, if I have ion canons, I disable it asap so it can't make the jump to hyperspace.

Trying to get enemy ships to ram into capital ships also helps in A: Doing damage to the capital ship (minor, but some) and B: Getting rid of enemy ships easily. In XWA, it's tougher to do this since the pilots aren't as dumb. But, what you do is get a ship close to your tail, fly very close to a capital ship, then pull your craft up or down (depending if you are above or below it) sharply just as you pass one of it's edges. The ship will usually smash into the big ship and be destroyed.

Hope this helps.

-Jomero

 

I didn't necessarily need help I just wanted to see variety in handling different situations.

 

Well, then I hope that helps in adding more tactics to your list.

 

I just got X-wing vs. TIE yesterday, so maybe that will make you feel like the game is still loved. Any way... what I want to know is do people still play Multi player levels on the net for the above mentioned game?

 

Yes, as a matter of fact they do. Here is a few sites that have multiplayer stuff for the X-Wing games:

http://www.zone.com/asp/xwalredir.asp
This is the URL for playing X-Wing Alliance on the Zone.

http://www.emperorshammer.net/main.asp
"The Emperor's Hammer" is an Empire driven group that plays the X-Wing/TIE Fighter games on the Net.

http://www.rebelsquadrons.org This is where you can join a Rebel Squadron that plays the Star Wars flight sims that we have grown to love.

http://www.freewebs.com/raptorsqr/
I am trying to get this organization going. I don't work on the site, but my friend does. If you have questions, ask me about it because I know there isn't much info on the site.

Fly fast and shoot straight.

 

If you have a missile lock on you, quick manuevering and spinning coupled with speed changes from full throttle to 1/3 and back a few times usually does the goods for me. A dive-and-turn also works fairly well.

I also noticed a trick to increase speed by 25%. I don't have the instuction manual so I can't validate what it does, so you guys might be able to help me. If you press F11, and then reset your shield and laser charges on full, you will fly at 75% of the craft's ,aximum speed, rather than 50%. What is this actually do? I'm sure there's some hidden explaination, but what?

And, if one is a good pilot, one can take out an ISD by one's self. Here's how to do it. Fire an equal amount of proton torps at the shield generators, and then use lasers to take each one out. Then focus on the weapons blisters (about 10 laser hits will take 'em out). Focus on one side of the side, slowly ridding it of weapons targeting system. When all the targeting systems are out, just strafe the ship. It'll take ages, but you'll kill it eventually. I've done this a few times, and it is very satisfying destroying an ISD in an A-wing.

Horn out

 

thanks very much for the dights you posted. As of now though I'm working on finding the right joystick.