How to beat the 4th Combat Scenario (Recon)

[Steeltiger]

Hi,
I own the ED Public Beta, and have been trying out the combat scenarios.
The first 3 proof no challenge in the meantime but I get constantly wasted in the Recon Scenario.

The ship feels like a flying brick compared to the federation fighters.
I' giving the engines a notch more enery, try to stay in the blue zone for the best turning power, but at best I manage to shoot down 2 of the 4 before I get wasted. They simply fly circles around me and I can't keep up with them in the turnfight. And when I get them, they are already firering at me again.

At the moment it look like a no-win scenario. You can't outrun then, you can't turn as good as them, and they have a 4:1 advantage.

What am I doing wrong? Is there a special tactic to the scenario?

EDIT:

I managed to finish the scario using advice in previous posts. Once you search for the right keywords......

 

[Steeltiger]

After impoving my search-fu, I found out that I was not the only one with the problem...

I tried the "fly in reverse" tactic and had an immediate success.

Now I engaged them and once they started shooting, I flew in reverse at full thrust. While doing that I never stopped firing the laser and when I heard "target shield down" launched 2 missiles.

They died within 3 minutes.....

30 times I tried the dogfight, 30 times I got wasted. 1st try flying in reverse and... success


Can that really be the key to the scenario???

 

[Commander Dave]

Can that really be the key to the scenario???

It does work but it's not necessary.
If I remember correctly one of the ships has no shield up so go for that one first. Then take out whichever of the others seems best. Make liberal use of your directional thrusters and don't be afraid to boost towards and past a ship just to get their lasers off you.
4 pips to weapons as that laser overheats quickly and two pips to engines for the manoeuvrability.

 

[Adam Lusardi]

If I remember right make good use of your missiles lower their shields and 3 missiles per ship. Good luck...

 

[Neillm]

I was trying this scenario again yesterday. Maybe it's changed again, but once their shields are down, it was only taking one missile to finish them off.

I didn't know about the one with no shields, that could be very useful!

Also, they seem to ram me constantly...even when I was chasing another I was getting crashed into by the others.

I ended up doing the fly backwards trick to get past it but felt a bit dirty.

 

[Vargur]

Ah the recon thread, seems like this one pops up every time a new wave of people get into the game
The mission really is a trial by fire, you'll die a lot until you do it right.
There are some youtube video's around that can give you a good insight on how to complete it effectively.
Seeing it in a video is much easier than having to explain it with words.
(TBH i haven't a clue anymore how to do the mission, haven't done it in ages )

Just search for 'elite dangerous recon' , you'll see a whole list of videos, just watch a few.

 

[SeraphymC]

I failed it the first time, and on the second attempt I watched and waited, then moved in at the rear of the formation. I got nice and close and opened up on the first fighter with 2 missiles and beams, killing him quite quickly. I targeted the next closest and let loose with everything I had, 4 missiles and beams, which ended him as well.

Then it was 4 pips to engines and put some space between me and the remaining 2. Flip around, all 6 missiles to the first pursuer and a beam or two to finish him off. Last fighter was easy mop up with just the beams.

 

[Zieman]

The mission used to be easy, but now in prem Beta 2.02 the Federal Fighters have learnt to fight as a group.

Hope this helps.

Ok, not so straightforward anymore. Those Fighters have learned a few new tricks since Prem Beta 2.0, like flying circles around you & concentrating fire as a group. Also, they shoot down your missiles if you're not careful!

As a result, I had to come up with something a bit better than the Alpha 1.0 tactic.

So, this attempt was a close call, but failure :


Adding reverse thrust and some thought on when to fire my missiles to the mix brought success, but not without cost :


Crimson Triumph is now comfortably easy, but I reckon he will pose a threat to anyone who's still learning their ropes :

 

[Slone]

I made two videos of this mission. Once you got it, it's quite fun and relaxing to do.

I did a first one at the time of PB 1 and another to test gimballed weapons in PB2.02

I did them with the idea that missiles cost, in mind
So that's why I insist on using the burst laser a lot in those exercices. I take down their shields and fire a missile once the shields is depleted. After a while, you tend to anticipate the moment the shields are going down and fire your missile a second or two earlier to take them out a bit quicker.

Once shields are down, one missile is enough to kill any of those ships with certainty, so when the missile is on its way, you can switch to another target.

Basically, as you can see, I don't make any crazy maneuver. I rotate almost slowly while strafing. This way most of their bullets seem to miss their target.

 

[Zieman]

I made two videos of this mission. Once you got it, it's quite fun and relaxing to do.

I did a first one at the time of PB 1 and another to test gimballed weapons in PB2.02

I did them with the idea that missiles cost, in mind
So that's why I insist on using the burst laser a lot in those exercices. I take down their shields and fire a missile once the shields is depleted. After a while, you tend to anticipate the moment the shields are going down and fire your missile a second or two earlier to take them out a bit quicker.

Once shields are down, one missile is enough to kill any of those ships with certainty, so when the missile is on its way, you can switch to another target.

Basically, as you can see, I don't make any crazy maneuver. I rotate almost slowly while strafing. This way most of their bullets seem to miss their target.

Ah, the art of circle strafing & gimballed pulse/burst laser!

Comparing your PB 2.02 effort & mine makes me feel like a complete NOOB !

Conclusion: 'regular' dogfighting gets you in trouble in this mission, you have to use your brains & employ a more efficient tactic.

The 5-10 bursts + 3 missiles per Farrago worked like a charm from Alpha 1.0 to prem Beta 2.0 (didn't try in 2.01), but 2.02 AI fights better, and now the missiles aren't impervious to incoming fire...

 

[katheb]

I managed it last night!,

I rushed the first one before the others showed up! BAM Full energy into weapons before he could realise I was on em'!

The others I had to charge my weapons and run away get onto a good jousting position full energy to shields and chaaarge once or twice on the same guy will get thier shields down, and the third I use missiles.

A few mistakes in dodging cost me my shields so I had to boost out of there full energy to engines and wait till I was back up and running to try again.

 

[Aleksej]

I assume that the 4th combat scenario is called "Recon Wing". In this case do not attack the enemies right away but wait until all of them arrive to your location. They won't attack you until you hit them so use this to your advantage. After all of them have arrived get behind them and start shooting. Take out their shields with a laser and launch missiles when their shields are down. Federal fighters are slow so having more pips to engines is not that important, as you have only one laser it does not overheat fast so it is not necessary to have all 4 pips in weapons either. When you get attacked my multiple federal fighters distribute 4 pips to the systems to strengthen the shields.

And here is the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD6pnP1CyW4

 

[Zieman]

I assume that the 4th combat scenario is called "Recon Wing". In this case do not attack the enemies right away but wait until all of them arrive to your location. They won't attack you until you hit them so use this to your advantage. After all of them have arrived get behind them and start shooting. Take out their shields with a laser and launch missiles when their shields are down. Federal fighters are slow so having more pips to engines is not that important, as you have only one laser it does not overheat fast so it is not necessary to have all 4 pips in weapons either. When you get attacked my multiple federal fighters distribute 4 pips to the systems to strengthen the shields.

And here is the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD6pnP1CyW4

Not so straightforward anymore, the Fighters shoot you more now. And your missiles can be hit too in the barrage.

Tried the old way - failure:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWECjyo5uqM

 

[Roi Danton]

Has anyone successfully tried the stealth/bounty hunter approach? At max I can kill two fighters before my weapons overheat and I have to show myself.

 

[Completely Harmless]

Has anyone successfully tried the stealth/bounty hunter approach? At max I can kill two fighters before my weapons overheat and I have to show myself.

I'm new to this too, but I posted about it here.

And to copy the relevant parts:

Stay away from the Cobra, set course towards one of the fighters and as you are heading their way, engage silent running (check controls for it); no need to turn off systems, really. Then full power to weapons. Then "sneak" up on the fighter and use the beam laser. They go down really quick with that, especially if you sneak up on them silently so you get close.

You may have to dump one sink around that time, or just after you take out the first.

Rinse and repeat for the next two, running silent all the while, just don't waste time between them. I dumped my last heatsink on my way to the last, but I got that one before the Cobra reached me (he had spotted something, as he turned but did not yet deploy his weapons).

 

[Slone]

The 5-10 bursts + 3 missiles per Farrago worked like a charm from Alpha 1.0 to prem Beta 2.0 (didn't try in 2.01), but 2.02 AI fights better, and now the missiles aren't impervious to incoming fire...

I think you can spam them with missiles alright, but you have to be careful not to launch those missiles while flying straight at them, as they will be firing at you and their bullets will probably hit the missiles right away, making them explode right in your face. I have had a few instances of that happening, but if you're rotating slowly, or aiming slightly away from the target, your missiles will probably avoid being in the path of their bullets.

 

[Slone]

Ah, the art of circle strafing & gimballed pulse/burst laser!

I forgot to mention two important factors : speed management and system distribution.

About speed, you have to make sure you don't go beyond the "blue zone" with your throttle so that you can easily turn. The strafing makes your speed go beyond, but it doesn't matter, it slows down fast when you stop strafing, so your ship's agility will remain at its most. Also a moderate use of flight assist off can help making those turn a tad faster.

In this mission, you don't need speed as those fighters will try to stay at close range almost at all time, so you have to keep pips mostly for your shields and your gun. When you're being hit, and have no target too shoot, full pips to shield, until you can start shooting again. Even then, don't put full pips to weapons right away if you don't need it. Wait until your gun is about to overheat, so that you have a chance to restore your shields a little.

It's a lot of things to track, but with practice, it becomes natural.

 

[Aleksej]

Not so straightforward anymore, the Fighters shoot you more now. And your missiles can be hit too in the barrage.

Tried the old way - failure:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWECjyo5uqM

Actually it is as straightforward for me as it always was. I always complete all SP scenarios after the release of the new major version and I did not have any troubles with Recon Wing at all. So I have just made a new walkthrough video:
http://youtu.be/5mbIjyJdfH0

The missiles deal much more damage now and 1 missile destroys Federal Fighter as soon as its shields are down.

 

[Zieman]

Actually it is as straightforward for me as it always was. I always complete all SP scenarios after the release of the new major version and I did not have any troubles with Recon Wing at all. So I have just made a new walkthrough video:
http://youtu.be/5mbIjyJdfH0

The missiles deal much more damage now and 1 missile destroys Federal Fighter as soon as its shields are down.

Ok, cool.

As much I hate to admit it, I seem to suck at combat.

 

[forger]

Ok, cool.

As much I hate to admit it, I seem to suck at combat.

no. you don't suck, he's just THAT good. really.
but now you know that you need to practice ALOT