Covert missions and "tipped off" message

[Aerodeon]

How do you complete the covert missions after you receive the "tipped off" message. I've just started taking covert missions to try and unlock the engineer, but every time I take off I receive the "Tipped off" message. Once that's come up, I might as well give up the mission because I can't get near enough to the site without it turning red and failing the mission.

First off, I tried landing near the site in the ship, but it turned red when I got too close, so the mission failed.
Took another mission, tried landing 10km away and driving up in an SRV. The site turned red when I reached it and the mission failed.
Took yet another mission, tried landing 10km away, driving to 3km away and then walking to the site. It turned red as soon as I reached it and the mission failed.

What am I doing wrong? Can you just not complete them after the "tipped off" message?

 

[Commander Kheane]

If you Apex to the settlement they never get tipped off, the station snitch never gets to see you take your ship out

 

[Aerodeon]

Land outside firing range, walk into the settlement, kill them all.

As soon as I walk within range of the settlement, it turns red and the mission fails.

If you Apex to the settlement they never get tipped off, the station snitch never gets to see you take your ship out

Didn't think of taking a taxi, I have to admit. Seems pretty obvious, but if you don't know it, you don't know it. Thanks.

 

[Screemonster]

I had one of these. A covert assassination of a guard.
The fun part? The base detected my ship and started firing on me before the mission popped up on my screen.
I landed in the settlement defences blind spot, ran in, and had a rather extensive firefight with the guards and their reinforcements with the alarms still blazing, then the alert popped up that I'd killed the guy I'd been sent to kill.
Out of shotgun ammo and medkits, I fled into the night and waited for the alarms to turn off and the guards to start going back to their patrols.
Crept back in, swiped L3 access off one of the bodies, then went into the CMD building to turn the alarms off just to be sure (which was trivial as I'd already killed all the guards that would normally be stationed in the building) before doing my usual "sweep the base for everything that's not nailed down and yank the power regulator".

I suspect that because the alarms were already active when the objective to not raise the alarms was added, the mission didn't fail as the event is only triggered at the moment the alarms go off.

 

[Aerodeon]

What turns red? You on foot HUD doesn't show the settlement status.

On the Contacts panel, all the NPC names and items like "Settlement Defences" and "Ground Turrets" are red. They're red under the on-foot crosshairs too.

If you Apex to the settlement they never get tipped off, the station snitch never gets to see you take your ship out

Tried this excellent suggestion. When the taxi is coming in to land, the settlement changes from yellow to red on the screen. I can hear the settlement alarms already going when I'm in the landing taxi. Once I disembark the mission fails instantly. I'm also immediately murdered.

I'm not getting very far toward unlocking Terra Velasquez.

 

[Screemonster]

On the Contacts panel, all the NPC names and items like "Settlement Defences" and "Ground Turrets" are red. They're red under the on-foot crosshairs too.

Tried this excellent suggestion. When the taxi is coming in to land, the settlement changes from yellow to red on the screen. I can hear the settlement alarms already going when I'm in the landing taxi. Once I disembark the mission fails instantly. I'm also immediately murdered.

I'm not getting very far toward unlocking Terra Velasquez.

That's weird, I've only ever had tipped-off messages for settlement massacres, I've never had them for a theft or a heist.

 

[Commander Kheane]

On the Contacts panel, all the NPC names and items like "Settlement Defences" and "Ground Turrets" are red. They're red under the on-foot crosshairs too.

Tried this excellent suggestion. When the taxi is coming in to land, the settlement changes from yellow to red on the screen. I can hear the settlement alarms already going when I'm in the landing taxi. Once I disembark the mission fails instantly. I'm also immediately murdered.

I'm not getting very far toward unlocking Terra Velasquez.

IDK what to tell you dude, Apex is the ONLY thing I use for on foot missions and I've never come into an already aggressive/alerted settlement. I suspect wonkiness on your end. Everyone seems to have something different going on with their accounts. My account gave me access to all the basic ship engineers as if I'd not only gotten notice of them but also fulfilled the meet requirements. I've only been playing 2 months, I assure you I've never made the trek to buy Soontiil Relics (sp) or given any engineer bonds/bounties/money to meet them. And yet the game thinks I did. It's crazy.

 

[Aerodeon]

Just kill them. Red personnel will attack you on sight, so get them first.

You only fail a covert mission if the alarm goes off. They can’t trigger the alarm if their dead.

The alarm is going before I even leave the taxi.

At least I’m not fined if I just abandon the mission, but making progress with the engineer is frustrating.

 

[Comandante]

So you're taking covert theft/heist missions, yes?

What's your legal status with the faction? Do you have any fines for the faction you're going against? Check your fines/bounties section (left-hand panel in the ship, second from left tab).

Can you send a screen shot of the tip-off message? If it's over 2-3 scrolls-worth, split the images up.

Never heard of tip-off for covert theft/heist. Sounds to me like the faction already has a beef with you.

 

[Wullail]

Land your ship about 3km away , get in your SRV and go within 1.5k (make sure it's parked in a dip) and then go in on foot.

Like others , I've never had a covert heist mission where the settlement is tipped off , only missions where you have a 'kill all' target to meet.

Only thing I can think of is you already are wanted by the faction that controls the settlement.

 

[Comandante]

As soon as I walk within range of the settlement, it turns red and the mission fails.

That really does sound like you're hostile to the faction.

I was hostile to a action once - you cannot get near it - base turns red, guards swarm you.

 

[Comandante]

How do you complete the covert missions after you receive the "tipped off" message. I've just started taking covert missions to try and unlock the engineer, but every time I take off I receive the "Tipped off" message. Once that's come up, I might as well give up the mission because I can't get near enough to the site without it turning red and failing the mission.

To unlock Terra Valesquez you need to do Covert Heist or Covert Theft missions - not covert missions of any other type.

If you've not seen the stealth guides, see the link below - watch the first three videos of the first post. The first two videos will explain stealth mechanics and mechanics of how guards will detect you; the last video discusses how to do covert heists. I suggest you do covert heists as for some covert thefts do not always appear to register for the count toward the unlock.

See here: The Definitive Stealth Guide

IF your missions WAS a covert heist/theft, abandon it since it sounds broken, then select a new one. If it's NOT a covert theft/heist mission, you chose the wrong mission type for the unlock.

 

[Aerodeon]

Land your ship about 3km away , get in your SRV and go within 1.5k (make sure it's parked in a dip) and then go in on foot.

Like others , I've never had a covert heist mission where the settlement is tipped off , only missions where you have a 'kill all' target to meet.

Only thing I can think of is you already are wanted by the faction that controls the settlement.

I‘ve tried landing 5km out and walked from there. As soon as I get within earshot, I can hear the alarm going. When the mission update message comes up as I arrive at the site, the mission fails because the alarm’s already going. I’m too far away to have been spotted, I think.

P.S. I’m playing in Solo.

That really does sound like you're hostile to the faction.

I was hostile to a action once - you cannot get near it - base turns red, guards swarm you.

The last mission, I was cordial with the mission provider and neutral with the site itself.

To unlock Terra Valesquez you need to do Covert Heist or Covert Theft missions - not covert missions of any other type.

If you've not seen the stealth guides, see the link below - watch the first three videos of the first post. The first two videos will explain stealth mechanics and mechanics of how guards will detect you; the last video discusses how to do covert heists. I suggest you do covert heists as for some covert thefts do not always appear to register for the count toward the unlock.

See here: The Definitive Stealth Guide

IF your missions WAS a covert heist/theft, abandon it since it sounds broken, then select a new one. If it's NOT a covert theft/heist mission, you chose the wrong mission type for the unlock.

Thanks for the video. I’ll check it out and see if there’s something I’m doing wrong.

Trouble is, the more frustrated I get at constantly failing the missions, the less inclined I am to do them.

 

[Comandante]

I‘ve tried landing 5km out and walked from there. As soon as I get within earshot, I can hear the alarm going. When the mission update message comes up as I arrive at the site, the mission fails because the alarm’s already going. I’m too far away to have been spotted, I think.

P.S. I’m playing in Solo.

The last mission, I was cordial with the mission provider and neutral with the site itself.

Thanks for the video. I’ll check it out and see if there’s something I’m doing wrong.

Trouble is, the more frustrated I get at constantly failing the missions, the less inclined I am to do them.

That's exactly why you should come here - and you did

I cannot speak for others but I had a hell of a time figuring stuff out - covert heist/theft missions were my bane in the early days - I'll not go into details. TBH sounds like you're actually doing better than my first half-dozen heists!

Be patient, we're here to help and next thing you know you'll be nothing other than a shadow in the night...

Best bet is to:

1. clear all fines/bounties against you (Interstellar factors - visit an anarchy system and refill your e-breaches at the same time);
2. quit the mission you've talked about here, sounds broken whatever the reason;
3. make sure you choose covert theft/heist for the next mission;
4. check when you leave the SRV you have no e-breaches with you;
5. disable the alarms first;
6. steal stuff.
7. Odd at the end, but go back to basics - if you can, record what you're doing and post it. If not, provide as much detail as you can. If you can disable alarms but get fried on the next stage, hey, you've made the next step. If you disable alarms and get fried, don't sweat - try again and come here or to the stealth thread for some advice.

One thing to note that I didn't pick up because I am a slow learner (got laser burns in my bottom to prove it): there's a big difference between access-level areas and restricted-access areas that I only learned about a little too late:

• If you go into an area that doesn't have the "Restricted Area" banner across, that's an access-level area, you need that level or higher cloned ID, but most importantly workers will not bother with you - no need to sneak - although stay away from guards that will scan you and realise you're an imposter (best bet is to sneak in case you round a corner with a guard, main thing is workers won't go bat****);
• Once you go into a restricted-access area, anyone will react to you being there negatively - NOW is the time to crouch and sneak. If you get caught, run out immediately into an non-restricted area; unless it's a guard, in which case run like the clappers. If it goes real bad, keep running - note that this is covered in one of the videos

This will all make much more sense when you watch the videos. I watched them multiple times because I am an old git who has been spoiled with low-level coin-op play in the early 80s and all this complexity makes it much more difficult. It's even worse when you wake up not knowing what day it is, then still need to check late in the evening to see because you forgot again...

LASTLY: Don't give up. Covert missions are a bag of fun. CANNOT WAIT FOR ON-FOOT VR, damn, that's going to be immersive!

POST-LASTLY: some missions are easier than others. Trips to small mining/agri/industrial bases are a little bit easier than (for example) large military bases. Don't worry about the RNG. You'll get it.

 

[Sheronimo]

How do you complete the covert missions after you receive the "tipped off" message. I've just started taking covert missions to try and unlock the engineer, but every time I take off I receive the "Tipped off" message. Once that's come up, I might as well give up the mission because I can't get near enough to the site without it turning red and failing the mission.

First off, I tried landing near the site in the ship, but it turned red when I got too close, so the mission failed.
Took another mission, tried landing 10km away and driving up in an SRV. The site turned red when I reached it and the mission failed.
Took yet another mission, tried landing 10km away, driving to 3km away and then walking to the site. It turned red as soon as I reached it and the mission failed.

What am I doing wrong? Can you just not complete them after the "tipped off" message?

I had the exact same thing happen to me yesterday. I tried several ways to get to the base, but, to no avail, however, my mission did not fail until my SRV was destroyed on one attempt. I finally managed to complete one by just running in and killing everything that came into sight.

 

[Diwrnach]

I land about 1.5km from the base and take the SRV in (Note: This doesn't work so well at Military bases - Goliaths impede you on the way in and System Authority Vessels on the way out and I haven't found a foolproof way of dealing with either). The base will turn red when you're within 1km but they still don't usually start shooting until you do.