Ground base assassination missions - how?

Thought i'd try out a ground based kill mission, threat 3. I've done threat 3 scavenge missions so didn't expect too many enemies.

However, as i enter the system i get a warning the target will flee if i take too long... too long turned out to be like 2-3 mins, so i failed before even getting to my target... i think i understand this part though, i need to get to the target before the alarm is raised, and i messed up on that. Ok, so i assume a maverick suit is needed, not a combat suit.

Am i right so far?

The issue i'm seeing here is the base was covered by 3 vipers. If i attack, target is alerted. And i guess there will be reinforcements.

If i land near, once i take out the target, if spotted, enemies will be on alert and the vipers will attack my landed ship.

Land far away? Same problem except they will attack my SRV and face a long drive back to the ship while being attacked.

So.... i'm guessing you have to stealth in, kill the target without being spotted, and get out, all without the alarm being raised?
 
Thought i'd try out a ground based kill mission, threat 3. I've done threat 3 scavenge missions so didn't expect too many enemies.

However, as i enter the system i get a warning the target will flee if i take too long... too long turned out to be like 2-3 mins, so i failed before even getting to my target... i think i understand this part though, i need to get to the target before the alarm is raised, and i messed up on that. Ok, so i assume a maverick suit is needed, not a combat suit.

Am i right so far?

The issue i'm seeing here is the base was covered by 3 vipers. If i attack, target is alerted. And i guess there will be reinforcements.

If i land near, once i take out the target, if spotted, enemies will be on alert and the vipers will attack my landed ship.

Land far away? Same problem except they will attack my SRV and face a long drive back to the ship while being attacked.

So.... i'm guessing you have to stealth in, kill the target without being spotted, and get out, all without the alarm being raised?
Yup, or take out the alarm first, however this is the first time I've heard about timers, thought it was just the alarm being raised that causes them to flee. Damn it's 5am, I need to go to bed haha
 
I was playing an assassination mission last night, luckily for me the panel for disabling the alarms was in the same building as the target.

Of course I messed up and was seen by another npc switching to my murder zapper thingy, and the target turned around and shot me in the face.

But the theory was good.
 
Never had issues with timers so don't know - quite possibly the timers don't trigger for Apex? I usually just turn up - find the target in the list of peeps on teh panel, and shoot them. never disabled an alarm. Shoot and run 🤷‍♀️ If you have an appropriate silencer then the alarm won't go - unless someone spots the body I guess -I don't think I've seen that. If they're in a building find a quiet door and cut your way in.
 
First time I tried this Mission after the 'flee' introduction, the target was in a building & I was in my Dominator Suit, so couldn't cut the panel off.
Standing by the door, staring at my target, he never moved, but fortunately a 'worker' was wanting to enter the building so I moved aside, the doors opened so I stood in the way preventing the doors from shutting.
Thought out my tactics, waited for NPC guards to move away, shields up, Shotgun out, walk in, BAM! BAM!....in your face!!!.......then turned & legged it back to my Ship & left.

Second time, basically same scenerio, but I was stood outside the door for about ten minutes, guards passed & occasionally scanned me, but no one came close enough to the building for said doors to open.........eventually I thought, shall I go & get my Maverick Suit & return?......nah! sod it!! I'll leave & do something else:(
 
I am actually testing take down missions now (as they seem to be identical within the same settlement/faction) so I took several of them recently.
However, I never had a timeout. I only received a message that the target suspects someone is coming for them and are ready to flee. But never a timer.

Of course, this could be a side effect of the identical missions as I seem to be getting just this type.
 
Yup, or take out the alarm first, however this is the first time I've heard about timers, thought it was just the alarm being raised that causes them to flee. Damn it's 5am, I need to go to bed haha

Yes, i could have been the alarm that caused it, maybe i read it wrong. I did shoot at the first enemy i saw. Bad move.
 
quite possibly the timers don't trigger for Apex?
Nothing triggers for Apex. They never see you coming. Apex, your first step to everything.
The other thing to not do is shoot them when they try to scan you - that counts as evading a scan and so the rest of the base knows you have been naughty (unlike if you just kill 'em 🤷‍♀️ ). Did that yesterday :)
I shoot them all the time while they scan you, it's the perfect moment to get a few shots in since they can't do anything until their animation ends. You'll need to kill them in one or two shots though.

@Agony_Aunt Using Apex circumvents a lot of the mid-mission updates and triggers.
 
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No problem, so far I've seen this works for:
  • Notifications of settle inhabitants being aware of your imminent arrival, turning hostile and withdrawing the docking permission at the last second;
  • Notifications of assassination targets being aware of the risk (despite that not influencing their behaviour or the rest of the base);
  • Notifications of assassination targets having fled elsewhere.
  • Scavengers aggro'ing as you approach a settlement, in fact they'll just let the Apex land and completely ignore you.
If there are any new ones, I haven't noticed, because like I said you never see them in an Apex anyway.
 
So.... i'm guessing you have to stealth in, kill the target without being spotted, and get out, all without the alarm being raised?

If the target is still in the designated settlement then you need to stealth in, disable the alarms then deal with the target itself then see yourself out

Isn't this the type of mission where the target gets away in an Eagle and crashlands, making it even easier to off him?

sometimes the target flees indeed, but if so a notice should be in the comms and maybe in the mission panel
in which case
  • the target ends up on an already known planetary body in the same system, and it is lit in blue in the nav penel. The POI is something like Encrypted Transmission of the likes
  • the target ends up in a different system, in which case one should scan the nav beacon in that system to have the planetary body lit in blue. Then same as above, an Encrypted stuff POI on ground is the assassination target

If the initial target was in an anarchy settlement - no bounty will be issued
if the target crashes on a random planet in a non anarchy system, a bounty will be issued for the kill along with notoriety
 
This can even happen in an anarchy-controlled system if that planet's in the jurisdiction of another, non-anarchy, faction.

Ofc it does so people need to pay attention to the Settlement government, not the System government type, so it's worth to put emphasis on this, but i did specifically mentioned Anarchy settlement :)

The case can be tricky:
  • When picking up an assassination mission, the icon will be Purple and it will bear the mark Illegal if killing the target would be a case of bounty and notoriety
  • But when the icon is orange and there is no Illegal notification, it means the target it 100% in an Anarchy settlement.
So people might pick these missions specifically to avoid bounties and notoriety.
And it's not longer the case if the targets flee from anarchic grounds to some random planet which is not under anarchy jurisdiction
 

Viajero

Volunteer Moderator
There are quite a few ways you can get your target killed, and there is also a ton of different scenarios depending on the settlement type and where exactly your target is located (indoors, outdoors etc). Stealth is pretty much always well advised, and if you want to play it safe, disabling the alarms may be interesting. But if your target is outdoors it may not be necessary. If you hit your target but do not kill him/her, he/she will try to flee. If you see your target fleeing or get the notification he/she is fleeing pay attention to the landing pads and check which ones lit up. Go to them and look for your target to approach. From what I have seen so far the ships that come pick up the target tend to be Diamondbacks.
 
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Isn't this the type of mission where the target gets away in an Eagle and crashlands, making it even easier to off him?
I had one where he wasn't crashed but had run to another planet and had a parked sidewinder. Oddly enough...out in the middle of nowhere...alone and in the pitch black...i got a bounty when i took him out.

A previous one where i took down the target at a (not anarchy, i think!) settlement, i got away clean with no bounty. C&P is totally weird.
 

Viajero

Volunteer Moderator
Thought i'd try out a ground based kill mission, threat 3. I've done threat 3 scavenge missions so didn't expect too many enemies.

However, as i enter the system i get a warning the target will flee if i take too long... too long turned out to be like 2-3 mins, so i failed before even getting to my target... i think i understand this part though, i need to get to the target before the alarm is raised, and i messed up on that. Ok, so i assume a maverick suit is needed, not a combat suit.

Am i right so far?

The issue i'm seeing here is the base was covered by 3 vipers. If i attack, target is alerted. And i guess there will be reinforcements.

If i land near, once i take out the target, if spotted, enemies will be on alert and the vipers will attack my landed ship.

Land far away? Same problem except they will attack my SRV and face a long drive back to the ship while being attacked.

So.... i'm guessing you have to stealth in, kill the target without being spotted, and get out, all without the alarm being raised?
Also, here is a recorded assassination target escape:

Source: https://youtu.be/uztqMg7HGK8
 
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