Horizons Kill Skimmer missions: How do you approach them?

the100thmonkey · May 31, 2016

Hi,

Since 2.1, I've been having a lot of trouble with the kill skimmer missions - I hadn't done one for a long time anyway, but with the latest, high-paying missions, I can't even get into a position to take down the skimmers. The moment I take a shot at the air defense turrets, the base, skimmers and the patrol ship all open up. If I take on the patrol ship first, I end up in time consuming fights that allow another ship time to spawn in. If I get into the SRV, the patrol ship rails my SRV.

I've only died in my SRV so far - I can escape in my ship, but yeah. It's frustrating. the rewards are very juicy.

So, how should I be approaching these missions?

Navigare Necesse Est · May 31, 2016

High security? Team up I guess, so one can tackle/distract the ship. We can try together if you like.

If you don't face missiles keep moving and use soft cover. Ship based weapons are not too accurate against ground targets.

Missiles wreck me hard in SRVs. I have no plan to counter them right now

Tanall · May 31, 2016

Navigare Necesse Est said:
Missiles wreck me hard in SRVs. I have no plan to counter them right now

Is the terrain suitable for hull-down fighting? That might minimize missile locks and return fire in general.

Tikigod · May 31, 2016

SRVs help simplify it a whole lot.

Base defences fall into two categories:

1) Ship defence.
2) Ground vehicle defence.

Ship defence will never target and attack ground vehicles, and ground vehicle defence will never target and attack ships.

So figuring out if you need to even bother taking out ship defences or if you can always just land outside of base and then approach on foot and just tackle ground defences before getting your skimmers can save you a whole lot of time.

Since 2.1 I've done a half dozen or so ground assault missions to get skimmers at both '++' and '+++' bases, and each time simply landing outside of the bases ship defences and going the rest of the distance in a SRV and taking out targets in that by planning my approach has given me no problems whatsoever... it has also meant I could hit up the bases datanodes and hack into the network for clusters of data to use in later Engineer modifications.

Minoo Minou · May 31, 2016

Tikigod said:
SRVs help simplify it a whole lot.

Base defences fall into two categories:

1) Ship defence.
2) Ground vehicle defence.

Ship defence will never target and attack ground vehicles, and ground vehicle defence will never target and attack ships.

So figuring out if you need to even bother taking out ship defences or if you can always just land outside of base and then approach on foot and just tackle ground defences before getting your skimmers can save you a whole lot of time.

Since 2.1 I've done a half dozen or so ground assault missions to get skimmers at both '++' and '+++' bases, and each time simply landing outside of the bases ship defences and going the rest of the distance in a SRV and taking out targets in that by planning my approach has given me no problems whatsoever... it has also meant I could hit up the bases datanodes and hack into the network for clusters of data to use in later Engineer modifications.

I use the same tactics, you can also use the buildings to your advantage (line of fire etc). It's tricky but possible.

Gaxel · May 31, 2016

Is this still true with 2.1?
And can I still use missile launcher to take down ship defence and maybe skimmers too?

tihkal · May 31, 2016

land and get them to pop up from the ground if there is loads of them and no cover get back in your ship and snipe them at range. worked pretty well for me cutter with a fixed class 4 multi canon wiped out every defence on the base in no time

TheDayman · May 31, 2016

Okay, here's how I have been doing this:

1. Determine who the faction target is. The actual location DOES NOT matter, but the faction does. So if it's 56 Aquarii League, check the system map to see what base has the least amount of defenses for that particular faction.

2. If there are air defenses, they will eventually go away. They can also respawn though, so you have to time it right. Wait for them to start flying straight up, get in your SRV and drive towards the base. Some bases will have skimmers deployed already - watch their patterns and wait for 3 of them to group together, and quickly take them out.

3. Some bases you can use as cover for both air defense and ground defense. Look around the base for an overhang, or somewhere you can wedge yourself into. The greater the amount of sides you can reduce taking fire from, the better.

4. Plan your exit and wait to trigger the base defenses for as long as possible. Don't destroy anything else but the skimmers. When you do, make a quick run out of the base.

5. If the air defense comes back when you're still in the base, you're S.O.L.

6. It's an on-the-fly call whether to dismiss your ship or not. If there's a good place close by to hide it, then do so but if not, you're better of dismissing it.

7. Patience & planning are key. I've completed MANY of these since 2.1 and made quite a bit. They also stack well.

8. (Edit) Also, you can find the skimmers at planetary POI as well. Just make sure they're the faction you're looking for.