Settlement Raid - tipped off

It's been a while but I thought i'd do some Settlement Raids and gather some materials. On both I got "tipped off" by my sponsor's woeful security, and shortly after had my bottom kicked. How would you suggest I deal with these? What tactics do you use? Here's what happened to me.

1st Raid
I got attacked by a Krait and groundfire from the settlement, so I backed off, shot down the Krait and landed about 5km away. I got into my SRV (scorpion) and headed for the settlement at top speed, all the way under air attack from another ship (Viper) I got to just over 1km away before being taken out.

2nd Raid.
I flew to my next mission, all seemed quiet, until it wasn't then the base and at least one ship attacked in a rather convincing manner. I thought I'd try and do the base defences some damage before withdrawing and then approaching in my SRV. It didn't work out that way, and I got splattered. :)
 
The problem with the ships is as you destroy the originals, system authority vessels might start popping in.

Typically, I land somewhere far enough away from the settlement so that I don't draw fire from the base and then SRV my way in there. Keep shields fully pipped and find a relatively sheltered spot once I get to the base so the SRV isn't destroyed by the ships.
 
It's been a while but I thought i'd do some Settlement Raids and gather some materials. On both I got "tipped off" by my sponsor's woeful security, and shortly after had my bottom kicked. How would you suggest I deal with these? What tactics do you use? Here's what happened to me.

1st Raid
I got attacked by a Krait and groundfire from the settlement, so I backed off, shot down the Krait and landed about 5km away. I got into my SRV (scorpion) and headed for the settlement at top speed, all the way under air attack from another ship (Viper) I got to just over 1km away before being taken out.

2nd Raid.
I flew to my next mission, all seemed quiet, until it wasn't then the base and at least one ship attacked in a rather convincing manner. I thought I'd try and do the base defences some damage before withdrawing and then approaching in my SRV. It didn't work out that way, and I got splattered. :)

Have to say I've never been attacked by ships, but the ground defences are a problem.

Besides the simplest of option of saying 'skew you, amateurs', and abandoning the mission, while taking the rep hit, coming in with the SRV, after parking the ship other side of a rise, is the best option. The settlement looks pretty angry with all those red dots, and the skimmer/s will come out to attack you, but once they're trashed, they don't seem to get replaced, and when you get close and park, the security don't seem any more aggro'd than usual (though they will shoot you on sight). Quickly turning off the settlement alarm, then clearing the base, still works.

Not the Goliath bases, too risky...
 
If you don't mind teaming I've used a ship to drop infantry then head back to air cap while they take care of the ground forces.

Usually I sneak in and kill the alarms then go on a murder spree.
 
Just a note to say I like these events, feels dynamic and alive. It took me by complete surpise first time this happened, I was flying low over the Settlement to line up for landing and they opened fire straight away! Had to quickly look for secure terrain nearby to land behind. Really knocked me out of that routine feel that a lot of the game can descend into.
 
I fly there in my Anaconda with 4 SRV's, I try to look for a little hill to poke my SRV above and take out the sentries with my scorpion missiles. I fire at anything that moves too lessen the enemy numbers and then I get into my normal SRV which is well better for killing on foot troops. I continue to pick them off until all that remains is eng and researchers. I then clear out each building with ease, turning off the settlement defences from the PWR or CMD buildings. After I steal everything I shut the power down and leave with the Regulator. It's a cheese way of doing it but I have okayish suits and mostly grade 1 weapons so I can't rambo or stealth it.

I have used that strategy on bases of all sizes and types. BTW if you can't find a hill to peek over and fire from, just find a part of the settlement where you can block your SRV from settlement defenses. Also, don't be afraid to knock down groups of enemies as they group together as they close in on you.
 
A cool thing would be if you did survive this, you then get to hunt down whoever it is that tipped them off.
Probably the same yahoop that keeps telling pirates where you are going with all that tasty cargo.
 
@Angus ... do it simple way: dock in target settlement, leave ship in scorpion (used as mobile ammo store and as heavy weapon platform if things go wrong) and dismis ship. Then ideally steal lvl3 access and switch off settlement alarm console. After that proceed with termination of settlement personel. Ideal weapon for these mission is intimidator with noise reduction special for silent shooting inside of building and executioner or tormentor with audio masking for silent killing in outside environment.
 
Tip-offs never happen if you apex there directly from taking the mission. The die-roll for those sorts of mission wrinkles ("target fleeing" for assassination/takedown missions being another example) happens when you undock from the station/settlement in your ship.

If they do get tipped off though, don't worry. The mission doesn't update/activate until you're within 2.5km of the settlement. If you touch down outside that radius, before the mission update pops up on the screen and gives you your objectives, the settlement won't turn hostile. You can then disembark and dismiss your ship without it being fired upon.

Now, the next question is whether the settlement has patrolling ships or not. You'll have no trouble telling that from a decent distance away either. If there's no patrolling system defence/authority ships and the only traffic coming and going is trade ships, you're in the clear to use the SRV to approach. If there are patrol ships (usually at military settlements) then I leave the SRV in the ship and proceed to the settlement on foot. (though travelling 3km on foot might make you wish for an auto-walk feature)

Once you get close, your objectives will appear and the base will turn hostile, but there won't be any alarms yet. You can get well inside your SRV's sensor range of any base personnel before they spot you so don't worry about that. Just don't use the SRV guns. I usually park 500m or so from the base, in a ditch or behind a rock if I can swing it. Any closer and I really want an angle of approach with no windows and no staff walking around.

Speaking of which, be careful around windows, 'cause if someone spots you from one they'll immediately raise the alarm. The rooftops are rarely patrolled, but using your jetpack makes noise which might get people searching if you do it too close to them.

If you have an audio masked gun, especially something high-alpha like an executioner or intimidator, or even a tormentor, they really shine on these kinds of jobs. Try and get the drop on people and one-shot them. Grenades can be useful too, just lob them at whatever part of the base you want to draw attention to.

Learn your settlement layouts. Some of them have rarely-patrolled or even unguarded entrances to the building with the alarms in. Once you've got in there and disabled the alarms, it doesn't actually matter how much noise you make - some of my most successful settlement raids have just involved sitting next to the alarms panel with an unsilenced shotgun and blasting people as they trickle through the door one at a time.

Alternatively, there's plan B.

Plan B consists of a G5 dominator suit with extra ammo capacity (and three other mods of your choice) and two G5 L-6s with stowed reloading, magazine capacity, faster handling and whatever other mod you like, personally I go with reload speed in case I'm firing so many rockets that I end up reloading while my other launcher is still in the stowed loading delay.
Unless the enemy have some serious hardware (like enforcers of their own and a goliath) there's not a lot you'll encounter at a settlement that can withstand the kind of onslaught a loadout like that can dish out.
 
(though travelling 3km on foot might make you wish for an auto-walk feature)

That reminds me of (and I stand to be corrected on this, as with everything) the absence of a dedicated gizmo for the Dom suit.

The Maverick has the cutter, the Artemis has the sampler, but the Dominator really needs something that chimes with its basic military function. The obvious one, going by Call Of Duty, of a ruddy big knife, is presumably frowned upon by FDev. Tipped off settlement missions, where getting in quick without being detected is key, show us the obvious asset.

If it seems OP, just have it so that 'rocket boots' can't be controlled while weapons are being used. And of course, they could never used in the hangar, heavens forbid.

I'm also keen on that speeder Darth Maul uses in The Phantom Menace that releases the reconnaissance drones, but that's never happening while other things have priority. Even those electric bikes that plague our streets.

But no, give the Doms their rocket boots!
 

Attachments

  • ironman.jpg
    ironman.jpg
    8.3 KB · Views: 38
Back
Top Bottom