Starbase Incursion

Started by Jenson, July 31, 2012, 09:18:23 AM

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Jenson

I've participated in a lot of Starbase Incursions, and I've noticed that a lot of people don't really understand the mechanics of the game. I've compiled a few thoughts below to shine some light on my Starbase Incursion strategies.

First, it's important to remember that saboteurs are the only thing that matter in stages 1 and 2. Nothing else counts for points, so don't waste your time firing on turrets and roving soldiers. Firing at turrets is particularly futile, because turrets will "beam back" after a time of being disabled.

In stage 1, your goal is really just to find as many sabos as possible and defeat them. Again, don't focus on any other targets—just target the sabos and continue moving around in a circuit.

Unless your other teammates are organized into "corners", I don't recommend the "corners" strategy. From my experience, that only works if everyone corners—and that seldom happens. I recommend focusing on the main paths in a "square" area of the map, and not going off into the side aisles/rows unless you see the progress bar of a sabo. The progress bar can give away a sabo's position pretty easily in stage 1—so keep your eye open.

Also, if a sabo surrenders, make sure to tag them. I've noticed a lot of people don't tag sabos who surrender, thinking it doesn't matter. If you don't tag a sabo and run off, the sabo will return to work, and will get away if he finishes and beams out--so make sure to take that extra couple of seconds to beam him out.

Stage 2 is where people tend to mess up. I've noticed that people tend to get too easily distracted by soldiers and don't focus on saboteurs. The saboteurs are very well protected—so it's pretty important that team members stay focused on the saboteurs.

If your team is actually focused on sabos, I recommend staying close with them and wedging through the soldiers and quickly striking saboteurs. I love teams like this.

Unfortunately, more often than not 1-2 people will focus on the soldiers, or worse, get "pinned in the spawn" and so you might be on your own or with just one other person. In these instances, it's very important that you take advantage of sprinting, and your unique class powers to distract large groups of enemies. Sprinting reduces your damage significantly, and is exceptionally helpful when moving through a large group of enemies. As a tac officer, I have the stun grenade ability. I often use this to stun a large group of enemies, then I'll run through them, incurring very minimal damage so I can focus on the sabo.

Finally, it's important to know where the sabos are in stage 2. Most of them are easy to spot—but the sabo on the top left of the map is difficult to find unless you know where you're looking. See the map below for locations, X marks the spot (this map was not designed by me--I only added the "X"es):



Keep in mind that sometimes sabos can "run away" during stage 2. If you don't see them at their usual place, they're probably not far away.

As for stage 3, try to sweep the guards as quickly as possible so you can get that forcefield down ASAP. If you can get the Captain (he's the one standing in the front with the progress bar on his head), you can score bonus fleet marks. If you can't get the Captain, don't worry—it's pretty hard to get to him and you need a really good team to do so. If the Captain's gone, focus on the boss-level opponent at the back end of the table, then enjoy your fleet marks.