... and dead angles

This is for the rookies like me. I know that there is the possibility something like this could have been posted before, but anyone can see there are lots of newbies to XWA and thats aways good news for the comunity that doesnґt want this game to end too soon.

I donґt claim to be the first to discover these blind spots. I bought XWA on january 2001 and I havenґt browsed throught all the forums.

This could also be considered a spoiler for those that want to discover the enemyґs blind spots by themselves. An excuse for that would be that Rebel command wouldnґt send their pilots into battle without passing acumulated knowlege beforehand.

I wonґt be able to answer doubts until tomorrow.

Here goes:

ISD(II): apart from the force run or trench run technik (by Forceflow) theres also the big blind spot on top of the bridge, right behind the - /TT\ - structure located betwen the shield generators. If the ship is moving, just get behind one of the columns (not very far or the hear turbolaser cluster/sensor pack will hit you) and match your speed to the ISD (ENTER), pay attention to itґs flight path (so you donґt get cautch when it changes direction). If itґs stopped, itґs also possible to go under the structure, and even in situations when you donґt have space superiority the AI is so limited the enemy fighters may not get an angle to hit you (Itґs not 100% safe tought). Youґll usually take a few hits when setting up your position, but once there just max out laser and shield recharges, match speed and be a nice little tick.

Corellian corvete and modified Corv.: Both still have the same behind the engines blind spot from the older games, and their engines wonґt damage your shields too much depending on your distance. Good if they are following a flight path but if they can move freely watch out! The original corv. also has the same underside weakness of the strike cruiser (see below), however, since itґs smaller and the turret sits more to the middle, angles are much tighter.

Nebulon Frigate: This one suffered a great decline in power from the original X-wing (the only other of the series I have, I never played TieFighter or XvT). It used to be the most dangerous in terms of anti starfighter starships, and now its a joke, itґll only win against the cor. gunship. Itґll lose to the StarGaleon, the Assault Transport (sometimes), the Escort transport (always), and to two Assault Shuttles. Pathetic. From itґs side, just go for the middle of the boom conecting the front and rear of the ship, mantain a nice speed and the lasers will never get you . It also doesnґt have lasers firing upwards, so just aproach from the top, at the exact midle, so none of its punny four lasers can fire at you.

These where the "classical ships" from the first Xwing apart from the mod. corv. Next...


Strike cruiser: Aproach from the underside (bottom? sorry for my english, any better word for that?) and slighly from the front, aim for the rear (engines). The chin turret wont get you even at 50 mglts.

*The dots are used for spacing only. Ignore them.

view from the side

..rearSTRIKECRUISERfront
....\.........................../ -----chin turret

.........\---------your shots

...............\


......................y
..........................o
.............................u


Lancer frigate: Itґs not the porcupine everybody says it is (the mod.frigate and the cor.gunship are). Aproach from one of the sides and from behind at about 45 degree angle(not exact,try different angles), aiming for the nose (you must aim for the very tip of the ship or the turrets will get deflection on you). You must also mantain some decent speed. This is easier with a smaller, faster ship. In fact its very hard to do with a B-wing, even going at 91 mglt. Itґs not such a big deal thought, since the Bwing can almost overpower it.

view from above

.................................................. ...\-------------------side turrets
.........................................rearLANCE Rfront
.................................................. .../......*

..............................................*------your shots

..................................*
...........................u
.....................o
.................y


VSD(II) and Interdictor: The trench or force run techniche will work on those, however since they are smaller than the ISDs, you must pay more atention to speed and angles, specially against the INT.
I havenґt tried finding anything on the VSD yet, but the INT has one blind spot, however its dangerous to reach. Itґs under either sides of the bridge, betwen it and one of the rear gravity generator globes. Positioning is tricky however, and you must have full shields before atempting that. Itґs also much harder to avoid the ship if it changes direction.

Escort Carrier: I havenґt done much research on this one, and the tip I have is usefull on only one mission: where you must make a reconaissance run with an Awing, before the mission where Aeron plants a listening device and you must take out the ZGstormies. You must have space superiority and wait for the ESC to stop. Then just aproach it from the front and almost enter its hangar. The turrets canґt hit you there.

Cor. gunship, Dread, Assault frigate, Mod Frig, Marauder, Bulk cruiser, Carrack Cruiser: sorry folks, in some I havenґt done much research, others are real M***** F****rs.

Moving to the armed freighters...


Modular Conveyor and Cargo Ferry: Very easy. They have the same weapons configuration. Aproach from behind and underside.

Xiytiar Transport: Easy too. From behind and above.

Star Galeons, Container transp: Sorry, no luck, altought the CT isntґt much trouble if you take an angle so that only one turret fires at you.

And now for some really pathetic work on the part of TG...

The GOLAN JOKESTATIONS.

This is just one of the many pathetic things on the game that even the 2.02 patch didnґt fix... I donґt know whats worse, this or the fact that no starship can hit the ISD(II)s, VSD(II)s, and Assault frigates from certain angles...
Even the Golan 1 should have had long range weapons IMO... instead, even the GOLAN 3 DOESNґT have those. The result: theyґre just glorified PLTs. Even worse: aproach from below, aim for the boom and keep your distance to the hull. If you have space superiority, just stop there and blow it away...

[This message has been edited by rookie5 (edited June 16, 2001).]

I agree with you about the original X-Wing vs. the current X-Wing Alliance - the Frigates used to be much more difficult to kill than the Star Destroyers - which is funny considering the Star Destroyers were supposed to be "invincible" ships that people would go out of their way to avoid.

In the original X-Wing I was capable of taking out ISDs with all four playable fighter craft (Y-Wing, X-Wing, B-Wing and A-Wing). The A-Wing was the most time consuming due to the lack of armament in the game for that craft. Now that you can choose your own weapon-type it makes things more interesting.

Anyway - in case there are newbies here who haven't figured out how to take out ISDs - the easiest tactic is to focus on the two gigantic shield generators that are shaped like oversized golf-balls above the ISD bridge. In the original X-Wing this was tricky because you had to aim your torpedos / missiles directly at these points - now you can target individual points on large craft. In the original X-Wing - three torpedos were sufficient to destroy one generator - so an X-Wing with a 6-torpedo load could take out both generators single-handedly. The concussion missiles don't quite take out the generators but they will weaken the shields surrounding them - letting you finish up with lasers without too much trouble. If you happen to be flying the Y-Wing or B-Wing fighter you can finish up with the ion cannon to disable the ISD, leaving it a sitting duck. Otherwise it can still fire back at you while you continue to wreak damage with lasers. And of course - while you're making any approaches on any capital ships juke to dodge its laser fire. Luckily they're large enough that you can fire & hit it while simultaneously avoiding the return fire.

------------------
Uriel Shadowstiehl

The Assault frigate, Dreadnaught and Bulk cruiser all have the same weakness of the Lancer, and since they are bigger it's easier to get a dead angle on them, making it possible to attack them at an angle from the front or rear.