======================================================================= == Freelancer Advanced Walkthrough == ======================================================================= 2004-2006 Steve Breslin License ======= You will be welcome to republish this howsoever you like, but please do not alter the text in any way, and please let me know in advance. My contact information is at the end of the file. Introduction ------------ Freelancer is amazing because of the wide range of action possible within the central campaign. As the title suggests, it's the freedom of the game which makes it so wonderful. There are, of course, limits to this range of freedom. This walkthrough attempts to explore these limits exhaustively, and provides "sideplay-missions" for profit, fun, and challenge. The walkthrough makes practically no comment upon the central-plot missions, since that stuff is covered exhaustively in other walkthroughs, and also since the game makes it perfectly obvious what you're expected to do at all times. We will take our time between missions. When Juni (or whoever) asks you if you're ready to begin a mission, you can always safely decline. You may get yelled at a bit, and at times this can be annoying or repetitive, but you can always freelance indefinitely before committing to any mission, without effecting the central plot in any way. This walkthrough is designed for the advanced player, so if you are not already very familiar with the game, refer to Matthew Lawson's "Wrecks" FAQ, and especially Gary Dwyer's "Maps" FAQ. Dustin Shaffer's "Lists" FAQ you may also find quite useful. Jason Merrill's general walkthrough is superb, and probably preferable if this is your first time through the game; it also contains a useful reference section. These resources are all available from gamefaqs. LancersReactor is the main resource for further information, for both playing and modding. ======================================================================= The Sideplay-Missions: 1.1 Rhino Challenge Buy and equip a Rhino during Mission 1. 1.2 Allied Aggression Kill as many allies as you can during Mission 1. 1.3 Buffalo Rogues Land on Buffalo Base. 1.4 Purloined Kit Loot superb equipment. 2.1 Kill Cosmo Destroy the infamous smart-mouth smuggler. 2.2 Ambush Ashcroft Take him out before he has a chance to flee. 2.3 Destroy the Unity Blast your first battleship! 2.4 Smuggler's Paradise Smuggle goods throughout the New York system. 2.5 Pirate Glory Engage in piracy throughout the New York system. 2.6 Avenge Brandon Rowlett Kill the the three Navy ships who blasted poor Brandon. 3.1 Pirate Fury Burn your bridges in New York. 4.1 Cruiser Killer Kill four cruisers during your flight from New York. 4.2 Equip Get yourself situated in Bretonia. 4.3 Bloodbath in the Badlands Land on Manhattan. 4.4 Go Radical Visit the Mollys and Gaians. 4.5 Exploration Challenge Visit all the systems in Sirius, and perform a series of challenges. 5.1 Perfect Neutrality Establish a good trade-reputation. 5.2 All Systems Show Green Push goods around the system, reaching upwards 2mil/hour. 5.3 The Way of the Pirate Perfect your pirating skills. 6.1 Teach Dexter's Cronies a Lesson Kill both ambushers before Dexter Hovis reaches the finish line. 6.2 Teach Dexter a Lesson Shame Hovis by beating him in a Dromedary. 7.1 Battleship Bomber Destroy two Battleships during Mission 7. 9.1 Battleship Belter Take out the Destroyer and Battleship before docking at the arch. 9.2 The End of Freedom Final parade before you join The Order. 10.1 Hey, You Sunk My Battleships Decimate an elaborate series of cruisers and battleships. 11.1 Battleship Quickie Destroy the cruisers and battleship at the end of Mission 11. 13.1 Three for the Road Kill three bonus battleships. Epilogue: Other Challenges ========= MISSION 1 ========= Once you get your bearings and start fighting the Order, the Sideplay-Walkthrough begins. Sideplay-Mission 1.1: Rhino Challenge ------------------------------------- Your first sideplay-mission is to purchase a Rhino on your first trip to Pittsburgh, after the first half of Mission 1 (when you first meet King face to face). This is a challenge because it's difficult to raise the necessary cash, especially if you want the Rhino well equipped. Like most "Sideplay" missions, this is not really "worth doing" for any compelling reason, except that it's a fun challenge. Note that loot (including shield batteries, nanobots, cargo, weapons and other equipment) only shows up when you did some damage to the enemy, and especially when you make the kill shot, so try to make as many kill shots as you can, and quickly: you need all the loot you can get. With this in mind, focus your attention on damaged ships, and fly very aggressively. It's difficult to die in this opening phase of the game, so you can go all out. After dispatching the Order ships, and meeting up with the LSF convoy, you will be stopped by a disrupted trade lane, and ambushed by Liberty Rogues. Once the attack has begun, you are free to destroy the Transport USV Champion and tractor in its goods. (Yes, sure, shoot your own guy -- you can use the loot; but leave the USV Brandt alone: its destruction means mission failure.) After you've destroyed the USV Champion, kill as many Rogues as you can. After the first wave of Rogues has been dispatched, King will order you to return to the convoy, and he will get mad if you do not. However, if you continue fighting the next wave of Rogues, the mission will not fail -- not right away anyhow. Once he repeats four times that you need to "speed up/dock with the trade lane," you will fail the mission, but you have at least enough time to kill a few more Rogues, and if the Rogues follow you back to the trade lane ring, you'll get some additional time and additional kills. One of these "second wave" Rogues has a bounty on his head, which you will need if you want to succeed in the first sideplay-mission. (Once you get back to the trade lane, a third wave of Rogues may appear; depending where you are, it's hopeless trying to kill all the Rogues.) After you reach King and the Brandt, you have no choice but to dock on Pittsburg; trying to go out on your own at this point results in mission failure. If you flew aggressively enough, you can claim your Rhino. By the way, a great Rhino loadout is... 2x Justice I Javelin missile Stunpulse Turret ...which you can probably afford if you flew aggressively and were blessed with a bit of luck. With that setup, you can cut through the rest of the mission like butter. That's precisely the loadout I'd recommend for the next sideplay mission. Sideplay-Mission 1.2: Allied Aggression --------------------------------------- If you're feeling really evil you can see how many friendlies you can kill. The basic rule for killing friendlies is that you can normally get away with killing "non essential" friendlies when there are hostile fighters in the area. So don't try killing King or so, and only attack when there are hostiles nearby. This first hostility is probably impossible if you're also doing Sideplay Mission 1.1 -- but that's okay: just choose one or the other, or skip the first bit of this one. There's really no way you can possibly kill all the friendlies near Manhattan, but if you're very good and pretty lucky, you can you can take down all three Valkyries escorting the Donau. (You have to kill them before the last Order fighter falls, or you'll get mission failure for attacking a friendly, and it turns out that this is a pretty tight time-constraint.) Of great help is an Eraser with 15 missiles and a well-stocked Javelin launcher, which you can afford if you sell your shield batteries, nanobots, and your shield. The leader, Klaus Braun, will be immune to death for a few seconds, so you'll want to focus on his two wingmen at the beginning of the battle, then clean up Klaus last. Hint: to find them easier, use the "ships" readout, and look for craft designated as 'Military' rather than 'Navy' (and they have German names too, of course). Unfortunately, they do not drop their fancy Class 1 Stealthblades. A slightly easier challenge is to destroy all the destructible the Navy fighters. The two wings of Navy fighters appear in sequence; the leaders are both invulnerable, but the rest can be destroyed. (The leaders are somehow both named "Greg Barwis.") Naturally, you'll take down the USV Champion during the initial Rogue ambush. (Taking down the Brandt means mission failure.) After Pittsburgh, by XT-19 Prison Ship, you can destroy your Epsilon allies. (In theory it should be possible to loot a shield here, but I haven't ever been able to do it. Perhaps in practice it's impossible because your net worth is inevitably too low. We'll return to this question of shield-looting later, when it becomes relevant.) Beta 4 is, alas, immune to damage. You can follow him back to Pittsburgh if you like, but he just docks -- nothing very unusual or exciting there. At the Rogue base, before you destroy the Weapons Platforms, you can take out Alpha Wing. After the Weapons Platforms are down, Delta will show up, and if you take them out they'll re-spawn. So basically you can destroy them over and over again, for fun and for their loot. Because you can continue to destroy Delta wing indefinitely (plus the Rogue that periodically pops out of the base), in theory it would be possible to loot enough Justices, Azraels, Thrusters, and other junk to get your "total worth" high enough that some incarnation of 'Delta 2' will drop his Starkiller -- but this will take a *very* long time. The only time I sort-of tried this, I got totally bored before I reached 20,000 credits, and I optimistically estimate that I had at least another 35,000 to go. Also, the mission objectives got screwed up and I was unable to advance after the base was destroyed. So although it would be a great pleasure to roast Ashcroft (or heck, the Unity) with a Starkiller, this particular challenge isn't highly recommended -- but do let me know if you try this with any success. After you finish flying around with King, he sends you off to explore on your own for a bit, and for the first time you're free to explore the system. (When King cuts you loose, you can go into formation with him, but he just docks at Fort Bush -- nothing terribly interesting there.) If you want to go sightseeing, you can work your way through the minefield of sector G4 and G5 (a.k.a. Zone-21), find the Magellan gate and the New York jump hole, and the anomaly near Binford station (plus the other jump-holes, to Texas and Colorado). However, it's impossible to find Binford station itself until it appears during Mission 4. (You are now level 2. Ships available: Rhino, Patriot, Defender, Bloodhound.) Sideplay-Mission 1.3: Buffalo Rogues ------------------------------------ For this sideplay-mission simply dock with Buffalo Base. This is difficult because you need to seriously fix your reputation with the Liberty Rogues. This actually turns out to be quite worthwhile, both for money and equipment. After Mission 1, avoid and flee from any Liberty Rogue encounters, until your reputation with them is fixed. You will not be able to fix your reputation if you return fire. The fastest way to change your reputation is to hit a depot. Taking down the DSE depots outside Fort Bush will fix your reputation with the Rogues immediately. If, however, you want to protect your reputation with DSE (and with the Police, whose depots you can find outside Manhattan), you can more carefully select specific enemies of the Rogues. Though it is possible to strategically attack certain vessels such that your overall reputation is nice and white, you might rather enjoy targeting Bounty Hunters specifically. If you really want to get into the spirit of it, I recommend getting the Cardamine from the Flint shipwreck (in sector C6, lower right corner), selling it on Manhattan, and going to Rochester to purchase a Pirate Bloodhound. (Or you can get the Liberty Defender from Battleship Missouri if you prefer; the Defender is superior on most counts, but you'll be grabbing that one in a bit, so you might like to have a go at the Bloodhound in the meanwhile. The Bloodhound has a bit more cargo area, and better armor, but a weaker gun battery for fewer guns; the Defender and Bloodhound maneuver about the same.) While you're at Rochester, you can pick up a full loadout of Barragers too. They're great. When your reputation is fixed with the Rogues (when they turn white, not red), you can land on Buffalo! Unfortunately, you cannot buy a Dagger until you are level 4, and level 4 requires completion of Mission 2. However, you can make a pile of cash hauling Cardamine from Buffalo to Manhattan, and H-fuel back to Buffalo. This is by far the most profitable route available within the New York system. I recommend getting a Rhino for this. Near Fort Bush, actually quite close to the Baltimore Shipyard, the silver-colored DSE depot contains H-fuel, which you can pick up on your way back to Buffalo, but as above, this piracy will get some of the bases mad at you. Sideplay Mission 1.4: Purloined Kit =================================== Once you have a nice nest egg, acquire whichever combat vessel you prefer, and equip it with the most advanced weaponry available in the system. You are too low level to *buy* the most advanced weaponry, and much of it is not for sale in the system anyway. -- So, you'll have to loot it instead. Note that the quality and likelihood of "equipment drops" is proportional to your "Current Worth" (as displayed on the player screen, under your "Current Level"). 55,000 credits is a rough number for level 4 equipment drops, which you'll have easily if you've followed the walkthrough so far. The best equipment depends on who you're fighting, and what ship you got, but the best equipment available in this system includes: Slingshot missile from Police, near Manhattan for example. Scorpion from Xenos, near Rochester for instance. Vengeance from Navy fighters. Pyros and Dragoons from Outcasts near Buffalo. The very best gun you can acquire -- actually pretty close to dead-even with the amazing Pyros -- is the Class 6 Winchester. You cannot actually *use* this item until you reach Kusari space, by which time you'll have much better equipment anyway, but it's kinda fun to get Class 6 gear so early. Regular wandering ships do not equip this gun. To get it, you must accept "Difficulty 5" missions from Buffalo, flying against the Bounty Hunters, and hope you get *very* lucky. It's *very* rare to get such a high-class item so early in the game, but it is definitely possible. (You are now level 3.) ========= MISSION 2 ========= This is quite arguably the most interesting mission of all, in terms of side-play opportunities. Note that in preparation for Sideplay Mission 2.3, you must wreck your reputation with the Liberty Navy, *before* accepting Mission 2 proper. The best way to wreck your rep is to go to Buffalo and accept missions running against the Liberty Navy. Essentials ---------- Defender Heavy Fighter 2x Slingshot (loot from Police, or buy at Rochester or Buffalo) Scorpion (loot from the Xenos near Rochester for example) 2x Pyros I (loot from the Outcasts, in the Badlands for example) Stunpulse Turret (buy on Pittsburgh or Newark for example) Wasp Cruise Disruptor (buy from Rochester or Buffalo) Wardog Mine Launcher (buy from Rochester or Buffalo) Of course this is just totally overkill. -- But hey, overkill is fun too, and it'll help with Sideplay Mission 2.3. When you're all equipped, head back to the bar in Manhattan to begin Mission 2. If you ran your reputation into the red, you'll have a fun little bloodbath to deal with when you enter Colorado for the first time. It seems to be random what ships appear for this little bloodbath, but if you've at least got Samura in the red you should have an interesting time here: if one corporation treats you as a hostile, all the others will as well, including any nearby police. Well once you've had your fun, it's time to get down to business.... Sideplay Mission 2.1: Kill Cosmo -------------------------------- Who's ever played this game and didn't want to kill this guy!? -- But alas! The game doesn't let you... or does it? Yes, it is in factpossible, but only if you handle things very carefully. First thing, you got to strip Cosmo's shield, then finish him with dual Slingshot missiles. This will get his hull down far enough that you can deal the final blow *without* doing so much damage that you fail the mission for attacking a neutral target. (You're allowed to do about 15% damage to a neutral target before the mission fails. If it's the *last* 15 percent, that's still okay.) Second, you have to wait until you get the objective update, to take the trade lane to Pueblo station. Before you get this update, you're still under the order to "stand down." Attacking defenseless Cosmo in any way will cause you to fail the mission. But after the objective updates, Cosmo becomes just a typical neutral target, and you can give him a little "friendly fire" damage without failing the mission. (Do not use a missile for this! The full damage of the missile counts against you, so you'll automatically fail the mission.) If you kill him, you get to loot the very valuable artifacts he's carrying. Then just fly to Pueblo as usual to proceed with the mission. Note that it's possible to destroy the two transports escorted by Cosmo van Nostrom (after he turns red and before you turn to deal with him). Warning: it is possible to lock up the mission at Pueblo if you get there before King gives you the objective to defend the station. Just be sure not to kill any Rogues until you get the objective, and you'll be fine. It's possible to destroy some of your "Zeta Wing" allies (marked "Police") after defending Pueblo (along the same lines as Sideplay Mission 1.2), but you will note that one of the allies is indestructable. Sideplay Mission 2.2: Ambush Ashcroft ------------------------------------- King's cruise disruptor misses Ashcroft, but that doesn't mean yours has to. The secret to this sideplay mission is location: you got to already be in the place where Ashcroft appears. As you leave Pueblo station, and approach "the drop-off point for the artifacts," you will be flying almost directly towards an orange nebula in the background. Ashcroft will appear 3km from the drop-off point, in the direction of the orange nebula. And he will appear after you kill the four Rogues covering the drop-off point. The correct technique is to kill the first two Rogues, then fly to the point where Ashcroft appears. If you killed the first two Rogues, the second two will follow you. Finish the second two and Ashcroft will appear nearby. -- Easy pickings! It's a long way to the gate, and King assumes you're closer than you actually are. He'll get mad and scold you for going too slow, and you'll get a mission failure if you don't fly *directly* back to the jump gate: the timing is pretty tight. But if you do get caught like that, it's no problem to reload. Sideplay Mission 2.3: Destroy the Unity --------------------------------------- If you demolished your reputation with the Liberty Navy before you began Mission 2, the Battleship Unity will turn red as you re-enter New York space. Red ships are always fair game during missions, even ones which are "supposed" to be your allies. You don't have a lot of time before King loses patience and the mission fails. Take out the Unity as quickly as possible. Battleships destroyed: 1 Killing battleships does not get you any fabulous prizes or anything, but it's a really fun challenge to max the "battleships destroyed" score, so we'll continue to keep a running tally. Another stylish maneuver is to loot the silver-colored DSE storage depot during that Rogue fight at Fort Bush, on the way back to the Missouri with Sean Ashcroft. (Don't shoot this depot until the battle has properly begun, or you will fail the mission for attacking a friendly. You can get away with it after the battle has begun.) Finally, you can destroy "Alpha Wing" allies (also marked "Police"), who assist after the Rogue ambush by Fort Bush. After you dock on the Missouri, you'll have some freelance time, but there's still a number of challenges for you before Mission 3 gets underway. Sideplay Mission 2.4: The Liberty Collection -------------------------------------------- It's time to get all the cool equipment you can get in Liberty space. A lot of it you got to know where to look, and some of it only appears in those randomly-generated missions you can pick up in bars. -- It won't show up on regular wandering ships. But first -- word of warning: The following missions, particularly 2.6, involve attacking corporations, so a word of warning: if all the corporations go after you, the military and police can turn on you as well. This is not terrible if you can play with a bit of finesse, but... WARNING: Don't get the Police against you, or Planetform, or at least make sure you can get through the docking ring of California Minor, since this is not guaranteed, but absolutely necessary for the game to progress during Mission 3. Getting through this ring is easy the first time, but can become impossible the second time, after killing the three Rheinland Valkyries. I have at least twice gotten stuck immediately after fighting the three Rheinland vessels, when California Minor refused to let me land, and nothing else worked because the "mission" prohibited all other docking. The docking ring of California Minor appears to react angrily, in sympathy with the trade-route rings, which have a police designation. By the way, there's a couple other places later on where a bad rep can land you in an impossible situation: you can get stuck outside Shinkaku, if Samura is mad at you during Mission 7; and Kyoto won't let you dock at the end of Mission 9, if the Dragons are in the red. Anyhow: You are now level 4. Ships available: Mule/Alcatraz, Dagger/Buffalo, Startracker/Manhattan And with the rest of Liberty space opened up, you will be able to score lots more goodies, for instance: Rogues now regularly pack Raphaels and Usiels. The Hackers (near the California jump-hole to Cortez, or the Colorado hole to Galileo) drop Hellflurries. Junkers traveling through Texas drop the Barrager Mark II, which is one of the best usable guns at this point, and Barrager Turret Mark III. Check for them in the vicinity of the California jump-hole. (The enterprising pirate will note that they very often carry high-dollar cargo.) Their Bounty-Hunter counterparts drop the Winchester Mark I (which the enterprising pilot can acquire even earlier, after Mission 1, as described above). The Rheinlanders you encounter during the following missions can drop Stealthblade equipment (neat, although it's not the best -- super long-range though). The very best gun you can acquire at this point is the Vassago -- your first Class 7 gun, which you can't actually *use* until the entire campaign is finished. Like the Winchester after Mission 1, regular wandering ships do not equip this gun. To get it, you must accept "Difficulty 8" missions from Willard Station, flying against the Rogues, and hope you get *very* lucky. It's *very* rare to get a Vassago in this way -- rarely do even Difficulty-8 Rogues even equip Vassagos, and even more rarely do they actually drop, and only if you have a very large amount of credits. -- But again it is definitely possible. Finally, the Xenos in Colorado can drop the must-have Advanced Scorpions -- perfect if you have a level-3 slot that doesn't need a Slingshot. (Alternatively, you could elect to buy the Advanced Scorpions, and as the Xenos are angry with you, you might either buy back your reputation, or earn a good Xeno reputation by plundering and killing corporations. Note, however, that sideplay-Mission 2.4 involves smuggling, and the smart smuggler knows the value of a low profile. You don't want to draw too much fire, and you need to keep Manhattan friendly, so keep the plundering and killing within intelligent bounds. Keep an eye on your reputation information and use good judgment.) There are two other superb items to acquire around this point: the Pyros turret from the Balboa wreck in California (5C, lower right), and the best level-3 turret in the game, Rowlett's Revenge (see below). Sideplay-Mission 2.4: Smuggler's Paradise ----------------------------------------- Pick up a Mule from Alcatraz and arm yourself with the best of the currently available weapons. (Also, pick up a shield from Willard when you get a chance.) You can make a ton of cash by smuggling Cardamine from Alcatraz to Manhattan, and hauling (pirated) H-fuel back. You'll make the major bucks here, as smuggling is frequently even more profitable than pirating. With the Xeno guns, the Mule happens to be a pretty powerful and fun combat tank, though it has the normal freighter shortcomings: weak gun battery and poor maneuverability. You might want to fly a combat mission with it, to evaluate it for yourself -- it requires a good reverse-thrust technique. I find that it is quite capable of Mission 3, and I just love it for Mission 4. For standard dogfighting, of course it's got nothing on the Dagger, which is certainly the most advanced and well balanced combat craft in Liberty. Sideplay-Mission 2.5: Pirate Glory ---------------------------------- Acquire that hard earned and well deserved Dagger from Buffalo, and outfit it. (And pick up a shield from Willard.) Go marauding! You can shoot out a trade lane a safe distance from any bases, and wait for transports to stall. If you enter formation with your Rogue buddies, that's likely what you'll end up doing. Or you can be more aggressive and ambush transports at a jump gate or base. Also, you can loot trade depots: the silver-colored one near Fort Bush has H-fuel, which sells well to either Rogue base; the middle one near Manhattan contains Polymers, which sell well on Denver (if you are careful not to alienate Denver). Cautionary note: If you run against international corporations, significant parts of Bretonia may be hostile when you begin there after Mission 4. If you decide you want to keep aggressions local, pursue the Liberty-based factions more aggressively than the corporations. Note that Ageira, DSE, Interspace, Synth Foods, and Universal have a smaller stake in Bretonia, and that BMM, Republican, Gateway, and Cryer have the highest presence there. Not to worry too much -- you can for the most part simply avoid hostile stations if you want relative peace immediately after mission 4. And plus, you'll probably be restoring your reputation immediately after entering Bretonia. (You are now level 5.) Sideplay-Mission 2.6: Avenge Brandon Rowlett -------------------------------------------- After you reach level 5, and before you meet Juni on California Minor to properly begin Mission 3, you will see three Liberty Navy ships destroy Brandon Rowlett, a fellow Freeport-7 survivor -- just inside the gate to California (when you're going to meet Juni on California Minor). Your task here is to destroy the three Navy vessels. Before you enter California, I highly recommend you save your game at West Point. (Do not rely on autosave: you only get one crack at this; loading from autosave will put you after the fight, not before.) Before you enter the jump-gate to California, select your Improved Countermeasures in the right-hand HUD display, so they turn green like your guns. Now they'll shoot out wildly when the Navy launches their missiles at you, which is exactly what you need, as the three Navy vessels are fully loaded with Windstalkers -- killer homing missiles. You might also want to select your mines for this operation. Avenge Rowlett, and you'll get a prize: Rowlett's Revenge, a nice lazer turret (class 3). It will show up in your scanner as "Nomad Prototype Weapon" -- a foreshadowing of what is to come. Note that if you want to postpone or avoid the battle, you can take the jump hole from Texas into California; the exchange will simply occur next time you use the gate to California, provided you have not yet talked to Juni on California Minor. But be warned -- your opportunity to avenge Rowlett will expire if you talk to Juni, whether you accept Mission 3 or not. (It's okay to let her radio you from space, and even land on the planet, so long as you don't enter the bar.) If you are extremely lucky, you will get not only Rowlett's Revenge, but a Navy fighter will drop a Moonstalker missile launcher as well. It is normal for them to drop one or two Moonstalker missiles, but you should be quite pleased indeed if you get the launcher itself. This is the only opportunity to get this wonderful item until it becomes availible for purchase. No big deal though -- there's noplace you can scavenge, loot or otherwise acquire the ammunition for it, and that becomes available for purchase only after you finish Mission 5 (and reach level 10), which is the same time the launcher itself becomes available for purchase. It's a sweet trophy, though. ========= MISSION 3 ========= In order to destroy the Battleship LNS Harmony on your *first* trip to Willard (when you approach with the convoy through the Barrera Passage), you must once again wreck your reputation with the Liberty Navy, before you accept Mission 3. However, be careful to keep a neutral reputation with the Police and , or the mission will lock up on your return to California Minor (after you escort the Convoy -- just after the three Valkyres ambush you). Essentials ---------- This setup is all style, and you certainly can't beat the power... Mule Pirate Freighter Windstalker (purchased from Willard or Beaumont for example) Slingshot (looted from Liberty Police, or purchased) 2x Pyros Type I (looted from Outcasts) Rowlett's Revenge (looted from the Navy fighters before Mission 3) (empty) (this slot doesn't fire forward) Pyros Type I Turret (from the Balboa wreck in California) Dragoon Turret Type 1 (looted from Outcasts) Or, if you want something a little more conservative, perhaps something like this... Dagger Light Fighter 2x Advanced Scorpion (or missiles) 2x Pyros Type I Stunpulse Turret or Pyros Type I Turret Another tightly scripted mission, with one similarity to the first: once the convoy enters combat, you can destroy the #2 transport and loot its hold -- Artifacts are quite a valuable commodity, and particularly nice when you can get them for free. For another amusement during this fight you can destory your Epislon Wing allies. If you once again wrecked your rep with the Navy, you have enough time to take down the Harmony before docking on Willard. If you decide to play the first part of the mission in a Mule, you might consider getting the Patriot when you're back on California Minor, before defending Willard from the Rheinland attack. On the other hand, if you have good reverse-burn technique, and generally good combat control, big battles can be fun with a Mule, but this would not be the easiest approach for most pilots. If you're going for top battleship kills, you should destroy the cruisers Alabama and Ohio. Battleships destroyed: 3 (Thanks Dan!) (Any other allies you like are strictly optional.) Naturally you cannot destroy Walker's cruiser (the Utah), or you'll get "mission failure," after a mournful comment from Juni. You can, however, destroy the Harmony -- and you can even destroy it *again* if you did it earlier, on your first approach to Willard. Also again, you get no "Battleships destroyed" credit in your personal stats for destroying the Harmony. (Otherwise, once the battle at Willard is finished, the Battleship suddenly and suprisingly disappears.) Oh, and if your worth is high enough, the Fighter escorts might drop Vengeance Mk II guns. And the Rheinland Bombers pack Starkillers, so if you're lucky you might loot one of them too. Now that you've seen what there is to see in the 4 systems, it's time to traffic Cardamine from Alcatraz, run combat missions, but above all, absolutely destroy your newly restored reputation! (You are now level 6.) Sideplay-Mission 3.1: Pirate Fury --------------------------------- The Manhattan Docking Ring is the only object that you need to stay friendly with, and it stays green even after the Police and everybody are against you. So if you were holding back a bit during Sideplay-Mission 2.5, now you can go for broke. I might end this sideplay-mission with 6 or 10 corporations hating me, and in good with Outcasts, Xenos, Rogues, Junkers, and Hackers. The Liberty Corporations will turn against you at the beginning of the fourth mission, as will the Police and Navy, so go ahead and burn as many bridges as you like. Probably the best place for piracy is not any trade lane or depot, but the Texas side of the NY/Texas jump hole or either side of the California/Texas jump hole. These locations also recommend themselves for having pirate bases nearby on both sides: Buffalo and Beaumont, and Alcatraz respectively -- which pay reasonably well for most any high-dollar loot. You'll wait on average a minute for a Junker CSV or a Mule packed with high-dollar items. The Outcasts and Rogues on the NY side of the NY/Texas hole frequently have great cargo also, but the wait is a bit longer. The outward-going jump holes are, surprisingly, less interesting; the best is the Colorado/Kepler jump-hole. The Xeno Startrackers carry small loads of such interesting items as Mox and Luxury Food. Pirate a load of Cardamine for one last Manhattan run, accepting the mission with Juni just before you sell it. Or load up on Engine Components, to fly through to Mactan, where they sell for a whopping 1424. But far more important than the coin is the kit: the next sideplay mission is considerably harder than anything so far, and the choice of ship and loadout is essential. (You are now level 7.) ========= MISSION 4 ========= Essentials ---------- Before accepting the mission, get a ship that maximizes damage per second (and not doubling up on missiles, as you'll definitely run out). Thus I would recommend either of the following two kits: Mule Freighter Windstalker (purchased from almost anywhere outside Manhattan) Slingshot (looted from Liberty Police, or purchased) 2x Pyros Type I (looted from Outcasts in the Badlands) Rowlett's Revenge (looted from the Navy fighters before Mission 3) (empty) (does not fire forward) Pyros Type I Turret (from the Balboa wreck in California) Barrager II Turret (purchased from Rochester, NY or Beaumont, TX) Razor Mine (purchased from Rochester or Buffalo for example) Dagger Light Fighter 2x Advanced Scorpion (or one Slingshot (and optionally one Javelin)) 2x Pyros Type I (looted from Outcasts) Pyros Type I Turret (from the Balboa wreck in California) Wasp Cruise Disruptor (for a teensy little extra damage) Razor Mine The Dagger is far more maneuverable, and much easier and safer, but the Mule's combat-tank style is just classic, and it's actually faster if you can reasonably handle the beast. That said, the upcoming sideplay mission is pretty difficult, and you should go with whatever will get you through -- and expect to reload several times, no matter which setup you choose. Definitely go with the Dagger if you're having trouble. After exiting Manhattan with Juni, you will be immediately attacked by the Liberty Navy, and your escape routes blocked. At this point, Sideplay-Mission 4.1 begins. Sideplay-Mission 4.1: Cruiser Killer ------------------------------------ Destroy four cruisers during your flight from Liberty space. Outside Manhattan, destroy: Cruiser LNS Rampart (by the Fort Bush trade lane) Cruiser LNS Twilight (by the Detroit Munitions lane) (There is a false rumor floating around that it's possible to make the "kill shot" on the Unity and gain an additional battleship kill credit. This is definitely incorrect. You can hammer away at the Unity if you want to, but you'll never get credit for destroying it.) Battleships destroyed: 5 (Note that it's possible to kill all the Navy fighters at West Point, but you got enough on your plate already.) After the Van Pelt cutscene, destroy: Cruiser LNS Justice (by Binford station) Cruiser LNS Victory (by Binford station) (All cruisers are 60% invulnerable until Binford actually explodes. LNS Freedom remains so, but the other two, LNS Justice and LNS Victory, become vulnerable after Binford explodes.) Battleships destroyed: 7 Fans of "allied aggression" will find that Walker and his enitre entourage are immune to death. It's possible to ambush them -- they approach the battle from over the top of Manhattan, and are initially marked "red" as enemies -- but you can't kill them. However, you can destroy your escorts, Lambda 4 and Lambda 5, after you reach West Point. And I believe it's possible to loot one of their shields, though I have never accomplished this. Recognize that the second pair of cruisers are considerably tougher than the first, so during the first battle you'll probably want to conserve your expendables: shield batteries, nanobots, missiles, and countermeasures. You probably won't go through all your mines, so you can go for broke there. As far as destroying the second pair, you'll get more time and a much needed break if you destroy one, then cruise towards the Magellan gate, then when your shield is back up turn around and take the other. (Alternatively, you can select the Magellan gate and hit "dock," and remain in dock mode, but continue dogfighting as normal. An odd side effect of this is that you cannot use reverse-thrust or otherwise drop below top speed: 80m/s. -- You can still thrust, though, so your maneuverability isn't *totally* shot.) (Again, it's possible to kill all the Navy fighters accompanying the cruisers, but again you've got quite enough to worry about already.) That done, and once through to Magellan, there's one other fun thing you can do, if you have enough missiles left after destroying the cruisers. It is possible to destroy all the Bounty Hunters before the dialogue between the Hackers and Hunters finishes. (Thus, the Bounty Hunter who says "What? You'll pay for this!" will be a ghost.) You can attack your Hacker allies while the battle rages, but you'll find them immune to death. Upon your departure from Mactan, you'll battle four Rheinland heavy fighters, packing Starkillers among other things. -- If you're lucky, they'll drop one. (But alas, the ammunition is beyond reach until after the next mission.) You might also target your Hacker allies, but the only piece of equipment they drop is the standard Hellflurry Mark I. For an amusement, you can cruise to where the Rheinlanders spawn, select one and join formation. They begin neutral, so if you can join formation before they turn red, you can stay in formation with them during their brief existence. Immediately after you speak with Tobias, unfortunately and for no reason apparent, the Outcasts become furious with you, and the Liberty Rogues, once also great allies, grow quite neutral. The only pirates remaining in the green are the faithful Xenos and Junkers. The Junkers are the ones you'll need most urgently, and they should be more or less unaffected by the Mission 4 shake-up. We could at this point just as well fly to Rheinland or Kusari, and we'll be doing precisely that as a part of Sideplay-Mission 4.5, but we'll begin closer to home and work outward. But the order of the upcoming Sideplay-Missions is roughly arbitrary. (You are now level 8. Ships available: Legionaire/Trafalger, Piranha/Leeds, Clydesdale/Leeds, Cavalier/Leeds, Crusader/Battleships.) Sideplay-Mission 4.2: Equip --------------------------- Get the Legionnaire, Advanced Thruster, and Advanced Countermeasure Dropper, and start collecting guns. Richard Winston Tobias urges you on to New London, for to get a new ship. It's not entirely clear why he insists on New London, and he probably means "New London" the planet, not "New London" the sector, but it happens that the Legionaire, the best combat-oriented ship for this stage of the game, is available in that sector at the Junker base Trafalger. Next you will want to decide which way you want to head: up towards Holman Outpost, or down towards Cadiz. Either place sells the Advanced Thruster and Advanced Countermeasure Dropper. Outside Liberty they use cruise disruptors, so the Advanced Thruster is quite handy, as is the Advanced Countermeasure Dropper, which can frequently foil those nasty Wasps and Hornets. You'll want to pick up a level 4 Shield or three (you have to wait until the next mission to purchase a level 5 shield). The Gravitron version is availible from Cambridge Research Station, which is conveniently on the way to Cadiz, if you're heading in that direction. Now that you have the basic equipment, you're ready to go gun collecting. A good loadout to begin with is 2x Pyros 1 (looted from Outcasts), and 2x Pyros 2 (from the Balboa). As for missiles, you'll either have to settle for the Slingshot, or go with the Catapult from the Avenger in Texas. You're too low level to buy ammunition for it, which means your only source for ammunition at this point is Unioner Falcons in Rheinland. (A Crusader with a Stunpulse + Pyros + Catapult loadout during mission 5 -- what a wonderful world. You'll probably just use the 10 missiles from the Avenger before reaching Baxter, so the munitions that come with the Catapults should be enough for the Sprague battle. But more on this in a bit....) An excellent collection will include the most damaging of each popular weapon class, in both turret and standard gun form, levels 4, 5 and 6. To perfectly equip any decent ship availible before the end of the campaign, of guns you'll need two level 4, three level 5, and six level 6; of turrets, two level 4, three level 5, and three level 6. Here are the most damaging, arranged by shield type of the opponent: Vs. Graviton... level 4 gun: Pyros Type 1 level 5 gun: Pyros Type 2 or Tarantula level 6 gun: Pyros Type 3 or Advanced Tarantula level 4 turret: Pyros Turret Type 1 level 5 turret: Pyros Turret Type 1 level 6 turret: Pyros Turret Type 2 (The Pyros Turret Type 1 easily beats all level 5 turrets.) Vs. Positron... level 4 gun: Barrager Mark II level 5 gun: Sunfury 1 level 6 gun: Barrager Mark III or Sunblast A level 4 turret: Barrager Turret Mark II level 5 turret: Sunfury Turret 1 level 6 turret: Barrager Turret Mark III (But either Pyros or Tarantula equipment is still very good also.) Vs. Molecular... level 4 gun: Dragoon Type 1 level 5 gun: Dragoon Type 2 level 6 gun: Luger Type A level 4 turret: Dragoon Turret Type 1 level 5 turret: Angelito Turret Mark I level 6 turret: Dragoon Turret Type 2 Plus of course the shield busters... level 4 gun: (none: use level 3 Advanced Stunpulse) level 5 gun: Borroco 1 level 6 gun: Borocco 2 or Debilitator level 4 turret: (none: use level 2 Stunpulse Turret) level 5 turret: (none: use level 2 Stunpulse Turret) level 6 turret: Borocco Turret or Debilitator Turret (Note: the Vulture guns have the most efficient damage:energy ratio (by far), if that's what you're looking to maximize.) The favorites are probably the Pyros, which can be salvaged from Balboa and Lorenzo, and looted from various Outcasts. The class 5 Tarantula can be looted from Xeno Hawks and Falcons in Hudson and Kepler. The class 6 Advanced Tarantula can be salvaged from the Lonestar wreck in Bering. The class 5 and 6 Vultures can be looted from Farmers' Alliance ships in Kyushu and elsewhere. However, for now, not all can be acquired, as some must be bought rather than looted. Also, you cannot yet acquire a ship that supports level-6 equipment, so you might also want to hold off perfecting your collection until the level-6 equipment becomes relevant. Until you can *buy* level-6 equipment, the best are the Pyros and Tarantulas, but coming in a close second are the Barrager III guns and turrets, which can be looted off the Junkers CSVs outside Yanagi. (The equivalent Sunblast A guns can be looted off GMG fighters, but nowhere do these guys drop turrets, so if you want a pretty match, you probably want to go with Barragers; on the other hand, they are equivalent in all other respects (though the Sunblasts are a tiny bit more energy-efficient), and as equivalent, they can be mixed and matched.) The only other things to keep an eye out for are the Hornet cruise disruptor, which you can loot from many of the various Sabres and Titans, and the Ripper Mine, four of which can be scavenged from the Sabre graveyard in Omicron Alpha (quadrant 4F). -- And maybe the Swatter mine too, since the Ripper ammunition is in such short supply, and cannot be replenished (while Sabres do drop Swatter ammunition). Sideplay-Mission 4.3: Bloodbath in the Badlands ----------------------------------------------- The objective of this Sideplay-Mission is simple: dock with planet Manhattan. This will be difficult, of course, because everyone in New York except the Junkers (and perhaps the Rogues) wants to grill you for dinner. This is an intense combat operation, so definitely fly your favorite combat vessel. Also you will want to equip weapons that are appropriate for a mixed Rogues/Outcasts combat; they have different shields (Rogues: molecular; Outcasts: positronic), so you'll want to mix your weapon type. (The Outcasts are harder, so your level 5 weapons should probably be geared for them.) -- And definitely go with the level 4 Graviton shield, the Advanced Guardian. You may meet some resistance flying through Magellan, but you know how to bob and weave with thruster engaged, so you'll be fine. Once you get back to New York, head towards Buffalo. You are likely going to be refused docking privileges, on account of the little Outcast misunderstanding. The Outcasts. Those turncoats. The Rogues too for that matter.... So kill 'em, kill 'em, and keep on killin' 'em, Outcasts and Rogues, until you are in the white for Manhattan. This will stabilize you reputation for the entire region as well. While you are killing Rogues and Outcasts, you will likely run across Cardamine and other high-dollar convoys. Loot them and take them back to Rochester to sell. Taken all at once, this is a considerable battle, so a little run up to Rochester to save and take a break from the action will be welcome. Then just head back to the Badlands for more fighting. This Badlands battle is, for my money, one of the most enjoyable battles possible in the game. It soon settles into cool arcade-style action. The asteroids are a good size and shape, and if you're flying a well-equipped Legionaire, the difficulty level is fun but not terrifying. Sometimes you will be fighting a pretty big group, so keep frosty, or you may become a corpse before your time! After you've won back Manhattan, you might consider rewarding yourself by running a shipment of Cardamine from Trafalger to Manhattan, for a one-way profit of about 900 per item -- that's a pretty penny in a 125-capacity Clydesdale. Running Light Arms from New London to Cadiz (or better, Leon) and returning with Artifacts is also quite lucrative, so you might try that on for size if the Corsairs aren't in the red at the moment. However, we'll hold off on the serious smuggling until after the next mission, when the Dromedary (with its mammoth 275 cargo hold) becomes available. Sideplay-Mission 4.4: Go Radical -------------------------------- Visit Gaian base Islay (in Edinburgh) and Molly base Arranmore (in Dublin). Visiting them at this point in the game is the most difficult thing you can do in Bretonian space, and that's why we're doing it, plain and simple. Their weapons are quite reasonable, but you can get the same weapons by killing their ships rather than visiting their bases. So we're not really doing this for weapons, nor is there any compelling trade benefit in this, for the Gaians are not terribly eager to buy anything, and while the Mollys are extremely interested in Engine Parts (which sell for 1500 at Aranmore), Mactan is well located and buys them for 1424, so there isn't much difference. Trafalger is a fine base, hosting Gaians, Mollys, Outcasts, and Corsairs, in addition to the Junkers who run it -- the whole Britonian underground! You might want to revisit there now, shore up a good relation with Junkers if necessary by running a mission or two for them, and if you want, bribe the Mollys and Gaians. Of course it's always more fun to earn a reputation than buy one, and it's a good idea to do so with at least one of them, for this will stabilize your reputation with the other pirating factions. The only base of the Gaians, Islay, is well positioned in the Edinburgh system with two of their enemies, Luxury Spa & Cruise, and Planetform. The fastest way to their hearts is to blockade Spa & Cruise shipments by
simply lurking outside of Luxury Liner Shetland, in sector 3E, and
killing all approaching vessels. You will notice that sometimes Luxury
Food is the cargo. This can be a nice pirating/trade run later on, but
for now, just kill everything to fix your reputation with Gaians. As a
nice side effect, your reputation with the Outcasts gets fixed as well,
and with that, reconciliation with the Rogues and Hackers is not far
off.

If you didn't bother getting that level 4 shield from Mactan (because
you never reconciled with the Outcasts), you can buy back your Outcast
reputation, and go get it now. This shield is an absolute necessity for
mission 4.5.

Pleasing the Mollys means killing Bounty Hunters in large numbers. There
is a Bounty Hunter station called Sheffield in Manchester, which has a
number of storage depots. It will take you some time to kill a
sufficient number of Bounty Hunters, for they only come around
occasionally, and in small numbers most of the time. When you're done,
visit the Molly base Arranmore in Dublin.

(If you do Sideplay-Mission 4.5 before Sideplay-Mission 4.4, note that
there's a Bounty Hunter base Deshima in Shikoku, along with a couple of
trade depots. Killing Bounty Humters here is as good as killing Bounty
Hunters elsewhere.) 

Upon reaching Dublin you may notice that some jump gates are "access
denied." This is trivial, as you can normally reach the same places by
going through jump holes; however, some areas really are off limits
until the game progresses, such as the Tohoku jump hole in faraway
Chugoku and Hokkaido, or the Alaska gate.

Sideplay-Mission 4.5: Exploration Challenge
------------------------------------------- 

As almost all of the map is available for exploration now, we'll take a
little tour through the whole sector. 

The following challenges are in the spirit of exploration, and are just
for fun. Feel free to explore and make up your own challenges. Mapping
the sector is useful for next sideplay mission, for we will be running
commodities and contraband around the sector, and a mapped sector makes
navigation much easier. Speed helps especially when running perishable
commodities, and the spirit of the cargo-run is in maximizing profit,
which at bottom is all about speed.

Challenges: 

* Visit Omega, Omicron, Sigma, Tau, and Unknown space. Here's a complete
list of these outlying sectors: 

Omega 3, Omega 5, Omega 7, Omega 11, Omega 41 

Omicron Alpha, Omicron Beta, Omicron Gamma, Omicron Theta. (Omicron
Major and Omicron Minor are not accessible at this stage of the game.
Jump holes for them will eventually appear in Omicron Beta, sector D4.)

Sigma 13, Sigma 17, Sigma 19 

Tau 23, Tau 29, Tau 31, Tau 37

The two "Unknown" systems, accessible from Omicron Alpha (F4) and
Omicron Gamma (F2). (Amusingly, the inhabitants of the unknown system
accessible from Omicron Gamma will remember Trent, although you have not
visited their system before. Strangely, the bases in this sector do not
have original infocards, instead borrowing from Junyo for the
description.)

(You might want to consult Dustin Shaffer's "Freelancer Jump
Holes/Gates, Base List, Commodities List, and Ships" for directions, or
Gary Dwyer's "Maps FAQ" for maps, if you're having trouble finding
anything.) 

1. Find the Blood Dragon base Kyoto (in Chugoku), and run a mission for
them. (And as a bonus, when Juni later says, "I don't know anyone who's
even seen Kyoto," you can smile a bit.)

2. Find the five sleeper ships (mentioned and displayed in the opening
movie). (One hint: the opening movie provides a clue on where to look
for the first one.) (Spoiler for the first one: 33, 43, 7, 10, 52, 9,
36, 52, 35. -- These numbers correspond to column-numbers of the first
line in this paragraph.)

3. Find the wreckage of Freeport 7. Note that: 1) it is not of the same
station designation as appears in the opening destruction-movie (in the
destruction movie, it's military-class, like West Point, but here it's
station class Dern, like a couple other Freeports in the game); 2) if you
find it, you'll know it. (One hint: Treant's logs contain at least one
clue on which system it's in.) (Spoiler: 55, 5, 19, 70, 18, 48, 34, 1,
11. -- These numbers correspond to column-numbers of the first line in
this paragraph.)

4. Destroy one of each during your exploration of the system: a Titan,
Centurion, Sabre, Eagle, Hammerhead, and Banshee. Of these, the
Centurion is the easiest, owing to its relatively poor maneuverability;
the GMG Eagles in Omicron Beta are argueably the hardest. If you're
lucky, you'll pick up a Hornet cruise disruptor from the loot, and you
might get a Swatter mine dropper to use when you run out of ammunition
for your Ripper.

And as a final challenge:

5. Destroy a Nomad ship. You can find these in either of the "Unknown"
systems.

Please note: the Nomads are quite difficult at this point. The first
time I tried this, it took me maybe fifteen tries before I was able to
take one down, and I came out of the fight missing a wing. I have found
it much easier to fight in the Unknown system accessible from Omicron
Gamma (F2), I think because the asteroids make dodging easier, and the
radiation in the other Unknown system is significant. In this case you
can fly out of Planet Primus, where you can make repairs from the
Omicron Gamma radiation (although you cannot re-supply much needed
shield-batteries or nanobots). I would recommend bringing the Legionaire
to the battle, and leaning on afterburner most of the time. Reverse
thrust, while normally invaluable, will slow you down just enough to
make you a target, which means a very quick death. The Nomads will
probably try to ambush you on the other side of the jump hole as you
leave their system, so don't relax until after you are well away from
the Unknown jump hole. Be warned that this Sideplay-Mission is
significantly tougher than any so far.

While you're in the vicinity, remember to pick up a Ripper mine dropper.

You will find that none of the ships outside of Britonia (and Liberty)
are yet available, and only a few of the weaker weapons can be
purchased. Serious trading we're saving for the next round of
Sideplay-Missions, since then we'll have the Dromedary. Also, randomly
generated missions are only available in Britonia, Kusari, and Liberty
sectors -- of these, the Kusari missions are the most fun. Anyway,
fighting arbitrarily selected targets and flying around exploring is
going to be the best fun in many of the newly availabe sectors.

=========
MISSION 5
=========

Essentials
----------
Crusader Heavy Fighter
2x Pyros Type I       (looted from Outcasts)
Catapult              (salvaged from the Avenger wreck in Texas)
3x Pyros Type II      (salvaged from the Balboa and Lorenzo, or looted)

[N.B.: The Lorenzo is in the lower-right region of quadrant 2C in Leeds.
Other FAQs incorrectly list it in the lower-left region of 2C.]

You only have 10 Catapults, so you'll probably want to switch to a
missile (say, the Slingshot) or another Pyros (or Stunpulse, etc.) when
you hit Baxter.

The Sprague docking ring appears for the first time during this mission,
and is destroyed shortly thereafter by Rheinland vessels. So you can
never actually visit anything at Sprague (except the animation that
plays between docking and the destruction of the ring). 

When you exit from the exploding planet, you can elect to destroy all
the Rheinland gunboats and fighters rather than simply run as you're
told. This is a bit of a challenge because if you take too long you will
get a "mission failure". (Also, the gunboats are kind enough to drop
H-fuel, a somewhat valuable commodity well worth grabbing if your hold
is empty.) A couple more fighters will appear as you approach the
waypoint, and there's a time challenge to take them out also.

You then fly to Baxter Base, which has only now appeared -- and only to
be immediately blown up upon your departure. If, for some reason, you
haven't acquired the Adv. Guardian Shield, it is available from this
base. When you exit the base you have the opportunity of destroying
another gunboat, which drops H-Fuel.

It is impossible to assist the renegade Rheinlanders in their traitorous
destruction of the Rheinland Battleship. It is also impossible to make
the continuing battle more interesting by destroying your allies: the
Rheinland defectors are immune to death.

Just after you enter the Leeds system, it is possible to dock at Durham.
There's no compelling reason to do this that I can think of, but it's
interesting in itself: this is the only case I know of where it is
possible to interrupt any mission by docking on an unrelated base.
Nothing happens, though: Juni just hangs out in space until you're done
with Durham.

(You are now level 10. Ships available: Drake/Planets Honshu, Kyushu,
and New Tokyo; Drone/Planets Junyo and New Tokyo; Dromedary/Mactan.)

Sideplay-Mission 5.1: Perfect Neutrality
----------------------------------------

So, now that the Dromedary is available, we'll want to make a bundle of
cash trading. But before we get started with this, we'll want to achieve
a neutral (or better) reputation with all the factions in the entire
sector. This is a tricky balancing act, but it will serve you very well
for trading, since you'll have perfect freedom to land wherever you
want, and you won't have to worry about getting distracted or
interrupted, and can enjoy running trade missions in perfect time, and
exploring all avenues for trade.

How to do this depends on who exactly you have angered so far, and how
much. Greasing palms is certainly useful here -- and don't worry about
the cash: you'll make it back very easily trading once you have a
perfect reputation. (Matthew Lawson's Bribes FAQ will be useful here.)
But you'll probably also want to kill a large number of (more friendly)
ships to balance things out with the angrier factions, and for this the
newly available Drake is definitely the best bet. It's the most
maneuverable ship in the whole game, which more than makes up for its
lack of power. Equip a Tarantula loadout and you'll just slice the skies
in half.

Towards fixing your reputation, you may run missions in Bretonia,
Kusari, and of course Liberty, but Sigma, Rheinland and the outer
regions of Sirius refuse to hire you on account of your low level. On
the other hand, taking missions does not do a great deal of good, since
it's the factions who won't hire you (or even let you land) that you're
trying to impress.

You're done with this Sideplay-Mission when all of the factions are
listed as white (or green). Note, however, that "barely white" on your
reputation screen normally means "still red" when you encounter a ship
or base of the faction in question, so a thin sliver better than "barely
white" is what you're really aiming for.

Sideplay-Mission 5.2: All Systems Show Green
--------------------------------------------

It's time to get serious about trade, and if you know what you're doing,
you can make upwards 2 million credits per hour! This sideplay-mission
is a cross between a race, mind-numbing calculations for the quickest
buck, and further exploration. There are few guidelines here: the whole
sector is open to you, and it is yours to make the most of. 

This sideplay-mission begins at Mactan, where you can finally acquire
the best freighter in the game (by far): the Dromedary. If you're
following this walkthrough, you will have roughly mapped out the whole
sector after Mission 4, and you probably already have a good sense of
which trade routes will be most profitable. Indeed, the most obvious
ones are also some of the best. Speaking of Mactan, for example, here's
a highly profitable trade route which you have no doubt already
considered:

Mactan: Cardamine -> Manhattan
Manhattan: H-Fuel -> Mactan
Total: 8 minutes (game clock time), 233k credits (in a Dromedary):
1.75mil/hour

This is perhaps the best "two stop" run -- and since you're at Mactan
already, why not take it for a spin in your fantastic new Dromedary?

"What's your best time?" along with "what's the next interesting route?"
and "what's the quickest buck?" are the operative questions for this
sideplay-mission -- and this sort of racing/exploration/calculation game
can be really fun, even though it doesn't involve combat. Try running
guns to the Omega systems, and quality Cardamine or Artifacts back to
the more civilized regions. Try finding the profitable trades through
the Tau systems; you might even reconstruct Trent's prospective Boron
trade (see the early entries in the "neural net Log"), somewhere near
Kurile and the now-lost Freeport 7.

To get you started on the trader's track, there follows here a brief
list of some of the more elaborate trade runs that I have found and
learned from other players. (Many thanks to Bosson for his fine work
discovering several of the most profitable and fun trade routes.) Even
after having written a few computer-program "tools" to crunch and
variously organize the available information on bases, commodities, and
jump gates/holes, I haven't found anything markedly better than what has
already been discovered by others: two million credits per hour of
trading seems the sort of "soft limit" on what is possible at this point
(though a couple other very useful jumpholes will open later). -- In any
case, upwards 2mil/hour is the main goal here.

If you have a different route that makes upwards (or beyond!) 2 million
an hour, and you would like to see it included here, please let me know.
Also please share any improvements on any of these routes.

Trade routes:
-------------

A note on the Omega-41 Neutron Star: Some of the most profitable paths
go through Omega-41, and taking the most direct path through this system
can mean flying right past the neutron star. If you're worried, you can
go around it, thus suffering only minor radiation damage -- but you can
actually fly straight past the beast, provided you don't mind cutting
things a little close. When performing this little maneuver, don't use
your nanobots until your red-line is all the way down ("Hull breach
imminent"), or else you may not make it out of the system. Also, I
highly recommend you un-mount your gear before taking this path: you
will lose your wings, along with anything mounted on them, and of course
removing your gear saves on repairs anyway. (During this entire
sideplay-mission, I fly without any equipment except my thruster and
shield, and you really don't need even that.)

"Money run 101"
Freeport 9: Alien Organisms -> Cambridge Research Station
  [Omicron Theta, Omega 41, Omega 5, Cambridge]
    (10 minutes, 421k)
Cambridge Research Station: Empty -> Cambridge
    (1 minute, 0k)
Planet Cambridge: Diamonds -> Planet Leeds
  [Cambridge, Leeds]
    (7 minutes, 100k)
Planet Leeds: H-Fuel -> Mactan
  [Leeds, Magellan]
    (3 minutes, 60k)
Mactan: Cardamine -> Planet Manhattan
  [Magellan, New York]
    (4 minutes, 190k)
Planet Manhattan: Luxury Consumer Goods -> Planet Kyushu
  [New York, Colorado, Kepler, Shikoku, New Tokyo, Kyushu]
    (16 minutes, 223k)
Planet Kyushu: Engine Components -> Planet Malta
  [Kyushu, Tau 23, Tau 37, Omicron Alpha]
    (9 minutes, 277k)
Malta: Cardamine -> Freeport 9
  [Omicron Alpha, Omicron Theta]
    (5 minutes, 123k)
Total: 46 minutes, 1394k: 1.81m/hour
This is the best route I have found. Like many of the most profitable
routes, this one involves a couple "money runs": moving Alien Organisms
from Freeport 9 to Cambridge Research Station; and (even more profitable
time-wise) smuggling Cardamine from Mactan to Manhattan. The remainder
of such routes are basically aimed to get back to the starting point of
the respective money runs, without losing too much on the money/time
ratio: hence the somewhat longer and less profitable trip from Manhattan
back towards Freeport 9.

"Blame it on the Black Star" (Compliments of Bosson -- Thanks Bosson!) 
Freeport 9: Alien Organisms -> Cambridge Research Station
  [Omicron Theta, Omega 41, Omega 5, Cambridge]
    (10 minutes, 421k)
Planet Cambridge: Luxury Food -> Hawaii
  [Omega 5, Omega 41, Omicron Theta, Sigma 17, Sigma 19]
    (15.5 minutes, 372k)
Hawaii: Empty -> Honshu
  [Sigma 19, Honshu]
    (4 minutes, 0k)
Planet Honshu: Optronics -> Ruiz
  [Honshu, Sigma 19, Omicron Beta]
    (6.5 minutes, 249k)
Ruiz: Cardamine -> Freeport 9
  [Omicron Beta, Omicron Alpha, Omicron Theta]
    (4 minutes, 115k)
Total: 40 minutes, 1202k: 1.8mil/hour
[Note: Bosson clocks this trip at an amazing 35 minutes, for a total
2.0mil/hour]
An ingenious little route -- the best of Bosson's by his clocking (and
that is saying something!). I would be interested to find how Bosson
compares this one with the "money run" route immediately above; I
suspect they're about even. Please note that you will experience some
relatively minor radiation damage even after Omega 41, when you're on
the way to Hawaii: so be careful to carefully handle the damage incurred
from the Neutron star -- remember, don't use the nanobots (near the
Neutron star) until you're almost dead. You should leave Omega 41 with
no nanobots (and no wings), and about halfway down your redline.

"Advance to go" (Compliments of Bosson -- Thanks Bosson!)
Planet Honshu: Optronics -> Yanagi
  [Honshu, Sigma 13]
    (3.66 minutes, 135k)
Yanagi: Cardamine -> Planet New Berlin
  [Sigma 13, New Berlin]
    (7 minutes, 231k)
New Berlin: Silver -> Mainz Storage Facility
  [New Berlin, Frankfurt]
    (3.33 minutes, 36k)
Mainz: Cobalt -> Planet Honshu
  [Frankfurt, Sigma 13, Honshu]
    (6.5 minutes, 188k)
Total: 20.5minutes, 590k: 1.72mil/hour
[Note: Bosson clocks this at 20 minutes, for a total of 1.77mil/hour]
In Bosson's words: "This neat little route has no massive profits but is
very quick and knocks up the most profit of any of the safe routes I
have found. It's fairly straightforward but take care into Yanagi and
out to the Frankfurt jumphole if the Corsairs don't like you."

"I think you're crazy, maybe" (Compliments of Bosson -- Thanks Bosson!)
Freeport 9: Alien Organisms -> Cambridge Research Station
  [Omicron Theta, Omega 41, Omega 5, Cambridge]
    (10 minutes, 421k)
Cambridge: Empty -> Cardiff Mining Facility
    (2.5 minutes, 0k)
Cardiff: Beryllium -> Freiberg Station
  [Cambridge, Omega 3, Omega 7, Stuttgart]
    (10.5 minutes, 208k)
Freiberg: Engine Components -> Freital
  [Stuttgart, Omega 7 (F6 jump hole)->, Omega 11]
    (5 minutes, 185k)
Freital: Diamonds -> Freeport 9
  [Omega 11, Omega 41, Omicron Theta]
    (5 minutes, 115k) (on cruise through the Omega 41 minefield)
Total: 33 minutes, 929k: 1.69mil/hour
[Note: Bosson clocks this trip at an amazing 30 minutes, for a total
1.9mil/hour]
This is a really fun route, especially the Omega 41 minefield on cruise!
A most profitable challenge!

"Roll around the rim"
Freeport 9: Alien Organisms -> Cambridge
  [Omicron Theta, Omega 41, Omega 5, Cambridge]
    (10 minutes, 421k)
Cambridge: Diamonds -> Leeds
  [Cambridge, Leeds]
    (7 minutes, 100k)
Leeds: Light Arms -> Malta
  [Leeds, Tau 31, Tau 23, Tau 37, Omicron Alpha]
    (14 minutes, 289k)
Malta: Cardamine -> Freeport 9
  [Omicron Alpha, Omicron Theta]
    (5 minutes, 123k)
Total: 36 minutes, 933k: 1.55m/hour
This is yet another trip featuring the Freeport-9 to Cambridge "money
run" and a scrabble back to Freeport 9. For this one, we go all the way
around the outer rim of the sector. A nice tour around the sector!

====

Note that THE MOST PROFITABLE trade route involves the Sigma-13 C5
jumphole to New Berlin, but this jumphole is closed at this stage of the
game. (The trade is: Cardamine from Yanagi to New Berlin, and Engine
Components back to the Yanagi.) This trade is of course still possible
at this stage of the game, but only by a less-direct route. Without the
currently-closed jump hole, this trade is not terribly efficient. You'll
only be able to capitalize on this trade after the "game proper" plays
out.

Sideplay-Mission 5.3: The Way of the Pirate
-------------------------------------------

Time to re-equip that weaponry!

Now that you've familiarized yourself with the most profitable trade
routes, you're ready to try your hand at true piracy. Beyond knowing
where to hunt (ideally, near where you want to sell what loot you
pillage), the main trick is to protect your reputation well enough that
you'll have a good place to sell whatever cargo you come across.
Remember that you don't always have to shoot/loot absolutely everything,
but can wait around a couple minutes for the big score. Take advantage
of your turrets when you're pirating with a Dromedary: a good turret
view technique is well worth the necessary practice. (And rear view is a
nice touch too.)

Here's a few ideas to get you started:

Look for a Synth Foods "luxury food" train at the Honshu->New Tokyo jump
gate. This perishable commodity can be sold at Hawaii for example.

Daumann Trains at the Dresden jumpgate carry diamonds, which can be very
profitably fenced in New Tokyo.

In Cortez, by the California jumpgate: fly south toward the California
jumphole, and wait for a Rogue Mule to appear. If you get Cardamine, fly
it to Manhattan. With Alien Organisms use the nearby jumphole to deliver
them to California Minor.

Near The Ring you will often find Hessians carrying Niobium. Bust them,
and sell the loot at The Ring.

You may find a train full of Niobium at the Dresden jumpgate. Crash the
train, and proceed to Leipzig for the payoff.

At Yanagi Depot you will always find numerous Junker ships with
high-dollar cargo.

The empty jump-gate corners at Galileo and Hudson are ideal for ambush;
a nice place to crash parties.

(Email me your favorite pirate practice, if you would like to see it
included here. My contact information is at the bottom of this file.)

=========
MISSION 6
=========

Essentials
----------

Bring a Dromedary with your favorite dogfighting loadout, optimizing for
speed kill. (Recommend missile/Pulse/Pyros loadout.)

Sideplay-Mission 6.1: Teach Dexter's Cronies a Lesson
------------------------------------------------------

The first time through the course, as soon as you're ambushed, forget
the race and take out both the ships that are attacking you (ignoring
the weapon platforms). Destroy both cronies before Hovis reaches the
finish line.

Sideplay-Mission 6.2: Teach Dexter a Lesson
-------------------------------------------

Beat Hovis with your Dromedary. This and the Drone are the largest and
least maneuverable ship available, so the race will push your piloting
skills. I found this somewhat difficult the first time, but it is not
impossible. (It's actually possible to beat Hovis in a Humpback, but
that's another story....)

By the way, no matter how you beat him, Hovis will say the same thing
("Damn. Bretonian. Not bad." -- And he sounds real surprised and
impressed). The spectator, however, will react differently depending on
how well you beat him. Beating Hovis very badly stuns this cheering fan,
who first says "I can't believe this!" -- then shut his yap so you can
hear Hovis' little speech. If you beat him a fair amount the
chatter-voices shouts "the newcomer has won! Unbelievable!" -- but he
yells this over Hovis so you cannot hear Hovis' congratulatory message.
Finally, if you beat him very little, which doesn't activate his little
ambush, he'll give his congratulatory message *after* you go back to
cockpit view, which means his speech is unoccluded by the spectator's
enthusiasms.

After you beat Hovis, the mission is highly scripted: you have no option
but land back on the Hood (jumps and other bases are closed). Continue
to its conclusion the standard mission, proceeding to the newly
appearing base "Glorious" (which will disappear once again after you
leave the system), and after this, simply warding off the attackers as
directed.

Upon your initial approach to the Glorius, it is possible to kill three
of the four friendly fighters. (Jarvis is immune to death.) With any
luck, you'll pick up a Sunblast A, a fantastic level 6 photon blaster.
After leaving Glorius, Albertson is immune and Quintain is essential,
but you can take out the other two allies. Here you might pick up an
Advanced Scorpion or a Wasp launcher, but nothing more interesting than
that.

When you land on Leeds, the mission ends, and although you are rushed
into the next mission right away, you may, as always, indefinitely
decline to proceed, and go out on your own for another stretch.

(You are now level 12.)

However, there's absolutely nothing new that you haven't already seen,
and no new ships or equipment available. So we proceed directly to...

=========
MISSION 7
=========

Essentials
----------

I think a light fighter is not suited to the following challenge. I
recommend a Dromedary, but let me know if you have better luck in a
heavy fighter, which has a toropdo slot to recommend it.

My Dromedary loadout is...
2x Catapult
Pyros Type 2
2x Pyros Turret Type 2 (slot number 4 cannot fire directly forward)
3x Barrager Turret Mark 3
Tadpole Mine

Before you begin, make sure you're at least neutral with Samura, or you
might not be able to land on Shinkaku. I've had the mission freeze on me
at this point, and had to reload from Leeds. Luckily, you can find a
Samura rep-fixer on Leeds.

Also note: you cannot destroy the second fighter of the initial ambush
before he cloaks. Once the first one is killed, the other one becomes
invincible. You can, however, kill one of the two other cloaking ships
at the ambush near Stokes. But that's just minor trivia, and things only
really pick up outside the Tau-31 gate....

Sideplay-Mission 7.1: Battleship Bomber
---------------------------------------

First, destroy the cruiser guarding the gate out of Leeds *before*
Tobias shows up. He'll then talk about concentrating on a cruiser that
you've already turned to space-dust, and you can smile a little.

Battleships destroyed: 8

Also you can take down Tobias' buddies -- and here you might nab another
Starkiller if you're lucky. (Or, for an amusingly bizarre effect, you can
shoot out the trade lane, even returning to keep it down until the whole
fight near Glasgow is over. Thus, Tobias never arrives. -- And when the
last fighter falls, Tobias and friends magically appear.)

After you arrive at Tau 31, destroy the Rheinland Battleship guarding
the trade lane to Tau 29 gate. (For this I recommend getting very close
at the battleship's underbelly and belting it with the catapult missiles
while you continuously fire your guns. -- You need to dispatch this
dangerous creature quickly or you will run out of time and receive
"mission failure.") Even though you kill this battleship and its entire
entourage, you still won't get an official battleship credit -- but it's
fun anyway.

Shortly after you leave Shinkaku, there will be another Battleship to
dispatch, plus three cruisers, two gunships, and several fighters.

You won't get an official battleship credit for the Schiller itself, but
each of these three cruisers counts as a "battleship destroyed" credit.
You have a number of allies competing with you to take them down, so
you'll have to move quickly if you want all three.

Battleships destroyed: 11

Razor One is invincible, but the rest of Razor Wing can be destroyed.
Sometimes you'll get a Dragoon Type 2, or a Dragoon Type 2 Turret, and
rarely it is possible to loot a Protector LF shield, the absolute best
equippable LF shield in the game.

/---------------
| Special Note:
|
| This is one of the few times in the entire game when it is possible to
| loot a shield. It's a class 7 shield too, and now is of course the
| earliest place you can acquire it. Normally you'd have to wait until
| the campaign is over, and even now you'll have to wait until the
| campaign is over if you want to use it.
|
| Normal NPC shields have a "Regen Rate" of 1, which basically means
| they don't regenerate at all. -- These shields never drop, but shields
| with "normal" regen rates will drop. The Razor assist is one of only a
| few situations where an NPC has a "normal" shield with a "normal" regen
| rate.
|
| By the way, you can easily check the regen rate of any ship's shields:
| just scan a ship, go to its "shields and thrusters" readout, click on
| the shield listed there, and scroll down to see the "Regen Rate."
\---------------

Proceed with the standard mission to its conclusion on Kyushu.

(You are now level 13. Ships available: Hawk/Kyoto, Planets Honshu and
Kyushu; Wolfhound/Bases Montezuma and Arranmore; Dragon/Battleships
Matsumoto, Myoko, and Nagumo; Barracuda/Planets Curacao, Kyushu, New
Tokyo, and Honshu.)

Again there's not much doing that hasn't already been done. The best
ship at this stage is the Barracuda, no contest. Normally, ships of the
same level have competing strengths, but the Barracuda ties or beats all
other ships in all areas. (Users of Jason Merrill's walkthrough should
note that his gun battery approximations are inaccurate: the Barracuda
has exactly the same gun battery (3400) and regen rate (345) as the
Hawk, Dragon, and Wolfhound.)

=========
MISSION 8
=========

Essentials
----------

A fun "kill the ships" mission, framed as a surgical strike and hijack.

A good loadout for this mission is:

Barracuda with...
2x Catapult
4x Sunblast A (or Barragers)
Starkiller
Tadpole

There is only minor side-play here: of course you can destroy the three
Blood Dragon Escorts, though this doesn't lead to anything remarkable;
near Yukawa you could loot the storage depots, but they carry only Toxic
Waste and Scrap Metal; best of all, if you shoot the underbelly of
Tekagi's transport, you can knock loose some of its valuable cargo,
which you can then loot -- but be careful not to destroy it, or you get
mission failure. That's all I could think of to do with this one, other
than return to Kyoto as directed.

(You are now level 15.)

Do what you do to achieve level 16, maybe heading towards Cali with a
turret-equippable ship, so you can get the Pyros Turret Type 2, which
you'll enjoy putting on your Anubis. (Unfortunately this means ditching
the Barracuda at a time when your reputation makes it difficult to
re-acquire it, but rep-fixing is fun, so no big deal.)

(You are now level 16. Level 6 equipment is now availible!)

Pick up an Advanced Sentry shield, and complete your gun collection
however you fancy -- I like best a full Pyros loadout with twin
Catapults. When you're ready, proceed to the next mission, but with one
caveat...

=========
MISSION 9
=========

Warning: in your gun-collecting exploits, it's not unlikely that you
purchased a turret-equippable ship (in order to enable the purchase of
level 6 turrets), and then killed Blood Dragons and GC to fix your
reputation with Tokyo so you can re-acquire a Barracuda. This is fine,
but you must fix rep again so that you're at least neutral with the
Blood Dragons (and one sliver better than barely), before you start the
mission. (The fact that you are allowed to land on Kyoto the first time
is *quite* misleading.)

If you are hostile with the Blood Dragons, you will not be able to dock
on Kyoto on return from the Arch. -- You'll basically be stuck in space
(as is also possible in the second trip to California Minor during
Mission 3, or outside Shinkaku dirung Mission 7), and will have to
restore and re-do the mission from the beginning.

Ok, on to the good stuff....

Essentials
----------

Barracuda with the standard Pyros loadout; or, for variation, Tarantula
or Vulture, etc., plus Catapults and Starkillers, and a Borocco if you
like.

Play the first part of the mission as usual. You can kill some of your
Dragon allies if you wish, though three are invulnerable (four if you
include Ozu). When you approach the arch, you encounter the first
challenge...

Sideplay-Mission 9.1: Battleship Belter
---------------------------------------

Upon approach, you may be attacked by the Destroyer KNF Hissatsu and a
couple fighters. (It's the cruiser circling the arch at a 2500-M
radius.) Destroying the Hissatsu earns you a battleship kill.

Battleships destroyed: 12

The first thing to do upon nearing the arch is destroy the battleship,
though it does not earn you an official kill. (Note that when it
explodes, the blast will consume you if you are too close.)

After this, you will have a Destroyer and a couple Gunboats to deal
with, and a large number of fighters. More fighters will arrive as you
dispatch the ones now present, so it's hopeless to destroy the entire
defenses. Take care of the major vessels for good measure, and proceed
with the mission proper by destroying the shield generators.

When this is done, dock at the arch, proceeding with the mission as
usual. When eventually you meet up with Juni, there will be a couple
more Gunboats to destroy, and some more fighters -- nothing major, and
no possibility for side-play, although if you wish you can take out all
your allies except Hakkera and Juni -- and you might get a Dragoon 3 or
so out of the deal. When all's done, you'll be back at Kyoto, and ready
for the next mission.

(You are now level 17.)

Sideplay-Mission 9.2: The End of Freedom
----------------------------------------

Upon accepting mission 10, you are locked into the final series of
missions which allows no breaks for freelance work. Your next
opportunity to set your own course will be when the missions proper have
played out and the good guys have won. (You are a good guy, aren't you?)

So now you might like fixing your reputation again, and having a final
go at the whole sector. If so, you'll be walking a delicate line here,
as you will have a bad reputation for many systems, and you will have to
target your few piratical allies in order to improve your reputation;
this puts challenging limits on your movement and strategy.

One might begin by killing Dragons at the Honshu jump-gate, and
returning to Kyoto to get more shield batteries and take a break.

Once the Kusari reputation is more or less stabilized, make your way
down to Dresden, the best place to kill Hessians -- and this is the
fastest way to stabilize your reputation with the Rheinlanders. You'll
probably have to run at some point, as these ships are far more powerful
than yours. One fun place to run is Freital.

Once you've left Freital, it's a great pleasure to assist the Corsairs
destroying Hessians in the near vicinity of Freital. As you wish, you
can run missions out of many Rheinland bases for the Bounty Hunters,
killing Hessians. Pleasing the Bounty Hunters is rather a good move,
since you'll want to kill some Bounty Hunters while you're on the hunt
for Outcasts, to ensure you won't go too far south that the Outcasts
become angry.

You'll probably want to make your way back to Liberty space, as the
corporations are angry with you, and their Outcast enemies are (at this
point in the game) quite easy to kill in this area of the sector -- like
swatting flies really... slow flies.

Once you get relatively stabilized, you've mastered the system, and can
do whatever you fancy, until you return to Kyoto and bite the bit once
more.

NOTE:

Before mission 10, you should set up your heavy fighter of choice for
maximum damage to stationary targets. I'd once again recommend the
Barracuda with an all-Pyros loadout.

Prepare the ship, including all ammunition, before you accept Mission
10, for Kyoto may not sell you all necessary goods unless you're on
friendly terms with the Dragons.

==========
MISSION 10
==========

Although your freedom will be entirely limited from this point until the
end of the game proper, there's still a number of fun challenges you can
attempt along the way. The first of these is somewhat difficult, but
with a properly equipped fighter you will be able to carry it off.

Sideplay-Mission 10.1: Hey, You Sunk My Battleships
---------------------------------------------------

Shortly after you enter Sigma 13, you will confront a Rheinland fleet.

There are four cruisers and four battleships total (two of which appear
during the battle), each of which will earn you a battleship kill. Go
for the cruisers first, since they're fragile and more likely to be
destroyed by an ally of yours (which does not earn you a battleship
kill).

You will then have time to kill one battleship before Hakkera demands
your retreat. Retreat you must, so cruise towards the waypoint -- but
only a very short distance, to reset the mission-failure timer. Return
to the battle and destroy another battleship. Repeat this yo-yo
technique until you've wasted them all.

Battleships destroyed: 20

Alternatively, you can destroy the five non-essential Dragon allies,
from whom you might score a Katana or two, maybe a Starkiller, and if
you're lucky, a Sunstalker missile launcher. -- Plus also some cargo,
such as Pharmaceuticals or Niobium. This is also one of the rare places
in the game where it is possible to loot a shield. In this case the
shield is not so spectacular (Sentinel HF) -- indeed you're probably
already equipping a better one at this point.

Outside Bruchsal, destroying your Bundschuh allies can get you, among
other things, a Lancer launcher, or better still, a Luger Type C.

After landing on Bruchsal, stock up on missiles and torpedoes.

Now for the hard part: at the Experimental Shipyard, destroy *all*
Rheinland ships. Take out the Cruisers first, as these are the only ones
which count as official battleship scores...

Battleships destroyed: 23

...then the Gunboats and the fighters, and save the (conventional)
Battleships for last. Don't destroy any of the "Experimental" (Nomad)
Battleships until you're all clear. Finally, you must destroy one of the
Experimental Battleships before you are allowed to leave the area. Even
if you have spent your munitions, in theory you could destroy two or
three Nomads very easily (if you knock one down to minimal, then kill
another one, and go back to the first), but in actuality the remaining
Nomad Battleships become immune once one of them is destroyed.

(There's a few Bundschuh allies you can destroy also, another few
chances at the Lancer launcher and the Luger Type C.)

Last but not least, after entering Hamburg and before boarding the
Osiris, destroy Battleship Odin. This doesn't earn you an official
battleship kill either, but it's fun and for good measure.

==========
MISSION 11
==========

On the Osiris, buy the Anubis and equip now (or at the latest, on
Buffalo) a full array of "Battleship destruction" weaponry:

Anubis
Catapult Missile
5x Pyros Type 3
Reaper Turret Mark 1
Starkiller Torpedo
Ripper Mine

You won't use them for a while, but you'll need them for the main
project of the next sideplay-mission.

If you're going for the main sideplay mission here, then I strongly
recommend you conserve nanobots and shield batteries, which means flying
very defensively until the very end.

The mission is pretty straightforward up to the Alaska gate.
Unfortunately, the Nomad Prototype weapons don't drop, but you can loot
Vengeance III guns from the enemies packing normal weaponry -- and you
might destroy some of your allies for the same. At the Alaska gate, more
Navy fighters will continue to enter the system, so it's pointless to
try killing them all, although you can easily take the next wave after
Juni unlocks the gate. Proceed through Alaska as usual.

Upon leaving Alaska, the obvious challenge would be to destroy the
Battleships guarding the gate back to New York. However, I have found
this to be impossible, because they are basically invincible: you can
get either one of the Battleships down to 10 percent, but beyond that
they do not sustain further damage. In any case, Walker will do his
suicide run as usual. The best fun here is lingering to kill Navy and
Nomad fighters -- oh and there's a Rheinland Gunboat you can take out
also.

Or, if you're feeling evil, you can instead target your allies. The
Cruiser LNS Phoenix is destructible, as are the non-essential allied
fighters.

Sideplay-Mission 11.1: Battleship Quickie
-----------------------------------------

After re-entering New York, we have the real challenge. Destroy all
three cruisers, plus the Battleship Omaha, before docking with the
Osirus. It is fairly difficult to accomplish this because you're under
relatively heavy fire, and also because you have rather limited time
before your fail the mission for taking too long to dock.

You have to take out the Merrimack first -- and quickly! When the Osiris
appears it automatically destroys the Merrimack if it is not yet
finished, which will steal the battleship kill from you.

After finishing the three cruisers...

Battleships destroyed: 26

...I pretend that I want to dock with the Osiris, then I break back into
battle. This little maneuver buys enough time to destroy the Battleship
Omaha. It's very heavily armored, and the timing is pretty tight, but
this is also the final "official" battleship kill in the game, so good
luck!

Battleships destroyed: 27

Total Battleships destroyed: 27

When you dock with the Osiris, the mission ends.

==========
MISSION 12
==========

There's not much to do other than the standard mission. After leaving
the Nomad Lair, you can destroy the four Nomad Gunboats before racing
back to the collapsing jump-hole, but more will appear as you reach it,
and it's clearly impossible to kill everthing before leaving this Nomad
system. (The Interceptors drop shield-batteries, but the Gunboats drop
nothing.)

When you arrive at Omicron Minor, you have another wave of Nomads to
deal with, and this time you can destroy all of them, but there's no
opportunity for side-play here either. It's fun to destroy the several
Gunboats.

When you're done with the Omicron Minor battle, there's nothing to do
but land on Toledo.

(For an amusement, you can survive a head-on collision with Toledo (if
you're flying an Anubis anyway). -- You'll be severely damaged, but if
you're undamaged to begin with, and you hit it right you'll simply
bounce off.)

==========
MISSION 13
==========

Upon your initial departure from Toledo, you will be joined by Juni plus
two wings of fighters, Alpha and Beta. Each wing has two members, a
leader (who does the talking), and a wingman. -- You can kill both
wingmen, and in fact you'll have to hustle or the Nomads will beat you
to it. They drop Death Hand guns and turrets, various cargo, Advanced
Countermeasure Droppers, Screamer mines (either munition or, if you're very
lucky, the launcher itself), and Cannonball missiles (or with extreme luck,
the launcher).

Upon your second and final departure from Toledo, the situation is quite
similar, except that there are five wings, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta,
and Omicron. Again, they're in pairs or triples, with an invulnerable
leaders but killable wingmen. Here you can loot as before, but beware
not to attack any allies after the nomad fighters have been dispatched
-- and this happens quickly: you'll be lucky to destroy two allies
before the window of opportunity closes. (Attacking allies near the
nomad battleships doesn't work: you need fighters around.)

At the gate you get yet another chance to destroy some allies, but once
again be careful to cease friendly fire as the last nomad fighter falls.

Sideplay-Mission 13.1: Three for the Road
-----------------------------------------

The normal mission will have you destroy the first Battleship and then
return to base shortly after another Battleship appears.

You do, however, have just enough time enough to destroy this
newly-appearing Battleship, as well as all remaining Nomad Interceptors.

When you leave Toledo once again, you will have yet another Battleship
along your path. Destroy it of course, and then proceed to the mission
waypoint as usual.

Upon your approach to the Nomad homeworld jump-gate, a Battleship will
appear. Dispatch it as usual, and proceed through the gate.

Coda: Destroy Orillion (Temporarily)
------------------------------------

Upon approaching the entrance to the Dyson Sphere, after the Nomads
fighters engage, you can take out Orillion. If you're extremely lucky,
you'll nab his shield, a Class 7 Gravitron shield, the Protector HF.

(He re-spawns after you enter the Dyson Sphere area, after which point
he becomes indestructible.)

========
Epilogue
========

When the campaign concludes, so drop most of the constraints which make
the game so fun to toy with. To your taste may be the full freelance
missions. Even though they're the same as before, only with harder
opponents, finding and flying the highest-level (and best paying)
missions is a fun task.

Or, if you're just plain crazy, you might enjoy finding out how far
through the game you can go in a Starflier (or even Rhino, which beyond
a certain point is even harder!). At least a few people (including
myself) have made it to the end of the game in a Starflier (and at least
a couple others in the Rhino), and I have written a walkthrough for both
Starflier and Rhino (availible on gamefaqs) in hopes you may be
interested in trying these fun little stunts yourself.

Certainly the most interesting challenge I've attempted is to figure out
how to beat the game in the shortest amount of time on the game clock.
Naturally this tests your piloting skills, but it is most fun because
it's a really intricate logistical problem: what ship to fly, what to
trade and loot, what equipment to outfit, given a tight budget (since it
costs time to make extra money). And, yes, there's a walkthrough for
this challenge on gamefaqs also.

And don't forget about mods and multiplayer -- there's some great mods
and servers out there.

=======================================================================

Anyway, I hope you found this walkthrough enjoyable. Let me know if
there's anything significant that I have left out.

=======
Credits
======= 

Jason Merrill, for his inspiring walkthrough.

Dustin Shaffer for the invaluable lists FAQ.

Matthew Lawson, for his Wrecks FAQ and Bribes FAQ. 

Gary Dwyer, for the maps FAQ.

Bosson, for his brilliant trade routes.

Preacher0815, for the correct Rowlett strategy.

Dan Paton, for noting that the Ohio and Alabama count as battleship kills.

John Harris, for numerous discoveries ("Ashcroft Ambush" among them),
sharp analysis and inspiration all round.

This revision of the walkthrough was inspired in part by Sherlog, and
dedicated to him.

=======
Contact
=======

Steve Breslin
versim at hotmail dot com

Corrections and suggestions are warmly welcome.

Please put [freelancer walkthrough] at the beginning of the subject
line, to make sure I don't accidentally delete your mail. 

=== End ===