============================================================================== ============= MR KNOWITALL'S IN-DEPTH GUIDE TO X-COM INTERCEPTOR ============= ================================= DOGFIGHTING ================================ ============================== V 1.0 12/31/01 ============================== ============================ lever_2000@hotmail.com ========================== ============================================================================== Introduction What's New? Ships Beam Weapons Missle Weapons Systems Strategies* Legal Stuff Credits ============================================================================== Introduction ============================================================================== This is an in-depth guide to X-COM Interceptor. This guide deals with the aspect of dogfighting. ============================================================================== What's New? ============================================================================== 12/31/01 1.0- Started the guide. The strategies and a few parts in other sections remain undone. ============================================================================== Ships ============================================================================== X-1A Lightning II- Small, lightweight, and nimble. These three attributes make this a viable option for dogfighting, but one or two good hits can easily bring this down. If you would be one to sacrifice power for speed, this is your choice. Because the Lightning is very manuverable, make sure that you don't get hit. X-2 Firestar- The 'perfect' dogfighting vehicle. Pretty quick, and comes with a number of missle, beam, and special system hardpoints. The Firestar has a good balance between speed and power. X-3 Super Avenger- Don't use this. It's almost twice as heavy as the Firestar, and almost four times as heavy as the Lightning. This may have three special systems hardpoints, and the most beam and missle hardpoints, but what good is that if you manuver well enough to use them? +-----------------------------------------------+ | HARDPOINTS | +---------------+------------+-----------------+-------------------+---------+ | NAME | HIT POINTS | BEAM | MISSLE | SPECIAL | +---------------+------------+-----------------+-------------------+---------+ | | | | | | | LIGHTNING II | 100 | 2 | 2 | 2 | | | | | | | +---------------+------------+-----------------+-------------------+---------+ | | | | | | | FIRESTAR | 250 | 4 | 3 | 4 | | | | | | | +---------------+------------+-----------------+-------------------+---------+ | | | | | | | SUPER AVENGER | 400 | 4 | 4 | 6 | | | | | | | +---------------+------------+-----------------+-------------------+---------+ ============================================================================== Beam Weapons ============================================================================== Gatling Laser- These are one of the top three dogfighting beam weapons availiable. You can get six(!!) shots per second with these. Although these aren't very powerful weapons, the high rate of fire and low power consumption make this a good choice. Gatling Lasers work surprisingly well linked, AND are a pretty good choice for the 'full guns' mode, in tandem with the Phase Cannon or Tracking Tracer Cannon. Heavy Laser- These _may_ work as dogfight beam weapons, but you'd be better off without these. These may pack a BIG punch, but taking in consideration the huge power consumption and slow rate of fire, there are better choices. If you do decide to use these, you should use them singly. Laser Cannon- These have a decent range, somewhat low power consumption, and respectable damage, but why don't you want to use these? Just like in many other games, the equipment you get at the beginning is the lowest quality in the game. While Laser Cannons may not be very bad, there are better weapons. You should fire these weapons singly, if you decide to use them. Phase Cannon- One of the three best dogfighting beam weapons in the game. A fast fire rate, 50% extra damage to shields, what more could you ask for? A range of five kilometers perhaps? These do have a somewhat moderate energy cost, but because of the extra damage to shields this does, you shouldn't have to wait for your energy to recharge because the enemy _should_ be neutralized. This weapon also does BIG damage. That and a fast fire rate makes this a good choice to fire linked. Plasma Pulse Cannon- No. These may be slightly better weapons than Laser cannons, but are still inferior to all but three laser weapons. These don't pack that much of a punch, they have a VERY low power consumption, a mediocre rate of fire, and a decent reange. If you do decide to use these, fire them singly. Psi Blaster- NO. NO. NO. Need I say more? Tachyon Pulser- These are weapons you can do without, but you _may want_ to give them a try. Because these only target the target's shields and engines, these are somewhat helpful in dogfighting. All in all, you can try this weapon if you want, but it is better to equip something you will actually use. Tracer Cannon- Low range, low damage. It's okay, except that there's no point in using these when there are.... Tracking Tracer Cannon- Lower range, lower damage. The number 1 dogfighting lasers availiable. These automatically track the target, as long as it is in front of you. Tracer cannons deliver a continuous stream of energy instead of numerous pulses, which means that the damage is delivered per second, instead of per pulse. Tracer cannons will drain your weapon energy if used for more than a few microseconds at a time. These require the Advanced Autonomous Tracking System. +------------------------+------------+---------+-------------+--------------+ | NAME | RANGE (KM) | DAMAGE | ENERGY COST | RATE OF FIRE | +------------------------+------------+---------+-------------+--------------+ | | | | | | | GATLING LASER | 3 | 25 | 8 | 25 | | | | | | | +------------------------+------------+---------+-------------+--------------+ | | | | | | | HEAVY LASER | 2 | 65 | 37 | 30 | | | | | | | +------------------------+------------+---------+-------------+--------------+ | | | | | | | LASER CANNON | 4 | 30 | 10 | 20 | | | | | | | +------------------------+------------+---------+-------------+--------------+ | | | | | | | PHASE CANNON | 5 | 65 | 12 | 25 | | | | | | | +------------------------+------------+---------+-------------+--------------+ | | | | | | | PLASMA PULSE CANNON | 5 | 32 | 9 | 25 | | | | | | | +------------------------+------------+---------+-------------+--------------+ | | | | | | | PSI BLASTER | 2 | SPECIAL | 450 | 45 | | | | | | | +------------------------+------------+---------+-------------+--------------+ | | | | | | | TACHYON PULSER | 6 | 45* | 10 | 25 | | | | | | | +------------------------+------------+---------+-------------+--------------+ | | | | | | | TRACER CANNON | 3 | 30^ | 25“ | CONTINUOUS | | | | | | | +------------------------+------------+---------+-------------+--------------+ | | | | | | | TRACKING TRACER CANNON | 2 | 25^ | 22“ | CONTINUOUS | | | | | | | +------------------------+------------+---------+-------------+--------------+ ============================================================================== Missle Weapons ============================================================================== Doppelganger Missile- This is an okay weapon, considering that it doesn't attack the enemy. All it does is produce a duplicate of your ship. When it's just you and the enemy, if you can keep the enemy in your sight at all times, the enemy can too. Elerium Torpedo- Not really too useful. The only advantage of these is that they have the lowest deploy delay. Enveloping Fusion Torpedo- This is probably one of your top four choices for a dogfighting missle. Why? This weapon applies its damage to the target's fore and aft shields equally, meaning that the target won't have a 'stronger' side. Fusion Missile- No. No. No. Their damage is amazing. Their speed is horrible. Need I say anymore? *NOTE* One tactic you can gamble on is using Tachyon Pulsers to disable the engines of a vessel, the blow it to smitherines with a Fusion Missile Nova Bomb- You can't use this in a dogfight! Parallax Torpedo- This is a decent dogfightning missile. The difining feature of this weapon is that it's warhead will split up into three warheads, but only one of them is real. So when seeing this missle in the air, don't try to shoot it down. The warhead will split up when it is 0.25 kilometers from its target. Passive Cloaking Torpedo- These are _almost_ like mines. Once you shoot them, they will just go into space and cloak. Once an enemy vessel comes within one kilometer of the 'mine', it will decloak and chase it. If the target gets away (or is destroyed) before the missile runs out of fuel, it will recloak. Permeator Missile- One of the top four choices for a dogfighting missile. It has decent speed and does some nice damage. The main selling point of this is that half the damage affects the shields, and the other half affects the target's systems. Sidestep Missile- One of the top four choices for a dogfighting missile. This has amazing speed and range, respectable damage, and use Vector Control Thrusters to make it harder for your enemy to evade these missiles. X-Winder Missile- No thanks. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Missle Launchers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ +---------------------------+----------+------------------------+------------+ | NAME | ROUNDS | DEPLOY DELAY (SECONDS) | HIT POINTS | +---------------------------+----------+------------------------+------------+ | | | | | | DOPPELGANGER MISSILE | 1 | N/A | 25 | | | | | | +---------------------------+----------+------------------------+------------+ | | | | | | ELERIUM TORPEDO | 4 | 1 | 25 | | | | | | +---------------------------+----------+------------------------+------------+ | | | | | | ENVELOPING FUSION TORPEDO | 3 | 3 | 25 | | | | | | +---------------------------+----------+------------------------+------------+ | | | | | | FUSION MISSILE | 2 | 4 | 25 | | | | | | +---------------------------+----------+------------------------+------------+ | | | | | | NOVA BOMB | 1 | N/A | 40 | | | | | | +---------------------------+----------+------------------------+------------+ | | | | | | PARALLAX TORPEDO | 2 | 3 | 25 | | | | | | +---------------------------+----------+------------------------+------------+ | | | | | | PASSIVE CLOAKING TORPEDO | 3 | 3 | 25 | | | | | | +---------------------------+----------+------------------------+------------+ | | | | | | PERMEATOR MISSILE | 3 | 2 | 25 | | | | | | +---------------------------+----------+------------------------+------------+ | | | | | | SIDESTEP MISSILE | 4 | 2 | 25 | | | | | | +---------------------------+----------+------------------------+------------+ | | | | | | X-WINDER MISSILE | 5 | 4 | 25 | | | | | | +---------------------------+----------+------------------------+------------+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Missles ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ +--------------------+ | DAMAGE | +---------------------------+--------+----------+-------+--------+-----------+ | NAME | SPEED | DURATION | RANGE | IMPACT | PROXIMITY | +---------------------------+--------+----------+-------+--------+-----------+ | | | | | | | | DOPPELGANGER MISSILE | .5 | 30 | 15 | N/A | 300 | | | | | | | | +---------------------------+--------+----------+-------+--------+-----------+ | | | | | | | | ELERIUM TORPEDO | 1.1 | 10 | 11 | 400 | 250 | | | | | | | | +---------------------------+--------+----------+-------+--------+-----------+ | | | | | | | | ENVELOPING FUSION TORPEDO | 1.05 | 14 | 14.7 | 500 | 300 | | | | | | | | +---------------------------+--------+----------+-------+--------+-----------+ | | | | | | | | FUSION MISSILE | .35 | 15 | 5.25 | 3000 | 950 | | | | | | | | +---------------------------+--------+----------+-------+--------+-----------+ | | | | | | | | NOVA BOMB | SPEC. | SPECIAL | SPEC. | 0* | 300 | | | | | | | | +---------------------------+--------+----------+-------+--------+-----------+ | | | | | | | | PARALLAX TORPEDO | 2 | 12 | 24 | 400 | 250 | | | | | | | | +---------------------------+--------+----------+-------+--------+-----------+ | | | | | | | | PASSIVE CLOAKING TORPEDO | 1.64 | 15 | 24.75 | 550 | 200 | | | | | | | | +---------------------------+--------+----------+-------+--------+-----------+ | | | | | | | | PERMEATOR MISSILE | 1.15 | 10 | 11.5 | 450 | 200 | | | | | | | | +---------------------------+--------+----------+-------+--------+-----------+ | | | | | | | | SIDESTEP MISSILE | 1.15 | 12 | 17.4 | 350 | 275 | | | | | | | | +---------------------------+--------+----------+-------+--------+-----------+ | | | | | | | | X-WINDER MISSILE | 1 | 10 | 10 | 300 | 200 | | | | | | | | +---------------------------+--------+----------+-------+--------+-----------+ +---------------------------+------------+-----------------------------------+ | NAME | HIT POINTS | REQUIRED TARGETING SYSTEM | +---------------------------+------------+-----------------------------------+ | | | ADVANCED | | DOPPELGANGER MISSILE | 10 | AUTONOMOUS TARGETING | | | | SYSTEM | +---------------------------+------------+-----------------------------------+ | | | | | ELERIUM TORPEDO | 10 | STANDARD TARGETING SYSTEM | | | | | +---------------------------+------------+-----------------------------------+ | | | | | ENVELOPING FUSION TORPEDO | 10 | STANDARD TARGETING SYSTEM | | | | | +---------------------------+------------+-----------------------------------+ | | | | | FUSION MISSILE | 50 | STANDARD TARGETING SYSTEM | | | | | +---------------------------+------------+-----------------------------------+ | | | ADVANCED | | NOVA BOMB | 300 | AUTONOMOUS TARGETING | | | | SYSTEM | +---------------------------+------------+-----------------------------------+ | | | | | PARALLAX TORPEDO | 10 | STANDARD TARGETING SYSTEM | | | | | +---------------------------+------------+-----------------------------------+ | | | | | PASSIVE CLOAKING TORPEDO | 10 | EMISSIONS TARGETING SYSTEM | | | | | +---------------------------+------------+-----------------------------------+ | | | | | PERMEATOR MISSILE | 10 | EMISSIONS TARGETING SYSTEM | | | | | +---------------------------+------------+-----------------------------------+ | | | | | SIDESTEP MISSILE | 10 | EMISSIONS TARGETING SYSTEM | | | | | +---------------------------+------------+-----------------------------------+ | | | | | X-WINDER MISSILE | 10 | STANDARD TARGETING SYSTEM | | | | | +---------------------------+------------+-----------------------------------+ ============================================================================== Systems ============================================================================== BASIC SYSTEMS Armor- This is a no-brainer. Get the most protection possible; use Trans-Dermal Armor. Engines- Although the Graviton Pulse Drive is the fastest, it should be put on Firestars and Super Avengers, but not Lightnings because they achieve their max _battle speed_ with Gravity/Induction Drives. Hyperspace speed and range is irrelevent here. Shields- Do I need to say anything here? Targeting Systems- " SPECIAL SYSTEMS Cloaking Device- A novelty device. ECM Pods- Ship Damage Control Computer- This doubles the rate of repair, and its essestial. Tractor Beam- Why the **** would you need to tow an emnemy vessel in a dogfight? Vector Control Thrusters- These are essential to dogfighting. ============================================================================== Strategies ============================================================================== ============================================================================== Legal Stuff ============================================================================== This file is Copyright 2001 by Andrew Lang(Mr Knowitall) You may not place this document on the internet without my permission You may ONLY use my document for personal and private use. The only sites which should have this document on them are: http://www.gamefaqs.com http://www.neoseeker.com This document is protected by international copyright laws. If you break any of the above statements, you can and will be charged for it. ============================================================================== Credits ============================================================================== Me, lever_2000@hotmail.com, for making this. GameFAQs, http://www.gamefaqs.com, gamefaqs@gamefaqs.com, for hosting this. Neoseeker, http://www.neoseeker.com, entity@neoseeker.com, for hosting this.