Please contact me at Ninjahawk@AOL.com Be sure to write "Seek and Destroy" or S&D in the subject heading, or I will likely assume you're trying to get me to look at your porn site. If you would like to help me improve this faq, please do so. I will publish your name/handle. Please send me information you might have that I left out the first time, like: 1) Your own strategy for a level 2) The reward for each level 3) The battle arena/Expert arena for each town 4) Anything I may have missed 5) Anything I may have gotten wrong (especially the names of the first few missions) This is my first FAQ. I’m making it because Seek and Destroy is such a wonderful game (see my review at http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/review/R49868.html) that it seems sad that there are virtually no faqs or online help pages anywhere online. The point of this faq is to show you how to access all the different missions on multiple playthroughs. The order in which you trigger mission marker (red flags on the overworld map) often affects what the missions will be like. Moreover, the game encourages replay by letting you keep all the money from your previous endeavors, and because each boss battle gives you a choice of three tanks, and you can only pick one each time. But this is a fun game, and identical missions play differently depending on your tank configuration. Although I've listed which camoflauge would be appropriate in each case, I'm not entirely sure that having the right camo does anything. Even if it does, the game is easy enough without it. _______________________________________________________________________ Below is a rough map of the overworld. The numbers refer to the mission order I recommend, for reference: ********* ******************* *************** * * 21 22 * * * * 20 * * 11 * * * * * * * * 10 9 * * 18 * * 13 * * 16 17 19 * * 12 * * ***** * * * ***** ** * * * *** ** * * * * * ** * * * *14 * ***** * 6 7 * * * * * * * 15 * 8 * * * * * *** * ***** * 2 * * 3 * * 4 * * 1 * * **** 5 * ********** ****** * ** ** ******** Missions: 1. PROTECT THE ALLIES! (RIVAGEDERS) (Urban) 2. TUGHL (not a mission) 3. RESCUE THE MAJOR! (Plains) 4. DARING RESCUE! (Urban) 5. SNIPERS IN THE SAND (Desert) 6. DESTROY THE TOWERS (NALDNICK) (Urban, Plains for the boss) 7. STEALTHY ENTRANCE (BACHERIT) (Urban) 8. DEFEND! (Forrest) 9. THE BATTLE OF ZAMBNEAL 10. THE INVADERS (Snow) 11. INSIDE THE HIDEOUT (Nighttime) 12. FEAR OF FLAILS (Snow) 13. BATTLE FOR NIBELIA (Water) 14. NIBELIA (not a mission) 15. CASTLE IN THE SEA (Normal) 16. FLASH OF EXPLOSION (GLOONSTAT) (Nighttime) 17. DESTROY THE IRON FLAG (Forrest) 18. DEVILS IN THE SAND (Desert) 19. VOLZOL'S AP UNIT (MAGSCOPIC) (Urban) 20. AFTER THE DUST CLEARS (Desert) 21. BEHIND ENEMY LINES (Plains) 22. THE Q-STEIN EMPIRE (Urban) fun stuff _______________________________________________________________________ 1. PROTECT THE ALLIES! (RIVAGEDERS) (Urban) This is the mission you’ll start the game in, and also the mission you’ll redo immediately after beating the final boss. It’s easy, even without a single powerup; just destroy around 8 tanks with the aid of 6 allied tanks. Test out destroying buildings, trees, and other objects. Of course, you won't get a chance to customize your tank before the mission. If you beat the game previously, you'll automatically start in the tank you played the final mission with. Otherwise, you'll have the choice of 15 starter tanks with no upgrades attached. Within Rivageders the town is the pink tank you can get stuff from. One code is found by driving into the volcano in the first continent of the overworld. Others are found by doing well in the non-campaign battlemode. See the codes page on Gamefaqs.com. _______________________________________________________________________ Are there people in the tanks, or is Seek and Destroy a game featuring tank-based lifeforms? _______________________________________________________________________ 2. TUGHL (not a mission) At this point in the game (that’s right, after the first mission) you should visit Tughl, the city (look for the blue flag) on the far southeast of the first continent. The city of Tughl will be available for visiting after the first and second missions, but not after unless you've visited it already. Tughl is the only place you can get the Hover special part (almost necessary to win the Parachute Drop minigame later on) and other stuff. Also within this town is the pink craftsman tank that only answered "..." otherwise. If you bring him the secret part from the Inside the Hideout mission, he'll make you the QPU computer part. Of course, it's weaker than the Ultra CPU, but hey. _______________________________________________________________________ My tank is better than your tank! _______________________________________________________________________ Now you have a choice of two missions, both of which are to rescue Gen. Ahmadi. 3. RESCUE THE MAJOR! (Plains) The easiest is the one just North of Rivageders. A transport carrying Ahmadi must be stopped. Fight off 6 enemy tanks (3 allies) while trying to destroy the transport. You must prevent the transport from escaping either by destroying it quickly enough, or by driving ahead and destroying the bridge. If you destroy the bridge when the Transport is on it, it’ll fall into the water, trapped. Shoot it like you would ducks in a barrel. OR... 4. DARING RESCUE! (Urban) Just southeast of Tughl is a second mission you can access after doing the very first mission. This one is a cool, albeit harder indoor rescue of Ahmadi with tons of destructible buildings (causing me to bounce about after they were rubble) and tanks that shoot powerful, slow pink points. This mission substitutes for the one where you have to stop the transport. You’re alone on this one, and it’s rather challenging unless your tank is decked out with enough weapons to make the level cheap. _______________________________________________________________________ I love all the smoke everywhere. It almost compensates for the N64-styled graphics. _______________________________________________________________________ 5. SNIPERS IN THE SAND (Desert) If you do the second mission listed above, a desert mission will become available. It's rather tough compared to starting missions; enemies have longshot, missiles, and lay bombs. Regular bad guys will try and freeze you with drums while the boss hits you with the longshot. There are also pre-laid bombs waiting to destroy you. There’s a small oasis at the center of this level, but don’t bother with a water special part; it's too small to matter. Note: this mission is VERY skip-able, so check the map. _______________________________________________________________________ Do the Smoke and Chaff subweapons do ANYTHING? _______________________________________________________________________ Now you have a choice of two missions located above Rivadegers. Which one you do first affects what they will be like. 6. DESTROY THE TOWERS (NALDNICK) (Urban, Plains for the boss) Do Naldnick first and the level will be a 3 minute-timed mission where you have to destroy four towers. You’ll be alone, and enemy tanks will fire pink dots at you, but this isn’t a hard mission by any means; the tanks, with those slow pink dots, are quite good at killing you if you aren't strafing. Then, you’ll face a helicopter boss, Sgt. Matthews. He'll alludes to the spider walker boss you could have faced, saying that was just a lure. He isn’t that hard unless you have a weak main weapon and no subweapons that are good at airborne enemies, in which case it just takes awhile. The Supershot shell and single missile work just fine. 7. STEALTHY ENTRANCE (BACHERIT) (Urban) Do Bacherit second, then, and you get one of the most fun city battles. The goal is to destroy everything with a red flag on top of the main bunker in the center of town, but don’t let that be your only thing! No, kill all the other enemy tanks, back up your allies, destroy all the tons of different citizen buildings, and generally have fun! OR... INTO BACHERIT (BACHERIT) (Urban) Do Bacherit first and the mission will be a the game’s only stealth mission, during the night. Enemies will spot you if you fire weapons, run into their small purple dot fire, or if you get too close to one. The goal is to make it inside the compound. Honestly, I can’t say that the anti-noise cat treads affect anything. You could do this cheap-o using the NVC night vision internal part, a flying special part, and just fly over everyone, but for fun use the flare gun Subweapon B to see and try and drive it through. You’re alone on this one, obviously. NALDNICK (Urban, Plains for the boss) If you do Bacherit first, then doing Naldnick will be different as well. This time, your goal is to wipe out 6 Stationary Gun Barracks scattered around town while fending off 6 enemy tanks. The caveat, however, is that you’ll fail the mission if any of your weapons accidentally hit a building or even a tree, so be careful when aiming for one of those tanks. This level is actually quite challenging, because it’s hard to fire sparingly and still survive. Succeed in this, and you’ll face the boss. This time, it’ll be the spider-like walker amalgam of all those parts the helicopter boss was carrying the other way you tried this mission. He’s not so hard, just drive around firing, try not to get close. _______________________________________________________________________ I love the second after a burst shell connects, and the poor Q-stein knows he's going to die and there's nothing he can do about it. _______________________________________________________________________ 8. DEFEND! (Forrest) Protect the King! This is located in between Bacherit and Naldnick. A tree-infested stage where you, Jevons, and two other tanks must stop slews of enemy tanks arriving by the fours from destroying the two tents behind you. Not very difficult mission, as long as you're fast. Jevons and friends do an admirable job of slowing down the Q-steins long enough for you to finish them off. After 3 minutes, Ahmadi and Rodeschild arrive and the mission is over. Then, you'll get special praise from the king himself, who is in a white tank. Note: Mid-mission, when the game says "Enemy Reinforcements!" and moves the camera away from you for a split second to show the reinforcements arriving, you still have control of the tank during that half-second. Feel free to keep blasting until the camera comes back to you. _______________________________________________________________________ In every urban mission, I probably kill more innocents inside those buildings than I save. _______________________________________________________________________ 9. THE BATTLE OF ZAMBNEAL (Plains) This is located in the Northeast of the first continent. This is a simple plains stage where you just follow Rodeschild and 6 allies, carving your way through 2 groups of 8 enemies, then the boss, Germinario protected by 2 more tanks. Germinario is a black Sturmtiger tank with the launcher subweapon. Easy. You won't have problems here. _______________________________________________________________________ If this game has taught me anything, it's that war is fun and easy! _______________________________________________________________________ At this point, 2 mission choices appear to the North. Which one you select does not affect anything, so I'll assume you go for the southernmost flag first. The missions are identical until you do them both. 10. THE INVADERS (Snow) With the aid (not that they help much) of 3 allies, engage a group of 6 tanks and the sub boss. The thing is, though, as soon as you attack, they will generally make a break for it. If any of them escape, you lose the mission. Still, engage them well enough, and they will all turn and fire at you. This mission isn't too hard if you have a good engine and relatively good weapons. The sub boss, Cmdr. Yugo, is a black tank armed with the Drill shot, but not much of a threat. _______________________________________________________________________ 11. INSIDE THE HIDEOUT (Nighttime) The famous nighttime mission. I recommend using the Flare Bomb subweapon over the NVC internal part, for fun. If you find that annoying, and don't want to use the Searchlight, then use the NVC. Anyway, take out 6 tanks in the first room, drive through the second room into the small room, then you'll trigger the sub boss fight in the second room. This black tank is kinda fast, but otherwise not that hard. The pillars and stalagmites are all destructible, but the big boulder that the black tank often uses for cover is not. Note: YOU MUST EQUIP A NIGHTIME PART TO DO THIS MISSION. Otherwise, you will see a short cutscene, then get kicked back out into the overworld. _______________________________________________________________________ Searchlights are for Resident Evil/Silent Hill enthusiasts. NVCs are for the Splinter Cell crowd. The Flare Burst is for ...well, I dunno. _______________________________________________________________________ Next are 2 more red flags. I'll assume you do the one just under the last two you did. 12. FEAR OF FLAILS (Snow) This is a boss battle against a giant tractor-type bad guy. He'll charge you with his rolling flail-like tractor front, then lift the flails up while releasing tornados. Getting hit by either will send you flying. Luckily, with a good engine, you're in no real danger. Run around, taking potshots. _______________________________________________________________________ I say, let Nibelia sink! They'll just complain later about our military tactics when we need to attack Iraq. _______________________________________________________________________ 13. BATTLE FOR NIBELIA (Water) This is a confusing mission to trigger, since the red flag appears in Zambneal's location, yet driving over it takes you to Zambneal as the city that hosts the Shop, Garage, and Arenas. What you have to do is drive within Zambneal past the striped trafic divider into the harbor, then press circle when near Rodeschild (the blue tank with the white stripe). Talk to him, and if you're equiped with a water special part, you'll access the mission. This is Seek and Destroy's only water mission. It's an escort mission, so you lose if you let all 3 Proton battleships get sunk. You're underseige from helicopters, which shoot missiles down at the allied boats, and jets, which drop the more deadly homing torpedos into the water. The air gattling gun can work, but the missiles (even the single) turret attachments do just fine against airborne baddies. The real threat, however, is the 6 enemy battleships, which are far more manueverable than your allies, and have 2 turret guns each. They're not too hard to sink, but using a slower water part may adversely affect your chances for success. This isn't that hard of a mission; it ends when one of the Proton ships makes it accross the ocean. After completing this mission, Nibelia, the only city on the middle continent, will be accessible. Note: YOU MUST EQUIP A WATER PART TO DO THIS MISSION. Otherwise, Rodeschild will not start the mission no matter how many times you talk to him. _______________________________________________________________________ 14. NIBELIA (Not a Mission) I should mention that the city Nibelia is now accessible on the middle island. _______________________________________________________________________ 15. CASTLE IN THE SEA (Normal) This is one of my favorite missions. You start it whenever you drive/fly west of Nibelia. You're put on the deck of a large battleship bristling with various defenses. The goal is to destroy that big black tower in the center. First, you've got to get past 3 giant triple-cannonball launching turrets. Destroy those and the battleship will spawn 4 small vacuum generators that create a black hole in the center of the deck that'll trap you while other weapons cut you to pieces. You have to destroy all 4 generators to stop it, if the black hole bothers you that much. On the right are turrets pointed away from the ship that you can destroy, but don't have to. On the left are rows and rows of smaller turrets that shoot missiles, which are dangerous in their large numbers. Behind the tower are three scud launchers that you may have noticed landing around you this entire time. You could, of course, skip destroying all this and move on to the target, but that's no fun. I should note that trying to fly in this level before the majority of these guns are destroyed is SUICIDE. This is NOT a workable bombing mission. In front and back of the black tower are two smaller ledges. Destroy one, and out pops a giant, dangerous gattling gun turret with good auto-tracking. Destroy that, and the boss (the black tower) is wide open. When he falls, every remaining weapon on the deck blows up. _______________________________________________________________________ Enemy territory! Time to destroy all those city buildings ON PURPOSE! _______________________________________________________________________ After finishing Castle in the Sea, three mission triggers will appear on the final continent. If you want to do the game's only aerial mission, don't do the one on the far right/east until you've finished the other two plus a fourth that appears after you defeat those. To do the other variation for that mission, just trigger Magiscopic before you do the other two missions. Just follow the order I've listed below if you wanna fight the aerial boss. 16. FLASH OF EXPLOSION (GLOONSTAT) (Nighttime) A nighttime urban battle, so equip the flare bomb, searchlight, or NVC. The goal is to take out 4 groups of 4 tanks with the aid of 5 allies plus Rodeschild. This level is so big, however, that you'll rarely see more than one ally onscreen. Flight parts can alleviate the problem of driving around. The tanks are better than on the previous two islands, but not dangerously so. Interestingly enough, this is almost the only level where the enemy tanks aren't all the same. Allied bombers will rain down fire occasionally and anti-aircraft guns near those searchlights return fire, but neither of these events seem to affect your mission. Radar is VERY helpful. Some tanks might take cover behind debris, so look for that. Occasionally, I found a group of tanks in the small water areas of the level (don't bother with a water part), but I think my allies took care of those most of the time. Note: YOU MUST EQUIP A NIGHTIME PART TO DO THIS MISSION. Otherwise, you will see a short cutscene, then get kicked back out into the overworld. _______________________________________________________________________ Let your cannons do the talking. _______________________________________________________________________ 17. DESTROY THE IRON FLAG (Forrest) A cool stage where the goal is to destroy three weak buildings inside a four-walled fortress within 3 minutes, alone. The fortress itself is protected by 12 tanks armed with the Crump Shell plus a big turret at each corner of the fortress. You could fly over it all inside the center, but you better take out the turret at the corner where you intend on entering this way; otherwise, the turret will blast you out of midair. If you want, have fun destroying all the tanks, then the turrets before entering to get the defenseless target buildings. You don't need a flying part; just drive up hill near one of the edges and fall in. _______________________________________________________________________ My cannons say, "Boom!" _______________________________________________________________________ 18. DEVILS IN THE SAND (Desert) You must protect Capt. Boane and Rodeschild as all of you are assaulted by about 4 waves of 5 tanks. Each wave has a different type of tank. Each tank isn't quite so strong, but you must be fast. This is an escort mission, remember. Keep in mind that, as in the DEFEND! mission, you can keep firing during the instant cutscenes where more tanks pop out of the sand. Not so hard, but be warned that your 2 allies behave like retards for this mission; they just stand there, firing occasionally. _______________________________________________________________________ The cannons actually have Phds, but they like to call out the onomatopoeia sound of their attacks, anime-style. _______________________________________________________________________ 19. VOLZOL'S AP UNIT (MAGSCOPIC) (Urban) If you do the mission out of the order mentioned, don't worry; it's still fun. Volzol will mention that he's waiting for a bomber when you show up, alone. The goal is to destroy 8 tanks and the black tank sub boss, Volzol. Volzol has the scatter shot, and the tanks are tougher than the average Q-stein, so keep moving. Other than that, this level still isn't that hard, but it's more enjoyable than the too-easy levels. The battle takes place in the airfield that's visible later on when you enter the city of Magiscopic. OR STOP THE BOMOBER (Flying) If you do this mission in the order I've mentioned, your tank will automatically be equipped with an experimental flying special part (so don't bother using your favorite one). You'll be in a flying battle against the bomber mentioned in VOLZOL'S AP UNIT mission. "Flying" basically involves a Star-Fox-style corridor minigame where you move in 2 dimensions (above/below, left/right) to avoid aerial mines released by the bomber. This is a challenging mission, because all of your weapons' ranges are calculated as being MINUS the supposed speed of the bomber and you. Thus, only long-range weapons stand a realistic chance of hitting. Also, aiming with your turret, or at an angle, becomes insanely difficult. My advice is to line up the shot, keep the turret centered, and aim the tank forward, perpendicular to the plane you're moving in. The targets are the bomber's four engine/turrets. The 16-Missile Rack works wonders here, auto-targeting just fine. Frankly, I was dissapointed as this is the game's only aerial mission. I much would have prefferred something, say, a volcano level with very few safe landing spots (to refill the fuel gauge), where all the combat would take place midair, against other similarly equipped tanks or even the helicopters and planes from the Castle in the Sea mission. Whatever. Magiscopic, by the way, is home to the hardest Battle and Expert Arenas. _______________________________________________________________________ One time, I dreamed I was lying in bed with a hot girl on top of me--except we were both tanks, rather than people! I DID NOT MAKE THIS UP! I think I've been playing this game for too long. _______________________________________________________________________ 20. AFTER THE DUST CLEARS (Desert) Be warned that this mission is very skip-able. You will not be able to do it if you trigger the other one, first. Ahmadi has been killed (NOOOOOOOOO!!!) and you must now take revenge by destroying the boss that finished him. This boss is essentially a backwards tricycle, a turret mounted between two giant wheels with a rotating wheel sticking out the back. Its attacks are double-supershots from the turrets, vertically launched ice spreaders that can freeze your tank, and vertically launched crumps with a greater spread than any of your crump shells. He's fast enough that you'll need a good engine to avoid getting run over, but hardly hard. The less powerful your weapons are, the longer it'll take, that's all. If you decide to go airborne, he can't hit you at all, so don't be cheap. _______________________________________________________________________ Ahmadi! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! _______________________________________________________________________ 21. BEHIND ENEMY LINES (Plains) The mother of all missions. The goal here is to get at least one of a team of 12 allies (including Rodeschild and Boane) through the battlefield. You'll be be attacked along the way by helicopters, 8 blockhouses with cannons, and strategically positioned tanks. You might be inclined to drive ahead and clear the way, but this can turn out to be suicide (unless, of course, you have powerful weapons, in which case everything is cheap and easy). Instead, stick with the main group. The 12 of them provide some great cover fire. Take out the blockhouses, though, since the allies tend to focus only on enemy tanks. When the enemy tanks are all destroyed, the allies will be able to drive on through. This is a long, involved mission, but it's not that hard if you keep on your toes. _______________________________________________________________________ That's it, man! There's no way! Game over, man, game over! _______________________________________________________________________ 22. THE Q-STEIN EMPIRE (Urban) Prepare to die, Q! This is the final mission of the game. You'll assault their hometown (no, you can't explore this city later, it doesn't have an arena or shop) along with 6 allies. There are around 12 tanks scattered throughout the city, ready to take you out. These are the strongest normal tanks in the game, which means they're not that tough (sigh). Drive around, using your radar to find the targets. If you still have trouble by now, then a Playstation 2 just isn't your thing. Be sure to destroy all the town's buildings, as they're all sympathizers with the enemy! Finish these tanks off, and you'll face the boss, the leader of the Q's. His first form is a giant, barely-moving tank. Hit him while moving, and he'll fall. His second form is a moving tank. Again, hit and move. The final form poses somewhat of a challenge. He's now a giant tentacle with an armored head. Ignore the head and avoid the protective wheels circling him (touch either and you'll be flattened for a bit). He'll send out small bee-like enemies that will latch on to you and slow you down. you can destroy those, but it doesn't hurt the enemy. You can only hit the boss in his third form when he bends his head down and puts it on the ground. Then, get at its back and hit the roots (the head is protecting the front) with all you've got. He's strong, and actually tough enough to kill you the first time, but that's ok; die, and you'll get to retry it from the third stage. Isn't war wonderful? Win, and you get a ticker-tape parade! Yay! Win the game and you’ll get an inordinate sum of money. You’ll also be awarded the Angel Wings, a flying Special Part with infinite fuel and good speed, but a bit on the heavy side. You’ll also get the BTE Special tank, the only tank in the game with the H, B, and T designations. Like the Maus, this tank can hold heavy weapons AND move its turret, but it can also hold Body and Turret heavy weapons. The catch is that its weight limit is 1800. _______________________________________________________________________ FUN STUFF OF NOTE 1) In the Zambneal Battle Arena (the Water Arena), if you don't have a water special part, you will sink to the sea floor when you drive into the ocean. Almost all of your weapons are then ineffective, but the Drum Bomb subweapon releases exploding drums that zip up to the surface, mining the water. You can get a cheap kill by staying underwater, driving under the swimming tank, and throwing Drum Bombs up at him. 2) In the Expert Arena where you have to destroy towers made of giant tires, you can antagonize the cpu opponent. Shoot at it, and it will turn its attention on you. Since you're both indistructible, this gives you ample opportunity to destroy the towers at your leisure. 3) The Air Gattling gun works at close range on ground enemies. 4) Chaff, Smoke, Speakers, Grand Blaster, and Air Burst are worthless as weapons. _______________________________________________________________________ A BRIEF NOTE ON MAKING THE GAME FUN, As you've noticed by now, Seek and Destroy is an easy game. The problem is, the enemies never really rise to the challenge posed by your increased upgrades. My solution is to handicap yourself. Using the 16 Missile Rack, especially when combined with fast reload, just destroys the play balance. Here is my personal favorite combination: Tank: BTE Special Main: Burst Shell (I love the delay, then orange smoke) Sub A: Blaze Cannon (Flame in the earlier levels) Sub B: Missile ( even the 4-Launcher is somewhat) Engine: QCharge Travel: Spiky Cat Special: Propeller (so fun) Internal: Fast Reload Turret: High Computer: Ultra CPU (although I try aiming manually in general) Radar: MultiHigh Armor: None (otherwise I'd be over the limit) Camo: Forrest Still too easy? ))Try equiping the Propeller flying part and the Drum Bomb and doing a mission strictly from the air. ))Try equiping the Angel/Devil wing, no Drum Bomb/Grand Bomb, and still doing the mission without ever returning to the ground. ))Try beating the game without upgrading AT ALL (except for the engine, turret, cpu, and travel parts) with a tank weighing less than 1000. ))Try doing a mission using the strictly close-range weapons (flame throwers, chainsaw, side saw, etc.). ))Try doing a mission with the Maus (H designation with a rotating turret), the Positron main gun, but no cpu at all. Most of all, HAVE FUN!