Author Topic: Lion's Den/Assassination  (Read 11553 times)

Offline TheVampire100

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Lion's Den/Assassination
« on: September 11, 2014, 05:21:42 pm »
I'm still a pretty Noob to Bionics Due (I always preferred AI War over BD) but lately I got a large hunger for rogue-like games and wanted to start the game again.

Because I'm still pretty unexperienced and still discovering tactics for myself I came to the question "How can I fulfill perfectly the LD and Assa-Missions?".
Of course it is possibly to win such a mission I have no doubt that people manage this but what tactics do you use?
Luckily there are no achievments that need to get a victory in this very difficult missions but I still want to manage to get one (mostly because of the easier final battle).

What tacticts should I use? How well prepared should my Exos be?
I use a team of Assault, Science, Brawler and Sniper.
Assault is my tanking Exo, taking all the damage in close combat, Science is mostly for scanning, hacking and placing turret traps. Also I sometimes virus enemy bots but this is very unfruitful here because enemy tanks are so close together (especially in the Lion's Den). Brawler is for multiple bot kills (splash damage). I've but a lot of damage and splash upgrades on it. Sniper is my long range damage dealer. mostly to take strong enemies out before they come near to hurt me. very uneffective however here because to many robots.
Oh, I own also the Epic Assault already, forgot to mention. I didn't had time however to upgrade the new weapons.

So, what tips dp you have.
Also, can you share some tips for the final battle? Because I guess it will be a mix from LD and Assassination but much much harder. Thanks in advance.

Offline Misery

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Re: Lion's Den/Assassination
« Reply #1 on: September 12, 2014, 12:20:35 am »
Well, you've got a well selected team there, to start with.  So that'll help.

With that team, your core weapons should be the Sniper's.... uh.... the big green beam, I always forget the name of it.... and the Brawler's Dissolver.  If you have the Epic version of the Science Exo, it's chain-gun is another weapon to rely on, one of the best in the game.

The Assault is sort of okay as an all-around sort, but simply doesnt have the damage output that all of the others can manage. It's better than it used to be, but still not all that great.  As tanking goes:  Try not to have to do it.  At all.  Your goal should be to defeat all approaching bots before they can get into a position to fire at you.  And yes, this includes things with very high range... use the terrain to your advantage to deal with them.  The Assault is a decent tank if it becomes absolutely necessary, but the main way to avoid damage is stealth.  Enemies cannot fire on you when you're stealthed, and this includes the turn that you activate it.  They also wont follow you, since they cant sense where you are.  An important fact to remember.  If you're playing on Normal, it's okay to tank some hits, but if you're on higher difficulties, or planning on playing higher ones later, do your best to learn to avoid getting hit whatsoever.  On higher difficulties, many enemies do extreme damage of the sort that even a buffed up Assault exo cannot withstand.

As equipment goes, with that group focus on increasing the damage and range of the Sniper's beam, the Brawler's dissolver, the Assault's grenade, and the chaingun for Science if you have it.  Alternate weapons gotten via the Epic versions can be helpful as well, but are not as important as those.  Range, and damage, you really need both of these.

Lion's Den missions really arent too much different than normal ones.  Just your typical set of bots, with the difference being that you can see what they are going into it, and that destroying them has an effect later in the game.

Assassinations however can be nasty.  Bosses are typically very powerful, particularly the Viper (I think that's what it's called), who has the ability to take 2, even 3 turns for every one of yours, as it takes more and more damage.  All of the bosses though have very high health and attack power, and of course unique abilities too.  And it wont just be one or two of them in a mission.  I've seen missions with 12 of them.  Though, I play on the high difficulties, so that may be a bit lower for lower difficulties, I'm not sure. 

When dealing with any truly dangerous bot, be it a boss or something like a DoomBot, you really want to use more than just weaponry to deal with them.  Viruses can help a ton, and are one of the most important things in the game.  Either the Science or Sniper are very good for using viruses.  But that's not all; you'll want turrets, definitely, as they can do heavy damage with many shots, so long as they arent exploded too fast (they do best in groups), and land mines, when placed right, can do tremendous damage if you lead a strong target over a long line of them.  I usually have the Sniper do these things because it often works well to have that one be the one with the highest Trap level, a stat which is really, really important for whichever exo is using it.  It's important for dealing with mines, electric floors, and most importantly, tripwires.  Of course, if you dont keep that trap level high enough as you go through the game, your mines and turrets will be weak, and you wont be able to pass over dangerous floor tiles of any sort without setting them off.   Viruses are my favorites though; even the strongest enemies cannot resist these.  This includes bosses.  A bot that is hit with viruses can be considered instantly defeated, and of course will then fight for you.  Gotta be careful though, some bots have a really high cost in terms of virus points, and you also have to consider that a virused bot can wake up other bots by firing at or near them, so consider the situation, as well as the bot you're virusing, before choosing to do so.  You also need stealth to use a virus.  An absolute necessity, because there's no other way to get into range without getting attacked a bazillion times.  Ideally, you want to lure bots to a point where you can move around a corner and then sit there, waiting for them to get just into their firing range when coming along the wall, and THEN hit stealth, walk to them (they should be about a tile or two away when you do this correctly), and THEN hit them with the virus.  Some bots are very high priority for virusing, such as the ShieldBot.  Do anything it takes to grab that guy.   The buffing type bots, Command and Leader (I think those are the right names), will buff YOU if you grab them.  They heavily buff health and shield power respectively (and can give you enough shields to make it actually matter), and more importantly, they wont buff enemies when virused.  Masterminds, however, will not buff your guys.  When grabbing them, use the virus, and then switch to each of your exos before the bot wanders out of range, so that all 4 of them recieve the buff.

Also, some enemies are VERY high priority targets that you should always try to destroy first.  All of the buff bots are truly nasty to deal with, ShieldBots make all nearby bots invincible until it's destroyed, and things like DoomBots are just absolute terrors.  Make sure you know what each different bot can do, and keep those traits in mind, doing your best to exploit them.

Finally, you really absolutely have to make sure you dont pull too many bots at once.  The whistle that you have, usable by all exos, is probably your most important tool.  You should never be catching bot attention by walking in their line of sight; the whistle should ALWAYS be the only way that you wake them and call them to you.  Them coming to you is advantageous;  whereas you coming to them can mean death.  Pulling only one or two or so is okay;  keep that number as small as it can be. Again, not always doable, but try your best to make it happen.  Holding the cursor over the whistle button shows it's range for the exo you're using, so check each exo and see who can get into the best position for safely pulling bots.  Often, the science exo is not the one to use.


And of course, if you have done all 4 of the Bahamut missions and thus have all four Epic versions, dealing with these missions, particularly the assassin ones, will be much less risky.  MUCH less risky.


As equipment goes, weapons come first;  attack power, then range, then ammo.  AoE for explosive weapons (including the dissolver) is also important.  Computer stats are top priority though for the Science exo, and trap skill, while not as important as weaponry, is needed for whichever Exo gets to do the trap placing. 

Beyond that, it's up to you.  Probably the thing that's needed the least is shields;  again, you should be doing your best to not get hit in the first place, and once you're doing high difficulties, shields will rarely be able to protect you whatsoever. 

It is best to not do either of these two mission types early in the game. 

And the final battle wont be too bad if you do a few of these over the course of the game.  It's actually split into multiple fights, not everything all at the same time.


That's about the best tips for you, hope that helps.
« Last Edit: September 12, 2014, 12:29:15 am by Misery »

Offline nas1m

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Re: Lion's Den/Assassination
« Reply #2 on: September 12, 2014, 01:33:03 am »
I was about to say something - but I was thoroughly ninja'd ;D.

A couple of notes anyway:

With that team, your core weapons should be the Sniper's.... uh.... the big green beam, I always forget the name of it.... and the Brawler's Dissolver.  If you have the Epic version of the Science Exo, it's chain-gun is another weapon to rely on, one of the best in the game.
It's the Gamma Ray Laser you are referring to. It has the additional upside of being able to perform a free shot (in terms of bots not getting a turn) every time you fire the first shot starting with an even ammo count. This is invaluable if you have buffed its range and especially attack power sufficiently since you can deal double damage at high range in this case.

The Assault is sort of okay as an all-around sort, but simply doesn't have the damage output that all of the others can manage. It's better than it used to be, but still not all that great.
I haven't yet tried it since it got buffed, but since shields are effectively rendered fairly useless on higher diffculties due to the high damage output of even lower tier bots I am currently preferring the Sniper over the Assault any day.

Assassinations however can be nasty.  Bosses are typically very powerful, particularly the Viper (I think that's what it's called), who has the ability to take 2, even 3 turns for every one of yours, as it takes more and more damage.  All of the bosses though have very high health and attack power, and of course unique abilities too.  And it wont just be one or two of them in a mission.  I've seen missions with 12 of them.  Though, I play on the high difficulties, so that may be a bit lower for lower difficulties, I'm not sure.
IIRC these are capped at a fixed boss bot count by difficulty by now, with a max of 8 on Misery, I think.

The rest.
All splendid advice. For me Whistle and Virus are two of the most important tools for handling Lion's Den and Assassination missions.

And the final battle wont be too bad if you do a few of these over the course of the game.  It's actually split into multiple fights, not everything all at the same time.
Exactly.
« Last Edit: September 12, 2014, 01:34:55 am by nas1m »
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Offline Misery

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Re: Lion's Den/Assassination
« Reply #3 on: September 12, 2014, 03:29:56 am »
Ahhh yes, that's right, there was a limit on boss numbers put in.  I'd totally forgotten this fact.

Not that it really lowers the threat level too much.... even just one boss can be big trouble if you're not careful.

Sure does mean less time spent, and also more interesting tactical stuff, less of the worrying about ammo count.


Offline ScrObot

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Re: Lion's Den/Assassination
« Reply #4 on: September 12, 2014, 03:32:29 am »
Absorb the above information as they are the pros, but my 2 cents (some of which are repeats):

Seriously, take the whistle suggestion and run with it. You can easily wake up single bots at a time then back off so your shots don't wake up more, and/or set up situations to shoot them around corners or from a superior range.

The Epic Science exo's chaingun weapon is great and has a ton of ammo -- I find myself using this a lot. The Brawler is fantastic for either softening up or killing enemies around corners or behind other objects or walls. (Same goes for the Ninja's laser.) Never underestimate the pistol's special EMP ability, or the Sniper Gamma Ray Laser's (and Epic Science chaingun's) ability to get a free turn every other shot.

When you're unsure, err on the side of caution; losing an exo, especially early in a mission, can be brutal. Stealthing and backing up a space or three will save your bacon time and time again.

If I'm down to one or two exos, my priorities change and I'll happily make a beeline towards the exit while stealthed, if possible. It's better to skip locked doors and loot containers and still win the mission rather than lose all your exos and get nothing.

And the ever-present bane of roguelikes -- don't be afraid of "wasting" the ammo on your powerful but very limited use weapons. It's better to make it out of a situation alive but with less/no ammo than to lose the exo altogether (along with all that ammo you were "saving" for just the right moment). You might still have stealth, virus, hacking, mines and/or sentry turrets left, and you may find an ammo chest through the next locked door.

Offline TheVampire100

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Re: Lion's Den/Assassination
« Reply #5 on: September 12, 2014, 06:54:22 am »
Wow, this was really helpful, many thanks!

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=312933578

With your tips I managed to beat the Lion's Den. It took me alot of saves and reloads but thas was only because I had a pait of Doombots with a LeaderBot at the end and no Science Exo anymore, but besides that your tips helped me to defeat the major part of the bots in no time.
Too bad that I lost my science exo but I still managed to defeat the Doombots with Stealth and grenadelauncher Combo.  Was a little annoying but at least I don't have to worry about them int he final mission anymore.

Thank you very very much for your help wihth your tips I can also improve my overall gameplay.


Edit: And the Assassination. Was actually easier than the Lion's Den, no reload necessary.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=312936548

Thanks again.
« Last Edit: September 12, 2014, 07:05:03 am by TheVampire100 »

Offline TheVampire100

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Re: Lion's Den/Assassination
« Reply #6 on: September 14, 2014, 06:46:53 pm »
Hey, I just wanted to say thanks again. With your tips I finished the game (on normal though) with ease.
I have to say that the information helped me to get better in the entire game. I'm now trying Hard with a slightly different setup (switched Assault with Siege, Brawler with Ninja, Tuck with Axis).
I'm definitely more confident. After hard I will try out Expert and after that I will look forward to Ironman.

Thank you guys.

Offline Misery

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Re: Lion's Den/Assassination
« Reply #7 on: September 14, 2014, 08:28:02 pm »
Glad to help :D

Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

Offline TheVampire100

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Re: Lion's Den/Assassination
« Reply #8 on: September 16, 2014, 05:06:20 pm »
So far so good. I got the Epic Ninja Exo and still have 46 days left.
But I had to laugh at the layout of the mission. That's right after I jumped into the mission:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=314974152
At least I got my "Headshot (Hard)" Achievment this way XD

Offline Misery

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Re: Lion's Den/Assassination
« Reply #9 on: September 16, 2014, 09:38:36 pm »
....what?  It STARTED that way?

That's got to be a glitch.... never seen it do that one before.