Cadet II/Miner escort

Advanced miner defence

Refresher Cadet I lesson on miner defence

In the Cadet I lesson we focused on how to defend a miner that is under attack. In Cadet II we focus on how to prevent a miner from coming under attack. It goes without saying that you should be out with the miners to defend them, not sitting in base coordinating.

Check the situation

Even if you're not on miner defence it is a good idea to check on your team's miners whenever you have a spare moment in base. It will allow you to keep tabs on where they are, where they're going, and who is doing anything about it (friend or foe). That said, this section assumes you're about to head out on miner d yourself:

Situation 1: No other miner D

This is the penultimate worst situation (the worst being no miner D whatsoever). At this point feel free to "motivate" your team to get some more miner D, particularly if the enemy have been hitting your miners hard.

Sometimes having no miner d is acceptable, for instance it is very early game and they're in a "safe" sector, or if there is a teleport and/or base in the sector, or if the enemy team is being forcibly locked down to one sector on the opposite side of the map. But there are always exceptions to the rule. During early game even a single scout can kill a miner, if it's committed enough (see the Cadet II lesson on "Scout as a combat craft"). If the helium rock the miners are at are a long way from the teleport and/or base then defence will not be able to reach them in time. If the enemy is Tac. If the enemy has a small group of squadded players or well-known "miner whores" that are likely to work together, ignore their commander, and kill your miners.

Being the only one on miner d can be quite stressful or incredibly boring. By yourself you can not expect to stop the enemy, your main task is to start the miners retreating the instant they're threatened, and perhaps try to survive long enough to nan one of them. Top tips:

• Figure out where the nearest point of reinforcement is. If you're sup or tac this will be a teleport, if exp then an outpost.
  • During an attack send the miner there immediately.
  • If you can, send the miner to the refinery first so it will unload its current load. Especially important if it is unlikely to survive the attack.
• Don't let miners spread out if the enemy are nearby (or tac).
  • This is especially important if you're mining a sector where you don't have a ref or outpost because the miner will try and leave your sector entirely.
  • If a miner has finished order it to yourself and wait until you've collected them all, then escort them back to base in a group.
• Pay attention to background noises.
  • Your HUD will bleep whenever a new enemy enters the sector, even if they avoided eye.
  • It is a good idea to panic and send the miner immediately back to base.
  • Review the HUD lesson.

Situation 2: Acceptable miner D

For the purposes of this article, acceptable miner D is a nan for each miner, and roughly the same number of interceptors/fighters as there are miners. So, in this situation we are assuming you have one miner to protect (for now).

If your miners are not immediately under attack you can spend a little time ensuring their safety. Look for probes around the He rock, between the He rock and the refinery, between the miner's entry aleph and the He rock, between the He rock and the exit aleph, between the you get the idea. Everywhere your miner is going to be flying, attempt to deprobe it.

If one (or more) aleph leads directly to an enemy sector KEEP THAT ALEPH PROXED. Nothing slows down an enemy raid quite like a wall of prox. Work in shifts with another scout so one of you can return to base for a reload.

Before your miners finish harvesting the sector peek through into the next sector and see if it's clear, of camps and probes.

If your miners come under attack it's all hands on deck to keep them alive long enough for your escorting fighters to boost over to the threatened miner to defend it. Be prepared to abandon your miner if the enemy are focusing on a different one, and kill that miner's nan. Of course, you run the risk of the one you left dying while you're away.

Situation 3: The final miner

You're down to your last miner and most if not all of your team is crowded around to defend it. Don't think you have safety in numbers, if anything your job just got harder. Now the enemy will know they can't ignore the nans and will come gunning for you. You need to keep an eye on your fellow nans to try and keep them alive, and keep dodging about so the enemy can't hit you (but your fellow nans can - a bit of a conundrum).

Also of importance is pod pickups, if you're in position to grab pods without letting the miner die, do so.

Defending vs. Tac

For starters toggle your radar to All so you can immediately see any missiles that are launched by the enemy. It can give you a couple of seconds warning to start retreating that miner. Secondly, take extra countermeasures. Thirdly, pester your comm into getting you CM2 or 3.

Stealth fighters will attack in one of three ways:

1. Wait until a miner strays from the group and then pounce.
2. Ignore the nans and hope their utility cannons can outdamage them.
3. Start picking off the nans before moving in on the miner.

Your best defence is:

1. Don't let the miner stray beyond your capabilities to defend it. If you do, blame yourself for its death.
2. Focus your nans on the miner and hope they can't outdamage you. Bump the miner (or them) to throw off their aim.
3. Don't remain a stationary target. Change which directions you're heading so hunters can't predict where to fly. Focus on cross nanning.

Of course their is a good chance that some stealth fighters will pick off the nans and others concentrate on the miner. Especially in a pick-up-game where the attacking pilots don't talk to each other. Heck, I've even been in the scenario where a light int has popped the nans, then boosted away (with the fighter escorts running after him), just to leave it open for the stealth fighter.

The best you can do is react to what is happening. As a priority keep you nan tracked on the miner. If you get a missile lock call out ~-nx (Need repairs!); if you hear a fellow say that then try and cross-nan them.

Controlling the AI

The best miner defenders don't just sit and watch the miners, they take an active role in controlling the miner to maximise the amount of money coming in while minimising the opportunities the enemy team have to destroy it. They will anaylse the map layout to decide which sector to mine next, they will choose which rocks to mine and in which order, so the miner ends the sector nearest to where it is heading next. They will relentlessly study the minimap surrounding their sector to glean any hints of an enemy attack before it has begun. Hell, they'll even tell the team where to bomb next so that they can mine safely!

Of course, as a newbie, you're just as likely to make a mistake and waste the miners' time as you are to save them from doom. But here are 4 tips that should be within your grasp:

1. After a miner has unloaded itself make sure it heads to a fresh, full rock if possible. 9 times out of 10 it is better to start a new rock than to travel all the way back to the old rock for the dregs.
2. Once a miner has been damaged by the enemy it will want to retreat and repair, regardless of whether all the enemy have been destroyed and it has been nanned all the way back up. Every time you hear the sound effect "I don't get paid enough for this" grab the miner and order it back to the rock to finish. Crack that whip!
3. When a large enemy attack approaches don't wait for the comm to react, get that miner out of there! If possible order it to the closest refinery first so that even if it dies you get the money for its current cargo.
4. If a miner is coming under attack a fair distance from you (3 or 4k) order it to head towards you. This will help prevent you shooting past it in the opposite direction. On the other hand, once you've met up you will both become sitting ducks.

Tip: Left-click the miner to select it, press Enter to open the chatbox, and type ctrl-g me to give it an order to Go-To you, then press Enter to send the order. "Me" always refer to you, no matter what call sign you log in as. You can use autohotkey to bind all this to a single key.

Advanced Con d

Refresher Cadet I lesson on con d.

As with the lesson on miner d, Cadet I focused on the mechanics of con d and Cadet II will focus on avoiding having your con come under attack at all.

Think ahead

Obviously you want to deprobe the route that the con will take. But cons move along at a fairly slow pace and don't stop to strip mine helium rocks, so if you wait until they launch and the comm orders them ahead before you move out, chances are you won't have enough time to deprobe. Thus you need to think of game strategy.

Where are the enemy mining? Where will they be mining next? Do you have a base near those sectors? If not, could your team push a con next to their sector easily? If yes, then that is probably what your comm will do. Scout out the route between your garrison and that sector.

Where are you mining? Once that sector is stripped, will your comm mine an adjacent sector? Will he push a ref or outpost there for the miners to unload at? If yes, as above.

Where is the enemy's techbase? Which aleph would it be easy to bomb from? Can you push a base to the sector that aleph leads to? If yes, same as above.

What tech path does your comm want to go? Where are those tech rocks? Do you have a teleport near those rocks? If no, chances are your comm will build a tele before building the tech con. So scout the route.

And so on and so on. The point is, you need to think of where you want a base so that you can do what you need to do to win the game - and then make as easy as possible for the comm to put a base there.

Enemy contact

So you're scouting well ahead of the con by your lonesome ownsome and you come across some enemy. What do you do? Depends on what ship they're. Here are some rough suggestions:

• Enemy scout heading to the sector your con will come from.
  • Do your best to stop it.
  • As you're both scouts with similar speeds this can be quite difficult. Try, anyway. Warn your team if you don't have a chance of stopping him and he's sure to eye the con.
• Random enemy fighters looking to whore.
  • Lead them away from the aleph.
  • Try and lose eye if you can, then fire guns to attract them away from the aleph.
• Large enemy group pushing their own con.
  • Warn on team chat that they're pushing too.
  • Try and head back through the aleph to start proxing it.
• An unescorted con.
  • Depends how far ahead of the rest of the con d you are, and if the enemy con is heading directly towards your con.
  • Because as soon as you attack it enemy defence will start heading in.
  • If it's heading to your fellow con escort, warn them to prepare a welcoming party at the aleph.
  • If it's building in the sector then try and delay it (unless it's a ref con, in that case let it build so it'll attract miners).
• An enemy base
  • Depends on a lot of things, such as what type of base it is, what techpath the enemy is, whether the enemy are busy, how far it is from the aleph, how much escort you have with your con.
  • Considering that a minor station has a scan range of only 2400m, and a standard con has a signature of about 150%, then if it's 4k or more from the aleph chances are your con can enter uneyed.
  • If the enemy can reinforce the sector quickly then you're probably better off building your con short.
  • Anyway, that decision is up to the comm (assuming he isn't busy). Your job is to keep the base eyed to see if any enemy launch to attack your con.
• Enemy miners mining.
  • DO NOT DISTURB.
  • Leave them to mine with no idea you're there.
  • Once the con is in and builds then all your team mates can launch an attack.
  • Attacking them early will just attract enemy defence lowering your con's chances of planting; and make them retreat before your teammates can help, lowering your chances of killing them.

Aleph camping

In certain circumstances you know there will be hostiles in the forward sector. Perhaps they're even camping the aleph to stop you coming through. In this case using your prox to prevent them from rushing through the aleph and killing your con is a good idea.

Planting Sector

As soon as you enter the forward sector that your constructor is going to plant in, take a quick look around to gain a good insight into the situation you and your constructor is in. This can be done by using your HUD or can be done using the F3 sector map, either one will give you a quick overview of your current surroundings.

Take notice of your surroundings: are the numbers in your favor? Does the enemy squad see the constructor (yes, sometimes the enemy might forget to bring a scout along with a bunch of interceptors)? From which direction will the assault come? Try to note those things, especially the direction part. This is a good moment to drop your rescue probe, if you have one.

Tip: Cross-nanning, as always, will improve your team's chances of success.