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Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday Walkthrough Version 1.1
By Dancin' Homer at dancinhomer@rpgfan.com
05/27/01
Table o' Contents
Part zero: Walkthrough History
Part one: How To Set Up Your Team And Cheat At It Too
Part two: The Story So Far…
Part three: The Trouble With Terrines
Part four: Albino Brain Chiggers!
Part five: Floor it, Grannie
Part six: Save the Wee Space Bunnies
Part seven: Intergalactic Space Goons Shouldn't Breed
Part eight: Albino Brain Chiggers! Part two (Optional Mission)
Intermission: Let's All Go to the Lobby...
Part nine: Jail Break (Optional Mission)
Part ten: Death to MCI! (Optional Mission)
Part eleven: Crossbows Just Won't Cut It
Part twelve: The Great Justin Robeno (Optional Mission)
Part thirteen: The Unlucky Mission (Optional Mission)
Part fourteen: Party at Talon's Place (Optional Mission)
Part fifteen: Welcome to the Jungle
Part sixteen: Dinner And Dancing (Optional Mission)
Part seventeen: Rainbow 6 in the 25th Century! (Optional Mission)
Part eighteen: Cruisin' With the Big Boys (Very Optional Mission)
Part nineteen: Je M'apelle Bite Me
Part twenty: The Armory
Part twenty-one: The Shmooze List
Part twenty-two: Legal Stuff
Part twenty-three: Special Thanks Spot
Part zero: FAQ history
0.1 – The FAQ is born! FAQ stops at Part 7
0.2 – Fixed some organizational errors. Added Parts 0, 8-13.
0.3 – Fixed some organizational errors. Added Note to the Readers.
Added Parts 14-17. Found the Plasma Thrower.
0.4 – Fixed some organizational errors. Added Parts 18-20.
0.5 – Finally remembered to add Shop Lists.
1.0 – Turned Part 3.2 into Part 20. Added information to Part 20. Added
parts 21 and 22. Updated Part 19.
1.1 – Edited Bucky's Tip #1. Started adding maps up to Part 5. Added
Part 23.
Note to the Readers – This FAQ is written for the Sega Genesis version
of the game. If you are not playing the Genesis version, you might
notice a few things wrong here or there. However, the bulk of this
should be consistent no matter what version you are playing. Also, the
numbers of enemies faced in most set battles are random. The ones I
found were merely the ones I found, and your gameplay may vary from my
own slightly. Experience points also change depending on how many
allies you have. Finally, remember that my maps are not EXACTLY
correct. This is my first shot at making them in a walkthrough, so if
you have problems with them, live with it :P
Part one: How To Set Up Your Team And Cheat At It Too
Welcome to the exciting world of Bucky O'Hare and his galactic super
animal pals! What? This is a different cheesy space thing? Oh, sorry.
Welcome to Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday! Anyway, before you can
start playing, you must first create your team of super heroes. This
section is pretty easy to understand, but just so my FAQ will be more
comprehensive, I'll cover the most important parts.
Race – This is the species of your character. The three options are
Humans (Well rounded and capable of any career), Desert Runners
(Strong, yet slightly idiotic. Incapable of being a rogue or a medic),
and Tinkers (Small, fast, and intelligent, yet weak beyond compare. Can
only be medics).
Career – This is the character's primary skill. The four options are
Warrior (Strongest type and capable of learning Leadership skills),
Rocket Jock (Second strongest type and capable of using Jury Rig skill
to fix a damaged rocket in the midst of battle), Rogue (Third strongest
type and capable of using Bypass Security skill to, well, bypass
security), and Medic (The puniest of them all and capable of bringing a
fallen character to his feet with the Treat Wounds skill). You should
try to have every type in your group. Make sure to realize that
Warriors are the slowest to level up.
Other – This menu lets you decide if your hero will be male or female
(This has no effect on your character) and also lets you roll your
attributes again.
HP – This is how much life you have. Getting hurt reduces it. Once it's
gone, you fall down go boom. A fallen hero is unconscious until the end
of battle, comatose until healed, dying, or dead. Once a guy is dead,
that's it for him. I suggest loading if and when this happens.
AC – This is your Armor Class. The lower the number is, the less chance
you have of getting hit. Also, when you do get hit, you usually take
less damage too.
Strength – This is the muscular power of your hero. As far as I can
tell, this affects the distance you can move per turn. It also improves
damage done with melee weapons.
Dexterity – This is the agility of your hero. It affects your armor
class.
Constitution – This is the physical health of your hero. It affects
your HP.
Charisma – This is the debonair charm of your hero. As far as I can
tell, it affects the Fast Talk skill's success rate.
Technical (?) – This is the mental capacity of your hero. As far as I
can tell, it affects the success rate of all skills.
Bucky's Tip #1: It's obvious that you can get a better character by
rolling your stats until they come out really high, but if you want to
suck every possible HP out of the game for your humans and desert
runners, try this trick. If you repeatedly switch the job of the
character you're working with, his HP will change every time. Be
patient and you can really get a nice little boost for your efforts. Of
course, Tinkers can't change jobs this way, so the only method for them
is to repeatedly change races. It works just the same though, and
Tinkers need every HP they can get.
There, now that we've gotten through that, you get to name your
characters. I chose a theme for my names and gave each character a name
related to soup. Soup is yummy. After you get the names out of the way,
you must assign each character his skills. Here is a list of them in no
particular order and what they do. Remember, each character only gets 8
points for now, so use them wisely.
First Aid – This is the character's ability to patch up those nasty
injuries that hurt us so very much. It can be used to turn a fallen
character's status from dieing to unconscious. Also, it lets you get
back more HP after battle. Everyone should get some training in this.
Zero Gravity Maneuvering – This is the character's ability to walk
around in space. Whenever you fight in a place without gravity, there
is a chance that this skill will improve your walking distance and
accuracy. Everyone should get some training in this.
Library Search – This skill is nearly useless. Whenever you find a
library, you can use this skill to find a few interesting tips there.
Each tip also gives you 100 experience points. There is one extra
mission for you to accomplish if you get this skill, but it has few
bonuses. Give this to only one character and don't waste too much
training on it.
Perception – I am not quite sure, but I think that having a high
perception skill allows you to notice items and secret things that are
normally invisible to you. Train one person to be proficient in this
skill.
Fast Talk – A neat skill that has saved me more than once. This skill
affects your bluffs, intimidations, and lies, and without it, you won't
stand much of a chance. Train one person to be proficient in this
skill.
Demolition – FIRE IN THE HOLE!!! MWAHAHA!!! This skill lets you blow up
whatever needs blowin' up. It's not needed often, but it still helps to
have. Train one person to be proficient in this skill.
Climbing – This affects your ability to climb. Obviously, any hero team
has to do a little climbing at some point, so I guess it has some
purpose. Train one person in this.
Stealth – This skill is nice, but by no means necessary. You
occasionally see the enemy before they see you, and if your whole team
is good at being stealthy you can dodge the fight. Of course, those
skill points are hard to get. The other advantage to using Stealth is
only available to Cutlass or Monosword wielders. By sneaking up behind
the enemy for a rear attack, you sometimes get the option to backstab
instead, causing heavy damage and gaining nearly perfect accuracy.
Programming – This skill affects your character's hacking ability. It's
useful, but not always necessary. Train one person to be proficient in
this skill.
Rocket Repair – This skill affects how successfully your character can
weld shut a hull breach. Because you have to fight a few space battles,
you might want to pump a few points in here just to be safe. However,
it is possible to simply ignore it if you have a good fast talk skill
or don't mind getting healed at Salvation III for free.
Leadership – This skill is only applicable to warriors. It affects your
ability to recruit characters around you to fight for your cause. Pump
as many points into here as possible, because having more targets...
er, friends, can really help out sometimes. It also increases the
chance that you will succeed at the tactics roll before each round
starts, letting your side attack first.
Jury Rig – This skill is only applicable to rocket jockeys. Make sure
that this skill is high, because it is the only way to fix broken parts
on your spaceship. Don't leave home without it.
Bypass Security – This skill is only applicable to rogues. Whether you
have to break out of jail or jimmy open a door, this skill does it all.
Make sure that one character is proficient at it.
Treat Wounds – This skill is only applicable to medics. If it weren't
for this skill, medics would be useless. It allows them to bring a
fallen ally back into fighting condition, but he will still be weak.
Like all career specific skills, this one is a must.
Combat Training – This skill is only applicable to warriors and uses
special points that are specifically for it. For every point that you
put into this, your warrior will do 1 more point of damage and have 5%
better accuracy, but it only works for the weapon you choose for him to
train in. I'd suggest either Monoswords or Dart Guns, but Laser Pistols
are also nice.
Okay, you've picked what your character will be like. Now do it five
more times. Unless you want a handicap of epic proportions, use a full
team. My suggested team is two warriors (One human and one desert
runner), two rocket jockeys (One human and one desert runner), one
rogue (Human of course), and one medic (Tinker). Now, let us see...
Part two: The Story So Far...
The year is 24 something, and I don't feel like checking when exactly.
The important part is that it's THE 25th CENTURY!!! In Earth's future,
the evil Russo-American Mercantile (Or R.A.M.) has decimated the
planet's resources and plans on conquering the entire solar system as
soon as Earth is out of the way. Fortunately, the New Earth
Organization (Or N.E.O.) is doing its best to save the world! You've
just joined the group hoping to pound some genetically altered mutants
or save a planet or something. Now, let us begin.
Part three: The Trouble With Terrines
Enemies
Terrine Warrior – These guys are quite pathetic, but they aren't
harmless. They carry a Laser Pistol and a Spacesuit. Collect the Suits
so you can sell them, but leave the pistols, which have less value. Try
to take these morons out first. Worth 12 experience points and 40
credits each.
Terrine Leader – A slightly buffer versions of the Warriors. These guys
have a wee bit more life, but their biggest advantage is in their
weaponry. They carry Laser Pistols, Cutlasses, Dazzle Grenades, and
Smart Suits. Try to get a Smart Suit for each character for a –2 bonus
on your AC.
NEO Warrior – The few, the proud, the NEO warriors. Actually, they are
pretty plentiful and I see no reason for them to be proud. These guys
are your friends, and will gladly help you out if you have a high
enough Leadership skill. They seem to be using nothing more than a
Laser Pistol, but they make nice targets and take a few hits for you.
Send them right up to the front line for the most useful effects.
Your group has been assigned to Salvation Station for salvage duty, but
that doesn't matter right now. Why? Because an army of homicidal mutant
Terrines has just invaded the Chicagorg (No, that's not a typo on my
part) airport where you happen to be! A fallen companion tells you to
go find the emergency missile controls and save the day.
Legend
X – Start. This is where you begin the level at.
F – Fire. Causes minor damage and forces you to retreat.
E – Event. Not worth anything, but provides information.
A – Enemy. You are attacked by foes.
L – Lock. The door cannot be opened.
T – Trap. The door cannot be opened and enemies attack.
S – Spoils. Treasure, loot, booty, etc.
O – Boss. The final battle of the level.
_ _
|_|FFF|_|F
F F _
F |E|
F X F
F |E| |E_| |
______F F ___|__
| | | | O |
| E E LL T|L | |
|__| |_____|LL|____| _|__|
| | |
|_A _____ _ __ _|
| |E |A|E| | E |S |
|_E_______|_|_|LL|_____|__|
Mission Objectives: Locate and Activate Defensive Missiles, Save
Airport
Bucky's Tip #2: When in battle, try to get in side and rear attacks.
After you shoot at an enemy or after he shoots at you, he will turn in
that direction. If you position your character behind the enemy or to
its side, it will be less able to dodge your attack. This also counts
for you, so watch your back. Also, make sure to kill off enemies one at
a time. A wounded foe can still hurt you. A dead one can't.
Level Breakdown
As you search this area, Terrines will randomly attack you, so don't
waste time. First, head southwest of where you start. If you head in
any other direction, horrible explosions will drive you back. You will
find a door into the building. Go in. To your left is a Lecture Hall.
There is nothing of importance inside so ignore it. South of there, you
will find the Officer's Lounge and the Canteen. The Officer's Lounge is
filled with bodies so ignore it too. The Canteen is filled with
Terrines, so rush in and whack the fools. To your right, you will find
the rest rooms. There is one Terrine warrior in the ladies' room
(Boldly going where no man has ever gone before) and nothing in the
decimated men's room. To the north, you can see a security door, but
it's locked. Further to the right, you will find the waiting room.
There's nothing here of value. Continue right until you find the
medical office. The moment you enter, an angry guard kicks you out.
It's probably for the best, though, because a grenade goes off inside
seconds later. Enter again for 2 explosive grenades. North of there,
you will find a door that says "Authorized Personnel Only". March on in
and you'll encounter a group of 6 Terrine warriors and 1 Leader. Oh
joy. You are surrounded at first, so try to take out all the enemies of
one side to prevent rear attacks from the enemy. Make sure to get rid
of all the warriors first. You shouldn't have too much trouble. After
the fight, a RAM technician tries to shoot at you while fiddling with
the controls. Here are the choices you can make and what each one leads
to:
Shoot – One of your heroes fire at the technician. I don't think you
can miss. He dies, but first he prepares a grenade on the missile
terminal. Options "Dive on Grenade" and "Flee" appear.
Charge – You tackle the technician with the same results as the "Shoot"
option.
Hide – You duck into a safer position. Changes the "Hide" option into
the "Flee" option, but nothing else changes.
Dive on Grenade – One of your heroes must jump onto an exploding
grenade to stop it from destroying the terminal, but he/she will take
10 points of damage. You gain 2000 experience points, 1000 credits,
full health, and complete the mission.
Flee – You run like a little pansy and flying saucer people blow up the
whole building. It causes instant death for you, thus removing a
pathetic coward from existence. DON'T DO THIS!
Congrats! You just beat the first mission! But before we go on to the
next, you visit Salvation III. Here is the NEO headquarters, full of
bright, cheerful individuals dedicated to cleaning up the Earth. It
also contains a medical center for the injured, a bar (It's the only
one that doesn't have brawls in the entire universe), a meeting room,
and the weapons shop. You can do some schmoozing at the bar if you wish
or have that nasty mole on your back taken care of if you want, but I
suggest going to the gunnery first. Here, you are introduced to the
wide world of firearms. Pick out some nice boom-sticks here (For more
information on the game's many boom-sticks, see Part twenty: The
Armory), and then head on over to the meeting room to learn of your
next mission, which just might involve...
Part four: Albino Brain Chiggers!
Enemies
Small E.C. Gennie – These tiny terrors are more annoying than
dangerous. They have a weak close range attack, but they tend to appear
in large numbers. Beware, as a hit from them can induce Dizziness,
which lowers accuracy and dodge percentages. Worth 25 experience points
each.
Large E.C. Gennie – These are the first large enemies you will
encounter, as they cover two squares instead of the normal one! More
importantly, they have more life than their tiny cousins, do more
damage (They're still close range though), and can poison your people!
Zounds! Destroy them on site or pay the consequences. Worth 33
experience points.
RAM L.D. Robot – These things are quite painful. They are armed with
Martian Laser Pistols and don't mind using them. Fortunately, they have
little life and go down before causing you too much aggravation. Worth
25 experience points each.
RAM H.D. Robot – As with the light defense models, these things have
powerful Martian Laser Pistols. However, they also have higher life,
but don't come in such large numbers. Worth 42 experience points each.
Comatose Hero – If one of your heroes goes unconscious, he will
eventually come to and try to kill you. Obviously, he will be just as
strong as he was before and will use whatever weapon he's carrying.
Show no mercy, but receive no prize.
Your boss, Mr. Turabian, tells you to go out into Earth's orbit in
search of freaky things. You comply willingly, unaware that one of the
most annoying parts of the game is approaching. After a few days of
searching, you find an old unidentified ship. As soon as you enter, a
glowing phantasm screams by you! Creepy. The doors lock behind you,
sealing you within this ghastly hole of death.
Mission Objectives: Locate Information on the Ship's History,
Neutralize any Threats to NEO, Escape Alive
Legend
X – Start.
E – Event.
I – Information. An important event.
B – Bonus. An event that gives you experience.
A – Enemy.
M – Medic. Also known as your best friend in the whole wide world.
L – Ladder. Going up?
V - Vent. Going down?
T – Trap. Using the thing here summons enemies.
S – Spoils.
D – Delayed Attack. Once a condition is met, enemies show up here.
0 – Boss.
Floor 1
__________
|_| EL|
|V _____ |
| | | |
| | | I|
| | __| |
| | | __ |
| |__| | I|
|______|___|
Floor 2
____________
|_|___| | L|
|V B__| |
| __ |
| |__| __ E|
| ____|EE| |
| | |EE| _|
| | |EE X|
|D|____|EE| |
|__D__I|IE|_E|
Floor 3
_________
|_| |L|
|V|_|_E_| |
| __ _ _|
| |E |E |
|___|E_|E_|
Floor 4
_________
|_| |EEE|L|
|V __ ___ |
|T| E |MS|
| |__|
|______|__|
Floor 5
______
|_|II|L|
|V __| |
| BA| |
|______|
Floor 6
______
|_| O|L|
|_ |A|
|_|____|
Level Breakdown
As you wander around in here, horrible Gennies and robots will randomly
attack you, so please hurry. Also, each hero now has an evil parasite
in their brain that they picked up in the air, so your first objective
is to find a medical station. As you walk, the heroes will go into a
coma one by one, so hurry up. Head left as soon as you enter the ship.
In here, you will find bits of a recording. One piece will tell you a
secret code that the game remembers for you. Head out into the hall
again. To the south, you will find a gun turret that does nothing for
you. Ignore it. To the north, you will see a ladder. Go up it twice and
you will be on floor 4. To the south of the floor 4 ladder, you will
find the medical office! In the first room, you will find a computer.
Use it, and then take it. You will find 5 Antidotes beneath it. Go left
and it will tell you that medical equipment hangs around here. Use it,
and it will require a code. Here are the choices you can make and what
each leads to:
Conchitez – The machine will not accept the code and robots will
attack, plus you lose all hope of removing your brain parasites. DON'T
DO THIS!!!
Will – The machine will accept the code.
Buck – Same results as Conchitez. DON'T DO THIS!!!
Vilnikov – A valid code.
Simonov – I never tried this one. Little help?
If you put in the proper code, all of your people will be healed and
you gain 500 experience points! Now you don't have to worry about brain
parasites, and if you take any damage, you can return for a quick
boost. Head west of the medical lab and you will find two doors. The
north one contains information on Mr. Conchitez, currently deceased,
and on some doctor of no importance. To the south is an empty cargo
bay. Further west is bio-monitoring station. Use it and a Large ECG
will attack you. Kill it. North of there is the air ducts, which act as
another ladder if you have some skill in Perception. However, there is
a small chance that one of your heroes will encounter a herd of Small
ECGs within and will have to fight them alone.
Bucky's Tip #3: These battles in the vents are wonderful for building
up experience. Each one is worth about 300-400 points, plus whoever
does the fighting gets an extra 200. Spend some time here and you'll be
thankful when you get back home.
Head back to the ladder and go to floor 5. Follow the one path you are
given and you will find a computer console. If you have a rogue, you
can shut it down with your Bypass Security skill. This will shut down
all robots and gives the rogue 250 experience points, if she succeeds.
To your right is a room full of (Now inactive) robots that you should
ignore, and to the north, you will meet the sentient hologram of
Scot.Dos. He is a NEO sympathizer and tells you that you must find some
argon gas to kill off the little monsters running around and if you
don't hurry, they will grow up into their final stage. He then tells
you to head to either floor 4 or 1 to find it. Go back to the ladder
and head to floor 3, ignoring Scot's messages to you. South of the
ladder, you find a room with a folder in it that says that the ECG was
designed to drop brain parasites, explaining what happened to you
earlier. Head left, and you will find another 2 rooms. The north one is
empty except for some signs of battle, and the south one just contains
a diary revealing RAM's plans to use the ECG horde to wipe out the
earthlings. Further left, you find a room that has several bodies in
it. One holds a log containing another computer access code and hints
that some gas can control the ECG swarm. Obviously, we already know
that it's argon, but that's okay. Head back to floor 2 and head west.
You'll find a door leading to the ship's garden. Inside, a monstrous
plant quickly soothes the party almost to sleep and then wraps up one
of your members! Here are the choices you can make and what each leads
to:
Attack – Destroy the plant, but the attacked hero takes 10 points of
damage from the evil thorns. You discover it was actually a highly
advanced ECG and gain 250 experience points.
Flee – You try to abandon your friend, but the plant lures all of you
in. You deserved it. It causes instant death for you. DON'T DO THIS!
Watch – You decide that dieing won't be so bad and are eaten by the
plant critter. It causes instant death for you. DON'T DO THIS!
Now that you've grabbed all possible experience on the ship, head down
to floor 1 and explore the southeast corner. You should find the argon
there. If it's not there, then it is on floor 4. The placement seems
random. In any case, once you find it, go to floor 2. Head all the way
to the west, and then go south. As soon as you open the door, a Large
ECG will attack. Kill it, and then continue. At the end of the hall,
you will find the Air Sampling Center. Hook up the argon tank for a
cool 500 experience points. The ECGs begin dieing, but don't celebrate
yet! One of the super-intelligent Stage 3 ECGs has reversed the flow
and is stopping you from saving the day! Scot tells you to go to
engineering to override the alien freak, so leave the room. Another
Large ECG will attack along the way. Kill that one too. Go to the
ladder and rush down to the east side of floor 1. A computer console
will be down there. Have your hero with the best Jury Rig skill try to
fix it, but in the mean time, ECGs attack! Here are the choices you can
make and what each leads to:
Stand – You bravely face the monsters and just fix the wiring in the
nick of time. The ECGs die without a fight. You gain 1000 experience
points.
Retreat – You abandon the computer and try to run, but soon you are
surrounded. You are stuck in a nearly impossible battle with 8 large
ECGs and 4 Small ECGs. If anyone has beaten this battle, inform me of
the results. I didn't feel like trying.
All seems to be going your way... UNTIL A VOICE INFORMS YOU THAT ONE OF
THE ECGS JUST SET OFF THE SELF DESTRUCT SEQUENCE! Rush to floor 6,
enter the door, go up to the computer console, get 500 experience
points, and everything will finally be settled. Well, everything except
for the mysterious gunman in the airlock who's shooting at you! One of
your heroes will take 7 points of damage, and then a battle will begin
with a pair of Stage 3 ECGs.
BOSS BATTLE!
Stage 3 ECGs – These two zombie-like monstrosities are annoying, but
not that hard. They have a large amount of life, good defense, and
carry Martian Dart Guns, Martian Smart Suits, and Martian Monoswords.
Try to kill them off one at a time, and make sure to have your injured
characters run. Two hits from these guys would kill most characters by
now. After the fight, collect everything. Worth 50 experience points
each.
Now that those two are taken care of, your heroes notice something in
the escape pod. Inside, you find a Stage 3 ECG with a bomb! Here are
the choices you can make and what each leads to:
Shoot It – The creature flies out into space to die and you run away in
time to escape the blast. The ship is now yours, and you return to
Salvation III. You gain 1000 experience points and complete the
mission.
Flee – The thing throws the bomb after you, killing itself and causing
24 points of damage to all of your heroes. If you survive that, the
rest is the same as the "Shoot It" option.
Congrats again! You just completed the second mission, and you got a
nice rocket ship for you to use as a bonus. Now, as yet another old
saying goes...
Part five: Floor it Grannie
Enemies
! = Found on RAM ships
@ = Found on Pirate ships
# = Found on Mercurian ships
! RAM Warriors – These are the basic foot soldiers of the RAM army.
They carry Rocket Pistols, Aerosol Grenades, Cutlasses, Protective
Goggles (Prevents Blindness), and Heavy Body Armor. They are somewhat
dangerous, but as long as you take them out one at a time, you should
have no problem. Make sure to grab the Heavy Body Armor and a pair of
Goggles for everyone. You will face these guys at almost all points in
the game.
! RAM Technician - These are the unseen villains normally behind the
scenes who build all of those lovely Robots you'll fight with along the
way, as well as many other fiendish mechanical creations. They are not
very good fighters though, and have almost no life, little defense, and
can only aimlessly fire at you. They use Heat Guns and Smart Suits.
Worth 21 experience points and 56 credits each.
! RAM H.S. Robot - Martian Rocket Pistols can hurt if they hit, so
beware. Try to defeat them quickly, but make sure you don't use Rocket
Pistols. They don't work too well. Worth 100 experience points each.
! Terrine Leader
@ Pirate Leader - I hate these guys. They have a ton of life, good
defense, good offense, and to top it all off, they carry Stun Grenades,
Dazzle Grenades, Heavy Body Armor, Protective Goggles, and a Rocket
Pistol. Always kill them first, or else you may wind up with half your
team Stunned.
@ Pirate Warrior - I moderately dislike these guys. They have less life
than the Leaders and cause less damage, but their defense is the same.
They carry Dazzle Grenades, Heavy Body Armor, and Rocket Pistols. These
guys should be your last concern.
# Mercurian Warrior – The evil frogs of space are almost exact clones
of their wimpier RAM cousins. They carry Rocket Pistols, Aerosol
Grenades, Cutlasses, and Martian Heavy Body Armor. Fight them just like
you would a RAM Warrior.
# Mercurian Technician – These guys are more like Terrine Warriors than
anything else. They carry Laser Pistols and Smart Suits. Just shoot
them.
# Mercurian Leader – FEAR THEM! FEAR AND TREMBLE BEFORE THEM! These
pyromaniacs carry PLASMA THROWERS! You know, those big fire-spewing
death guns that the RAM Combat Robots use. Kill these guys on site or
pay the rather nasty price.
Upon returning to Salvation III, you are informed that an evil plot is
going on involving the Ceres asteroid belt, Mars, and Venus. You are
told to explore Ceres first. Now, it's time to disobey the rules and
search the galaxy for neat things in your new space jalopy. Here are
the many scenic areas of space and what they contain.
Legend
G – Gym. Lets you level up.
S – Shop. Buy stuff.
M – Medic. Get full life.
L – Library. Research useless junk.
B – Bar. Get wasted and shmooze.
H – Hangar. Repair/reload your ship.
O – Off Limits. You can't go past here.
Salvation (Earth)
Smart Suit – 1200 Credits
Laser Pistol - 335 Credits
Cutlass – 100 Credits
Rocket Pistols – 400 Credits
Poison Antidote – 400 Credits
Heat Gun – 500 Credits
Needle Gun – 210 Credits
Space Suit – 500 Credits
__ __ __
__ |S_| |M_| |B_| __
| |_| |_| |_| |_| |
| G ______ _______ H |
|__| |O| |__|
Tycho (Earth)
Stun Grenade – 100 Credits
Lunarian Monosword – 32000 Credits
Aerosol Mist Grenade – 100 Credits
Dazzle Grenade – 100 Credits
Poison Antidote – 800 Credits
Pavonis (Mars)
Martian Cutlass – 400 Credits
Cutlass – 200 Credits
Monosword – 2000 Credits
New Elysium (Venus)
Protective Goggles – 20 Credits
Poison Antidote – 800 Credits
Venusian Laser Pistol – 2680 Credits
Smart Suit – 2400 Credits
Hielo (Mercury)
Heavy Body Armor – 6800 Credits
Protective Goggles – 40 Credits
Mercurian Heat Gun – 16000 Credits
_____
| |
|_ L _|
__| |_
| | O|
|_G |
| |_
__| B|
| S |_|
|__| |
__ | |
| |_| |
| H _|
|____|
Thule (Space)
Rocket Pistol – 800 Credits
Martian Rocket Pistol – 2000 Credits
Aurora (Space)
Space Suit – 2000 Credits
Smart Suit – 4800 Credits
Protective Goggles – 40 Credits
Battle Armor w/Fields – 12000 Credits
Hygeia (Space)
Cutlass – 200 Credits
Grenade Launcher – 1000 Credits
Heat Gun – 1000 Credits
Juno (Space)
ECM Package – 200 Credits
Dazzle Grenade – 200 Credits
Aerosol Mist Grenade – 200 Credits
Stun Grenade – 200 Credits
Chaff Grenade – 200 Credits
Psyche (Space)
Laser Pistol – 670 Credits
Martian Laser Pistol – 1340 Credits
_____
| |
|_ S _|
| _|
| | _
_| |__| |
|O ___B|
| |
_| |_
| H |
|_____|
Pallas (Space)
(Nothing)
Fortuna (Space)
(Nothing)
Vesta (Space)
(Nothing)
Ceres (Space)
(Nothing)
__
| |
| |
______|H_|
|O _ ___|
| G| B|
|__|__|
First off, visit scenic Juno. Here, for the low price of 200 credits
each, you can purchase an ECM Package. These are automatically
equipped, but sadly, I have no idea what they do. Buy them anyway, and
if you discover their purpose, fill me in. Next up, go to Thule. Here,
you should purchase a Martian Rocket Pistol for each character. They
are very useful for the next part of the game. Now, enter a bar and
keep talking until a fight breaks out. If you decide to stay, you will
encounter RAM Warriors. Take the Heavy Body Armors, equip them (they
should be the best available now), and head on to Aurora. Here, you can
purchase Body Armor W/Fields for only 12,000 credits each! You should
be able to afford one, but you'll want one for everybody soon. Go fight
RAM warriors and sell their armor until you have enough. Next, head to
Venus' New Elysium and pick up some Venusian Laser Pistols. Finally, go
off to Hygeia and purchase a Grenade Launcher for your grenade-carrying
heroes. By now, you should be nearly broke, but you won't need any
credits for a while anyway.
Bucky's Tip #4: In space, you will occasionally find RAM, Pirate, or
Mercurian ships. If you are lucky, you can Threaten or Bluff your way
out of the situation and make 100 experience points in the process. If
you're not lucky, you head straight into combat. If you don't like
running, I suggest that once combat starts and you have the chance to
attack, aim for the weapons first with your laser cannons. Once they're
gone, try to disable either their engines or controls, then close in on
and board them. If you capture their ship by finding the control system
and/or the engine system, you gain a whole pile of credits for your
efforts, but blowing up a ship is only worth a few experience points.
Also, because your more entertaining weapons use ammo, it's often too
costly to use them. Refills at most spaceports are quite expensive. If
you go to Salvation III instead, you can fix up the hunk of junk for
free.
It's now time to go...
Part six: Save the Wee Space Bunnies
Enemies
! = Found on Floor 1
@ = Found on Floor 2
! Hyper Snake – These things are pathetic. They have poor defense, poor
offense, but good speed. They probably can't hurt you at this point,
but they can dodge Rocket Pistols. Kill them last.
! Hyper Scorp – These pests also have poor defense and offense, as well
as poor speed, but they can hit you from time to time. Beware as their
poison can really put a damper on your day.
! Hyper Crab – These are the only dangerous enemies down here. They
have high offense and defense, but fortunately, they lack any other
bonuses. Destroy these first. Worth 20 experience points each.
@ Space Rats – No matter how poorly your team is doing after all of
those Hyper Animal fights, you shouldn't be worried. These things have
terrible life and defense and a pitiful close-range attack. Each one
should go down in one attack. Worth 21 experience points each.
You are now off to investigate the enemy base at Ceres in search of
information on the Doom's Day device. Make sure you are prepared and
have at least a few Antidotes. You'll need them.
Mission Objectives: Locate Secret Plan Data, Rescue the Children,
Rescue the Gennies (Optional), Rescue the Space Bunnies (Optional),
Escape From Base
Level Breakdown
Upon entering, you are greeted by a RAM soldier who asks you if you are
here to help. Here are the choices you can make and what each leads to:
Attack – You fight the guard, completely blowing your cover and making
things just plain difficult. DON'T DO THIS!
Bluff – If you have a high enough Fast Talk skill, you can convince him
that you were sent to help out and are allowed in.
Now, he'll tell you to go to the meeting room. Head left, and another
guard will show you the room. Apparently, it's your job to go into a
sub-level of the place, find some kids, and escape via a different
elevator, because the one you go down in will be blown up. Also, mutant
Gennies will be trying to kill you the whole way, and the asteroid base
is being evacuated, leaving you all alone. How nice. Leave the room and
go south. You will see three small rooms to your left. Enter the middle
one. A frantic woman will ask you if you've seen the kids. Here are
your choices and what each leads to:
Yes – She calms down and leaves with the others.
No or Remain Silent – She panics and runs after the kids.
Anyway, continue south and then turn right. A guard will give you 2
Demo Charges, 2 Antidotes, and an Explosive Grenade. You will see a
small room with a 1 in it. This is the elevator. Before you go in, go
right one more room. Here, you will find some poisoned Gennies. If you
have a medic heal them, you'll get 2500 experience points. Do this, and
then head down the elevator. Once at the bottom, head left, and then
north. Ignore the first door, skip the second, and when you reach the
cross roads, go north. Skip the third door, and by this time, you will
probably have encountered your first hyper creatures. In the fourth
room, you find some useless notes about Gennie development. The fifth
room is Dr. Williams, but has nothing in it. The sixth room contains
computers, and if you have a good programmer in your party, you can
find a message about the plan on Mars and get 750 experience points.
The seventh room is the same, but you now face a crossroads. Head south
and skip the first and second doors. Enter the third to find a keycard.
Skip the fourth and you'll be at another crossroads. Go south and
you'll see a dead RAM warrior. Skip the first door, and the second will
be barricaded. Blow it open for 750 experience points, and inside, you
find the kids. They will now follow you, but they can't get hurt or
anything, so don't worry. Go back out and head south. Skip the first
door and enter the second. Inside you find laser schematics and a
prototype of the Doom's Day device, and you gain 250 experience points.
Leave this room and head back north. At the crossroads, go right this
time, and then south. Skip the first door, but enter the second.
Inside, you find the space bunnies, and as the children gather them up,
Hyper Crabs attack. Wipe out the crustaceous threat and receive 750
experience points for your bravery. Enter the next door to hear about a
man with "daggers in his arms" (Talon). Keep going south, and in the
next room, you will find a pack of Gennies. If you enter, you encounter
4 Hyper Scorps and 2 Hyper Snakes. Wipe out the scorps first, then the
snakes, and then receive the Administrator's ID card and 500 experience
points. Keep going south and you will wind up near the prototype laser
room. Enter to hear a motivational-yet-insulting speech, and then head
back out. Go left and enter the door with the 2 written on it. One of
the kids will give you a rope and away you go. You are now on the first
floor and all of those Hyper Animals have been replaced with puny Space
Rats. Head right until you reach a corner, and then go north and enter
the first door you see. Enter it and then go into the first door to the
north. An old man will be there who turns out to be a grandfather to
one of the kids. Go back into the hallway and head north. On the way,
you'll pick up 2 Aerosol Grenades and 2 Antidotes. Keep going until you
find a crossroads. If you head left and enter the first door to the
north, you will discover that all laser research has been moved to
Gradivus Mons on Mars. Also, there is a robot-shut-down switch. Perhaps
robots attack if you don't bluff your way in? Oh well. Go back to the
crossroads and go north, then turn left to find the escape ship.
Everyone loads on and leaves, you've saved the day, and 1500 experience
points are promptly given to you. Go south from the escape ship and
then west, until you see the hallway you entered initially. You are
free, it would seem, but as a much older saying goes...
Part seven: Intergalactic Space Goons Shouldn't Breed
Enemies
Pirate Captain
Pirate Warriors
Pirate Combat Robot – This thing will make you cry. It has a psychotic
amount of health, high defense, immunity to Rocket Pistols and Laser
Pistols, and carries Explosive Grenades for normal weaponry. Before
killing anything else, kill this with Monoswords and Dart Guns. If you
stand right next to it and get very lucky, it will throw a grenade at
you and hit itself with the blast. It might not be a fair tactic, but
it helps. Also, approaching the Robot before it fires its grenade can
sometimes force it to physically attack you. Sure, it might hurt a bit,
but not half as much as the explosion would have.
Suddenly, space pirates attack your ship, causing immense damage! You
have three options to choose, but they all do the same thing. You are
then given the choice of surrendering or dieing. Obviously, it's not
that tough to choose. If you bought the Body Armor W/Fields, go do some
brawling. Otherwise, give up. Now, if you fight, you will encounter an
army of the previously mentioned foes. If you win, you'll do it again.
Beat them, and you'll do it a third time. Finally, after that fight,
Stun Grenades are thrown onto your ship and you pass out. You awaken in
a dank cell...
Mission Objectives: Capture Engines, Capture Deck (Optional), Escape
From Ship
Level Breakdown
You are allowed out of your cell and told to follow your guard. You can
try to run, but he'll just shoot you. Follow him, and you'll meet
Talon. This maniac is planning on selling you to RAM, but offers you a
chance to beat him in one-on-one combat for freedom.
BOSS BATTLE!
Talon – This fight is utterly impossible. While you have no equipment
and have a 5% chance of hitting him, he has a 95% chance of hitting
you. The best I have ever done is having him miss me once. My advice is
to not accept the offer to fight him and just give up, because whoever
fights him will be left with 1 hit point for the next part.
Once you lose or surrender, your team is brought back to the cell.
Again, you are given three choices, but each one leads to the same
thing eventually. Once you escape your cell, you meet ::gasp:: BUCK
ROGERS HIMSELF!!! He saw you get captured and will now be assisting
your team with your escape. He has a Lunarian Cutlass, a Pistol, and a
Lunarian Smart Suit. In the Genesis version, you can't remove his gear.
Sorry. Now, go to the far right cell to pick up 2 Demo Charges, 1 ECM
Package, and 2 Stun Grenades. Leave the cellblock, and then go to your
right. In the first door you'll see, you'll encounter some pirates.
Kill them. Continue the process going around the entire floor. After
clearing all of the cabins, go through the northernmost door. Inside,
you will find an autodoc. Here are your choices and what each leads to:
Reprogram Autodoc – If you have a good programmer, you can trick the
autodoc into healing your team. If you don't have a good programmer, it
sets off a nasty alarm. You are then given the chance to retreat. If
you do, nothing happens. If you don't, enemies attack, battle ensues,
and the autodoc is destroyed.
Heal Team – If done before reprogramming, it will set off the alarm.
Otherwise, it does what it says.
Leave – You ignore the autodoc and continue on your way.
Bucky's Tip #5: Reprogramming this thing is somewhat random. I suggest
you save before you do it so you can load if you fail. Keep trying and
you'll get it eventually. This trick works for all random events like
this.
Even if you don't use it, head to the left of the autodoc to find a
small closet with 2 Antidotes in it. Go to the ladder and head to floor
2. Go south immediately to find the mess hall. Fight the pirates within
and then leave out the door you came in through. Go to the door to the
left. Inside, you will encounter one of the vilest creatures in the
universe, the Pirate Combat Robot. The fight inside is only hard if you
let the robot live for more than two turns, so don't. Once everything
is dead, you realize that you've stumbled across the armory. You find 2
Demo Charges, 2 Explosive Grenades, 8 Stun Grenades, 1 Rocket Launcher,
5 Dart Guns, 5 Heat Guns, 10 Cutlasses, 5 Heavy Body Armors, 1
Mercurian Cutlass, and 2 Grenade Launchers. After gorging on guns,
leave the armory and head to the northern door. Buck informs you that
it's trapped, and then gives you the option to open it yourself or let
him do it. If he does it, you just get in. If you have someone with a
high Bypass Security skill do it, you get 1000 experience points. If
you fail, the trap goes off, but I've never seen it go off. Anyway, you
go inside, discover that it's Talon's room, and find a computer. Again,
if you let Buck do the work, you find out that placing explosives in
the mess hall's galley will weaken the defenses on floor 4, but doing
it yourself also gives you 1000 experience points. Go back to the mess
hall, enter the galley door, and blow up the place. Alarms go off,
power shorts, guards are scattered about, and you gain 5000 experience
points. Head to floor 4, and get ready for a mean fight. 2 P. Combat
Robots, 2 Pirate Warriors, 2 and 2 Pirate Leaders guard the areas. Use
whatever you have (Explosive Grenades perhaps) against the Robots, but
try to get your party members far away from each other to keep the
damage to a minimum. Hopefully, Buck will destroy one with his almighty
Pistol, but if not, just kill the Robots yourself, and then move on to
the Pirates. After the fight, the floor will be yours. There are three
walls covered with control panels. Walk into each one to destroy it,
and once all the controls are smashed, you're home free. Head to floor
2. Of course, if you feel angry at Talon for attacking you, you can go
to floor 1 for revenge.
BOSS BATTLE!
Talon – This time, you have all of your gear and are able to take down
the goober. Sadly, he's got friends. There are 2 P. Combat Robots, 2
Pirate Leaders, and 2 Pirate Warriors here as well. As always, kill the
Robots first. Talon is surprisingly weak, so just let Buck kill him.
Use Explosive Grenades and your new Rocket Launcher liberally, because
this is the last big fight for quite some time. If you want to weaken
Talon even more, use Dazzle or Stun Grenades on him, but it isn't
necessary. This fight shouldn't take more than 3 or 4 turns.
For your heroic efforts, you get nothing. Yes, it's a rip off, but
that's how revenge is sometimes. Go to floor 2, get in your ship and
head home after receiving 10,000 experience points for your troubles.
Also, Scot finds some interesting information. Apparently, Talon hid
some more ECGs somewhere in the solar system and someone named Garrity
knows the exact location. He was last seen at Pallas.
Part eight: Albino Brain Chiggers! Part two (Optional Mission)
Enemies
! = Found in Thule Prison
@ = Found on Psyche Asteroid
RAM Combat Robot – This is the second nastiest enemy in the game. These
giant yellow ants are immune to Laser and Rocket Pistols, making combat
unnecessarily difficult. They have an enormous amount of life, medium
defense, and wield Rocket Launchers. Fortunately, they can only attack
every other turn. Try to use Chaff Grenades on it to disable its
weapons, then kill it with whatever else you have. Worth 383 experience
points each.
Small ECGs
Large ECGs
Stage 3 ECGs
As soon as you get back to Salvation, you are informed of the horrible
fate of Jason Dupare, a top NEO agent. During an infiltration mission,
he was captured right after finding vital information concerning the
Doom's Day device. He is being held hostage in the Radium mines of
Thule, and you must rescue him.
Mission Objectives: Eliminate ECGs, Salvage Equipment, Destroy Infested
Asteroid
Level Breakdown
First, we have to take care of our friend Garrity. Go to Pallas, enter
the bar there, and he will be found in a booth less than sober. After
giving him a quick bribe (Don't worry, you don't lose any money), he
gives you the password to get into Talon's base. You should not try to
go there yet. It wouldn't be pretty. Now, go to Thule Prison. When you
enter, Scot informs you that radiation levels are disgustingly high, so
don't waste time. There is one door to your south, and as soon as you
enter it, you encounter a RAM Combat Robot. If you get walloped during
that fight, go back to your ship to get full health. Why did we come
here if we were just going to run away? This was to show you just what
you are going to be fighting soon. Aren't I kind? Now, head to Psyche.
Yes, we are going to beat this one.
Real Level Breakdown
When you reach Psyche, a distress signal will be received from a nearby
asteroid. Enter it. Inside, you see that the lights are flickering and
something bad has obviously happened. Head east to go through the
airlock. The door to it is leaking and bits of spacesuits are floating
around, so it's pretty obvious what happened here. Head north to reach
the Communications Room. Inside, you find that electronics are broken
everywhere, and several Small and Large ECGs quickly attack you. You
are now much stronger than before, so just wipe them out. Go into the
door to the north to find a dying miner. He tells you that Talon gave
them the ECG canisters disguised as treasure. Go back to the airlock
door, but head south this time. Enter the door to find some dead miners
and some ECGs. Kill them. Continue into the door to your right. Here
are more corpses and a note from Talon describing his villainy more
thoroughly. Head right and enter the door. Inside are more normal ECGs
and 1 Stage 3! However, even this boss enemy is pathetic now. Kill them
all and steal the goods. Continue right and then head down when you
reach a curve. You will reach a fork here. Go left first. Kill off more
ECGs, collect 2000 credits, a Battle Armor W/Fields, some other
goodies, and destroy the baby ECGs you find afterwards. Repeat the
process to the right, but instead of finding a Battle Armor W/Fields,
you find a Lunarian Smart Suit that is less powerful but is worth 9600
credits. Go back up to where you fought the first Stage 3 and then go
north. At the end of the hall, you will find 8 Explosive Grenades and a
cache of high explosives. If you wish, you can make the ECGs extinct
using this. When you do, you are asked how long you want the timer to
be before it explodes. My record is 17 seconds, but as long as you keep
it somewhere above that, you should be safe. Fortunately, random
encounters stop the clock. Once you get to your ship, this mission is
over. Go sell off your spoils and buy whatever you want.
Intermission: Let's All Go to the Lobby...
Now, if you've played this far, I congratulate you. Things are getting
a bit trickier, aren't they? However, too many people are wasting time
inside these days. Save the game and turn it off for the moment. Go to
your kitchens, make yourselves a sandwich, go outside, breathe some
fresh air, work out until you have abs of steel, and have a nice day.
Part nine: Jail Break (Optional Mission)
Enemies
RAM Combat Robot
RAM Assault Robot – These are the nastiest enemies in the game. They
have the same life, defense, and mobility as the Combat Robots, but the
resemblance ends there. They carry Explosive Grenades that they usually
use and the terribly powerful Plasma Thrower. Try to surround it on all
sides and kill it off quickly. Worth 208 experience points each.
Now that you've gotten vengeance against the species that tortured you
not too long ago, it's time to save that guy from Thule. Make sure that
you are prepared first. Go to Tycho on Earth and buy a Lunarian
Monosword for all of your Monosword wielders. These things cost 32,000
credits each, but it's worth it. The upcoming robotic enemies are
extremely hard to beat without them. Once you have all that worked out,
head to Thule.
Mission Objectives: Deactivate Security, Rescue Jason
Level Breakdown
Head back into the prison once more. Go past the place where you fought
the Combat Robot and enter the next door. Inside are two Assault
Robots, so SAVE BEFORE THIS FIGHT! Keep your people away from each
other and stay near the Robots. Hopefully, you can kill one in the
first turn. Go all out here and you should survive. If you need health,
go back to your ship. Once that's done, go into the door to your left.
The radiation is particularly high here and dead bodies can be seen in
a mummified state. Go down and in one corner you will find 3 Chaff
Grenades and 1 Stun Grenade. Go back to the room where you fought the
Assault Robots and head south. In here is another Combat Robot. Kill
it. Take a right and you will encounter yet another Combat Robot. Kill
this one too. There are two monitors in this room. The first says that
the radiation levels are too high. The second is a self-defense control
console. If you try to reprogram it, you will either succeed, stopping
all Robots in here and earning 500 experience points, or fail and
summon another Combat Robot. Keep trying this until you get it right
and then enter the northern door. If you try to do this without
reprogramming the computer, mounted gun turrets will do some damage to
you and drive you back. Once inside, you can enter any of the jail
cells to find Jason. He is nearly dead, but manages to tell you that
the Doom's Day device is being built over Mercury. He faints and you
have to carry him out. If you wish, you can then enter any other cell
to rescue another weak prisoner, but it doesn't seem to do anything. Go
carry Jason back to Salvation III and pat yourself on the back. There
isn't any prize, but at least you saved a potential ally.
Part ten: Death to MCI! (Optional Mission)
Enemies
RAM Combat Robot
RAM Warriors
RAM Technician
Desert Apes – What do you get if you cross King Kong with the Grim
Reaper? These 9'7" scythe-armed primates are surprisingly inaccurate,
but they have nice offense when they hit. They have too much life for
their own good, but patience will easily take them down. Don't let them
surround you though.
Sand Squids – The cosmic calamari are easy enough to not be on my hate
list. They are slow moving, easy to hit, and only have medium life, but
they do have a moderately powerful attack and are poisonous. Kill them
on sight with just about any weapon. Worth 104 experience points each.
Martian Combat Gennie – These warriors are designed specifically for
Martian combat. They carry Cutlasses, Laser Pistols, Stun Grenades, and
Heavy Body Armor. Take them out before they stun anyone. Worth 33
experience points and 29 credits each.
If you trained someone in Library Searches and have been browsing the
books from time to time, you may have discovered that a secret
communications base is hidden on Hygeia. Obviously, we can't let the
enemy maintain control of this base and some corrective measures are in
order. Nothing in here is truly dangerous by now, so let's have a
little fun.
Mission Objectives: Break Stuff, Hurt People, Steal Things
Level Breakdown
Go to Hygeia, enter the base, and get ready for a rude welcome. As soon
as you are in, alarms blare and a RAM Combat Robot is released. Blow it
up and go back to your ship if you're hurt. Continue along the path
until you reach a large room. In here, a zookeeper will release an army
of Desert Apes upon you. Treat them like you would an army of Large
ECGs, but without the poison. If you explore the bottom left part of
the room, you will see some poor trapped Desert Apes giving you the
puppy-dog look. If you let them out, they attack. If you go right from
there, you find more apes that throw various things found on the floor
of their cages at you, causing about 4 points of damage to 2 party
members. Ignore them and head north until you reach a fork. Go right
and enter the southern door. Inside, you will find a Combat Robot and
some backup communications equipment. Kill the Robot and break the
machines. Now, go back to the fork and take a left, and when you see
another fork, go up. At the end of that hall, you find some RAM
Warriors and some Sand Squids. Wipe them out and treasure the moment,
because those Squids are very rare. Go back to the room with the backup
equipment, but this time, take the northern door. You will find the
cowardly base commander, but he runs off and leaves some RAM Warriors
and one RAM Martian Combat Gennie. Kill them and then use the control
panel on the wall to contact NEO. You then smash the panel just for the
sake of it. Continue into the next room. Again, the commander runs off
and a RAM Combat Robot stops you. Kill it and then destroy more stuff.
Follow the commander into the next room. This time, there are no
guards, but you still smash everything in sight. Chase him down for the
final time. Here you encounter 4 untrained RAM Technicians. If you die
here, I pity you. After they bite the bullet, you destroy the last of
the equipment as well as the commander with a single explosive shot,
finishing the mission.
Part eleven: Crossbows Just Won't Cut It
Enemies
! = Found on RAM Scout Cruiser
@ = Found on Mars surface
# = Found in Desert Runner village
$ = Found in Gradivus Mons
! # $ RAM Warrior
! RAM Technician
! Terrine Leader
! RAM H.S. Robot - These machinations are probably the most dangerous
things on the ship. These ones carry Rocket Pistols, but aren't very
accurate, and although they have a decent amount of life, you should
have no problems with them.
# RAM Assault Robot
$ RAM Combat Robots
@ Sand Squid
@ $ Desert Ape
$ Martian Combat Gennie
@ Hexadillo – The giant hexadillos of Mars are more of a nuisance than
anything else. They have low offense, terrible defense, and only a
medium amount of life. Worth 75 experience points each.
# $ D.R. Warrior – The residents of Mars are strong, proud, and stupid
enough to fight without armor. They also carry primitive crossbows that
cause almost no damage. If they didn't have a good amount of life,
they'd be worthless, but they do provide nice targets. Worth 80
experience points and 83 credits each.
$ RAM Guard Dog Gennie – Although far, far bigger than a breadbox,
these mutant canines are literally incapable of causing physical harm.
I must have been attacked by the things dozens of times and never
received so much as a scratch. Kill them last. Worth 18 experience
points each.
Mission Objectives: Infiltrate Mars, Gain Villagers' Cooperation,
Repulse RAM Invaders, Destroy RAM Fleet, Destroy Gradivus Mons
Level Breakdown
If you remember correctly, you were told long ago to investigate
Gradivus Mons. We've cleared out enough unimportant side quests for the
moment, so maybe we should finally go do that. Go to Mars and enter the
Mars High Desert. On the way in, you will encounter a RAM Scout
Cruiser. If you can Fast Talk your way past, go ahead, but chances are
you will have to fight it. The RAM Scout Cruiser is the weakest ship
type in the game, so you shouldn't have much trouble. Just kill its
weapons, destroy the engines or controls, board it, and capture the
engines and deck. After that is out of your way, you will land on Mars
and start driving around in the Buck-mobile. Head southeast until you
find a village, but you may get attacked on the way. Enter the village.
Once inside, a female Desert Runner approaches you. She tells you that
they are at war and all outsiders must be tested. Here are your choices
and what each leads to:
Step Forward – You battle a RAM Assault Robot for admittance.
Attack – You wipe out an army of Desert Runners, but afterwards, RAM
troops invade. DON'T DO THIS!
Talk – You are silenced and a RAM Assault Robot is activated before you
can react. Except for the fact that the Robot gets to attack first, the
effects are the same as "Step Forward".
If you didn't choose to attack the Desert Runners, and if you beat the
Robot, the woman will introduce herself as Atha. She tells you to go to
the center of town to meet Tuskon, war leader of the Desert Runners.
You are informed that RAM gliders will be attacking soon, and his plan
involves luring the enemy in with his warriors and then letting you
kill them off. Although it isn't a great plan, you don't have much
choice. The enemy quickly invades and you are sent into battle. You
start off fighting RAM Warriors and Martian Combat Gennies. None of
these are capable of fighting very well, so just send all of the D.R.
Warriors you enlist using the Leadership skill up to the front line and
waste the idiots. If you decided to attack the Desert Runners, they
won't help you. Just keep wandering around town mopping up any RAM
soldiers you meet. Also, explore the many buildings here. There will be
two pieces of demolition gear hidden randomly in two separate
buildings, and you need to find them eventually. Some houses may
contain a RAM Assault Robot, so be careful. After 3 battles, it will
say that all the enemies are gone. This is a lie. Head back to the
center of town. Tuskon will tell you that RAM is now sending warships
to bomb the town and send out more troops. Go outside and fight more
fights. This time, you will encounter Martian Combat Gennies AND RAM
Assault Robots. Take out the Robots first, but spread out so your team
doesn't get paralyzed by the Gennies. After 3 more battles, peace will
again settle over the land momentarily. Talk to Tuskon and he will tell
you that giant warships are coming and that you must now find the two
pieces of equipment at once if you haven't found them yet. Explore the
town until they are yours, and then give them to Tuskon. You are then
told to set the bomb and radio. Anyone can do it, but if the hero has
any Demolition skill, he will gain 1000 experience points for the
process. Everyone else gets nothing. Everyone flees the village through
a secret cave, the enemy enters the town only to blow up, and the
Desert Runners decide to band together to get RAM off of their planet.
They tell you to meet them at the blue rock to the northwest before the
final assault on Gradivus Mons. When you get there, they will ask for
your help. If you say no, Tuskon will wind up dead and everything will
be much harder for you. If you say yes, he will offer to join your
party (Nearly unarmed) and help you in your quest. Say yes. Once you
enter the base, you encounter 3 RAM Warriors and 3 RAM Guard Dog
Gennies. Kill them all quickly. If you take too long, an alarm will
sound through the base and things will get messy. Continue along the
path until you reach a room filled with caged Desert Apes. Although
they aren't my favorite allies, Tuskon will tell you to let them free
using the control panel. He will tame them and tell them to wreak havoc
throughout the base if you set them free, chasing off some guards
nearby. Head north until you find a pair of doors going left and right.
Go left. Inside you will find 5 Stun Grenades, but if you released the
Apes, they will also be there. Just stay there and Tuskon will soothe
them once more. Now take the right door. If you released the Apes, this
room will be empty. If you didn't, 7 Martian Combat Gennies will be
waiting for you. Continue along, and ignore the little closet you find.
You will reach another guard post with the same results as the first
one. Continue to your left until you find a room with another pair of
doors to the left and right. If you didn't release the Apes, the left
one will contain an intercom system that you can have fun with. If you
use it to jeer at the RAM soldiers, RAM Combat Robots and Martian
Combat Gennies will attack. If you use it to set a false alarm, they
will all flee the building in fear of the imaginary "alien bacteria"
you tell them about. If the Apes were released, just head right, and
then go upstairs to floor 2. Go south until you reach a fork in the
road. Head left for now, and when you reach another fork, continue
right to find several offices. The first one to the north contains
information on the Doom's Day device. The first one to the south
contains RAM Guard Dog Gennies. Kill them. The second offices to the
north and south are empty. When you reach a crossroads, head north if
you released the Apes. Inside, you will find an undamaged intercom to
play with. After you do that, or if you already did it earlier, head
south at the crossroads. Inside is an Autodoc, but its controls are
unfamiliar to you. Have a hero with a high Treat Wounds skill operate
it, but be careful. If you screw it up, you take damage. Now, go take
the path to the right. Inside, you will find the main gates, an army of
rabid, bloodthirsty Desert Runners right outside of the main gates, the
controls to open the main gates, and 5 RAM Warriors and 5 Martian
Combat Gennies. Kill off the guards and open the gates using the
console. You are then attacked by RAM Guard Dog Gennies, but there is a
slight chance that a RAM Combat Robot will attack as well. Fortunately,
several Desert Runners will come to your aid. Defeat the enemy and then
head back to the first room of floor 2. When you reach that fork in the
road that you turned left at, turn south instead. It will lead you to a
secret elevator that is now open to you. Atha will tell you to go up
there and destroy the RAM Death Ray. Go up the elevator. To your left,
you find a locked door, but you can open it with a Bypass Security
skill or a Demo Charge. Inside, you find several small offices. They
are all empty, but at the end of the hallway is another intercom. Use
it if you haven't yet. If you go north instead, you will find the Death
Ray. Before you head to the console and destroy it, go to the room to
the north. Although there is a door to the right and a door to the
left, ignore the left one and go right. Inside, you will find 4 ECM
Packages and some Battle Armor. Either give it to Tuskon or sell it
later. Now head to the console and use it blow up the weapon, go to the
intercom to warn the Desert Runners to run, and get out of here! As you
run out of the base, Atha will approach you and give you some blue pass
cards. The base explodes, the Desert Runners thank you for your help,
and you are given 10,000 experience points for successful completion of
the mission. As you rocket away, Scot informs you of a ship heading to
Ceres being followed by pursuers. Let's check it out...
Part twelve: The Great Justin Robeno (Optional Mission)
Enemies
RAM Warrior
This is officially the easiest mission in the game. There is no real
background story behind it. Enjoy!
Mission Objectives: Locate Justin Robeno, Rescue Justin Robeno, Locate
Prototype, Escape
Level Breakdown
Once you reach Ceres, head straight for Dave's Diner. After you mingle
with the crowd once, you will overhear some RAM folks mention that
Justin Robeno managed to escape their grasp and flew off to Fortuna.
Get back into your ship and head off to Fortuna. Once there, enter
Hexaburger. This time, you will see a technician being dragged away by
RAM security. You get into a fight with 6 RAM Warriors (Scary!) and
pummel them into the ground with ease. Justin then tells you that you
must head to Pavonis Starport to pick up a RAM prototype of inestimable
value. You also gain 1500 experience points for your brave deed. Follow
the nerd's advice and soar to Mars. Go to the library and do some
searching. Justin will find the prototype, but unfortunately, it was
all a setup. RAM forces burst in to attack you. Beat up the 10 RAM
Warriors and you'll try to escape, but more troops block you on the way
out. Kill yet another group of 10 RAM Warriors and continue on your way
out. Leave, but make sure to notice the typo here. I' pretty sure that
befire isn't a word. Head to Salvation Station, collect 2000 experience
points, get congratulated for finding information vital to the cause of
good, and then beat it. You've finished your work here. By the way,
after completing this particular mission, it becomes impossible to
leave Pavonis without encountering a group of 10 RAM Warriors, but what
are the chances you'll ever need anything at this dump again?
Part thirteen: The Unlucky Mission (Optional Mission)
! = Found on Scout Cruiser
@ = Found on Medium Cruiser
! RAM Scout Cruiser
@ RAM Medium Cruiser
! RAM Assassins – The black-clad killers of RAM are more powerful than
any live soldiers you've met so far. They have a disgusting amount of
life, carry Chaff Grenades, Martian Laser Pistols, Heavy Body Armor,
and Martian Cutlasses, and basically just make things irritating. They
shouldn't pose too much of a threat, but fight smart or you may lose a
hero. Also, try not to use Rocket Pistols on them or they'll stop you
with a Chaff Grenade.
! @ RAM Warrior
@ RAM H.S. Robot
@ Terrine Leader
@ RAM Technician
This isn't really a mission. It's just something that happens to over-
greedy space pirates like myself who happen to attack the wrong RAM
Scout Cruiser. You will know that you screwed up after you enter. Here
are the details.
Mission Objectives: Defeat RAM Assassins, Capture Ship, Survive
Encounter with Second Ship
Level Breakdown
After you defeat the ship in space combat, kill off the puny RAM
Warriors guarding the thing. Go to the end of the first hallway, and
where more puny RAM Warriors or Robots normally attack you, 5 RAM
Assassins now greet you. After killing your would-be killers, Scot
informs you that another, much larger ship is coming. Head up to the
level 4 and secure the bridge. The enemies guarding it will still be
easy, but all random encounters along the way will be Assassins. After
taking the bridge, head down to level 1. Capture the engine room as
well, and the mission is half over. As soon as you capture the first
ship, a second one appears in firing range. It's a Medium Cruiser, so
be careful. Take out its weapons and controls as usual, and if you're
feeling particularly spiteful, board the sucker. The only real
difference when it comes to battle on board larger ships is that the
random fights tend to contain a few more enemies. Capture the second
ship in the same way and you'll have taught RAM a lesson about trying
to ambush the Maelstrom Rider. By the way, another strange situation
I've encountered while pirating ships would be the "Sore Loser"
scenario. After pummeling the ship and boarding it, the game informed
me that the enemy captain activated the self-destruct sequence and that
I had 50 seconds to capture the ship. I still managed it, but there was
no bonus prize whatsoever.
Part fourteen: Party at Talon's Place
Enemies
RAM Guard Dog Gennies
RAM Warriors
RAM Martian Combat Gennies
RAM Assault Robots
You remember Talon, don't you? He was that punk who tried to kill you
after you saved the bunny wabbits. Anyway, it's time to go raid his
fortress of any useful treasures and gain a little experience while
we're at it.
Mission Objectives: Pursue RAM Commander, Destroy Robots, Escape
Level Breakdown
Head to Aurora and then enter Talon's base. Inside, you are greeted by
a small group of RAM officials who mistake you for Talon and give you
his eviction notice. The little mix-up is worked out when a soldier
points out that you don't have blades coming out of your arms, but they
still decide to kill you. Wipe out the 5 RAM Warriors and 3 RAM Guard
Dog Gennies they send against you and then chase after the officer
through the northern door. Random fights will occur consisting of RAM
Guard Dog Gennies and RAM Warriors, so use them to heal up should the
need arise. You find him again, he mutters something about hidden
treasure, and you fight an exact duplicate of the last battle. Go out
the left door and fight 6 more RAM Guard Dog Gennies. To your south is
a trashed sleeping quarters that you should skip. If you head left,
you'll find an empty mineshaft and some robot maintenance gear, but
none of it is important. Head north instead and skip the hallway to the
right for now. There will be 2 doors in front of you here. The right
one is merely an inactive weapons console, but the right one contains a
group of 3 RAM Technicians, 3 RAM Guard Dog Gennies, and 5 RAM
Warriors. Kill them all and then check the 2 computers in the room here
for 500 experience points each. Now head back to that passage to the
right. The officer will escape out the far door and you will again face
5 RAM Warriors and 3 RAM Guard Dog Gennies. Kill them and chase after
the little rodent. On the other side, you face yet another copy of the
fight before. Go south, and in this last room, you find the commander's
personal troops. Kill the 4 RAM Warriors and the 3 RAM Martian Combat
Gennies, equip everyone with Dart Guns or Monoswords, and then proceed
towards the computer to the left. Talon's voice yells out from beyond
the grave informing you that there is no treasure here (Aw man...), but
he does send out a RAM Assault Robot that toasts the cowardly commander
and makes the whole trip worthwhile. Trash the Robot as usual. Head
back to the entrance, but try not to get killed by the random RAM
Assault Robot fights along the way. After that, the mission is
complete. I suppose it was a useless mission, but at least you have it
out of the way.
Part fifteen: Welcome to the Jungle
! = Found on Venusian surface
@ = Found in Lowlander village
# = Found in RAM base
Enemies
! @ Acid Frogs – Depending on your actions, these amphibians will
either befriend or... uhmmm... befoe you. They are almost as weak as
the RAM Guard Dog Gennies, but they get to make a long-range and short-
range attack in one turn. They make great targets and it's usually
worth it to ally with them. Worth 104 experience points each.
! # Swamp Hornets – Although an individual Swamp Hornet is not a
threat, you never face an individual Swamp Hornet. Instead, you face
large swarms of these weak little creatures, armed to the mandibles
with Dizziness inducing stings. Anybody have a Plasma Thrower or Rocket
Launcher? Worth 15 experience points each.
! # Ursadders – The Ursadder is the most powerful creature on Venus and
should not be taken lightly. It takes quite a beating before going down
and can cause significant damage to you no matter what armor you have.
They do provide some decent amounts of experience, but it's rarely
worth the effort. Worth 87 experience points each.
! @ RAM Venusian Combat Gennie – I loathe these creatures. Although
they only have a moderate amount of health, these freaks carry
Explosive grenades and aren't stingy with them. They also have Heavy
Body Armor, Cutlasses, and Protective Goggles. Before all else, make
sure that these things are dead. Also, you might want to send out
clusters of Lowlander Warriors to lure fire away from your troops. I
know it's mean, but so are these guys. Worth 50 experience points and
60 credits each.
! @ # RAM Warriors
! Lowlander Warriors – These critters are very similar to the Desert
Runner Warriors. They both have a lot of life, they both appear in huge
numbers, and they both are too weak to kill a single RAM Warrior. These
guys carry Laser Pistols and are basically nothing more than targets
for you to use in this one battle.
! @ Venusian H.S. Robots – Flying eyeballs may be something you'd
expect to find in other games, but not in a science fiction one.
However, the Venusian H.S. Robot doesn't seem to realize that. Kill
them with anything except for Rocket Pistols before they fire their
Venusian Dart Guns. Worth 100 experience points each.
@ # RAM H.S. Robots
! # Acidium – These giant slugs are quite strong (Yet inaccurate) and
have a decent amount of life, but almost no defense. They make up for
this by absorbing half of your attacks with no ill effects. I suggest
Laser Pistols for killing them, but anything will work. Worth 106
experience points each.
@ # RAM Assassin
Next up on our path of destruction is scenic Venus, land of the lizard-
like Lowlanders. Before you do that, I suggest you buy 2 more Body
Armors w/Shields and Venusian Laser Pistols for the friends you'll be
getting soon. This land is the only source of Gravitol in the universe
and RAM has enslaved most of the Lowlanders to harvest the rare rocket
fuel. Let's change that, shall we?
Mission Objectives: Locate Lowlander Village, Aid Lowlander Village,
Destroy RAM Gliders, Free Lowlander Prisoners, Locate Landon's Son
(optional)
Level Breakdown
As soon as you land, Scot informs you that there is a Lowlander village
just past the swamps nearby, but before much can happen, you are
attacked by a group of Lowlanders led by Leander. They quickly demand
to know who you are and who sent you. Here are your choices and what
each leads to:
Attack – You fight the Lowlanders and ruin all hope for peaceful co-
existence. DON'T DO THIS!
NEO – You tell the Lowlanders that you are a member of NEO and wish to
help them, but they don't trust you. You are asked to surrender
peacefully and given the following choices.
Yes – Before you are given the chance to surrender all of your earthly
possessions, a group of 6 RAM Warriors and 1 RAM Venus Combat Gennie
attack you. You gain 2000 experience points after the battle.
No – Same results as Attack. DON'T DO THIS!
After the battle, Leander will apologize to you for his mistrust and
ask to join, if you didn't just kill him. Take him in, give him the
Venusian Laser Pistol and Body Armor w/Fields, and grab an extra pair
of Protective Goggles for him from the battle's spoils. Now, go to the
lake nearby with the pink outline. Once there, you will find some Acid
Frogs. Here are your choices and what each leads to.
Fight – You battle the frogs, gaining a little experience but missing
out on some fine allies. DON'T DO THIS!
Leave – You leave without a fight.
Befriend the Frogs – If your Leadership skill is high, you can get
these things on your team. They will be found in battles on the surface
of Venus. If your Leadership skill isn't high, they won't appreciate
your visit very much. If you succeed, you gain 5000 experience points.
Anyway, sooner or later you will meet a frightened Lowlander who asks
if you are NEO members. This may happen before you reach the frogs. If
you say no, he runs away, but if you say yes, he'll ask you to help out
his family. Say yes and you encounter RAM Venusian Combat Gennies who
you can either fight or run from. Say no and you'll hear weapons firing
in the distance that you can investigate or ignore. In any case, you
either fight or you don't. If you do, you are in for a tough battle.
You encounter 6 Venusian Combat Gennies, and unless you kill them off
quickly, that means 6 Explosive Grenades coming at you EACH TURN. Keep
your people far away from each other and hope those Acid Frogs lure
away some firepower from you. After the battle, the Lowlanders thank
you and run off without any sort of reward. Continue north until you
reach the village of small huts. It's crawling with RAM Assassins and
RAM Venusian Combat Gennies, so be careful. Inside, you find several
dead Lowlanders, killed with Laser Pistols. First, head left and you
will see a gray door. If you open it, you'll release a stampede of Acid
Frogs into the village to bother RAM soldiers. Don't do it yet. Go
right and you will find a building. Inside is a RAM officer. Have your
hero with the highest Stealth skill steal his key ring and then leave.
If you decide to kill him, he wakes up and calls out 3 RAM H.S. Robots
and 2 Venusian H.S. Robots to help him. Go north from this house and
enter the first one you see. Inside is a Lowlander with a gun who asks
for your identification. Tell him you're from NEO and he'll tell you to
explore the research facility to the southwest and you'll get 500
experience points. If you leave without telling him, he'll lock the
door. To the west, you will find a storeroom. Inside, you'll find some
Demo Charges. Then go back to that gray door with the frogs behind it
and open it. If you explore the Acid Frog pen you'll find some Frog
Food. DON'T EAT IT! Head back to the storeroom and go inside. If you
feed the Acid Frogs within, you receive 5000 experience points as well
as Acid Frog assistance in future battles. Go northeast until you find
a single-room building. Inside is a pair of Lowlanders who tell you to
meet them in the northeast corner of town. Go north from that building
and you will find a large hut. Inside it, you find a small child. If
you have Leander, he tells you that the baby wants you to help him find
his father. Take Zane into your group and give him whatever spare
equipment you have, but please don't try to use him in battle too much.
He only has 4 HP after all. Go to the northeast corner of town as you
were asked to. A Lowlander will ask you to go to the giant storage hut
on the west side of town to fetch some medical gear. He gives you a
code for its door, a Venusian Dart Gun, and Venusian Heavy Body Armor.
Make sure you have the key from the officer near the entrance to town
and then head back to the storage hut where you found the food. Just to
the left of there you find the big storage hut with the medicine in it.
There is also a Mercurian Rocket Pistol, a Venusian Monosword, and 3
Antidotes in the back room as well. Take the medicine to the Lowlander
and you will be told of a secret room in the RAM base, plus you receive
3000 experience points. Leave town at once, but DON'T GO BACK INTO
SPACE! If you approach your ship, Leander and Zane will run off.
Instead, travel southwest from the village until you see a Stonehenge-
like building. Scot tells you that it's part the old space elevator and
is probably filled with hiding RAM soldiers and weapons. Enter and head
south, but ignore the path to your right. It leads to a pack of
Ursadders and an Ursadder den that has nothing of value. Go through the
winding halls and then take the ladder down into the underground lair.
Once you're there, head south. The first room is an empty meeting room.
The second and third are merely closets. Enter the fourth to encounter
a RAM technician who says that if you let him go, he won't sound the
alarms. Here are your choices and what each leads to:
Let Him Go - He sounds the alarms, flooding the building with enemies.
DON'T DO THIS!
Interrogate Him – You get a Security Card and 1250 experience points.
The option "Tie Him Up" appears.
Tie Him Up – You tie the bum up, gag him, and lock him in a broom
closet.
Kill Him – MWAHAHAHAHA! NEVER TRUST A NEO AGENT! Don't do this until
you interrogate him.
After all that is over, Scot discovers from a nearby computer that RAM
intends to use gliders to wipe out every Lowlander on the planet. Leave
the room and open the door to the south using your new Security Card.
Follow the hallway until you see a door. Go by it to find a Detonator
Card, and then go through the door. You'll find a huge hangar filled
with gliders inside. Enter the door on the other side of the hangar and
go west to find a detonator box and 4 Explosive Grenades. If you
activate the box, all of the gliders explode, you gain 5000 experience
points, Swamp Hornets and Ursadders can be randomly fought down here,
and RAM basically has a bad day. If you decide to head back to the
jungle for any reason, you will now find a large area of the tunnel
which has collapsed in your path. Have your hero with the highest Climb
skill climb over and clear it out if you take this path again.
Otherwise, head east and travel through the underground tunnel. Follow
the tunnel and you will reach a door to the right and a door to the
left. The right one is empty and the left one will only open if you got
the key ring from the village. To the north is a pair of barracks. To
the south is one empty barrack, but the path continues in that
direction. Continue to find 2 more barracks to your left and a large
room to your right. Inside are several RAM officers. Here are your
choices and what each leads to:
Run – You flee and take a small amount of damage for your troubles,
plus the alarms are sounded. DON'T DO THIS!
Surrender – They shoot you for a large amount of damage and you are
given the same set of choices. DON'T DO THIS!
Fight – You pummel 9 RAM Warriors into the ground.
Keep going down the hallway, ignoring the next 3 rooms. You will find
an elevator at the end of the hallway. Go to floor 3. Enter the first
door to the south to clear out some RAM Assassins. Then continue
through the hallway, taking out any randomly appearing Robots you
happen to encounter. Check each of the offices along the northern wall
for Assassins and then continue to the western hallway. It leads to a
prison full of Lowlanders who tell you of their leader Landon who is
searching for an exit on floor 4. They also give you a secret knock to
use there to summon him. Go back to the room filled with offices and
head south to find a pair of clearly marked computer rooms. The one on
the right is empty, but the left one contains several RAM Warriors.
Here are your choices and what each leads to:
Leave – They see how cowardly you are and attack with free first hits.
DON'T DO THIS!
Attack – You attack them, causing confusion among them and gain free
first hits. DON'T DO THIS!
Intimidate Them – They beg for mercy. The option " Show Mercy" appears
and "Leave" disappears.
Show Mercy – You gain 1000 experience points and tie them up in a
closet.
If you wish, you can then enter the closet to the south and slaughter
the bound and gagged RAM Warriors, but that would be stupid. Go back to
elevator and go to floor 4. Enter the door to your left to find a one
door to the north and one to the south. The north one contains 5
Acidiums and the south has 7 RAM H.S. Robots. Clear them out, explore
the Acidium room thoroughly until you find a secret door, and then go
back to the room outside the elevator. Take the southern passage. You
will quickly meet Landon who takes Zane with him and you get 1500
experience points. He then tells you to go to floor 1, lab 2 to find a
Retinal Lock Pick beneath a floor tile. By the way, if you lost Zane at
some point, you merely miss out on the 1500 points. If you wish, you
can explore the area behind Landon in order to find a mangled acid
pump. If you further investigate it, you will stumble upon a nasty
horde of Ursadders without any reward for beating them. Head back to
the elevator and then to floor 1. Head south until you pass through a
door and then go through the passage to the north. Pass through 2 doors
and continue along the hallway until you reach lab 2. Near the
southeastern corner is the Retinal Lock Pick. Now, return to where you
found Landon. He'll tell you to go find the Lowlander prisoners and
take them to the Acidium chamber with the secret door. Visit Landon one
more time to receive 2000 experience points for your help in their
escape. If you still have Leander, he will now leave your party. Scot
informs you that there is nothing else to do on Venus, so head back to
your ship and return to Salvation. All is not well though, as your boss
tells you that Atha from Mars has been kidnapped! If you do not go to
Juno and rescue her, they'll kill her. Your boss then tells you that
your current mission to Mercury is more important, but Buck encourages
you to go rescue her.
Part sixteen: Dinner And Dancing (Optional Mission)
Enemies
RAM Assault Robot
If you spend enough time flying through space aimlessly, you will
receive a message from NEO asking you to visit Chez Luna on Tycho space
station. Orders are orders, so drop what you were doing and head there
right away.
Mission Objectives: Meet With Wilma Deering, Assist Her In Escaping
Level Breakdown
Enter the Chez Luna Cafй and mingle four times. After the final mingle,
Wilma Deering, Buck Rogers' fiancйe, will wave to you. She explains
that she needs a distraction so that she can go meet someone. You are
told to attack the security robot that will be passing by in the
hallways, and in payment, you are given a handy little Mercurian Dart
Gun. Go out into the hallway and tango with the RAM Assault Robot.
Wilma meets with her target and leaves, giving you 1000 experience
points for your bravery. If only all RAM Assault Robots were worth that
much...
Part seventeen: Rainbow 6 in the 25th Century! (Optional Mission)
Enemies
RAM Combat Robot
RAM Assault Robot
RAM Martian Combat Gennie
Now it's time to test your Buck Rogers mastery with the hardest mission
the game has to offer. Even though Atha never really helped you out
much (Heck, she set loose a mechanical ant on you for crying out loud),
it's time to save her from RAM's clutches.
Mission Objectives: Infiltrate Juno Base, Rescue Atha, Escape From Trap
Level Breakdown
Before you do anything here, make sure that all of your heroes have a
Dart Gun of some type and that at least one hero has a Grenade Launcher
and a healthy supply of Chaff Grenades. Without that gear, you're
doomed. After you have all of that, head to Juno. As soon as you enter
the rendezvous point, a squad of Martian Combat Gennies and a RAM
Combat Robot ambushes you. Try to kill the ant quickly and make sure to
spread out your troops to prevent mass Stunning. Speakers blare that
you have met your match and that Gilbert is ready for you, and the door
behind you is firmly locked, preventing your escape. Go through the
hallway until you reach a crossroads. A sniper will begin shooting at
you from the north. If you want the most experience, continue left and
you will encounter 2 Combat Robots and an Assault Robot at the corner.
Head north until you find a door to your right. Inside are some more
RAM Combat Gennies and a Combat Robot. Beat them and then continue
until you find a door to the north. Enter there and clear out some more
Gennies and Robots. Finally, walk into the dead end of this hallway to
encounter a single Combat Robot. Kill it and you should be able to get
some life back from this battle. If you weren't concerned with
experience, simply take the north path to chase down the sniper. Of
course, you don't get to simply fight a sniper. No, instead you wind up
attacking a pair of Combat Robots and 4 Martian Combat Gennies. After
that, you find a hall to the north and a door to the south. If you head
north, you step on a weak mine and summon some more Martian Combat
Gennies. Fight them if you need some life, but not if you have less
than 15 hit points. At that point, a mine could kill you. Ignore the
rest of the hallway as it is filled with nothing more than two mines
and instead head south to the door. Inside is another group of Martian
Combat Gennies and one Combat Robot. Pound 'em and go through the door
to your left to finally meet up with Gilbert, queen of destruction. She
has an impenetrable force field around her and carries a switch that
will fire countless guns on you. Even worse, Atha gets thrown into a
Desert Ape pen. Gilbert laughingly releases one more Assault Robot on
you before she blows you all to kingdom come. Thrash it and then, as
your prize, receive a surprisingly high 2000 credits for beating it.
Even better, you find a Rocket Launcher in the wreckage. Gilbert is
about to kill you when Atha escapes, breaks the arm off of the ape, and
impales Gilbert on the pointy object. You all escape using Gilbert's
control box and Atha is safely returned to her allies. Swell, ain't it?
Part eighteen: Cruisin' with the Big Boys (Very Optional Mission)
Enemies
RAM Warrior
RAM Technician
RAM H. Security Robot
Terrine Leader
Level Breakdown
If you wish, you could go and beat the game right now. In fact, you
could have much earlier, but that's beside the point. Now, if you
really want to do every possible task in the game, you may have noticed
the RAM Heavy Cruisers. Beating one of these boasts a nice little 2100
experience point prize plus whatever experience you gain inside, so
training with these is much faster than just fighting in bars and such.
Of course, should you ever encounter this monstrous spacecraft,
defeating it in combat is extremely difficult. Bristling with countless
guns, I have found only one method that lets you defeat this puppy
easily. Keep your distance at 3, and then use Laser Cannons to destroy
all of its weapons. At that distance, it can only hit you with its
Heavy Missiles, but once they're out of the way, you're safe. After
destroying guns, take out the controls with Missiles and Laser Cannons.
Finally, charge in to board. Inside, you'll notice that very little is
different, except that each random battle contains 20 or so enemies.
Bring those Rocket Launchers and Plasma Throwers along. Of course,
after you capture every control console in the huge ship, you also get
a decent cash prize and 2100 experience points, plus whatever you found
on board. If you happen to encounter a ship known as the Sahara, things
will turn out a bit differently. A speaker will yell out that if that
if you manage to reach the prisoner's area, all prisoners are to be
killed. Explore the ship a bit until you find a bunch of those energy
field cells that you were imprisoned in while fighting Talon. Enter
that area and a group of seven RAM Warriors will attack you. Now,
although this may sound easily done, you have to do it quickly or the
other guards will kill the prisoners. I wiped them out in 2 turns, but
you may have more time than that. Anyway, after beating them, enter the
cell one space to your north and enter. You appear just in time to save
the prisoners from 16 RAM Warriors and 8 RAM Technicians. Please, enjoy
your Rocket Launchers and Plasma Throwers here. You release the
prisoners, they help capture the ship, and that's that. As a final
note, there is one other thing to worry about when boarding Heavy
Cruisers. In rare cases, they will try to capture your ship through the
boarding tubes. Always remember where you came in, because once Scot
tells you that they've begun, you have only moments to get back there.
You'll encounter 16 RAM Warriors and 8 RAM Technicians, then the enemy
ship will surrender. Now, all that's left is Mercury…
Part nineteen: Je M'apelle Bite Me
Enemies
! = Found in Main Area
@ = Found in Core
# = Found in Top Floor
! # Mercurian Warrior
! # Mercurian Leader
! @ Mercurian H.S. Robot – These spider-like creations are not that
dangerous, but they are annoying. The only real threat they pose comes
from their Mercurian Rocket pistols, which they use evenly with Dazzle
Grenades. Whittle away at their stupendous amounts of life with pretty
much any weapon.
@ RAM Combat Robot
@ # RAM Assault Robot
# Mercurian Technician
# Mercurian Combat Gennie – Ouch. Very ouch. These freaks carry Martian
Monoswords, Martian Laser Pistols, Battle Armor, and Explosive
Grenades. They are only found in the final battle and take quite a
beating before going down. Smite them with Rocket Launchers for best
results.
Mariposa 3 is a large energy station out in the middle of space, home
to the frog-like Mercurians as well as their leader, the Sun King. It
would seem that RAM has some other uses for the complex and the final
showdown for the Doom's Day device may just take place here. Using all
the stolen goodies you've picked up along the way, it's time to attack.
Mission Objectives: Avoid Security, Find and Destroy Doom's Day Device,
Get Out Alive
Level Breakdown
Upon entering using the stolen access code you picked up in your
travels, walk over to the security door. Your stolen IDs and Blue Pass
Cards will get you through easily. On the other side, you find your old
friend Wilma Deering. She takes your Pass Cards in order to "distract
security for you". I don't know how that could help, but she does offer
you this little trinket of advice – avoid security gates. Remember, as
you explore the area, guards will occasionally show up. Here are your
your choices and what each leads to:
Fight – You fight the enemy and blow your cover. DON'T DO THIS!!!
Evade – You usually manage to escape the guard, but occasionally get
caught.
Wait – You are approached by the guards and given the chance to talk
your way out of it. All of the three choices have the same success
rate.
Wander around for a while until an old man walks up to you and says,
"One if by land." Here are your choices and what each leads to:
Ignore – He simply walks past. DON'T DO THIS!!!
Speak – He asks "Are you the dancers?" Options Yes and No appear.
Accost – He laughs and runs away. DON'T DO THIS!!!
Yes – He tells you that the Sun King is waiting in the Mariposa 3
center for you.
No – He walks on. DON'T DO THIS!!!
Head to the northern part of the station and ignore the south side.
Continue north after passing "U R U Holoportraitaire" to find a bizarre
bazaar. If you explore, you can find a few weird items here and there
but nothing of use. Head east immediately until you reach a parrot.
Here are your choices and what each leads to:
Feed – He bites you for 1 hit point of damage. DON'T DO THIS!!!
Play – He bites you for 1 hit point of damage. DON'T DO THIS!!!
Ignore – You walk past.
Head north after the parrot to find an old computer. Scot will let you
know that things are getting a bit fishy in the stock markets and both
the Sun Kings and RAM are preparing for trouble on earth. Head south
until you find a blue door that says, "To Rue de S". Continue until you
reach a fork in the road. Head east and then south, ignoring all side
doors. From here, you have several choices. If you head southwest, you
will find the Mercurian Stock Market and get to battle a large group of
Mercurian Warriors, Mercurian H.S. Robots, and one Mercurian Leader. If
you head southeast, you'll find a security checkpoint bristling with
Laser Cannons. I suggest you ignore this area. Head northeast, passing
through the plaza, until you reach the core. Inside, there are four
floors. The first three floors each have a hidden medallion for you to
find. Remember to be ready for random Robot attacks.
First Floor – Take the northwest door, head west, and then go south
until you find a small room. Inside, you find a maintenance robot
vacuuming and coming surprisingly close to the medallion. Have your
Rogue grab it away and then go on to the next floor.
Second Floor – Go to the southeast corner and find a small room. Search
it three times and you'll find the second medallion.
Third Floor – Go to the southeast corner. Inside, you find a trapped
plaque with a medal on it as well as some deactivated robots. Have your
Rogue remove the medallion. If she fails and the trap goes off, destroy
the RAM Combat Robot and RAM Assault Robot and then continue.
Fourth Floor – Head to the northeast corner and walk through the
hallway with the plaque that says, "Abandon all hope ye who enter
here". Walk to the door, give the guard the medals, and he will let you
in. When you reach the sun king, answer oui three times. He will
deactivate the core lasers and tell you to capture the Doom's Day
device for him. Of course, you plan to destroy it, but he doesn't need
to know that. Go to the core once more and head to the top of Mariposa
3.
Top Floor – As soon as you enter this area, you hear the countdown to
firing begin. Head north as far as you can, and then go west. You'll
find a staircase. Climb it twice, then head south until you see a room
with a sign that reads, "Danger – Power Room". Enter and have your best
climber cut the juice to the Doom's Day device. This is only a
temporary solution though. Head to the southeast corner and use the
retinal lock pick you found earlier to get through the door. Head south
until you can't go south any more and then head east. Enter the first
door to the south you find. Inside are 3 RAM Assault Robots, 2
Mercurian Combat Gennies, and 4 Mercurian Technicians. Ignore the Techs
and go all out against the Robots and Gennies, as this is the last big
battle. After you win, you hear that the weapon (And Mariposa 3) will
explode in two minutes. A cluster of Mercurian Technicians and a RAM
Assault Robot rush in to stop the countdown, but you should have no
trouble defeating them. Quickly rush back to the staircase and go down
one flight of stairs. Walk through the hallway until you are attacked
by a group of Mercurians. Kill the lot of them. Go all the way to the
right side of the area, past the escape pods, and Scot will unlock the
pod doors. Enter one of the remaining escape pods and fly away,
watching as both the evil Frenchmen and the RAM Doom's Day device go up
in flames. Yippee. The end.
Part twenty: The Armory
Here is a list of all the game's weaponry and such. Remember that my
comments are based on my experience with the game. If you want to waste
your money and use a Cutlass, go right ahead. Also, keep in mind that
Martian, Venusian, Mercurian, or Lunar equipment gets various bonuses.
Unarmed – For the idiotic or suicidal only. Battling without weapons
has no range and does pitiful amounts of damage. Don't even try it.
1-2 damage (affected by strength) x1
Range – 1
Acc. - +0%
Laser Pistol – This fine little weapon fires 3 beams at the enemy for a
medium amount of damage. It is an extremely balanced weapon, but does
not hurt some robots. Also, Aerosol Grenades create thick clouds that
this weapon cannot penetrate. If you didn't already own one, I'd
suggest that you buy one for each person. It comes in handy very often
and works well when used with a Rocket Pistol at your side.
1-8 damage x3
Range - ???
Acc. - +20%
Rocket Pistol – This heavy firearm launches 4 large missiles at the
enemy for heavy damage and is decently accurate. While many enemies are
impervious to it, fleshy critters seem to have more trouble getting out
of the way. Chaff grenades create particle clouds that prevent rockets
from passing. It's a fun toy when it works, but make sure to carry
something else too, okay?
1-10 damage x4
Range - ???
Acc. +20%
Dart Gun – This insidious creation fires 6 clouds of darts at the enemy
for a pitiful amount of damage, but you've got to love the accuracy on
this baby. If you can train a warrior in the ways of the Dart Gun,
expect good results. It is a weapon designed for those enemies that are
just too hard to hit, and the best part is that nothing is immune to
it. The Dart Gun is a must-have for any hero, especially near the end.
1-3 damage x6
Range - ???
Acc. - +20%
Heat Gun – Although this spitfire shoots out 2 huge fireballs for
monstrous damage, and although nothing seems to be immune to it, this
weapon's accuracy just makes it too hard to use. If you want to play
with it, go ahead, but it just never grew on me.
2-12 damage x2
Range - ???
Acc. - +20%
Cutlass – I hate this thing. The light and effective Cutlass is a close
range weapon that can do a fair to large amount of damage, but it can
lead to problems in zero gravity situations. Always carry a back up
weapon. Why do I hate it, you ask? Because of the next goodie on our
list.
1-7 damage (affected by strength) x2
Range – 1
Acc. - +0%
Monosword – WOOHOO! This weapon is almost exactly like the Cutlass, but
it does a bit more damage, making the Cutlass a thing of the past...
well, maybe the near future. Anyway, no party is complete without a
Monosword wielder or two, but make sure they have a gun for those long-
range predicaments.
1-10 damage (affected by strength) x2
Range – 1
Acc. +0%
Grenade Launcher – This item cannot be bought here, but will become
available later on. By carrying this, your heroes can shoot their
grenades much farther than they could throw them.
Explosive Grenade – These things have saved me on many occasions. They
do a heavy amount of damage to not only the place where it explodes,
but also to all adjacent spaces. As the old saying goes, "Close only
counts in horseshoes, hand grenades, and nuclear warfare." Once you
find them, stock up.
4-40 damage (small area effect) x1
Acc. - +10
Dazzle Grenades – Although useful when fighting some bosses, these toys
are mostly useless. If they hit, they will blind all effected friends
and enemies, lowering their hit rate and dodge rate. However, if the
target is wearing Protective Goggles, the Dazzle Grenade is useless. By
the way, it will occasionally do 1 or 2 hit points of damage as well.
I've killed a Pirate Warrior with it once, but I never want to waste
that much time again.
1-2 damage (small area effect) x1 +Blindness
Acc. - +10
Stun Grenade – This is another item that is useful at times, but not
often. It stuns all targets affected by it for a varying amount of
turns and lowers their dodge rate. They also cause light damage.
They're more useful for the enemy than for you.
3-6 damage (small area effect) x1 +Stun
Acc. - +10
Aerosol Mist Grenade – These things create large clouds of smoke that
prevent the use of Laser Pistols. That's it.
0 damage (small area effect) x1 +Stops Lasers
Acc. - +10
Chaff Grenades – These produce large clouds of chaff, preventing the
use of Rocket Pistols, Plasma Throwers, and Rocket Launchers. They are
invaluable near the end.
0 damage (small area effect) x1 +Stops Projectiles
Acc. - +10
Rocket Launcher – These are the least-common weapons in the game and
can only be found in two side areas. When equipped, you can fire one
very large explosive device at any point, causing extraordinary amounts
of damage to a very large area. All enemies (and friends) found within
suffer greatly, so make sure that your aim is right. What are the
disadvantages to this? First, it takes a whole turn to reload after
every shot. Second, it reduces your movement ability to a crawl. Third,
if you miss your attack, the missile still hits a spot adjacent to the
target. If you are aiming at a large group of enemies that is far away
from your group, that's good, but when firing in close quarters,
beware. I guarantee you will kill yourself at least once playing with
this.
5-50 damage (medium area effect) x1
Range - ???
Acc. - +15%
Plasma Thrower – This item can only be found by defeating Mercurian
Leaders. Use at your own risk. This monster deals a rather nasty amount
of energized flaming death across the field in a huge range, but it's
very hard to use without vaporizing yourself. Like the Rocket Launcher,
it's a no-no in close combat and has all the same disadvantages. The
only real use for it is taking out huge hordes of weak enemies.
4-40 damage (large area effect) x1
Range - ???
Acc. - +20%
Space Suit – How do you go to the bathroom in these things? AC –4
Smart Suit – An S Mart employee's uniform. AC –6
Heavy Body Armor – Standard storm trooper gear. AC –8
Battle Armor – Big and blue. AC –10
Body Armor w/Fields – Top o' the line laser repellent. AC -12
Poison Antidote – Whenever poisoned, your hero will fall over and be
unable to fight. Using a poison Antidote will help fix this.
ECM Package - ???
Protective Goggles – Makes you immune to Dazzle Grenades.
Part twenty-one: The Shmooze List
When in bars, various hints and tips pop up from time to time. However,
you occasionally wind up hitting the button so fast that you miss out
on some of them. Sure, they may be worthless, but here's a list of them
anyway.
Salvation
"The Sun King on the third Mercurian Mariposa is known to be…
eccentric,"
"Beware of surprise attacks when traveling overland."
"In space combat, shoot out the controls and weapons. Then you can
board."
"I hear a RAM packing company lost their contract for Gennie
containment units."
I know there isn't much here yet, but I'll be working on it in further
updates.
Part twenty-two: Legal Stuff
I don't care where this walkthrough goes, but please, if you have any
respect for the gaming industry, guys named Homer, or things that rhyme
with "orange", please don't change any of it, under penalty of
horrible, tormenting death at the hands of a guy named Jeff*. Thank you
very much.
* - Not guaranteed. It will make you a social outcast**, however, and
bad luck will hopefully torment you until the end of your days.
** - Also not guaranteed.
This document Copyright 2001 Andrew Demario
Part twenty-three: Special Thanks Spot
Thanks go to the Cinnabon Company for making what might just be the
world's tastiest treat.
Thanks go to Jeff. It doesn't matter which one. If you're Jeff, then I
appreciate it.
Thanks go to Lucille Balle for being so lovable.
Thanks go to the King of the Chickens for pointing out a few
differences between versions.
Thanks go to Kevin Sorryiforgotyourlastname for help with the Stealth
skill.
Thanks go to MystifMkII for showing me the Tinker HP boost trick in
Bucky's Tip #1.
By Dancin' Homer at dancinhomer@rpgfan.com
05/27/01
Table o' Contents
Part zero: Walkthrough History
Part one: How To Set Up Your Team And Cheat At It Too
Part two: The Story So Far…
Part three: The Trouble With Terrines
Part four: Albino Brain Chiggers!
Part five: Floor it, Grannie
Part six: Save the Wee Space Bunnies
Part seven: Intergalactic Space Goons Shouldn't Breed
Part eight: Albino Brain Chiggers! Part two (Optional Mission)
Intermission: Let's All Go to the Lobby...
Part nine: Jail Break (Optional Mission)
Part ten: Death to MCI! (Optional Mission)
Part eleven: Crossbows Just Won't Cut It
Part twelve: The Great Justin Robeno (Optional Mission)
Part thirteen: The Unlucky Mission (Optional Mission)
Part fourteen: Party at Talon's Place (Optional Mission)
Part fifteen: Welcome to the Jungle
Part sixteen: Dinner And Dancing (Optional Mission)
Part seventeen: Rainbow 6 in the 25th Century! (Optional Mission)
Part eighteen: Cruisin' With the Big Boys (Very Optional Mission)
Part nineteen: Je M'apelle Bite Me
Part twenty: The Armory
Part twenty-one: The Shmooze List
Part twenty-two: Legal Stuff
Part twenty-three: Special Thanks Spot
Part zero: FAQ history
0.1 – The FAQ is born! FAQ stops at Part 7
0.2 – Fixed some organizational errors. Added Parts 0, 8-13.
0.3 – Fixed some organizational errors. Added Note to the Readers.
Added Parts 14-17. Found the Plasma Thrower.
0.4 – Fixed some organizational errors. Added Parts 18-20.
0.5 – Finally remembered to add Shop Lists.
1.0 – Turned Part 3.2 into Part 20. Added information to Part 20. Added
parts 21 and 22. Updated Part 19.
1.1 – Edited Bucky's Tip #1. Started adding maps up to Part 5. Added
Part 23.
Note to the Readers – This FAQ is written for the Sega Genesis version
of the game. If you are not playing the Genesis version, you might
notice a few things wrong here or there. However, the bulk of this
should be consistent no matter what version you are playing. Also, the
numbers of enemies faced in most set battles are random. The ones I
found were merely the ones I found, and your gameplay may vary from my
own slightly. Experience points also change depending on how many
allies you have. Finally, remember that my maps are not EXACTLY
correct. This is my first shot at making them in a walkthrough, so if
you have problems with them, live with it :P
Part one: How To Set Up Your Team And Cheat At It Too
Welcome to the exciting world of Bucky O'Hare and his galactic super
animal pals! What? This is a different cheesy space thing? Oh, sorry.
Welcome to Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday! Anyway, before you can
start playing, you must first create your team of super heroes. This
section is pretty easy to understand, but just so my FAQ will be more
comprehensive, I'll cover the most important parts.
Race – This is the species of your character. The three options are
Humans (Well rounded and capable of any career), Desert Runners
(Strong, yet slightly idiotic. Incapable of being a rogue or a medic),
and Tinkers (Small, fast, and intelligent, yet weak beyond compare. Can
only be medics).
Career – This is the character's primary skill. The four options are
Warrior (Strongest type and capable of learning Leadership skills),
Rocket Jock (Second strongest type and capable of using Jury Rig skill
to fix a damaged rocket in the midst of battle), Rogue (Third strongest
type and capable of using Bypass Security skill to, well, bypass
security), and Medic (The puniest of them all and capable of bringing a
fallen character to his feet with the Treat Wounds skill). You should
try to have every type in your group. Make sure to realize that
Warriors are the slowest to level up.
Other – This menu lets you decide if your hero will be male or female
(This has no effect on your character) and also lets you roll your
attributes again.
HP – This is how much life you have. Getting hurt reduces it. Once it's
gone, you fall down go boom. A fallen hero is unconscious until the end
of battle, comatose until healed, dying, or dead. Once a guy is dead,
that's it for him. I suggest loading if and when this happens.
AC – This is your Armor Class. The lower the number is, the less chance
you have of getting hit. Also, when you do get hit, you usually take
less damage too.
Strength – This is the muscular power of your hero. As far as I can
tell, this affects the distance you can move per turn. It also improves
damage done with melee weapons.
Dexterity – This is the agility of your hero. It affects your armor
class.
Constitution – This is the physical health of your hero. It affects
your HP.
Charisma – This is the debonair charm of your hero. As far as I can
tell, it affects the Fast Talk skill's success rate.
Technical (?) – This is the mental capacity of your hero. As far as I
can tell, it affects the success rate of all skills.
Bucky's Tip #1: It's obvious that you can get a better character by
rolling your stats until they come out really high, but if you want to
suck every possible HP out of the game for your humans and desert
runners, try this trick. If you repeatedly switch the job of the
character you're working with, his HP will change every time. Be
patient and you can really get a nice little boost for your efforts. Of
course, Tinkers can't change jobs this way, so the only method for them
is to repeatedly change races. It works just the same though, and
Tinkers need every HP they can get.
There, now that we've gotten through that, you get to name your
characters. I chose a theme for my names and gave each character a name
related to soup. Soup is yummy. After you get the names out of the way,
you must assign each character his skills. Here is a list of them in no
particular order and what they do. Remember, each character only gets 8
points for now, so use them wisely.
First Aid – This is the character's ability to patch up those nasty
injuries that hurt us so very much. It can be used to turn a fallen
character's status from dieing to unconscious. Also, it lets you get
back more HP after battle. Everyone should get some training in this.
Zero Gravity Maneuvering – This is the character's ability to walk
around in space. Whenever you fight in a place without gravity, there
is a chance that this skill will improve your walking distance and
accuracy. Everyone should get some training in this.
Library Search – This skill is nearly useless. Whenever you find a
library, you can use this skill to find a few interesting tips there.
Each tip also gives you 100 experience points. There is one extra
mission for you to accomplish if you get this skill, but it has few
bonuses. Give this to only one character and don't waste too much
training on it.
Perception – I am not quite sure, but I think that having a high
perception skill allows you to notice items and secret things that are
normally invisible to you. Train one person to be proficient in this
skill.
Fast Talk – A neat skill that has saved me more than once. This skill
affects your bluffs, intimidations, and lies, and without it, you won't
stand much of a chance. Train one person to be proficient in this
skill.
Demolition – FIRE IN THE HOLE!!! MWAHAHA!!! This skill lets you blow up
whatever needs blowin' up. It's not needed often, but it still helps to
have. Train one person to be proficient in this skill.
Climbing – This affects your ability to climb. Obviously, any hero team
has to do a little climbing at some point, so I guess it has some
purpose. Train one person in this.
Stealth – This skill is nice, but by no means necessary. You
occasionally see the enemy before they see you, and if your whole team
is good at being stealthy you can dodge the fight. Of course, those
skill points are hard to get. The other advantage to using Stealth is
only available to Cutlass or Monosword wielders. By sneaking up behind
the enemy for a rear attack, you sometimes get the option to backstab
instead, causing heavy damage and gaining nearly perfect accuracy.
Programming – This skill affects your character's hacking ability. It's
useful, but not always necessary. Train one person to be proficient in
this skill.
Rocket Repair – This skill affects how successfully your character can
weld shut a hull breach. Because you have to fight a few space battles,
you might want to pump a few points in here just to be safe. However,
it is possible to simply ignore it if you have a good fast talk skill
or don't mind getting healed at Salvation III for free.
Leadership – This skill is only applicable to warriors. It affects your
ability to recruit characters around you to fight for your cause. Pump
as many points into here as possible, because having more targets...
er, friends, can really help out sometimes. It also increases the
chance that you will succeed at the tactics roll before each round
starts, letting your side attack first.
Jury Rig – This skill is only applicable to rocket jockeys. Make sure
that this skill is high, because it is the only way to fix broken parts
on your spaceship. Don't leave home without it.
Bypass Security – This skill is only applicable to rogues. Whether you
have to break out of jail or jimmy open a door, this skill does it all.
Make sure that one character is proficient at it.
Treat Wounds – This skill is only applicable to medics. If it weren't
for this skill, medics would be useless. It allows them to bring a
fallen ally back into fighting condition, but he will still be weak.
Like all career specific skills, this one is a must.
Combat Training – This skill is only applicable to warriors and uses
special points that are specifically for it. For every point that you
put into this, your warrior will do 1 more point of damage and have 5%
better accuracy, but it only works for the weapon you choose for him to
train in. I'd suggest either Monoswords or Dart Guns, but Laser Pistols
are also nice.
Okay, you've picked what your character will be like. Now do it five
more times. Unless you want a handicap of epic proportions, use a full
team. My suggested team is two warriors (One human and one desert
runner), two rocket jockeys (One human and one desert runner), one
rogue (Human of course), and one medic (Tinker). Now, let us see...
Part two: The Story So Far...
The year is 24 something, and I don't feel like checking when exactly.
The important part is that it's THE 25th CENTURY!!! In Earth's future,
the evil Russo-American Mercantile (Or R.A.M.) has decimated the
planet's resources and plans on conquering the entire solar system as
soon as Earth is out of the way. Fortunately, the New Earth
Organization (Or N.E.O.) is doing its best to save the world! You've
just joined the group hoping to pound some genetically altered mutants
or save a planet or something. Now, let us begin.
Part three: The Trouble With Terrines
Enemies
Terrine Warrior – These guys are quite pathetic, but they aren't
harmless. They carry a Laser Pistol and a Spacesuit. Collect the Suits
so you can sell them, but leave the pistols, which have less value. Try
to take these morons out first. Worth 12 experience points and 40
credits each.
Terrine Leader – A slightly buffer versions of the Warriors. These guys
have a wee bit more life, but their biggest advantage is in their
weaponry. They carry Laser Pistols, Cutlasses, Dazzle Grenades, and
Smart Suits. Try to get a Smart Suit for each character for a –2 bonus
on your AC.
NEO Warrior – The few, the proud, the NEO warriors. Actually, they are
pretty plentiful and I see no reason for them to be proud. These guys
are your friends, and will gladly help you out if you have a high
enough Leadership skill. They seem to be using nothing more than a
Laser Pistol, but they make nice targets and take a few hits for you.
Send them right up to the front line for the most useful effects.
Your group has been assigned to Salvation Station for salvage duty, but
that doesn't matter right now. Why? Because an army of homicidal mutant
Terrines has just invaded the Chicagorg (No, that's not a typo on my
part) airport where you happen to be! A fallen companion tells you to
go find the emergency missile controls and save the day.
Legend
X – Start. This is where you begin the level at.
F – Fire. Causes minor damage and forces you to retreat.
E – Event. Not worth anything, but provides information.
A – Enemy. You are attacked by foes.
L – Lock. The door cannot be opened.
T – Trap. The door cannot be opened and enemies attack.
S – Spoils. Treasure, loot, booty, etc.
O – Boss. The final battle of the level.
_ _
|_|FFF|_|F
F F _
F |E|
F X F
F |E| |E_| |
______F F ___|__
| | | | O |
| E E LL T|L | |
|__| |_____|LL|____| _|__|
| | |
|_A _____ _ __ _|
| |E |A|E| | E |S |
|_E_______|_|_|LL|_____|__|
Mission Objectives: Locate and Activate Defensive Missiles, Save
Airport
Bucky's Tip #2: When in battle, try to get in side and rear attacks.
After you shoot at an enemy or after he shoots at you, he will turn in
that direction. If you position your character behind the enemy or to
its side, it will be less able to dodge your attack. This also counts
for you, so watch your back. Also, make sure to kill off enemies one at
a time. A wounded foe can still hurt you. A dead one can't.
Level Breakdown
As you search this area, Terrines will randomly attack you, so don't
waste time. First, head southwest of where you start. If you head in
any other direction, horrible explosions will drive you back. You will
find a door into the building. Go in. To your left is a Lecture Hall.
There is nothing of importance inside so ignore it. South of there, you
will find the Officer's Lounge and the Canteen. The Officer's Lounge is
filled with bodies so ignore it too. The Canteen is filled with
Terrines, so rush in and whack the fools. To your right, you will find
the rest rooms. There is one Terrine warrior in the ladies' room
(Boldly going where no man has ever gone before) and nothing in the
decimated men's room. To the north, you can see a security door, but
it's locked. Further to the right, you will find the waiting room.
There's nothing here of value. Continue right until you find the
medical office. The moment you enter, an angry guard kicks you out.
It's probably for the best, though, because a grenade goes off inside
seconds later. Enter again for 2 explosive grenades. North of there,
you will find a door that says "Authorized Personnel Only". March on in
and you'll encounter a group of 6 Terrine warriors and 1 Leader. Oh
joy. You are surrounded at first, so try to take out all the enemies of
one side to prevent rear attacks from the enemy. Make sure to get rid
of all the warriors first. You shouldn't have too much trouble. After
the fight, a RAM technician tries to shoot at you while fiddling with
the controls. Here are the choices you can make and what each one leads
to:
Shoot – One of your heroes fire at the technician. I don't think you
can miss. He dies, but first he prepares a grenade on the missile
terminal. Options "Dive on Grenade" and "Flee" appear.
Charge – You tackle the technician with the same results as the "Shoot"
option.
Hide – You duck into a safer position. Changes the "Hide" option into
the "Flee" option, but nothing else changes.
Dive on Grenade – One of your heroes must jump onto an exploding
grenade to stop it from destroying the terminal, but he/she will take
10 points of damage. You gain 2000 experience points, 1000 credits,
full health, and complete the mission.
Flee – You run like a little pansy and flying saucer people blow up the
whole building. It causes instant death for you, thus removing a
pathetic coward from existence. DON'T DO THIS!
Congrats! You just beat the first mission! But before we go on to the
next, you visit Salvation III. Here is the NEO headquarters, full of
bright, cheerful individuals dedicated to cleaning up the Earth. It
also contains a medical center for the injured, a bar (It's the only
one that doesn't have brawls in the entire universe), a meeting room,
and the weapons shop. You can do some schmoozing at the bar if you wish
or have that nasty mole on your back taken care of if you want, but I
suggest going to the gunnery first. Here, you are introduced to the
wide world of firearms. Pick out some nice boom-sticks here (For more
information on the game's many boom-sticks, see Part twenty: The
Armory), and then head on over to the meeting room to learn of your
next mission, which just might involve...
Part four: Albino Brain Chiggers!
Enemies
Small E.C. Gennie – These tiny terrors are more annoying than
dangerous. They have a weak close range attack, but they tend to appear
in large numbers. Beware, as a hit from them can induce Dizziness,
which lowers accuracy and dodge percentages. Worth 25 experience points
each.
Large E.C. Gennie – These are the first large enemies you will
encounter, as they cover two squares instead of the normal one! More
importantly, they have more life than their tiny cousins, do more
damage (They're still close range though), and can poison your people!
Zounds! Destroy them on site or pay the consequences. Worth 33
experience points.
RAM L.D. Robot – These things are quite painful. They are armed with
Martian Laser Pistols and don't mind using them. Fortunately, they have
little life and go down before causing you too much aggravation. Worth
25 experience points each.
RAM H.D. Robot – As with the light defense models, these things have
powerful Martian Laser Pistols. However, they also have higher life,
but don't come in such large numbers. Worth 42 experience points each.
Comatose Hero – If one of your heroes goes unconscious, he will
eventually come to and try to kill you. Obviously, he will be just as
strong as he was before and will use whatever weapon he's carrying.
Show no mercy, but receive no prize.
Your boss, Mr. Turabian, tells you to go out into Earth's orbit in
search of freaky things. You comply willingly, unaware that one of the
most annoying parts of the game is approaching. After a few days of
searching, you find an old unidentified ship. As soon as you enter, a
glowing phantasm screams by you! Creepy. The doors lock behind you,
sealing you within this ghastly hole of death.
Mission Objectives: Locate Information on the Ship's History,
Neutralize any Threats to NEO, Escape Alive
Legend
X – Start.
E – Event.
I – Information. An important event.
B – Bonus. An event that gives you experience.
A – Enemy.
M – Medic. Also known as your best friend in the whole wide world.
L – Ladder. Going up?
V - Vent. Going down?
T – Trap. Using the thing here summons enemies.
S – Spoils.
D – Delayed Attack. Once a condition is met, enemies show up here.
0 – Boss.
Floor 1
__________
|_| EL|
|V _____ |
| | | |
| | | I|
| | __| |
| | | __ |
| |__| | I|
|______|___|
Floor 2
____________
|_|___| | L|
|V B__| |
| __ |
| |__| __ E|
| ____|EE| |
| | |EE| _|
| | |EE X|
|D|____|EE| |
|__D__I|IE|_E|
Floor 3
_________
|_| |L|
|V|_|_E_| |
| __ _ _|
| |E |E |
|___|E_|E_|
Floor 4
_________
|_| |EEE|L|
|V __ ___ |
|T| E |MS|
| |__|
|______|__|
Floor 5
______
|_|II|L|
|V __| |
| BA| |
|______|
Floor 6
______
|_| O|L|
|_ |A|
|_|____|
Level Breakdown
As you wander around in here, horrible Gennies and robots will randomly
attack you, so please hurry. Also, each hero now has an evil parasite
in their brain that they picked up in the air, so your first objective
is to find a medical station. As you walk, the heroes will go into a
coma one by one, so hurry up. Head left as soon as you enter the ship.
In here, you will find bits of a recording. One piece will tell you a
secret code that the game remembers for you. Head out into the hall
again. To the south, you will find a gun turret that does nothing for
you. Ignore it. To the north, you will see a ladder. Go up it twice and
you will be on floor 4. To the south of the floor 4 ladder, you will
find the medical office! In the first room, you will find a computer.
Use it, and then take it. You will find 5 Antidotes beneath it. Go left
and it will tell you that medical equipment hangs around here. Use it,
and it will require a code. Here are the choices you can make and what
each leads to:
Conchitez – The machine will not accept the code and robots will
attack, plus you lose all hope of removing your brain parasites. DON'T
DO THIS!!!
Will – The machine will accept the code.
Buck – Same results as Conchitez. DON'T DO THIS!!!
Vilnikov – A valid code.
Simonov – I never tried this one. Little help?
If you put in the proper code, all of your people will be healed and
you gain 500 experience points! Now you don't have to worry about brain
parasites, and if you take any damage, you can return for a quick
boost. Head west of the medical lab and you will find two doors. The
north one contains information on Mr. Conchitez, currently deceased,
and on some doctor of no importance. To the south is an empty cargo
bay. Further west is bio-monitoring station. Use it and a Large ECG
will attack you. Kill it. North of there is the air ducts, which act as
another ladder if you have some skill in Perception. However, there is
a small chance that one of your heroes will encounter a herd of Small
ECGs within and will have to fight them alone.
Bucky's Tip #3: These battles in the vents are wonderful for building
up experience. Each one is worth about 300-400 points, plus whoever
does the fighting gets an extra 200. Spend some time here and you'll be
thankful when you get back home.
Head back to the ladder and go to floor 5. Follow the one path you are
given and you will find a computer console. If you have a rogue, you
can shut it down with your Bypass Security skill. This will shut down
all robots and gives the rogue 250 experience points, if she succeeds.
To your right is a room full of (Now inactive) robots that you should
ignore, and to the north, you will meet the sentient hologram of
Scot.Dos. He is a NEO sympathizer and tells you that you must find some
argon gas to kill off the little monsters running around and if you
don't hurry, they will grow up into their final stage. He then tells
you to head to either floor 4 or 1 to find it. Go back to the ladder
and head to floor 3, ignoring Scot's messages to you. South of the
ladder, you find a room with a folder in it that says that the ECG was
designed to drop brain parasites, explaining what happened to you
earlier. Head left, and you will find another 2 rooms. The north one is
empty except for some signs of battle, and the south one just contains
a diary revealing RAM's plans to use the ECG horde to wipe out the
earthlings. Further left, you find a room that has several bodies in
it. One holds a log containing another computer access code and hints
that some gas can control the ECG swarm. Obviously, we already know
that it's argon, but that's okay. Head back to floor 2 and head west.
You'll find a door leading to the ship's garden. Inside, a monstrous
plant quickly soothes the party almost to sleep and then wraps up one
of your members! Here are the choices you can make and what each leads
to:
Attack – Destroy the plant, but the attacked hero takes 10 points of
damage from the evil thorns. You discover it was actually a highly
advanced ECG and gain 250 experience points.
Flee – You try to abandon your friend, but the plant lures all of you
in. You deserved it. It causes instant death for you. DON'T DO THIS!
Watch – You decide that dieing won't be so bad and are eaten by the
plant critter. It causes instant death for you. DON'T DO THIS!
Now that you've grabbed all possible experience on the ship, head down
to floor 1 and explore the southeast corner. You should find the argon
there. If it's not there, then it is on floor 4. The placement seems
random. In any case, once you find it, go to floor 2. Head all the way
to the west, and then go south. As soon as you open the door, a Large
ECG will attack. Kill it, and then continue. At the end of the hall,
you will find the Air Sampling Center. Hook up the argon tank for a
cool 500 experience points. The ECGs begin dieing, but don't celebrate
yet! One of the super-intelligent Stage 3 ECGs has reversed the flow
and is stopping you from saving the day! Scot tells you to go to
engineering to override the alien freak, so leave the room. Another
Large ECG will attack along the way. Kill that one too. Go to the
ladder and rush down to the east side of floor 1. A computer console
will be down there. Have your hero with the best Jury Rig skill try to
fix it, but in the mean time, ECGs attack! Here are the choices you can
make and what each leads to:
Stand – You bravely face the monsters and just fix the wiring in the
nick of time. The ECGs die without a fight. You gain 1000 experience
points.
Retreat – You abandon the computer and try to run, but soon you are
surrounded. You are stuck in a nearly impossible battle with 8 large
ECGs and 4 Small ECGs. If anyone has beaten this battle, inform me of
the results. I didn't feel like trying.
All seems to be going your way... UNTIL A VOICE INFORMS YOU THAT ONE OF
THE ECGS JUST SET OFF THE SELF DESTRUCT SEQUENCE! Rush to floor 6,
enter the door, go up to the computer console, get 500 experience
points, and everything will finally be settled. Well, everything except
for the mysterious gunman in the airlock who's shooting at you! One of
your heroes will take 7 points of damage, and then a battle will begin
with a pair of Stage 3 ECGs.
BOSS BATTLE!
Stage 3 ECGs – These two zombie-like monstrosities are annoying, but
not that hard. They have a large amount of life, good defense, and
carry Martian Dart Guns, Martian Smart Suits, and Martian Monoswords.
Try to kill them off one at a time, and make sure to have your injured
characters run. Two hits from these guys would kill most characters by
now. After the fight, collect everything. Worth 50 experience points
each.
Now that those two are taken care of, your heroes notice something in
the escape pod. Inside, you find a Stage 3 ECG with a bomb! Here are
the choices you can make and what each leads to:
Shoot It – The creature flies out into space to die and you run away in
time to escape the blast. The ship is now yours, and you return to
Salvation III. You gain 1000 experience points and complete the
mission.
Flee – The thing throws the bomb after you, killing itself and causing
24 points of damage to all of your heroes. If you survive that, the
rest is the same as the "Shoot It" option.
Congrats again! You just completed the second mission, and you got a
nice rocket ship for you to use as a bonus. Now, as yet another old
saying goes...
Part five: Floor it Grannie
Enemies
! = Found on RAM ships
@ = Found on Pirate ships
# = Found on Mercurian ships
! RAM Warriors – These are the basic foot soldiers of the RAM army.
They carry Rocket Pistols, Aerosol Grenades, Cutlasses, Protective
Goggles (Prevents Blindness), and Heavy Body Armor. They are somewhat
dangerous, but as long as you take them out one at a time, you should
have no problem. Make sure to grab the Heavy Body Armor and a pair of
Goggles for everyone. You will face these guys at almost all points in
the game.
! RAM Technician - These are the unseen villains normally behind the
scenes who build all of those lovely Robots you'll fight with along the
way, as well as many other fiendish mechanical creations. They are not
very good fighters though, and have almost no life, little defense, and
can only aimlessly fire at you. They use Heat Guns and Smart Suits.
Worth 21 experience points and 56 credits each.
! RAM H.S. Robot - Martian Rocket Pistols can hurt if they hit, so
beware. Try to defeat them quickly, but make sure you don't use Rocket
Pistols. They don't work too well. Worth 100 experience points each.
! Terrine Leader
@ Pirate Leader - I hate these guys. They have a ton of life, good
defense, good offense, and to top it all off, they carry Stun Grenades,
Dazzle Grenades, Heavy Body Armor, Protective Goggles, and a Rocket
Pistol. Always kill them first, or else you may wind up with half your
team Stunned.
@ Pirate Warrior - I moderately dislike these guys. They have less life
than the Leaders and cause less damage, but their defense is the same.
They carry Dazzle Grenades, Heavy Body Armor, and Rocket Pistols. These
guys should be your last concern.
# Mercurian Warrior – The evil frogs of space are almost exact clones
of their wimpier RAM cousins. They carry Rocket Pistols, Aerosol
Grenades, Cutlasses, and Martian Heavy Body Armor. Fight them just like
you would a RAM Warrior.
# Mercurian Technician – These guys are more like Terrine Warriors than
anything else. They carry Laser Pistols and Smart Suits. Just shoot
them.
# Mercurian Leader – FEAR THEM! FEAR AND TREMBLE BEFORE THEM! These
pyromaniacs carry PLASMA THROWERS! You know, those big fire-spewing
death guns that the RAM Combat Robots use. Kill these guys on site or
pay the rather nasty price.
Upon returning to Salvation III, you are informed that an evil plot is
going on involving the Ceres asteroid belt, Mars, and Venus. You are
told to explore Ceres first. Now, it's time to disobey the rules and
search the galaxy for neat things in your new space jalopy. Here are
the many scenic areas of space and what they contain.
Legend
G – Gym. Lets you level up.
S – Shop. Buy stuff.
M – Medic. Get full life.
L – Library. Research useless junk.
B – Bar. Get wasted and shmooze.
H – Hangar. Repair/reload your ship.
O – Off Limits. You can't go past here.
Salvation (Earth)
Smart Suit – 1200 Credits
Laser Pistol - 335 Credits
Cutlass – 100 Credits
Rocket Pistols – 400 Credits
Poison Antidote – 400 Credits
Heat Gun – 500 Credits
Needle Gun – 210 Credits
Space Suit – 500 Credits
__ __ __
__ |S_| |M_| |B_| __
| |_| |_| |_| |_| |
| G ______ _______ H |
|__| |O| |__|
Tycho (Earth)
Stun Grenade – 100 Credits
Lunarian Monosword – 32000 Credits
Aerosol Mist Grenade – 100 Credits
Dazzle Grenade – 100 Credits
Poison Antidote – 800 Credits
Pavonis (Mars)
Martian Cutlass – 400 Credits
Cutlass – 200 Credits
Monosword – 2000 Credits
New Elysium (Venus)
Protective Goggles – 20 Credits
Poison Antidote – 800 Credits
Venusian Laser Pistol – 2680 Credits
Smart Suit – 2400 Credits
Hielo (Mercury)
Heavy Body Armor – 6800 Credits
Protective Goggles – 40 Credits
Mercurian Heat Gun – 16000 Credits
_____
| |
|_ L _|
__| |_
| | O|
|_G |
| |_
__| B|
| S |_|
|__| |
__ | |
| |_| |
| H _|
|____|
Thule (Space)
Rocket Pistol – 800 Credits
Martian Rocket Pistol – 2000 Credits
Aurora (Space)
Space Suit – 2000 Credits
Smart Suit – 4800 Credits
Protective Goggles – 40 Credits
Battle Armor w/Fields – 12000 Credits
Hygeia (Space)
Cutlass – 200 Credits
Grenade Launcher – 1000 Credits
Heat Gun – 1000 Credits
Juno (Space)
ECM Package – 200 Credits
Dazzle Grenade – 200 Credits
Aerosol Mist Grenade – 200 Credits
Stun Grenade – 200 Credits
Chaff Grenade – 200 Credits
Psyche (Space)
Laser Pistol – 670 Credits
Martian Laser Pistol – 1340 Credits
_____
| |
|_ S _|
| _|
| | _
_| |__| |
|O ___B|
| |
_| |_
| H |
|_____|
Pallas (Space)
(Nothing)
Fortuna (Space)
(Nothing)
Vesta (Space)
(Nothing)
Ceres (Space)
(Nothing)
__
| |
| |
______|H_|
|O _ ___|
| G| B|
|__|__|
First off, visit scenic Juno. Here, for the low price of 200 credits
each, you can purchase an ECM Package. These are automatically
equipped, but sadly, I have no idea what they do. Buy them anyway, and
if you discover their purpose, fill me in. Next up, go to Thule. Here,
you should purchase a Martian Rocket Pistol for each character. They
are very useful for the next part of the game. Now, enter a bar and
keep talking until a fight breaks out. If you decide to stay, you will
encounter RAM Warriors. Take the Heavy Body Armors, equip them (they
should be the best available now), and head on to Aurora. Here, you can
purchase Body Armor W/Fields for only 12,000 credits each! You should
be able to afford one, but you'll want one for everybody soon. Go fight
RAM warriors and sell their armor until you have enough. Next, head to
Venus' New Elysium and pick up some Venusian Laser Pistols. Finally, go
off to Hygeia and purchase a Grenade Launcher for your grenade-carrying
heroes. By now, you should be nearly broke, but you won't need any
credits for a while anyway.
Bucky's Tip #4: In space, you will occasionally find RAM, Pirate, or
Mercurian ships. If you are lucky, you can Threaten or Bluff your way
out of the situation and make 100 experience points in the process. If
you're not lucky, you head straight into combat. If you don't like
running, I suggest that once combat starts and you have the chance to
attack, aim for the weapons first with your laser cannons. Once they're
gone, try to disable either their engines or controls, then close in on
and board them. If you capture their ship by finding the control system
and/or the engine system, you gain a whole pile of credits for your
efforts, but blowing up a ship is only worth a few experience points.
Also, because your more entertaining weapons use ammo, it's often too
costly to use them. Refills at most spaceports are quite expensive. If
you go to Salvation III instead, you can fix up the hunk of junk for
free.
It's now time to go...
Part six: Save the Wee Space Bunnies
Enemies
! = Found on Floor 1
@ = Found on Floor 2
! Hyper Snake – These things are pathetic. They have poor defense, poor
offense, but good speed. They probably can't hurt you at this point,
but they can dodge Rocket Pistols. Kill them last.
! Hyper Scorp – These pests also have poor defense and offense, as well
as poor speed, but they can hit you from time to time. Beware as their
poison can really put a damper on your day.
! Hyper Crab – These are the only dangerous enemies down here. They
have high offense and defense, but fortunately, they lack any other
bonuses. Destroy these first. Worth 20 experience points each.
@ Space Rats – No matter how poorly your team is doing after all of
those Hyper Animal fights, you shouldn't be worried. These things have
terrible life and defense and a pitiful close-range attack. Each one
should go down in one attack. Worth 21 experience points each.
You are now off to investigate the enemy base at Ceres in search of
information on the Doom's Day device. Make sure you are prepared and
have at least a few Antidotes. You'll need them.
Mission Objectives: Locate Secret Plan Data, Rescue the Children,
Rescue the Gennies (Optional), Rescue the Space Bunnies (Optional),
Escape From Base
Level Breakdown
Upon entering, you are greeted by a RAM soldier who asks you if you are
here to help. Here are the choices you can make and what each leads to:
Attack – You fight the guard, completely blowing your cover and making
things just plain difficult. DON'T DO THIS!
Bluff – If you have a high enough Fast Talk skill, you can convince him
that you were sent to help out and are allowed in.
Now, he'll tell you to go to the meeting room. Head left, and another
guard will show you the room. Apparently, it's your job to go into a
sub-level of the place, find some kids, and escape via a different
elevator, because the one you go down in will be blown up. Also, mutant
Gennies will be trying to kill you the whole way, and the asteroid base
is being evacuated, leaving you all alone. How nice. Leave the room and
go south. You will see three small rooms to your left. Enter the middle
one. A frantic woman will ask you if you've seen the kids. Here are
your choices and what each leads to:
Yes – She calms down and leaves with the others.
No or Remain Silent – She panics and runs after the kids.
Anyway, continue south and then turn right. A guard will give you 2
Demo Charges, 2 Antidotes, and an Explosive Grenade. You will see a
small room with a 1 in it. This is the elevator. Before you go in, go
right one more room. Here, you will find some poisoned Gennies. If you
have a medic heal them, you'll get 2500 experience points. Do this, and
then head down the elevator. Once at the bottom, head left, and then
north. Ignore the first door, skip the second, and when you reach the
cross roads, go north. Skip the third door, and by this time, you will
probably have encountered your first hyper creatures. In the fourth
room, you find some useless notes about Gennie development. The fifth
room is Dr. Williams, but has nothing in it. The sixth room contains
computers, and if you have a good programmer in your party, you can
find a message about the plan on Mars and get 750 experience points.
The seventh room is the same, but you now face a crossroads. Head south
and skip the first and second doors. Enter the third to find a keycard.
Skip the fourth and you'll be at another crossroads. Go south and
you'll see a dead RAM warrior. Skip the first door, and the second will
be barricaded. Blow it open for 750 experience points, and inside, you
find the kids. They will now follow you, but they can't get hurt or
anything, so don't worry. Go back out and head south. Skip the first
door and enter the second. Inside you find laser schematics and a
prototype of the Doom's Day device, and you gain 250 experience points.
Leave this room and head back north. At the crossroads, go right this
time, and then south. Skip the first door, but enter the second.
Inside, you find the space bunnies, and as the children gather them up,
Hyper Crabs attack. Wipe out the crustaceous threat and receive 750
experience points for your bravery. Enter the next door to hear about a
man with "daggers in his arms" (Talon). Keep going south, and in the
next room, you will find a pack of Gennies. If you enter, you encounter
4 Hyper Scorps and 2 Hyper Snakes. Wipe out the scorps first, then the
snakes, and then receive the Administrator's ID card and 500 experience
points. Keep going south and you will wind up near the prototype laser
room. Enter to hear a motivational-yet-insulting speech, and then head
back out. Go left and enter the door with the 2 written on it. One of
the kids will give you a rope and away you go. You are now on the first
floor and all of those Hyper Animals have been replaced with puny Space
Rats. Head right until you reach a corner, and then go north and enter
the first door you see. Enter it and then go into the first door to the
north. An old man will be there who turns out to be a grandfather to
one of the kids. Go back into the hallway and head north. On the way,
you'll pick up 2 Aerosol Grenades and 2 Antidotes. Keep going until you
find a crossroads. If you head left and enter the first door to the
north, you will discover that all laser research has been moved to
Gradivus Mons on Mars. Also, there is a robot-shut-down switch. Perhaps
robots attack if you don't bluff your way in? Oh well. Go back to the
crossroads and go north, then turn left to find the escape ship.
Everyone loads on and leaves, you've saved the day, and 1500 experience
points are promptly given to you. Go south from the escape ship and
then west, until you see the hallway you entered initially. You are
free, it would seem, but as a much older saying goes...
Part seven: Intergalactic Space Goons Shouldn't Breed
Enemies
Pirate Captain
Pirate Warriors
Pirate Combat Robot – This thing will make you cry. It has a psychotic
amount of health, high defense, immunity to Rocket Pistols and Laser
Pistols, and carries Explosive Grenades for normal weaponry. Before
killing anything else, kill this with Monoswords and Dart Guns. If you
stand right next to it and get very lucky, it will throw a grenade at
you and hit itself with the blast. It might not be a fair tactic, but
it helps. Also, approaching the Robot before it fires its grenade can
sometimes force it to physically attack you. Sure, it might hurt a bit,
but not half as much as the explosion would have.
Suddenly, space pirates attack your ship, causing immense damage! You
have three options to choose, but they all do the same thing. You are
then given the choice of surrendering or dieing. Obviously, it's not
that tough to choose. If you bought the Body Armor W/Fields, go do some
brawling. Otherwise, give up. Now, if you fight, you will encounter an
army of the previously mentioned foes. If you win, you'll do it again.
Beat them, and you'll do it a third time. Finally, after that fight,
Stun Grenades are thrown onto your ship and you pass out. You awaken in
a dank cell...
Mission Objectives: Capture Engines, Capture Deck (Optional), Escape
From Ship
Level Breakdown
You are allowed out of your cell and told to follow your guard. You can
try to run, but he'll just shoot you. Follow him, and you'll meet
Talon. This maniac is planning on selling you to RAM, but offers you a
chance to beat him in one-on-one combat for freedom.
BOSS BATTLE!
Talon – This fight is utterly impossible. While you have no equipment
and have a 5% chance of hitting him, he has a 95% chance of hitting
you. The best I have ever done is having him miss me once. My advice is
to not accept the offer to fight him and just give up, because whoever
fights him will be left with 1 hit point for the next part.
Once you lose or surrender, your team is brought back to the cell.
Again, you are given three choices, but each one leads to the same
thing eventually. Once you escape your cell, you meet ::gasp:: BUCK
ROGERS HIMSELF!!! He saw you get captured and will now be assisting
your team with your escape. He has a Lunarian Cutlass, a Pistol, and a
Lunarian Smart Suit. In the Genesis version, you can't remove his gear.
Sorry. Now, go to the far right cell to pick up 2 Demo Charges, 1 ECM
Package, and 2 Stun Grenades. Leave the cellblock, and then go to your
right. In the first door you'll see, you'll encounter some pirates.
Kill them. Continue the process going around the entire floor. After
clearing all of the cabins, go through the northernmost door. Inside,
you will find an autodoc. Here are your choices and what each leads to:
Reprogram Autodoc – If you have a good programmer, you can trick the
autodoc into healing your team. If you don't have a good programmer, it
sets off a nasty alarm. You are then given the chance to retreat. If
you do, nothing happens. If you don't, enemies attack, battle ensues,
and the autodoc is destroyed.
Heal Team – If done before reprogramming, it will set off the alarm.
Otherwise, it does what it says.
Leave – You ignore the autodoc and continue on your way.
Bucky's Tip #5: Reprogramming this thing is somewhat random. I suggest
you save before you do it so you can load if you fail. Keep trying and
you'll get it eventually. This trick works for all random events like
this.
Even if you don't use it, head to the left of the autodoc to find a
small closet with 2 Antidotes in it. Go to the ladder and head to floor
2. Go south immediately to find the mess hall. Fight the pirates within
and then leave out the door you came in through. Go to the door to the
left. Inside, you will encounter one of the vilest creatures in the
universe, the Pirate Combat Robot. The fight inside is only hard if you
let the robot live for more than two turns, so don't. Once everything
is dead, you realize that you've stumbled across the armory. You find 2
Demo Charges, 2 Explosive Grenades, 8 Stun Grenades, 1 Rocket Launcher,
5 Dart Guns, 5 Heat Guns, 10 Cutlasses, 5 Heavy Body Armors, 1
Mercurian Cutlass, and 2 Grenade Launchers. After gorging on guns,
leave the armory and head to the northern door. Buck informs you that
it's trapped, and then gives you the option to open it yourself or let
him do it. If he does it, you just get in. If you have someone with a
high Bypass Security skill do it, you get 1000 experience points. If
you fail, the trap goes off, but I've never seen it go off. Anyway, you
go inside, discover that it's Talon's room, and find a computer. Again,
if you let Buck do the work, you find out that placing explosives in
the mess hall's galley will weaken the defenses on floor 4, but doing
it yourself also gives you 1000 experience points. Go back to the mess
hall, enter the galley door, and blow up the place. Alarms go off,
power shorts, guards are scattered about, and you gain 5000 experience
points. Head to floor 4, and get ready for a mean fight. 2 P. Combat
Robots, 2 Pirate Warriors, 2 and 2 Pirate Leaders guard the areas. Use
whatever you have (Explosive Grenades perhaps) against the Robots, but
try to get your party members far away from each other to keep the
damage to a minimum. Hopefully, Buck will destroy one with his almighty
Pistol, but if not, just kill the Robots yourself, and then move on to
the Pirates. After the fight, the floor will be yours. There are three
walls covered with control panels. Walk into each one to destroy it,
and once all the controls are smashed, you're home free. Head to floor
2. Of course, if you feel angry at Talon for attacking you, you can go
to floor 1 for revenge.
BOSS BATTLE!
Talon – This time, you have all of your gear and are able to take down
the goober. Sadly, he's got friends. There are 2 P. Combat Robots, 2
Pirate Leaders, and 2 Pirate Warriors here as well. As always, kill the
Robots first. Talon is surprisingly weak, so just let Buck kill him.
Use Explosive Grenades and your new Rocket Launcher liberally, because
this is the last big fight for quite some time. If you want to weaken
Talon even more, use Dazzle or Stun Grenades on him, but it isn't
necessary. This fight shouldn't take more than 3 or 4 turns.
For your heroic efforts, you get nothing. Yes, it's a rip off, but
that's how revenge is sometimes. Go to floor 2, get in your ship and
head home after receiving 10,000 experience points for your troubles.
Also, Scot finds some interesting information. Apparently, Talon hid
some more ECGs somewhere in the solar system and someone named Garrity
knows the exact location. He was last seen at Pallas.
Part eight: Albino Brain Chiggers! Part two (Optional Mission)
Enemies
! = Found in Thule Prison
@ = Found on Psyche Asteroid
RAM Combat Robot – This is the second nastiest enemy in the game. These
giant yellow ants are immune to Laser and Rocket Pistols, making combat
unnecessarily difficult. They have an enormous amount of life, medium
defense, and wield Rocket Launchers. Fortunately, they can only attack
every other turn. Try to use Chaff Grenades on it to disable its
weapons, then kill it with whatever else you have. Worth 383 experience
points each.
Small ECGs
Large ECGs
Stage 3 ECGs
As soon as you get back to Salvation, you are informed of the horrible
fate of Jason Dupare, a top NEO agent. During an infiltration mission,
he was captured right after finding vital information concerning the
Doom's Day device. He is being held hostage in the Radium mines of
Thule, and you must rescue him.
Mission Objectives: Eliminate ECGs, Salvage Equipment, Destroy Infested
Asteroid
Level Breakdown
First, we have to take care of our friend Garrity. Go to Pallas, enter
the bar there, and he will be found in a booth less than sober. After
giving him a quick bribe (Don't worry, you don't lose any money), he
gives you the password to get into Talon's base. You should not try to
go there yet. It wouldn't be pretty. Now, go to Thule Prison. When you
enter, Scot informs you that radiation levels are disgustingly high, so
don't waste time. There is one door to your south, and as soon as you
enter it, you encounter a RAM Combat Robot. If you get walloped during
that fight, go back to your ship to get full health. Why did we come
here if we were just going to run away? This was to show you just what
you are going to be fighting soon. Aren't I kind? Now, head to Psyche.
Yes, we are going to beat this one.
Real Level Breakdown
When you reach Psyche, a distress signal will be received from a nearby
asteroid. Enter it. Inside, you see that the lights are flickering and
something bad has obviously happened. Head east to go through the
airlock. The door to it is leaking and bits of spacesuits are floating
around, so it's pretty obvious what happened here. Head north to reach
the Communications Room. Inside, you find that electronics are broken
everywhere, and several Small and Large ECGs quickly attack you. You
are now much stronger than before, so just wipe them out. Go into the
door to the north to find a dying miner. He tells you that Talon gave
them the ECG canisters disguised as treasure. Go back to the airlock
door, but head south this time. Enter the door to find some dead miners
and some ECGs. Kill them. Continue into the door to your right. Here
are more corpses and a note from Talon describing his villainy more
thoroughly. Head right and enter the door. Inside are more normal ECGs
and 1 Stage 3! However, even this boss enemy is pathetic now. Kill them
all and steal the goods. Continue right and then head down when you
reach a curve. You will reach a fork here. Go left first. Kill off more
ECGs, collect 2000 credits, a Battle Armor W/Fields, some other
goodies, and destroy the baby ECGs you find afterwards. Repeat the
process to the right, but instead of finding a Battle Armor W/Fields,
you find a Lunarian Smart Suit that is less powerful but is worth 9600
credits. Go back up to where you fought the first Stage 3 and then go
north. At the end of the hall, you will find 8 Explosive Grenades and a
cache of high explosives. If you wish, you can make the ECGs extinct
using this. When you do, you are asked how long you want the timer to
be before it explodes. My record is 17 seconds, but as long as you keep
it somewhere above that, you should be safe. Fortunately, random
encounters stop the clock. Once you get to your ship, this mission is
over. Go sell off your spoils and buy whatever you want.
Intermission: Let's All Go to the Lobby...
Now, if you've played this far, I congratulate you. Things are getting
a bit trickier, aren't they? However, too many people are wasting time
inside these days. Save the game and turn it off for the moment. Go to
your kitchens, make yourselves a sandwich, go outside, breathe some
fresh air, work out until you have abs of steel, and have a nice day.
Part nine: Jail Break (Optional Mission)
Enemies
RAM Combat Robot
RAM Assault Robot – These are the nastiest enemies in the game. They
have the same life, defense, and mobility as the Combat Robots, but the
resemblance ends there. They carry Explosive Grenades that they usually
use and the terribly powerful Plasma Thrower. Try to surround it on all
sides and kill it off quickly. Worth 208 experience points each.
Now that you've gotten vengeance against the species that tortured you
not too long ago, it's time to save that guy from Thule. Make sure that
you are prepared first. Go to Tycho on Earth and buy a Lunarian
Monosword for all of your Monosword wielders. These things cost 32,000
credits each, but it's worth it. The upcoming robotic enemies are
extremely hard to beat without them. Once you have all that worked out,
head to Thule.
Mission Objectives: Deactivate Security, Rescue Jason
Level Breakdown
Head back into the prison once more. Go past the place where you fought
the Combat Robot and enter the next door. Inside are two Assault
Robots, so SAVE BEFORE THIS FIGHT! Keep your people away from each
other and stay near the Robots. Hopefully, you can kill one in the
first turn. Go all out here and you should survive. If you need health,
go back to your ship. Once that's done, go into the door to your left.
The radiation is particularly high here and dead bodies can be seen in
a mummified state. Go down and in one corner you will find 3 Chaff
Grenades and 1 Stun Grenade. Go back to the room where you fought the
Assault Robots and head south. In here is another Combat Robot. Kill
it. Take a right and you will encounter yet another Combat Robot. Kill
this one too. There are two monitors in this room. The first says that
the radiation levels are too high. The second is a self-defense control
console. If you try to reprogram it, you will either succeed, stopping
all Robots in here and earning 500 experience points, or fail and
summon another Combat Robot. Keep trying this until you get it right
and then enter the northern door. If you try to do this without
reprogramming the computer, mounted gun turrets will do some damage to
you and drive you back. Once inside, you can enter any of the jail
cells to find Jason. He is nearly dead, but manages to tell you that
the Doom's Day device is being built over Mercury. He faints and you
have to carry him out. If you wish, you can then enter any other cell
to rescue another weak prisoner, but it doesn't seem to do anything. Go
carry Jason back to Salvation III and pat yourself on the back. There
isn't any prize, but at least you saved a potential ally.
Part ten: Death to MCI! (Optional Mission)
Enemies
RAM Combat Robot
RAM Warriors
RAM Technician
Desert Apes – What do you get if you cross King Kong with the Grim
Reaper? These 9'7" scythe-armed primates are surprisingly inaccurate,
but they have nice offense when they hit. They have too much life for
their own good, but patience will easily take them down. Don't let them
surround you though.
Sand Squids – The cosmic calamari are easy enough to not be on my hate
list. They are slow moving, easy to hit, and only have medium life, but
they do have a moderately powerful attack and are poisonous. Kill them
on sight with just about any weapon. Worth 104 experience points each.
Martian Combat Gennie – These warriors are designed specifically for
Martian combat. They carry Cutlasses, Laser Pistols, Stun Grenades, and
Heavy Body Armor. Take them out before they stun anyone. Worth 33
experience points and 29 credits each.
If you trained someone in Library Searches and have been browsing the
books from time to time, you may have discovered that a secret
communications base is hidden on Hygeia. Obviously, we can't let the
enemy maintain control of this base and some corrective measures are in
order. Nothing in here is truly dangerous by now, so let's have a
little fun.
Mission Objectives: Break Stuff, Hurt People, Steal Things
Level Breakdown
Go to Hygeia, enter the base, and get ready for a rude welcome. As soon
as you are in, alarms blare and a RAM Combat Robot is released. Blow it
up and go back to your ship if you're hurt. Continue along the path
until you reach a large room. In here, a zookeeper will release an army
of Desert Apes upon you. Treat them like you would an army of Large
ECGs, but without the poison. If you explore the bottom left part of
the room, you will see some poor trapped Desert Apes giving you the
puppy-dog look. If you let them out, they attack. If you go right from
there, you find more apes that throw various things found on the floor
of their cages at you, causing about 4 points of damage to 2 party
members. Ignore them and head north until you reach a fork. Go right
and enter the southern door. Inside, you will find a Combat Robot and
some backup communications equipment. Kill the Robot and break the
machines. Now, go back to the fork and take a left, and when you see
another fork, go up. At the end of that hall, you find some RAM
Warriors and some Sand Squids. Wipe them out and treasure the moment,
because those Squids are very rare. Go back to the room with the backup
equipment, but this time, take the northern door. You will find the
cowardly base commander, but he runs off and leaves some RAM Warriors
and one RAM Martian Combat Gennie. Kill them and then use the control
panel on the wall to contact NEO. You then smash the panel just for the
sake of it. Continue into the next room. Again, the commander runs off
and a RAM Combat Robot stops you. Kill it and then destroy more stuff.
Follow the commander into the next room. This time, there are no
guards, but you still smash everything in sight. Chase him down for the
final time. Here you encounter 4 untrained RAM Technicians. If you die
here, I pity you. After they bite the bullet, you destroy the last of
the equipment as well as the commander with a single explosive shot,
finishing the mission.
Part eleven: Crossbows Just Won't Cut It
Enemies
! = Found on RAM Scout Cruiser
@ = Found on Mars surface
# = Found in Desert Runner village
$ = Found in Gradivus Mons
! # $ RAM Warrior
! RAM Technician
! Terrine Leader
! RAM H.S. Robot - These machinations are probably the most dangerous
things on the ship. These ones carry Rocket Pistols, but aren't very
accurate, and although they have a decent amount of life, you should
have no problems with them.
# RAM Assault Robot
$ RAM Combat Robots
@ Sand Squid
@ $ Desert Ape
$ Martian Combat Gennie
@ Hexadillo – The giant hexadillos of Mars are more of a nuisance than
anything else. They have low offense, terrible defense, and only a
medium amount of life. Worth 75 experience points each.
# $ D.R. Warrior – The residents of Mars are strong, proud, and stupid
enough to fight without armor. They also carry primitive crossbows that
cause almost no damage. If they didn't have a good amount of life,
they'd be worthless, but they do provide nice targets. Worth 80
experience points and 83 credits each.
$ RAM Guard Dog Gennie – Although far, far bigger than a breadbox,
these mutant canines are literally incapable of causing physical harm.
I must have been attacked by the things dozens of times and never
received so much as a scratch. Kill them last. Worth 18 experience
points each.
Mission Objectives: Infiltrate Mars, Gain Villagers' Cooperation,
Repulse RAM Invaders, Destroy RAM Fleet, Destroy Gradivus Mons
Level Breakdown
If you remember correctly, you were told long ago to investigate
Gradivus Mons. We've cleared out enough unimportant side quests for the
moment, so maybe we should finally go do that. Go to Mars and enter the
Mars High Desert. On the way in, you will encounter a RAM Scout
Cruiser. If you can Fast Talk your way past, go ahead, but chances are
you will have to fight it. The RAM Scout Cruiser is the weakest ship
type in the game, so you shouldn't have much trouble. Just kill its
weapons, destroy the engines or controls, board it, and capture the
engines and deck. After that is out of your way, you will land on Mars
and start driving around in the Buck-mobile. Head southeast until you
find a village, but you may get attacked on the way. Enter the village.
Once inside, a female Desert Runner approaches you. She tells you that
they are at war and all outsiders must be tested. Here are your choices
and what each leads to:
Step Forward – You battle a RAM Assault Robot for admittance.
Attack – You wipe out an army of Desert Runners, but afterwards, RAM
troops invade. DON'T DO THIS!
Talk – You are silenced and a RAM Assault Robot is activated before you
can react. Except for the fact that the Robot gets to attack first, the
effects are the same as "Step Forward".
If you didn't choose to attack the Desert Runners, and if you beat the
Robot, the woman will introduce herself as Atha. She tells you to go to
the center of town to meet Tuskon, war leader of the Desert Runners.
You are informed that RAM gliders will be attacking soon, and his plan
involves luring the enemy in with his warriors and then letting you
kill them off. Although it isn't a great plan, you don't have much
choice. The enemy quickly invades and you are sent into battle. You
start off fighting RAM Warriors and Martian Combat Gennies. None of
these are capable of fighting very well, so just send all of the D.R.
Warriors you enlist using the Leadership skill up to the front line and
waste the idiots. If you decided to attack the Desert Runners, they
won't help you. Just keep wandering around town mopping up any RAM
soldiers you meet. Also, explore the many buildings here. There will be
two pieces of demolition gear hidden randomly in two separate
buildings, and you need to find them eventually. Some houses may
contain a RAM Assault Robot, so be careful. After 3 battles, it will
say that all the enemies are gone. This is a lie. Head back to the
center of town. Tuskon will tell you that RAM is now sending warships
to bomb the town and send out more troops. Go outside and fight more
fights. This time, you will encounter Martian Combat Gennies AND RAM
Assault Robots. Take out the Robots first, but spread out so your team
doesn't get paralyzed by the Gennies. After 3 more battles, peace will
again settle over the land momentarily. Talk to Tuskon and he will tell
you that giant warships are coming and that you must now find the two
pieces of equipment at once if you haven't found them yet. Explore the
town until they are yours, and then give them to Tuskon. You are then
told to set the bomb and radio. Anyone can do it, but if the hero has
any Demolition skill, he will gain 1000 experience points for the
process. Everyone else gets nothing. Everyone flees the village through
a secret cave, the enemy enters the town only to blow up, and the
Desert Runners decide to band together to get RAM off of their planet.
They tell you to meet them at the blue rock to the northwest before the
final assault on Gradivus Mons. When you get there, they will ask for
your help. If you say no, Tuskon will wind up dead and everything will
be much harder for you. If you say yes, he will offer to join your
party (Nearly unarmed) and help you in your quest. Say yes. Once you
enter the base, you encounter 3 RAM Warriors and 3 RAM Guard Dog
Gennies. Kill them all quickly. If you take too long, an alarm will
sound through the base and things will get messy. Continue along the
path until you reach a room filled with caged Desert Apes. Although
they aren't my favorite allies, Tuskon will tell you to let them free
using the control panel. He will tame them and tell them to wreak havoc
throughout the base if you set them free, chasing off some guards
nearby. Head north until you find a pair of doors going left and right.
Go left. Inside you will find 5 Stun Grenades, but if you released the
Apes, they will also be there. Just stay there and Tuskon will soothe
them once more. Now take the right door. If you released the Apes, this
room will be empty. If you didn't, 7 Martian Combat Gennies will be
waiting for you. Continue along, and ignore the little closet you find.
You will reach another guard post with the same results as the first
one. Continue to your left until you find a room with another pair of
doors to the left and right. If you didn't release the Apes, the left
one will contain an intercom system that you can have fun with. If you
use it to jeer at the RAM soldiers, RAM Combat Robots and Martian
Combat Gennies will attack. If you use it to set a false alarm, they
will all flee the building in fear of the imaginary "alien bacteria"
you tell them about. If the Apes were released, just head right, and
then go upstairs to floor 2. Go south until you reach a fork in the
road. Head left for now, and when you reach another fork, continue
right to find several offices. The first one to the north contains
information on the Doom's Day device. The first one to the south
contains RAM Guard Dog Gennies. Kill them. The second offices to the
north and south are empty. When you reach a crossroads, head north if
you released the Apes. Inside, you will find an undamaged intercom to
play with. After you do that, or if you already did it earlier, head
south at the crossroads. Inside is an Autodoc, but its controls are
unfamiliar to you. Have a hero with a high Treat Wounds skill operate
it, but be careful. If you screw it up, you take damage. Now, go take
the path to the right. Inside, you will find the main gates, an army of
rabid, bloodthirsty Desert Runners right outside of the main gates, the
controls to open the main gates, and 5 RAM Warriors and 5 Martian
Combat Gennies. Kill off the guards and open the gates using the
console. You are then attacked by RAM Guard Dog Gennies, but there is a
slight chance that a RAM Combat Robot will attack as well. Fortunately,
several Desert Runners will come to your aid. Defeat the enemy and then
head back to the first room of floor 2. When you reach that fork in the
road that you turned left at, turn south instead. It will lead you to a
secret elevator that is now open to you. Atha will tell you to go up
there and destroy the RAM Death Ray. Go up the elevator. To your left,
you find a locked door, but you can open it with a Bypass Security
skill or a Demo Charge. Inside, you find several small offices. They
are all empty, but at the end of the hallway is another intercom. Use
it if you haven't yet. If you go north instead, you will find the Death
Ray. Before you head to the console and destroy it, go to the room to
the north. Although there is a door to the right and a door to the
left, ignore the left one and go right. Inside, you will find 4 ECM
Packages and some Battle Armor. Either give it to Tuskon or sell it
later. Now head to the console and use it blow up the weapon, go to the
intercom to warn the Desert Runners to run, and get out of here! As you
run out of the base, Atha will approach you and give you some blue pass
cards. The base explodes, the Desert Runners thank you for your help,
and you are given 10,000 experience points for successful completion of
the mission. As you rocket away, Scot informs you of a ship heading to
Ceres being followed by pursuers. Let's check it out...
Part twelve: The Great Justin Robeno (Optional Mission)
Enemies
RAM Warrior
This is officially the easiest mission in the game. There is no real
background story behind it. Enjoy!
Mission Objectives: Locate Justin Robeno, Rescue Justin Robeno, Locate
Prototype, Escape
Level Breakdown
Once you reach Ceres, head straight for Dave's Diner. After you mingle
with the crowd once, you will overhear some RAM folks mention that
Justin Robeno managed to escape their grasp and flew off to Fortuna.
Get back into your ship and head off to Fortuna. Once there, enter
Hexaburger. This time, you will see a technician being dragged away by
RAM security. You get into a fight with 6 RAM Warriors (Scary!) and
pummel them into the ground with ease. Justin then tells you that you
must head to Pavonis Starport to pick up a RAM prototype of inestimable
value. You also gain 1500 experience points for your brave deed. Follow
the nerd's advice and soar to Mars. Go to the library and do some
searching. Justin will find the prototype, but unfortunately, it was
all a setup. RAM forces burst in to attack you. Beat up the 10 RAM
Warriors and you'll try to escape, but more troops block you on the way
out. Kill yet another group of 10 RAM Warriors and continue on your way
out. Leave, but make sure to notice the typo here. I' pretty sure that
befire isn't a word. Head to Salvation Station, collect 2000 experience
points, get congratulated for finding information vital to the cause of
good, and then beat it. You've finished your work here. By the way,
after completing this particular mission, it becomes impossible to
leave Pavonis without encountering a group of 10 RAM Warriors, but what
are the chances you'll ever need anything at this dump again?
Part thirteen: The Unlucky Mission (Optional Mission)
! = Found on Scout Cruiser
@ = Found on Medium Cruiser
! RAM Scout Cruiser
@ RAM Medium Cruiser
! RAM Assassins – The black-clad killers of RAM are more powerful than
any live soldiers you've met so far. They have a disgusting amount of
life, carry Chaff Grenades, Martian Laser Pistols, Heavy Body Armor,
and Martian Cutlasses, and basically just make things irritating. They
shouldn't pose too much of a threat, but fight smart or you may lose a
hero. Also, try not to use Rocket Pistols on them or they'll stop you
with a Chaff Grenade.
! @ RAM Warrior
@ RAM H.S. Robot
@ Terrine Leader
@ RAM Technician
This isn't really a mission. It's just something that happens to over-
greedy space pirates like myself who happen to attack the wrong RAM
Scout Cruiser. You will know that you screwed up after you enter. Here
are the details.
Mission Objectives: Defeat RAM Assassins, Capture Ship, Survive
Encounter with Second Ship
Level Breakdown
After you defeat the ship in space combat, kill off the puny RAM
Warriors guarding the thing. Go to the end of the first hallway, and
where more puny RAM Warriors or Robots normally attack you, 5 RAM
Assassins now greet you. After killing your would-be killers, Scot
informs you that another, much larger ship is coming. Head up to the
level 4 and secure the bridge. The enemies guarding it will still be
easy, but all random encounters along the way will be Assassins. After
taking the bridge, head down to level 1. Capture the engine room as
well, and the mission is half over. As soon as you capture the first
ship, a second one appears in firing range. It's a Medium Cruiser, so
be careful. Take out its weapons and controls as usual, and if you're
feeling particularly spiteful, board the sucker. The only real
difference when it comes to battle on board larger ships is that the
random fights tend to contain a few more enemies. Capture the second
ship in the same way and you'll have taught RAM a lesson about trying
to ambush the Maelstrom Rider. By the way, another strange situation
I've encountered while pirating ships would be the "Sore Loser"
scenario. After pummeling the ship and boarding it, the game informed
me that the enemy captain activated the self-destruct sequence and that
I had 50 seconds to capture the ship. I still managed it, but there was
no bonus prize whatsoever.
Part fourteen: Party at Talon's Place
Enemies
RAM Guard Dog Gennies
RAM Warriors
RAM Martian Combat Gennies
RAM Assault Robots
You remember Talon, don't you? He was that punk who tried to kill you
after you saved the bunny wabbits. Anyway, it's time to go raid his
fortress of any useful treasures and gain a little experience while
we're at it.
Mission Objectives: Pursue RAM Commander, Destroy Robots, Escape
Level Breakdown
Head to Aurora and then enter Talon's base. Inside, you are greeted by
a small group of RAM officials who mistake you for Talon and give you
his eviction notice. The little mix-up is worked out when a soldier
points out that you don't have blades coming out of your arms, but they
still decide to kill you. Wipe out the 5 RAM Warriors and 3 RAM Guard
Dog Gennies they send against you and then chase after the officer
through the northern door. Random fights will occur consisting of RAM
Guard Dog Gennies and RAM Warriors, so use them to heal up should the
need arise. You find him again, he mutters something about hidden
treasure, and you fight an exact duplicate of the last battle. Go out
the left door and fight 6 more RAM Guard Dog Gennies. To your south is
a trashed sleeping quarters that you should skip. If you head left,
you'll find an empty mineshaft and some robot maintenance gear, but
none of it is important. Head north instead and skip the hallway to the
right for now. There will be 2 doors in front of you here. The right
one is merely an inactive weapons console, but the right one contains a
group of 3 RAM Technicians, 3 RAM Guard Dog Gennies, and 5 RAM
Warriors. Kill them all and then check the 2 computers in the room here
for 500 experience points each. Now head back to that passage to the
right. The officer will escape out the far door and you will again face
5 RAM Warriors and 3 RAM Guard Dog Gennies. Kill them and chase after
the little rodent. On the other side, you face yet another copy of the
fight before. Go south, and in this last room, you find the commander's
personal troops. Kill the 4 RAM Warriors and the 3 RAM Martian Combat
Gennies, equip everyone with Dart Guns or Monoswords, and then proceed
towards the computer to the left. Talon's voice yells out from beyond
the grave informing you that there is no treasure here (Aw man...), but
he does send out a RAM Assault Robot that toasts the cowardly commander
and makes the whole trip worthwhile. Trash the Robot as usual. Head
back to the entrance, but try not to get killed by the random RAM
Assault Robot fights along the way. After that, the mission is
complete. I suppose it was a useless mission, but at least you have it
out of the way.
Part fifteen: Welcome to the Jungle
! = Found on Venusian surface
@ = Found in Lowlander village
# = Found in RAM base
Enemies
! @ Acid Frogs – Depending on your actions, these amphibians will
either befriend or... uhmmm... befoe you. They are almost as weak as
the RAM Guard Dog Gennies, but they get to make a long-range and short-
range attack in one turn. They make great targets and it's usually
worth it to ally with them. Worth 104 experience points each.
! # Swamp Hornets – Although an individual Swamp Hornet is not a
threat, you never face an individual Swamp Hornet. Instead, you face
large swarms of these weak little creatures, armed to the mandibles
with Dizziness inducing stings. Anybody have a Plasma Thrower or Rocket
Launcher? Worth 15 experience points each.
! # Ursadders – The Ursadder is the most powerful creature on Venus and
should not be taken lightly. It takes quite a beating before going down
and can cause significant damage to you no matter what armor you have.
They do provide some decent amounts of experience, but it's rarely
worth the effort. Worth 87 experience points each.
! @ RAM Venusian Combat Gennie – I loathe these creatures. Although
they only have a moderate amount of health, these freaks carry
Explosive grenades and aren't stingy with them. They also have Heavy
Body Armor, Cutlasses, and Protective Goggles. Before all else, make
sure that these things are dead. Also, you might want to send out
clusters of Lowlander Warriors to lure fire away from your troops. I
know it's mean, but so are these guys. Worth 50 experience points and
60 credits each.
! @ # RAM Warriors
! Lowlander Warriors – These critters are very similar to the Desert
Runner Warriors. They both have a lot of life, they both appear in huge
numbers, and they both are too weak to kill a single RAM Warrior. These
guys carry Laser Pistols and are basically nothing more than targets
for you to use in this one battle.
! @ Venusian H.S. Robots – Flying eyeballs may be something you'd
expect to find in other games, but not in a science fiction one.
However, the Venusian H.S. Robot doesn't seem to realize that. Kill
them with anything except for Rocket Pistols before they fire their
Venusian Dart Guns. Worth 100 experience points each.
@ # RAM H.S. Robots
! # Acidium – These giant slugs are quite strong (Yet inaccurate) and
have a decent amount of life, but almost no defense. They make up for
this by absorbing half of your attacks with no ill effects. I suggest
Laser Pistols for killing them, but anything will work. Worth 106
experience points each.
@ # RAM Assassin
Next up on our path of destruction is scenic Venus, land of the lizard-
like Lowlanders. Before you do that, I suggest you buy 2 more Body
Armors w/Shields and Venusian Laser Pistols for the friends you'll be
getting soon. This land is the only source of Gravitol in the universe
and RAM has enslaved most of the Lowlanders to harvest the rare rocket
fuel. Let's change that, shall we?
Mission Objectives: Locate Lowlander Village, Aid Lowlander Village,
Destroy RAM Gliders, Free Lowlander Prisoners, Locate Landon's Son
(optional)
Level Breakdown
As soon as you land, Scot informs you that there is a Lowlander village
just past the swamps nearby, but before much can happen, you are
attacked by a group of Lowlanders led by Leander. They quickly demand
to know who you are and who sent you. Here are your choices and what
each leads to:
Attack – You fight the Lowlanders and ruin all hope for peaceful co-
existence. DON'T DO THIS!
NEO – You tell the Lowlanders that you are a member of NEO and wish to
help them, but they don't trust you. You are asked to surrender
peacefully and given the following choices.
Yes – Before you are given the chance to surrender all of your earthly
possessions, a group of 6 RAM Warriors and 1 RAM Venus Combat Gennie
attack you. You gain 2000 experience points after the battle.
No – Same results as Attack. DON'T DO THIS!
After the battle, Leander will apologize to you for his mistrust and
ask to join, if you didn't just kill him. Take him in, give him the
Venusian Laser Pistol and Body Armor w/Fields, and grab an extra pair
of Protective Goggles for him from the battle's spoils. Now, go to the
lake nearby with the pink outline. Once there, you will find some Acid
Frogs. Here are your choices and what each leads to.
Fight – You battle the frogs, gaining a little experience but missing
out on some fine allies. DON'T DO THIS!
Leave – You leave without a fight.
Befriend the Frogs – If your Leadership skill is high, you can get
these things on your team. They will be found in battles on the surface
of Venus. If your Leadership skill isn't high, they won't appreciate
your visit very much. If you succeed, you gain 5000 experience points.
Anyway, sooner or later you will meet a frightened Lowlander who asks
if you are NEO members. This may happen before you reach the frogs. If
you say no, he runs away, but if you say yes, he'll ask you to help out
his family. Say yes and you encounter RAM Venusian Combat Gennies who
you can either fight or run from. Say no and you'll hear weapons firing
in the distance that you can investigate or ignore. In any case, you
either fight or you don't. If you do, you are in for a tough battle.
You encounter 6 Venusian Combat Gennies, and unless you kill them off
quickly, that means 6 Explosive Grenades coming at you EACH TURN. Keep
your people far away from each other and hope those Acid Frogs lure
away some firepower from you. After the battle, the Lowlanders thank
you and run off without any sort of reward. Continue north until you
reach the village of small huts. It's crawling with RAM Assassins and
RAM Venusian Combat Gennies, so be careful. Inside, you find several
dead Lowlanders, killed with Laser Pistols. First, head left and you
will see a gray door. If you open it, you'll release a stampede of Acid
Frogs into the village to bother RAM soldiers. Don't do it yet. Go
right and you will find a building. Inside is a RAM officer. Have your
hero with the highest Stealth skill steal his key ring and then leave.
If you decide to kill him, he wakes up and calls out 3 RAM H.S. Robots
and 2 Venusian H.S. Robots to help him. Go north from this house and
enter the first one you see. Inside is a Lowlander with a gun who asks
for your identification. Tell him you're from NEO and he'll tell you to
explore the research facility to the southwest and you'll get 500
experience points. If you leave without telling him, he'll lock the
door. To the west, you will find a storeroom. Inside, you'll find some
Demo Charges. Then go back to that gray door with the frogs behind it
and open it. If you explore the Acid Frog pen you'll find some Frog
Food. DON'T EAT IT! Head back to the storeroom and go inside. If you
feed the Acid Frogs within, you receive 5000 experience points as well
as Acid Frog assistance in future battles. Go northeast until you find
a single-room building. Inside is a pair of Lowlanders who tell you to
meet them in the northeast corner of town. Go north from that building
and you will find a large hut. Inside it, you find a small child. If
you have Leander, he tells you that the baby wants you to help him find
his father. Take Zane into your group and give him whatever spare
equipment you have, but please don't try to use him in battle too much.
He only has 4 HP after all. Go to the northeast corner of town as you
were asked to. A Lowlander will ask you to go to the giant storage hut
on the west side of town to fetch some medical gear. He gives you a
code for its door, a Venusian Dart Gun, and Venusian Heavy Body Armor.
Make sure you have the key from the officer near the entrance to town
and then head back to the storage hut where you found the food. Just to
the left of there you find the big storage hut with the medicine in it.
There is also a Mercurian Rocket Pistol, a Venusian Monosword, and 3
Antidotes in the back room as well. Take the medicine to the Lowlander
and you will be told of a secret room in the RAM base, plus you receive
3000 experience points. Leave town at once, but DON'T GO BACK INTO
SPACE! If you approach your ship, Leander and Zane will run off.
Instead, travel southwest from the village until you see a Stonehenge-
like building. Scot tells you that it's part the old space elevator and
is probably filled with hiding RAM soldiers and weapons. Enter and head
south, but ignore the path to your right. It leads to a pack of
Ursadders and an Ursadder den that has nothing of value. Go through the
winding halls and then take the ladder down into the underground lair.
Once you're there, head south. The first room is an empty meeting room.
The second and third are merely closets. Enter the fourth to encounter
a RAM technician who says that if you let him go, he won't sound the
alarms. Here are your choices and what each leads to:
Let Him Go - He sounds the alarms, flooding the building with enemies.
DON'T DO THIS!
Interrogate Him – You get a Security Card and 1250 experience points.
The option "Tie Him Up" appears.
Tie Him Up – You tie the bum up, gag him, and lock him in a broom
closet.
Kill Him – MWAHAHAHAHA! NEVER TRUST A NEO AGENT! Don't do this until
you interrogate him.
After all that is over, Scot discovers from a nearby computer that RAM
intends to use gliders to wipe out every Lowlander on the planet. Leave
the room and open the door to the south using your new Security Card.
Follow the hallway until you see a door. Go by it to find a Detonator
Card, and then go through the door. You'll find a huge hangar filled
with gliders inside. Enter the door on the other side of the hangar and
go west to find a detonator box and 4 Explosive Grenades. If you
activate the box, all of the gliders explode, you gain 5000 experience
points, Swamp Hornets and Ursadders can be randomly fought down here,
and RAM basically has a bad day. If you decide to head back to the
jungle for any reason, you will now find a large area of the tunnel
which has collapsed in your path. Have your hero with the highest Climb
skill climb over and clear it out if you take this path again.
Otherwise, head east and travel through the underground tunnel. Follow
the tunnel and you will reach a door to the right and a door to the
left. The right one is empty and the left one will only open if you got
the key ring from the village. To the north is a pair of barracks. To
the south is one empty barrack, but the path continues in that
direction. Continue to find 2 more barracks to your left and a large
room to your right. Inside are several RAM officers. Here are your
choices and what each leads to:
Run – You flee and take a small amount of damage for your troubles,
plus the alarms are sounded. DON'T DO THIS!
Surrender – They shoot you for a large amount of damage and you are
given the same set of choices. DON'T DO THIS!
Fight – You pummel 9 RAM Warriors into the ground.
Keep going down the hallway, ignoring the next 3 rooms. You will find
an elevator at the end of the hallway. Go to floor 3. Enter the first
door to the south to clear out some RAM Assassins. Then continue
through the hallway, taking out any randomly appearing Robots you
happen to encounter. Check each of the offices along the northern wall
for Assassins and then continue to the western hallway. It leads to a
prison full of Lowlanders who tell you of their leader Landon who is
searching for an exit on floor 4. They also give you a secret knock to
use there to summon him. Go back to the room filled with offices and
head south to find a pair of clearly marked computer rooms. The one on
the right is empty, but the left one contains several RAM Warriors.
Here are your choices and what each leads to:
Leave – They see how cowardly you are and attack with free first hits.
DON'T DO THIS!
Attack – You attack them, causing confusion among them and gain free
first hits. DON'T DO THIS!
Intimidate Them – They beg for mercy. The option " Show Mercy" appears
and "Leave" disappears.
Show Mercy – You gain 1000 experience points and tie them up in a
closet.
If you wish, you can then enter the closet to the south and slaughter
the bound and gagged RAM Warriors, but that would be stupid. Go back to
elevator and go to floor 4. Enter the door to your left to find a one
door to the north and one to the south. The north one contains 5
Acidiums and the south has 7 RAM H.S. Robots. Clear them out, explore
the Acidium room thoroughly until you find a secret door, and then go
back to the room outside the elevator. Take the southern passage. You
will quickly meet Landon who takes Zane with him and you get 1500
experience points. He then tells you to go to floor 1, lab 2 to find a
Retinal Lock Pick beneath a floor tile. By the way, if you lost Zane at
some point, you merely miss out on the 1500 points. If you wish, you
can explore the area behind Landon in order to find a mangled acid
pump. If you further investigate it, you will stumble upon a nasty
horde of Ursadders without any reward for beating them. Head back to
the elevator and then to floor 1. Head south until you pass through a
door and then go through the passage to the north. Pass through 2 doors
and continue along the hallway until you reach lab 2. Near the
southeastern corner is the Retinal Lock Pick. Now, return to where you
found Landon. He'll tell you to go find the Lowlander prisoners and
take them to the Acidium chamber with the secret door. Visit Landon one
more time to receive 2000 experience points for your help in their
escape. If you still have Leander, he will now leave your party. Scot
informs you that there is nothing else to do on Venus, so head back to
your ship and return to Salvation. All is not well though, as your boss
tells you that Atha from Mars has been kidnapped! If you do not go to
Juno and rescue her, they'll kill her. Your boss then tells you that
your current mission to Mercury is more important, but Buck encourages
you to go rescue her.
Part sixteen: Dinner And Dancing (Optional Mission)
Enemies
RAM Assault Robot
If you spend enough time flying through space aimlessly, you will
receive a message from NEO asking you to visit Chez Luna on Tycho space
station. Orders are orders, so drop what you were doing and head there
right away.
Mission Objectives: Meet With Wilma Deering, Assist Her In Escaping
Level Breakdown
Enter the Chez Luna Cafй and mingle four times. After the final mingle,
Wilma Deering, Buck Rogers' fiancйe, will wave to you. She explains
that she needs a distraction so that she can go meet someone. You are
told to attack the security robot that will be passing by in the
hallways, and in payment, you are given a handy little Mercurian Dart
Gun. Go out into the hallway and tango with the RAM Assault Robot.
Wilma meets with her target and leaves, giving you 1000 experience
points for your bravery. If only all RAM Assault Robots were worth that
much...
Part seventeen: Rainbow 6 in the 25th Century! (Optional Mission)
Enemies
RAM Combat Robot
RAM Assault Robot
RAM Martian Combat Gennie
Now it's time to test your Buck Rogers mastery with the hardest mission
the game has to offer. Even though Atha never really helped you out
much (Heck, she set loose a mechanical ant on you for crying out loud),
it's time to save her from RAM's clutches.
Mission Objectives: Infiltrate Juno Base, Rescue Atha, Escape From Trap
Level Breakdown
Before you do anything here, make sure that all of your heroes have a
Dart Gun of some type and that at least one hero has a Grenade Launcher
and a healthy supply of Chaff Grenades. Without that gear, you're
doomed. After you have all of that, head to Juno. As soon as you enter
the rendezvous point, a squad of Martian Combat Gennies and a RAM
Combat Robot ambushes you. Try to kill the ant quickly and make sure to
spread out your troops to prevent mass Stunning. Speakers blare that
you have met your match and that Gilbert is ready for you, and the door
behind you is firmly locked, preventing your escape. Go through the
hallway until you reach a crossroads. A sniper will begin shooting at
you from the north. If you want the most experience, continue left and
you will encounter 2 Combat Robots and an Assault Robot at the corner.
Head north until you find a door to your right. Inside are some more
RAM Combat Gennies and a Combat Robot. Beat them and then continue
until you find a door to the north. Enter there and clear out some more
Gennies and Robots. Finally, walk into the dead end of this hallway to
encounter a single Combat Robot. Kill it and you should be able to get
some life back from this battle. If you weren't concerned with
experience, simply take the north path to chase down the sniper. Of
course, you don't get to simply fight a sniper. No, instead you wind up
attacking a pair of Combat Robots and 4 Martian Combat Gennies. After
that, you find a hall to the north and a door to the south. If you head
north, you step on a weak mine and summon some more Martian Combat
Gennies. Fight them if you need some life, but not if you have less
than 15 hit points. At that point, a mine could kill you. Ignore the
rest of the hallway as it is filled with nothing more than two mines
and instead head south to the door. Inside is another group of Martian
Combat Gennies and one Combat Robot. Pound 'em and go through the door
to your left to finally meet up with Gilbert, queen of destruction. She
has an impenetrable force field around her and carries a switch that
will fire countless guns on you. Even worse, Atha gets thrown into a
Desert Ape pen. Gilbert laughingly releases one more Assault Robot on
you before she blows you all to kingdom come. Thrash it and then, as
your prize, receive a surprisingly high 2000 credits for beating it.
Even better, you find a Rocket Launcher in the wreckage. Gilbert is
about to kill you when Atha escapes, breaks the arm off of the ape, and
impales Gilbert on the pointy object. You all escape using Gilbert's
control box and Atha is safely returned to her allies. Swell, ain't it?
Part eighteen: Cruisin' with the Big Boys (Very Optional Mission)
Enemies
RAM Warrior
RAM Technician
RAM H. Security Robot
Terrine Leader
Level Breakdown
If you wish, you could go and beat the game right now. In fact, you
could have much earlier, but that's beside the point. Now, if you
really want to do every possible task in the game, you may have noticed
the RAM Heavy Cruisers. Beating one of these boasts a nice little 2100
experience point prize plus whatever experience you gain inside, so
training with these is much faster than just fighting in bars and such.
Of course, should you ever encounter this monstrous spacecraft,
defeating it in combat is extremely difficult. Bristling with countless
guns, I have found only one method that lets you defeat this puppy
easily. Keep your distance at 3, and then use Laser Cannons to destroy
all of its weapons. At that distance, it can only hit you with its
Heavy Missiles, but once they're out of the way, you're safe. After
destroying guns, take out the controls with Missiles and Laser Cannons.
Finally, charge in to board. Inside, you'll notice that very little is
different, except that each random battle contains 20 or so enemies.
Bring those Rocket Launchers and Plasma Throwers along. Of course,
after you capture every control console in the huge ship, you also get
a decent cash prize and 2100 experience points, plus whatever you found
on board. If you happen to encounter a ship known as the Sahara, things
will turn out a bit differently. A speaker will yell out that if that
if you manage to reach the prisoner's area, all prisoners are to be
killed. Explore the ship a bit until you find a bunch of those energy
field cells that you were imprisoned in while fighting Talon. Enter
that area and a group of seven RAM Warriors will attack you. Now,
although this may sound easily done, you have to do it quickly or the
other guards will kill the prisoners. I wiped them out in 2 turns, but
you may have more time than that. Anyway, after beating them, enter the
cell one space to your north and enter. You appear just in time to save
the prisoners from 16 RAM Warriors and 8 RAM Technicians. Please, enjoy
your Rocket Launchers and Plasma Throwers here. You release the
prisoners, they help capture the ship, and that's that. As a final
note, there is one other thing to worry about when boarding Heavy
Cruisers. In rare cases, they will try to capture your ship through the
boarding tubes. Always remember where you came in, because once Scot
tells you that they've begun, you have only moments to get back there.
You'll encounter 16 RAM Warriors and 8 RAM Technicians, then the enemy
ship will surrender. Now, all that's left is Mercury…
Part nineteen: Je M'apelle Bite Me
Enemies
! = Found in Main Area
@ = Found in Core
# = Found in Top Floor
! # Mercurian Warrior
! # Mercurian Leader
! @ Mercurian H.S. Robot – These spider-like creations are not that
dangerous, but they are annoying. The only real threat they pose comes
from their Mercurian Rocket pistols, which they use evenly with Dazzle
Grenades. Whittle away at their stupendous amounts of life with pretty
much any weapon.
@ RAM Combat Robot
@ # RAM Assault Robot
# Mercurian Technician
# Mercurian Combat Gennie – Ouch. Very ouch. These freaks carry Martian
Monoswords, Martian Laser Pistols, Battle Armor, and Explosive
Grenades. They are only found in the final battle and take quite a
beating before going down. Smite them with Rocket Launchers for best
results.
Mariposa 3 is a large energy station out in the middle of space, home
to the frog-like Mercurians as well as their leader, the Sun King. It
would seem that RAM has some other uses for the complex and the final
showdown for the Doom's Day device may just take place here. Using all
the stolen goodies you've picked up along the way, it's time to attack.
Mission Objectives: Avoid Security, Find and Destroy Doom's Day Device,
Get Out Alive
Level Breakdown
Upon entering using the stolen access code you picked up in your
travels, walk over to the security door. Your stolen IDs and Blue Pass
Cards will get you through easily. On the other side, you find your old
friend Wilma Deering. She takes your Pass Cards in order to "distract
security for you". I don't know how that could help, but she does offer
you this little trinket of advice – avoid security gates. Remember, as
you explore the area, guards will occasionally show up. Here are your
your choices and what each leads to:
Fight – You fight the enemy and blow your cover. DON'T DO THIS!!!
Evade – You usually manage to escape the guard, but occasionally get
caught.
Wait – You are approached by the guards and given the chance to talk
your way out of it. All of the three choices have the same success
rate.
Wander around for a while until an old man walks up to you and says,
"One if by land." Here are your choices and what each leads to:
Ignore – He simply walks past. DON'T DO THIS!!!
Speak – He asks "Are you the dancers?" Options Yes and No appear.
Accost – He laughs and runs away. DON'T DO THIS!!!
Yes – He tells you that the Sun King is waiting in the Mariposa 3
center for you.
No – He walks on. DON'T DO THIS!!!
Head to the northern part of the station and ignore the south side.
Continue north after passing "U R U Holoportraitaire" to find a bizarre
bazaar. If you explore, you can find a few weird items here and there
but nothing of use. Head east immediately until you reach a parrot.
Here are your choices and what each leads to:
Feed – He bites you for 1 hit point of damage. DON'T DO THIS!!!
Play – He bites you for 1 hit point of damage. DON'T DO THIS!!!
Ignore – You walk past.
Head north after the parrot to find an old computer. Scot will let you
know that things are getting a bit fishy in the stock markets and both
the Sun Kings and RAM are preparing for trouble on earth. Head south
until you find a blue door that says, "To Rue de S". Continue until you
reach a fork in the road. Head east and then south, ignoring all side
doors. From here, you have several choices. If you head southwest, you
will find the Mercurian Stock Market and get to battle a large group of
Mercurian Warriors, Mercurian H.S. Robots, and one Mercurian Leader. If
you head southeast, you'll find a security checkpoint bristling with
Laser Cannons. I suggest you ignore this area. Head northeast, passing
through the plaza, until you reach the core. Inside, there are four
floors. The first three floors each have a hidden medallion for you to
find. Remember to be ready for random Robot attacks.
First Floor – Take the northwest door, head west, and then go south
until you find a small room. Inside, you find a maintenance robot
vacuuming and coming surprisingly close to the medallion. Have your
Rogue grab it away and then go on to the next floor.
Second Floor – Go to the southeast corner and find a small room. Search
it three times and you'll find the second medallion.
Third Floor – Go to the southeast corner. Inside, you find a trapped
plaque with a medal on it as well as some deactivated robots. Have your
Rogue remove the medallion. If she fails and the trap goes off, destroy
the RAM Combat Robot and RAM Assault Robot and then continue.
Fourth Floor – Head to the northeast corner and walk through the
hallway with the plaque that says, "Abandon all hope ye who enter
here". Walk to the door, give the guard the medals, and he will let you
in. When you reach the sun king, answer oui three times. He will
deactivate the core lasers and tell you to capture the Doom's Day
device for him. Of course, you plan to destroy it, but he doesn't need
to know that. Go to the core once more and head to the top of Mariposa
3.
Top Floor – As soon as you enter this area, you hear the countdown to
firing begin. Head north as far as you can, and then go west. You'll
find a staircase. Climb it twice, then head south until you see a room
with a sign that reads, "Danger – Power Room". Enter and have your best
climber cut the juice to the Doom's Day device. This is only a
temporary solution though. Head to the southeast corner and use the
retinal lock pick you found earlier to get through the door. Head south
until you can't go south any more and then head east. Enter the first
door to the south you find. Inside are 3 RAM Assault Robots, 2
Mercurian Combat Gennies, and 4 Mercurian Technicians. Ignore the Techs
and go all out against the Robots and Gennies, as this is the last big
battle. After you win, you hear that the weapon (And Mariposa 3) will
explode in two minutes. A cluster of Mercurian Technicians and a RAM
Assault Robot rush in to stop the countdown, but you should have no
trouble defeating them. Quickly rush back to the staircase and go down
one flight of stairs. Walk through the hallway until you are attacked
by a group of Mercurians. Kill the lot of them. Go all the way to the
right side of the area, past the escape pods, and Scot will unlock the
pod doors. Enter one of the remaining escape pods and fly away,
watching as both the evil Frenchmen and the RAM Doom's Day device go up
in flames. Yippee. The end.
Part twenty: The Armory
Here is a list of all the game's weaponry and such. Remember that my
comments are based on my experience with the game. If you want to waste
your money and use a Cutlass, go right ahead. Also, keep in mind that
Martian, Venusian, Mercurian, or Lunar equipment gets various bonuses.
Unarmed – For the idiotic or suicidal only. Battling without weapons
has no range and does pitiful amounts of damage. Don't even try it.
1-2 damage (affected by strength) x1
Range – 1
Acc. - +0%
Laser Pistol – This fine little weapon fires 3 beams at the enemy for a
medium amount of damage. It is an extremely balanced weapon, but does
not hurt some robots. Also, Aerosol Grenades create thick clouds that
this weapon cannot penetrate. If you didn't already own one, I'd
suggest that you buy one for each person. It comes in handy very often
and works well when used with a Rocket Pistol at your side.
1-8 damage x3
Range - ???
Acc. - +20%
Rocket Pistol – This heavy firearm launches 4 large missiles at the
enemy for heavy damage and is decently accurate. While many enemies are
impervious to it, fleshy critters seem to have more trouble getting out
of the way. Chaff grenades create particle clouds that prevent rockets
from passing. It's a fun toy when it works, but make sure to carry
something else too, okay?
1-10 damage x4
Range - ???
Acc. +20%
Dart Gun – This insidious creation fires 6 clouds of darts at the enemy
for a pitiful amount of damage, but you've got to love the accuracy on
this baby. If you can train a warrior in the ways of the Dart Gun,
expect good results. It is a weapon designed for those enemies that are
just too hard to hit, and the best part is that nothing is immune to
it. The Dart Gun is a must-have for any hero, especially near the end.
1-3 damage x6
Range - ???
Acc. - +20%
Heat Gun – Although this spitfire shoots out 2 huge fireballs for
monstrous damage, and although nothing seems to be immune to it, this
weapon's accuracy just makes it too hard to use. If you want to play
with it, go ahead, but it just never grew on me.
2-12 damage x2
Range - ???
Acc. - +20%
Cutlass – I hate this thing. The light and effective Cutlass is a close
range weapon that can do a fair to large amount of damage, but it can
lead to problems in zero gravity situations. Always carry a back up
weapon. Why do I hate it, you ask? Because of the next goodie on our
list.
1-7 damage (affected by strength) x2
Range – 1
Acc. - +0%
Monosword – WOOHOO! This weapon is almost exactly like the Cutlass, but
it does a bit more damage, making the Cutlass a thing of the past...
well, maybe the near future. Anyway, no party is complete without a
Monosword wielder or two, but make sure they have a gun for those long-
range predicaments.
1-10 damage (affected by strength) x2
Range – 1
Acc. +0%
Grenade Launcher – This item cannot be bought here, but will become
available later on. By carrying this, your heroes can shoot their
grenades much farther than they could throw them.
Explosive Grenade – These things have saved me on many occasions. They
do a heavy amount of damage to not only the place where it explodes,
but also to all adjacent spaces. As the old saying goes, "Close only
counts in horseshoes, hand grenades, and nuclear warfare." Once you
find them, stock up.
4-40 damage (small area effect) x1
Acc. - +10
Dazzle Grenades – Although useful when fighting some bosses, these toys
are mostly useless. If they hit, they will blind all effected friends
and enemies, lowering their hit rate and dodge rate. However, if the
target is wearing Protective Goggles, the Dazzle Grenade is useless. By
the way, it will occasionally do 1 or 2 hit points of damage as well.
I've killed a Pirate Warrior with it once, but I never want to waste
that much time again.
1-2 damage (small area effect) x1 +Blindness
Acc. - +10
Stun Grenade – This is another item that is useful at times, but not
often. It stuns all targets affected by it for a varying amount of
turns and lowers their dodge rate. They also cause light damage.
They're more useful for the enemy than for you.
3-6 damage (small area effect) x1 +Stun
Acc. - +10
Aerosol Mist Grenade – These things create large clouds of smoke that
prevent the use of Laser Pistols. That's it.
0 damage (small area effect) x1 +Stops Lasers
Acc. - +10
Chaff Grenades – These produce large clouds of chaff, preventing the
use of Rocket Pistols, Plasma Throwers, and Rocket Launchers. They are
invaluable near the end.
0 damage (small area effect) x1 +Stops Projectiles
Acc. - +10
Rocket Launcher – These are the least-common weapons in the game and
can only be found in two side areas. When equipped, you can fire one
very large explosive device at any point, causing extraordinary amounts
of damage to a very large area. All enemies (and friends) found within
suffer greatly, so make sure that your aim is right. What are the
disadvantages to this? First, it takes a whole turn to reload after
every shot. Second, it reduces your movement ability to a crawl. Third,
if you miss your attack, the missile still hits a spot adjacent to the
target. If you are aiming at a large group of enemies that is far away
from your group, that's good, but when firing in close quarters,
beware. I guarantee you will kill yourself at least once playing with
this.
5-50 damage (medium area effect) x1
Range - ???
Acc. - +15%
Plasma Thrower – This item can only be found by defeating Mercurian
Leaders. Use at your own risk. This monster deals a rather nasty amount
of energized flaming death across the field in a huge range, but it's
very hard to use without vaporizing yourself. Like the Rocket Launcher,
it's a no-no in close combat and has all the same disadvantages. The
only real use for it is taking out huge hordes of weak enemies.
4-40 damage (large area effect) x1
Range - ???
Acc. - +20%
Space Suit – How do you go to the bathroom in these things? AC –4
Smart Suit – An S Mart employee's uniform. AC –6
Heavy Body Armor – Standard storm trooper gear. AC –8
Battle Armor – Big and blue. AC –10
Body Armor w/Fields – Top o' the line laser repellent. AC -12
Poison Antidote – Whenever poisoned, your hero will fall over and be
unable to fight. Using a poison Antidote will help fix this.
ECM Package - ???
Protective Goggles – Makes you immune to Dazzle Grenades.
Part twenty-one: The Shmooze List
When in bars, various hints and tips pop up from time to time. However,
you occasionally wind up hitting the button so fast that you miss out
on some of them. Sure, they may be worthless, but here's a list of them
anyway.
Salvation
"The Sun King on the third Mercurian Mariposa is known to be…
eccentric,"
"Beware of surprise attacks when traveling overland."
"In space combat, shoot out the controls and weapons. Then you can
board."
"I hear a RAM packing company lost their contract for Gennie
containment units."
I know there isn't much here yet, but I'll be working on it in further
updates.
Part twenty-two: Legal Stuff
I don't care where this walkthrough goes, but please, if you have any
respect for the gaming industry, guys named Homer, or things that rhyme
with "orange", please don't change any of it, under penalty of
horrible, tormenting death at the hands of a guy named Jeff*. Thank you
very much.
* - Not guaranteed. It will make you a social outcast**, however, and
bad luck will hopefully torment you until the end of your days.
** - Also not guaranteed.
This document Copyright 2001 Andrew Demario
Part twenty-three: Special Thanks Spot
Thanks go to the Cinnabon Company for making what might just be the
world's tastiest treat.
Thanks go to Jeff. It doesn't matter which one. If you're Jeff, then I
appreciate it.
Thanks go to Lucille Balle for being so lovable.
Thanks go to the King of the Chickens for pointing out a few
differences between versions.
Thanks go to Kevin Sorryiforgotyourlastname for help with the Stealth
skill.
Thanks go to MystifMkII for showing me the Tinker HP boost trick in
Bucky's Tip #1.