Small alien ships? Shoot em down or let em go?

[jrink]

In the first 3 months of the game, all I ever see is a small ship, and everytime I see one, I shoot it down. I'm wondering, should I let some of these ships accomplish their mission, land, etc. and then, as a result, bigger ships will come around? My thoughts are... with bigger ships come bigger rewards. Maybe a alien base could be established easier that way, or more island terror missions might occur, which in the end gives me more $$ and score because I'd get to attack the ships supplying the colony and collect all the goodies that come along with it.

 

Just curious... I've always shot down small ships asap. Wondeirng if I should let some through.?

[Tammy]

I wouldn't. The big ships will come soon enough either way, and by shooting down the small ones, you keep your score presentable and get a bit of pocket change and tech as well. Just my opinion.

[NKF]

It's hard to tell until you get the transmission resolver.

 

Once you do have the resolver, you can decide how important each ship is based on their mission.

 

For example, some missions like alien research can safely be left alone. Those on retaliation missions should either be shot down when they're a very long distance away from any of your bases, or left alone. Those on infiltration missions should be dealt with multiple salvoes of pulse wave torpedoes before they touch the ground! Heh. Etc.

 

Until then, it's hit or miss. If your score in that area is doing good, leaving the USO alone should be okay once in a while.

 

- NKF

[Cazbol]

I'm thankful for all the small targets I get, and definitely shoot them all down. Discovering that D.U.P. torpedoes do no damage to large subs, I'm left with only the small fry to play with. I suggest you do them and enjoy them.

 

Cazbol

[PHOENIX]

I agree, shoot down the small ones every chance you get. That way, when you encounter the larger ones, you should have the sonic weapon researched, and you'll have a ton of them.

[jrink]

One thing I found out last night.

 

If a small ship comes around for a floating base attack, 2 things can and always will hapen.

 

1. You shoot it down - You don't see a very large ship coming later with the same mission (attacking your base).

 

2. You don't shoot it down - You will see a very large ship coming later with the same mission (attacking your base). It will be the same alien race too.

 

I kinda learned that trying to get aquatoids to attack my main base so I could get a calcinite corpse researched.

[jrink]

Also,

I will not shoot down any small ships with a "alien colony expansion" mission. Doing so seems to prevent the colony from getting built. Personally, I prefer they get built so I can take them out.

[NKF]

Here's what I've observed regarding the retaliation scouts:

 

a. You shoot them down

 

If they're shot down too close to your base, or almost on top of it, a ship full of alien soldiers will almost always appear, if not immediately, some time in the next few days.

 

If you shoot them down far away from your base, they'll think your interceptors are being launched from another area and will start sending scouts over there. Basically, you can fool them into thinking your ships are appearing from elsewhere.

 

b. Leave them alone

 

If you leave them alone, and not shoot down any ships while they're flying overhead, there's a high chance that they'll miss your base completely. But if they fly about too close to the general vicinity of your base, and you don't have a psionic shield, they'll eventually find it before long. Retaliator scouts searching in areas where you don't have a base can safely be left alone as to not attract any attention to your base.

 

- NKF