The following is an account of the tactics used to defeat the sinister borg during the KA mission on Jan 1, 2011:
As there was none of the 7th Fleet online at the time I decided to try and give KA a go with a PUG. The group make up consisted of what I consider to be the perfect group (I will explain more on this later in this post). 1 Tactical Off in a retrofit defiant, 1 Tac Off in a refit galaxy, 1 Science Off in an intrepid class, and Myself (Engineer) and one other Engineer both in retrofit excelsior class vessels.
To preface the rest of this explanation I must first say that none of the persons in this group had completed the space portion of KA before this time, and we had no voice communication (all typing). Also, it must be said that while the Tactical Off in the escort was quite intelligent and was a competent officer, the other three were not very bright (but could fly their ships well, and followed orders quickly).
Space:
Before we began the space portion the tactical officer and I discussed possible strategies to defeat the probes quickly and effectively. As I had observed from my previous attempts at clearing the first stage of this STF, we knew a high DPS output would be required (hence the need for the two tactical officers) to kill the probes quickly. In the end I decided to split the force 4 (left gate) to 1 (me, engineer, right gate) between the to gates.
After swinging wide on the left side and engaging the first cube, the tactical cube was kited toward the left gate (the direction in which the tac cube is taken does not matter, I chose to drag it to the left gate because that was where a majority of my force would end up after killing it). Once the tac cube was destroyed I left the rest of the group and sped over to the opposite gate (right gate). Once in position we had a few seconds to get set.
Once the borg ships started to spawn the left side science off grouped the probes together with grav well III/ tyken's rift, using charge particle burst as he got closer. All of these kept the enemy ships in a tight formation/ stunned. This tight formation was quickly killed by the two tactical officers and the other engineer kept his group alive (first need for second engineer). All the while I engaged my sides probes first, and then the spheres. (It appeared to me that if all the probes were destroyed the three spheres that made it past me just continued onto the other side to be destroyed by the other team).
It was approximately 2 mins and 45 seconds between the time the shields on the gates came up and then went down again, giving a well rounded group plenty of time to kill all the ships that spawn. (There was only one instance when we had a couple of spheres left during the subsequent spawn). At no time (until their gate was destroyed) did the left gate group pass the center line of the map (the time portal used as a reference point for the center), nor did I cross over to help them. During the entire space section we suffered only 4 deaths (I died twice, and the escort off died twice) (I believe this is another reason for our success, very few deaths).
It should not be necessary for the left group to cross over toward the right side, as the spheres that get through should just set a course towards them.
Once the spheres and probes were killed, the left group got into range of their gate and blasted away while the science off held the probes/spheres in place. I took a few pot shots at the gate but was forced to engage the probes almost right away to ensure their quick destruction (being careful not to fire at the spheres until all the probes were dead). Rinse repeat until the left gate was destroyed.
Once the left gate was down to about 9% (about 5 waves in), the spawns changed to include two cubes, 4 to 5 spheres and 4 to 5 probes. I was able to kill my probes and hold off the rest until my left side group destroyed their gate and came to assist me. From here out defeating the first space portion is quite easy as you just kill probes first, then spheres, then cubes as normal, while dpsing the gate when able. It took us another 2 waves to kill the right gate. Space section one done!
Ground:
This one is pretty straight forward. As you enter the tunnels the tactical officers should have their highest DPS kits on, the science should be healing (of course), and the two engineers should have the force dome kit in operation (Bunker Fab). This section is a series of tunnels that head to a large room. On the way borg will beam in at various points to try and stop you. This is were we died.... a lot, until I figured out a decent tactic to use. We would have one tac officer advance on point with the rest of the group lagging behind with our proton guns out... once the point man had triggered the borg to come in, the rest of the group would open fire with the aoe attack to pull aggro while the point man killed the node that came in with them (these nodes seemed to spawn in at bad spots, ie. around the corner etc., just be aware of this, some spawns came in, it seemed without a node but this might just have been a bug). Once the node was destroyed the point man would race back to the safety of the force dome that had been put up.
With each group of borg the old infected tactic of blocking the borg approach with alternating force domes is a must. The Borg that beam in are of the same basic composition of forces that make up the infected beam ins as well (infected drones, drones, medical, protos, etc...) Use the same kill order as you would in any borg STF (I don't think I need to go into detail here.) It is also important for the tactical off to reserve their tactical initiative skills to refresh the engineers force dome power for those spots that get tricky. However, there are plenty of choke points all along the way that make effective disruption of the borg formations possible.
Once through the tunnel system you will come to a room with a ramp to splits into two directions, right and left, that go down into a larger bottom floor. Lots of borg will beam in on both sides of the ramp. Use the single ramp to choke both sides, iwith everyone at the top of near the entrance so you can fall back as needed... this is a key point to make about this ground mission, always have a fall back point, and the engineers have to be ready to react with a force dome almost all of the time (call for tactical initiative if you have to).
After the first ramp room you have to fight through a few more hallways then you get to the hard part, the 4 story chamber of borgyness. You will know what I am talking about when the minimap shows a large room that is almost all solid red. You will see a blinking console right in front of you near the main enterance, this comes into play later (don't touch it now). Fight the first couple of groups then jump down to the bottom and start fighting your way up the ramps. These are pretty straight forward fights. Kill node, blah blah blah.
Once you have cleared the entire room, the fun part begins. You will have noticed as you fought the borg are concentrated around cylinders of borg shielding. These are power links that must be destroyed. As you pass them you will hear the borg queen say, "enemies detected near, XXXX... with the XXXX being alpha 2, beta 1, etc...) To do this send an engineer and a tactical officer back to the console near the main entrance and have them both click on it. This will send them to another room with a large console at its center. The other three members of the group will then make their way to the terminal beta 2.. I think it is beta 2 I will have to check on that part. (basically its the one that is right before the last terminal on the top floor, kinda hard to explain without a map).
The 3 members outside the group gather close around the terminal and prepare to use your highest damage output skills. Once the shield is lowered you must DPS the power terminal as quickly as possible (you must get the terminal to at least 50 percent very quickly or the person in the other room will not get the option to extend the time). The engineer and tac inside the other room will activate the console to the correct sequence, number (1,2,3) then letter (a, or b) to lower the shield. Once activated small borg groups will spawn at the power terminal and a separate group will spawn inside the ante room around different consoles (the console that these borg spawn around will extended the time the time of the shield being down if you can activate them). Both groups of borg will instantly beam out if you fail to kill the power terminal and the shield goes back up. To achieve the time extension I suggest the following. Activate the sequence to determine where the correct console is located and let them beam out. Then have the tac officer (fitted with an aoe weapon, proton, or assault weapon) activate the console while the engineer stands close to the borg spawn console. Once activated the tac off in the ante room opens fire on the borg to get their attention while the engineer rushes in to activate the time extension console. Once the terminal is destroyed both groups of borg will stay and have to be killed (the engineer with the other group will have to drop a force dome to get the borg away, they will be at extreme close range).
Repeat this process going back down the ramps, then back to the very top (6 terminals to destroy). Once the terminals are destroyed large groups of fairly weak borg will spawn all over the room...again. I think this was cryptic's way of saying EFFF you, to a successful group.
Before killing the IMC units, walk through the borg assimilation device to get your accolade and borg BO. Kill the IMC units by uploading a virus. Then head to the last room with the boss fight.
This fight is a straight forward fight in which you kill the center node put up a force dome in the doorway while standing outside and kill kill kill. Once the boss is dead you will leave the tunnel talk to a guy and then head out to space again.
SPACE 2:
I don't want to ruin the storyline for you but you run into a borgy Reman battle ship. Avoid the big green gun and follow the general directions and you will be fine... just kill kill kill . It is a long battle, but we had no one die. Science guys group up borg with grav well, and heal each other and you will do fine.
Kill Reman BS and done with KA, great JOB!!!
I know this guide is a bit rough and may not make much sense until you see the actually rooms and such, but I hope it helps. We spent quite a long time trying different things inside the STF as none of us had ever gotten through the whole thing. These are just the tactics that we found worked.
Last edited by FLTCAPT Savar on 01/10/11 9:55; edited 1 time in total
Outstanding report sir, thanks for all you work putting this together for us. Congrats on completing the Khitomer. Hope that we will be able to use your methods with upcoming mission. Again nice report... Thanks...
Those member that will be doing the operation tonight, please take the time and read Capt Savor end of mission statement. This will help doing the brief and to allow everyone to have a complete understanding. Looking forward to kicking some butt tonight..
The CO of the 78th leads a detachment of Marines on a successful KA run. The best part is, the tactics worked, and will work for a variety of group make-ups and ship configurations. Just follow the guide to the letter and you will finish.
Congrats on your borg shield gents. (Koldra, Vital, Savar, Talbot, Runaz)
There were some things that I thought I should clarify from the report I previously submitted.
First: During the first space segment, the engineer that is holding the right gate by himself should probably be flying a ship that does maximum cruiser DPS (ie.. one of three ships, A Soverign assault cruiser, Retrofit Galaxy, or my favorite Retrofit Excelsior). Although something like a Star Cruiser can take the hits better, this is definitely a case in which a good offense is a better defense .
Second: Also during the first space combat segment, the engineer holding his own must at least shoot all the spheres or they will fly directly into the time portal. You don't have to kill them all but if you at least put a couple of shots on each ship (beam fire at will works well for this once the probes are dead) they will continue onto the other side if they don't entirely aggro on the eng.
Last edited by FLTCAPT Savar on 01/04/11 9:53; edited 2 times in total
I don't think having the best equipment is an absolute requirement, but it certainly does help. I think as long as you can use your BO powers to good effect your gear should not hinder you to much... at least in as much as the space portions of the mission.
The CO of the 78th leads a detachment of Marines on a successful KA run. The best part is, the tactics worked, and will work for a variety of group make-ups and ship configurations. Just follow the guide to the letter and you will finish.
Congrats on your borg shield gents. (Koldra, Vital, Savar, Talbot, Runaz)
There were some things that I thought I should clarify from the report I previously submitted.
First: During the first space segment, the engineer that is holding the right gate by himself should probably be flying a ship that does maximum cruiser DPS (ie.. one of three ships, A Soverign assault cruiser, Retrofit Galaxy, or my favorite Retrofit Excelsior). Although something like a Star Cruiser can take the hits better, this is definitely a case in which a good offense is a better defense .
Second: Also during the first space combat segment, the engineer holding his own must at least shoot all the spheres or they will fly directly into the time portal. You don't have to kill them all but if you at least put a couple of shots on each ship (beam fire at will works well for this once the probes are dead) they will continue onto the other side if they don't entirely aggro on the eng.
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. It is a long battle, but we had no one die. Science guys group up borg with grav well, and heal each other and you will do fine.
