How do you beat Syndicate's 2nd Mission on Hard?

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How far are you in terms of technology and what are the armies they send?
Stun Snipers are extremly effective at keeping the outposts once you have fortification. Indentured with Stun modules and a few Overseer can paralyze a lot of armies, too. Generellay is stun + arc jump an immense powerful tool. Truth be told, I basically never research unit technology (except the sniper that is), but try to rush the stun module. For its tech level, it is an insanely powerful tool.

Later on, you can get Aether Storm, which can give your psi-minded units a huge damage burst. Getting to cosmite can be done by selling opponents contact infos early on, or getting worthless sectors (pretty sure constructing forward base for a bit of influence near another should let you trade them for quite a cosmite sum).
Since you keep beeing at low tech tiers (T1-2), the power upkeep won't be as high, and Syndicate generally tends to have enviroment with a lot of power.

I am sure I beat that mission on hard quite handedly, but I can't remember if I used Vanilla or a Mod. How does your Hero look like? Full equipped with Stun Sniper loadout or Aether Storm?
 
I am no longer interested in playing defence or teching up super high.

it just doesn’t work, ever.

i’m convinced now that conquest over basilisk is the right play on hard settings.

I have to find a way to take over a few players as soon as possible before they all come after me.
 
So what I've noticed with all my failures is that there isn't anything absolutely jaw-breakingly good that rewards you for playing relatively passively. You have some really nice Mods and higher tier units but in all fairness, they're all mostly fair and balanced given that they're late game stuff.

I recently started a new game and I basically bum-rushed the nearest player and I'm just about to finish him off and it feels like a way stronger start than all my previous tries.

Also, in my run after declaring war I was able to get some free troops which actually are vital to me winning the war. I'm not sure how this mechanic actually works, but it seems to reward aggressive play.

Aggressive expansion is my strategy this time around. Hopefully I can finally beat this map and move on lol.

Edit:

I just defeated my 4th opponent and it's only turn 44. Yeah, this strategy works. I bought Spawns early on, and now my army is 5 Siren (fully modded) with my main hero. I feel like I can't lose the game at this point. The only thing I regret is not razing all the colonies, but the equalizer is that the Avatar from the failed quest should clean up reclaimed colonies.

4 down, 3 to go. I'm in a really good spot, better than all my other attempts that's for sure.
 
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I recently started a new game and I basically bum-rushed the nearest player and I'm just about to finish him off and it feels like a way stronger start than all my previous tries.
Boom. That is the key sentence. You are right. Pushing out fast is absolutely, positively, the winning path. Teching up simply doesn't work, or at least it's not ideal.

This is particularly true on that map, where if you ever move out, they take your cities, 100%. You just can't defend everywhere, because with 100000 teleporters, anyone on the map can get to any city you have in 3 turns, and they always know what your weak points are. Your only choice is to take out opponents.

So knowing that, I just did the campaign again, and was blowing it out by turn 43:

Psi-fish hitting 6.png


Two down, 2 almost down. I suspect a Turn 50 win +/-, based on where I was.

So what is the big difference? How did it get so one-sided? Looking at your post, the problem seems to center around getting the psi-fish out. I got out 6 by turn 12, which is when I got Friendship, plus the Negotiator award for reaching it first (see the events on the right side):

Psi-fish hitting.png


They looked like this:

Psi-fish hitting 4.png


That unit is CHEAP, and is decently strong. Virtually no investment. And the only reason it took this long is because I wanted the perk Energy Efficient Assembly Line and shield (landmark). I know how much that means.

Modding them out was a bit tougher than expected, though. A lot of the players on this map had already seen each other, so I couldn't rely on diplomacy sales from contacts. By this point, I only had 3 or 4 sales that way, which wasn't enough, not for what I was doing. So what then? Ditch a sector. Here is my first sector trade, on Turn 14, when my city hit 8 pop:

Psi-fish hitting 5.png


Annexed a worthless water sector, then sold it for 110 cosmite and 600 energy. Huge. I sold these 2 by Turn 20, plus all contact information:

Psi-fish hitting 7.png


Which bagged another 200 cosmite, and 100 energy:

Psi-fish hitting 10.png


It was just enough to mod everything out. I may have to sell 1 more soon.

So that is the money and plan, so how do you get the influence? Building up the influence relies on doctrines. Two of them require you to find the NPCs. There are three on this map: Spacers, Psi-fish, and Autonom. Find them and start filling those quests. I raced up to 5 total scouts, first thing, and sent them everywhere. Note that with your starting tech, you can see who-is-who in sensor range because of your starting technologies. This part is cake. Open them up.

Then get the doctrines up. There are three at this stage: 1. The Emissary 2. Noble Diplomats 3. Negotiator. 1 and 3 are free - you just have to finish quests. 2 is your first (T1) doctrine technology, which is the cheapest thing of all.

I got 1 and 2 up, fast as I could, then swapped between 1&3 when I was about to purchase the units. However you do it, keep as many of those up as possible. Bottom line is that you get 30 influence on each quest, with Emissary, and it costs 15 influence to buy a Chrysalis, if you have Negotiator. That is 2 chrysalis per quest, ideally. If you are doing quests for everyone, which is 6 chrysalis every 5 turns, PLUS my 17 (1.2 more) influence /turn with Noble Diplomats. With that math, the screen should be full of those guys by turn 30.

Again, buy Chrysalis only, then Hunters only, which will quickly do this:

Psi-fish hitting 2.png


This image was on turn 22. I had just gotten my third lord, who was heading fast (hoverbike), to join my clearing party. Nothing could resist my stacks at this point, and I was clearing a concentric circles towards an enemy.

I planned a timing attack sometime in the late 20's. I just wanted those Siren first. I cleared, and cleared, and cleared, then just as the Siren evolved, I took out Zetrochious. That was on turn 29:

Psi-fish hitting 3.png


No problem.

Note: I got those spacer hellcopters because their Mantra of the Branded is BUSTED. It was a jump ball between them and more Hunters, but I felt it was in the bag already. Plus, NPCs at integration no longer make demands. Whatever though, up to you.

The Siren looked like this:

Psi-fish hitting 8.png


Look at that upkeep. Isn't that beautiful? 6/turn for a siren. Gorgeous.

And I was right on him:

Psi-fish hitting 9.png


That is his capital and his lord. He is out on 29, and I have his cities too.

This is definitely the way to do it. So I did it again, over and over.

You seem to be getting it, though. The name of this game is "keep attacking." The xp on your units, and the rewards for fighting, make the cost of passivity WAYYYY too high. You seem to be acknowledging that though, so my guess is you will start every game now on your toes, leaning forward. That was how it happened for me, at least. Once I did, things really changed.
 
My strategy for this play through is top notch. My tactics need more work.

The info you gave me on your last post is quality supreme.

This map really taught me how to play properly at least against AIs.

i’m gonna seriously consider aggressive expansion strats on all maps now.
 
Yeah, it is different. The thing is in this game, there is no real "base trade," per se. When you defeat them, you take all their stuff, and even if they swept in to base trade, you don't 'lose' anything. It is still there, you just have to take it back. So it GREATLY favors those who are aggressive, and can kill their enemies. Accordingly, keep track of their lords. They have to go all the way out.

Last thing on this point. Some of these maps favor very different strategies. I think they were trying to make them un-winable unless you favored a certain approach. They just didn't finish the job balance-wise. In essence, when you see Psi-fish, and to a lesser degree Autonom, this strategy is so powerful it is a kind-of one-size-fits-all solution. That said, there are exceptions.

When you get to Invasions and Oathbound, you will see. Invasions requires you to favor your lords, and the doctrine Black Market Supremacy. That game is NOT like this one. Mobility is TERRIBLE, you are completely starved for resources, and the enemy is dominant. That is a tough one. Oathbound also, but you have stronger base units. I would love to see you figure those out. Just remember, hardest settings.
 
I finally beat the map on turn 78! What a ride it's been.

Learned a lot and gotten better as a player.

My next challenge will probably be Assembly's 2nd mission. I never beat it even on easy in the past.

My skills have improved a lot since then though so hardest settings will be a good challenge I hope.
 
For example Reassambler with 'advanced reassambling', stun module and arc module. The constructs will inheret the ele modules, since the advanced construct has a ranged ele attack....
 
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For example Reassambler with 'advanced reassambling', stun module and arc module. The constructs will inheret the ele modules, since the advanced construct has a ranged ele attack....
I love those guys. I actually love them both ways, that way, and with Total Network Integration. They just keep springing up. They are hilarious. So good.