Joining an SO group
If you want to be successful and win regularly, you need to get yourself a competent team. The usual way to do that is as follows:
-
Go to the trade chat, ideally a few minutes before the SO option opens up.
-
Find someone advertising their SO group (usually “SO n/12” or “co n/12”) or create your wing and do it yourself.
-
Send private message “+” to the group leader, it is advised to also link your ship and chips using shift+Lclick. (it is often needed to prove your competence and ability to contribute to the team).
-
When the group is filled and the SO is available, the group leader will start the action.
Return to Eden
Return to Eden is by far the easiest special operation, only 2 competent players are necessary to win (I found out first hand ;D). The only problem is knowing what to do. The instructions are unclear and unless you already know what to do, it can get rather confusing. Succeeding guarantees 3 purple trophies once a day.
Commonly well-performing ship roles:
gunship fighter
recon interceptor
engineering frigate
Commonly under-performing ship roles:
suppressor destroyer
guard frigate
long range frigate
Recommended fleet composition:
1-3 engineering frigates, rest filled with gunships or other fast, high-damage ships
Recommended modules and modifiers:
emergency barrier, mass shield generator, nanodrone cloud, overdrive, metastable field generator, microwarp engine
Phase one:
Players appear above an alien planet. Biomorphs emerge from alien portals and have to be destroyed. Alien hunters emerge from alien portals and have to be destroyed. A weak defiler emerges from alien rift and can be destroyed. If not destroyed by players, the defiler will be destroyed by main calibers of dreadnought Defiant. This phase is very easy and pretty much impossible to fail.
Phase two:
The devourer emerges from the planet below and alien hunters and predators spawn at the bottom of the map. It is players’ task to defend Defiant’s main calibers, destroy 2 fast moving weak spots on devourer’s shields and then activate Defiant’s main calibers. Defiant then fires, taking down 1/6 of devourer’s health. If Defiant’s weapons take too long to activate, devourer will attack, instantly killing every player. Therefore, it is recommended to use some sort of module or modifier that will help you survive, most versatile and obvious pick is emergency barrier. Engineers will then heal up damaged ships. After taking the main caliber salvo from Defiant, devourer retreats back into the planet
Phase three:
Energy pillar emerges from the planet. Around the pillar, there are damage-dealing membranes rotating constantly. In each membrane, there is a multitude of spaces that allow passing through the membrane safely. Green shiny balls are scattered on the surface of the pillar. These balls fire at players and have to be destroyed in order to retract the pillar. When a ball is destroyed, a biomorph spawns in its place. It is recommended to destroy the biomorph immediately after spawning. Destroyed biomorphs drop bombs, which can be delivered to a bottom-side platform of Defiant. Delivering six bombs will double its damage dealt during phase two and despawn all remaining bombs. When all green balls on the energy pillar are destroyed, the pillar retracts back to the planet and phase two repeats. Special operation is completed by killing the devourer in time (every SO can only last up to 20 minutes, after 20 minutes, the mission is automatically failed).
Alien destroyer
Alien destroyer is a moderate difficulty special operation. The goal of this operation is to destroy the alien destroyer before the time runs out or the alien destroyer retreats. The destroyer starts retreating when all 8 outposts are destroyed or its durability falls below 15 %. Succeeding guarantees 2 purple trophies once a day. If all outposts survive, a third purple trophy will appear.
Commonly well-performing ship roles:
long range frigate
suppressor destroyer
Commonly under-performing ship roles:
engineering frigate
command fighter
ECM interceptor
Recommended fleet compostition:
mostly long range frigates and a few destroyers
Recommended modules and modifiers:
reverse thruster, photon emitter, IR flares, overdrive
Phase one:
Players spawn near a federation base. An alien destroyer emerges from an alien rift. During this phase, it is easy to deal a lot of damage, as the destroyer is not doing a whole lot. The destroyer takes the most significant damage when its cores are destroyed. Small damage can also be inflicted by taking down emitters, but this is only recommended when there are no cores available.
Phase two:
When the destroyer takes a sufficient amount of damage, it activates a destructible shield (this shield will be renewed periodically) and starts firing green lasers all around itself. These lasers deal significant damage, but are not lethal, if handled correctly. They track every player they hit. Big ships that can withstand this damage do not have to do much about them, but other ships have to hide or get out of the lasers’ range (about 7k) asap. This tends to be considered the most dangerous phase by most players, and therefore should be ended quickly. During this phase, the destroyer also activates two gravitational anomaly generators which make lives difficult especially for slow and close range ships that have to waste time to escape. It is because of this, why long range frigates equipped with reverse thrusters and destroyers are recommended for this mission.
Interphase:
While transitioning between the second,and third/third and fourth phase, an interphase similar to phase one, will occur. Attacking the destroyer now is easy as it does not fight back very hard.
Phase three:
When sufficient damage is dealt to the destroyer, it activates disectors, extremely powerful purple lasers that can destroy any player with ease. However, they are simple to avoid: Stay on sides of the destroyer.
Phase four:
When sufficient amount of damage is dealt to the destroyer, it starts sending off large quantities of missiles. The are not very strong, but in large numbers they can be dangerous. Quick tip: when these missiles are deflected by IR flares from a large distance, they will keep moving in the same direction, therefore it is recommended to move aside and let them fly by.
Retreat phase:
When the destroyer has taken too much damage or destroyed all outposts, it will start retreating. During this phase, its speed is increased and missiles are fired. The destroyer has to be destroyed before it manages to escape through the alien portal.
The Defiler
The defiler is undoubtedly the most diffictult special operation and often requires great cooperation. The goal of this operation is to destroy the defiler and to do it quick. Unlike other special operations, this one has to be won in 18 minutes, because 2 minutes before the end, the defiler activates its temporal destructor, which constantly damages all players in its sight. Succeeding guarantees 2 purple trophies a day. When the mission is completed without any casualties, “galaxy guardian” title is awarded to all participants.
Commonly well-performing ship roles:
destroyer suppressor (warning: biomorphs can force destroyers to target their allies, this is escpecially dangerous to nearby long range frigates)
long range frigate
recon interceptor
gunship fighter
Commonly under-performing ship roles:
engineering frigate
tackler fighter
Recommended fleet composition:
1-3 fast ships to capture the portals and take down small aliens, the rest filled with long range frigates and destroyers (also fast gunships can capture portals as well as fight the defiler, making them versatile, allowing a very adaptive kind of play)
Recommended modules and modifiers:
photon emitter, microwarp engine, overdrive, IR flares
Phase one:
The players spawn in a mining sector infested by the aliens. These aliens have to be destroyed. Then the defiler enters through an alien rift.
Phase two:
The defiler shoots dangerous missiles from its back and small green projectiles from its emitters. The defiler can only be damaged during this phase.
Phase three:
The defiler casts an indestructible shield around itself temporarily and activates two alien portals on the map. These portals will periodically spawn groups of aliens in the following order: 1 biomorph, 2 biomorphs, 1 alien hunter, 1 alien predator, repeat. These portals can be closed by being captured like beacons. It should be a priority of fast ships to do that. After some time, the shield will fall and the defiler returns to phase two.
Matter inverter:
Usually during phase three, an alien device called the matter inverter spawns on the side of the map opposite to the defiler. This makes the whole area become green. It happens multiple times during the game. It should be a priority of long-ranged ships to destroy this device asap. After a while of inactivity, the matter inverter deals great damage to all players. The first round is not lethal to ships in perfect shape, but the attacks will repeat until the inverter is destroyed. Ignoring the inverter will result in a very fast end to the mission, therefore it is often pinged by players so that other players can find and destroy it fast.
Retreat phase:
When the defiler only has 15 % hull durability remaining, it starts heading towards a newly open alien rift in order to escape. Allowing the defiler to escape means failure. A large number of alien portals open during this phase, but all players should now focus on the defiler and ignore everything else.