defection problems

[cha0sWyrM]

so, ive been farming a bunch of frames that i have been avoiding just because they arent fun to get. im trying for harrow right now...all i need is the systems, so that means i have to do this defection mission. ok fine.

except for 2 issues...one small and one not so small.

issue 1....no one is ever playing this so im forced to do it solo...which i wouldnt mind except for...

issue 2....these guys are dumb as dirt. i cant complete enough rotations because the ai keeps killing itself. between them walking right over the lava or whatever the floor turns into, or just hanging out in a toxic cloud instead of moving, or them just plain old getting stuck on the map...i just cant keep them alive. i get the distinct impression these guys dont really want to live.

i dont have a trinity for heals...so my tactic has been to use wisp and drop haste motes down....which works pretty well...they skedaddle through the map all lickety split like...except when they dont....which is often. i can get to about wave 10-12 before the environmental hazards are simply too many for me to be able to babysit these guys. by the time i revive one...another one is sitting in lava...or just wont walk down the stairs.

so...ill listen to any ideas you all have.

i was thinking of putting empower on wisp...for extra speed boost for the motes....or maybe resonator....or gloom? i dont know, none of that addresses the real issue. im just not sure how to keep these idiots from walking directly into being dead. i dont mind the mission being a challenge...but not because the ai path finding is atrocious, that isnt fun, its just frustrating.

maybe the answer is to farm trinity first and then use her for the healing/dr and just let them be slow?

[Incongruous]

Wisp is a sure way to do it. At least I did it that way to get Harrow.

Other than that, as you said - Gloom might work, but it requires a specific build. it also won't help the ones that decide to get stuck.
That gamemode is a mess in general, so it's not your fault that they keep dying.

[(PSN)iuvenilis]

40 minutes ago, cha0sWyrM said:

dont have a trinity for heals...so my tactic has been to use wisp and drop haste motes down

Dumb question, but are you also using the heal mote?

The way I do it solo is drop a heal and speed mote on each point, so that's my 6 used.

Alternatively/additional, bring a Wisp spectre and tell it to sit at point A. Then put all 3 motes on B and C (the spectre will drop its motes on A, which won't be as good as your own since specters are unmodded, but it shouldn't matter too much).

Hope that helps a little.

[cha0sWyrM]

4 minutes ago, (PSN)iuvenilis said:

Dumb question, but are you also using the heal mote?

The way I do it solo is drop a heal and speed mote on each point, so that's my 6 used.

Alternatively/additional, bring a Wisp spectre and tell it to sit at point A. Then put all 3 motes on B and C (the spectre will drop its motes on A, which won't be as good as your own since specters are unmodded, but it shouldn't matter too much).

Hope that helps a little.

you know...i dint try that because i read her heal mote doesnt work on them...but maybe that was wrong...i stupidly didnt test it for myself.

i guess i can try the specter thing...though...im not loosing guys to enemies...but to the environment...a specter wont help much with that i dont think....still...worth a shot.

[GrandLompus]

Another way is to use Octavia + roller ball.  When you go fetch a group of survivors, drop a roller ball in between them.  Then take the lead up front with e.g. an Ignis to clear the way ahead, and all infested coming from aside and from the back will be distracted by the roller ball.  I just tried again (need an extra harrow for helminth), and (almost) cheesed it in one go; only lost 1 survivor in both round 7 and 8.

And I don't know which node you're playing?  Out of the 3 options Caracol (Saturn) is the best one I think.  Memphis (Phobos) has a lower drop chance in rot C (7.5% vs. 11.3%) , and while Caracol and Yursa (Neptune) have the same drop chances, Caracol should be easier?

[(PSN)iuvenilis]

2 minutes ago, cha0sWyrM said:

you know...i dint try that because i read her heal mote doesnt work on them...but maybe that was wrong...i stupidly didnt test it for myself.

i guess i can try the specter thing...though...im not loosing guys to enemies...but to the environment...a specter wont help much with that i dont think....still...worth a shot.

Fear not, all 3 motes work on the defectors.

The advantage with a Wisp spectre is simply so you can have all 3 motes down on all 3 points. They're pretty much indestructible with all 3 motes on them. So you can easily run between B and C rushing squads, so it'll go much quicker than having to babysit them one squad at a time.

[DarknessNightshade]

You only need to do 6 and 8 squads for two rolls on the Harrow part, that's how I got mine, using an Oberon spamming his 3 for heals.

[SpicyDinosaur]

Everyone always forgets about these but there are also the stim items that can kind of help. They are obtained in the orokin lab (?) in the dojo. They last a few minutes and create an aoe that affects NPC allies, doing things like, for example, making the NPCs faster but physically weaker, (or the reverse.) There are four types, they can't all be equipped though and you can only use 20 in a mission, iirc. So you have to be selective when using them if you want to do long runs. Also, you want all the NPCs with you, because, again, they are an aoe. 

 

DE could have done a lot better with them, as well as not making it so you can only make 1 of each stim at a time in the foundry, but I often use them on NPC defense targets, and sometimes defection NPCs.

[(PSN)Sswoop-]

I use vauban. Max range vortex build. Just run with the ai, throwing a vortex every once in a while. Cake walk. Aoe weapons also help a lot. 

[(PSN)Unstar]

One tiny tip is to remember that the "lava" on the floor that gets spit out by enemies can be destroyed by damaging it, so this is one way to help your survivors mitigate their damage.

Also the quicker you can kill enemies, the less likely they can do damaging things like leave toxic clouds behind.  One thing I like to do is to go a bit ahead of my group of survivors to kill everything before they get to it; when they don't get stuck on things (which doesn't happen often for me recently), they tend to move at a fast enough pace that most enemies behind them can't really catch up.  Because you're fighting against Infested, which tend to not have much durability, an AoE weapon will probably help you a great deal.  Just aim it in a vague direction and all the Infested over there will be gone.

[MqToasty]

On 2021-08-20 at 5:02 AM, cha0sWyrM said:

you know...i dint try that because i read her heal mote doesnt work on them...but maybe that was wrong...i stupidly didnt test it for myself.

Actually, all 3 of Wisp's motes work on the defectors.  And they work wonders when you use all 3.  The vitality mote gives them more health and heals them; the haste mote makes them run faster; and the shock mote keeps enemies at bay just long enough for them to keep running.  With all 3 at Med Booster A, I don't even have to follow them to the extraction point -- just tell them to go once they're mostly healed up and I know they will make it.  You will need to juggle the motes a bit since you can only have 6 total on the field, but it should be very manageable with Fused Reservoir.

Also, it's not the lava on the floor damaging them -- it's the air itself.  They start losing health as soon as they leave the Med Boosters, which is why the vitality mote is a must.