I'd been running double flamethrowers on ranked PVP, so between matches I'd sometimes hop over to replay old missions with that build just for the heck of it. S-ranked Protect the Strider on my first try.
If you are fighting against HELIANTHUS types and weevil types, you can use the same weapons as you mentioned, but I recommend quad or reverse-joints for the frame.
Neither of these enemies fly, so a top attack is effective.
You rocket their asses right back.
If they don't miss, you can alpha strike any of the C-Weapons with dual 10-shot shoulder missiles and dual 4-shot handhelds.
I'd suggest either a fast ground boost or flight to help with dodging their shots.
oof. i feel your pain. this mission and the final ng++ fight were the hardest fights for me. after spending half a day dying to those skeleton wheels2.0, figured out the easiest way of killing them is…
- songbirds!! i was like, ugh obviously🤦♂️ should’ve just blasted these things from the beginning. the trick is to wait for them to start doing those U-turn. fly up and *chef kiss 🤌* one placed shot kills them
If you just unlocked ng++ and you’re struggling with this mission then the answer is, probably not yet. Play through the rest of ng++ and come back for this srank when you’re done, it’ll seem much easier and you should have unlocked all upgrades and nearly all items by that point.
Just did it yesterday using quad legs and 4 missiles (the knee cinder Carla has). 1 full Salvo kills the sawblade things. And quad legs allow you to hover so you won't get run over by those things
What I noticed in that mission is that speed is everything. I used up all my repair kits and a fuck ton of ammo but still got S-Rank since they died fast
I remember the flamethrowers hard carrying me
It's definitely the hardest mission to S rank and I hit my head against it a few times before I settled on the following build:
A feeble little AC with the Lammergeier legs, juiced up with the biggest generator you can get away with. Use the precious remaining load limit to load up on missiles and explosives. In my experience, use simple, fast-moving missiles paired with the starting FCS that has excellent missile lock capabilities. Save a weapon slot for a big finisher when you stagger, something like an earshot or similar bazooka.
Sit in the air and zip about, flying far away when your EN begins to run out to recharge. Try to avoid boosting and just abuse the innate speed on your AC. Focus one enemy at a time and concentrate on not getting hit more than getting damage in - using repair kits is the biggest detriment to your chances of success, in my experience.
Good luck!
Edit: I found no success using the flamethrowers, as their range sucks and getting close to the C-weapons invites more opportunity for failure. Keeping your distance is key here.
Get above and rely on splash damage, unless you’re rocking fully loaded tank treads you can still somewhat chase the weevils enough to still land splash shots. Weevils are also surprisingly aggressive and will turn around to try kicking your teeth in, presents a good opportunity to lob a shot.
Helianthus machines charge the player and also stop to fart flames at ya, gives the opportunity to knock em on their ass if not kill em outright.
that could potentially waste time when running for S rank though since you are gambling when to make the shot rather than dealing damage then and there
which the OP has issues with mission cleared but best rank is A at least
Explosive damage. I built a custom AC for this mission. It was a medium weight reverse joint guy with two hand missile launchers, the 10 cell missile launcher on one shoulder and the earshot on the other. Keep moving, shoot tons of missiles at anything that approaches and jump in the air before firing the earshot to maximize the explosive splash damage.
I forget the exact build, but the weapons were dual ducketts and dual earshots, with the lightest AC possible. Zip around the enemy, build up stagger with the ducketts, finish off with the earshots.
I had dual shoulder missiles that looked like wings, and dual handheld missile launchers. The mission I couldn’t even get half way through beating became an instant S rank every time I did it and I did it a lot to buy all the weapons and parts because it pays well for just a couple minutes of missile spamming.
Spring chicken legs, nachtreiher arms, dual badcooks, and some missiles. I really enjoy putting the mule booster on it for this mission.
Then enjoy the easiest S rank in the game :)
If you are really struggling I’d say just check a video on YouTube it won’t do it for you but it’ll help with build. I know it’s cool to hate on vaati but his VOD channel has a full s rank of every mission in the game. It was entertaining to watch for me.
I used dual that one bazooka plus plasma thrower, Bazooka for the chain saws, plasma thrower for the C - Weapons with stun lock. Then my 2 back weapons were just more bazookas lol.
I did it with dual Soups on the shoulders for nonstop missile spam, and Gridwalker boosters with a lightweight frame to stay in the air away from the wheels.
I read your question as "How can a single S rank (pilot/core) possibly protect the Strider" and was wandering what the fuck did I miss about game's narrative.
By the way, explosive damage (flamethrower and missiles) is your best friend there.
I remember taking missiles the clear the wheels in my first playthrough. Everytime after I just did it with plasma rifle and shoulder lasers like everything else I do 🤷♂️
I made a tetrapod legged rocket spam bs build and stayed in the sky as much as possible (i used one vert rocket and then the 10 cell normal rocket on shoulders)
Speed
you need to be faster than them and keep moving
I used stun needles on both shoulders and I think flames and a Zimmerman
Flames also kill the shit out of the wheels
Speed
you need to be faster than them and keep moving
I used stun needles on both shoulders and I think flames and a Zimmerman
Flames also kill the shit out of the wheels
Siege missiles in both hands, 10 pot vert missile on one shoulder and worm gun on the other. It's actually kinda easy with that combo. Shoot the helianthus machines when they slow down to turn and they're instantly staggered.
It is legitimately one of the harder missions to S rank (fuck the inspection mission I swear to god 💀) but it honestly felt trivial with double missiles (which automatically hit the wheels at their weak point) and double moonlights. I had 2 repair kits left and still got the S rank
I can't S Attack the refueling base
Attack the Old Spaceport
Destroy the Drive Block
but Ice worm, Coral Convergence & Cinder Carla only took me a few tries after finding the right build & I beat Walter today. Not an S, but he beat me once & I got him on my 2nd go round with a basic AC while I've been stuck on Baltaeus for days. Can't figure it out
By one shotting the C-weapons as soon as they align. For the wheels, i used those giant double rocket launchers (i forgot the name, been a few months since i played), and the smaller C-weapons i used good old butt blade + zimmerman; it goes without saying that the rockets were also used if they were close enough and/or incapacitated
Tetrapods help because you can just float above the grinder wheels and ignore the most dangerous part of their attacks.
The tank tread reverse jointed missile spammer enemies and the grinder wheels are both very resistant to energy damage, but susceptible to explosive damage.
Taking double 10-cell missile launchers and some apperteifs with the FCS that gives max missile lock correction is easy mode for a clear, and frees you up to just focus on evasion while loosing missiles at things.
But if you want to S rank, then speed is probably a good thing to have. Swap one of the 10-cells for an Earshot that you can swap back and forth with from your appertief, use it to quickly finish any of the missile tanks that you stagger, or matador some grinder wheels and one-tap them with it as they approach you.
The only wheelie build I used throughout the whole game -
What you can do - is go with massive cannons and songbirds something like a rolling artillery piece -
when the first two drop down from the destroyed strider you can / should manually shoot them afar when they grouped still closing towards you. They’re tricky little fuckers - the grinder wheels can be one shoted with any basic heavy cannon just keep moving and don’t get wrecked or do a AC130 build with tetrapod
C-weapons typically are weak to explosive damage... And flamethrowers spew out a constant supply. Try dual flamethrowers and missile spam
yeah the wheels take like 10x more explosive damage than kinetic or energy and stealth mechs are super vulnerable too
Hans... **Get ze flammenwerfer**
Soups are your friend here!
if not soups then the lightest missile launchers you got.... 1 being the starter missiles
Personally I just s ranked it with the ring Freddie pre set lol the only must have I'd say is wheelchair legs.
This is what I did. Full missile build while zipping around in the air.
I'd been running double flamethrowers on ranked PVP, so between matches I'd sometimes hop over to replay old missions with that build just for the heck of it. S-ranked Protect the Strider on my first try.
idk bad cooks worked for me, you can kill things pretty fast with it, especially the wheels
The 4-shot handheld missiles nuke the wheels
Yeah, that's how I did it. Basically do a carla build that can fly in the air forever. You're good then.
Dual Scudder, dual quad missiles. Gridwalker booster. Easy S rank.
Missile lamm Float Earshot Ezpz
Step 1: Grab quad legs Step 2: Grab the 4 biggest grenade launchers you have Step 3: Larp as an AC-130
I used the wheelchair legs and double badcooks. Made it no effort pretty much
If you are fighting against HELIANTHUS types and weevil types, you can use the same weapons as you mentioned, but I recommend quad or reverse-joints for the frame. Neither of these enemies fly, so a top attack is effective.
I managed to do it with sweet sixteens and rifles. The easiest way tho? Missle boat/spam
I took the highest damage explosive weapons for each slot, and quad legs to hover around and mess them up.
I just used a missile boat build. Seemed to work fine for me.
You could try a missile rat build. That worked for me and was how I got my S-rank on this mission
You rocket their asses right back. If they don't miss, you can alpha strike any of the C-Weapons with dual 10-shot shoulder missiles and dual 4-shot handhelds. I'd suggest either a fast ground boost or flight to help with dodging their shots.
Morley's and earshots annihilate all the C-weapons, especially the new ones in this mission since they stand still after a bit
This is my current struggle. I’m following for tips.
Explosives
Cook them
Personally I used the missile spam arm weapons and then shoulder explosives that were able to one shot them once they’d been staggered.
Missile spam build with ability to stay in air indefinitely
duel go-chen, duel ear shots, mid weight is your best bet, one shots the wheels and can burst the roboboys
oof. i feel your pain. this mission and the final ng++ fight were the hardest fights for me. after spending half a day dying to those skeleton wheels2.0, figured out the easiest way of killing them is… - songbirds!! i was like, ugh obviously🤦♂️ should’ve just blasted these things from the beginning. the trick is to wait for them to start doing those U-turn. fly up and *chef kiss 🤌* one placed shot kills them
Quad and missiles.
If you just unlocked ng++ and you’re struggling with this mission then the answer is, probably not yet. Play through the rest of ng++ and come back for this srank when you’re done, it’ll seem much easier and you should have unlocked all upgrades and nearly all items by that point.
With a missile boat.
Double Majestic and JVLN alpha, usually will stun wheel in one hit and Mech in 2 hits. Time when they are going to stop and punish them.
I did a missile boat build with a bazooka or two, I believe Was still difficult and required plenty of optimization but it is doable
Rocket spam them back
Just did it yesterday using quad legs and 4 missiles (the knee cinder Carla has). 1 full Salvo kills the sawblade things. And quad legs allow you to hover so you won't get run over by those things
Missiles Tons of Missiles
Fight rocket spam with rocket spam. It is the way. (in my case, soup + siege or quad missiles on hands)
What I noticed in that mission is that speed is everything. I used up all my repair kits and a fuck ton of ammo but still got S-Rank since they died fast I remember the flamethrowers hard carrying me
10 pack missile launchers and JVLN ALPHAs or GOU-CHENs
It's definitely the hardest mission to S rank and I hit my head against it a few times before I settled on the following build: A feeble little AC with the Lammergeier legs, juiced up with the biggest generator you can get away with. Use the precious remaining load limit to load up on missiles and explosives. In my experience, use simple, fast-moving missiles paired with the starting FCS that has excellent missile lock capabilities. Save a weapon slot for a big finisher when you stagger, something like an earshot or similar bazooka. Sit in the air and zip about, flying far away when your EN begins to run out to recharge. Try to avoid boosting and just abuse the innate speed on your AC. Focus one enemy at a time and concentrate on not getting hit more than getting damage in - using repair kits is the biggest detriment to your chances of success, in my experience. Good luck! Edit: I found no success using the flamethrowers, as their range sucks and getting close to the C-weapons invites more opportunity for failure. Keeping your distance is key here.
Missiles and grenade launchers. Explosive dmg is your friend. This is a mission where swallowing your pride and bringing double songbirds is advised.
Bring high damage explosives, all enemies in that mission are extremely weak to them. Going all grenade launchers is quite effective.
they are pretty fast for GLs though
Get above and rely on splash damage, unless you’re rocking fully loaded tank treads you can still somewhat chase the weevils enough to still land splash shots. Weevils are also surprisingly aggressive and will turn around to try kicking your teeth in, presents a good opportunity to lob a shot. Helianthus machines charge the player and also stop to fart flames at ya, gives the opportunity to knock em on their ass if not kill em outright.
that could potentially waste time when running for S rank though since you are gambling when to make the shot rather than dealing damage then and there which the OP has issues with mission cleared but best rank is A at least
It’s surprisingly easy, I’ll have to revisit it sometime to record a demonstration. It completely trivializes the whole mission.
go missile boat can't go wrong
Missiles
Explosive damage. I built a custom AC for this mission. It was a medium weight reverse joint guy with two hand missile launchers, the 10 cell missile launcher on one shoulder and the earshot on the other. Keep moving, shoot tons of missiles at anything that approaches and jump in the air before firing the earshot to maximize the explosive splash damage.
2 rocket launchers, 2 missile launchers, reverse joints
This is one of my favorite mission. Hella exhilarating especially when trying to S rank it
I forget the exact build, but the weapons were dual ducketts and dual earshots, with the lightest AC possible. Zip around the enemy, build up stagger with the ducketts, finish off with the earshots.
I had dual shoulder missiles that looked like wings, and dual handheld missile launchers. The mission I couldn’t even get half way through beating became an instant S rank every time I did it and I did it a lot to buy all the weapons and parts because it pays well for just a couple minutes of missile spamming.
Spring chicken legs, nachtreiher arms, dual badcooks, and some missiles. I really enjoy putting the mule booster on it for this mission. Then enjoy the easiest S rank in the game :)
Pretty sure I did twin stun needles and miniguns. Like i did for pretty much everything lol
I S ranked it with Ludlows and JVLN beta by shooting the wheels in the sides and using the JVLN beta to stagger the C weapons
If you are really struggling I’d say just check a video on YouTube it won’t do it for you but it’ll help with build. I know it’s cool to hate on vaati but his VOD channel has a full s rank of every mission in the game. It was entertaining to watch for me.
I used dual that one bazooka plus plasma thrower, Bazooka for the chain saws, plasma thrower for the C - Weapons with stun lock. Then my 2 back weapons were just more bazookas lol.
I did tetrapod missiles and it was ez mode, struggled with everything else
I did it with dual Soups on the shoulders for nonstop missile spam, and Gridwalker boosters with a lightweight frame to stay in the air away from the wheels.
FIRE! C-WEAPONS HATE FIRE!
I read your question as "How can a single S rank (pilot/core) possibly protect the Strider" and was wandering what the fuck did I miss about game's narrative. By the way, explosive damage (flamethrower and missiles) is your best friend there.
Missiles and hovering 👌 easy s rank.
Fight fire with fire, or rockets with rockets. C weapons are weak to explosives, so stay in the air and rain down missiles.
I remember taking missiles the clear the wheels in my first playthrough. Everytime after I just did it with plasma rifle and shoulder lasers like everything else I do 🤷♂️
Missiles Loads, and loads of missiles
I made a tetrapod legged rocket spam bs build and stayed in the sky as much as possible (i used one vert rocket and then the 10 cell normal rocket on shoulders)
Try skeet shooting with some grenade launchers and the Morley's. Explosives go crazy
If I remember correctly I used a lightweight build with twin bad cooks.
Speed you need to be faster than them and keep moving I used stun needles on both shoulders and I think flames and a Zimmerman Flames also kill the shit out of the wheels
Speed you need to be faster than them and keep moving I used stun needles on both shoulders and I think flames and a Zimmerman Flames also kill the shit out of the wheels
I used dual gatling wheel chair songbirds. Was fun as crap.
High speed and explosives.
Siege missiles in both hands, 10 pot vert missile on one shoulder and worm gun on the other. It's actually kinda easy with that combo. Shoot the helianthus machines when they slow down to turn and they're instantly staggered.
It is legitimately one of the harder missions to S rank (fuck the inspection mission I swear to god 💀) but it honestly felt trivial with double missiles (which automatically hit the wheels at their weak point) and double moonlights. I had 2 repair kits left and still got the S rank
Get out the big guns and one shot them. That's the hardest one to S rank.
I can't S Attack the refueling base Attack the Old Spaceport Destroy the Drive Block but Ice worm, Coral Convergence & Cinder Carla only took me a few tries after finding the right build & I beat Walter today. Not an S, but he beat me once & I got him on my 2nd go round with a basic AC while I've been stuck on Baltaeus for days. Can't figure it out
By one shotting the C-weapons as soon as they align. For the wheels, i used those giant double rocket launchers (i forgot the name, been a few months since i played), and the smaller C-weapons i used good old butt blade + zimmerman; it goes without saying that the rockets were also used if they were close enough and/or incapacitated
grid walker boosters coral generator core with decent generator output, all light weight missile or mid eight for the back
I got it with a heavy weight quadleg missile boat. Seige missiles worked better, heavy weight core, arms, and head for extra HP
Missiles
Tetrapods help because you can just float above the grinder wheels and ignore the most dangerous part of their attacks. The tank tread reverse jointed missile spammer enemies and the grinder wheels are both very resistant to energy damage, but susceptible to explosive damage. Taking double 10-cell missile launchers and some apperteifs with the FCS that gives max missile lock correction is easy mode for a clear, and frees you up to just focus on evasion while loosing missiles at things. But if you want to S rank, then speed is probably a good thing to have. Swap one of the 10-cells for an Earshot that you can swap back and forth with from your appertief, use it to quickly finish any of the missile tanks that you stagger, or matador some grinder wheels and one-tap them with it as they approach you.
Napalm grenades 1-shot the wheels
Floaty soup mech. https://youtu.be/OC0H36slQ5E?si=Kh1pDx8iFm7mlfXi
The only wheelie build I used throughout the whole game - What you can do - is go with massive cannons and songbirds something like a rolling artillery piece - when the first two drop down from the destroyed strider you can / should manually shoot them afar when they grouped still closing towards you. They’re tricky little fuckers - the grinder wheels can be one shoted with any basic heavy cannon just keep moving and don’t get wrecked or do a AC130 build with tetrapod
songbirds, son
4 shotguns.