Wing Commander III – Player’s Guide

Wing Commander III - Player's Guide

submitted by jeansy (jrl@yebo.co.za)

Of Skipper Missiles And Other Common Headaches
One of the most formidable weapon systems in the Kilrathi inventory is a
Skipper missile. It possesses a tremendous warhead which enables it to destroy
almost any size ship with a single hit. This includes all of the Confed fleet 
carriers. If it were a simple torpedo, it would be bad enough, but the Skipper 
possesses the ability to cloak itself, decloaking only momentarily in order to 
maintain its lock on a target.
Although it can be blown up with normal starfighter guns (a Skipper's EM
signature is not large enough to enable a missile lock), it's difficult to
hit something you can't see. Thus, it's only really vulnerable when it's out 
of cloak.
Thankfully the missile is not as fast as others in the Kilrathi inventory
and this enables most starfighters to overtake it using afterburners.
Taking out a Skipper missile is difficult, but not impossible. In order to
ensure the ability to overtake it, a light or medium interceptor should be used. 
On full afterburn, a light fighter is easily twice as fast as a Skipper, and 
this allows the pilot to engage the missile before it reaches its target. 
The Skipper is a large missile, and can only be launched by Kilrathi capital 
ships. This is helpful since you can disregard other targets and close on the  
launcher vessel, perhaps even destroying it before it gets a Skipper off. 
If you cannot destroy the launcher vessel in time, you should still be close 
enough to the Skipper to destroy it before it hits home. Keep a sharp eye on 
the radar for missile launches (yellow dots), since it may be your first 
indication of a new Skipper.

Ship Selection
Providing you don't blow her out in the love stakes, Rachel the mechanic is
happy to provide you with a default ship and weapons payload for each mission.
However, it's worth checking out the loadout terminal yourself prior to
flying, just to double-check her selection. Her defaults are not always ideal - 
on a mission involving battles with Kilrathi capital ships, for instance, the
heavily-armoured Longbow, with its devastating selection of missiles and 
torpedoes, is what's required to do the job. Bear in mind, however, that 
it is a sluggish ship and is easily outflown by, say, a Vaktoth or Sorthak 
class fighter. In straight dogfighting scenarios (which normally emerge from 
patrol missions), the best choice is the very nippy and manoeuvrable Arrow.

Fighters vs Capital Ships
Like the Confederation, the Kilrathi's fighter craft are incapable of
extended operations in space. As a result, for deep space campaigns they 
operate from a mother craft. All Kilrathi ships of destroyer size or larger 
contain hangar bays for the storage, re-arming and resupply of Kilrathi 
starfighters. If you ever encounter a squadron of Kilrathi fighters in the 
company of a capital ship, attempt to destroy the cap ship first. This will  
keep it from launching additional waves of fighters after the existing waves 
are destroyed. 
The removal of the extremely power-hungry and inefficient Ôphase shields'
means that cap ships can once again be destroyed by fighter-class weapons,
but the Kilrathi have countered this by adding more armour and gun turrets.
These changes have forced pilots to modify their tactics somewhat. One method 
to attack a heavy ship is to pick the least defended side (normally the rear),
and clear it of gun turrets. After a side of a cap ship has been stripped of
protection, repeated attacks on that side usually yield spectacular results.
Another attack method is available when flying the Arrow and the Excalibur.
The pilot will need to set a course which will intercept the cap ship's course,
yet not collide. After this is done, increase speed and activate the slide 
function. The starfighter becomes a floating gun turret and can provide a stable 
firing platform while throwing off any enemy gunner's aim. After repeated runs, 
the ships armour will be melted away to nothing. Both methods are made much more 
difficult by the presence of enemy fighters.

Morale
As the commander of a Confed starfighter wing, the Wing Commander is
responsible not only for success in the field, but for maintaining the
morale of the pilots under his command. The way a commander interacts with his 
personnel will affect the way they think of him, and the way they perform in the 
field. The wingco must also understand the way his subordinates think, since not all
personalities are the same. Some personnel fly well after a kind word, but
not everyone responds to the same treatment. Still, success in the field will
have a profound effect on the ship's morale, as will personal sacrifice.
While conversing with characters on board the TCS Victory, bear in mind that
it's possible to Ôcheat' - if what you say seems to have a bad effect on the
outcome of the conversation, simply play the scene again and try out the other choice.
Not really in the spirit of things, but advisable if you're dead set on winning.
And who isn't?