(Online for few, Offline for most)
Either way, not a great game to play for long
VERSION 1.0
July - 30th 2001
FAQ BY
Rock Ciccarone --> a.k.a. "Bullet Sponge"
Edward Ju --> a.k.a. "Gundam Dubya"
Email contact information has been ommitted for now.
Use message board topic "Faq Submitted" by Bullet_Sponge
This Faq was written by the typical none-Japanese reading (or Speaking)
American Joe... The "Bullet Sponge". (And no I have not been shot... yet.)
Without the help of Gundam Dubya, I'd be guessing as to what the majority of the
items in pilot statistics meant (except the weapons selection), and would not
know what the different options concerning Sensor-Ship groups, besides missiles.
The terms I use in this FAQ are NOT based on the literal Kanji. They are based
on my interpretation of what the buttons and symbols do or represent. The
reasoning behind this outrage... Well, for 99.9% of you (the FAQ readers),
reading Japanese is as easy as holding water in a thin paper bag. SOOOO I found
this approach much easier to read and follow than the literal translations.
***** DO NOT EMAIL ME WITH QUESTIONS THIS FAQ COVERS. ***************************
***** DO NOT POST THIS FAQ WITHOUT MY PERMISSION. All you have to do is ask *****
***** DO NOT ADD MY EMAIL ADDRESS TO ANY MAILING LISTS. *************************
***** DO NOT TELL ME HOW MUCH YOU LIKE GUNDAM WING... (Gundam X is MUCH better)**
***** DO CONTRIBUTE IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING EITHER GUNDAM DUBYA OR I MISSED *******
All individuals that would like to contribute to this Faq are more than welcome to
send me the information. I will give credit where credit is due. But don't think
if you tell me about a spelling error, your going to get your name in BIG BOLD
PRINT LIKE THIS.
========================================================================================
TABLE O' CONTENTES
========================================================================================
1. BUTTONS
2. MAP CONTROLS
3. BATTLE CONTROLS
4. PILOT STATISTICS
5. BATTLE INFO
6. CRUISERS
7. MOBILE SUITS
8. STARTING A NEW GAME
9. WALK-THROUGH
10. MISSION COMPLETE
11. ONLINE **** COMING SOON *********************************
========================================================================================
1. BUTTONS -- And what they do.
========================================================================================
MAP BATTLE HANGER
A - SELECT SELECT SELECT
B - BACK BACK BACK
X - PASS TURN NONE WEAPONRY / SKILLS
Y - QUICK MOVE SENSOR ZOOM Remove
L - MOVE PREVIOUS Previous NOTHING
R - MOVE NEXT Next NOTHING
Analog - Zoom Rotate Angle NOTHING
D-Pad - Pointer Move Control Menu Control
========================================================================================
2. MAP CONTROLS
========================================================================================
BATTLE GROUP TRANSPORT GROUP SENSOR-SHIP GROUP MAP
___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ________________
|MOVE A | |MOVE A | |MOVE A | |UNIT LISTING G |
|-------------------| |-------------------| |-------------------| |----------------|
|CLEAR ORDERS B | |CLEAR ORDERS B | |CLEAR ORDERS B | |MISSION H |
|-------------------| |-------------------| |-------------------| |----------------|
|MINOVSKY C | |MINOVSKY C | |PURCHASE F | |SAVE I |
|-------------------| |-------------------| --------------------- |----------------|
|DOCK D | |DOCK D | | * FIRE *** | |MAP VEIWER J |
|-------------------| --------------------- |------------| ------------------
|CONFIGURATION E | | * RELOAD * |
--------------------- --------------
A. MOVE --> Select one of your ship groups and then hit this button.
Now place the hex Selector on an empty zone. You can also
select another group. By doing this however, you will follow
that group if Friendy, or Intercept it if it is an enemy.
Be careful not to have all units follow your attack group.
Doing this can result in getting 'Boxed In' and will only
make you mad. Trust me, I am speaking from experience.
B. CLEAR ORDERS --> Use this if you want a group to stop ALL activity.
C. MINOVSKY --> On the map, you may notice that there are areas that sensors
can not penetrate until you get right next to them. Be warned, those
are Minovsky particles. If you have ever seen Gundam, and not that
shameless poor-plotted semi-romanticized series **Gundam Wing**, then you
know (or at least SHOULD know) that Minovsky particles are the bye-
product of the fusion generators that power starships and mobile
suits. They result in the reduced effectiveness of sensors. The higher
the Minovsky level, the lower the range of sensors, which by the way, is
why you don't see Mobile Suits using guided weaponry. Wars would go
pretty quick if every shot was a radar-guided 50 megaton missile.
D. DOCK --> When your playing the game offline, you'll notice how you always
have a cargo ship in your task force. In some missions, it is critical
to actually USE the cargo ships. The 5th mission in the Zeon campaign is
a prime example. You are to recover HLVs that are fired from Earth into
one of 4 drop zones. Anyway, when your cursor is on a cargo vessel, look
to the lower right area of the screen. You should see a line that is
either yellow (1000 or 2000) or black (0). That is the cargo capacity
of the transport. If your transport is full (yellow), then it can't do
anything useful except drop Minovsky Particles. If it has no cargo, then
move next to an HLV with cargo, and hit the dock button. Depending on how
much is inside, the process could take up to 4 cycles. If either the
the transport or the HLV (or whatever) is attacked, the procedure is
terminated. All transferred cargo remains on the transport though, so
it isn't a complete loss.
***** You can NOT dock with the Sensor-Ship groups *****
***** You CAN dock with your Battle group ********
E. CONFIGURATION --> This is by far the most important command in the game.
What this command does is allow you to equip you Mobile Suits, change
pilots, design your emblem (why bother), set your pilot's commands,
and change your MS color (Which is about as lame as I have ever seen).
You would think you could change the color of the entire suit.. What's
even worse is when you use suits that have different base colors like a
Zaku and a Keampfer. The end result.... GAY
1. ORGANIZE --> Go to Hanger to configure Pilots and Suits
2. FORMATION --> Designate the Ship and Mobile Suit formations.
a. MS Placement
b. Ship Placement
c. Ship Status
3. MS VEIWER --> GAY!!!!
4. EMBLEM SELECTION --> USELESS
5. EXIT
F. PURCHASE --> This command allows those mostly useless flight groups to be Not-
as-useless. In order to "buy" options for them, you need to position them
next to your freighter. Then click the "Purchase" command.
There are five things you can buy, although, and only two are semi-useful.
1. Mines (CRAP) --> Time Delayed Garbage, but powerful.
2. Missile x 4 --> When an enemy moves next to you, AFTER they have
already fired, you can fire back. This is useful when you keep
all of your Bait groups together. To destroy an enemy cruiser
group later in the game, you will need to have 4 or more
groups attack. AND each group can only take one hit before they
go bye-bye. YOU DO THE MATH.
Once you have purchased the missiles, you no longer need to remain
by the transport.
3. Recon --> Changing to this allows you to see the numbers and types
of mobile suits on each ship.
4. Enemy Seeker (DEFAULT) --> Standard "Bait" ships.
5. Defense --> Lowers the damage it takes from a cruiser encounter.
*** By far the most useful. ***
IF you buy a group missiles or Mines, then their commands become slightly
more varied. They each have 5 commands now, and not three.
The first three function the exact same.
4th Command --> Fire Missile, Drop Mine
5th Command --> Reload (Buy more ammuntion)
G. UNIT LISTING --> Bring up this menue for a listing af all units visible.
H. MISSION --> Shows the number of Days, Targets to Detsroy, and Materails
required to successfully complete the mission. Also shows how many days,
targets, and supplies you have recovered so far.
I. SAVE --> Save in the middle of a battle. (Never used personally)
J. MAP VEIWER --> Brings up a map of the level.
Debris Map --> Shows the obstacles and ships.
Minovsky Density --> Shows the entire map and the density of Minovsky.
Territory --> Shows the sectors controlled by you and the enemy.
========================================================================================
3. BATTLE CONTROLS
========================================================================================
A. MOBILE SUITS
________ ________ ________ ________ ________
|Move ||Attack ||Support ||Stop ||Status |
|________||________||________||________||________|
A. MOVE --> Select a unit, hit the move button, place the cursor in the area, BAM!
B. ATTACK --> Bandia has done it again. Who gets in a fight and stands by watching
his buddy get smacked in the face? In case you don't know what I am
referring to, An enemy can only be attacked by a MAXIMUM OF ONE UNIT!
C. SUPPORT --> The above statement isn't ENTIRELY true, but it is for all practical
purposes. To give your buddy a hand, you can have up to TWO mobile suits
provide support. Support is broken down into two classes.
**CLOSE SUPPORT** & **DEEP SUPPORT**
You can only have one MS in each support position.
-------CLOSE SUPPORT is important for three reasons;
1. Increase Action Point Recharge Rate (Covered Later)
2. Replacement Killer... Above I said you can have only one person fight
at a time. So what happens when your guy is getting his face kicked
in? You switch spots with the person giving you close support.
It takes time to evade, but if you have someone who is amazing at
Hand-to-Hand combat, let him do the fighting.
3. Knock Out... You will get punched so hard it knocks you out of action.
So what keeps the enemy form breaking through to your cruisers? Close
support does of course. The instant something happens to the primary
combatant, the Close support guy takes over.
-------DEEP SUPPORT is important for only 1 REASON
1. The BEAT DOWN! You can't provide Deep support against cruisers, and in
most battles, you won't outnumber the enemy by more than 3 Suits, so
the only purpose I can see is to give your Suit Fighters a little
extra push. If you give someone Deep Cover, make sure nobody is open
for close support (unless the person providing support is an S class).
D. STOP --> Only works if a mobile suit is NOT in combat and has orders.
E. STATUS --> This will display the pilot's stats and the command he/she is
currently executing.
When a mobile suit is fighting, a second sub-menu is activated. This sub menu
has 3 options.
1. DISENGAGE --> This command is annoying because it knocks out the
opponent. Why is that annoying you ask?! Because the guy
who is taking a nap can't be attacked. More often than not,
you are going to want to finish off the mobile suit, NOT
let the guy get away. It gets annoying when your beating the
snot out of someone, and he knocks you out. Then he goes and
attacks one of your cruisers, where he is safe... kind-of.
2. SWITCH --> If you have someone in close support, hit this button to
have them take the primary position. The unit being replaced
is now giving close support to the new Primary.
3. STATUS --> DUH
========================================================================================
4. PILOT STATISTICS
========================================================================================
A. Those letters above the pilot (A,C,D,S...)
These letters tell you what that pilot does best. You've probably been in
fight where you were getting stomped. Did you remember the pilot's letter?
Chances are, your pilot is an S and the opponent was a C. Now I'll tell
you what they mean. Below is a description of the letters and in GENERAL,
how pilots of that type will perform. There are other affects as well, and
like most strategy games, different letters do better against each other,
similar to Fire vs Ice. But if your pilot is high in level, that won't
matter... Much.
I. *** A ***
ASSAULT - These pilots are the ones you send over to fight the
cruisers (aka Cruiser Busters). You can tell who they are because
they will fly above and below cruisers. Everyone else will fly in
circles around the cruiser. They are kinda fun to watch because
they do a LOT more than simple circle patterns. The Suit also makes
a difference. Stick one of them in a Gelgoog and another in a Gelgoog
Cannon. You'll see what I am talking about. Generally weak in
combat. DO NOT give them hand-to-hand techniques. They are
extremely weak, and increases the rate of enemy attacks.
II. ** C ***
COMBAT - These pilots should ALWAYS be the first ones into a fight.
they excel at kicking the crap out of other mobile suits. However
in most cases, they only do well against one enemy at a time.
III. * D ***
DEFENSE - These pilots are average at everything, but incredible
when they are outnumbered. If your team is in a fight, these are the
last people who should get support, unless they are fighting top
level enemy suits like the RGM-79SPs. As a general rule of thumb,
put them in the best COMBAT suit you have available.
Also, I have noticed that they fight better closer to your own
cruisers.
IV. ** S ***
SUPPORT - OH %#%^ an enemy got through to my cruisers! Never fear,
the mostly crappy pilot is here. These guys are ALMOST worthless,
except when you are in deep %#%^. When an enemy is pounding your
cruisers, send this guy back IMMEDIATELY. These types of pilots
should always be in a high performance suit, and not in an artillery
type like the MS-14C or RX-77D. Those suits fly very slow and chances
are that the only times you'll need these support pilots, are when
your best pilot got kicked in the face and his foe slipped by.
Typically, the ones that kick you a lot are the enemy *Assault*
class pilots. Unlike any other Mobile Suit pilot in the game, they
can actually cause enemy suits to DISENGAGE your cruisers. I can't
stress their importance enough. Absolutely Invaluable after
mission 4. Leave them in back and only send them in when your
doing cleanup. Then have them destroy all the cruisers with the
close support of a cruiser buster.
V. *** M ***
MANEUVER - Used only by the cruisers. It improves their dodge rate
of enemy attacks, but makes them less effective concerning shooting.
If you don't have any support nearby, ALWAYS switch to maneuver.
B. LETTER EFFECTIVENESS
Let me start by saying... I don't have a friggin clue. There is no rhyme or
reason to how they fight. I have tried to look for a pattern, but as soon as
I see a pattern develop, something comes along and breaks the mold. The only
thing I can say is that in general, the stereotypes I posted above are
accurate. The letters just indicate what the pilot is good at. Saying
A beats D and C beats S is complete bull.
========================================================================================
5. BATTLE INFO
========================================================================================
A. ACTION POINT --> The battle controls I listed above should easily get you
playing the game. But knowing what the buttons are is only "half the battle"
(G.I.JOE taught me that.) Anyway, When your watching one of your characters
in a fight, the first thing your going to ask is "What in the heck is that
blue and red bar in the middle?" I'll tell you. That is the Action bar. This
is the ONLY way to tell who is going to win a fight. Your pilot's level does
play a factor, but what is more important is the Letter (A,C,D,S). Here is
how the action bar works.
Battle Starts --> both at 0.
Numbers Go up --> Battle has begun and a turn passed
If your number is going up slow (Left side) and your enemies is
breaking speed records, get out of the fight. You are going to DIE!!!!
If you actually read my faq up to this point, you may remember me calling
the A letter pilots "Cruiser Busters". After your A class pilots get to
around level 6, watch their number compared to the other types when
fighting starships.
The number doesn't really matter that much. It does if you always load
your pilots with the +2 skills though. Each skill or move your pilot
has takes a certain amount of their action points, so needless to say,
if your action points sky rocket to 90 in .0001 seconds, your probably
going to smear your opponent all over space, and then do horrible things
to his cold dark grave.
Numbers Go Down --> Somebody attacked (used a turn)
*** Your pilots current command ALSO affects the action points ***
B. MORALE --> This is how your pilot is doing... mentally. If he is losing morale,
he is probably going to fight less effectively. From what I've seen, the Feds
have a much larger problem with this than the Zeons. Overall, not a super
important gauge. Should only be a factor near the beginning of the game.
C. TOTAL POINTS --> This red bar is completely useless. I am only guessing that it
is the total action points. It's the bar right next to your the pilots
active command and their type (A,C,D,S).
D. ACTIVE COMMAND --> There are several of these.
1. Auto-Fire (Three Lines)
This command is best used for S and D pilots. Basically means to fire
the primary weapon.
2. Aimed-Shot "Snipe" (Target)
This command is best suited for the A pilots. This fires the Secondary
weapon, such as the Beam Cannon on a Gelgoog cannon. IF your suit
doesn't have a secondary weapon, it functions the same as the Auto-Fire.
3. Hand-to-Hand Combat (Two Facing Arrows)
Every C type pilot should load up on these bad boys. Don't over-do-it
with the +1 and +2 attacks though. Those use more action points to
execute.
4. Retreat (Curved Arrow)
This is not a command you can equip your pilot with. This is what you
get when you hit the "DISENGAGE" button inside combat. I may take a
few turns to actually get away. (This is how you knock out an enemy
suit. Also good for preparing for cruiser support.)
5. Switch (the S)
Another command only available in combat. It either means you are
trying to escape or switch to your close support unit. This is what you
get when you hit the "SWITCH" button (or "DISENGAGE").
6. Hand-Off (Two arrows facing opposite corners)
This is the command that actually switches to the support unit. The
Switch I mentioned before just states that the pilot is trying to
perform that action.
7. Movement (The Single Arrow)
This simply says, "This unit has orders and is moving to execute".
This can be misleading though. remember, only one person can fight a
unit at a time, and the arrow also means flying back towards YOUR
cruisers.
8. Knocked Out (The box with the X)
Either your Dead, or your pilot is temporarily out of action. Until
the pilot recovers, they are useless (But invulnerable if not already
dead).
9. NO ORDERS (Box with one diagonal line)
This pilot is waiting for orders.
10. ??? CRUISER COMMANDS ???
I know of 4 Cruiser Commands, and I know what none of them do. If I
said anything, I'd get 50 billion emails saying that I'm wrong, so
"NO SOUP FOR YOU"!
E. RECTANGLES --> This is the damage indicator for that object. When you are in
perfect health, all rectangles should be green. As you accumulate damage,
you will lose performance. The worst is when your head is blown off (top
rectangle red). You will cause 1 point of damage. It is sad really.
========================================================================================
6. CRUISERS
========================================================================================
This is fairly easy to describe
A. ZEON
1. Musai - Cruiser 4 Mobile Suits
2. Zanzibar - Battleship 6 Mobile Suits
3. Papua - Transport
4. Jicco - Sensor Ships (Bait)
B. FEDERATION
1. Salamis - Cruiser 4 Mobile Suits
2. Magellan - Battleship 6 Mobile Suits
3. Columbus - Transport
4. Public - Sensor Ships (Bait)
========================================================================================
7. MOBILE SUITS
========================================================================================
I have compiled a list of all the suits I know of and the weapons that they
can use. Also, I have several Suits with a (*) after the name. The * is either
Silver or Gold, and the effects always boost the basic performance of the suit,
as well as provide different weapons. (Gold is better than Silver).
The MS-14A * has a Rocket-Gun, that does well over 120 Damage to a cruiser.
2 hits to a Magellen... GONE! To get the best suits and the upgraded versions,
you need to get S ranks.
Long Range Weapon Hand-to-Hand Built-in Weapon
__________________________________________________________________
A. ZEON
1. MS-06F - Zaku II
90mm Machinegun Heat-Hawk Axe
120mm Machinegun Punch
Zaku Bazooka (280mm)
2. MS-06S - Zaku II Commander Type
Same as MS-06F
3. MS-06R-I - Prototype Space-Combat High-Mobility Zaku II
Same as MS-O6F
Giant Bazooka (360mm) (Gold *)
4. MS-09D - Dom
Giant Bazooka (360mm) Heat Sword
90mm Machinegun Punch
120mm Machinegun
5. MS-14A - Gelgoog
Beam Rifle Twin Beam Saber
90mm Machinegun Beam Saber
120mm Machinegun Punch
Rocket-Gun (Silver *)
6. MS-14S - Gelgoog Commander Type
Same as MS14A
7. MS-14C - Gelgoog Cannon
90mm Machinegun Twin Beam Saber Beam Cannon
Beam Saber
Punch
8. MS-18E - Kaempfer (Heavy Assault Mobile Suit)
Bazooka (280mm) Beam Saber
Shotgun Punch
B. FEDERATION
1. FF-3S - Core Fighter (Haven't been able to get one yet)
2. RB-79 - Ball
180mm Cannon
3. RGM-79 - GM
Beam-Spray Beam Saber
90mm Machinegun Punch
Bazooka (260mm)
Beam Rifle (Silver *)
4. RGM-79GS - GM Commander Type
Same as RGM-79 Silver * version
5. RGM-79SP - GM Sniper 2
6. RX-77D - GunCannon
90mm Machinegun 280mm Cannon
========================================================================================
8. STARTING A NEW GAME
========================================================================================
There is a little more to it than most games. That's the only reason why I included
this section.
1. Choose an Affiliation (Zeon or Fed).
2. Name your Fleet.
3. Choose how many pilots you want of which type.
I would suggest 3-Ds, 4-Cs, 2_Ss, and 3-As.
4. Choose your pilots.
You can select from 50 or so pilots, and they are different depending on
your affiliation. They position you choose such as position 1, will make
that pilot a D class pilot. If you changed the 8th pilot, you'd be choosing
an S class pilot. The stats also do not change, only the faces.
5. Name your pilots.
Select one of the options to give your pilot a name. If you switch out
or change positions, you will have to re-enter the name. You can only
enter 8 letters, so some of the more fun names are out of the question.
6. Hit the button at the bottom that looks like an ED or something.
That is confirm and go and is always the last command on a menu.
========================================================================================
9. WALK-THROUGH
========================================================================================
I am not going to insult your intelligence and give you the exact details for every
mission in the game. Not only is that a waste of my time, but it is also a complete
waste of YOUR time. The missions (outside of Zeon stage 5) are a joke. You'd waste
more time reading the faq than playing the game, so what I will do is give you a
list of all the missions with a few tid-bits of info, like days to complete, and special
items you can find. Yes, there are things you can find. These little Explosions on the
map are emblems.
8A. ZEON DUCHY
1. Destroy 3 Transport Groups --- (ORANGE)
150 Days
EMBLEM: Top Left Corner
2. Destroy all enemy Cruisers --- (ORANGE)
200 Days, 3 Targets
EMBLEM: Bottom Left Corner of Large HEX in TOP LEFT CORNER
3. Destroy Cruisers --- (ORANGE)
300 Days, 4 Targets
EMBLEM: Bottom Right Corner
4. Escort the Transport ---
(Can get additional Zanzibars for repeat completions)
250 Days
EMBLEM: Bottom Center
5. Recover HLVs --- HINT --- Get all six loaded, then move all transports
to the boarder of the yellow landing zone. Have all enter at the same time for
a guaranteed S rating.
200 Days, 6000 Required Supply Recovery
EMBLEM: Top Left Corner
6. Destroy Ships --- (Orange)
250 Days, 3 Targets
EMBLEM: Bottom Center
7. Recover Musais
300 Days, 6000 Required Supply Recovery
EMBLEM: Upper Right Corner of large HEX in UPPER RIGHT CORNER
8. Destroy Ships --- (Orange)
250 Days, 5 Targets
EMBLEM: Top Left of Large Hex IN TOP LEFT CORNER
9. Get to Granada (Get the Cruiser to the Yellow)
250 Days
EMBLEM: Bottom LEft Corner
8B. Earth Federation
1. Destroy 3 Transport groups --- (Orange)
EMBLEM: ****** UNKNOWN ******
2. Escort Transport Groups (More that are alive, the higher your rating)
200 Days
EMBLEM: Lower Right portion of 3rd Large Hex from the left.
(Left side of Asteroid wall)
3. Destroy Ships --- (Orange)
? Days, 5 Targets
EMBLEM: ****** UNKNOWN ******
4. Destroy Federation Transports --- (Orange)
300 Days, 6 Targets
EMBLEM: Top Middle of Map
It appears the the units aquired after each mission varies. Gundam Dubya's list
and my own are completely different, and a more complete list will be in the next
update.
========================================================================================
10. MISSION COMPLETE
========================================================================================
When you finish a mission, you are awarded a letter score for that mission. What rating
you get is based on several things, and some are weighted more than others. I am listing
them in order from highest weight to lowest.
1. Number of Surviving Transports
*** ONLY AVAILABLE ON ESCORT AND RECOVER MISSIONS ***
2. TIME to complete.
3. Enemies Destroyed.
4. Supplies Remaining.
5. Survivability of YOUR attack group.
The support ships MEAN NOTHING... They die, oh boo hoo. The TRANSPORT on the other
hand, is a bit more important, but it is still disposable. You get a percentage of
the amount of supplies you have remaining, so if you are going for S ratings,
ESPECIALLY on the second time through, limit purchases for the support groups.
========================================================================================
11. ONLINE PLAY -----> COMING SOON
========================================================================================
This document has been copyrighted to ROCK CICCARONE JULY 20th, 2001.
Un-authorized useage of this document is subject to fines up to $5,000
and imprisonment for up to 90 days.
