Cadet I/Miner defense

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Miner defense (aka How to keep your money coming in!)

Miner Defense: The most important and least recognized role in Allegiance. Good miner defense is invaluable to your team's chances of winning and many believe it is also the hardest to do.

Objective

Your task is to deliver the miner to a destination asteroid and patrol the area making sure it can mine undisturbed. Optionally, try to ensure the miners are mining as efficiently as possible. Sounds simple? Well, think again. The enemy team will do whatever they can to destroy the miners or at least slow your team's economy by making your miners run away scared.

There are two ways in which you can aid your miners: you can either avoid it's destruction by nanning it, or by shooting down the attackers trying to destroy it. In this introductory lesson, only the scout application for miner escort will be covered. Fighter/interceptor escort is covered in the Cadet II course.

Loadout

1. Take a nan. Always! Your scout is rendered almost useless without one. Either mount it in your gun slot, or pack it into cargo. Never escort constructors in a scout without a nanite gun!
2. Proximity mines. These are your friends, take a bunch. Preferably fill your cargo with them. Some pilots skip a gun, carrying nothing but a nan, shields, and an entire cargo full of prox!
3. Missiles. Take one rack of seekers. They are good for shooting that probe 1k away and, if need be, you can lob them at attacking ships. Don't pack any more missiles - you are not going out there to dogfight! Fighters or interceptors should be close by if you need cover.

Spot any similarities to the last lesson? ;)

Miners outbound

Let's say your commander has ordered your miners into a neighboring sector and you're escorting them there. At this point you should be flying in front of the miners using your scout's sensors to sweep for hostiles ahead. Destroy any probes you encounter to keep the miner from being seen. If the enemy doesn't know where your miners are they won't be out in force to kill them. If nothing needs your attention you could even fly out of your way to pick up cash boxes. Don't venture more than 2k away from the miners though - less if the enemy is tac.

Once you make it to the destination sector the miners will split up and head to the various He³ asteroids in the sector. This is where your job gets tough because the HE rocks are usually spread far enough apart that you can only cover one miner at a time. The challenge is picking which miner is going to need the cover. Normally a good bet is to cover the rock closest to enemy controlled territory. Fly ahead of your chosen miner to its rock and fly a quick circuit around the He³ rock checking for probes.

Miners mining

Now your miner is at the rock mining merrily. You need to be at your most alert now because a stationary target is the easiest to hit. Furthermore the enemy will quickly detect the drop in HE in the sector and do their best to interrupt your mining operations. Be prepared. Keep turning your scout around so your powerful forward sensors cover all approaches, especially the miner's rear where its own sensors are the weakest.

Action stations (Small attack)

So your scanners have picked up a small incoming enemy attack group. Your job is simple. Stay back from the fight, trying to avoid eye, until the miner starts taking hull damage. Then rush in and repair it. For small assaults (2-3 fighters) by the time you need to start repairing your escort should have killed at least one of the attackers.

Upon seeing your blue donuts of love the attackers will probably switch to shooting at you. Good. Now your job is to lead them as far from the miner as possible. With a bit of luck they'll be so busy shooting at you they won't realize you're leading them away from the miner.

The more likely scenario is that one of the attackers will be gunning for you while the other keeps pounding on the miner. In this situation you cannot afford to leave the miner for too long. I like to start doing flybys. Head away from the miner for 2-3 seconds then turn and face it again. Nan it as you pass it. Keep going out the other side then turn and do another pass. Keep moving in a S pattern repairing on each pass.

Tip: A stationary scout is a dead scout.

Battle stations (Large assault)

For larger assaults you are going to need some cunning. First make sure the commander knows to move the miner. While it heads back to base get in front of it. Engage vector lock and turn around so you're now flying backwards. Most scouts are agile enough that your reverse speed will closely match the miner's top speed. Start dropping your prox mines in front of the miner and the attackers should fly through them as they tail the retreating miner.

As always once the miner starts taking hull damage you need to repair it. Use you left/right and up/down thrusters to keep yourself moving at all times making yourself as difficult a target as possible. Keep those blue donuts of love on the miner. Your job is to keep that miner alive an extra 10-20 seconds, buying time for your reinforcements to arrive. You'll likely be in a pod by the time they arrive. But as long as the miner lives you can rest secure in the knowledge that you're helping your team win.

If time allows, don't forget to give your defenders a little loving too. Swing and give them a blast of the nanite gun as you circle the miner, but only if the miner is healthy itself - remember the miner is #1 priority.

Sometimes if there are enough scouts on miner d one of you will go to the aleph where you expect the attack to come from and camp it, dropping prox to kill the inbound fighters. Coordinate with the commander or someone in base who can give you good Intel for when to drop.

Rinse cycle

Congratulations your miner has topped off its tanks with He³ and is just about back in base to unload. Job finished right? Time to grab a fighter and go shoot stuff right? Wrong! It is time to dock and replenish any missiles or prox mines you used on your last outing.

This is the most common mistake made by new pilots in Allegiance. They think that just because the miners have not been attacked in the last few minutes that the danger has gone and they can leave the miners undefended. That is just what veteran miner hunters rely on, they will lurk and wait for the defenders to get bored and leave before swooping in for the kill.

Once you're on miner D you're on miner D until your commander tells you otherwise. We won't lie, it is a boring job most of the time. But someone has to do it. Plus the recognition you will gain by other pilots will pay off in the long run for you!

Advanced miner d

The best miner defenders don't just sit and watch the miners, they take an active role in controlling the miner to maximise the amount of money coming in while minimising the opportunities the enemy team have to destroy it. At the first sign of danger they will order the miner home without waiting for the comm. They will anaylse the map layout to decide which sector to mine next, they will choose which rocks to mine in which order. They will study the minimap relentlessly to glean any hints of an enemy attack before it has begun. Hell, they'll even tell the team where to bomb next so that they can mine safely!

Of course, as a newbie, you're just as likely to make a mistake and waste the miners' time as you are to save them from doom. But here are 4 tips that should be within your grasp:

1. After a miner has unloaded itself make sure it heads to a fresh, full rock if possible. 9 times out of 10 it is better to start a new rock than to travel all the way back to its old rock for the dregs.
2. Once a miner has been damaged by the enemy it will want to retreat and repair, regardless of whether all the enemy have been destroyed and it has been nanned all the way back up. Every time you hear the sound effect "I don't get paid enough for this" grab the miner and order it back to the rock to finish. Crack that whip!
3. When a large enemy attack approaches don't wait for the comm to react, get that miner out of there! If possible order it to the closest refinery first so that even if it dies you get the money for its current cargo.
4. If a miner is coming under attack a fair distance from you (3 or 4k) order it to head towards you. This will help prevent you shooting past it in the opposite direction. On the other hand, once you've met up you will both become sitting ducks.

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