Starship Troopers: Extermination

Starship Troopers: Extermination

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The Basics of Arc Mode
By 357 Magnum Ace
An overview of the structure and objectives of Arc mode. This is aimed at orienting beginners.
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Introduction
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In this guide we'll break it down into the four phases of the mode, the objectives of each one, briefly discuss infestation levels, and comment on the TacMap's uses.
Phase 1: Landing
This is the shortest phase and the easiest one to miss. Here you are tasked with two objectives:
1) Build the mobile HQ
2) Secure the area for the Arc drop.
Phase 2: Resource Acquisition
This is the meat of the round. Here you are tasked with three major objectives:
1) Defend the Arc
2) Acquire ore
3) Acquire gas


Additionally you will be given secondary objectives to complete. Completing these nets your team helpful rewards like rocket launchers. These will be discussed in a later section.

Let's now expand on each one of the major objectives. Ore and gas will be talked about briefly and then an extra segment added for information common to both of them.

1. Defend the Arc
To do this you will need to build up your defenses and secure the perimeter. This will require soldiers to build defenses appropriately & man strategic locations to intercept bugs en route to the Arc. As the infestation level increases this job will begin to include hunting down bug artillery that strike your base, the grenadier. This will force you to leave the base or re-task resource team members.

2. Acquire Ore
Ore is the blue canister, it comes from ore refineries, and it provides resources for builders to reinforce the base. It is loaded into the mobile HQ. This is an important resource, but is not the critical resource.

3. Acquire Gas
Gas is the yellow canister, it comes from gas refineries, and it provides fuel for the Arc to run. This is your critical resource, because when 7 canisters are loaded into the Arc it will trigger the next phase of the game. Load the last canister with caution and communication with your team's builders.

Canisters & You
Canisters come from refineries which must first be built. Once built, you activate the terminals and protect the device for 30 seconds before a canister is finished filling. If the refinery takes too much damage it will abort the process and force a complete restart. You can generate 4 canisters before the refinery goes into a long 240 second cooldown forcing you to aid in other areas. Loose canisters can be destroyed by bugs and all explosives. Canisters left on the refinery are destroyed if the refinery takes too much damage.

Added note, support infantry can carry canisters on their back and thus make ideal resource team members.
Phase 3: Defending the Base
So you've loaded the last gas into the Arc and triggered the scan. Here you are tasked with one objective.
1) Defend the Arc

This is where your builder's design, soldier's mettle, and ore resource team's efficacy are judged. Help out however you can, repair, revive, kill, cover friendlies, or preferably a bit of everything. You must hold the line until the scan reaches 100% at which point the fleet steps in.
Phase 4: Extraction
Congratulations are in order, or will be if you make it home. You completed the scan and now have one objective:
1) Extract your team

When this phase begins try to find friendlies and travel in a group. Do your best to cover each other while sprinting to the shuttle which will land somewhere on the map and be shown with a shuttle icon.

When you reach it you will be greeted by a flyboy, your living friends, and ammunition in the back of the ship. Grab some ammo, head back outside, and begin covering any friendlies en route to the exit before lift off.
Secondary Objectives
These missions will only be available during phase two. Periodically throughout the mission your intel officer will inform you of secondary objectives that are available on the map. These missions have their own rewards and are on a timer and can expire.

These missions are:
1) Additional resources found
2) High priority targets
3) Field objectives.


Additional Resources Found
This gives you three canisters of resources. It typically shows up as a mix of gas and ore. These canisters will explode after the secondary mission expires.

High Priority Targets
A powerful arachnid or a group of them will be designated as the target. If you travel to their location and eliminate them your infestation level will fall.

Field Objectives
These include repairing a generator or interacting with a scanning beacon. Completing these objectives will spawn rocket launchers in nearby locked cans.

Rocket launchers are valuable tools for countering grenadiers and tigers which will test your defenses in phase 2 and phase 3. It is worth noting that rocket launchers are lost upon death, so try to keep your rocket infantry alive.
Infestation Level
As you spend more time on the map and kill bugs your infestation level will rise. As this goes up new threats will begin to emerge and greater hordes of bugs. Things like the grendier, tiger, tiger elite.

When you reach infestation 5 you will trigger an infinite horde to come and strike the ARC. This will not only demand more manpower at the base, but will make all resource missions that much more difficult to return from and make the ARC hold harder. The horde is only paused during the set up time after the ARC is fully loaded. You can manage your infestation level and avoid level 5 by completing High Priority Target secondary missions.

Overall the quicker you can get a mission done the better, but only when your defenses are ready.
The TacMap
The TacMap provides a map of the area, the locations of your fellow troopers, and displays all the current objectives on the map.

Additionally, when you select an objective on the TacMap it will become your active objective. In the upper left portion of the screen you can view your objective and how many players, including yourself, are assigned to it. This is very useful for figuring out where manpower is needed the most.
Conclusion
I'm doing my part. Now you can too. Give 'em everything you've got.
15 Comments
exizz_man 6 Apr @ 4:04pm 
if you play it in child mode of course it can be defended by two or three soldiers, remember that it is a cooperative game “not competition” so the one who thinks it is a competition game uninstall it, this tutorial is good as it says you have to help and do not forget the ARC, NOT A GAME JUST TO KILL ANTS
Gunvarrel 25 May, 2023 @ 9:40pm 
I don't have that experience, gonna be real with you. Almost always most of the team has left the base. But ymmv I guess
Mal 25 May, 2023 @ 7:33pm 
This is a solid guide that I will just add one more note to. Leave the base. The base can be defended by a small team of 3-5 troopers. Especially in the early game during infestation level 1 and 2. During that period everyone else should be out on the map doing objectives. Far too often I've seen 2/3 of the team sitting at base which leaves too many objectives for too few troopers.
Gunvarrel 24 May, 2023 @ 2:54am 
Thanks!
357 Magnum Ace  [author] 24 May, 2023 @ 2:21am 
The ones I have personally helped get were inside generators and fleet beacons, just like the ones you find in AAS. Once done the little locked cans give you the rocket launcher.
Gunvarrel 23 May, 2023 @ 10:03pm 
Didn't know that the field objectives spawned a rocket launcher. That's great to know, and a good reason to complete them. Does the rocket launcher spawn near the objective location? Or just "somewhere on the map"? Do we know how that works yet or just guesses?
Coileach 23 May, 2023 @ 8:35pm 
Great work man, after reading it I feel ready (and keen) to take this on.
357 Magnum Ace  [author] 23 May, 2023 @ 7:49pm 
Thank you for all the input Cation. I went ahead and integrated it into the guide.
charlie 23 May, 2023 @ 11:25am 
it should be noted that bugs and explosions (regardless of the source) will destroy canisters.
charlie 23 May, 2023 @ 11:23am 
as for additional resources, ive always seen them in groups of three (mostly 2 ore to 1 gas, or 2 gas to 1 ore) -- when the timer expires, the cans explode, but ive seen one instance where the ore cans exploded but the gas stayed.