Flying Escort

Escorting convoys and bombers is probably the most challenging type of mission in Wing Commander: Prophecy. Why? Because the safety of the ships you're protecting comes first, which means you have to focus on destroying the ships attacking them rather than the ones attacking you.

The best way to complete escort missions successfully is to use the NAV map extensively. As soon as you arrive at a NAV point where hostiles are located, switch to the NAV map and right-click on the ship you're escorting. If it has already been targeted by an enemy fighter, target that fighter and get after him, but try not to stray too far from the ship you're protecting. In fact, it's a good idea to check the NAV map even before you've taken out an attacking fighter just to make sure another enemy hasn't taken his place.

If no enemies have targeted the ship you're escorting, take that opportunity to prioritize enemy threats - in other words, target the ships that pose the greatest threat to the ship you must defend. During a couple of missions, for example, you must protect the Midway from an attack from Morays, Mantas, and Skates; you obviously take out the Skates, then the Mantas, and leave the Morays for last because their guns aren't capable of damaging the Midway.

Nullifying Capital Ship Defenses

Weakening a capital ship's defenses so that bombers can finish it off is almost as challenging as escort missions, but following these steps should make them a bit easier for you.

Take out a few fighters before you begin destroying the capital ship's defenses. You've usually got a minute or two at the start of an assault on a capital ship to take out a few Alien fighters - and the fewer fighters, the less likely you'll be attacked from behind as you move in to start taking out shield emitters, gun turrets, and missile launchers.

Shift power from the rear to front shields as you move in for the attack. Most of the damage you receive while attempting to knock out the components on a capital ship comes as you make your approach, so always remember to allocate at least 75 percent of shield power to the front of your ship before beginning your run.

Get too close for comfort. Capital ships are big - so big that once you move alongside them only a few of their guns even have the capability of targeting you. The best tactic I've come up with is to simply crawl along the belly of the beast, knocking out gun turrets and missile launchers as you encounter them. It not only lessens the number of anti-attack guns the capital ship can turn on you, it also shields you from attacks from enemy fighters on the other side of the ship.

Use missile and guns simultaneously - on two different targets. If your ship is armed with LRAR missiles, you can pretty much take out two turrets once. All you need to do is find two turrets that can be seen from the cockpit at the same time. Decrease your speed, then target one of the turrets and aim your guns at the other - as the missile makes its lock, you can fire gun rounds into the other one.

Next: Bombing and Torpedo Runs