Anyone been able to beat the scenario "End of Flesh"?

[Onepercent]

Lmao. I think i've attempted this scenario 10 times now and each one was disaster xD, it so incredibly difficult and the AI seems to be OP in all fields, has anyone been sucessful and can provide some tips? I was hoping there would be a letsplay of this scenario but sadly I couldn't find any.

[Mordachai]

I have always failed. It's insane.

[Commisar Jon Fuklaw]

I've beaten it several times. On hard.
The key, from what I remember, is to start as one of the tech-heavy races in the back of your side of the map (note: This means Liir or Morrigi. Morrigi is better due to better access to armor and weapons tech, better access to AI tech, especially AI slaves, but suffers from slightly lower chance to get mk4 shields and much higher ship build costs) and a.) hope for good tech rolls (AI slaves is particularly hilarious) b.) let the other factions soak the AI's attack waves c.) push back with the specific intent of gaining control of the jump lanes across the gap. The AI will mostly push through those human/zuul routes early on and if you pay attention, its easy to catalogue where the beacheads will be.

If you manage to hold prevent the AI from getting a secure foothold in your side of the map, then you are golden. You just need to push for ♥♥♥♥ like impactors, upgraded heavy beams, mk4 shields, phasers, KKM's, AM missles, AM torps, and whatever armor tech you get access to. If you do not get at least two of those weapons techs, and mk3+ shields, you may as well restart. If you do, its easy to set up a cruiser+ fleet that is capable of killing 10 times its number in AI ships.

For combat, the recommendation is to aim for command sections with high alpha and/or high accuracy weapons, preferably from a standoff range, and (obviously) to focus on swatting C3 ships first. All AI ships have AI command sections, so if you blow those up first, all their combat bonuses go poof. If you have KKM's and the improved missle thrusters, they are a viable alternative to impactors (note that they are rather ineffective against the AI's Liir designs). Just be aware you will probably need to mix in more damaging standoff weapons and you will need radar coverage so that you can keep firing on ships that get sent off into the great beyond.

[Onepercent]

I should've elaborated that I only played as humans because I enjoy their designs, have you beaten it as human?, I'll look into your approach.

[Roshengar]

I'm playing End of Flesh as humans atm. Couple of tips that have served me well:
-Pay attention if your AIlies are sending out a decent attack wave, try to support it. They won't always announce it.
- Early game- small groups (4-6) ER DD's were crucial to slowing the AI buildup. Jump across the rift and hit as many newly colonised worlds as you can. Use 2 DD's to lure the enemy into following, while 2 others circle a bit then charge the planet. Manually target the single incoming planet missile to destroy it. Then jump to the next planet and repeat. This is a good (small) investment to stop a bunch of planets becoming built-up. Never engage the enemy if you can help it.
- I found defending with groups of leap mine DD's essential- can wipe out a near-infinite number of enemies at no loss if played right.
- When attacking a planet, try to send holding forces to neighbouring planets that can reinforce, otherwise your "main" target will get a constant stream of reinforcements so you can never get around to pulling out your assault shuttles/planet attack ships.

[Onepercent]

Originally posted by Roshengar:

I'm playing End of Flesh as humans atm. Couple of tips that have served me well:
-Pay attention if your AIlies are sending out a decent attack wave, try to support it. They won't always announce it.
- Early game- small groups (4-6) ER DD's were crucial to slowing the AI buildup. Jump across the rift and hit as many newly colonised worlds as you can. Use 2 DD's to lure the enemy into following, while 2 others circle a bit then charge the planet. Manually target the single incoming planet missile to destroy it. Then jump to the next planet and repeat. This is a good (small) investment to stop a bunch of planets becoming built-up. Never engage the enemy if you can help it.
- I found defending with groups of leap mine DD's essential- can wipe out a near-infinite number of enemies at no loss if played right.
- When attacking a planet, try to send holding forces to neighbouring planets that can reinforce, otherwise your "main" target will get a constant stream of reinforcements so you can never get around to pulling out your assault shuttles/planet attack ships.

Thank you very much for that indepth answer! very appreciated. I'll definitely look into your approaches.

[wingren013]

The key to winning any war in SOTS vs the ai is to raid. Raid lke crazy. Unfortunately humans can't really raid very deep due to how their ftl drives work but you should be still hitting planets with the intent to caus eas much damage to them as possible. You don't need to kill the fleets, concentrating a huge froce can do that easily. Burn their worlds and you win.