Data Recovery and Assassination

A quick few pointers aimed at helping people to understand what both they AND their enemies are capable of in these missions.

Introduction

A lot of players have trouble with Data Recovery and Assassination. The aim of this guide is to share some highly relevant information. I am going to focus the guide around Chaos and Imperials, however the points I make can be applied to other races and will provide food for thought. As I play more and more and fiddle with each race, I will add them to this guide.

Good news everyone! I've now added the Eldar to the guide, so you can critique my views on them at your leisure. Orks are the only race remaining to do, but will play out much like their Imperial counterparts.

Ship Selection

A lot of people are decieved into thinking that they want a tanky ship or a powerful one for these types of missions. In fact, in most cases the best approach is to take a Light Cruiser or Cruiser equivilant over a Battleship. Why is this you ask? Because the way to win the mission is to flee! You aren't meant to stand and fight, it's not a Cruiser Clash, it's a scenario where your objective is to Warp Out safely as the Defender!





You can see here the Battleship speed is only 150 next to the Light Cruisers' 225. This makes a dramatic difference when trying to flee. As the Aggressor your role is to close the range ASAP and start attacking and/or boarding the enemy ship.

Also, take a note of the points cost of each vessel. Sure, a Battleship is only 100 points more or so, however you can only fit one into a 2v2 for example, and in Data Recovery especially, it's down to whoever can pull off the most assaults on the enemy warship. Which is better, one lightning strike on a Battleship, or two from Cruisers or Light Cruisers?

Important Skills

We all know about the usefulness of Micro Warp Jump (MWJ), however not many people use the skill Enhanced Induction Cells.



Enhanced Induction Cells allow you to instantly replenish your manouvre gauge, meaning that you can use your 'all ahead full' order as soon as the first one is finished! For players who haven't seen this in action before, it may appear to be a hack, a never-ending speed boost of sorts, but it is not the case. Click on your enemy vessel and try and ascertain if they posess the ability early in the battle, as you only have a couple of minutes before they warp out!



As you can see here, this Light Cruiser has both Micro Warp Jump and Enhanced Induction Cells. I have also combined this with a couple of upgrades to the hull, and at a low level thanks to the Mechanicum favour.

Important Upgrades

So you have Enhanced Induction Cells (EIC) but you REALLY want to get some bang for your buck? Well, look no further than Efficient Plasma Thrusters! This upgrade allows you to use abilities like All Ahead Full for a full 25% longer!



When coupled with EIC, this means you have an effective +125% manouvre gauge, which should see you moving at top speed for much of the first minute or two of a battle. Ridiculous right? For both sides, a ship equipped in this manner is excelent for getting in fast and striking their enemies, pinching Data or making a strike to delay the Warp Jump of the enemy.



I have not only upgraded the engines on this Dauntless with Enhanced Plasma Thrusters, but I have also added the upgrade allowing +25 speed, BUT if I lose my engines I will lose my special manourve orders, so a risky strategy!

Crew Skills

So, you've used these abilities to keep ahead of your enemies, probably, and now the time has come to Warp Out. I myself was surprised when one enemy seemed to instantly escape my vile clutches! How did he do it?



Navigator provides -2.5 sec. to your Warp Out time, and when levelled up to 3 points, allows you to warp out in just 7.5 seconds. A must-have on any ship desiring to flee the battle. Also, handy to have as you won't get lost in the warp!



This Cruiser has been given the Inquisition Favour, giving every crew member +1 skill point. This has allowed me to stock up several crew quickly. I played an Assassination game shortly before writing this, and against Pulsar spam Eldar. I was able to create a cruiser wall around my vessel, which entered the warp with blinding speed thanks to the upgrades. The Eldar player was suitably frustrated by this, so no doubt has gone on to grind for a Voidstalker with the hope of blowing me away in one or two salvos next time. Good luck pal.

A quick note on Boarding Actions and Lightning Strikes

I am adding this after this guide has already been out for the better part of a week, as I feel it needs to be touched on.

SAVE YOUR ASSAULTS!

The worst mistake you can make is blowing your load learly trying to get data/assassinate. You need to use your lightning strikes only as a counter.

If you are playing Assassination, as the attacker, you want to use your strikes to prevent the target warping out.

If you are playing Data Recovery, you need to take the data, however, your enemies will also counter strike. It often boils down to whoever gets their lightning strike off last, as the person who is on cooldown cannot prevent the data warping out.

New: Eldar

Ok, so after a fair few play-throughs with the Eldar, whilst the attacking Eldar plays much like the other races, I think there are a few key upgrades and favours you need as a defender which are unique to the space elves.

Now, the problem with the upgrades is that unless you're a high-level player, you won't have what you need. So, to kae up for this, you want to start with a Favour. I prefer the Ulthwe over the Biel-Tan. Why? Because the +30 troop value against lightning strikes is more useful than the +20 against boarding and lightning strikes. In my experience, people are too keen to board Eldar and go straight for the lightning strike, rather than trying to close the gap and use a standard boarding action.

Next, come the upgrades.

-Reinforced Holo Fields are a must-take item, as you'll never drop below 20% efficiency.
-Dragon Sails will give you a much needed speed boost (+50) if you're keen on kiting the enemy (and you ARE keen on kiting when you are trying to flee the battle.
-Void Predator goes hand in hand with Dragon sails, placing a 20 point accuracy penalty on enemy macros so long as you're in an Asteroid Field or Gas Cloud.
-Reinforced Hull stacks again with these because few enemies will dare chase you into an asteroid field. Instead, they will sit outside of the field and try and blow you away. This is where the holo fields and the penalty for macros will best stack.
-Wraithguards are the last option, and probably the least important. They provide +10 troop Value against assault actions and when enemies are trying to cancel your warp jump.

Skills wise, the Eldar have few that help them in the mission to flee. The only skills that jump to mind are stasis field and webway slip (MWJ). Just use them to keep ahead of the curb.

Lastly, crew skills. Navigator, navigator, navigator. 7.5 sec. warp out.

So remember, kite, use the terrain, and get out of there ASAP!

Final Thoughts

Data Recovery and Assassination are two of the most frustrating game modes currently, usually because one team is able to dart in and out before the other can respond. It is important to use a host of abilities, such as taunt, stasis field etc. in order to catch your enemies. I did not dwell on this however as most players understand this already, especially as most players despise the Eldar and thus have these abilities already as a hard counter to the pointy eared pansies. Instead, I took a look at some less used abilities and how they can also affect the outcome.

By no means is this definitive, as with all guides, they are subject to change every patch, but I will contribute more and rework this as I need to. Please let me know what you think, comment below!