: Further to the east is a large open pit with lots of monsters in
: it. I suspect that this is how John survives the initial assault.
The first time I played, I did not use the inside of the pit. Basically, I lured the Troopers around the outside of the pit as I backed around it. That strategy only worked after many, many tries. However, recently I came up with a very nice strategy that works most of the time. IF the player can survive long enough to jump into the pit, immediately go through the door at the bottom. That door cannot be opened by any monsters. This gives the player time to catch their breath and to flip on the light switch that lights up the pit. That can definitely be helpful when it comes time to fight the enemies in the pit. More importantly though is that all the Troopers on the main floor seem to head upstairs, or at least away from the pit elevator. So after things seem to have calmed down, I go up the elevator, recharge, save, and then begin to lure the enemies around the pit.
: Also on the upstairs level is a room with lots of monsters - let's just
: assume that all rooms have lots of monsters from here out – off of which
: there is a small room with a very important terminal.
Steve, do you recall seeing an Invisible Compiler inside this room? I only discovered this enemy a few days ago when one of the Wasps in the adjacent room accidently hit it as I was trying to escape the Wasp. Pfhorte does not show this enemy as being in the room. There are supposedly only two Invisible Compilers on the level, both in the pit. After I jumped into the pit, I suppose one of them could have gone unstairs, and made it's way into that small room. Weird.
: they seem to be highly susceptible to fighter bolts - a definite
: strategy for gameplay. About the only weapon we have that works is the
: rocket launcher and on TC, it can take a few rockets to kill one - this
: should also be kept in mind.
I'll say more when we fight them in a later level, but they are not hard at all to defeat with your hook. It only takes about 20-25 running punches to defeat it.
One other minor thing I want to mention. Right after entering the level and tabbing the door, if you back up against the wall as far as possible while facing the door, as the central part of the door lowers, if you move slowly from side to side, there is a minor distortion on the wall in the outside hallway. It's not a big deal since it only seems to be noticable if you are away from the door, while the player is more likely to be very close to the door.
