Challenging Mode - Incursion - Seeking Round 15 Strats

[Addihul]

My clan/squad started pushing challenging mode Incursions this week. We've purposely steered clear of Youtube and guide based strategies to see what we could come up with on our own. We have all cleared hard mode dozens of times, so we knew our strategy would need significant tweaking. We are currently able to get to round 15 about 25-30% of the time. We have plenty to master and work on to make reaching the end more of a consistent adventure. However, I'm asking for tried and true round 15 strategies from those who are completing it on a regular basis. Theories are all well and good, we have our own. Any CM vets out there willing to impart their knowledge?

 

[HHHope]

Interested in this.

 

[MichFan]

This has worked for my group quite well since we mastered the Hard mode and moved on to the Challenging mode. There is no way to rush it, at least not for us, and it takes time but we've been able to clear it 3 times now. 

We can't figure out entirely if it is random luck or there is a pattern to the NPC spawns once you hit round 15 but once we do get there we take out any and all NPCs on the left side of the map closest to the square room to shut off turret. As we continue to clear said side we tend to leave the ones we leave the right side almost alone and let the new ones that spawn there continue to pile up on the right while having one person popping up from the stairs to do their best to keep said enemies suppressed the best they can. Eventually it'll get to a point where the majority of the NPCs are all on your right side and makes for one less thing the bomb runners squad has to deal with while moving towards the APC. 

Once you've gotten to a point where most enemies are cleared on the left three of us with Survivor Link make the run, one thing to change before going is to have all three switch abilities to First Aid Booster Shot and some form of a Support Station. One pops basically as soon as you all exit the tunnel to get the three to the square room and give you resistance of any NPCs that may spawn in front of your group. Once in room person who burned their link should get there support station ready to throw, other person with out bomb hits survivor link and shuts off turret, and of course bomber plants. As soon as bomber plants they should hit survivor link and begin running back while player with support station throws it out front to draw turrets fire along with the one who shut off turret throw theirs as well. From here it is just a matter of constant movement of ducking and running make sure you all three time out your Booster Shots and once close enough have 4th player back in pit area pop there Survivor Link as well to make sure all 4 receive boost and then its just a matter of clearing out any remaining NPCs who get close to you as the rockets are going off one more time. Advise to take cover on the right side under the grate as on the left the rockets can still reach into the pit if your not careful.

We've run this 5 times and had this work 3 of them so its the one we will continue to use. If one of the party goes down as your making your way back don't hesitate at all and keep going. There is nothing you can do for them lol. Also an important thing to have all squad members do is to try and max out your stamina and try to focus on skill power as much as possible as well before even beginning challenging mode. 

 

[Addihul]

Real good stuff here @michfan, thank you. I've just data mined some videos and strategy guides and the number 1 thing that has us failing is that we hadn't been strategically clearing out mobs prior to moving left. We treated wave 15 much like wave 15 of the hard mode where you can basically immediately rush left and take out the bomb, closer mobs, plant it with survivor link and all head to mid. However we were getting face wrecked, even with what we thought was decent CC.

I have confirmation now that you can take out pretty much the entire left side by popping up from mid, leaving the right side with a handful of guys before the left side repopulates. 2 people can drop turrets directly in front of the enemy APC turrets to distract during the final rush left if needed. Good thoughts from you as well about the booster shots. We will play around with variations on this and the other pieces we learned.

Biggest take away is to thin out the hoard a bit before pub-rushing left. We are also toying with keeping one man in the mid at all times during wave 15 to clear stragglers, cc mid, and stay alive.

 

[Xeromaus]

Biggest take away is to thin out the hoard a bit before pub-rushing left. We are also toying with keeping one man in the mid at all times during wave 15 to clear stragglers, cc mid, and stay alive.

Sounds like you got it all figured out now, but that bit about the man behind...YES. Leave one behind in the trench just to stay alive, and have him equip Recovery Link sig. From the trench, he can revive anyone/everyone that goes down on the run to the apc, or give them a full heal. It only takes one squad member alive after the last bomb is placed to win, but if everyone dies before the all clear message, it's game over. It's best to hedge your bets.

 

[HHHope]

Good read

 

[MichFan]

Sounds like you got it all figured out now, but that bit about the man behind...YES. Leave one behind in the trench just to stay alive, and have him equip Recovery Link sig. From the trench, he can revive anyone/everyone that goes down on the run to the apc, or give them a full heal. It only takes one squad member alive after the last bomb is placed to win, but if everyone dies before the all clear message, it's game over. It's best to hedge your bets.

That's a good idea having the last guy use Recovery Link just to be safe as he has only had to use his Survivor Link once for us. Just keep in mind for any of the Sig Skills that it has a 45 meter range max. 

 

[Addihul]

Finished watching a number of YouTube vids of complete CM incursions. I feel MUCH better about round 15 now. I reallly like the mid guy solo with recovery link suggestion. Perfect. Thank you Xero. Once we get confident enough, we'll move to the normal generator spot and run the whole thing in 20-25mins vs camping in the middle to be safer.. yet taking more time. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Xeromaus]

That's a good idea having the last guy use Recovery Link just to be safe as he has only had to use his Survivor Link once for us. Just keep in mind for any of the Sig Skills that it has a 45 meter range max. 

If any part of the bomb run is outside of 45 meters, at worst your recovery user would have to ascend the stairs a bit...but he/she will get the heal too, so no worries.

 

[HHHope]

Round 15 is easy 

 

[Addihul]

Round 15 is easy 

For you. As long as you don't pub rush up the left side like in Hard mode.. you're fine. Another man's easy is another man's impossible. #empathy

 

[HHHope]

As soon as you kill the first wave of enemiess and get them down to about 15 remaining. Run it. Don't waste time and let them respawn. Should have at least 2 supers up. One to get there and for for reassurance , plant the bomb and enjoy 

 

[g1nt3r]

get that explosive on the APC!

 

[Addihul]

Been reading more up on this and apparently its a 2:30 timer. If all mobs die then they insta respawn however. So if you really want to be safe you CAN drop all but a couple, run in to place to plant and be back as long as its done in 2 1/2 minutes. This is preference here. Too many times have we done exactly what was suggested above only to have something jacked up happen. Certainly can't chastise our group for playing it safe. We're on a roll now.

 

[Xeromaus]

Been reading more up on this and apparently its a 2:30 timer. If all mobs die then they insta respawn however. So if you really want to be safe you CAN drop all but a couple, run in to place to plant and be back as long as its done in 2 1/2 minutes. This is preference here. Too many times have we done exactly what was suggested above only to have something jacked up happen. Certainly can't chastise our group for playing it safe. We're on a roll now.

thank you for the actual time to respawn.