BattleTech: The Crescent Hawks Revenge

* BATTLETECH TIPS *

                          MONEY

                          Probably the biggest factor in the whole game is money.
                          No money, no skill, no mech, no chance. The more cash
                          the better equipped you'll be for combat. 

                          Every five minutes or so your account is boosted by
                          fifteen credits as ma and pa robot decide it's time to give
                          some more of your allowance. Don't hang around !!
                          Initially invest in a low risk account and then move onto
                          the intermediate one. Do this for a few hours and you'll
                          be counting the wads, around 350,000 of 'em.

                          RECOMMENDED STOCKS

                          Only two stocks are worth your while:

                          NASHAN DIVERSIFIED (NasDiv)
                          BAKER PHARMACEUTICALS (BakPhar)

                          NasDiv is a steady performer, so if you do nothing but
                          put all your credits in this stock, you should amass quite a
                          fortune by the end of the game. 

                          BakPhar is a speculative stock that will make you rich in
                          a short time if your timing is right.

                          One strategy is to put most of your credits in NasDiv and
                          a few in BakPhar. Save regularly and check the market
                          often. When BakPhar starts going up, put all your credits
                          in it, and usually your money doubles and doubles again.
                          It is essential to save your game whenever you get ahead,
                          though, for BakPhar's value can drop to zero in no time! 

                          After investing, leave Comstar and go and do something
                          (explore, rest, visit the weapons shop, take a training
                          lesson.........), returning frequently to assess your
                          holdings. It takes a fairly long time to earn enough credits
                          to buy a serious weapon and good armour, not to
                          mention the money you will need for training, so you may
                          have to wander about the compound pointlessly, waiting
                          for your stocks to go up. 

                          TRAINING SCHOOL

                          Your main goal is to learn how to operate the Mechs at
                          the Training Centre. This will take six lessons, between
                          which you can explore the surrounding compound. The
                          game requires time to pass between lessons. 

                          You'll not get far without any training, and the first thing
                          you need to know is how to defend yourself. The
                          important basics to learn are knife fight, rifle and machine
                          gun, as these are the only weapon skills you'll find
                          yourself needing.

                          Stop off at the mechit-lube and take up an
                          apprenticeship. I know that it's expensive, but it enables
                          you to patch up a battlefield mech, and take it in for a full
                          repair and slap another member of your party inside. 

                          When it comes to combat training, try to move around as
                          much as possible and overheat as little as possible, and
                          aim for speed on all the missions as this contributes to
                          your overall mech skill.

                          Medical skill is also a worthwhile venture; it'll also make
                          sure you stay in the game longer.

                          WEAPONRY

                          Start off with a machine gun. It takes quite a few hits to
                          kill a human and has no effect on mechs whatsoever but,
                          still, they're relatively cheap. Later on try to get hold of a
                          Laser Weapon; I recommend the inferno best of all. One
                          shot disposes of 90% of humans and Inferno Fire will
                          overheat a mech, giving you time to flee. Whatever you
                          do don't hang around taking on a twenty ton mech with a
                          hand held SRM - it just doesn't work. Equip yourself
                          with a forty point armour, it normally prevents any
                          damage to the person in a typical combat round.

                          The Inferno never runs out of ammunition and rarely
                          misses, so it's advisable to stay around until you can
                          afford one......BUT - you CAN get by with less
                          firepower. Weapon shops are everywhere throughout
                          Pacifica, and you can also salvage weapons after combat.
                          Buy whatever armour you can afford for yourself and any
                          allies. Armour shops are in many towns. Get a MedKit
                          (sold at any of several hospitals) and a Mapper (at the
                          video store in Starport and a few other
                          towns). Later on, get your Mechs modified at a Mech-It
                          Lube's Speed Shop and you'll become almost invincible.

                          MECH ETIQUETTE

                          First and foremost, with the lump of cash you should have
                          by now, any mech you own should be customised at the
                          mechit-lube, extra lasers and armour always come in
                          handy at the expense of jump jets and missile launchers.
                          Never rule out kicking, more often than not it proves to
                          be invaluable when a mech is close to shutdown.

                          Always try to face an attacking mech, all it could take is
                          one hit with a small laser to the back to knock out half
                          your arsenal. 

                          THE INVASION, STARPORT & THE JAIL

                          On the 6th or 7th training mission, you'll suddenly face
                          real opponents - the Kuritans, who have invaded the
                          compound. You've got to escape to Starport, a neutral
                          city northeast of the starting point. If you're lucky, you'll
                          escape with a Mech.

                          There are two ways to do so. Choose a Locust for your
                          final mission, then head West when the forcefield around
                          the training grounds disappears, and get out of town. Or
                          use a Chameleon and, as soon as you're attacked, walk
                          back into the building you just left. When the walls come
                          down, exit West out of the city. (Sometimes neither of
                          these methods are successful! If that happens, you can
                          get Mechs at several other points). 

                          STARPORT

                          Head Northeast to Starport. Save frequently if you
                          decide to fight attackers in the hope of obtaining money
                          and equipment. Inside, immediately find the Clothing
                          Store and get rid of your uniform to avoid being attacked
                          as often. Then check your stocks at Comstar and
                          re-invest if desired. Check out the Inaugural Hall to learn
                          of the Inauguration, then you might want to earn credits
                          by fighting at the Arena. repairs can be costly if using a
                          rental Mech, however, and may even exceed your
                          250-credit payoff. 

                          REX PEARCE & THE CRESCENT HAWKS

                          At the Inaugural Hall later that night you'll meet Rex
                          Pearce, an ally. Save the game before entering, since you
                          might get killed when you leave with him. Rex gives you a
                          box from your father and says he's got a new Commando
                          Mech that Katrina left him.

                          A member of the Crescent Hawks, he says your mission
                          is to round up other Hawks, find a secret cache of spare
                          Mech parts your father hid, and signal Princess Katrina to
                          return to Pacifica for the parts and your team. 

                          But the enemy attacks before you can look at the
                          holocard in the box (which is necessary to locate the
                          cache), and the card is damaged. If you survive, you can
                          roam about Starport gathering gear, earning credits and
                          skills, having Rex's Commando modified at the Speed
                          Shop and so on. 

                          THE JAIL & THE UNDERCOVER AGENT

                          Go a little North and East to a small town with a jail and
                          hospital. Save right away, for you may meet an ally who
                          turns out to be an undercover agent. If you're having
                          trouble getting people to talk, or if services like
                          Mechit-Lube are always closed, you've got an agent in
                          the group. Put him outside on foot and get into a few
                          battles. He'll either be killed by the enemy or Rex. If you
                          don't have your own Mech, steal one from the Jail's
                          parking garage.

                          FINDING THE OTHER HAWKS, DR. TELLHIM &
                          THE CACHE

                          There are two places to view the damaged holocard. The
                          easiest, quickest way is to return to the destroyed Citadel
                          and go to your barracks. You'll find a holocard viewer
                          and can see most of the message. The second way is to
                          go to one of the several towns Southwest of Starport.
                          One has the Mayor's house in it, and you can pick the
                          lock and enter. Use the Mayor's holocard viewer and
                          you learn that you must find Dr. Tellhim at his hut in the
                          Northwest. He'll say where to find the cache. (His hut
                          won't appear on the map unless you view the holocard).

                          Head Northwest, exploring the various towns. You need
                          to pick up two more Crescent Hawks; one is a Doctor,
                          found by visiting hospitals, checking the records and
                          talking to people there. Get him a MedKit to recover
                          faster from wounds.

                          Your other ally is a Tech, found by visiting the
                          Mechit-Lubes and asking to TALK and Apprentice. It's
                          invaluable to get him additional Tech training, for he can
                          scavenge spare parts from enemy Mechs that you
                          destroy, thus earning you money as well as simplifying
                          repairs to your own Mechs. 

                          Tellhim is in a building located near the water, near
                          Sector 36/40 x 49/20. With the proper crew and gear,
                          you'll pass his tests and he'll tell you that the cache is on
                          an island to the Southeast (39/60 x 55/60). Once there,
                          enter the cave.

                          THE COMPUTER TERMINALS

                          You are in a maze full of locked doors and computer
                          terminals. You have a key-card that needs to be
                          imprinted with a different Red number, Blue number and
                          Yellow number to open each door.

                          Each computer throughout the complex has its own
                          special colour coded number that can imprint your
                          key-card, and each computer's code can be used only
                          once. You must open ELEVEN different doors (that's 33
                          different computer colour imprints you must find!), to get
                          to the Map Room and the Power Transmitter.

                          When you have located and opened the door to the Map
                          Room, you enter it and must then activate a combination
                          of planets to get the password (PESHT, BENJAMIN,
                          SKYE, SUMMET, RYERSON, KATHIN,
                          ACHERNAR).

                          Activate the planets by touching them all, then walk over
                          to the control panel on the West wall for your password.
                          Leave the Map Room, go back through the maze to the
                          Upper Control Rooms, and turn on the transmitter to call
                          Katrina (you do this by walking into the panels).
 
