Alien (Mind Games) strategy

[SteveSmith]

I'm new to this game, and I was curious what the best strategy is. It's obviously possible to kill the alien, so is the best strategy to "tool up" and walk around the ship en-masse looking for the alien?

[Ersh]

If you're going to destroy the Alien with weapons, here are some pointers.

At the start, move Ash to Airlock 1, Parker to Airlock 2 and Lambert (or Brett if Lambert gave birth to the chestburster) to Stores #2.

Grab the Tracker in the Command Center with Kane (or Dallas if Kane gave birth to the chestburster) and head for the Armory, grab a Laser Gun there.

From here on out, it's a much easier game if you only use one crew member at a time (well, unless you need to evacuate people).

Now, the first order of business is to identify and eliminate the android. The candidates are Dallas, Kane, Ash and Parker. (Dallas or Kane may be killed by the chestburster at the start of the game, leaving only three candidates).

Hunt the Alien with Kane (or Dallas), when you find it; attack. If the crew member doesn't attack or moves to another location when given the order to attack, then that's your android. To eliminate it, either order it into hypersleep or blow it out of an Airlock.

But, if the crew member actually executes the attack, immediately order him to move to another location, meet up with (and hand over the gear) to the next android candidate.

If Dallas, Kane or Parker gave birth to the chestburster then you'll know the identity (only three candidates) of the android after, at most, two attack orders. If the first two crew members attacked the Alien, then the third must be the android. Eliminate it before continuing.

However, if Lambert was killed by the chestburster there are four possible android candidates. Since the android activates after three hits of the Laser Gun on the Alien, you'll need to do things a bit differently.

The easiest way is to grab an Incinerator with the first crew member and use that to attack the Alien once, then go and switch it out for a Laser gun before the next candidate takes over. The Incinerator does less damage, but the Android won't activate on the third hit this way. So you can safely figure out who's the android. (The Alien will still die on the eight hit even if you use an incinerator once).

Now that the android is taken care of, it's time to hunt down and destroy the Alien.

A fresh Dallas/Parker can get in two hits before you must order them to escape and change crew member. Kane, Brett and Ash can safely get in one hit, before they should run. Lambert is a beast, she can get in three hits, if you're quick, before it's time to escape. Ripley is special, she's the quickest, but got really low health. When you've delivered six hits on the Alien then use a fresh Ripley, she's guaranteed to get in the last two hits and finish the job.

If the Alien escapes an attack and the crew member still isn't wounded, he/she can continue to hunt the Alien. Never order a wounded crew member to attack the Alien, they may get in one hit but has no time to escape after that. Flee instead.

Hunt in the ducts as much as possible. If you attack the Alien down in any of the rooms with a Laser Gun you must keep track of the room damage, attacking the Alien in the ducts however, doesn't damage anything.

When a crew member gets wounded, place them as far away from the Alien as you can. Stores #2 on the upper deck is often a good place. It's also a good idea to gather wounded at the same location. If the Alien makes its way inside, you'll have more time to evacuate, as the Alien always attacks randomly among them.

There are two stages of being wounded. A character performs actions slower depending on how badly they're hurt. If a crew member has been wounded twice, the next attack by the Alien is fatal.

If things are going south and you can't reach the eight hit quota, then use the Net on the Alien to slow it down (preferably in the ducts, that way you can get in 3-5 hits if it doesn't escape). As a crew member can only carry two items, the disadvantage of bringing the Net with a Laser Gun is that you can't have the Tracker with you at the same time.

As for finding the Alien. Use the tracker, learn the layout of the ship, how the air ducts are connected, etc. Use the tracker in combination with your knowledge of the crew's location, opened grilles and room damage to track the Alien.

Listen for doors being opened, to know if the Alien is walking the deck or silently roaming the ducts. Check on your crew if you hear a door or if a grille is being opened, that way you might have time to evacuate them, should the Alien enter.

You might want to catch Jones in the Cat Box or Net if you're just starting out, else you might pick him up on the Tracker, making it harder to locate the Alien.

If the Alien enters either Airlock while you have a crew member there, just exit and blow the lock. You either win the game (rather dissatisfying, but if things aren't going that good it's always an option), or it reenters the ship via the shuttle bay on the lower deck.

There are many strategies and tactics beyond that, these are some basics at least.

[Alessandro]

Also by @Ersh, an excellent revised version (currently at v1.7):

https://www.spectrumcomputing.co.uk/for ... 702#p32702