Reeeeeeiiiiiiiichsmaaaaan!

I haven't done the redside version yet (I'll join you my Nin/Nin Stalker if you ever run it when I'm on, Zam... though you and I seem to have different schedules), but from the descriptions, it's much more interesting than the blueside one. Blueside, you just have to plan to drop his huge sack of HPs, and have a plan to deal with the AVs that occasionally join the fray. Not much to it, really.

Worst case scenario, you should get the badge for killing 5th Column if you don't already have it yet...

I did this SF for the first time last week. I thought it was quite fun, and we didn't really have much trouble with it. The first cut scene is definitely cool.

The team was me on my invulnerability brute, 5 veats and one stalker. For the final fight I kept Reichsman busy and we just all went to work. The stalker used his glowies 2 or 3 times when the room started to fill, but we didn't really seem to need it.

It took some time to drop him, but it was not as bad as the blue side tf. He used his defense power 3 or 4 times, so we had to get him below 50% multiple times.

I think the multiple veats were the key for us. The 5 veat maneuvers and multiple pool maneuvers, plus assaults, etc kept us all buffed pretty well. Then the veats had probably had at least 4 venom grenades and at least 2 surveillances.

Keep in mind that in the last mission alone, there's about 1,500 foes that throw themselves at you. It's a great farm for XP, inf, and even Purple drops. Most times I've done this SF, someone got a purple.

the map itself doesnt have that many enemies in it, i think 1500 might be a slight over-estimate, the ambushes seemed to be only about 300-500 enemies (depending on how many on the team), overall though, i estimate there only being maybe 700-900 enemies on the map total (including the ambushs)

I just did this Strike Force a couple of days ago for the first time, and got the "master" badge for it. It helps to have someone on the team that knows the safest strategy possible... We had a Dark/Invuln Brute that had done the SF many times before, and a team that actually payed attention to directions. I believe that was the key to success there. I know at least 3 of us on the team (including me) had never done the SF before, but because we all played competently, made sure we had the right team makeup to start out with, and followed directions well, there was never an instance in the entire SF where any of the team lost more than a quarter of their health at any given time.

Taking the two massive waves at the end in the tunnels (rather than with Reichsman) helps a lot as well.... He will not leave his room.

"Alien"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Infernus_Hades The way you play changes your IO slotting..

The last group I was in for the Barracuda Strike Force was comprised of:

SS/Stone Brute
SS/Fire Brute
Ice/Kin Corr
Merc/Traps MM
Rad/Rad Corr
Mind/Psi Dom <--me
Elec/SR Stalker
...and something else can't remember, might have been another Kin
(Scratch that, I remember now it was a Night Widow.)

My main job was do my best to mez as many 5th Column as I could, Mass Hypnosis, Total Domination, Mass Confusion. On my own I did pretty well. It gave time for the Stalker to wait until we really, really needed to use the panic button and clear the room.

I give the silver star to the Traps MM though. Triage Beacon, FF Generator, Acid Mortar, Poison Trap, and Mercanies, filled every role you need for that last fight. Heal, Defense, DeBuff, Heal, and even death fodder. I say a Trap MM is a must.

While it wouldn't be possible until GR, wouldn't the final mission of Barracuda SF be an excellent place for a Warshade with all of the massive ambushes?

They've mentioned you can. In the section about what is allowed to start preatorian, it's mention that although you must start a *EAT on it's respective side, they can go rogue.

I second that a purple is almost gaurenteed on the team if you kill all the ambushes. We had one person get 2 once and had someone get one every time we did it that way, about 10-12 times I'd say. My favorite toon for it is my fire/kin corr who's softcapped to S+L. It's seriously Fulcrum heaven That's one of the most fun fights in the game I'd say just for the endless waves!

GR may make the final battles for Barracuda and Khan rather interesting. The entire 5th Column vs perma Phantom Army + some Warshades? Reichsman summons Countess Crey only for her to be taken out in less than ten seconds by an all Stalker team? Probably plenty of other shenanigans I'm not thinking of.

I hoping I'm not past the necro timer...

I'm curious, how many Barracuda teams have successfully beaten Reichsman without a MM or a Stalker? I have a feeling that people are letting themselves get blindsided by the temps but I'm trying to confirm my suspicions.

Can't say I ever beat it without an MM (in fact, I tend to be the MM), but every 'cuda SF I was on the token Stalker hesitated to use the kill-switch until we all just team-wiped.

I've never failed a 'cuda SF yet, did maybe four or five, but we ALWAYS get team-wiped at the ambush and then have to fight those hundreds of enemies before we can take on Reichsman again. Easily adds 20 to 30 minutes to the SF, and it's the reason I only do it every couple of months.

Only time I've DONE the SF is when I was on my MM, so I can't really say.