Overview
A brief illustrated explanation of the sea of helicopters, Deus Exes, Feds, and brozoufs known as the Noctis Labyrithus story mission. Spoilers abound.
Gear, Powers, and Prep
Unlike many of the previous story missions, where you were getting charged by hordes of light infantry with dinky assault rifles and armor with the consistency of a wet paper bag, Noctis Labyrinthus gives you the combined blessings of Interceptor Gunships and Deus Exes, both of whom are happy to throw six ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ of rockets at you while eating up all your ammo. You’ll also run into heavy federation infantry with explosive projectiles, TRK rifles, and Sulfatum chainguns. This means that you’re practically obligated to carry at least one weapon with armor piercing on it, out of the following options:
- TRK AD
Pros:- Available by default, doesn’t require any particular set of stats or purchase.
- Scope has double zoom and highlights opponents, making it easier to pick out mottled brown enemies in mottled brown terrain, and is slightly better for extreme long-range combat of the three.
- Intermediate magazine size of 5, between the Bear Killer and Hunting Machine.
- Cons:
- The largest of these guns, taking up 2*5 squares of your back slot.
- Weighs more than any of the other weapons, and has heavier ammo.
- Much slower rate of fire and heavier recoil, preventing you from making fast consecutive shots.
- Terrible unscoped accuracy, making it useless at close range. The TRK also takes a while to reach full accuracy after scoping in.
- .444 Bear Killer
Pros:- Fits into a hip slot, leaving your back open for other weapons.
- Lightest of the weapons, weighing about as much as most SMGs.
- Has a secondary fire option which increases the rate of fire at the expense of accuracy recovery.
- Good for point-blank combat, and about as good as the hunting machine at close-medium range and for killing Deus Exes/Interceptors.
Cons:
- Smallest magazine size, at 4 rounds.
- Only has iron sights and no zoom capability.
- Less accurate than the rifles.
- Requires 38 Strength, 25 Agility, 62 Accuracy and must be bought from the weapons vendor for 45k Brouzoufs.
- Hunting Machine
Pros:- Best magazine size at 8 rounds.
- Smaller than the TRK, at 2*4. Both the weapon and ammunition weigh less than the TRK, but more than the .444.
- Does the most damage of the three, and fires faster than the TRK, with moderate recoil and semi-automatic pace.
- Accurate enough to hit at long range, and has slight zoom on its scope.
- Works OK in close combat.
Cons:
- Requires a high stat investment at 44 Strength/50 Agility/70 Accuracy/44 Endurance. Must be purchased for 44k Brouzoufs.
- Scope has limited zoom, with a basic holographic sight.
All of these guns will down a Deus Ex in 3-5 headshots or an interceptor in 2-3 shots on normal difficulty with 70 accuracy, as well as taking out some of the heavier infantry with a single shot anywhere on the body at a reasonable distance. The Excidium cannon can also ruin anything on the level, but it’s ridiculously heavy and doesn’t offer much comapred ot the Hunting Machine, while taking up more space, having 5 rounds vs 8 in a magazine, and potentially killing you if fired too close.
In addition, you’ll want some type of weapon to kill infantry without wasting the limited ammunition of your heavy weapons. Because the labyrinth’s encounters typically take place at large distances, your backup gun needs decent accuracy. One of the best weapons in this role is the Motra, which has the advantage of full or semi auto, a silencer, high accuracy when crouched, and a double zoom. It usually kills Federals in a single headshot or a few bodyshots, and can reach far enough to put you out of harm’s way. The S6000 also works well here, trading the silencer for better damage and range.
Naturally, for a mission where rockets are flying everywhere, the Medkit is nearly mandatory, as is Heavy Armor. While being fully loaded will give you about 85-90% speed malus, the extra resilience will save you if you accidentally run into heavy firepower up close or something spawns behind you with no warning. Dragon’s Breath is okay for jumping long reaches of the map, but won’t work on most of the things you want to kill fast.
SampleLoadout 1:
- Heavy Armor
- Medkit; Not dying like a ♥♥♥♥♥
- Hunting Machine, Magazines x7; Heavy armor killer, infantry sniping
- .444 Bear Killer, Magazines x3; Backup weapon, close combat with Deus Exes
- Motra, Magazines x4; Infantry killing
SampleLoadout 2:
- Heavy Armor
- Medkit
- S6000, magazines x8; infantry killing, highlighting enemies to see good.
- .444 Bear Killer, Magazines x8; killing heavy things.
Labyrinth Locals
Interceptors
While the Interceptor is a far softer target than the Deus Ex, and will promptly get blown out of the air when the two meet, it trades durability for the ability to fly, negating your cover, and occasionally coming in extremely hard-hitting configurations.
The Interceptor’s arrival is heralded by the same pinging that you’ll hear when a sentry gun is targeting you; it’ll usually open with a weak nose-mounted machinegun. These gunships also have a pair of turrets under their wings with different weapon types. The first one has an extra pair of machingeuns, and is the least threatening due to inaccurate fire and low damage. The second has constant-firing yellow lasers that throw off your aim, making it difficult to land shots; it’s still not dangerous, but hugely irritating. Finally, the last variety comes with two battle turrets or rockets on its wings, like the ones in the Vindico facility. They fire blue orbs, or completely invisible projectiles that are almost a one-hit kill. If you’re caught by this one without hard cover or a full mag of .444 ammunition, hope that you have enough resurrectors to run away and cloak.
Because the Interceptor can fly, it’ll usually coast over your cover, meaning that it should almost always be your priority target. This flyby makes for a good moment to shoot it in the engines with your heavy guns, where 1-2 shots will blow it out of the air. Otherwise, aim for the cockpit, its other weak point, which can be easy to hit from above or the front. If neither of these are available, 3-4 shots of heavy ammo will destroy it.
Deus Exes
These gigantic gremlins look exactly like the Cyberdemon, and have a similar damage output, throwing homing rockets in three-shot volleys while firing on you with a chaingun grafted to their arm. Fortunately, they’re less mobile than interceptors and easier to avoid. The two that will spawn by default appear in an area where you can engage them at a high range, making their chaingun unable to do much damage, with plenty of rocks and pillars for cover to avoid their rocket barrages. Watch out for moments when you end up at point blank range with them, or get caught out of cover. The dust they kick up can make them hard to target, but you’ll be able to see their eyes through it, giving you a nice aim point. The ideal point to engage both of them is from the pirate gate, where you can pick one off with near-impunity.
The Rest
Kraaks and Carnophages show up in King’s Tomb. If you’ve been able to kill the Deus Exes, there’s absolutely nothing to worry about. You’ll have access to an armory if you want to grab something suited for up-close work before killing them.
Federation shock troopers can put out good damage, but headshots take them out quickly and they’ll usually be too far away to really work you over. If you have Dragon’s Breath, they make handy targets for quickly jumping long stretches.
Fun and Profit with Federal Teleporters
Unlike most other maps, Noctis Labyrinth has teleporting portals accessible from your first mission objective, which acts as a hub for six points on the map. All of them start out locked, and will open when you find the other end, which will have a “portal” objective marker when you get close.
The hub is a short ways from your starting point, getting marked with a “Reach” objective as you head into the level. It has an armory, a scarab to explain the portal system, and is a convenient place to rearm.
From left to right:
- Looter Cave: 2nd. Going right from the central ruins, then up the large staircase. Contains a sidequest and an access point for the upper floor of the level.
- Federal Outpost: 5th. Contains the NPC for the Federal story path, and the hackable items to get into the tomb. Past the chasm, in the large leftward building within the federal complex
- Temple: 3rd. A dead end branching off the central ruins, opposite from the corridors that get you there from the hub. Contains two sentry guns and a vent inside a dead-end room just past the portal, and is one of the shortcuts for high hacking skills.
- Chasm: 4th. Left from the central ruins, right next to the access elevator for the tomb, in a big valley with stairs down the side. Past the second Deus Ex on the level.
- Center Ruins: 1st. The hub for the four central passageways in the level, at the crossroads between the chasm, temple, looter cave, and starting point. It’s flanked by a Deus Ex and two interceptors from the cave and start point.
- Tombs: 6th. Optional for some of the stroy paths, requires high hacking skill or progression through the mission to unlock. Next to the Immortal King, going right from the elevator.
The Long Run
Exiting the hub, you get the choice of going left or right; both eventually ned up as the same passageway that curves left and takes you to the central ruins. Kill the federal shock troopers and the extra interceptor as you get to the central ruins.
Teleport back to the central ruins, then go straight from the teleporter to the Deus Ex by the crawler, going up a set of stairs. Make sure neither of them respawns while you’re on your way up, then step up over the chasm.
The best place to do this is either in the central ruins or the federal outpost, where a steady stream of federation officers will filter in. Kill Gyo’s looters as well, if you want to speed things up.
