So you just retreated from the planet and in the middle of memorial the alarm goes off and hijack has begun. For first time players this can be an extremely overwhelming experience so this guide will attempt to help with that. Well first a disclaimer surviving hijack is very hard and luck based. But I hope these tips can make hijack more enjoyable. Now sure my strategies might not be the heroic option or technically murder but if you want to evac you should listen up.
(I am assumeing you have basic knowlage of in game slang and mechanics. If you don’t then you need to read a diffrent guide for that.)
So the first step is to open up the wiki and open the map for the almayer.
Loadout- As a shipside roll you should find a red alert gun case. There is one in every department, but med-bay has their right next to morgue. Put on the bulletproof vest and turn on the light. Grab the shotgun and pick a shell tip. The green shells stun is invaluable but require good aim. Be aware the shotgun is pre-loaded with green shells. The submachine gun is good but can’t stun. On the walls of the ship are green medical boxes that have all kinds of good stuff in them. For some reason they stop working once the ship hits so grab the good quickly. The first aid injectors are filled with tricord and be instantly injected with no training. Next thing is your tools for doors. Many doors are out of power so you will need a crowbar to open them. Luckly access restrictors go away when a door loses power. It’s kinda random what doors still have power and what don’t. If you don’t have a light source it’s easy to find blowtorches or flashlights in maint especially on the lower deck. Tools can be found in places like northwest hanger, engineering, north of medbay, north of alpha prep, south of the OT workshop, south of the kitchen, south of lifeboats, and south of brig.
Combat- Don’t, you should almost always avoid combat even as a marine. There are two exceptions, one is if you’re inside a forayed area. Combat is purely defensive and there is no winning like on the ground as survival is the only goal now. Rarely the xeno start losing and at that point it becomes an offensive war like on the ground. This entire thing is written from the perspective of if the marines are not winning as they often are. The best thing is to stick close to people. When in a group position yourself in the middle so any lurkers will pick off the guy in front or behind you first. The shotgun can be fired one hand with no slowdown or recoil. The submachine gun is two handed but does not slow you down when being held in two hands. When being attacked always keep moving never stay still and keep shooting. Always know what direction to run too. When in the open that direction is always towards people or cads. When inside cads check the flanks to see if xenos are there. Keep it in the back of your mind as it can be an escape path for you and an entry path for the xenos. Most marines will sit in one spot inside cads don’t do that. Do patrols around the cad walls always checking what area has the most xeno there. Xenos tend to get tunnel visioned. A good example would be during a brig hold I walked out the back and down a ladder. I walked all the way from hanger to lower deck pods without seeing a single xeno. Do not rely on this but it can be very useful to keep in mind.
Navigating the ship- So I am going to assume you know the basic layout of the ship. When traveling stay away from main hallways as xeno use those paths the most. The second deck is the most dangerous as humans tend to hold their. Use the maintenance tunnels instead. Xenos have trouble attacking in places like this if you have a shotgun. Just be aware to always keep moving as nowhere is safe. Keep in mind the kind of people who play lurker and back line on hijack likely have 10,000 hours. They’re the kind of people who have to spray descants on their keyboard to deal with sweat. The kind of people who sit down with their body pillow to watch lurker frag compilation. So again, I cannot stress this enough, never stop moving as they will find you eventually.
The classic evac method- So this involves going to pumps or boats and waiting for the fuel to go up. Now this is the method that is the most likely to fail. But if no other escape option exist then this is your only bet. Most people run to southeast pumps by default. Going here will likely result in your death as pumps will be surrounded and fall. Lifeboats is a similar story and sometimes it’s not even caded. Not much to say just combine my combat tips for before with normal FOB defence.
Crash the pod or boat- So pumps have fallen or your trapped and you need to escape right now. Well, you can launch the pod or boat early that can result in a crash. When this happens, you will land on the planet below in a random spot. This might sound like suicide but recall all the xenos are on the ship, so the ground is mostly empty. Well except for the forsaken xenos who will hunt you down but again its often safer than the ship. Forsaken are usually t1-t2s meaning no ravs to deal with unless one abused the evo glitch. When you crash make your way to the old fob but be aware the forsaken will do the same thing. But since the fob has cads it’s a prime holding spot. If you do make it to fob try recalling the dropship using a computer terminal. Oh, sometimes preds show up and hunt you. No tips for how to beat them as that’s guide all on its own. But the best trick is to not be the first to die in the group and run away as the pred is busy doing stuff to the body.
Dropship evac- The dropship doors when locked can only be opened by the queen. So, if you fly down to the planet and lock the doors the forsaken can never get in as they have no queen. I suggest landing in fob so you can rescue all the pod crash victims. Do not forget to call the CO or AI core using the cockpit phone so if he crashes the lifeboat he can come to you. This has worked a surprising number of times. Now the passengers will want to leave without knowing this door trick so lock it as soon as you land. Then example the situation to them and formulate a plan. You can stay inside or you can retake fob. Make your plan quick as you can cause all the forsaken will mob the dropship. They can’t get in but they will likely never leave same goes with preds but you can safely moon both of them from the cockpit.
ERT evac- So if you ever see an ERT team follow them because they can save you. See they have a ship that can fly away to a nice safe station at any time. When an ERT team is getting wiped out as they often do the survivors will try to evac on their ship. Just follow them and escape that way. An ERT team is almost always the safest escape method. Sometimes an ERT ship will just land back on the almayor again. This could either be a mistake on the driver part or a glitch. An admin will usually be nice enough to help if your ship is stuck due to a glitch. If you find yourself stranded make your way to the different docking ports to see if an ERT ship is there. Then wait to see if any of the surviving ERT’s will return if none do go find their bodies and take their ID’s. For some reason, the CO will never decide to leave on an ERT ship. Also, CO’s for some reason have ID access to ERT ‘s shuttle controls. Now when dealing with hostile faction if they find you waiting in their ship, they will likely take you hostage. If it’s CLF they will torture and kill you likely if it’s UPP expect only torture. My solution is to kill them before they can kill you then take their ID and fly away.
CL escape pod- So the CL has a pre fueled escape pod meaning they can escape at any time. Now this is the safest bet for escape. As a non-CL it can be difficult to get inside this pod as only the CL can open it. If for some reason the CL refuses to let you in I suggest murdering them then taking the ID. Once you have the ID there is a button on the CL’s desk to open the pod door. Simple click on it with the ID in hand to open it.