https://pso2.com/news/announcements/completeurgentquests0715

• Mining Base Def. Op.: Despair (Urgent Quest)
• T: Mining Base Def. Op.: Despair (Needs a Trigger)

Don't think this is an easy campaign. This is the first remotely tough campaign NA has had and it is a doozy. This mission is tough to accumulate S ranks on. The S rank requirement is to have the total base health at 80% or higher, so on top of having top notch combat ability and/or AIS use, everyone must be on top of repairing and using barriers on the bases in the final wave.

At best you can do 2 runs on SH/XH per window, so it's going to take 8 windows minimum in the 3 weeks we get to get 15 S ranks.

With that in mind, look at the urgent quest schedule: In the first week, there are just FIVE Mining Base: Despair windows scheduled. One of those has already passed. It is going to take multiple weeks to get through this one, especially when you consider the likelihood of bad parties. Plan to need 10-15 windows.

This is not a forviging campaign, and you're going to need to start it early to have any realistic chance at getting that emote. Very few people are going to get it so it is not going to be cheap on the market despite being tradable.

As hard as it is, this is still a really nice event.

Challenging, decent rewards, and Mining Base 3 already being a really fun and engaging mission.

Although, perhaps this is to prepare us for the 4th?

I do think they should either reduce the number of S ranks required, or lower the threshold to include A ranks.

15 S ranks is certainly doable, but given that people have jobs and other responsibilities in their life, not to mention the erratic scheduling, and... yeah I can already dread the market for this particular emote. If they added triggers for MB3... hyper dread

I'm personally more annoyed they sent out a tweet for this at 8pm PST. By then we actually had 2 Mining Base 3 UQs happen (one of them was an unscheduled that happened at around 1pm PST iirc). I didn't even know the event was active until the people on the Tweaker Discord mentioned it, so I made sure my alliance knew about it before the scheduled MB3 >_>

I don't think MB4 is going to be an issue at all either, outside of maybe the very first run. I saw videos of people taking out Apprentice in 2min. And this was when they didn't have Nemesis or Slave.

Just some tips for people tackling this

• S rank is based on remaining HP (80% or higher), not damage taken during. So if you have any repairs left before the final wave ends, use them!
• You can start using AIS from wave 3. If you don't see people rotating AIS on waves, communicate with your MPA!
• Corrupted towers and airship should be dealt with fast, don't forget these! The flying Falspawn (Solza Brahda) will summon more towers and cast shifta on other Falspawn if left alone
• In later waves the corners will be blocked with destroyable walls - if you have AIS or a class that can get over easily, there's tons of crystals to be had which will help you get the third AIS

It is a difficult UQ but I assume people will be more switched on as there is an emote to be had so it'll probably be easier! Good luck!

@SuccubusAlice said in Urgent PSA: Do Mining Base 3! Easily missable emote!:

As hard as it is, this is still a really nice event. Challenging, decent rewards, and Mining Base 3 already being a really fun and engaging mission. Although, perhaps this is to prepare us for the 4th?

I actually planned to do every Mining Base 3 run I could anyway because Mining Base UQs are the only way to get 3 of the 27 Bouncer weapons and we need 25 for our fourth damage boost title.

But... the emote is the only good reward really. The other two combined gives half of one SG scratch lol. I just think 15 S rank clears is asking for too much when it's arguably the easiest quest in the entire game to fail to S rank.

But really more importantly there's only 5 windows scheduled in the first week. Just look at the first two weeks of Wind & Rain: 9 scheduled in the first week, 10 in the second.

What if you have work? What if you have another commitment that removes you from 2 or 3 of those windows? Suddenly you're very far behind the curve and there's no forgiveness if you land a group that is incapable of getting an S rank.

Moreover the remaining four scheduled windows this week are concentrated on a very narrow window of time. All four are slap bang in the middle of the working day for those in the PST/PDT timezone and it's little better for those in the rest of the US. Amusingly that window favours Europe, for instance here they are 8PM, 11PM and midnight.

Hopefully the conclusion of the VR Training schedule that accompanies the USA event next week will free the way for a much greater volume and variance of scheduled Mining Base 3 windows. I'm somewhat doubtful because I expect we'll get a summer event that'll command the UQ schedule again.

One of my fears here is they might try to limit the UQ's appearances as a ploy to sell those triggers.

What's the deal with the 4th? That's Mining Base: End, I believe? Is that significantly more difficult? I hadn't heard of that. And in any case they could accomplish that by requiring 10 S ranks instead of 15, or by providing more scheduled runs for it.

The problem I had with the mining base urgent quests when I played them in the past was that barely anyone ever grabbed crystals. We never had enough to properly scale with the increasing difficulty of the waves. This wasn't a problem for the first two because of how easy they are though.

Also is no one talking about how BS it is they locked another emote reward behind buying premium?

LOL 15 clears. F that. If your have a life you're already out. RIP. Oh wait, I'm sure there's a trigger out there you can by with some SG. We're damn near drowning in that. Right. RIGHT!?

Biggest Tip I have is don't let bosses use their taunt on you.

Because I see it so often way more important thing than killing bosses that most people seem to fall for every time is to kill all the millions of minions that if left alone at a base will shred it way faster than any boss could.

@Miraglyth said in Urgent PSA: Do Mining Base 3! Easily missable emote!:

What's the deal with the 4th? That's Mining Base: End, I believe? Is that significantly more difficult?

Very.

Which allows this event to double as practice.