I decided to write my own unique walkthrough for Freelancer because when I was playing it for the second time I “discovered” some new things that are NOT described in other walkthroughs.
I have already described Freelancer in these 2 posts:
Freelancer – great space combat and space exploring
Freelancer vs. Freespace 2
There are many things about gameplay mechanics, but some details about equipment are not “up to date”. If you don't feel like reading them I have to point out these things:
1) Some gameplay elements (Jump Gates and Jump Holes) are quite similar to the callapsars from the novel The Forever War (by Joe Haldeman);
2) Some other gameplay elements (Trade Lanes) are similar to the Web from the novel The Dragon Never Sleeps (by Glen Cook);
3) I constantly use the Engine Kill manoeuvre to feel like really moving through space vacuum (instead of like flying in an air-plane);
4) I play the game with the graphic setting “Bakcground stars” turned OFF. Thanks to this little trick I have NO nebulas in the background (where there were hardly any stars visible anyway), so I have much more BLACK space around me!
My own unique Freelancer walkthrough:
1. During the main story missions you should USUALLY do what you are told.
I won't describe the main story missions in detail, but I must point out that at some moments it's more important to stay alive rather than to do what you are told. Your crucial allies seem to be immortal, so they can handle ANY situation, but you are NOT immortal! To me the most dangerous mission was mission 11 when I barely survived (after dying on my first try).
I think it's better NOT to read any main story walkthroughs because they contain too many spoilers. I did read some of them and I was sorry.
It's a good idea to assign/learn a key to “display current objective”, but in some cases you have to wait for the current objective even though a frantic combat takes place around you. In such cases you should concentrate more on performing evasive manoeuvres rather than on attacking hostile ships (while waiting for orders).
Performing evasive manoeuvres is actually very important even when you have got clear orders, because some of the fights take lots of time and it's more important to stay alive rather than to hurry. During only ONE main story mission in the whole game there is a time limit (during mission 12).
When you have to destroy a part of some very big structure and you don't know how to find this part then you can select it from the list at the bottom-left corner of the screen (Target Status – Important).
2. Buy the best available: countermeasure dropper, shield and thruster.
What kind of shield you can buy depends on the kind of your spaceship, but countermeasure droppers and thrusters are universal. All these things can be bought along the main story, so I won't describe them. Just check the equipment dealers at every place you visit during the main story.
3. Buy as many countermeasure flares, nanobots and shield batteries as possible.
During some main story missions your life depends on them.
4. Know how to compare guns.
Don't look just at damage, but also on Refire Rate and projectile speed. A gun with 24 damage and Refire Rate of 8.33 is equal to a gun with 100 damage and Refire Rate of 2.0, under the assumption that everything else remains equal. HOWEVER the projectile speed is also VERY important because it's harder to hit a moving target with slower projectiles. I prefer guns with high Refire Rate and high projectile speed, but obviously it's a matter of taste. Some of the crucial guns (from my point of view) are NOT along the main story, so I will point them out.
5.You do NOT have to use torpedoes, mines nor a disruptor at all.
I NEVER use torpedoes, mines nor a disruptor, so I ignore them completely in my walkthrough. You don't really need them, believe me. Besides, it makes me furious when I see a torpedo moving through space with a speed that can be described only as “crawling”.
6. Know how the levelling system works.
The levelling system is quite ingenious, but I realised this fact only when I was playing the game for the second time. In short: the requirement for the next level is set AFTER the end of a particular main story mission and it depends on your current worth.
When I was playing the game for the first time I accepted main story missions as soon as possible, but in some cases I wished I had more money to buy better equipment sooner. At the crucial point in the game (after mission 8) my worth was 105,197 and the requirement for level 16 (to activate the next mission) was 135,491.
When I was playing the game for the second time I did more side missions before mission 2 and before mission 8 (at that points in the game I ignored calls from my “boss” for some time). When the mission 8 ended my worth was already 164,685, but the requirement for level 16 was 194,685!
So, in BOTH cases the DIFFERENCE between the requirement for level 16 and my worth after mission 8 was around 30000 credits. I made my original save after mission 8 probably after paying for small repairs of my ship and this is probably why the first difference is slightly more than 30000 credits. In the second case the difference was EXACTLY 30000.
Anyway, the levelling system FORCES you to do some freelancing jobs at particular points in the game and there is no way to “cheat” around it. Quite ingenious! Well, it can be problematic after mission 8 (it was problematic for me), but there is a way around it – you can read about in the point “15. BEFORE mission 9”.
7. BEFORE mission 1.
After you accept the mission 1 you still have the time (and just enough money) to buy an additional gun. I bought Justice Mk I (Class 1). A good reason to buy this gun is the fact that your ship already has 2 such guns, so all your guns will have the same projectile speed. Increasing the number of your guns from 2 to 3 means that your fire-power increases by 50%, so it's a BIG difference!
8. BEFORE mission 2.
You have to earn some credits on your own. You can't leave the star system New York, but you can buy all you need there. Do NOT accept mission 2 until you buy and fully equip the spaceships Defender. This spaceship has FIVE gun slots AND one forward-firing turret, so it's like having SIX guns! Nothing can compare to Defender in the early game.
You can't buy class-4 guns yet, but you can buy class-3 guns and mount them in the class-4 slots.
Buy EXACTLY ONE gun Adv. Stunpulse (Class 3) to greatly speed up the first part of a fight (you have to destroy enemy's shield first and only then you can damage his/her hull). Please notice that more such guns would make the second part of the fight too long, which would make the whole fight longer than a fight without ANY such gun.
Please notice that later in the game such a gun (a gun mostly against shield) is NOT needed!
9. BEFORE mission 3.
Again you have to earn some credits on your own and again you can't buy class-4 guns yet. This time you have access to all stars systems in the Liberty space, but you can still do side missions only in the star system New York.
10. BEFORE mission 4.
Again you have to earn some credits on your own, but this time you can buy clsss-4 guns. I bought 2 guns Vengeance Mk I (Class 4).
11. BFEORE mission 5.
Again you have to earn some credits on your own. This time you are in a whole new star system (Leeds) in a different space region (Bretonia space).
Do NOT buy another spaceship! In the main story it is suggested that you should buy a new spaceship, BUT it will significantly LOWER your worth, because the re-selling prices are much lower than buying prices. This is why buying a new spaceship will make the freelancing part significantly longer – you have to catch up the re-selling loss.
Another problem to me is the fact that there are hardly any class-5 guns with high Refire Rate available, so in my case the fire-power of any new ship would NOT be better than the fire-power of the Defender. So, I stick with the Defender.
The consequence of sticking with the Defender is that you can get additional random encounters, but the enemies are not too hard, so it's not really a problem.
I hate the star system Leeds with a passion because the space background is NEVER black, even when the graphic setting “Bakcground stars” is turned OFF! What's wore the background is orange, so it's MUCH harder to see the red targeting cross there.
Fortunately there is a FANTASTIC star system with black space nearby, namely Edinburgh. There is a double star in the middle, which is quite interesting on its own. More importantly, the rewards for doing side missions are relatively high, but the enemies never use missiles, so you don't have to waste your countermeasures flares. There is also a unique spaceship called Luxury Liner Shetland that is stationed by the planet Gaia. Fantastic place!
12. BFEORE mission 6.
Again you have to earn some credits on your own and again it's the star system Leeds, so it's better to go to the star system Edinburgh, again.
13. BEFORE mission 7.
This is the first time the main story missions are not separated by a freelancing part. Cool.
14. BEFORE mission 8.
You are now in Kusari space and this is by far the longest freelancing part in the game. You have to buy lots of things, so your worth will be falling down again and again and again, because the re-selling prices are much lower than the buying prices. You don’t really have any choice because you will need the best available ship in the upcoming main story missions.
First of all you should buy the spaceship Barracuda. It’s very agile and it has 6 (SIX) gun slots! I had just enough money to buy it while giving the spaceship Defender away in exchange.
In the spaceship Barracuda four of the gun slots are class-6 gun slots, HOWEVER you can’t buy such guns right now because your level is too low (13 instead of 16). So, for now you have to buy six class-5 guns that are still quite expensive. I took several side missions in the star system New Tokyo and basically it was like one mission = one new gun. After I bought six new guns (Sunfury 1) I went to a nearby star system Honshu, where the side missions are slightly more difficult, but the rewards are higher.
When you are bored with the side missions in the star system Honshu then you can take a break and go to a nearby star system Sigma-19. There is just 1 Lane Jump to the Gas Miner Ogashawa where you can buy Advanced Thruster and Adv. Countermeasure Dropper (if you haven’t bought them already). You SHOULD buy them either way! There is also Adv. Sentinel H. F. Shield (Class 6), but you buy it right now because your level is too low (13 instead of 16).
I have to show you a very interesting side mission that I recorded in the star system Honshu – I had to destroy not only hostile ships and weapon platforms, but also a space station!
When you reach level 14 you do NOT have go back to the main story right away. I did 2 or 3 more side missions in the star system Honshu. It didn't improve my position after the next main story mission (as I described in the point “6. Know how the levelling system works”), but it made my money reserves much bigger, which is always good.
15. BEFORE mission 9.
A HUGE plot twist leaves you in an awkward position and increasing your worth (to reach level 16) can be problematic after mission 8 (it was problematic for me). Thankfully there is a way around it that also allows you to buy the best guns available at this point of the game!
All I can tell you without spoilers is this: go to the star system Honshu, then go to the “right side” of this system and then go to the star system Sigma-19. In the star system Sigma-19 you can get “decent” side missions without any problems.
If you followed my earlier tips then you have already been to the Gas Miner Ogashawa. The Gas Miners Guild have no allies and their enemies are mostly bandits, so they should be at least neutral towards you.
For some strange reason the Gas Miner Ogashawa is marked red (hostile), but you can dock there anyway. After I accepted a side mission it was still hostile and its turret shot at me!
As you can see the star system Sigma-19 is quite “pretty” (with two stars of different colours in the middle), but I suggest not to take any missions close to the planet you can see in the distance. There are spaceships that are hostile and you would have to fight against them IN ADDITION to your side mission targets. It's better to stay within the cloud where there are some interesting things too.
Did you notice that the Gas Miner Ogashawa stopped being hostile? Well, it shouldn't be hostile to begin with.
Only after you reach level 16 you can buy the guns Sunblast A (Class 6) and the shield Adv. Sentinel H. F. Shield (Class 6).
Unfortunately, after buying four class-6 guns Sunblast A (with projectile speed of 750) you still have two class-5 guns Sunfury 1 with different projectile speed (600). It’s better to have all guns with the same projectile speed, so you should buy different class-5 guns. You can do it at the place where you will start the mission 9! There are class-5 guns Tanto that have slightly lower damage than Sunfury 1, but higher projectile speed (750).
Summing up – before mission 9 you should have:
1) the spaceship Barracuda,
2) two class-5 guns (for example Tanto),
3) four guns Sunblast A (Class 6),
4) Advanced Thruster,
5) Adv. Countermeasure Dropper,
6) Adv. Sentinel H. F. Shield (Class 6),
7) max number of Adv. Countermeasure Flares (50),
8) max number of Shield Batteries (26),
9) max number of Nanobots (26).
This setup can carry you for the rest of the main story! You don’t need any other equipment, believe me. Actually you can buy slightly better class-5 guns during the mission 11, but it's not crucial. The most important thing to do is to keep restocking on countermeasure flares, shield batteries and nanobots. I had 31,377 credits left before mission 9, so money was never a problem.
16. BEFORE mission 10.
You can decline the mission 10 and do some side missions instead, but it's more logical to accept the mission 10 right away. Yay!
17. BEFORE mission 11.
Do NOT buy Anubis! Most walkthroughs state that you should do it, but the spaceship Barracuda is much more agile and it's easier to avoid incoming fire. And avoiding incoming fire is what you will be mostly doing for the rest of the main story!
You can't decline mission 11 (or any later mission), but you can buy the needed things (countermeasure flares, shield batteries and nanobots). You can also change the two class-5 guns Tanto for Death's Hand Mk I (their damage is exactly the same, but the new guns sounds better than Tanto, at least to me).
18. DURING mission 11.
During mission 11 (in the base Buffalo – but don't google it any further because it will be like a spoiler) you can change the two class-5 guns (Tanto or Death's Hand Mk I) for the best class-5 gun with 8.33 Refire Rate and 750 projectile speed: Usiel (Class 5). This is NOT crucial, but it improves the fire-power of the spaceship Barracuda a little.
The class-5 guns Usiel are the last pieces for the best setup that will carry you for the rest of the main story AND dozens of side mission after the end of the main story – until you earn enough credits to buy and equip the spaceship Falcon. The setup was described in the point “15. BEFORE mission 9”, but the two class-5 guns are now Usiel instead of Tanto.
During mission 11 there is a very long sequence when you can't restock on shield batteries, countermeasure flares nor nanobots. The last place where you can restock on such things is the base Buffalo (don't google it any further because it will be like a spoiler) and after you leave it you HAVE to avoid incoming fire at all costs! There will be SEVERAL BIG battles, so if you have used all of your shield batteries during the first battle after leaving the base Buffalo then it's already game over and you should reload the game instead of wasting you time. To me this mission was definitely the hardest mission in the whole game!
19. DURING mission 12.
Without spoilers I can tell you that when you are in the Go-To mode and you get very close to your target then your spaceship stops automatically. A moment later a bunch of enemies appears right behind you (it's a trap) and you can die there right away. The best way to avoid it is to end the Go-To mode on your own and/or to keep moving along the target.
20. DURING mission 13.
Nothing to point out here as far as the mission is concerned. The only thing to do is to turn ON the graphic setting “Bakcground stars”, especially after you infiltrate the outer barrier. Otherwise the Dyson Sphere won't be “visible” in the background.
21. AFTER the end of the main story.
You are back to the star system New York, where it all started! Before you start exploring all the star systems it's better to level up and buy some better ship and better guns.
21.1. Class-10 weapons.
There is not a single class-10 gun with 8.33 Refire Rate NOR with projectile speed of 750! NOT a SINGLE one with EITHER of these two characteristics!
Their “raw” damage may be impressive, but when you take into account their Refire Rate then they are not that powerful. Yes, several class-10 guns still have the best “adjusted” damage, but there are also numerous class-10 guns that are actually weaker than the best class-9 guns! Moreover, their relatively slow projectile speed makes them worse against agile enemies (it’s easier to hit such an enemy with faster projectiles).
Their existence ONLY in wrecks of spaceships that you can find in space is illogical. Why hasn’t the “prototype” technology been developed further by those who had built the ships that became the wrecks? Why haven’t the prototype guns been salvaged from the wrecks earlier by other people? Why some spaceships made by humans have class-10 gun slots when nobody produces such guns? And why do the alien guns fit into a spaceship made by humans?!
Personally, I ignore class-10 guns completely.
21.2. Falcon vs. Eagle.
The best ship with good manoeuvrability that you buy from easily accessible place is the spaceship Falcon. Theoretically the best ship with good manoeuvrability in the whole game is the spaceship Eagle, but it's not as good as it may seem at first glance. Moreover you have to buy Falcon anyway to survive while trying to reach a place where you can buy the spaceship Eagle.
When I was playing Freelancer for the first time I did buy the Eagle, but it took me VERY much time (the Falcon can be bought much earlier). Moreover it felt as if the Eagle's fire-power was not as big as it should be. Now I know what is the problem with the Eagle – it has 6 guns that are significantly spread out along the wings, which makes it VERY hard to hit an enemy with all the guns simultaneously. Please compare it to the Falcon.
The Falcon:
The Eagle:
As you can see the target can be much smaller when you are firing with the Falcon and you will still hit it with all 5 guns. With the Eagle you will hit the same target with only 4 guns (instead of six). Let's calculate damage in such case.
The Falcon has 2 class-7 guns slots and 3 class-8 gun slots. The best class-7 gun with 8.33 Refire Rate and projectile speed of 750 is Sunblast B (Class 7) and it inflicts 104 hull damage. The best class-8 gun with 8.33 Refire Rate and projectile speed of 750 is Skyblast A (Class 8) and it inflicts 159 hull damage. So the Falcon's damage from all 5 guns is 685 (2 * 104 + 3 * 159).
The Eagle has 2 class-9 gun slots and 4 class-10 gun slots. The best gun (in the whole game) with 8.33 Refire Rate and projectile speed of 750 is Skyblast B (Class 9) and it inflicts 244 hull damage. So the Eagle's damage from 4 such guns is 976 (244 * 4). So, against the same relatively narrow target the Falcon's damage is 70% of the Eagle's damage. Not bad.
In case of a very small target (a small spaceship that is approached from its narrowest/thinnest side) there is hardly any difference between the Falcon and the Eagle! Such a target can be hit with 3 Falcon guns (the 3 in the middle), while the same target can be hit with only 2 Eagle guns! If you don't believe me then open the 2 pictures above in new tabs and switch back and forth between the tabs. Let's calculate damage in such case.
The middle 3 gun slots in Falcon are the better (class-8) gun slots! So, the Falcon's damage against a very small target is 477 (3 * 159). The Eagle's damage against the same target is 488 (2 * 144). So, against the same very narrow target the Falcon's damage is 98% of the Eagle's damage! Great!
For these reasons right now (while re-playing the game) I will stay with the Falcon forever.
21.3. The best place to earn money.
The best place to earn money relatively quickly (while still using the spaceship Barracuda) is the star system Hamburg. A single mission can give you from 10,000 to 17,000 credits, but, more importantly, you can get some very valuable loot from destroyed enemies, namely Niobium!
Niobium is one of the most valuable commodities in the game, but you have to sell it for the right price. And here comes the best thing about the Hamburg system – not far (just 1 Lane Jump) into a nearby star system (New Berlin) there is a place (Dortmund Station) where you can sell 1 unit of Niobium for 1,376 credits!
Please, notice that some Internet sites point at only one good place in the star system New Berlin for selling Niobium, namely The Ring (1,440 credits for 1 unit), totally ignoring Dortmund Station! The Ring is farther into the system New Berlin (from the point of view of the system Hamburg), so I prefer selling Niobium at Dortmund Station and going back to the system Hamburg as quickly as possible.
Please notice that some enemies in the system New Berlin also drop Niobium, but in smaller quantities and less often. This is why the system Hamburg is better – enemies there drop Niobium in bigger quantities AND more often! Nevertheless I did some missions in the system New Berlin too, just for fun. During one mission I recorded a partial “sun eclipse”.
21.4. When and where to buy and equip the Falcon.
Theoretically you can buy Falcon when you reach level 24, but the best class-8 guns can be bought only when you reach level 26. Moreover you need LOTS of credits to buy such guns, so you have to earn them anyway.
The best place to buy Falcon is the planet New Berlin. Starting from this place there is a very easy way to reach places where you can buy the best available equipment for this ship. The first step is Gas Miner Naha where you can buy the best shield. Go to the star system Frankfurt (only 1 Lane Jump to the Jump Gate), go to the other side of this system (3 Lane Jumps), go to the star system Sigma-13, go to Gas Miner Naha (2 Lane Jumps) and buy Protector H. F. Shield (Class 7). Your Nav Map can set the best path automatically (if you know where you want to go). Please notice that you can ignore random encounters and just doge the incoming fire.
The next step is to reach Aomori Station where you can buy the best available (for Falcon) guns with 8.33 Refire Rate and projectile speed of 750. Go to the end of the star system Sigma-13 (only 1 Lane Jump), go to the star system Honshu, go to Aomori Station (2 Lane Jumps) and buy 2 guns Sunblast B (Class 7) and, if possible, 3 guns Skyblast A (Class 8).
As you can see I myself couldn't buy the guns Skyblast A right away because I got a massage “You must be on friendlier terms to purchase this”. To improve your reputation with Gas Miners Guild you need to do some missions for them. For me it was enough to fly just 1 mission.
I had enough credits to buy only 2 guns Skyblast A, so I had to do another mission.
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