The Ur-Quan Masters Discussion Forum

Hey all,

I need some help destroying the Sa-Matra. For this fight, I brought along a mixture of Juggers and whatever the Ptunk ships are called. Destroying the Ur-Quan escorts was no problem, and using the Ptunk to knock out the red shield generators on Sa-Matra itself was likewise not a problem. However, I haven't been able to get the Flagship within the asteroid armour successfully. Every time I try it, those green balls shunt me off course and then I get destroyed by the meteors. The specific flagship configuration I've been using is just crew sections and fuel tanks - I figured I'd try to tank the damage that Sa-Matra puts out, but that hasn't worked out.

Can anybody help me?

You either need a Hellbore Cannon on the flagship to shoot down the comets, or to precede the Flagship with some other ship (Thraddash Torch is a good one) that you can shoot the comets down with.

Once the shield generators are out, no more bullets will be created, so you just need to use escort ships to beat the existing bullets. Yehat and Chmmr are both pretty good at this. I suspect Thraddash would be too.

Ah, I see! I didn't even think to try shooting down the various projectiles. In hindsight that was pretty silly of me, since I've spent the whole game prior to this shooting down Ur-Quan fighters and Kohr-Ah spinny thingies. Thanks for the help, guys!

If each weapon-respawn were centered on one of the shield-generators, with an accompanying graphic and sound, that would clue you in that they won't respawn without generators. It was certainly a puzzle for us the first time we played through.

Btw, it's Pkunk, not Ptunk

Wow! I've just dodged all the crap and bumped right into the Sa-Matraaa! ...trice 'till now! Had all animat thrusters and turnin' jets installed... Oh, and 150 crew onboard! I got hit by an ugly green ball once or twice per final battle, but it didn't stop me.

EDIT: Ptunk or Pkunk, same thing. Depending on how fast and carefully you read in a game. Possibly error in typing a post too.

I kinda like the idea of using a Thraddash Torch for this... last playthrough I used a Pkunk Fury to shoot them down, which was less than ideal.

I never put crew on the ship for the final battle - it just feels plain wrong, doesn't it? How would you go about telling 150+ people that their service is appreciated, but that there's no space in the escape pod except for one guy?

That said, I only ever manage to defeat the SM with the Pkunk, on account of their side-shooters and high speed and agility.

Right, Pkunk is good for taking out the shield generators, but it's less than ideal for destroying the stray missiles.

Think of it like a noble sacrifice. By sacrificing only 150 people, you can potentially save the entire species!

Doesn't the ending cutscene (in the PC version) show two people that are not the captain looking into a screen or window or something as the escape pod flies away? That seems to imply that all of the crew are in the escape pod. So, the only ones that potentially wouldn't escape are the surviving ships in tow.

Pkunk might not be great for taking out the bullets, but Yehat is.

The remaining escort ships probably warped out before the bomb was even activated.

I don't mind the escort ships. I do indeed trust that those can take care of themselves. But 150 people on the SIS? How do you even fight with that thing with only six slots -- won't it get blasted to bits by the fireballs?

I usually use one Avatar or so to clean up the remaining projectiles after the Pkunk gets done with the shield generators. I never managed to work out another way to get the shield generators, though :-(

If there's one unguided Hellbore cannon in the front slot, the Flagship should be able to take out the comets with care and a little luck. It's still better to use some escort for the job (Thraddash is ideal), but in a pinch the Flagship can take care of itself, properly equipped.

My assumption is that one or more of the following holds true:

• The crew pods can be jettisoned before the flagship gets into position on the Sa-Matra.
• The crew in the crew pods can hitch a ride on some of the escort ships.
• The escape pod has room for several people.

In any case, I don't think you'll be blowing up 150 people. Also, do keep in mind that there could be a delay between getting the ship into position and actually detonating, specifically in order to allow crew to evacuate in some manner or other.

The only real loss with the detonation is the Taalo shield... but hopefully the Ur-Quan have learned their lesson with regards to keeping the Dnyarri alive.

What? The main loss is the Unzervalt computer! After that, yes, the Taalo shield. The portal spawner is no minor detail, too.

That's an interesting thought. Is it necessary to keep the Taalo shield around while the Dnyarri is on board? If so, was the plan that both would perish in the detonation, and did the Dnyarri know about that? If the shield wasn't necessary, they could have left it (as well as all other unneeded devices) on the starbase, but if shield and Dnyarri go hand in hand, then I guess there was no choice but to bring both. I imagine that the thought of the Dnyarri commanding the Sa-Matra would be far worse than anything else.

Oh yeah, I forgot about the computer. The portal spawner is probably replaceable provided the Arilou are willing (which, granted, they probably aren't).

The shield isn't necessary to get the Dnyarri to help you, but I think once the Sa-Matra was defeated he'd start trying to compel you to take you with him if you didn't have the shield.

Unneeded devices can probably be left at the starbase, yeah, but I'm not sure how many of those there are... assuming you did everything, you would have the portal spawner, the sun device, the Taalo shield, the Dnyarri, and the Umgah hyperwave broadcaster; the sun device is totally unnecessary, and you can technically do without the portal spawner and the caster, but the shield and the Dnyarri are required (and you probably want the Dnyarri to die in the explosion anyway). Is the Taalo shield small enough to put in the escape pod? I'd guess it likely isn't.

It was small enough to fit into a planet lander. The escape pod looks huge compared to the planet lander.

Good point, though that's assuming stuff is to scale. :P Of course there's also the issue of whether it would be safe to remove the Taalo shield from the ship; if I recall correctly, it requires electrical current to work.

I think you're thinking of this quote from Hays:


But I'm not sure that means it requires an electrical current to work. He also says in the summary that simply keeping it aboard will make you immune to psychic attacks, with no mention of any specific conditions needed.

That's a pretty heavy implication, isn't it?

He said that feeding a current causes people on the base with esper potential to get a headache, not that feeding a current activates it. Also, it's worth noting that the lander report indicated headaches just from being near the thing:


The impression I get is there's nothing special needed for the shield to work; just have it, and it will protect you from psychic attacks.

Hm, maybe it works without electrical current, but a current amplifies its effect.

Perhaps a sufficient amount of electrical current could turn it into a Dnyarri-killing machine?

A sufficient amount of current will turn most things into a killing machine :)

Not really. This treatment would not work on, say, a block of wood.

Hence the qualifier most. Now proceed to compilating a chart on known substances and their reactions to currents between 0 and infinity (the qualifier enough) to deconstruct a silly joke :)

It totally would apply to a block of wood - do you have any idea how much voltage is required to get a substantial current to run through an insulator like that?

That is not the point.


Since electric current causes headaches in people with esper potential, it is possible that the same effect could be had on the Dnyarri. With enough current, it might be possible to give the Dnyarri such a headache that it is compelled to commit suicide.