How do I proceed from here?

[JohnBWatson]

Well, I made it to Heretic. I have the Hyperio reactor, a +40% lv9 shield, a +40% IM90. Unfortunately, all of the stations got destroyed by the ... lobsters (note for next time: Bring a bigger gun). I also had problems defending the research ship from the pteravores.

You can destroy the Petravores beforehand, if you like. It's what I do.

So what do I actually need to do now? If I try to cross the outer nebula, I get teleported around in the system.

If you have Heretic Research ROMs, go to the Iocrym Control Point. Once you have enough, Kate will take away the wrap - around effect, and you'll be good to go. Just head to the outermost planet after that.

If you don't have enough ROMs, kill the Lobsters and loot them. You'll eventually find more.

[Ihlosi]

If you don't have enough ROMs, kill the Lobsters and loot them. You'll eventually find more.

The drop rate of those ROMs seems to be very low. I've spent about 45 minutes hunting lobsters and found two more (for a total of four ... I guess I need five?).

I've tried a few other weapons against the lobsters (heavy ion blaster, advanced tritium cannon, IFC), but none of them worked better than the IM90, mostly because with the latter, I can keep the optimal distance while still shooting at the lobsters.

[sun1404]

I thought you need three ROMs to clear the anomaly?

[JohnBWatson]

I thought you need three ROMs to clear the anomaly?

That's what I thought as well. Try going to the control point, Ihlosi. If your ROMs don't work, that may be a glitch.

---

I've tried a few other weapons against the lobsters (heavy ion blaster, advanced tritium cannon, IFC), but none of them worked better than the IM90, mostly because with the latter, I can keep the optimal distance while still shooting at the lobsters.

APC or Lamplighter is best, if you have one.

[Watch TV, Do Nothing]

Don't neglect missiles, either.

[Ihlosi]

That's what I thought as well. Try going to the control point, Ihlosi. If your ROMs don't work, that may be a glitch.

I looked at the .xml files ... I think I understand what's going wrong.

I have four heretic data roms in my cargo hold. Oddly enough, they show up as two sets of two ROMs each, but I don't think this is an issue. Two of the ROMs were from missions, two were looted from lobsters.

The Svalbard explorer was destroyed close to a pteravore lair. I can target the wreck, but I cannot dock with it. Even with the wreck targeted, my ship will either dock with the pteravore lair or one of the nearby Iocrym star-manipulation stations.

In the Iocrym control point, I can enter the central chamber, but nothing happens there.

As far as I could glean from the .xml, at this point I would have to dock with the wreck of the Svalbard explorer and take the surviving scientists to the Iocrym control point, where they would set up a research camp. Then they could lift the barrier that keeps me from accessing the outer system once I bring them enough Heretic data roms.

Being unable to dock with the destroyed Svalbard explorer keeps the game from progressing.

[JohnBWatson]

The Svalbard explorer was destroyed close to a pteravore lair. I can target the wreck, but I cannot dock with it. Even with the wreck targeted, my ship will either dock with the pteravore lair or one of the nearby Iocrym star-manipulation stations.

The game's supposed to handle the Svalbard's destruction, but it does not do so reliably. I'd make a post on ministry and attach the savefile.

[PM]

Svalbard wreck cannot be docked with in 1.5.

[JohnBWatson]

Svalbard wreck cannot be docked with in 1.5.

Sometimes it can, sometimes not. I've managed it once.

[catfighter]

I found and destroyed four Iocrym outposts, are there any more that I need to take care of?

I believe four is the max, although it may have changed in 1.5.

Svalbard wreck cannot be docked with in 1.5.

I have only done one complete playthrough in 1.5 and docking worked fine for me. I accidentally destroyed the Svalbard when it drifted too close to a pteravore nest I missed on my first cleaning run, but the wreck came to rest out of the docking range of all other stations. It might just be that other docking availability overrides the Svalbard wreck.

[sun1404]

If that's the case, try bombarding the Svalbard's wreck with high-momentum weapons. Perhaps a blast howitzer (Don't use end-game weapons. They may destroy the wreck.) Target it and take careful look at it's damage all the while. Get the wreck away from anything it's close to. When it's alone in empty space, outside of anything's docking range, try docking it again.

[Ultimate Chicken]

Naw, if you have the targetting ROM on, F-target the wreck. The dock command will target targetted targets (:p).
If that still doesn't work, you're bugged. <_<'

[Ihlosi]

Naw, if you have the targetting ROM on, F-target the wreck. The dock command will target targetted targets (:p).

This does not work in my case, see my earlier post.

If that still doesn't work, you're bugged. <_<'

I guess so. The game possibly treats the Svalbard's wreck differently compared to other wrecks.

[Ihlosi]

If that's the case, try bombarding the Svalbard's wreck with high-momentum weapons. Perhaps a blast howitzer (Don't use end-game weapons. They may destroy the wreck.) Target it and take careful look at it's damage all the while. Get the wreck away from anything it's close to. When it's alone in empty space, outside of anything's docking range, try docking it again.

I tried that. The wreck is far enough from the other stations that I can touch it with my ship, but I get the message that there are no nearby stations when I hit 'd'.

[JohnBWatson]

I guess so. The game possibly treats the Svalbard's wreck differently compared to other wrecks.

It does. The only thing you can do now is submit the problem to Ministry, unfortunately.