Star Wars Squadrons guide – Mission 1: Form the Vanguard tips and walkthrough

In this Star Wars: Squadrons walkthrough, we’ll help you with tips and tricks for completing Mission 1: Form the Vanguard.

Polygon’s Star Wars: Squadrons guides and walkthroughs help you navigate more than a dozen missions set in a galaxy far, far away. For Mission 1, we’ll help you learn the basics of Power Management, dealing with incoming missiles, and requesting resupplies.

We didn’t want our guides to become narrative novels, so we skipped useless advice like “follow the squad leader.” Instead, every Squadrons walkthrough begins with general tips for the mission, followed by specific strategies for difficult sections and objectives. We wrap up with advice about earning mission medals.

Mission 1: Form the Vanguard walkthrough

Four years later, Vanguard Squadron will split up to search for some missing scouts and deal with Imperial jamming ships.

Mission 1 Tips

• Hyperspace Jump Points are directional. You have to go through them the way they’re pointing. Look for the animated arrows at one end.
• Use Cycle Targets and watch your Combat Display (the green screen on the left of your dashboard) to make sure you’re after the right enemy.
• You can probably get through this mission without much (unprompted) fussing with your ship’s power distribution, but this is a good mission to practice with it.
• When a missile locks onto your ship, you’ll see a new gauge labeled INCOMING on your HUD. As the missile closes in, the red lights on that gauge will fill in from the outsides to the center. Your job is to evade (by turning) the missile before it gets too close, or to wait until the red lights are completely filled in to launch your countermeasures.
• Maximize Engine Power (press left on the D-pad for the blue lights) and pay attention to the prompts on the screen about sharp turns — both yawing and rolling — when dealing with missiles. Setting your throttle to half-speed with Maximize Engine Power gives you lots of maneuverability.
• Use Request Resupply to repair your hull and fill your missiles and countermeasures.

Objective: Destroy Imperial Jamming Ships, Destroy Imperial TIE fighters, Destroy Imperial Light Cruiser
Optional: Destroy Imperial Jammers first

After you find the scout debris, you’ll follow the Imperials to a new, bigger fight. This time, you’ll have plenty of TIEs, two IGV-55 Jammers, and one Light Cruiser.

To earn the Defense Breaker Medal and complete the optional objective for this mission, you’ll have to play it twice, since they’re opposing requirements. Regardless of which you go for — taking out the TIEs first or the Jammers — save the cruiser for last. Once both Jammers are destroyed, reinforcements will show up to help you take it out.

Mission 1 Medals

• Mission Complete. Completed Mission 1.
• Efficiency Medal. Completed Mission 1 in 16 minutes or less.
• Enduring Service Medal. Completed Mission 1 without dying.
• Defense Breaker. Destroyed all TIE fighters before taking out the Jammers.

After Frisk identifies the Jammers, approach them but begin to slow down once the game informs you that you should slow down to avoid missiles. Stay in that general area and don’t approach the Jammer. Instead, let the TIE fighters come to you and don’t move onto the main objective until you’ve marked off the TIE fighter objective first.

• Loyal Recruit. Destroyed Imperial Jammers before the Cruiser to call New Republic reinforcements.

Follow Gunny’s advice and focus on the Jammers before attacking the Cruiser. To avoid missiles, make sure to use your countermeasures, the seeker warheads, to disrupt any missiles that might target you while you focus on the two Jammers.