<!--
	Title: Walthrough: BattleTech
	Author: Frank Chin
	Source: QuestBusters, v6(8)
	Date: August 1989
	Transcription by Steve Derby
-->

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The MbMb Mboe edition of the QuestBusters Code: count one letter back—RC = QB.
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">The Citadel</h2>

Your main goal is to learn how to operate the Mechs at the Training Center. This
will take six lessons, between which you can explore the surrounding compound.
The game requires time to pass between lessons, so here are some other things to
do:

### Making Money

Credits are periodically posted to your account, but you'll have to invest in the
stock market at Comstar Station (one of the many buildings in the compound) to
make enough to buy all the necessary gear. Only two stocks are worth your
while: Nashan Diversified (NasDiv) and Baker Pharmaceuticals (BakPhar). NasDiv
is a steady performer, so if you do nothing but put all your credits in this
stock, you should amass quite a fortune by the end of the game. BakPhar is a
speculative stock that will make you rich in a short time if your timing is
right. One strategy is to put most of your credits in NasDiv and a
few in BakPhar. Save regularly and check the market often. When
BakPhar starts going up, put all your credits in it, and usually your
money doubles and doubles again. It is essential to save your game
whenever you get ahead, though, for BakPhar's value can drop to
zero in no time! After investing, leave Comstar and go do something
(explore, rest, visit the weapons shop, take a Training lesson...),
returning frequently to assess your holdings. It takes a fairly
long time to earn enough credits to buy a serious weapon
and good armor, not to mention the money you will need for
Training, so you may have to wander about the compound pointlessly,
waiting for your stocks to go up.

### Weapons, Armor and Other Gear

The Inferno never runs out of ammo and rarely misses, so it's advisable to stay
around until you can afford one. But you can get by with less firepower. Weapon
shops are everywhere throughout Pacifica, and you can also salvage weapons after
combat. Buy whatever armor you can afford for you and any allies. Armor
shops are in many towns. Get a MedKit (sold at any of several hospitals) and a
Mapper (at the video store in Starport and at a few other towns). Later on, get
your Mechs modified at a Mech-It Lube's Speed Shop and you'll become
ahnost invincible.

### Skills

The Citadel is the only place to get Combat training, and for this you must have
money. Spend your credits to become proficient in as many skills as you can,
especially the skill pertaining to whatever weapon you're packing. Two other
skills, Mech Repair and Medical Training, can be purchased at any MechitLube
or Hospital, and there are several throughout the region you will explore.

<h2 style="text-align: center;">The Invasion, Starport and the Jail</h2>

On the sixth or seventh Training mission, you'll suddenly face real opponents—the
Kuritans, who have invaded the compound. You've got to escape to Starport,
a neutral city northeast of the starting point. If lucky, you'll escape with a
Mech. There are two ways to do so. Choose a Locust for your final mission,
then head west when the force field around the Training grounds disappears,
and get out of town. Or use a Chameleon and, as soon as you're attacked, walk
back into the building you just left. When the walls come down, exit west
out of the city. (Some people report being unsuccessful at either method; if that
happens, you can get Mechs at several other points.)

### Starport

Head northeast to Starport. Save frequently if you decide to fight attackers in
hopes of obtaining money and equipment Inside, immediately find the Clothing
Store and get rid of your uniform to avoid being attacked as often. Then
check your stocks at Comstar and reinvest if desired. Check out the Inaugural
Hall to learn of the Inauguration, then you might want to earn credits by fighting
at the Arena. Repairs can be costly if using a rental Mech, however, and may
even exceed your 250-credit payoff.

### Rex Pearce and the Crescent Hawks

At the Inaugural Hall later that night you'll meet Rex Pearce, an ally. Save the
game before entering, since you might get killed when you leave with
him. Rex gives you a box from your father and says he's got a
new Commando Mech that Katrina left him. A member of the
Crescent Hawks, he says your mission is to round up other
Hawks, find a secret cache of spare Mech parts your father
hid, and signal Princess Katrina to return to Pacifica for the parts
and your team. But the enemy attacks before you can look at
the holocard in the box (which is necessary to locate the cache),
and the card is damaged. If you survive, you can roam about
Starport gathering gear, earning credits and skills, having Rex's
Commando modified at the Speed Shop and so on.

### The Jail and the Undercover Agent

Go a bit north and east to a small town with a jail and hospital. Save right away,
for you may meet an ally who turns out to be an undercover agent If having
trouble getting people to talk, or if services like Mechit-Lube are always
closed, you've got an agent in the group. Put him outside on foot and get into a
few battles. He'll either be killed by the enemy or Rex. If you don't have your
own Mech, steal one from the Jail's parking garage.

<h2 style="text-align: center;">Finding the other Hawks, Dr. Tellhim and the Cache</h2>

There are two places to view the damaged holocard. The easiest, quickest way
is to return to the destroyed Citadel and go to your cbssbdlt. You '11 find a holocard
viewer and can see most of the message. The second way is to go to one of
the several towns southwest of Starport. One has the Mayor's house in it, and you
can pick the lock and enter. Use the Mayor's holocard viewer and you learn that
you must find Dr. Tellhim at his hut in the opsuixftu. He'll say where to find
the cache. (His hut won't appear on the map unless you view the holocard.)
Head opsuixftu, exploring the various towns. You need to pick up two more
Crescent Hawks: one is a doctor, found by visiting hospitals, checking the
records and talking to people there. Get him a MedKit to recover faster from
wounds. Your other ally is a Tech, found by visiting the Mechit-Lubes and asking
to Talk and Apprentice. It's invaluable to get him additional Tech training, for he
can scavenge spare parts from enemy Mechs you destroy, thus earning you
money as well as simplifying repairs to your own Mechs.<br>
Tellhim is in a building located near the xbufs, near sector uijsuz-six/gpsuz x
gpsuz-ojof/uxfouz on the map. With the proper crew and gear, you'll pass his
tests and he'll tell you that the cache is on an jtmboe to the tpvuifbtu (uijsuz-ojof/tjyuz
xgjfuz-gjwf/tjyuz). Once there, enter the cave.

<h2 style="text-align: center;">The Computer Terminals</h2>

You are in a maze full of locked doors and computer terminals. You have a keycard
that needs to be imprinted with a different Red number, Blue number and
Yellow number to open each door. Each computer throughout the complex has its
own special color coded number that can imprint to your keycard, and each computer's
code can be used only once. You must open eleven different doors (that's
33 different computer color imprints you must find) to get to the Map Room and
the Power Transmitter. See the map for location of the computer terminals.
After you open door E, you find yourself in the Map Room and must activate a
combination of planets to get the password (Qftiu, Cfokbnjo, Tlzf, Tvnnfs,
Szfstpo, Lbuijm, Bdifsobs). Activate the planets by touching them all, then
walk over to the control panel on the west wall for your password. Leave the Map
Room, go back through the maze to the upper control rooms, and tum on the
transmitter to call Katrina (you do this by walking into the panels).

<figure>
<img style="max-width: 80%; display: block; margin: auto;" src="/public/img/articles/questbusters-battletech-walkthru/battletech-map.jpg" alt="BattleTech map">
<figcaption style="max-width: 80%; display: block; margin: auto;">
<h3 class="center">Map Key: BattleTech</h3>
<div style="columns: 2; text-align: left;">
A: R28, Y16, B24<br>
B: R8, Y21, B9<br>
C: R25, YlO, B33<br>
D: R20, Y22, B27<br>
E: R30, Y32, B23<br>
F: R13, Y4, B31<br>
G: R29, Y6, B12<br>
H: Rl7, Y26, B19<br>
I: R2, Yl8, B7<br>
J: Rl5, Yll, B14<br>
K: Rl, YS, B3
</div>
</figcaption>
</figure>
