SCUBA (showcase)

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Dive into Arma 3's new underwater environment. Swim undetected up the coastline and assault an enemy position. Mission Description

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SCUBA
Time	07:00 PM
Date	06-07-2035
Location	Valley south of Camp Tempest, Stratis, Republic of Altis and Stratis

SCUBA is a playable showcase mission in ArmA 3.

Overview

The player controls U.S. Army infantryman Corporal Jackson, callsign Omega. Stratis has been invaded and has fallen under CSAT occupation. The survivors of Task Force Aegis have been forced to make a last stand at Camp Maxwell, but the opportunity to establish a safe route for reinforcements and supplies has been identified at Camp Tempest.

However, both the camp and Kyfi Bay have been fortified with a series of moored naval mines and is also being guarded by a garrison of anti-aircraft teams. CPL Jackson must disarm the mines and clear the camp of threats before allied reinforcements and badly needed supplies can be brought ashore.

Role/class:

• Specops / Diver Explosive Specialist

Default loadout:

• Primary weapon: SDAR (6× magazines)
  • No attachments fitted
• Secondary weapon: P07 (3× magazines)
  • Sound Suppressor (9 mm)
• Equipment: Toolkit, Mine Detector, Smoke Shell (Blue) (2×), Chemlight (Blue) (4×)
• Backpack: Assault Pack (Black)

There are no alternate pieces of equipment to choose from.

Objectives

Primary

• (1) Deactivate mines
• (2) Eliminate air patrol
• (3) Acquire an AA launcher
• (4) Take down the helicopter
• (5) Exfiltrate

Optional

• (6) Sabotage the boat

Mandatory

• Jackson must survive
• Avoid collateral damage/friendly fire
• Remain within the combat area

Walkthrough

Primary 1: Deactivate mines

Don't go into the water yet. Instead, run along the beach until the first mine is less than ~ 180 metres away, then dive into the water and begin swimming towards the moored naval mine.

Simply get as close as possible to the mine and select the Disarm action when the prompt appears. Do the same for the remaining two mines until the bay is clear. Don't worry about the mines detonating if you come into contact with them - they are purely anti-ship only mines which cannot be triggered by divers.

Primary 2: Eliminate air patrol

NOTE:

• Consider sabotaging the patrolling boat first before attempting these tasks.
• Not doing so will make shooting down the helicopter significantly riskier as the boat's gunner can still kill you at this distance.

Requires the completion of the following two primary objectives (Acquire an AA launcher/Take down the helicopter).

Primary 3: Acquire an AA launcher

The marked MRAP at Camp Tempest has a Titan SAM launcher in the back of the vehicle. There is also a crate on the second floor of the camp's command centre with extra missiles and a launcher. However, both are protected by seven CSAT soldiers who won't take kindly to your theft of the weapon.

Luckily, you have access to a mortar strike support which you can use to soften their defences. Head back to the shore and swim towards grid 018-034. Crouch immediately and start climbing up, then go prone once you're at the peak. Crawl your way into position until you have a good view of the camp.

Call in a fire mission at each of the soldiers' locations, using only one and not two high-explosive (HE) mortar shells per patrol. Be aware of the ~ 22 second delay between your request and the shells actually impacting the target zone. Ignore the base alarm klaxon; you don't have to worry about being found even though the camp is on full alert.

Once all seven soldiers are dead, you are now free to approach the MRAP/crate and steal the launcher.

Primary 4: Take down the helicopter

Ditch your Toolkit and the Mine Detector to make room for a backup missile. Wait for the patrolling helicopter to return and begin locking onto it. Don't worry if the pilot attempts to break lock by deploying flares; just keep maintaining your cursor on it until a lock-on is achieved.

Upon its destruction this objective will be marked complete, and you can move on to getting out of the area.

Primary 5: Exfiltrate

NOTE:

• Be careful of the boat's crew. Check whether they are looking in your direction before sprinting back towards Omega's position.
• Depending on their alert status, the gunner and the boat's commander can still potentially detect you after the helicopter is shot down and begin firing at you.

Drop the launcher, your backpack, your rifle, and basically anything else that you don't need (there should be no further combat from this point onward if you've cleared the entire camp). Sprint back towards your insertion point where the rest of Omega are waiting for you and the showcase will end in victory.

Alternately, you can also return to Maxwell on your own and ignore Omega altogether. As soon as you're within 500 metres of the camp, the mission will come to an end. Don't worry about the objective's "cancellation" as it is still treated as if you had completed the showcase via the intended route.

Optional 6: Sabotage the boat

NOTE:

• Avoid being detected by the boat's gunner. Provoking him prematurely will make the rest of the mission significantly harder if he isn't killed.
• You might want to wait for your stamina to fully recover before sabotaging the boat as this will allow you to swim away quickly.

Swim up towards the boat and disable it by selecting the respective Action Menu command. Try to avoid being seen by the rear gunner by approaching from below the vessel.

Once it's been disabled, swim away quickly as two enemy divers will jump into the water after approximately 10-20 seconds (this is completely randomised depending on your playthrough). Be wary of their SDARs as unlike the gunner's HMG, their rifles can kill you even while you're below the water's surface.

Tips

• It is not necessary to remain undetected. However, it is in your best interests to maintain stealth for as long as possible up until you call in the mortar strike onto the camp.
• You are essentially "invulnerable" to bullet projectiles so long as you stay below the water's surface, though this obviously does not apply to the underwater-capable supercavitating rounds fired by enemy divers.
• When targeting the helicopter, try to avoid firing at it directly from the side as there is a high chance of the missile missing. It is better to target it from the rear or front to give the missile an opportunity to manoeuvre mid-flight.

Trivia

• SCUBA was one of the first showcases to be added to ArmA 3 after its Alpha release.
• Sabotaging the enemy boat merely causes its fuel tank to drop to zero. This capability is purely scripted and unique to the showcase, as it is not normally possible to sabotage hostile watercraft in regular gameplay.
• The moored naval mines can be reactivated even after they have been defused. However, doing so will instantly cause the "Deactivate mines" objective to restart again and prevents the player from exfiltrating even if it has already been marked as "complete".
• In early versions of the showcase, only an RPG-42 was available from the crates and Ifrit in lieu of a Titan SAM (this was changed during the Beta after Game Update 0.72's release).