Vega Strike Forums

Hi people!

I'm pretty much new to the forums.
Been playing VS since 2 or 3 months ago and am still finding a lot of answers to plenty of questions.

I (not long ago) posted in a thread that I was looking for a ship with more maneuverability than that of goddard.milspec, but retaining the same firepower as that of goddard's. I got a lot of replies for me to get franklin or shizu etc. I tried out those ships and they were not to my liking in terms of design (shizu) and firepower (franklin).

When doing a bounty run from oceania in cephid 17, I decided to stop over at the Ataraxia fighter barracks for fun. I went to look at the ships section of the shops and found Lancelot. At first, I thought, after buying it: what's the use of a ship with only ability to carry 4 missiles (1 in each slot)? I took this out for a bounty run... Thinking it would not be able to handle 5 Plowshares (pirates). But, I killed them anyway, after getting my shields down to the point where my ship can't take another hit (thanks base patrol!).

Now, my Lancelot is equipped with 2 Repulsor beams and my good old 2 Light ion beams.
Packs a punch!!!

Therefore, now, let's go on to the main points:

PROS
-Good maneuverability (no upgrades)
-The acceleration of the ship is excellent compared to other heavy-class fighters

CONS
-Shield rating is bad, near to moderate rating (in my case), WITHOUT the help of Shady Mechanic's upgrades.

POINTS I GIVE
-Maneuverability 8/10
-Shielding Rate 6/10
-Acceleration 9/10

-Total Score 23/30

Here's a Warning
DO NOT GET THE MILSPEC LANCELOT!!!!!!!



All comments are welcome...
Please do not criticise me too much, because this is my first review for a ship.
I will be making more in the future, as I advance through the galaxy and get more new ships.

I might be making one on Robin soon.
Look out for it!~

A Shizu isn't going to come anywhere near a Goddard in terms of firepower! It's just a scoutship, and can't mount any more than a couple of light weapons. The Taizong and Zhuangzong have similar maneuverability, and can carry anything up to heavy weapons. With Ktek beams and autotracking, they're a couple of the deadliest ships you can get without hacking.

I don't remember how many weapon mounts the Franklin offers. What that really has going for it are the turrets. The ones that come with it are supposed to be "custom designed" for it, but you might find better ones. It's hard to tell from the catalog, though.

Now, my Rule One: Never, ever fly a new ship "straight off the rack!"

Actually, that's Rule Two. My real Rule One is, build up about 2.5-3 times the cost of the ship you want (with upgrades) before you buy it. That way, you can replace the damn thing if it gets blown up straight out of the hangar (Hey, it could happen!), and still have cash to rebuild your funds. Boring? Maybe, but it beats having to start over from scratch. Besides, that gives you enough to buy upgrades! Which brings us back to Rule Two:

As I said, you should never take a ship straight out of the hangar without at least bulking up its defenses. Most ships come with a bare minimum of equipment: level one reactors, shields... caps, if you're lucky. You want to replace all that with at least level five units. Those are still reasonably priced, especially if you've made enough to afford a Lancelot. (If that's all you've made, you can double it easy with the right cargo runs. Get to it!)

Note that a given level of reactor can usually support a shield system about 2-3 levels higher. Heavy weapon drain will reduce this capacity, of course. It's a good idea to check your ship's stats (under info) as you're upgrading. Check for warnings near the bottom, or before any subunits (read: turrets). Also, don't forget armor. If you can afford it, get the very best: polyduranium's not only the strongest, it's about as light as the bare minimum stuff, and you're going to want that along with good shields anywhere you might be looking for trouble.

Speaking of weapons, your loadout seems a little... light? I'll have to double check, but I'm pretty sure the Lance has four mounts: two medium and two heavy. Why waste mounts on flimsy repulsors??? Seriously, check around for heavy weapons. Commerce centers usually carry a few, and some other bases and planets. You can find military grade hardware at fighter bases and star fortresses, and some capships carry even more interesting stuff. Have a look around, there's a lot more you can do!

Incidentally, I don't think I've actually done this yet, but if you buy a milspec ship, I think the milspec package that usually comes with one can be sold off, effectively converting it to a stock or blank version. It'll still carry the 'milspec' ID, distinguishing it from your 'stock' model. That way, you can have two of the same type of ship, and kit each out any way you like.

Just a thought.

just a short note before i go back to plundering more pirates:

the lancelot DOES NOT support heavy weapons of any sort (or maybe i think it doesnt.. ill check it out)
so... the best things i can actually get are the repulsor beams and hopefully, ktek beams

and before i forget:

i spent a load of money buying a lot of parts for this fancy thing..
the total weight is...

erm...

170% - with shady mechanic's weight decrease ^^
180% or 190% without the weight decrease thingy.

this will be my last edit before i go grate/toast/roast/skin/mince those pirates:

this will be a very noobish question:

wad is autotracking? =.=

wad is autotracking? =.=

Just what is says it tracks your selected and locked target so your guns are more likely to hit it even works on missile mounts great for dumbfires

Enjoy the Choice

so.. if i get autotracking for dumbfire...

it would lock on to the enemy like torpedoes do... right?

parkel wrote:so.. if i get autotracking for dumbfire...

it would lock on to the enemy like torpedoes do... right?

Not exactly; natively locking missiles like torpedoes can't be fired until a missile lock is acquired, and each locking missile has its locking time described in its stats when you buy them. This time is independent from the gun lock you issue pressing l to lock on the current target.

Dumbfires instead can be fired at any time, just like guns and beams; and, just like them, when the relative mount has autotracking, will aim at your (gun) locked target rather than perfectly in front of your nose as long as the target is inside a certain cone of view.

It's a tracking calculated at the moment of fire, not dynamically chasing an evasive target based on heat or aspect lock; still, you'll see a decent increase in dumbfire hits with autotracking, and they won't look so dumb anymore

parkel wrote:the lancelot DOES NOT support heavy weapons of any sort (or maybe i think it doesnt.. ill check it out)

Maybe the fact that you don't have the SVN version makes you think that. I don't remember, in the end, so I guess you (and/or) someone with SVN should confirm. Turbo, maybe, since his fav ship is his custom painted Lancelot.

MC707 wrote:Maybe the fact that you don't have the SVN version makes you think that. I don't remember, in the end, so I guess you (and/or) someone with SVN should confirm. Turbo, maybe, since his fav ship is his custom painted Lancelot.

I can confirm it too for SVN, as I've been flying a Lance-a-lot-lately 2 medium mounts and 2 heavy mounts, 2 Ktek beams on the latter, as they're heavy beams (Rlaan Milspec to be precise).

Franklin and Lancelot are my fav fast explorers, Franklin when I plan to raise some cash on the way with AI Core runs, Lancelot when I want to add some non-Luddite bounty action to an otherwise calm travel.

Thanks for confirming CLone. Maybe you might wanna get your SVN now, parkel?

umm.. yea.. i just got tortoise SVN..

but.. from here: http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/forum ... =1&t=14901
knight rider states that SVN is not as stable as the stable version , with plenty of bugs...

and also, another problem..
the download speed is sloooow.
i might wait till saturday (when i hav the whole day to myself) to download it..

ty for comments and help ^^

I can tell you in no uncertain terms that the Lancelot does indeed support two mediums and two heavies in the stable 0.5.0 version. At least, it does in the Fedora 10 package. That was what I was running last night, when I went and hauled a half dozen ships into the shop. Actually, the milspec Shield Breaker beam array was designed for the Lance, according to the somewhat purple prose of its description, and that is definitely a heavy weapon!

As for autotracking, it won't give your dumbfires any tracking capability, but it WILL aim them to more likely hit your target. What it does, is aim the mounted weapon toward a locked target, so you don't have to try to keep it directly ahead of you. You still have to keep it in front, but your aim doesn't have to be constantly dead-on. It's not a cheap upgrade: 120K per mount, but believe me, they're worth every cred! Once you have 'em, you'll wonder how you EVER managed to do without!

Back to the Lance, though, what version of VS have you been running? 0.4.something? 0.5.0?

i have been running vegastrike v0.50.

and i found out the lancelot HAS a heavy slot (sorry.. my bad )

AND

i jus bought 2 shield breakers (got a plowshare and got crazy going atlantis - mining base)
and 2 razors - ammo = expensive ~_~

the damage went.. well.. crazy.. i can take down a pirate hyena/plowshare with no difficulty..

--------

couldn't find any autotracking mount upgrades though...
im planning to find a ktek beam for this lancelot once i have finished my aim of 30m worth in bounty.

here's a tip for anyone who's interested in making a load of money (involves NO CHEATING)
buy as much liquor/wine/food/water as possible..
keep going to the mining base in Cephid 17.
this is likely to get u about 1mil++ in erm..
15mins if u r lucky that atlantis has plenty of liquor and wine? o.O

oh.. and in the mining base, buy as many pure materials and mining equipment as possible.
and go back to atlantis to sell them and make a load of money out of them ^^

You won't find autotrackers in the starting system look for Commerce Centres,Factories,Starfortesseses and Trantor class planets.

Enjoy the Choice

loki1950 wrote:You won't find autotrackers in the starting system look for Commerce Centres,Factories,Starfortesseses and Trantor class planets.

Yup! Commerce Centers especially tend to have a good number of autotrackers in stock. They're also a good source of AI Cores, a useful thing if you go in with 30M. Just one will cost you about 10 million at the CommCen, but a mining base or ice planet will give you 14M for it. I won't go into the mathematics, but a few AIC runs will land you in a much higher tax bracket!

Couple of notes:

You'll have to go to Rlaan space to find Ktek beams. They're Rlaan milspec weapons, which means your best bets are their fighter bases, star fortresses, and Trantor planets.

Also, I think you've got your mining equipment backward. The mining base wants those, so you want to move them there from Atlantis! There's usually some at the fighter base and relay, too. Atmospheric scrubbers are one of the best products to move: relatively small, light, and net you about 10K. Material processors are bigger and heavier, but good for 20K. Most of the rest are barely worth the effort, though the waste processors give pretty good net.

Okay, now, that's weird. I thought Atlantis had mining equipment for sale! Maybe they scotched that in SVN... They do still have construction equipment, though! That's another good category. The only downside is, just about everything there is hea-VY!! You'll want to be careful coming in to dock at the mining base under that kind of load, but if you're patient, it's worth it!

Hey Parkel,

Just wanted to say thanks for posting this really useful guide to the Lancelot, it persuaded me to get one after I'd made the necessary money in my Plowshare, and its worked out a treat, I've been able to kill everything I've come across so far with ease

Lancelot... aka my current fav!!!

Here's MY loadout :

• PolyDuranium Armor
• Capacitor XV
• Cargo Expansion (2)
• ECM Package III
• Jump Drive
• Overdrive VI
• Economy Class Passenger Quarters
• Reactor X
• Repair Droid V
• FTL Capacitors III, IV (2), & V
• Hawkeye ZX-86
• Quad Shield XV
• Microwave Laser
• Heavy Ion Beam
• Disruptor Beams (2)
• All weaps autotracking, will soon be buying 4 dumbfires

FTL Capacitors III, IV (2), & V

Sell the lower valued ones as only the highest one works get back a some upgrade space.

Enjoy the Choice

I will, thx 4 the advice Loki!

if u are only taking this ship for bounty runs, i suggest u ditch ur cargo expansions and ur passenger quarters.
they take up space and mass.. making it harder to navigate with this heavy fighter.

loki1950 wrote:

FTL Capacitors III, IV (2), & V

Sell the lower valued ones as only the highest one works get back a some upgrade space.

What exactly DO the FTL caps do for you, anyway? I haven't been able to tell. Does your ship SPEC faster? Activate jump gates from a greater distance? What, exactly, do they DO???

They allow you to jump faster the activation time and distance get lower with increase in number.

Enjoy the Choice

so.. if you sell ur ftl capacitator...
would u still be able to jump? - im thinking that the energy used for the jump will be taken from ur main capacitator instead.

No FTL capacitor no jumping at all and each jump does effect your fuel as well the ftl drive is the primary drain on fuel.

Enjoy the Choice

My preferred weapons load for the lancelot is

4 Razors

or

2 Reapers
2 Razors ..

They cut through shields and armor like butter. Need to watch energy levels though. Those weapons will suck your capacitors dry.

I have a lot of fun with the Hephaestus Cannons as well . . they are better on the capacitors .. but the range of the former weapons is a definite plus.