Everyone who plays this game has a opinion and a favored style of play and reading through some posts i,ve seen a lot of posts for advice on cap ship killing or hunting so i thought i'd set up this post for peeps to throw their opinions and fav set ups on for disscustion.
I favor a maxed up goddard with cloaking device and the best reactor armor and hull mods i can find my weapons are all auto tracking and beam with the exception of my anti matter and penatrator whilst i favor adv torps (or the rare cap killer) twined with aera photon swarms.
Tactically i like to unleased several swarms of torps from a distance with the occational emp torp beforew cloaking and piling the power on.When the distance is closed i uncloak and strafe with all weapons for 3-8 seconds at full power before cloaking and coming around for another attack.I find rolling helps to throw of the enemy targeting and somtimes saves my shiney metal hull from getting atomised.
I find this works on most caps but the aera versions are a pain.
Get back and let me know what you think!!!
ta
Tactics!!!!
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agentg
- Trader
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Tactics!!!!
"Oh no mr flibble we couldn't do that.....Who'd clean up the mess?"
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IxianMace
- Mercenary
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I mainly choose weapons that give me a good mix of range and firepower.
Long range weapons I go searching for:
Razor guns, Disrupter guns, Aera military spec penetrator guns
These weapons tend to work well at short range as well, although for some reason, I'm finding that the longer I play, the more vicious the enemy gets in terms of strength and weaponry (up to the point where I see Luddite redeemer crap packing heavy ion beams, disrupter beams, and even what look like disrupter turrets...)
If I'm out to assasinate or eliminate a specific ship, or just out to kill small craft, I'll try get my hands on an Aelar.blank.
After upgrading all the mounts with autotracking, packing weapons on them, then enhancing the ship as much as possible in terms of reactor, shielding, capacitors AND a cloaking device (choose carefullly, as cargo space is limited for upgrades), I'll start ambushing enemies in the following fashion:
Cloak.
Select your victim and in-system warp to it. Match its speed and close in on it, until you're confident it's in good weapons range. (I like to get some distance and fire directly behind my enemy). Then set your thrust to idle, and aim at your target.
Decloak.
Unload all your guns and any secondaries you've purchased at this single target. That could be a mixture of swarm, photon-swarm, hail, killerbee ammo, etc etc, depending on what you fancy.
Smile with satisfaction as your target splits apart under the barrage.
Alternatively, you could unload a single torpedo at the enemy spacecraft, then cloak immediately after you fire the weapon. If the target isn't destroyed from the first hit, try unloading another one. As for EMP torpedoes, I've found them to be ineffective. A direct hit from an EMP torpedo completely removed a portion of a Redeemer's shielding, and I thought it was disabled. When I uncloaked and fired on it, it turned right around and blasted me with its lasers.
Using normal torpedoes and firing them from directly behind the enemy while matching speeds with the enemy craft, I've taken out entire flights of Redeemer ships with one hit (all the craft were close together). Torpedoes get a little expensive after repeated use though, so I try to use them sparingly. If I can trash something with my cannons, I won't use my torpedoes..
The closest ship to a capital ship that I've managed to destroy is a pirate corvette. I cloaked, moved into position on its rear, uncloaked, and unloaded an EMP torpedo, and a torpedo into its engines at point blank range. That took it from full health and full shielding to space dust in one second. Strangely, when I looked at my faction ratings, the kill didn't seem to be registered, even though I knew I was the one who took it out.
Tactics without the use of autotracking and/or cloaking devices:
Firstly, if my enemy has autotracking and I don't, I'm going to run my butt off.
If I have a cloaking device, I can always try to ambush a superior enemy and attempt a quick kill, trying to dish out as much damage as possible in the shortest amount of time, but generally I won't engage an enemy if I think there's a fair chance I'll get blown up.
If neither myself nor the enemy has autotracking abilities, I'll match speed with my target, fire a few bursts at it, then fly to the side and up/down for a few seconds at full thrust. Then I'll 'slide' and fire at the enemy while doing so (hold down the tilde key on the keyboard), before aiming to the side and up/down from where the enemy is again, slide and fire again, etc etc.
In a nutshell:
Against small craft:
- Gun/torpedo ambush with cloaking device
- Slide in a turning fight while bobbing up and down to throw off the enemy aim.
Against capital ships:
- Cloaked torpedo ambush in the engines at point blank range. In an Aevant, I can unload two torpedoes simultaneously. Haven't yet tried to tackle an Aera ship, probably because I'm trying to get on the Aera's good side, so my attacks have mainly been limited to attacking pirates and Luddites.
Long range weapons I go searching for:
Razor guns, Disrupter guns, Aera military spec penetrator guns
These weapons tend to work well at short range as well, although for some reason, I'm finding that the longer I play, the more vicious the enemy gets in terms of strength and weaponry (up to the point where I see Luddite redeemer crap packing heavy ion beams, disrupter beams, and even what look like disrupter turrets...)
If I'm out to assasinate or eliminate a specific ship, or just out to kill small craft, I'll try get my hands on an Aelar.blank.
After upgrading all the mounts with autotracking, packing weapons on them, then enhancing the ship as much as possible in terms of reactor, shielding, capacitors AND a cloaking device (choose carefullly, as cargo space is limited for upgrades), I'll start ambushing enemies in the following fashion:
Cloak.
Select your victim and in-system warp to it. Match its speed and close in on it, until you're confident it's in good weapons range. (I like to get some distance and fire directly behind my enemy). Then set your thrust to idle, and aim at your target.
Decloak.
Unload all your guns and any secondaries you've purchased at this single target. That could be a mixture of swarm, photon-swarm, hail, killerbee ammo, etc etc, depending on what you fancy.
Smile with satisfaction as your target splits apart under the barrage.
Alternatively, you could unload a single torpedo at the enemy spacecraft, then cloak immediately after you fire the weapon. If the target isn't destroyed from the first hit, try unloading another one. As for EMP torpedoes, I've found them to be ineffective. A direct hit from an EMP torpedo completely removed a portion of a Redeemer's shielding, and I thought it was disabled. When I uncloaked and fired on it, it turned right around and blasted me with its lasers.
Using normal torpedoes and firing them from directly behind the enemy while matching speeds with the enemy craft, I've taken out entire flights of Redeemer ships with one hit (all the craft were close together). Torpedoes get a little expensive after repeated use though, so I try to use them sparingly. If I can trash something with my cannons, I won't use my torpedoes..
The closest ship to a capital ship that I've managed to destroy is a pirate corvette. I cloaked, moved into position on its rear, uncloaked, and unloaded an EMP torpedo, and a torpedo into its engines at point blank range. That took it from full health and full shielding to space dust in one second.
Strangely, when I looked at my faction ratings, the kill didn't seem to be registered, even though I knew I was the one who took it out.Tactics without the use of autotracking and/or cloaking devices:
Firstly, if my enemy has autotracking and I don't, I'm going to run my butt off.
If I have a cloaking device, I can always try to ambush a superior enemy and attempt a quick kill, trying to dish out as much damage as possible in the shortest amount of time, but generally I won't engage an enemy if I think there's a fair chance I'll get blown up.If neither myself nor the enemy has autotracking abilities, I'll match speed with my target, fire a few bursts at it, then fly to the side and up/down for a few seconds at full thrust. Then I'll 'slide' and fire at the enemy while doing so (hold down the tilde key on the keyboard), before aiming to the side and up/down from where the enemy is again, slide and fire again, etc etc.
In a nutshell:
Against small craft:
- Gun/torpedo ambush with cloaking device
- Slide in a turning fight while bobbing up and down to throw off the enemy aim.
Against capital ships:
- Cloaked torpedo ambush in the engines at point blank range. In an Aevant, I can unload two torpedoes simultaneously. Haven't yet tried to tackle an Aera ship, probably because I'm trying to get on the Aera's good side, so my attacks have mainly been limited to attacking pirates and Luddites.
Last edited by IxianMace on Mon Aug 30, 2004 3:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
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DrTiger
- Explorer
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To earn some money (usually 3 to 16 million) I use a dostoevsky blank equipped with two heavy tractor beams and a cloak device.
The price for rescue missions is calculated by the amount of firepower that is thrown against you, and if this means 10 goddards, well, the price is high. However, even without the cloaking device they never got me
As I can't equip my ox with a more than two lasers and a tractor beam (no idea why...), I use it as a vacuum cleaner to suck in a few milspec or merchant vehicles and sell them in the nearer surroundings. That's also some money! If I want to sell the ships at a station (I didn't yet figure how to dock without killing myself or station...) I fly in with my dostoevsky and buy back my ox... then I can sell my ships there.
I couldn't yet figure out how to use any other missiles but the friend or foe ammo efficiently. I can't stand a chance against goddard or even mules (without sucking the mule perhaps) so I have to fight all the small fast ships, which I prefer doing hit and run with my cloakable aevant.
The price for rescue missions is calculated by the amount of firepower that is thrown against you, and if this means 10 goddards, well, the price is high. However, even without the cloaking device they never got me
As I can't equip my ox with a more than two lasers and a tractor beam (no idea why...), I use it as a vacuum cleaner to suck in a few milspec or merchant vehicles and sell them in the nearer surroundings. That's also some money! If I want to sell the ships at a station (I didn't yet figure how to dock without killing myself or station...) I fly in with my dostoevsky and buy back my ox... then I can sell my ships there.
I couldn't yet figure out how to use any other missiles but the friend or foe ammo efficiently. I can't stand a chance against goddard or even mules (without sucking the mule perhaps) so I have to fight all the small fast ships, which I prefer doing hit and run with my cloakable aevant.
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IxianMace
- Mercenary
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What kind of weapons do you have on your Aevant, DrTiger?
Currently, my Aevant has 4 disrupter beams, and a Heavy Ion beam (used to have a Ktek beam on the HEAVY weapon mount).
The two heavy missile mounts are packed full of torpedoes, and the two light missile mounts are full of heatseeker missiles.
After racking up over 100 million credits, I decided to start again, as the enemy started to get too easy to kill. ^_^
Currently, my Aevant has 4 disrupter beams, and a Heavy Ion beam (used to have a Ktek beam on the HEAVY weapon mount).
The two heavy missile mounts are packed full of torpedoes, and the two light missile mounts are full of heatseeker missiles.
After racking up over 100 million credits, I decided to start again, as the enemy started to get too easy to kill. ^_^
Last edited by IxianMace on Sat Aug 28, 2004 6:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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DrTiger
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DrTiger
- Explorer
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IxianMace
- Mercenary
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The thing is, I used to have a Penetrator gun on the heavy weapon mount, and four Razor guns on the medium weapon mounts, since I liked their damage and range figures. Even with the best reactor I could fit on my Aevant, I couldn't fire all four Razor guns and Penetrator gun simultaneously without resulting in a net loss of red 'blaster power' (which would eventually lead to my guns firing erratically).
At short range, they seemed incredibly weak firing all at the same time on a single target, so I mainly use autotracking beam weapons now.
At short range, they seemed incredibly weak firing all at the same time on a single target, so I mainly use autotracking beam weapons now.
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Guest
I have an Areus with 4 ionbeams, 1 neutronbolt, 1 dumbfire, 1 heatseaker and 2 friendorfoes all autotracking. Never had any luck with the missile weapons because they always get shot down before reaching the target. I'd like to try more projectiles, but they don't have very high damage ratings. Do they still do much damage?
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IxianMace
- Mercenary
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Try torpedoes (not EMP torpedoes though), if you're in the Areus. The only large craft that I've been able to successfully use torpedoes against are Corvettes and Mules however, since the point defence lasers on other large ships take down the torpedo before it can hit, even when fired at close range.
If you like mini-missiles, then go for the Ariston. With every single weapon mount autotracking, I've loaded up one of these armed to the teeth with hail ammunition to compliment the Aera military spec Penetrator guns I attach to the standard medium beam/gun mounts.
With all the special missile mounts pouring hail ammunition into one target combined with the power of the Penetrator guns, I've brought down a Mule even faster than I could do it in a standard military spec Goddard, without using any weapons like Friend or Foes and torpedoes. The long range of hail shots and Penetrator gun shots means that you can simply sit outside of the Mule's beam turrets and keep on punishing it, while it flails around helpless.
Anything less than a Mule becomes space dust within seconds, provided all the shots keep hitting. I doubt any other ship with any other combination of weapons could do more cumulative damage in such a short amount of time compared to this. The disadvantages of the Ariston are the fact that it has very limited cargo capacity for hauling cargo and storing ship enhancements, along with its lack of a heavy missile mount, meaning it can't use torpedoes. The delicate hull of this ship is also something to be careful of, make sure nothing gets through your shields or you'll be toast before long.
To conclude, I would say that even though the Ariston can dish out serious damage against similar craft, all it will do is make a capital ship mad. Torpedoes are the only weapons that seem to do enough damage to even make a capital ship flinch, if you can get one of them to hit.
If you like mini-missiles, then go for the Ariston. With every single weapon mount autotracking, I've loaded up one of these armed to the teeth with hail ammunition to compliment the Aera military spec Penetrator guns I attach to the standard medium beam/gun mounts.
With all the special missile mounts pouring hail ammunition into one target combined with the power of the Penetrator guns, I've brought down a Mule even faster than I could do it in a standard military spec Goddard, without using any weapons like Friend or Foes and torpedoes. The long range of hail shots and Penetrator gun shots means that you can simply sit outside of the Mule's beam turrets and keep on punishing it, while it flails around helpless.
Anything less than a Mule becomes space dust within seconds, provided all the shots keep hitting. I doubt any other ship with any other combination of weapons could do more cumulative damage in such a short amount of time compared to this. The disadvantages of the Ariston are the fact that it has very limited cargo capacity for hauling cargo and storing ship enhancements, along with its lack of a heavy missile mount, meaning it can't use torpedoes. The delicate hull of this ship is also something to be careful of, make sure nothing gets through your shields or you'll be toast before long.To conclude, I would say that even though the Ariston can dish out serious damage against similar craft, all it will do is make a capital ship mad. Torpedoes are the only weapons that seem to do enough damage to even make a capital ship flinch, if you can get one of them to hit.
Last edited by IxianMace on Sun Sep 26, 2004 10:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Guest
I will try to find some penetrator guns for my areus. I just found a confed military spec reaper cannon to replace my neutron gun. It was damaged when I bought it, but my repair droid must have fixed it, cause it works and kicks ace. I don't think I can use hail ammo, but maybe I'll pick up some torps and see if I can take out a vette.
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coppercore
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dandandaman
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gazzy
- Hunter
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(sorry for late posting) just let that tractored ships do the work for you!DrTiger wrote: As I can't equip my ox with a more than two lasers and a tractor beam (no idea why...), I use it as a vacuum cleaner to suck in a few milspec or merchant vehicles and sell them in the nearer surroundings. That's also some money! If I want to sell the ships at a station (I didn't yet figure how to dock without killing myself or station...) I fly in with my dostoevsky and buy back my ox... then I can sell my ships there.
in flight, go to cargo list and eject a nice big fleet, then tell your new friends to attack some strong fighters/capitals, worked for me, wiped systems full of area ('bout 100, 200) all clean
