Fractal Softworks Forum
Starsector => General Discussion => Topic started by: Thaago on September 27, 2012, 05:19:33 PM
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Name a weapon which is much more dangerous than you first thought!
Annihilator rockets pods! At first I wondered what the point was, then saw an Onslaught throwing 1600 DPS at me from 4 of these for no flux.
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All weapons are dangerous. PD weapons surprisingly so.
Ever tried to hug an Enforcer with 5 heavy mg's?
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Thinking back to when I first started playing, I have to say harpoon missiles. when I used one for the first time it hit the enemy shield for a rather small amount of damage, while the salamander missiles I had used before would not only avoid the enemy shields and hit them from behind, but also disable engines and guns. It was quite a while of playing before I realized that the harpoon could be deadly.
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That's funny, for me it was the other way round. At my first play"trough" I started out with harpoons, and by the time I tried Salamanders my enemies had too much pd to let them trough. So I thought them to be worthless until I started anew with a salamander packed lasher.
But the weapon that surprised me most was the AM-Blaster. I's pretty useless against 0-flux shields, certainly not worth the low range and long waiting time, so I didn't realize at first that it is awesome for overloading or armor smashing.
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The High-Intensity Laser. I always thought that it has a pretty low DPS compared to other weapons, but when I saw that thing mounted on a Sunder face a few of my frigates, it chewed right through them, shields, armor, hull and all. A little suprise there, no? ;D
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none of em really. played enough X ( and other stuff before that :P ) to know that you really should try things out ( or see them used in a fairly competent manner ) before passing any judgement.
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All weapons are dangerous. PD weapons surprisingly so.
Ever tried to hug an Enforcer with 5 heavy mg's?
With Burn Drive, I love flying one of these in a larger fleet engagement. It absolutely annihilates shields and hull and works great to "pincer" larger ships and put them in a really crappy situation.
Also great for ripping apart fighter swarms.
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With Burn Drive, I love flying one of these in a larger fleet engagement. It absolutely annihilates shields and hull and works great to "pincer" larger ships and put them in a really crappy situation.
Also great for ripping apart fighter swarms.
Indeed, and if you run out of ammo you can start ramming *** with burn drive.
Extra point if you have 4 reapers. Burn drive crash into something and fire away. Assured lulz.
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With Burn Drive, I love flying one of these in a larger fleet engagement. It absolutely annihilates shields and hull and works great to "pincer" larger ships and put them in a really crappy situation.
Also great for ripping apart fighter swarms.
Indeed, and if you run out of ammo you can start ramming *** with burn drive.
Extra point if you have 4 reapers. Burn drive crash into something and fire away. Assured lulz.
Good tip
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I think one of the more major of my blunders was almost completely ignoring High-Explosive weapons. Heavy mauler and Assault chaingun in particular. I always went for hypervelocity driver or Heavy Machine Gun (Just like Viking said: Don't underestimate these things!). For me, it was seeing weapons that I stunk with, as I knew the ai was extremely incompetent when it came to my playstyle. So I spent long hours in the simulator recently (coincidentally you posted this thread :) ) trying out new weapons and things.
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I still don't really like the Assault Chaingun, as it's not very good at dealing with armor due to its low per-shot damage and you need to spend a lot of time on target to kill anything.
Much rather have the Heavy Mauler.
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The Proximity Charge Launcher. That thing is the most devastating thing ever to fighters. Just go watch some of my vids.
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I was unimpressed with thumpers. Frag damage is terrible against both shields and armor so you have to wait till most things are nearly dead to use it well.
I was pleasantly surprised when i put an intergrated ai on an outdated enforcer. While not as good as flak at stopping most missiles it ruins the LRM barrages. Fighter wings didn't do so well either
For funsies i use a thumper on a hound to manually add a bit of pd to whatever good ship i scavenge early game(the computer is a better pilot anyway). As a bonus once the enemies armor is cracked open i can go to town.
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I still don't really like the Assault Chaingun, as it's not very good at dealing with armor due to its low per-shot damage and you need to spend a lot of time on target to kill anything.
Much rather have the Heavy Mauler.
Generally, yes, but I have found one situation where the assault chaingun is vastly superior. Namely, for an AI piloted ship, that's using light needlers for its kinetic damage. Install a mauler, and the AI will hang around at max mauler range and try to bring down enemy shields using just the mauler. The slightly shorter range of the assault chaingun is, in this case, a huge advantage - because it means the AI will actually use the needlers when appropriate.
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I still don't really like the Assault Chaingun, as it's not very good at dealing with armor due to its low per-shot damage and you need to spend a lot of time on target to kill anything.
Much rather have the Heavy Mauler.
I can't think of any weapon except the assault chaingun off the top of my head where it spreads out as it shoots (Ok, I can. Mark IX) I only put these weapons in hardpoints, as my style is more long range. This is a major disadvantage for my fleet. Then again, I'm not good at piloting capital ships, so I pretty much just sit on an enemy until someone overloads. The spread is moot there.
I still don't really like the Assault Chaingun, as it's not very good at dealing with armor due to its low per-shot damage and you need to spend a lot of time on target to kill anything.
Much rather have the Heavy Mauler.
Generally, yes, but I have found one situation where the assault chaingun is vastly superior. Namely, for an AI piloted ship, that's using light needlers for its kinetic damage. Install a mauler, and the AI will hang around at max mauler range and try to bring down enemy shields using just the mauler. The slightly shorter range of the assault chaingun is, in this case, a huge advantage - because it means the AI will actually use the needlers when appropriate.
Yeah, I can see this being good info to know. Sit there wasting all the mauler ammo, and I'm like,"SHOOT THE NEEDLER ALREADY!" haha.
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I absolutely adore the HephAG, people talk about decking out their Conquests with Hellbores, but I say give the HephAGs a chance! I find them extremely satisfying to use and absolutely devastating to hull and armour, and even shields though of course to a lesser degree. If you did use it with a Conquest then you could easily get some good efficient kinetic damage with a heavy needler anyway!
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As much as people use Hellbores/Hephaestus,
I much prefer Mjolnir cannons for the EMP damage.
I think it sets a precedent for any other large multipurpose weapons.
I use two a side in conjunction with a Phase Beam for some pretty good EMP damage.
However, I might use a Graviton Beam in order to get some actual anti-shield capability.
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As much as people use Hellbores/Hephaestus,
I much prefer Mjolnir cannons for the EMP damage.
I think it sets a precedent for any other large multipurpose weapons.
I use two a side in conjunction with a Phase Beam for some pretty good EMP damage.
However, I might use a Graviton Beam in order to get some actual anti-shield capability.
You must be the only one :)
And if you diddnt know, the Phase beam and the grav beam does the same dmg vs shields. As the Phase beam is 150 dps and the grav is 100 dps kinetic (50% vs shields).
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You must be the only one :)
And if you diddnt know, the Phase beam and the grav beam does the same dmg vs shields. As the Phase beam is 150 dps and the grav is 100 dps kinetic (50% vs shields).
Kinetic does 200% vs shields. So it is better against them than the Phase Beam.
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You must be the only one :)
And if you diddnt know, the Phase beam and the grav beam does the same dmg vs shields. As the Phase beam is 150 dps and the grav is 100 dps kinetic (50% vs shields).
Kinetic does 200% vs shields. So it is better against them than the Phase Beam.
Really? Wow ive been missing out.
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The tactical laser
oh my god if you spam those
it's just
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Lots of the single light machine guns are pretty potent at bringing down shields of just about anything.
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The High-Intensity Laser. ... A little suprise there, no? ;D
no >:(
Mount anything else and the ship will be even more effective. That weapon is anemic.
I'd say the cluster bomb launcher qualifies for inclusion.
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The High-Intensity Laser. ... A little suprise there, no? ;D
no >:(
Mount anything else and the ship will be even more effective. That weapon is anemic.
I'd say the cluster bomb launcher qualifies for inclusion.
I wouldn't call the HIL anemic, just a little specialized. The range is amazing, and it absolutely crushes frigates (and some destroyers). No good against big ships, but then that's beams for you.
Cluster bombs: totally sweet.
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Mine would be sabot missiles, especially against high tech ships
It does kinetic damage, no worries. On the armour it is!
Drops to 150 hull...
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it absolutely crushes frigates (and some destroyers).
The ability to blow up a frigate with a large energy weapon is not an interesting property. :D
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it absolutely crushes frigates (and some destroyers).
The ability to blow up a frigate with a large energy weapon is not an interesting property. :D
I don't think thats always true - you can reliably hit a frigate at 1200-1800 range with a HIL - you can't do that with anything else except the Tachyon Lance. Plasma and the Autopulse will both miss the vast majority of their shots against the nimble ones. I've used the HIL effectively in a support role - using it as a primary armament is a mistake though.
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The Proximity Charge Launcher. That thing is the most devastating thing ever to fighters.
I really had a hard time getting behind that weapon, but you're right. The problem is that it's extremely specialized. It's not exactly useful in the way that you might expect, but used properly, it can shred enemies.
Also, autopulse cannons. They're fun. Maybe not the best weapon ever, but I've never had nearly as much success putting other large energy weapons on my Paragon.
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AutoPulses are just accepted to be dangerous weapons.
1. Expanded magazines provide them with more capacity
2. Burst DPS of 1000 is huge.
3. It's more than 1000 DPS because it goes in an energy slot, it can go up to 1500 DPS.
4. which means it gets better than 1:1 flux to damage
5. When it's not in combat, its spooling up damage giving it a higher effective DPS than 200.
AutoPulse lasers are the first thing I go looking for once I get a large energy slot.
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AP's are good against cruisers and most low-tech ships but I find that most caps can just soak up the damage with shields.
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I would say the sabot SRM for me, I had no idea that they could overload a mule in just 2 hits :o, I'm now replacing all my harpoons with sabots.
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I really like sabots, but I wish they were unguided. As it stands they overadjust for target drift, making it extremely hard to hit frigates or even the faster destroyers.
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AP's are good against cruisers and most low-tech ships but I find that most caps can just soak up the damage with shields.
the only capital that can really shield-tank that is the paragon.
- the onslaught is so terrible with its flux that it can't really use it's shield that often
- the conquest should just have its shield removed, as its suicidal to block anything with that
- the odyssey is OK-ish, but it's pretty much forced into a defensive stance
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Yeah, I thought that the onslaught would be excluded automatically. I'l point out the obvious next time.
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Yeah, I thought that the onslaught would be excluded automatically. I'l point out the obvious next time.
??
The onslaughts venting isn't that bad. I mean it's not the paragon, but with hardened shields and good vents, it's pretty damn nice. As it stands they overadjust for target drift.
Alex has improved the sabot so much in this regard. Still not good, but still better!
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I've never had an onslaught with hardened shields. Is it any good?
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Hardened shields is generally pretty good for ships that get shot at a lot. 8)
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Plasma cannons. I ended up having to use a plasma instead of a third auto-pulse on my odyssey due to simply not having one, and even with a single cannon the accuracy and armor piercing damage of it is incredibly useful.
You do trade off a lot for it though, raw efficiency and more vents specifically.
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Annihilators! They're cheap, they're common, they show up in "Outdated" ship variants, and the AI doesn't use them very effectively, all of which together makes me forget how murderous they can be. Flying an Enforcer with a bunch of Annihilators and light needlers is like playing Starfarer in fast forward. Engage burn drive! Pew pew pew CRASH. Rockets away! Boom boom boom KABOOM. Takes like five seconds to bring an enemy destroyer from zero flux to zero hull.
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Interestingly, the danger of a weapon is subject to how much flux is available for it to maintain a viable period of uptime. Therefore, it depends on the ship and the mods installed. Tactical lasers in numbers, along with graviton beams have negligible upkeep and awesome range. If you combine these with decent sized kinetic missile volleys on one weapon channel with one or more reaper missiles on another, you can basically, with a well timed volley of missiles, overload a ship's flux and then finish them off with a reaper while they are shorted out. I have taken down cruisers with a single destroyer using this tactic. Sadly, the AI hasn't caught on to this tactic, however it would definitely be something for the devs to look at if they hope to implement difficultly levels that go beyond half or full damage taken, i.e. AI based difficulty. Of course the game is still in alpha, so anything is possible.
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Hmmm, I don't think I really looked at the weapons when I first started, but I have to say that until recently, I thought the antimatter blaster was useless. When I start messing around with the hyperion...oh god 0_o
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Light Morters and Light Machine Guns are very effective. Short, but very cheap, efficent, and easy to spam.
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+1 to Annihilators. Zero flux, massive explosive damage and constant pressure, from either a small or a medium slot and 4 OP on the small launcher. Works best if you have three or more front-facing/linked missile slots, (Dominator, Onslaught, Enforcer, some of the small Phase ships).
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AP's are good against cruisers and most low-tech ships but I find that most caps can just soak up the damage with shields.
the only capital that can really shield-tank that is the paragon.
- the onslaught is so terrible with its flux that it can't really use it's shield that often
- the conquest should just have its shield removed, as its suicidal to block anything with that
- the odyssey is OK-ish, but it's pretty much forced into a defensive stance
If I use a conquest I must have a shield. It's soaks damage long enough for me to deploy reapers point blank.
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Yeah, the point blank reaper barrage is a game ender. Combined with maneuvering jets it's almost impossible to stop.
Give your conquest all capacitors (instead of vents), hardened shields, and stabilized shields. You'll find that the shield can now tank most anything (from one direction haha). When you use the Conquest against an Onslaught or Paragon, you'll usually have to back off once or twice to vent, but neither of those ships have the speed or maneuverability to catch you (dodge to the side of an Onslaught where they have no weapons, and it usually won't be able to turn fast enough to shoot you lol).
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Antimatter Blasters. So much murderous damage it should be named Light Plasma Cannon.