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General Discussion / Re: AI Friendly Ships and what loadouts to give them.
« on: March 17, 2012, 01:03:53 AM »
I've had the most luck with the heaviest low-tech ship in each class other than frigate, as far as AI handling is concerned.
Not sure why another poster said Enforcers suck with AI, because I've seen exactly the opposite.
Any ship with lower speed, high armor, and ballistic weapons + missiles seems to be very easy for the AI to do well with.
The low speed tends to keep them from barging alone into trouble, the higher the armor the better their margin of error when shields overload or when getting flanked/overwhelmed, ballistics give flak/dual flak which are very often even better defensive tools than shields and unarguably the best overall PD, not to mention combining kinetic and explosive weapons makes it a simple matter to balance your AI friends' ships for both overwhelming shields and chewing through armor quickly.
Missiles are icing on the cake, and can really add up if devoted to long range support if every one of your friends has some LRMs to cover the battlefield in.
Midline or higher tech ships are rubbish for AI, especially if their shields aren't omni. This is the reason AI hyperions are a joke, while player-controlled hyperions can survive forever. The AI doesn't even begin to understand how to properly use shields, or when to back off from a fight, much less when NOT to back off and instead keep the pressure on.
I find that even omni shielded AI ships have major problems surviving, but hullmodding for extended shields, faster shields, and stronger shields can help a lot, since the AI is terrible at knowing when to keep shields up and when to drop them.
Another general tip is that it can be very useful to put maneuverability and turret speed mods on AI ships, especially if they use ballistics, so they don't waste tons of ammo uselessly firing at moving targets without properly leading them. Needless to say, this is also a cause for considering +ammo mods as well. All optional, but definitely helpful.
Not sure why another poster said Enforcers suck with AI, because I've seen exactly the opposite.
Any ship with lower speed, high armor, and ballistic weapons + missiles seems to be very easy for the AI to do well with.
The low speed tends to keep them from barging alone into trouble, the higher the armor the better their margin of error when shields overload or when getting flanked/overwhelmed, ballistics give flak/dual flak which are very often even better defensive tools than shields and unarguably the best overall PD, not to mention combining kinetic and explosive weapons makes it a simple matter to balance your AI friends' ships for both overwhelming shields and chewing through armor quickly.
Missiles are icing on the cake, and can really add up if devoted to long range support if every one of your friends has some LRMs to cover the battlefield in.
Midline or higher tech ships are rubbish for AI, especially if their shields aren't omni. This is the reason AI hyperions are a joke, while player-controlled hyperions can survive forever. The AI doesn't even begin to understand how to properly use shields, or when to back off from a fight, much less when NOT to back off and instead keep the pressure on.
I find that even omni shielded AI ships have major problems surviving, but hullmodding for extended shields, faster shields, and stronger shields can help a lot, since the AI is terrible at knowing when to keep shields up and when to drop them.
Another general tip is that it can be very useful to put maneuverability and turret speed mods on AI ships, especially if they use ballistics, so they don't waste tons of ammo uselessly firing at moving targets without properly leading them. Needless to say, this is also a cause for considering +ammo mods as well. All optional, but definitely helpful.