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[Grizzlyadamz]

Which frigates can go toe-toe against combat-focused destroyers? (IE Sunders)

All mods welcome.

[Screamlord Scrub Seeker™]

any ship can take on a destroyer if your good enough, but otherwise, the hyperion, any phase frigate, or the centurion

[Grizzlyadamz]

Not just any destroyer- I mean the combat ones.
I've been spending most of my play-time in the simulator nowadays, and it seems like most of the sunder/hammerhead models just have too much range & damage for frigates & other, lighter destroyers to handle.

So very-high-end frigates make sense, as do phasers, but what's the trick to damper field combat? (centurion, brawler, etc)
I get that it's like a super-armor active vent, but even so that centurion's flux dissipation (175?!) gives me doubts.
What's the tactic that makes it feasible?

[Screamlord Scrub Seeker™]

Not just any destroyer- I mean the combat ones.
I've been spending most of my play-time in the simulator nowadays, and it seems like most of the sunder/hammerhead models just have too much range & damage for frigates & other, lighter destroyers to handle.

So very-high-end frigates make sense, as do phasers, but what's the trick to damper field combat? (centurion, brawler, etc)
I get that it's like a super-armor active vent, but even so that centurion's flux dissipation (175?!) gives me doubts.
What's the tactic that makes it feasible?

the dampener isnt just for venting, its basically a panic button to give you time to think in a bad situation, sunders/hammerheads have weaknesses that you have to learn... for example, the sunder has soft armor so if you can afford to trade with one its mostly worth it. and the hammerhead (kind of obviously) is only really effective against ships facing the business end, really the best answer for dealing with any destroyer is out maneuver them

[Grizzlyadamz]

I've found in a 1v1: that it's very difficult to get all the way behind one, that you need close to 300 passive speed to circle-strafe them, (and it's still dangerous), and that nothing seems to be able to trade with them.
What do you usually load the Centurion up with? 6 Dual LMGs + a couple bursty missiles & just bumrush the guy?

[Screamlord Scrub Seeker™]

I've found in a 1v1: that it's very difficult to get all the way behind one, that you need close to 300 passive speed to circle-strafe them, (and it's still dangerous), and that nothing seems to be able to trade with them.
What do you usually load the Centurion up with? 6 Dual LMGs + a couple bursty missiles & just bumrush the guy?

dual autocannons in front for kinetic damage, then 2 ion cannons on one side and 2 assault guns on the other, + a reaper in the missile slot

[Dri]

The overpowered "super-frigate" has become a type of cancer to Starsector at this point. Pretty sure there are several mod frigates (usually cheekily labeled "experimental" or similar) that can wreak even cruisers and capitals with ease. C'mon now...

[MesoTroniK]

The overpowered "super-frigate" has become a type of cancer to Starsector at this point. Pretty sure there are several mod frigates (usually cheekily labeled "experimental" or similar) that can wreak even cruisers and capitals with ease. C'mon now...

As far as wrecking ships far larger than itself out of all the "super frigates"... The vanilla Hyperion is the easiest to use and the most potent at that job.

[TaLaR]

Even humble Lasher can defeat all vanilla DEs 1 on 1 (at least in their vanilla variants), and is the fastest at that job too. 5 lmg + 2 annihilators, UI + max flux caps -> just approach and fire annihilators as soon as lmgs get enemy flux high enough (which is pair of seconds), AI will try to catch annihilators on shield and get an overload... At which point it's toast.

I'd say that the main reason for this is the fact that lmg is a hidden super-weapon - it provides a lot of of kinetic damage at almost no flux or OP cost. Though Lasher with it's 5 (effectively 7.5 while system is active) light ballistic slots is the only vanilla ship able to fully exploit it.

[Dri]

Oh for sure the Hyperion is ridiculous - I thought that was a given. When you have to give a frigate the same operating cost as a cruiser, you know something has gone afoul. That aside, I never said they weren't fun to mess around with, heh.

[borgrel]

the scarab can take out any destroyer

[VuNut]

How about a Brawler. Two of each medium ballistic and small missile mounts all pointed forward; HVD+Mauler with salamanders is effective and should make even top-tier destroyers think twice. The lack of PD and omni shield makes it vulnerable, but it's got the damper field system to mitigate that.

The 'super frigates' mentioned are... ah... not really all that good. They might have the firepower and/or utility to hit way above their weight class, but they have a very bad case of sudden death syndrome. A bigger ship of the same deployment cost is better simply because it's less likely to go splat when something looks at it funny.

E: Kite(A); railgun, two torpedo launchers (double atropos are ideal). Takes some skill but that'll rustle their jimmies right proper.

[SafariJohn]

I'd say that the main reason for this is the fact that lmg is a hidden super-weapon - it provides a lot of of kinetic damage at almost no flux or OP cost. Though Lasher with it's 5 (effectively 7.5 while system is active) light ballistic slots is the only vanilla ship able to fully exploit it.

AAF doubles rate of fire, so it's actually 10 LMGs worth of firepower!

[TaLaR]

AAF doubles rate of fire, so it's actually 10 LMGs worth of firepower!

Yep, you are right. For some reason I thought AAF gave 150%, not 200%.

[Grizzlyadamz]

dual autocannons in front for kinetic damage, then 2 ion cannons on one side and 2 assault guns on the other, + a reaper in the missile slot

Why do you have them split up?
Simply face with the ion side until they're overloaded/disabled?

Tried something similar with a Torch recently (mod-frig, 8 small hybrids split into 2 broadsides) and the AI immediately saw what my tactic was- simply shielded/unshielded depending on whether the kinetic or HE side was facing them. Didn't matter how quickly I switched.


Do you have to use the reaper?

they have a very bad case of sudden death syndrome

Heh, I hear that. Reason I'm looking is because I'm trying to keep my sensor profile small.

Even humble Lasher can defeat all vanilla DEs

How about a Brawler.

the scarab can take out any destroyer

How do these fair against agile harassers like the Tac-laser wolf?