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[StarScum]

I've noticed that the AI isn't the smartest when using missiles or strike craft. Missile ships will fire slow, valuable torpedoes far out where they can be sniped, and carriers will send out bombers against shielded targets. Seeing as that's the case, is it smart to give AI ships only "spammable" missiles and fighters like Annihilator Rockets and Talon interceptors?

[Thaago]

Nope, they do well with all of them. They just aren't perfect. Part of the job of outfitting carriers correctly is picking fighter combos that work well together to help strikes hit home. Broadsword + Bomber is the classic combo, with the broadsword helping both with shields and with distracting PD with its flares.

Missile ships in general are conservative, with a few exceptions in ships with the ALWAYS_PANIC tag, that will fire all the time. Overload near enemies with missiles, and they will pump you full of them. Atropos and Harpoons are deadly good in AI hands, as long as something can create the opportunity for them.

[Schwartz]

I put Annihilators on most of my ships, including the flagship. Not because the AI is so much better with them, but because they are more forgiving and have a great damage / OP ratio on par with or exceeding Reapers.

Hammers, Atropos, Reapers, Sabots and Harpoons all work well. Sabots are better with missile skill for the speed buff or they fizz out too much. If you're not willing to gamble a single Reaper on a lucky shot, going with Annihilators may be a good idea. Salamanders, Squalls or small swarmers, I wouldn't use.

[StarScum]

I'm interested in the idea of a Gryphon supporting my carriers by saturating the enemy with so many missiles it overwhelms their PD. To that end I'd load it up with a Locus SRM and Annihilator Rocket Pods and racks. Is that a good strategy?

[Thaago]

Locusts do that job extremely well and will make you very happy, but Annihilator Pods don't work well on the Gryphon as they are direct fire (no homing, cannot fire over allies). I believe the pods are also mounted on the side, so the ship would need to turn sideways - front small annihilators could work, ok. Locust + Harpoon Pods + front annihilators would probably work pretty well, though don't expect the annihilators to do too much more than pressure PD and make a rushing enemy back off (which is itself plenty valuable).

I don't have the game up now (and the wiki needs updating, hmmm), but I think the Gryphon got extended racks for free? Its worth it to put ECCM on the ship as well to improve missile performance, even if you need to give up some flux stats for it.

[Schwartz]

I would go with Thaago's loadout for small Annihilators in front, Locust SRM and possibly Sabots in the side mounts. With an officer who's missile skilled as well as ECCM hullmod these end up profiting from the buff the most, and then you have a ship that can do kinetic, HE and frag damage.

[Megas]

but I think the Gryphon got extended racks for free?

Yes, it does.  Still does not much OP despite the freebie, and still fragile.

[StarScum]

I think I'll go with your build but use Harpoons in the small missile slot instead of Annihilators. I plan for my frontline destroyers to already use Annihilators so they'll be a lot of those in addition to the Locus launcher working to spam things, plus all the fighter craft.

[Goumindong]

I'm interested in the idea of a Gryphon supporting my carriers by saturating the enemy with so many missiles it overwhelms their PD. To that end I'd load it up with a Locus SRM and Annihilator Rocket Pods and racks. Is that a good strategy?

No. The best Gryphon for the AI tends to be focused on killing ships that are overloaded or close to max shields. If an enemy gets close to you you want enough to flux dump it but you don't want a lot of pressure because the flux stats of the ship are so bad and you will almost certainly lose that trade. You can build an SO missile dump murder machine but this isn't really a fighter support ship and is definitely more of a player vessel... and it isn't that good because the Gryphon does not have the flux or OP to make it work well.

Generally my fits for this purpose are:

1x ECCM = 100% necessary for missiles to be really good) 1x Expanded Missile Racks(you get this free now so that is a huge bonus)

2x Harpoon Pods (this is the core of your ship killing fit; when an enemy gets close to dying your gryphon will dump 8 harpoons onto them, you've got 96 harpoons so this isn't a huge deal and also will likely kill what you're shooting at)

3x Atropos Torpedo (these are the best AI torpedo and a decent standoff/finisher) OR 3x Swarmer(more swarmers are never bad) or 3x Sabots (Primo standoff weapon. Your Gryphon doesn't want to be near things and this will let him dump to prevent that from happening) or 3x Salamanders (missile spam forever)

NOTE: You do NOT want Harpoons in these slots since the Gryphon will over dump when a ship gets close to overloaded. This will waste the harpoons by dumping 12 to 22 of them on the first ship that gets close to overloading. The vast majority of the time all of your front 4 slot harpoons will be wasted.

1x Locust SRM (This is really really good anti-fighter/anti-small ship and decent against everything else) OR 1 x Hurricane MIRV(this is only really good if you have a missile spec'd pilot in the ship worth noting that the AI is not good at using this as a finisher and will spam them... which is fine if you have a missile spec'd pilot especially because without spamming them you will not run out like... ever, MIRVs have a refire delay of 15 seconds and so the 40 total MIRVs that the Gryphon can carry, if fired right in a row, are worth 9.75 minutes of firing time) OR 1 x Hammer Barrage (Cyclone Reapers are OK but Hammers tend to be more effective for a variety of reasons, mainly that you can dump them a LOT faster).

1x Heavy Needler + ITU plus as many LMG as you can fit while maintaining cap to fire your guns and raise your shields. Alternate answer if you think you're never close enough to need the medium ballistic is dual/single flack, LMG's or Vulcans, and ATG

[intrinsic_parity]

If you're not running kinetic weapons, you should definitely have sabots. Imo, sabot + reaper is the best combo for a player ship, but for the AI, less 'all or nothing' missiles like harpoons combined with kinetics are probably going to be much consistent.

[Goumindong]

Kinetic weapons are less important on this type of ship because it should not be trading directly with enemies. Its designed to be behind the front line so that when an enemy overloads its there with a missile barrage to kill it. So the OP has a bunch of fighters and the fighters are able to put decent kinetic pressure down and then the gryphon volleys them once they get low.

If you fit 100% zero weapons but missiles the ship could very potentially perform better since the AI would have a real hard dislike of getting into gun range

[Thaago]

Huh, I used to put an HVD on the ballistic to try and keep its range up, maybe I should try it sometime without any... makes me nervous though. I do run mine as behind the lines ships, with a steady officer instead of my usual aggressive/reckless.

[Goumindong]

Not sure if it works as i did the same thing really. I just now read about the behavior of drovers in that thread and one of the things was that without guns they behaved like civilians and always bailed far away from enemy engagement.

While drovers should be fixed to do that all the time now i bet it still triggers on normal “combat ships” like the gryphon

And the gryphon really needs it because its got 5k base cap at .8 and 200 dissipation. Which is worse than the shrike in every way except shield upkeep where the gryphon has 100 vs the shrikes 105...

[Schwartz]

Downside to keeping the Gryphon out of anyone's gun range is that its flux pool and it shield capability is wasted. I think as long as the Gryphon doesn't get destroyed, there is no reason not to put HVD and a couple of Vulcans on it.

Add to that that Locusts and Sabots and most missiles perform better when they have some range to spare for target switching and moving targets.

[Goumindong]

The upside of keeping the Gryphon out of anyone's weapon range is that its flux pool and shield capability are wasted!

It has medium to low end destroyer flux and shield stats with top end destroyer armor while having decidedly cruiser speed and shield size on top of almost no spare OP for flux dissipation and a massive shield profile. I literally cannot fit a Gryphon that has guns fit and more flux dissipation than an unfit eagle.

Its modified flux dissipation (I.E. base dissipation minus shield) is 100. That is worse than an enforcer. Its maximum modified flux dissipation is 400. That is almost what a Hammerhead is at(350)! The Falcon is floating at 510 with 40% more flux capacity, 15 more speed and a mobility active...

The upside of keeping the Gryphon out of anyone's weapon range is that you get to keep the Gryphon for the next combat without dumping a bunch of supplies into it.