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[KCR]

Hello everyone, have been playing this beatiful game a lot since i've discovered it about a month ago. But still i can not understand how to create good fleet compos, and, most importantly, how to make good ships fits. 50% of a time i pick all types of ships in various fits, and then just get destroyed from 2-3 strong expeditionary fleets/1-2 remnant ordos. Other 50% i just go 4-5 caps + 12-16 cruisers, all fitted to attack with ingame prepared refits. This composition lives a bit more, but still get destroyed from 2-3 simultaneously attacking remnant ordos. And that's on easy difficulty. I'm just scared to see what is going on in normal. Same goes to ship refiting. I've tried to make some designs, that suits me, but they was not super efficient. Most of the time i just put all guns that i can and then go to simulation to see if i can win this eagle/conquest. But later this ship comes in to a real fight, and there it just can't do anything, besides making 1-2 shots and catching some enemy fire, then go venting and die in that process. So, most of ships in my fleet are just fitted with ingame made refits. And that's dissapoints me a bit. Because i read forum from time to time, and see some crazy fleet compos and refits that people make. Then i just go, copy them, and all of the time it's just great and outstanding fleets. And then i'm trying to create something myself, and i just can't. I don't understand how to properly fit ship with guns and mods, what hullmod is best for what ship, how to combine it all and prepare some fleets and etc. So, guys, maybe someone knows, on what should i prioritize my attention, or knows some guides/advices, which will help me to understand what is needed in which cases. Or is it just that type of things, that comes to you with an experience? Anyway, i'll be really glad if someone would tell me something useful. Because it's a great game and i really enjoy spending my time in it. Thanks in advance!

[bobucles]

Have you started investing in officers? It's good to start building up officers at some time around your first cruisers or maybe even sooner. Their AI routines are usually sharper and the talents provide a gigantic boost in general. Everyone will have their own preferences on officers, but you can't go wrong with steady or aggressive attitudes and keep an eye out for the survival perks.

[Thaago]

Hi, welcome to the forum!

Tips on building gunships:

1) Have about 2/3 of your firepower be good against shields - either kinetic or higher efficiency energy, and 1/3 be good against armor - HE damage or high per shot energy. For fighting remnants, increase this ratio even more. For fighting heavily armored ships, a little less.

2) Watch your flux budget! You want the flux taken by your main weapons (not PD) to be a little bit higher than your dissipation, and in most cases your dissipation wants to be maxed. If your weapons are more than about 1.5 times your dissipation, the AI will have significant trouble managing the guns, and its probably better to start taking off weapons in favor of something else (or swap to more efficient weapons). If your main guns are using less than your dissipation, you are wasting OP - either install more guns or lower your vents if you can't (but that doesn't happen often).

3) Don't neglect capacity. Its not as important to max capacity as it is vents, but most ships perform better with their capacity boosted. This is especially true on ships with low base capacity (Enforcer, Hammerhead), but not as needed on ships with naturally high capacity.

4) Go easy on hullmods for most ships: unless they fill a specific need, most are a waste of OP. The only essential hullmod is Integrated Targeting Unit if you have it, dedicated targeting core if you don't on cruisers and capitals (unless you are building safety overrides ships, though I have one bizarre but effective Dominator that uses both). Hardened Shields is a top tier hullmod, especially for the AI, though for some low capacity ships simply putting the points into capacitance is better. Integrated Point Defense AI can quite useful when fighting fighter heavy fleets, like tri-tachyon bounties. Early game Unstable Injector on destroyers is very useful to help them fight frigates, but is less useful once you need the range.

Tips for building efficient fleets:

1) Have something to deal with fast enemies. Frigates work early game but suffer from low PPT and being popped by fighters. Interceptors of your own are my preferred solution.

2) Have something to kill quickly. This can be bombers, finisher missiles, or just a very heavy gun load (like an SO destroyer vs other destroyers).

3) Have something to occupy the enemy's time and not die (and provide a flanking partner). Early game a fast frigate like a Unstable Injector Wolf can draw a disproportionate amount of enemies away from your killing ships. Mid/later game line cruisers like Falcons and Eagles stop enemies from getting to your carriers. The ships need to be built such that the enemy can't ignore them, but that they can survive when outmassed/outgunned. For the Wolf this is its speed + torpedoes or decent main gun (or an ion beam, but thats not the best choice on a wolf). On Falcons/Eagles, a couple kinetics + an Ion Beam will drive up flux and disable, while their shields and maneuvering thrusters can keep them safe when attacked by superior forces.

[Cyber Von Cyberus]

Also another piece of advice, setting some of your more flux hungry weapons such as dual plasma canons to alternate instead of being linked can allow the ship to dissipate just enough flux in between shots to significantly increase the time you can keep firing without overloading.

[Nimaniel]

Adding to Thaago's excellent advice:

Efficient point defenses. There tend to be a lot of missiles and fighters flying around in large engagements. Not all your ships have the ability to provide good PD, so the ships that can, must cover the ships that cannot. Avoid PD weapons that build flux without actually hitting what they are aiming for.

[TaLaR]

Standard loadouts are all symmetric. Do not commit same mistake. Symmetry may look nice, but is absolutely inefficient slot use.
For example, on a non-SO Hammerhead you usually want medium ballistics to be a pair of different HE + Kinetic guns.

[Plantissue]

Most standard preloaded standard variants fits are good enough. Experiment with your ships. Fight in sim and in battles and observe to see how a newly fitted ship may behave. Sometimes it isn't so obvious to how a ship or weapon behave until you see it in action. Often it is better to reduce or nullify a weakness than to improve a strength. I have no idea what you are talking about with your crazy fleet compos and refits people make, but if they work well, they aren't crazy are they? My guess is that you are trying to replicate something you see as "crazy" even though its rooted in what I would see as normal principles. Post you fleet/ships so we can see what you are doing perhaps with infor with what youa re trying to aim for.

But as others has written, an effective ship build can be simple. A simple heurestic for warship would be place standard weapons (every weapon type and size has "normal" weapons like Pulse laser for medium energy) and then have enough PD weapons to have coverage over the entire ship. Vulcan cannons for small ballistic and LR PD for small energy turrets. Usually the front and the rear are the most important spots to cover with PD weapons. Some ships like most frigates can get away with two small mounts which can cover the entire ship. Then get Dedicated Targeting Core if cruiser or capital or Integrated Targeting Unit if you have it. Split the rest of the spare OP between Flux Capacitors and Vents. It's Similar to Thaago, becuase again, an effecftive ship build does not have to be complicated.

[Rocksummit]

I've been wondering the same thing really on how to set up good fleets and I'm not sure yet tbh.
I always keep an eye on ship signatures so I don't have one ship stand out and if it does I equip it with an "insulated engine" or I just skip it all entirely.
Also keep an Eye on engine burn of course.

When it comes to ship build's I can sit a whole evening trying different combos. For example I had a hard time finding a good build for the Condor. Soon as I put Salamander MRM Pod on it it started to perform well so building upon the unique Ship skill can be efficient.

Thaago sums it up really well.

[KCR]

Thanks everyone for helping and giving this wonderful advices! I'll go and try them out and maybe post some pictures if i have concerns. Thanks a lot!

[Panpiper]

One thing I have noticed that has not yet been mentioned, is that a ship flown by an AI officer is sufficiently timid (if steady or less) that it will stop advancing on the enemy when it has a single weapon in range. It will try to maintain that range while firing that single weapon. If it has other weapons that have lower range, that's just too bad. I think it is optimum, if you can, to have all your offensive firepower have exactly the same maximum range. The only exceptions would be point defense weapons. This way when that steady/timid pilot gets their single weapon in range, all their weapons can fire, as they'll ALL be in range.

Early on I tried to hire only aggressive pilots who would close to get more weapons in range. The problem with that is first off, just finding enough such pilots, but more importantly, their aggression often meant they wouldn't pull back sufficiently to let their shields cool off. With the above trick, steady pilots will steadfastly engage with all their weapons but try to stay at range. When their shield are near max, they will fall back to cool, letting the others take the heat, then come into the fray shortly. I've had nary a loss since adopting this trick.

Meanwhile, I'm still very much a newb myself, having only picked up the game last week. How the bleep did I miss this game for so long?

My favorite ship so far has to be the Hammerhead, armed with two anti-shield arbalest autocannons and two anti-armor heavy mortars, all small slots filled by four vulcan point-defense cannons. Then there's the Eagle, if you can...  :-)

[KCR]

Have tried some things and advises, really helped a lot. But i've come across new question. Well, if i manage to refit ship with stuff that is not super efficient, but suits me well and i have some feel that i like to play that build, but still, it can be better with other things and guns. Like, you know, maybe it's wrong interpretation of what i'm trying to say. So, i mean, if i have like a capital or a cruiser that i'm sitting on, should i refit it for maximum efficiency, or just so that it will suit me and will be comfortable just for me?

[Cyber Von Cyberus]

Have tried some things and advises, really helped a lot. But i've come across new question. Well, if i manage to refit ship with stuff that is not super efficient, but suits me well and i have some feel that i like to play that build, but still, it can be better with other things and guns. Like, you know, maybe it's wrong interpretation of what i'm trying to say. So, i mean, if i have like a capital or a cruiser that i'm sitting on, should i refit it for maximum efficiency, or just so that it will suit me and will be comfortable just for me?

If you are piloting it, go for what you like. If it's the AI that will pilot it you should try to make it efficient otherwise it will struggle.

[Rocksummit]

Have tried some things and advises, really helped a lot. But i've come across new question. Well, if i manage to refit ship with stuff that is not super efficient, but suits me well and i have some feel that i like to play that build, but still, it can be better with other things and guns. Like, you know, maybe it's wrong interpretation of what i'm trying to say. So, i mean, if i have like a capital or a cruiser that i'm sitting on, should i refit it for maximum efficiency, or just so that it will suit me and will be comfortable just for me?

Maximum efficiency can also be your capital working together with a carrier and other ships for support. For example skip point defense or anti armor weapons and solemny rely on others ships for various purposes.

[Plantissue]

You can specialise, but I would recommend not skipping PD weapons on your ships, unless you are convinced that it would never see a missile ever.

[KCR]

Just wondering, in what case i can not see a single missile ever?