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Author Topic: How to outfit carriers?  (Read 6678 times)

KCR

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How to outfit carriers?
« on: January 22, 2020, 01:56:01 AM »

Hello everyone! Some days ago i've created a topic about proper fleet creation and ship refitting. Advises given there were super useful and right now helps me a lot. Still struggling a bit, but anyway making progress in refitting. But now i've come across another problem. Carriers. So, here is some of the questions i have:
1) What type of fighters do i put there?
2) How can i even decide which fighter is better for what goal/ship?
3) Is it necessary to put all fighter slots, or maybe let some be empty for bigger guns/better hullmods? Or vice versa?
4) Does player/officer skills have big impact on carriers?
5) Is it valuable to keep more then one officer with carrier skills?
6) Is it fun, you know, to play on something like command carrier? Or better give it to officer?
7) Which type of officer is best for putting on carrier?
8 ) Big carriers - better? Or maybe 4-6 destroyer size carriers > 1 legion?
Also, tried some mods last playthrough, and it just becomes soooo hard to, you know, select a proper fighter or just a normal fighter, because there is just so lot of them, that my mind goes round. Anyway, here is some of questions i have right now, will appreciate if anyone helps me with them. Maybe i'll found something more and post here. Thanks in advance and have a great day!
« Last Edit: January 22, 2020, 02:34:32 AM by KCR »
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imperialus

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Re: How to outfit carriers?
« Reply #1 on: January 22, 2020, 05:31:08 AM »

1) The meta seems to be Spark drones... Or (Redacted) once you get some as salvage.
2) If you read the fighter descriptions it does a pretty good job IMO of saying what most the small craft are good for
3) Generally speaking you want to cram your bays to the gills.  A wing of fighters will always do more damage than the guns you can put on most carrier ships.  The exception being some of the cruisers like the Odyssey where the fighters are more 'supplementary'
4) Yes.  Wing, Strike and Carrier commander make a huge difference.  Otherwise defensive skills like Evasive Action, Defensive systems, Impact Mitigation ect. can be handy.
5) Depends on how much you like carriers...  Out of a full complement of 8 officers, I usually go with 2 carrier pilots personally
6) This is a you question not a me question... Try piloting one.  See if you like it.  XIV Legions and Odyssey's can be a lot of fun.
7) Cautious IMO.  Carriers, outside of the battle carriers are pretty fragile not to mention undergunned.  You want to keep the range open.
8) Depends on how much of your fleet you want to dedicate to carriers.  Drovers in... well droves loaded up with spark drones are pretty OP on account of their ship ability but you need a lot in order to hit critical mass.  If you just want one or two carriers, then go big.
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Plantissue

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Re: How to outfit carriers?
« Reply #2 on: January 22, 2020, 05:36:53 AM »

1) Any fighters. Try them out.
2) Try them out.
3) Fighter slots are the best weapons. You have carriers because you want to use fighters, so you should prioritise fighter slots on those ships. Never leave a fighter slot empty. Mining Drone is 0 OP, cheap and available, and don't cost crew.
4) Read the skills. For officers, the ones which affect carriers the most offensively are the leadership skills, of Carrier Command, Wing Commander and Strike Commander. For the player only skills, Fighter Doctrine affects all fighters as well. Other skills that affects ships like Coordinated Maneuvres or the more defensives skills help carriers as well.
5) I don't understand the question. If you have 4 carriers that you always deploy, you would want at least 4 officers with carrier skills would you not? Likewise, if you have no carriers and don't intend for any, why would you want an officer with useless carrier skills?
6) Only you can determine what is fun for you.
7) The one you like the portrait best.
8 ) It depends. Deployment points per fighter bay, ship system, Ordnance Points and speed are generally considered the most important factors to consider. Ship systems in particular can greatly alter the worth of a ship and shift greatly whether you want fighter-type fighters or bomber-type fighters. The Legion isn't a dedicated carrier anyways. The only destroyer carrier in unmodded is the Drover which has 2 fighter bays for 12 DP and has a useful ship system for fighters and speed 70, whilst the legion has 4 fighter bays for 40 DP and a speed of 30, so what do you think is better for fighters 4-6 Drovers or 1 Legion?

Why are you playing with mods for your first game? You don't even know how to play the game, which is why you are getting an overload of information. I want to help but at this point you are playing a different game to everyone else unless you happen to have the exact same mods. And then judging by the forums the answer becomes, use this "mod ship".
« Last Edit: January 22, 2020, 05:40:27 AM by Plantissue »
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KCR

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Re: How to outfit carriers?
« Reply #3 on: January 22, 2020, 06:26:43 AM »

Actually it's not my first playthrough, it's like 4 or 5. But still on easy, because i want to try content and quickly see all its pros/cons, and then decide, add it to normal or remove. I just mentioned mods because previous playthroughs i didn't pay much attention to carrier refitting, and with mods it's starting to be really hard to navigate. Right now i'm trying this carrier-related stuff without mods tho.
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Squigzilla

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Re: How to outfit carriers?
« Reply #4 on: January 22, 2020, 09:33:11 AM »

I have little experience playing with mods, but I can give you some input regarding vanilla carriers.

1) This entirely depends on what role you want your fighters to play. If they're here to hunt down enemy frigates or protect other ships from fighters and missiles, interceptors like Talons, Thunders, or Sparks afte preferred. Heavy fighters like the Broadsword or Gladius are good for supporting attacks against enemy ships, as their point defense flares will help all your fighters live a bit longer. Anything with ion weaponry is also very helpful in this role. Bombers and heavy assault fighters like the Warthog have the heavy weapons to deal serious damage to heavy targets but can struggle top punch through shields without kinetic weaponry support. Many fighter wings, particularly the expensive and powerful ones, can be used for different purposes than its intended role and still do fine - a Xyphos wing provides great anti-ship support and can still swat attacking fighters out of the sky.

The only wings I've found consistently disappointing are the Piranha and Mining Pod. Both are too cumbersome to get places quickly.

2) Most carriers can mount any fighter they want, but a couple have preferences because of their ship systems. The Astral can teleport fighters back home to replenish, which significantly increases the uptime of bomber wings. The Heron's targeting feed provides a sustained damage bonus that intercepts or heavy fighters really appreciate.

3) Since Talons cost just 2 OP and give you effectively four flying zero-flux Vulcan cannons, I'd always fill those slots with something.

4) The three fighter skills for officers are all a big deal and help quite a bit, though carriers are still good without them. I don't know if carrier skills make a bigger relative power difference than regular combat skills would for a warship.

5) You can keep as many officers with carrier skills as you'd like, as mass carriers is a viable strategy. It all comes down to how you'd like to build your fleet.

6) Some of the most fun I've had in starsector came when I was piloting an Astral or Legion. The former let's you delete anything of cruiser size or smaller with a bombing run, teleport all your ships back home for reloading, and do it again in 10 seconds. The latter allows you to slug it out on the front lines while directing your fighter swarm to support any nearby ships you choose.

7) I'd avoid aggressive or reckless officers unless you've got a battle carrier (like the aforementioned Legion).

8) Big carriers tend to come with heavy weapon mounts and ship systems that let them project a lot of concentrated power. 4 Drovers can field more fighters total but won't necessarily concentrate them without fleet orders. Both approaches work and I haven't tested things out enough to know the "better" option.

I hope this helps!
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Serenitis

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Re: How to outfit carriers?
« Reply #5 on: January 22, 2020, 11:22:45 AM »

There are combinations which work really really well. But everything is useful to some extent.
Just jam stuff in there and see how it performs and it won't take you long to develop a feel for how things work, and what you like.

The only 'rule' I really care about is not mixing support fighters with any other kind on the same carrier.
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KCR

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Re: How to outfit carriers?
« Reply #6 on: January 23, 2020, 01:41:01 AM »

Thanks a lot for all the feedback! Looking forward to go and try it out! If i'll come across some new problems, will post it here.
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