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[KCR]

So, played some time with this ship, trying different loadouts. Aaand, i actually think that packing 2 Large Energy with Tachyon Lances is pretty damn good. Adding to this great Odyssey maneuverability, and you get a very deadly capital ship, that can FLANK almost everything with same sizes and lower. So, your thoughts on this thing. I just find this really enjoying to play, you know, maneuver around and dealing some pretty good damage. Or maybe you know some loadout, that is even more deadly/maneuverable, or maybe i'm doing a mistake and with bringing another loadout Odyssey can become even more dangerous and flanky? So, feel free to discuss and thanks in advance!

[TaLaR]

Soft flux is all about much how of it you can output.
Paragon with 4xTL + 2xGrav + 6xTac + hard flux 2x HVD/Needler produces enough to threaten everything except other flux efficient capitals (but can defeat them too, if player controlled).
Odyssey with 2xTL and Tacs doesn't produce enough soft flux and has no sufficient source of hard flux (2x Longbows are nice but not enough, Sabots are very much finite). And player control can't change that. At best you can burst a few targets with Sabots before running dry.

[KCR]

I agree, but i think that Paragon is more of a ship that just sits tight and destroys everything that comes in range. While Odyssey is more like going forward with the vanguard forces, distracting some cruisers/carriers with it's presence and "dance with them till someone falls dead". At least, that's how i'm playing it right now with 2 TL. To be honest, if something big and scary comes to the battlefield, then i manage to regroup and pick some Aurora/Doom with me. Also, at least in my current playthrough, Paragon is pretty rare, while Atlas/Legion/Onslaught are just everywhere.

[TaLaR]

Player-piloted 2xPlasma Odyssey can just mow down any smaller ships, much faster than 2xTL could. They aren't a threat anyway, so why bother maintaining distance? It also can defeat any capital except Radiant by outmaneuvering the target.

As AI ship Odyssey just isn't good. You can make a decent missile-focused duelist build of it, but using maneuverability in fleet action takes level of awareness that AI doesn't have.

Also, in my experience Odyssey is the rarest capital.

[Goumindong]

As TaLaR says the general answer for the Odyssey is Plasma Cannons.

Plasma Cannons have:

1) Hard Flux: This is less important against smaller ships but super valuable against bigger once
2) 1.1 Flux to damage. Compare to the Lances 1.33
3) "Point Defense" in that they will eat missiles and small fighters on the way to killing their primary target.

Tachyon Lances are good but the inability to put hard flux down means that youre going to end up in situations where you cannot as effectively kill something simply because they have good shields and can dissipate your damage without taking their shields down. A Frigate that you do not kill in one volley tends to survive with tachyon lances and you can have legitimate issues killing destroyers(especially those with good shields)

You do lose range but the one thing the Odyssey doesn't have to worry about is being out of range. A single press of its ability moves it 600 units and the difference in range between ITU Tach Lance and Plasma Cannon is only 480. Kiting away from a target is a lot harder than crashing the boards. And then you can retreat after you've explained to whatever poor soul you came across that you were a battleship and they were not.

[Thaago]

The main issue I have for the AI use of Tach lances on Odysseys is that it doesn't keep the beams on target and so wastes the majority of damage. Even with gyros, if the ship is turning (which it will very suddenly) the tracking isn't good enough while the tachs are firing.

My favorite main guns combo is 1 autopulse forward and 1 plasma at the rear - gets an alpha strike of high efficiency against the shield, then armor crackers, and the ship can handle the flux well even with no skills at all and extended missile racks (the missiles are extremely powerful, don't neglect them).

[KCR]

Well, i've tried to play a bit with Plasma's, aaand, well, ye, it improves my combat outcome at some point. Also, tried to combine 1 plasma + 1 TL, and it feels not so bad, i guess? Still don't like Plasma's. Maybe in 1v1 tango-duel it can be good, but in my current playthrough, i have about 20 ships in my fleet, including 4-5 service ships. And when it comes to fleet battle, i'm always outnumbered, so, it's basically never 1v1. That's why i tried to play with TL, because of high burst to quick destroy. Hm, but now, then i actually think about it, i wanna try something. Still gonna sit on Odyssey with 2 TL, but gonna add 2 Sunders with Plasma's to help with quick assault on something well-shielded.

[Goumindong]

Even when outnumbered you should be able to maneuver to generate lopsided fights

[TaLaR]

Yep, just circle enemy fleet counter-clockwise.

[KCR]

Well, i gave Odyssey with 2 Plasma's to the aggressive officer, and suddenly he somehow performs better than me. Maybe it is how it should be, well, then i'll just leave it be, i guess. Maybe i should try to sit on Paragon with TL's and see how far it goes, but i don't really like to pilot it myself because of it low speed and maneuverability. Then, here is a question. Is there actually some ship, that can fit TL (or more than one) on it, and it's not Paragon? Like, not just fit, but be efficient with it. Sunder comes to mind, but that's not a bit what i'm looking for. If i remember well, Apogee can fit one Large Energy.

[TaLaR]

Only Paragon can use TL as mostly self-sufficient offense. Soft flux Sunders are support ships - they often run into opponents they simply can't harm alone, especially under AI control. Apogee has single role - tank, it's not good at anything else.

Well, Radiant can use TLs too, but we don't get to pilot these (because Radiant is extremely OP).

AI is horrible at piloting plasma Odyssey, so...
Just learn to pilot the Odyssey or Conquest, there are no other (somewhat) fast capital options. Both need to be piloted *without* turn-to-cursor.

Example of plasma Odyssey piloting:

Spoiler

[close]

[KCR]

Ah, broadside capital's fight, looks awesome! Just like i imagined! Hoh, only for moments like that i will try to learn how to efficiently pilot Odyssey with Plasma's, or even Conquest (still a bit hard to figure correct build due to it's versatility, but i guess 2 Mjolnir's for start will be good). From this perspective it's definitely nice. Thanks for the video!

[Plantissue]

It sounds like to me that what you want to do is to use Tachyon Lances. It's not really a weapon that works well alone as it only deals out soft flux so it becomes rather binary as to whether it can deal with a ship or not.  It does have such a high damage that you can regard it as a weapon like Heavy Blaster or Phase Lance. Best used as a strike weapon when the opposing ship is unshielded or near maximum flux. Since tachyon lance does such high damage and has a good chance of passing EMP damage through half shields, it also stands as a good support weapon to disable weapons and engines. For that a Sunder works out quite well, even if it isn't what you are looking for.

[KCR]

Yeah, you got me right. I just like the whole idea of dealing BIG amount of damage in little amount of time, like TL does. It's pretty sad for me that this is the only option and there is better options in general.

[Serenitis]

The whole hard flux vs. soft flux thing is (imo) blown up into a much bigger deal than it really is.
In a 1-v-1 simulator fight then yeah, hard vs. soft is a huge deal because you only have what you have, and nothing else. But in the "reality" of the campaign it's something to be aware of at most.
A twin-TL Oddy will do just fine in a fleet setting.
Is it "optimal"? Probably not. But who cares if you like the way it works and enjoy using it?

I've flown an all beam Oddy as a flag for a while now, and it has zero issue even with remnant fleets. Because it is never alone.
It doesn't matter if it can't do hard flux damage because there are a dozen ships and hundreds of bees with it that can.

tl;dr - do what you want 'cos a pirate captain is free