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Author Topic: Community list of random tips and tricks!  (Read 58599 times)

BonhommeCarnaval

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Community list of random tips and tricks!
« on: March 26, 2012, 01:08:46 PM »

Once in a while when playing Starfarer I learn a sneaky little trick or piece of information that had eluded me for a long time. I always feel like I should let the community know, just in case they hadn't noticed either. This thread is for everyone to leave their little nuggets of useful information about the game. Eventually if the list gets long I will regroup all the information into the original post and new players and vets alike can search this thread for some useful game knowledge.  :)

I'll start out with a small but useful realization that I had recently and that inspired this thread :

On many ships, fitting the Resistant Flux Conduit hull mod will give you more flux venting for the same amount of OP as if you had spent them on flux vents directly. In that case, the resistance to EMP damage is just a nice side effect (which comes in handy versus Salamanders)!

Your turn people.  8)
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CaptanSpudsy

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Re: Community list of random tips and tricks!
« Reply #1 on: March 26, 2012, 01:24:05 PM »

Clever, I'm going to put this very well known one out there for noobs, and my own one.

Shift-clicking will get you only one item at a Space station.


If you have a newish fleet (2-3 frigates) always try to target Buffalo MK.2s, they're easy to kill and give you lots of money and loot.




SPUDSY
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cp252

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Re: Community list of random tips and tricks!
« Reply #2 on: March 26, 2012, 01:31:02 PM »

Did you know it took me an hour to learn the shiftclick?
Fleets with nothing but Buffalo Mk2s and escorts are easy pickings even with just 2 frigates, as long as you can deal with the fighters  :D
My tip: if you're taking on slowmoving low-techs in a high-tech ship, raising shields and ramming is a great way to speed up overloading and to break armour. Loosing off harpoons at point blank range is awesome too. And shoving a dead condor along as a shield, then flinging it into another ship is really, really fun.  ;D
« Last Edit: March 26, 2012, 01:32:47 PM by cp252 »
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Tribula

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Re: Community list of random tips and tricks!
« Reply #3 on: March 26, 2012, 01:58:55 PM »

As you know, activating shields reduces you max speed. However, if you get to full speed and then release acceleration, you can then drift at full speed with your shields fully active. This is useful for the capital ships that have slow shield activation times. :)
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Thaago

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Re: Community list of random tips and tricks!
« Reply #4 on: March 26, 2012, 02:04:03 PM »

I had to ask in the forum to know about shift-click... :-[

Hmm how about:
Railguns are a very good weapon - I actually think they are better than any medium mount ballistic kinetic because they cost only 7 OP. This is open to debate.

Turrets/fighters do target lead, but it is heavily dependent on crew level. Try to get veteran and elite crew into fighters/craft that rely on ballistics for damage (veteran lashers last about twice as long against missiles than regulars).

Pirate fleets labeled "Armada" or "Carrier fleet" or some other impressive name that only have a few ships in them probably just got their ass kicked - run them down early and you might get a free cruiser. Similarly, look for other damaged fleets, they often don't have enough crew and the extra ship will surrender. This will probably change in future versions.

Armor not only absorbs damage, but also reduces it. I believe the damage done is something like (D^2)/(BA+CA) where D is the damage of the shot, BA the base armor, and CA the current armor of the segment getting shot. This might be incorrect as I'm just remembering off the top of my head from some other forum post - if someone knows the exact formula I'd love to see it :D. Neighboring armor sections also matter, so shoot for the middle of where you've allready blown out the armor.

High single shot damage is more useful than spread out damage against both shields and armor: shields overload longer and armor reduces less. You usually have to pay more OP for weapons that do this.

If you don't press A or W or strafe you will coast at whatever speed/direction you were going before, regardless of flux levels/burnout. Nebulae will still slow you down. Ex: get an Onslaught up to 75 going the direction you want. Coast, then turn on shields, and slam through an enemy line. Enjoy! (Note: you can still turn when coasting, just not strafe or accelerate/decelerate)

[EDIT] Ninja'd on the last one :D
« Last Edit: March 26, 2012, 02:06:00 PM by Thaago »
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Flare

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Re: Community list of random tips and tricks!
« Reply #5 on: March 26, 2012, 02:39:34 PM »

If you don't press A or W or strafe you will coast at whatever speed/direction you were going before, regardless of flux levels/burnout.

I thought it was possible to turn while retaining that speed advantage.
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Iscariot

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Re: Community list of random tips and tricks!
« Reply #6 on: March 26, 2012, 05:02:53 PM »

Remember that sometimes, lowering your shields is a good idea.

For example, with omni shields, often lowering and re-raising shields is the best way to reposition them. It is often better to take sabots on the armor rather than on the shields, and if your target is overloaded or the guns facing you are down, the extra flux from not having your shields up is often the difference between victory and defeat.

Don't be a *** Tri-Tachyon captain; shields are not a final line of defense, they are a median defensive tool.
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C-Station

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Re: Community list of random tips and tricks!
« Reply #7 on: March 26, 2012, 05:12:17 PM »

In High Tech Ships, energy weapons tend to use a whole lot of flux to kill an enemy ship's shield. However one torpedo can shred an enemies shield right off, allowing a barrage of energy weapons to be fired at the enemy. This can really help against ships with very good shields and high flux reserves but low health, like an Aurora, a flux advantage is arguably more important than a damage advantage.
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CenturionGMU

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Re: Community list of random tips and tricks!
« Reply #8 on: March 27, 2012, 10:53:29 AM »

Rally your carriers behind nebulae. The slowing on your fighters is negligible but the slowing effect on big ships who might slip by might mean the difference between losing your carriers and keeping them, by buying your ships enough time to escape.
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OrangeLima

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Re: Community list of random tips and tricks!
« Reply #9 on: March 27, 2012, 11:35:21 AM »

This will blow all of your minds... if you press tab and space very fast togethe, almost at the the same time, you will be able to see ships and fleets flying around on the solar map. Makes it really handy for determining course of prey, because you maintain speed by holding down click without shift on, you can direct which way you go.

Mind = Blown?

TBH this should just be a real feature though. There is no reason why you couldn't just stare at a radar.

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cp252

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Re: Community list of random tips and tricks!
« Reply #10 on: March 27, 2012, 12:52:56 PM »

Radar minimap would be lovely... sigh.
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Flare

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Re: Community list of random tips and tricks!
« Reply #11 on: March 27, 2012, 05:15:05 PM »

This will blow all of your minds... if you press tab and space very fast togethe, almost at the the same time, you will be able to see ships and fleets flying around on the solar map. Makes it really handy for determining course of prey, because you maintain speed by holding down click without shift on, you can direct which way you go.

Mind = Blown?

TBH this should just be a real feature though. There is no reason why you couldn't just stare at a radar.

You can un-pause on the map screen while in dev-mode already. You can practically un-pause just about anywhere in dev-mode.



Shift and holding down the LMB allows you to increase flux vents and conduits much faster.
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PsychoWolfen

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Re: Community list of random tips and tricks!
« Reply #12 on: March 28, 2012, 12:43:42 AM »

When Starting out, Ignore any and all 1 Triangle Tri-Ships. Tempests and Wolf-Classes are known for being very very destructive on small class hauls and can wipe out ALOT of fighter classes. Its best to keep destroying Pirate ships until you can afford Destroyers and then start moving out on Tri ships
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jdb1917

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Re: Community list of random tips and tricks!
« Reply #13 on: March 28, 2012, 06:20:48 AM »

here's a nice one, if your flying a ship with an omni shield, leave your shield down unless being directly shot at, you can just rapidly turn it on while pointing at incoming missiles and you wont generate flux. this also allows you to activate your shields on all sides without waiting for its rotation. i have survived many missile barrages using this.

enjoy ;D
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Iscariot

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Re: Community list of random tips and tricks!
« Reply #14 on: March 28, 2012, 11:47:26 AM »

When Starting out, Ignore any and all 1 Triangle Tri-Ships. Tempests and Wolf-Classes are known for being very very destructive on small class hauls and can wipe out ALOT of fighter classes. Its best to keep destroying Pirate ships until you can afford Destroyers and then start moving out on Tri ships

If you're not really certain about your skill, I agree with this, but if you're in the mood to take a gamble, nabbing a Tempest early game will mean that you have a big advantage all the way into the end-game.
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The idea is that the various tech levels represent different - not "better" - ways to do things.
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