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Author Topic: Share your fleet setup  (Read 7381 times)

Adraius

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Share your fleet setup
« on: October 20, 2015, 09:16:20 PM »

There's an effectively endless number of ways to configure your fleet in Starsector - share how yours is built and how it fights.

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My fleet is is a hodge-podge armada made almost entirely out of captured vessels.  It has evolved a strategy of charging the center of the map, capturing the beacons first, wiping out the overeager lead elements of the enemy fleet, then engaging in a general slugfest as the heavy hitters on both sides arrive.  The fleet contains, in rough order of their length of service/my opinions of their value:

4x frigate
Tempest, Alastor, Lasher, Wolf

x7 destroyer
Morningstar, Archon, Gonodactylus, Praetorian, Boar, Sunder, Hanzong

x4 cruiser
Vindicator, Dictator, Elysium, Del Azarchel

x1 capital
Renegade

x3 noncombatants
Valkyrie, Construction Rig, Ox
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Lightfeather

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Re: Share your fleet setup
« Reply #1 on: October 20, 2015, 09:57:52 PM »

I generally follow a fleet doctrine that mimics that of the US navy; that is, based around a carrier vessel, and the aircraft do most of the heavy lifting. My current composition is as follows:
(Note: I run every mod in the suggested factions list of SS+, along with SS+ and Nexerelin, so expect great variety)

3x capital:
1x Astral-class Carrier (the heart of the fleet),
1x Monolith-class Mobile Autofactory (Citadel mod, autofactory works like an up-scaled mobile HQ from SS+, which is itself up-scaled from the mobile resupplier. It also comes with a repair gantry),
1x Paragon-class Battleship (Heavy hitter of the fleet for when it's needed)

1x destroyer:
1x Hydra-class Boarding Destroyer (Scy mod, self-descriptive in role)

4x non-combative:
1x Prometheus-class Tanker (Gas, gas everywhere),
1x Eschaton-class Superfreighter (Blackrock Drive Yards mod, replaces my Atlas, more beefy weapon wise, but slightly less overall capacity at 1500),
1x Construction Rig Auxiliary (To supplement the Monolith after heavy fighting),
1x Locomotive-class Heavy Tug (SS+, like the Ox, but can haul 4 ships instead of 1)

16x wings, ~56 craft at full strength:
3x Xyphos Heavy Fighter wings (These suckers will go toe to toe with frigates),
6x Wasp Light Interceptor wings (The fastest and most numerous of my wings, good for most general purpose duties because of their numbers),
3x Skinwalker Space Superiority wings (Shadowyards mod, these guys eat other fighters for breakfast),
2x Kobold Support Fighters wings (Shadowyards again, usually assigned to my Astral to supplement the point defenses),
2x Teuton Smiter bomber wings (The Knights Templar mod, these guys will one-shot an unshielded Onslaught, they scare me when I have to face them in combat because I'm afraid I'll lose capital vessels to them)

Generally once a fight gets going, my Astral's decks are constantly abuzz with incoming and outgoing fighter craft, and very few fleets less than 30 vessels can stand against it simply because of the sheer number of craft. I've slowly built this fleet over time, and have been able to keep most of my progress on it thanks to the save converter. The Teuton wings were the hardest to procure, as anyone who's played with the Knights Templar mod knows how god damned powerful they are. It works quite well but is very logistic heavy, and running out of supplies is a problem I've had when dealing with extended deployments, not being able to fully restock and thus suffering shortages in important areas. That's my fleet, feel free to pick it apart and show me the inefficiencies (beyond the fact that for most people it's prohibitively expensive to use).
« Last Edit: October 20, 2015, 10:09:38 PM by Lightfeather »
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Schwartz

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Re: Share your fleet setup
« Reply #2 on: October 21, 2015, 02:04:32 AM »

Wow, you guys bring some heavy ships.

In my current SS+ game I'm running:

1x AsuraBRDY - Flagship
2x ScorpionBRDY - Heavy support destroyers.
Either 1x ConvergenceBRDY or 2x Gemini - Carriers.
4x Afflictor - Chasing down ships and splitting up groups.
2x Dagger, 2x Thunder, 2x Broadsword, 2xClawSS+ - Balanced fighter loadout.
2x Pirate Buffalo kitted for cargo.
4x Mercury shuttles kitted for capture.

Skinwalker, Xyphos and Teutons are definitely sweet fighters, I just haven't been able to find too many of them. Playing a game as a pirate with rare ships and easier boarding settings, you don't tend to find a lot of high-quality merchandise at stations. I do however have an abandoned station with possibly a hundred captured ships and several dozen other fighters stashed away, so I *could* go heavier if I wanted to. So far this fleet has been able to deal with anything the game throws at it, including taking out a big Hegemony army with two Onslaughts in it.
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StarSchulz

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Re: Share your fleet setup
« Reply #3 on: October 21, 2015, 07:45:46 PM »

I haven't played in a while so i don't burn myself out before the new update, but i do remember what i liked to fly around with.

If if could get my hands on it all, i myself would pilot an apogee and would be escorted by one eagle,  two falcons, one or two herons, with various combinations of broadswords, warthogs, and piranha wings.

I fit my apogee with as much burst damage as possible, and my escorts with long range weaponry. preferably multiple graviton beams.

usually one or two medium fuel tankers are all i need.

assuming i get that far, this setup rarely fails me.

Harmful Mechanic

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Re: Share your fleet setup
« Reply #4 on: October 21, 2015, 09:07:28 PM »

I like to stick together a high-speed cruiser-destroyer-fighter fleet, mostly midline with one or two high-tech frigates. My ideal is usually a Sunder optimized for peak damage output and a pair of Herons, then pile on the fighters - a pair of Thunder wings for point-capping, two to four Dagger wings, and the rest Broadswords, until I hit capacity.

As long as you have the points to micromanage your bombers and ensure that they all attack targets en masse, it's horrifying against anything smaller than a capital, and you can overwhelm or mop up the remnants with the Autopulse-AM Blaster Sunder.
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Blaze

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Re: Share your fleet setup
« Reply #5 on: October 21, 2015, 11:46:57 PM »

Currently running a Miners Vs Pirates setup with the mods:
Spoiler
Tiandong Heavy Industries
Roider Union
Metelson Industries
Junk Pirates/ASP/PACK
SS+/Nexelerin
Knights Templar


Roider Union isn't supported by SS+/Nexerelin, but I changed it so their ships appear in the omnifactory; with a few changes to the Cyclops. Most notably the changing of their medium ballistic to a universal and their two small ballistics to energy and the addition of a hidden flight deck.

Now, the Roider Union is far from complete. Though - for a mining fleet with an emphasis on fighters - I find it odd that they are completely incapable of mounting mining weapons and they have no dedicated carriers. So the Cyclops is getting an uberboost for now.
[close]

Right now I run a mining fleet that consists of:
1 Fracture Flagship (SS+), geared towards shield cracking
4 Cyclops (Roider): 2x Mining Laser and Harpoon Pod
4x Shepherd: Cargo and Mining
2x Auger MKII Wing (Roider)
4x Sledge Wing (Roider)

Running this fleet is a bit of a humbling experience. I can't wipe out fleet after fleet solo anymore; especially with Tiandongs and the Junk Pirates being Beef Gates. And I had become so dependent on weapons introduced by mods that I had a bit of trouble coping with my new missile boats as well as my flagship when I captured it.

On the other hand, It's also when I stopped worrying and learned to love the harpoon missile.
« Last Edit: October 21, 2015, 11:49:02 PM by Blaze »
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SafariJohn

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Re: Share your fleet setup
« Reply #6 on: October 22, 2015, 06:25:34 AM »

Don't worry, by the time my Roider Union mod hits 1.0, you'll be able to put together a full fleet with them.

Spoiler
And there will be plenty of Mining Blasters.
[close]


I weighed giving the Cyclops a universal slot or two for some time, but it works much better with all three turrets as ballistics. I do have planned a variant that uses all energy weapons, but that won't be for some time.




On topic:
I haven't been playing a campaign game lately, so I don't have a current fleet setup. My old Pilum spamming fleet setup is still around on the forum: http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=8886.0
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Megas

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Re: Share your fleet setup
« Reply #7 on: October 22, 2015, 06:38:57 AM »

My core endgame fleet is two Hyperion and three Tempests.  Additional ships vary on the current mission.  If commodity runs, up to twenty Atlases (or Prometheus if hauling fuel).  For everything else, up to forty additional frigates of various types (often Wolves, Lashers, and Cerberus, rarely replaced by Vigilance for Pilum spam).
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Clockwork Owl

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Re: Share your fleet setup
« Reply #8 on: October 22, 2015, 08:22:48 AM »

My core endgame fleet is two Hyperion and three Tempests.  Additional ships vary on the current mission.  If commodity runs, up to twenty Atlases (or Prometheus if hauling fuel).  For everything else, up to forty additional frigates of various types (often Wolves, Lashers, and Cerberus, rarely replaced by Vigilance for Pilum spam).
You know... You're scary. XD
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Megas

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Re: Share your fleet setup
« Reply #9 on: October 22, 2015, 12:25:17 PM »

Gameplay changes in the next version will probably encourage different fleet composition.  Twenty-five ship limit will certainly stop ridiculous frigate hordes.

Currently, commodities are the most profitable way to gain credits and XP, and nothing can profit faster than a fleet of Atlases that can haul 25,000+ cargo.  Sometimes, I need to smash an enemy fleet or two along the way, and that is where my core fleet of five frigates come in.

When I do not need to haul cargo at the moment, I cram as many frigates as I can because burn 12+ is so much faster than everything else.  As long as my Hyperion flagship can destroy the enemy Combat 10 monster immediately, forty frigates will overwhelm and demolish everything else (and usually not die because firepower is so overwhelming), and then they recover quickly (and efficiently) shortly after because frigates have the fastest CR recovery rates.
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JohnDoe

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Re: Share your fleet setup
« Reply #10 on: October 23, 2015, 10:52:46 AM »

Morningstars. Literally shittons of Morningstars. With frigates it's shittons of Scarabs.
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Adraius

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Re: Share your fleet setup
« Reply #11 on: October 24, 2015, 01:57:16 AM »

Morningstars. Literally shittons of Morningstars. With frigates it's shittons of Scarabs.
They are just amazing, aren't they?  I have a single one, my flagship.  I can fly into a pack of cruisers and unleash at point blank with their sheer shield tankiness and compact firepower.

Lost my Elysium yesterday. :C I was really sad to see it go, it was such a funky but effective cruiser.
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Serenitis

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Re: Share your fleet setup
« Reply #12 on: October 24, 2015, 03:29:02 AM »

I usually end up basing my fleet around a cruiser, as imo they are the funnest ships to fly - just the right balance of mobility, meatiness and firepower.

The Doom is a nice solid ship which can do all kinds of murder. I've had a BarbarianSS+ flagship before which was quite entertaining, and a ZenithSS+ which was a literal steamroller unless you managed to get it caught in a crossfire.
With an escort of 4-6 frigates which don't really get used unless I need to run down escaping ships, or I do something stupid with my flagship.
Wolves are good support ships and Wolf (D)s are acceptable if there's nothing else. Tempests are magical things, and you can really not go wrong with a group of them. I do however utterly adore the MantisBRDY and will make room for any I can find.

The rest of my fleet is frieghters, usually a half dozen Buffalo for the low crew usage. A single tanker (a Dram will do), plus a handful of shuttles for boarding.
I find that Valkyries are not really all that useful as they simply aren't tough enough to be worth the extra expense over a shuttle when they die just the same to the RNG.

No fighters. Fighters are just an expensive hassle.
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