Detess - Diable Avionics
3x Shield Bypass Pandamonium
These are quite nice as far as Shield Bypass Pandas go, though the lack of Automated Repair Unit and Reinforced Flux Conduit would prove disastrous against Carroy’s EMP heavy fleet. It’s also heavy overfluxed even for a Shield Bypass ship at 1960 dissipation vs 3736 weapon flux, mostly a product of its medium weapons I think. Either way, I’d probably drop the frontal railguns and other non-PD small weapons. Good first attempt though!
Round 1.5 Changes
DeTess changed two of the Pandas from Aegis Flak variants to Uhlan Siege Laser version, I believe are much scarier to face. The ships are still heavily overfluxed, but at least it has serious burst potential now, so it’s less likely to run up on flux in the first place. DeTess also added Automated Repair Unit to these variants which I think is extremely important for Shield Bypass ships.
Round 2 Changes
Still using Pandas, but now two of them are running Tachyon Lances (with the third using the Uhlan build from R1.5). It doesn’t exactly make the fleet much better against its opponents, but one can appreciate the consistency.
Round 2.5 Changes
DeTess’s final Panda variant adds Resistant Flux Conduits and Heavy Needlers to the Tachyon Lance build, removing the frontal railguns and a handful of the Ibis PD. I think this is the best Panda variant yet!
SCC - Interstellar Imperium
1x Elite Package Matriarch
8x Elite Package Interrex
7x Armor Package Basileus
Fairly well balanced as far as the fighters on the Matriarch go. I’d probably opt for 6x Vicarius, since imo they’re like a top 3 fighter in the tournament. That said, this Matriarch was designed more as a brawling capital as evidenced by the six Light Assault Guns it carries at the front. I actually hate LAGs and think they’re possibly the second worst weapon in vanilla after mining lasers, and the use of Ballista LRMs doesn’t really feel like it couples well with the the close range build of the Matriarch.
The Interrexes are very solid, being flux neutral with a staggering 20 capacitors and Hardened Shields for 14250 capacity at 0.9 efficiency. My only complaint is that the Reapers are unlinked (you can see Slav’s round 1 performance for a comparison of the effectiveness).
SCC linked the Sabots and Harpoons of his Basilei, which is doable due to a tournament bug not speed capping Sabots. It’s a very neat tech regardless. Railguns and Armor package, however, are probably not very useful for what is 100% a missile ship.
Round 1.5 Changes
The Elite Matriarch and some of the Interrexes were swapped out for a pair of Targeting Package Domini. It’s an interesting fit fully kitted out with 1000 range (2000 after bonuses) weapons, which is a little low on DPS, but against standoff opponents they’re quite scary.
Round 2 Changes
For round 2, the Domini were in turn replaced for a Targeting Package Caesar and some new Interrexes. The new Interrexes have Converted Hangar Flamens and Armor Package, but the missiles still aren’t linked, sadly.
Round 2.5 Changes
SCC had the unenviable task of facing both Hiruma Kai and DaddyPants at the same time, and with the former swapping back to a monstrous SO fleet there was little hope for him, unfortunately. Even besides that, I’m not sure there’s an Imperium Fleet within the budget constraints that is even able to reliably take down DaddyPants’ Vanilla High Tech fleet. But Armor Package Libritors, whose spinal guns shred SWP Beholder Ray Drones, were probably the closest bet. That plus a Targeting Package Caesar made for a solid attempt, even if it was essentially doomed to failure.
Deskup - Free Stars Union
13x Widow (9x Converted Hangar Talon versions)
3x Blackbird
2x Slicer
Not much to say about this fleet - it’s a very competently done missile spam fleet. I like the mix of Squalls and Locusts - it probably gave the fleet a much higher chance of winning against most High Tech fleets, though was preempted by DaddyPant’s decision to go Shield Bypass on his Paragon.
Round 2 Changes
Due to anti-spam rules, a number of the Widows had to be swapped out for two Apocylapse cruisers, which funny enough are nearly identical to Johan’s variant in the same round. I still don’t think they’re especially effective, sadly, but it should be noted that Deskup did his Round 2 refit before even seeing the Round 1.5 matches due to scheduling issues.
Round 2.5 Changes
Deskup’s final match was up against DeTess’ Panda fleet, so they made a bold and very fun decision to load two Shield Bypass Chimaeras with 5 Hellbores, 6 Maulers and a handful of LAGs. It’s a lovely build for the spectacle and was a lot of fun to watch, but really 15 OP could totally have been spared for Resistant Flux Conduits. :p
PrismaticFlux - Vanilla Low Tech
1x Niagara
4x Thunder Condor
2x Shield Bypass Onslaught
3x Gremlin
1x Challenger
PrismaticFlux’s fleet is the first one to really take advantage of fleet formations, with the Niagara front and center to anchor the fleet while the Shield Bypass Onslaughts pummel the sides. Thunders, while significantly nerfed in the latest patch notes, still prove to be very dangerous against opponents with poor interceptor coverage. Finally the Gremlins make for wonderful distractions in a way that only Phase frigates can accomplish. It’s a solid fleet.
If I were to optimize things, I’d say that the Onslaughts are relatively short on kinetic damage (there is indeed such a thing as too much PD!) with only a single Heavy Needler. On the Niagara, Thumpers are also just a bad weapon in my opinion. Finally the Challenger doesn’t really do anything with an HVD and would probably be better off as a timid ship with ECM Package/Nav Relay.
Round 1.5 Changes
PrismaticFlux ended up dropping the Condors and Gremlins for some Safety Overrides Enforcers, as well as moving the Onslaughts closer to the center. I can’t say I particularly like these decisions - giving up on fighters just leaves slow ships like Enforcers at the mercy of more dangerous ships like quad-Reaper Interrexes.
Round 2 Changes
In turn, the Enforcers and the Niagara were removed for more Gremlins and some SWP Vanguards with Mjolnir Cannons. I can’t say I’m especially fond of this decision - the fleet still doesn’t have fighters and outside of very specific Devastator builds to deal with missile spam I don’t find Vanguards to be very good ships. In my opinion, this fleet ended up going wider for little appreciable gain.
Round 2.5 Changes
Back to the original Round 1 configuration, which I think was probably the right decision.
SafariJohn - Roider Union
5x Pepperbox
2x Telamon
10x Safety Overrides Colossus Mk.II (R)
Grabbing the quick and easy 10% ECM Rating from the 5 Pepperboxes at 10 DP is excellent. The Telamons seem okay, but they’re somewhat relying on a 750 range kinetic weapon in the Pile Driver. For a 25 speed capital ship, the range disadvantage is very serious. The LAGs are also wasted OP, in my opinion. However, the most notable part of the fleet are the SO Colossus Mk.IIs, armed with nothing but a Hammer Barrage linked to a Standard Bomb Bay. I was very curious about these, so I tested them a little bit and I found them to be utterly ineffective, but SafariJohn claims that they performed better in testing, so I don’t know. He also had the misfortune of going up against Gremlins, which Hammer Barrages don’t handle very well.
Round 1.5 Changes
SafariJohn thankfully removed the Colossus Mk.IIs and took advantage of the modular fighter rules to throw in four Ranches (a ship with four fighter bays, two being modular). I like the transition, though the Ranches have Extreme Modifications, which are especially terrible for dedicated carriers, so I think that was a bit of a loadout mistake.
Round 2 Changes
SafariJohn swapped it up yet again with the removal of the Ranches for another pair of Telamons, totalling four of the extremely tanky capitals. I appreciate how tanky they manage to be with their 1800 armor armor modules, but there’s a distinct lack of DPS in this fleet that hurts it against the other extremely tanky or high DPS lineups in the group. The Pepperboxes also got swapped out for five ECM Package Cyclops, which I think is an alright sidegrade.
Round 2.5 Changes
The excess Telamons and nearly all the Cyclops were cut out for a handful of Onager destroyers and a pair of SO Gambit cruisers, as well as a large number of ECM Pepperboxes, as in round 1. The kinetic Spike Drivers on the Gambits look extremely dangerous, and I can’t help but wonder how dangerous a full SO Roider fleet would be. Unfortunately for SafariJohn, PrismaticFlux’s round 1 fleet doesn’t much rely on shields, and I don’t think the Onagers are fast or tanky enough to survive against Shield Bypass Onslaughts. Singular Annihilator Pods are also rarely effective in my experience.
Akitsushima - Vanilla Low Tech
2x Onslaught
1x Liberator
4x Thunder Condor
4x Gremlin
People complained about the Hardened Shields Onslaughts, but while I probably wouldn’t use that with Shield Bypass available it’s not a bad option by default. The dissipation to weapon flux ratio, on the other hand, is horrendous at 1100 dissipation to 2750 weapon flux. Heavy Mortars are surprisingly heavy on flux usage, and a Storm Needler isn’t cheap at all. Without even Flux Distributor to help out with the dissipation these Onslaughts would fail quite quickly. The frontal Railguns are certainly overkill as well.
It’s a similar situation with the Liberator, with 1000 dissipation against 1950 weapon flux. I really don’t think people should basically ever use LAGs, but especially on overfluxed ships. The mix of Mark IX Autocannons and Heavy Mortars is also, in my opinion, heavily inferior to a Hellbore + Heavy Needler combination.
I do however quite like the Thunder Condors and the Gremlins!
Round 2 Changes
The Liberator and a number of Condors were swapped out for a Shield Bypass Xyphos Legion and a Shield Bypass Xyphos Mora. I really don’t think this was a good idea, and the way the Legion was consistently more aggressive than the Onslaughts show the dangers of putting Shield Bypass on ships that aren’t specifically dedicated to front-lining.
Johan - Free Stars Union
7x Blackbird
1x Chimaera
2x Scorch Mastodon
5x Slicer
2x Locust Converted Hanger Griffin Drone Widow
A non missile-heavy Free Stars Union fleet is interesting, though I’d still definitely link the missiles that remain in the fleet. It’s very much a “balanced”, rather standard fleet, and we all know how those usually fare in tournaments. I do like the Scorches, though from my tests they’re not really capable of carrying a fleet the way Catharses are.
Round 2 Changes
At some point the Mastodons and most of the Slicers were swapped out for some probably more effective Converted Hangar Talon Widows. The missiles on them are also linked, which is always nice to see. A Beam Apocylapse cruiser was also added to the fleet, but unfortunately I don’t think it made much impact in the end. Heavy Cruisers in general lack impact in these tournaments, unless they’re truly spectacular, which I don’t think applies to the Apocylapse.
Round 2.5 Changes
I believe the Apocylapse cruiser was replaced with a Rhea carrier fielding Rook Heavy Interceptors, as well as a couple more Blackbirds, and the Chimaera was probably refitted? It’s more a refinement/side grade than a drastic shift in fleet composition, and I think it’s an improvement, but it was certainly lacking in the PD needed to handle Slav’s fleet.
Thaago - Outer Rim Alliance
1x SO Mirth
6x SO Sanctuary
2x SO HIL Elevation
6x SO Grace
Our first SO-centric fleet, and boy do ORA look scary with it. As broadside ships they already have monstrous dissipation, so doubling that makes these ships extremely dangerous. ORA’s other weakness, poor speed, is also handily dealt with by Safety Overrides. And of course, Thaago knows to link his missiles. This is a fleet that’s going to murder everything. I guess my minor nitpick is that I think Accelerated Shields or Shield Conversion - Front outperforms extended shields on omni-shielded ships (such as the Elevations), but you can’t argue with results.
Round 1.5 Changes
If I recall correctly, while the fleet composition didn’t change much this round, Thaago did add Hardened Subsystems to a handful of his ships, which proved very important when fighting against Arkangel’s kiting ScalarTech fleet. Solid design improvisations!
Round 2 Changes
A handful of the Graces were swapped out for a third SO Elevation, which were in the meantime all switched from HILs to Locusts. Once again a formidable SO fleet that I think was favored to reach the finals of the tournament.
Round 2.5 Changes
The Enlightenment salesman returns! Thaago had a very cool build specifically built for Cathedral cracking, fielding 6 linked reapers on the front! Along with the standard SO ORA core that carried him this far it had a decent shot. Sadly in the actual matches the Enlightenment wasn’t nearly aggressive enough, and against PrismaticFlux the distraction Gremlins proved crucial in stopping the ORA fleet from overrunning their opponent. All I can say is that the Enlightenment should have had Shield Bypass - the one true way to ensure your ships properly engage. :p
Archaeon - Shadowyards Reconstruction Authority
1x Extreme Mods Mimir
2x Skinwalker Charybdis
5x HIL Converted Hangar Neriad Clade
4x Enlil
As I mentioned before, I don’t think the Extreme Modifications + Automated Repair Unit combination is any good now that the 4x repair rate bug was fixed, but I respect the attempt. The Mimir and Charies look decent enough to me, though I’m not an expert on Shadowyards weapons. HIL Clades seem like a nice decision knowing you’re going up against Low Tech eventually (and I guess also Sylphon lineups like my own). Still don’t like fragile close-range frigates like these Enlils, though, and they don’t meet the breakpoints to be using Hardened Shields.
Round 2 Changes
The Charybdi and Enlils were changed for Angelhood’s Vardr, a couple of Sargasso carriers and a pair of Shamash phase frigates. It’s slightly unrefined and probably overloaded on High Intensity Lasers, but the Shamashes are solid distraction frigates and the Vardr is a useful addition to the frontline for this fleet.
Hiruma Kai - Anvil Industries
1x Spider Kingdom
10x SO Cielo
7x Starburst Sparrow
A solid SO fleet backed up by missiles, this fleet is a quintessential tournament fleet. Linked Starbursts on the Sparrows is good. The Cielos look decent as well, though they rely heavily on their fighters to defend their rear - I might’ve considered Shield Conversion - Front. The Kingdom also looks very good, though I’m not sure if the off-side HVD makes it liable to swapping sides, which would be very bad for the ship. In any case, I’m sure that this would have wiped out the majority of the other round 1 fleets in the tournament, but it had the misfortune of facing Sad Squidward’s fleet.
Round 1.5 Changes
Hiruma Kai removed the Sparrows and a Cielo for a second Kingdom and refitted both of them to run Cicada Bombers which synergize extremely well with the updated Reserve Deployment. A solid improvement to an already impressive fleet.
Round 2 Changes
Hiruma Kai ended up dropping the Cielos for some Morgensterns and SO Flails, which unfortunately I do not think are capable of cracking DaddyPant’s Paragon + Beholder fleet. One of the Kingdom’s was also refitted to use Silkworm bombers, but it was also converted into a symmetric design, which I also think was a rather poor decision. EDIT: whoops nope they were still the Cicada ones, very good! Still, if it was up against most of the other Round 2 competitors I’m fairly confident that it would have scored some big wins.
Round 2.5 Changes
Back to the Kingdom and Cielo combination from R1.5. It’s still a very formidable set up.
CitizenJoe - Pearson Exotronics
1x Missile Kingston
10x Denmark (9x Converted Drone Hangars Xyphos, 1x SO)
The Kingston has a decent number of Synergy and Universal slots to make missile builds a viable option, though it does result in a ship that isn’t really able to do anything after they’ve been expended. If it were running Sabots or even just more kinetics and vents instead of Reapers, I think it could do a lot more work, though it still accomplished a decent amount in its matches. Also only the Hurricanes are linked, which is a bit strange.
Xyphos on the Denmarks is a nice touch, given that Converted Drone Hangars don’t have increased OP cost for fighters and due to a bug the Denmark’s system is rather unreliable. It might still be too expensive though - 30 total OP is quite hefty. More Harpoons makes this fleet very HE lopsided and I really think some Sabots are warranted here.
Round 1.5 Changes
Joe ended up altering the CH Denmarks to instead use Rhys Heavy Fighters and a Tornado Hornet Launcher (SWP). I don’t know too much about these fighters, but they do have Ion Cannons (High Delay), so they can’t be terrible. The Tornados are also probably a decent upgrade over the Harpoon Pods.
Round 2 Changes
Some of the Denmarks got forcibly swapped out due to the new anti-spam rule, so CitizenJoe went with a Serrano, a Kiruna and a Torens. The fits look decent enough (though once again there’s some inefficient Hardened Shields usage), but they don’t make the fleet into something it wasn’t previously. CitizenJoe also swapped the Kingston to a Shield Bypass HVD + Tachyon Lance build. It’s a nice build with linked Tornado Hornets as well, but HVD and Hornets are a bit lacking in the heavy strike needed to make Shield Bypass builds work, in my opinion.
Mortia - Blackrock Driveyards
6x Dynastos
6x SPL Weavil
3x Krait & SPL Convergence
Mortia’s got a very cool SPL missile spam fleet that slowly wears down its opponents, with the Dynastos generally being able to use their strike missiles against their PD overwhelmed opponents, or the Kraits able to get close to deal heavy damage. I wouldn’t say there’s anything amiss in this fleet. Plus using the Dynastos system to murder the Pearson drones is a great match-up specific usage.
Round 1.5 Changes
Mortia swapped out the Weavils and Convergences for SPL Mantises and some Krait Typheuses. I think it’s the same general strategy of SPL spam, but probably with more optimized ships for it. Nice.
Round 2 Changes
The majority of the SPLs, particularly on the Dynastos and some of the Mantises were swapped out for Gridfire MRMs, which looked very solid in AlienSpaceKappa’s fleet (despite it being unable to penetrate the Beholder PD walls) - I think this was a solid decision. Unfortunately, it doesn’t leave many options for when Mortia would eventually have to face Sad Squidward’s fleet.
Round 2.5 Changes
Mortia doubled down on the missile spam with yet more Mantises and swapped out the Gridfire Dynastos for Sabot/Reaper ones. Unfortunately for him, Sad Squidward’s swap to Omens and more Beholders kind of leaves this strategy dead in the water.