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« on: December 30, 2023, 12:19:28 PM »
I like playing salvage fleets. Losses hurt less when you're trying something new, and it doesn't work out quite right.
Early game, Vangaurds and hounds are obvious salvage choices when you want to build your fleet up before a big bounty.
Interestingly enough, I have found the Vigilance to be very easy to aquire, even easier than tge Vangaurd. They're one of the cheapest pure combat frigates to buy fresh off the market. And I can almost always pick one up after fighting any of the MANY pirate scavenger fleets I run into in the outer systems.
Another little perk. D-mods do little to affect the performace of thier main job: lobbing loads of medium missles in a very short time.
Lots of D-mods make these little fellows super cheap to deploy, even without Derelict Operations. They also have a very small 10 man skeleton crew. Even smaller than the Hound at 15 crew. Cutting down on per month costs, and reducing crew losses when something goes wrong.
Another perk for any heavily D-modded frigate is the reduced cost for refitting in space. So with just a few extra Medium missles in your cargo, you can prepare your squadron between bounties, and lose maybe 20 or 30 supplies to prep 4 to 6 ships. With Field repairs and Efficiency Overhaul, they'll be in fighting shape in less than a week.
As for combat performance, that all depends on the targets you give them, and the other vessels you put in their squadron.
These are specifically the builds I have tried and seen success with.
I recommend Reinforced bulkheads for most of these builds, as you will most likely lose a few in the larger battles.
Artillery
Always deploy these with a shorter ranged front-line ship and with Kinetics and some form of EMP. An officer with Defensive skills and Elite Target analysis can draw fire while suppressing enemy shields and disabling PD weapons.
Armaments:
Harpoons, Gorgons or Dragon fire are best for this role, you may equip 1 or 2 with Gazers or Breach missles depending on the enemy fleet composition.
Your hybrid mount should either be PD or some long range beam, don't spend too much OP on this though.
Hullmods:
The missle hullmods are no-brainers, with bulkheads.
Spend whatever you have left on Capacitors.
*the Artillery build will allow you to take down some very strong opponents early on in the game. It works marvelously well backing up cheap cruisers with defensive hullmods.
Cavalry Charge
Can be devastating in the right situations. Word of warning: not advisable when you have the enemy surrounded, as you will have reapers flying in all directions.
Armaments:
Hurricane Reaper Launcher
Pulse laser(I found that the pulse laser keeps your ships at a better range to score hits with the reaper, HVD can work if you have Eccm, but it costs more and can be used better on a bigger hull.)
Hullmods:
ECCM for accuracy
Expanded missile racks may or may not be needed. I find that my ships would frequently blow up before firing all 12 missles. Not equipping EMR also frees up OP for safety overrides, simultaneously making your ships faster and a little beefier.
Reinforced bulkheads, moreso than any other vigilance build, this one is built to burn.
For a dirtier version, get rid of ECCM, swap the Reaper for a Jackhammer with EMR, and the pulse laser for an Ion pulser or thumper.
You also have your standard support with Pilums or Salamanders and whatever support or logistic mods you can fit.
And a build with Sabot pods allow the Vigilance to hold it's own against other frigates.
Why ever use a vigilance?
Op costs make medium missle mounts much more effecient for guided missiles, Vigilance is the only frigate(aside from the Edgelord's Hyperion) that can mount one.
The Buffalo MK2 may have more missles per DP, but it also has much shorter peak operating time, takes more time and resources to recover from combat, double the fuel and requires a whopping 4 times the crew, 8 times with Militarized Subsystems. All without fast missile racks, lower speed, worse flux and nearly the same hull and armor.
"Better than a Buffalo" may not be a strong sell. But the last few updates have made the Vigilance a fine choice for Midtech enjoyers and Derelict fleets alike.
Give it a try if you're a budget minded captain or a gambling man who likes an All-or-nothing blast.
