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Messages - Squish Cat

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1
General Discussion / Re: Where are Front/Omni Shield Emmiters ?
« on: December 07, 2017, 05:17:44 AM »
You can still get them.  The lastest version changed the way you get hull mods.  You now get a basic set of hull mods and any additional hull mod comes from markets (same with fighter blueprint copies).  You buy them at planets now.  Its some what random what is available at each market and the stock changes each month, but there is a bit of consistency in that certain hull mods will most likely show up in certain faction markets.  I believe some hull mods are exclusive to certain markets.  For shield mods, you're more likely to find them in Tri-Tachyon markets.  You can also unlock certain hull mods through skills, but I believe any mod that is unlocked via a skill can also be found in a market.

2
General Discussion / Re: 8a ECM/ECCM Package - 50% Reduced ECM Effect?
« on: August 09, 2017, 02:56:14 PM »


Ships are whatever I recover off the ground, since I cannot buy most ships until endgame (after I build rep with Independents).


How do you typically go about building rep with the Independents?  This is assuming you're not just using agents from the Nexerelin mod.

3
General Discussion / Re: Best PD guns
« on: August 07, 2017, 02:00:03 AM »
The Shadowyards Storm Blaster aka "Fireworks cannon" is the best.
Devastator! Especially Devastators on a Safety Overrides ship - it groups the explosions together into a terrifying assault weapon as well.

Both of these weapons shows its primary role as assault.  Does it still function as PD anyway?  Or are you talking about in conjunction with that PD AI hull mod that allows all weapons to function as PD?

Anyway, as far as the topic goes, I've heard people say good things about Shredders from the Blackrock Drive Yards mod being really good PD.

4
Thing is, I wasn't in the Autofactory :) It was just a random other planet/station.

When you started your game, did you enable random core worlds?  The Omnifactory will spawn in a random place if random core worlds is enabled.

6
I have some idea, similar to "salvage gantry" it would be nice to add "mining gantry" to mining ship, and also a standalone mod hull.
What you think about that?

Along with some way to reduce hazard rating of mining, this would be a welcome addition IMO.  Mining needs more love.

7
General Discussion / Re: How do I get AI ships to actually engage?
« on: August 01, 2017, 10:56:09 AM »
If you want them to engage, seeking out officers with the Aggressive or Reckless personality will help a ton. making sure they have the maneuverability and range to compete is also very important. Fighter support will distract the enemy and your ships may be able to move in without being shot at, making them less likely to retreat due to being shot at.

Increasing the Flux capacity of the ship you want to engage will also help, as it seems to back off when it takes a significant portion of its capacity as damage to the shields. having more means it would need a larger hit / more overall damage to make it think that it is in danger.


I have avoided reckless officers as I am under the impression that they'll just suicide any ship they're in.  Are there any instances where reckless officers are a good thing to have, or is my whole perception of reckless officers completely off?

Generally what do you max out first, capacitors or vents?  What is, in your opinion, more beneficial to have over all if you can't max them both out due to OP constraints?

8
General Discussion / Re: Custom level progression after 40
« on: August 01, 2017, 10:46:39 AM »

I would like to keep on making level progression after 40 because once I hit that max level I loose my drive to really continue grinding out in that character.

I feel the same way.  I use Nexerelin for invasion aspect and try to take over the entire sector for whatever faction I end up joining.  Problem though is that by the time I'm half way done with doing even that, I get bored.  Once I've maxed my level and built my unstoppable death ball of capital and cruiser ships, every fight ends up becoming business as usual.  I think its time I finally go find a [REDACTED] and smack some clowns.  I haven't done that yet.

9
General Discussion / Re: Playing pig to catch a tiger
« on: August 01, 2017, 10:42:12 AM »
I had never considered doing that before.  I'm gonna have to try this.  Totally legit strategy.   ;D

10
Mods / Re: [0.8.1a] Ship/Weapon Pack 1.3.0
« on: July 31, 2017, 10:53:25 PM »
Independents don't offer IBBs; Persean League took their place.

Sometimes this makes things a bit difficult if you're playing with Nexerelin.  In one game I started and played as Tri-Tachyon and for some reason every other faction just wanted to gang up on them.  Unfortunately, Tri-Tachyon doesn't offer IBBs, so I was never given the opportunity to do them.  Either Tri-Tachyon should also offer them, or Independents should get them again, as I was completely locked out of them for that game.  And yes, I did try to raise faction with an IBB offering faction, but they just keep losing faction almost as fast as I raised it and remain hostile. :x

11
Mods / Re: [0.8.1a] Active Gates 0.2.0
« on: July 31, 2017, 10:33:06 PM »
I would say that if you're going to add Cores, it should be a Gamma core based on the lore.  Gamma cores are there to do complex computational algorithms, organization and management on a massive scale, and keep track of long lists of inventory and sort them all out to where they need to go.  Gamma cores will have trouble doing anything else.  Beta and Alpha cores are there to simulate human behaviors and characteristics, with Alpha cores being considered actually sentient.  Managing a gate network doesn't really necessitate the need for human behavior characteristics or having sentience IMO.  If you feel Gamma cores are too easy to get, you can always just up the number of Gamma cores needed per gate.  Something along the lines of one core per gate within range.

12
Mods / Re: [0.8.1a] Diable Avionics 1.85 (01/07/2017)
« on: July 30, 2017, 08:33:00 PM »

If you're running a couple destroyers and some frigates, then it's time for you to grab at least two Fractus. With wanzers converted hangars are only to supplement your current fighter forces, not be your fighter forces. With the Hayle I ran with dual Glowtusks but I guess Recson V's probably work, a Raptor defense system in the middle slot, and six Thunderbolt missiles. Yes, I'd ditch Converted Hangars and grab ECCM with that setup. I've never piloted that Hayle setup, but the AI seems to handle it pretty well. With the SRAB I'm interested in the answer as well, but I'm sure I know the answer already.

How do you break shields with this set up?  Or are you using the Hayle as just a missile spammer and not worrying about whether it actually does anything or not?

13
Mods / Re: [0.8.1a] Diable Avionics 1.85 (01/07/2017)
« on: July 30, 2017, 04:05:46 AM »
I haven't had the chance to play again until recently.  So I finally refit my fleet and tried out the various recommendations.  I will say that things have definitely improved and my Vapors are surviving better.

First thing I tried was dual Recson V's.  This made the Vapors live forever, but at the same time, they could never kill anything.  Recson V projectiles were simply too slow to ever hit the target unless it was a destroyer.  At best, the Vapors just ended up being a distraction and nothing else.  Certainly a viable tactic if thats all you want your frigates to be, but I want my frigates to have teeth, though.  Recson Vs themselves seem to really only be reliable against destroyer and bigger ships.

Then I tried dual Trifires.  Muuuuch better results!  They were actually able to kill things at a range that didn't have them suiciding to superior fire power.  Only problem is that they tend to take their sweet time killing anything.  Time to kill is a bit low to my liking, but the Vapors are no longer dying left and right like they were at least.

Tried a twin Glowtusk set up just to see what would happen.  In the hands of the AI, they won't fire these things unless they're at point blank range for some reason.  They always fly in super close and get wrecked.  The other problem is that firing two of them eats half the flux capacity of a Vapor, and if they turn their shields on at any point, they'll immediately get fluxed out from enemy weapons fire.  This is from the Vapors firing the Glowtusks just one time.  When I was flying the Vapor, obviously I'd use the weapons at the proper ranges.  However, I found that the flux generated by hitting the enemies shields would all be gone by the time I could fire the Glowtusks again.  They fire too slowly to manage to get past enemy shields, and the flux generation also makes using these weapons a huge problem.  Glowtusks probably work well on a destroyer but I don't think the frigates can handle the flux these weapons produce.

Just for the lulz I tried the twin Phase Lances in the simulator and found that the flux generation was even worse than the Glowtusks.  Was kinda neat being able to fully saturate an enemy frigate's flux with these though.  Ultimately I still couldn't get past the shields without fluxing myself out and putting myself into serious risk of overloading.  I love challenges, but not ones that would put me at excessive risk like that.

All in all I'm beginning to realize that the bigger issue here regarding the Vapors is more to do with Diable's weapon systems than the ships themselves.  Diable's weapons seem quite flux intensive and the Vapors do not have the flux capacity to handle them.  This is most apparent when going up against ships such as Lashers who can dish out similar damage but keep right on going due to their much more flux efficient weapons.  Wolves on the other hand get eaten pretty regularly by my Vapors.

Unfortunately, I got caught by a Cabal fleet that had 2 Starlight Tempests and a bunch of random other junk and wasn't able to get away without losing my Fractus.  Kinda saw that coming even before hitting "Disengage", which of course didn't work.  Starlight Tempests are like fast mini-destroyers so I certainly don't blame the Fractus getting wrecked like it did.

Picked up a Calm as a replacement for the Fractus and I'm pretty happy with this destroyer.  Put a pair of Recson V's on it with 4 Thunderbolt MRM Racks.  Managed to solo two hammerheads at the same time with this ship quite easily.  I am having a bit of a different problem, though.  I installed Converted Hangar with a Frost LPC, and they're great for dealing with frigates that engage me, but the replacement rate of fighters is so terrible that I find myself without fighters at all for most of the fight.  This is the first time I've actually used the Converted Hangar and was wondering what other peoples opinion on this hull mod was.  Would I be better off just dropping it for ECCM (faster more agile missiles would be very nice) and better Capacitor stats?

Later I grabbed a Hayle, fitted it with 2x Recson Vs, 1 SRAB, 4x Micromissiles and 2x Thunderbolt MRM Racks.  The lack of PD is apparent and even Magicbox PDs wouldn't really work due to the orientation of the missile slots.  But other than that, it feels like a solid destroyer.  Again, like the Calm, I fit a Converted Hangar using a Frost LPC and I'm wondering if it would be better to drop that for ECCM.  Also, keep the 2x Recson Vs and the SRAB or go 2x SRAB and 1 Recson V?

Is the SRAB projectile considered a missile?  If I fit ECCM, would that apply to the SRAB ball?


14
Mods / Re: [0.8.1a] Diable Avionics 1.85 (01/07/2017)
« on: July 28, 2017, 04:18:27 PM »
A Glowtusk/Grave Vapor is not a good loadout right now. The Grave is too flux heavy for a Vapor to handle, the Glowtusk is just not very good right now, and they're both sub-700 range. You'd have a lot more luck with 2x Trifire Scatter Cannon (Slightly flux heavy but very flux efficient) or 2x Recson V (long range and flux efficient) on a Vapor, but even a Glowtusk/Grave Vapor shouldn't be getting itself killed too often. Are you hitting Full Assault at the start of every battle? The IBIS's don't really matter, but I've never found the Vapor to need PD. I'd recommend swapping them for some HE missiles.

You gave the Fractus a Recson V, and it wants to use that Recson V to kill things. Try giving it an LRM, like a Thrush. The Fractus is very slow, so if it gets anywhere near the battle it's not going to be able to retreat if it comes under heavy fire, so you do not want to give it weapons that require it to be anywhere near the battle. If all else fails, you can give it a carrier rally order and it'll stick around there.

Alright, I'll try one of each.  A dual Trifire and a dual Recson V and see which works out better.  I'll also swap the IBIS/Magicbox PDs out for some torpedoes or HE missiles.  Personally, I am really terrible at using missiles myself, but the AI does a decent job of knowing when to fire them.  The Fractus I used one of the autofit loadouts which gave me what it currently is using.  I don't know the Diable weapon systems very well yet, so I have been using autofit loadouts for everything.  Glowtusk/Grave is the "Standard" variant for the Vapor I believe.  I'll remove the Recson V from the Fractus and leave the slot empty until I can find a Thrush to replace it.

I almost never use Full Assault.  I issue commands individually to my ships where needed.  Usually with frigates I'll issue orders to them in pairs.  Set two frigates on a target and have them gang up on something.

15
Mods / Re: [0.8.1a] Diable Avionics 1.85 (01/07/2017)
« on: July 28, 2017, 03:27:34 PM »

My experience with DA ships has been almost the exact opposite of yours; I've always found Vapors to be very survivable, and the Fractus to hang back far enough to stay out of trouble. Vapors are fast, have an omni shield, and have a ship system that's basically a get-out-of-jail free card that the AI is very willing to use.

Since our experiences are very different, this sounds like a loadout issue to me; can you post pictures of your Vapor and Fractus loadouts? Vapors really want the range of medium ballistics and don't have the flux to use many energy weapons at all, so if you're sticking 2x pulse laser on your Vapors they're probably soft-fluxing themselves to death. The Fractus has a universal slot that really should be a missile slot, because it doesn't have the flux to mount 3 smalls and a medium.


I try to keep my weapon flux stats as close to the vent rate as possible.  Pulse Lasers are for Cruisers and up, IMO.  Even Destroyers have trouble balancing the flux of Pulse Lasers.  Frigates certainly wouldn't be able to handle the flux rate of a Pulse Laser unless that was the only weapon it had and nothing else.

The Fractus: 1 Recson V, 3x IBIS.  Hull Mods: Insulated Engine Assembly, Expanded Deck Crew

Spoiler

[close]

The Vapors: 1 Glowtusk Linear Rifle, 1 Grave HMC, 2x IBIS.  Hull Mods: Insulated Engine Assembly
My personal Vapor has 2x Magicbox PD instead of the 2x IBIS but everything else is the same.
Weapon groups on the Vapors are set to have the Glowtusk to autofire while the Grave HMC is manually controlled.  I know the AI kinda doesn't care and will tend to fire HE weapons at shields anyway.

Spoiler

[close]

The Insulated Engine Assembly is on every ship in my fleet.  Its there because I'm currently trying to go all privateer against Hegemony and Tri-Tachyon merchant fleets to generate income.  So I'm going all sneaky ninja like with my transponder off and going dark a lot to avoid patrols.  I want the smallest sensor profile I can get ATM.  Insulated Engine Assembly doesn't technically have to be there and I don't intend for it to be there permanently, but it only costs three OP on frigates.  Once I'm done raiding merchants I was going to dump Insulated Engine Assembly anyway.

Question, are there any other mods in play?
It might be that you are using some fairly broken mod and the enemy is using weapons from that mod do they end up stronger than they should.

For this play through I have these mods enabled.

Nexerelin
Dynasector
Combat Chatter
Common Radar
LazyLib
Omnifactory
Portrait Pack
Practice Targets
Ship/Weapon Pack
Unknown Skies
Upgraded Rotary Weapons
Audio Plus
GraphicsLib
Lightshow
Blackrock Drive Yards
Shadowyards
Underworld
Diable Avionics
SCY Nation

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