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781

General Discussion / Re: Let's Play

« on: April 04, 2015, 10:59:00 AM »

I think it's better to pilot the biggest ship, whether fragile or not. The reason is, only the ship the player is piloting gets certain skill advantages. A combat ten Onslaught is a terror capable of destroying a Paragon. With some Technology skill levels, you will have enough OP to give it an elite loadout as well as hull modifications to increase its speed. If you don't like the AI occasionally derping with the weaker ships, I would recommend not adding them to your fleet; you can only control one ship, so I like to make it count.

In the cases where you find yourself up against another Onslaught or a Paragon, sure, that's absolutely correct. The rest of the time, I think being able to move those advantages around the battlefield on a smaller hull is probably more useful; you may not have quite as much raw power but you can bring it right to the focal point of the action.

Here's a solid, cheap escort destroyer loadout:

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It's not flashy or optimal, but getting one killed won't lose you any rare weapons. A couple of those can keep fighters and frigates off an Onslaught pretty well.

782

General Discussion / Re: Let's Play

« on: April 04, 2015, 06:44:05 AM »

I would strongly suggest piloting the smaller, faster ships in your fleet and leaving the big cruisers and battleships under AI control. Eagles, Dominators, etc. are tough and survivable; it's ships like the Alastor and Sunder you lost that really benefit from the player's touch. With more speed, you can react better to a changing situation; a high-tech destroyer like a Medusa is an excellent player flagship, because it has the mobility to let you flit around the battlefield, shoring up your forces where they're weak.

(Also, you can support more fighters; six wings with the Heron alone. I've never had much luck with Warthogs; try trading them in for Broadswords, Thunders, or more Gladii. Having adequate top cover makes a big difference in dealing with phase ships and enemy fighters.)

783

Mods / Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)

« on: April 03, 2015, 09:15:28 AM »

Had a chance to play around with the new version last night. Some feedback:

- New Shard weapons are much more powerful, more distinct roles. The Shard Gun is really excellent against phase ships - shuts them down hard.
- Not sure how I feel about the Megaceras yet - still feeling out the weapons layout. The bright orange panels on the forward wings are a little much, I think.
- Really disappointed with the change to the AM lance projectile. I feel like it breaks the unwritten principle that imminent danger to the ship (like Reapers, say) should be something you can see coming. It also detracts from the visceral satisfaction of nailing other ships with it. Your mod, your call, but I think it was a bad one.

Otherwise I'm delighted - the Scalaron Pulse is a fun, unique weapon, shades of EVO's SAD Modules and Ares' gunship weapon.

784

Mods / Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)

« on: April 02, 2015, 03:09:19 PM »

Try an Afflictor with four Shard Cannons, an Argus, and ITU . You only have to uncloak long enough to fire a burst - which is just wrong, in terms of how much damage you can do without taking any in return.

785

Mods / Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!

« on: March 31, 2015, 02:26:45 AM »

Re: Volley Guns... I didn't get the Volley Gun until I tried mounting one coaxially with a Squall and linking them in the same fire group. The flechettes are just a bit faster than the Squall round, so they whack the shield and then you have a nice followup wad of HE damage. It's a bit specialist, but the evil little hate-sprayer does have a valid and extremely satisfying role.

786

Modding Resources / Re: Mission editor 0.47 (Updated March 26) MAC TESTERS REALLY NEEDED

« on: March 28, 2015, 08:05:14 PM »

I've got a Mac, and a mod in progress that needs some missions - I'd be willing to give this a crack at some point.

787

General Discussion / Re: Dual Flack or Heavy Machine gun

« on: March 20, 2015, 10:21:23 PM »

There's something to be said for the HMG if you find yourself dealing with a lot of shielded fighters (an Enforcer with 3 + chainguns cleans up as an antifighter platform), but otherwise, dual flak or autocannons, Shard Cannons if I find myself running Blackrock.

788

Blog Posts / Re: A Starsector Reading List

« on: March 14, 2015, 10:37:15 PM »

The Joan D. Vinge/Vernor Vinge Zones of Thought universe, comprising:
by her:
"Media Man"
"Fool's Gold"
The Outcasts of Heaven Belt
by him:
"The Blabber"
A Fire Upon the Deep
A Deepness in the Sky
Children of the Sky

The Jack McDevitt I would have chosen is A Talent For War.
Some of Poul Anderson's work seems like a good fit, especially the Dominic Flandry stories; spy fiction set in the decline of a pan-human interstellar empire (Anderson had a highly depressive, cyclical view of history; it fits the tone of Starsector's setting).
If you like Merchanter's Luck, there's a bunch more stuff in that universe. Downbelow Station is probably the most relevant, along with Tripoint and Rimrunners, which center on various fugitive types trying to make an honest living.
Alexander Jablokov's Carve The Sky.

789

General Discussion / Re: optimal configuration for odyssey

« on: March 07, 2015, 05:43:03 PM »

The large mounts on an Odyssey aren't set up to have all three firing on the same target, except for a very narrow sliver on the port bow. It's not really worth fitting your ship around that - think of it as an asymmetric Conquest variant. Fit your port mounts to gnaw on the enemy while your starboard side is primarily defensive.

It's your choice whether to fit the Guardian or use an HBL - I don't find it makes much practical difference and I like the extra OP.

Here's one possible build at maxed Combat and Tech, taking the above into account:

Spoiler

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790

Mods / Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!

« on: February 25, 2015, 11:28:20 PM »

I find that you can get away with no PD at all on a Desdinova if you run a lot of fighters for top cover; I wouldn't recommend it, but it works.

My go-to lately has been this:

Spoiler

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But this is also really fun, running on the same general logic as OOZ's loadout:

Spoiler

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And this is what's up if you want a PD-less all-Shard all-star:

Spoiler

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791

General Discussion / Re: Heron; how do I get value out of it?

« on: February 19, 2015, 06:14:27 PM »

I tend to outfit my Herons to take and hold control points, so kinetics in the universal slot (needler/HVD), burst PD in the slots by the bridge, throwaway mining lasers in the rear, and an IR laser in the nose/side slot (towards the endgame, you can give them some bite with an AM blaster). A low-tech version is heavy auto/Blackrock dual shard in the universal and LR PD/tac lasers in all energy slots.

It'll rip through frigates and fighters, and a Heron can pin down a destroyer long enough for your mobile force to come to the rescue. It has great armor, and plenty of cargo capacity. It's a little pricey, but if you're running a lot of fighters, you're essentially paying more in upkeep as a tradeoff against replacing frigates constantly and the odd destroyer every few fights.

792

Mods / Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.2 - RC2 update

« on: February 19, 2015, 02:10:32 PM »

Played a round over lunch, and the Shard weapons are noticeably more effective. They're now much more solid generalist weapons - I no longer feel like mounting railguns on everything, there's genuine competition. Me likey.

The Mod Silverfish is a classy lady who's got it where it counts.

793

Mods / Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!

« on: January 30, 2015, 07:34:38 PM »

It *is* tempting to basically turn the Mod Silverfish into a Mod Starbridge.

I say go for it; maybe for purely visual reasons, make the wingtip mounts built-in INMs?

794

Mods / Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!

« on: January 28, 2015, 03:22:53 PM »

See, I like Pilums, because they tell me where carriers are. Then I just have to Burst Jet my way over there and kill them.

I wouldn't mind some kind of EMP/Kinetic LRM, or a Plasma Harpoon for spearing void-whales.

795

General Discussion / Re: How many of you only use one ship?

« on: January 26, 2015, 02:47:31 PM »

I tend to play with a fleet, but I usually optimize it as hammer-and-anvil, with my own ship as the hammer. Herons or Knights are decent anvils; their armor and relatively generous layouts make them pretty survivable in the time it takes for me to flank and crush an enemy. So there's a lot of me leading around a cloud of heavy fighters, wrecking the enemy carriers and flagship.

Now that Omnifactory is updated, I've been working more destroyers and frigates back into my fleet compositions.