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31

General Discussion / Re: Build Two Items into new Paragon

« on: September 18, 2021, 05:12:19 PM »

For the Paragon specifically, I recommend an "All Big Gun" setup that the Dreadnaught-era battleships learned prior to World War I. The basic idea is this: if you take a "Balanced" Paragon that is carefully constructed to not overflux itself, has ample anti-fighter, isn't vulnerable in the rear, etc. and pit it against a Paragon that is 2x Plasma Cannon and 2x Tachyon Lance (and maybe token PD and/or Heavy Needlers in the universals) with the rest dedicated maxing out Vents, Capacitors, Hull Mods and maximizing its shield (i.e. lowering upkeep and maximizing efficiency), the Big Gun Paragon will win every time.

The philosophy is this: when it comes to taking down other big ships, the one that can effectively bring most guns to bear wins. Nothing can match the power of Plasma Cannons and Tach Lances out-range just about everything else (and do ridiculous damage/EMP). And the fact that the Big Gun Paragon doesn't have a bunch of smaller weapons firing means that those big guns stay in the fight longer. Yes, you lose some of the versatility and it makes it vulnerable to faster craft but think about it: Paragons are about immune to anything smaller than a Cruiser anyway. For Remnant hunting, cracking Stations, or bringing down other Capitals, you can't do much better.

I like the way you think. I don't have any of the Tachyon lances yet, though I do have a couple of the plasma cannons I can experiment with. Interesting. Thanks for the idea!

32

General Discussion / Re: Any mod out there that lets me throw every ship in my possession at the enemy?

« on: September 18, 2021, 03:45:17 PM »

The amount of deployment points you get is determined by the number and quality of your officers, the capture points you control during a battle and the game settings under "Settings" that set max battle size.

There's also a thread I started a week or so ago asking how to modify the game files so that both sides could have more deployment points. I'm sure it has a title saying something similar to yours.

If you set it to 400 max in the game, then your max deployment would be 60% of that or 240. I did take my settings up to 600 or so and I found the AI did a poor job of managing larger ships in what became a crowded space. One of the improvements expected in the next patch is that smaller ships do a better job of not staying in front of larger ships which prevents the larger ships from firing.

1. Check your max battle size. Make sure it's 400.
2. Hire some officers and max their skills.

I start with 224 deployment points quite regularly, prior to battle start, then I capture one capture point, which gives me my max of 240 quite easily. I do have my character plus 10 officers and each is at least level 5. Good luck!

Edit: I guess it wasn't me who asked. Here's how to change game files and battle size beyond 400. https://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=22499.0

33

General Discussion / Re: Build Two Items into new Paragon

« on: September 18, 2021, 11:51:12 AM »

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. I put two built-ins into four capital ships and I just ran my first 300k credit bounty without losing a single ship. The AI controls all my ships and what I observed is that they were more aggressive with the built in defensive mods and were certainly more effective. It's the first large battle I have really enjoyed watching.

Paragon - Harden Shields and Reinforced Bulkheads. Damage last battle: 546,571 with 31 DP solo kills and 81 DP assists. Send this one in with a level 5 agressive commander and really don't think about it any more.

Conquest - Hardened Shields and Reinforced Bulkheads. Damage last battle: 412,938 with 5 DP solo kills and 18 DP assists. This is my second favorite ship under AI control. Level 7 steady, and it consistently ends up behind enemy lines hitting the enemy from the rear. It does end up with hull damage, but it's not known for it's defense. The Reinforced Bulkheads give it enough life to retreat. Well worth the deployment cost.

Onslaught XIV - Heavy Armor and Reinforced Bulkheads. Damage last battle: 328,523 with 39 DP solo kills and 25 DP assists. This ships was a salvage and still has a few D-mods. Level 5 aggressive and it cleans house

Odyssey - Hardened Shields and Integrated Targeting Unit. Damage last battle: 321,660 with 0 DP solo kills and 37 DP assists.Has to be my favorite ship in the AI's hands. Level 7 steady commander with hit and run all day long. Tough as nails.

I don't have access to any better capitals at this point, though I'm always killing and looking for some new trophy. 

34

General Discussion / Re: Build Two Items into new Paragon

« on: September 18, 2021, 10:01:33 AM »

I've been building in Hardened Shields to almost every ship, even Low Tech. It's a universally good upgrade that saves any ship tons of flux over the course of a fight. For the Paragon, even with its .6 efficiency (which is great), you can get it down to about .32 via Hardened Shields, Shield Modulation and 100% CR rating. That basically doubles the amount of damage you can take on shields relative to the base value for the same amount of hard flux. That's huge. Fortress shield is great but barring some super heavy kinetics barrages, it likely generates as much flux as taking heavy fire on standard shields (and you can't fire back). Fortress gives the Paragon unparalleled longevity but turtling up does have its drawbacks.

As for the other S-Mod, "wasting" it on Stabilized Shields seems silly (although anything to cut that 750 shield upkeep down is vital) but Auxiliary Thrusters is also a good upgrade for the lumbering behemoth. Alternatively, if you go with a Disco Ball Paragon (all beams), building in Advanced Optics wouldn't be bad. I also find building in Converted Hanger makes swallowing the cost of double-OP fighters a bit more manageable so if you want some extra versatility, that's not bad either (though fighters are a bit lackluster this patch).

All fantastic info! I was able to take it into two bounty missions last night and one pirate engagement. Yes, I completely see you point about the benefits of investing in shields. I do have more of the default build with the torpedoes, though it sounds like there is a way to make a "disco ball" version. Will have to play with it this weekend as time allows. Thanks!

35

General Discussion / Re: Build Two Items into new Paragon

« on: September 17, 2021, 04:15:46 PM »

Stabilized Shields are great on Paragon, but it is relatively cheap.  I would not s-mod that in if I have another more expensive hullmod.

I also wondered a bit about giving it the hullmod that increased maneuverability by 50%. Lots of things to experiment with using the 1 vs 1 combat in the fitting screen. So glad we have that feature!

Auxiliary Thrusters are somewhat expensive on capitals.  I do not use it on Paragon, although I get all of the mobility skills.

Hmm. I'll have to take a look at those skills. Thanks!

36

General Discussion / Re: Build Two Items into new Paragon

« on: September 17, 2021, 02:47:47 PM »

Thanks to Megas and ubuntufreakdragon regarding the Paragon's use of shields and the Fortress Shield. Fortunately the Fortress Shield is defined on the WIKI and so I have a better idea of what it is, though I still haven't been able to use it. Will be an experience.

I also wondered a bit about giving it the hullmod that increased maneuverability by 50%. Lots of things to experiment with using the 1 vs 1 combat in the fitting screen. So glad we have that feature!

37

General Discussion / Re: Build Two Items into new Paragon & Hegemony Rep

« on: September 17, 2021, 02:43:09 PM »

Edit: On another note, I was informed of an AI inspection by the Hegemony while I was writing the original post and I saw one of the options was to resist. Why not? How mad could they get? Well, I went form +100 to -50 just like that and I lost my nearly 100k a month commission. Darn that's a lot of money at this stage.

The whole thing makes me wonder if there's no way to make peace with them. Maybe I should align with Tri-Tachyon because they seem to care less about all the AI's I have in my two colonies. They're both run by the Blue AI, and every industry has some AI help. I'm not sure, but it seems to me that the Hegemony would just keep sending the AI inspections and I'd keep losing story points. There are five planets in Duzahk and one colony has a Star Fortress (largest) + High Command and the other has a Battle Station + is building high command. As soon as I have the extra credits I'll upgrade the second colony to Star Fortress as well. Maybe I should just let the Hegemony bang their heads against my superior fleets while I run some bounty and pirate missions for Tri-Tachyon and bring my rep up?

Yes, the Hegemony will keep sending AI inspections every so often when you use alpha cores. If you resist then they'll go to war with you.

However, if you turn your transponder off and intercept that AI inspection fleet in hyperspace, and kill it, then you'll only lose 5 rep, since you're an unknown fleet (with transponder off). So with good relations with them, you'll pretty much never have to actually worry about those AI inspections, as long as you have a fleet that can kill the AI inspection fleet.

This is a sneaky, though very smart move. Going to try this with my wife of 24 years. First, I'll put a one of those blue Covid masks on then I'll let her know that I'd like to see her cook more delicious meals and that I think she should take of the job of cleaning the dishes.  Then I'll go in the other room, remove the mask, change shirts and act like nothing happened. Bet it works! She'll never know.

38

General Discussion / Re: Build Two Items into new Paragon

« on: September 17, 2021, 02:39:36 PM »

Definitely s-mod in Hardened Shields.  It will be one of your more expensive hullmods on Paragon.

My other pick would be Augmented Drive Field (40 OP), but others do not care about burn speed or do not mind having four or more tugs in their fleet.  If you do not care about ADF, pick the other most expensive hullmod you always use on Paragon.  You probably have some other hullmod worth at least 25 OP on it.

Wow, four tugs. That's taking up quite a few of the limited (30) slots. Maybe the ADF is a good choice. Thanks!

Be aware that ADF on a ship you use in battle is a big combat penalty on an extremely expensive (in credits and DP) ship. Tugs (if you even want them, I don't care enough about flying at 16 burn) carry no combat penalty as a fleet with a capital is going to run up against the deployment cap far sooner than the 30 ship cap.

While this isn't a hullmod to be built in because its cheap, you absolutely want Stabilized Shields on Paragons. Helps a lot.

Thank you! I'm with you regarding speed, I think. Need to put in a bit more game time to see. I do get the tug portion and will have to experiment with them as well, once I find one. Good to know about the shield on the Paragon. Several people here agree with you.

39

General Discussion / Re: Build Two Items into new Paragon

« on: September 17, 2021, 09:26:14 AM »

I try to only s-mod in the most expensive hull mods. Hardened Shields and Reinforced Bulkheads are what I put on my Paragons, and s-modding them into the hull saves 60 OP!

As for why you should put hardened shields on your Paragon, with the right officer skills (shield modulation) you can get the shield flux/incoming damage stat down to 0.35. On a ship with over 2,000 flux dissipation (and with Front Shields or Stabilized Shields to reduce shield upkeep by 3-400 flux) this means you can absorb something like 6,000 (soft flux) DPS and you have the 15% hard flux dissipation under raised shields from officer skills, plus the fortress shield ability. So, in short, hardened shields makes an already tanky ship that much tankier.

I don't like heavy armor on my Paragon and go for reinforced bulkheads instead. Heavy Armor is good against big swarms of small ships but the things which have posed a dire threat to my Paragon in the past do enough damage to ignore the armor this ship would have from Heavy Armor (5x Tachyon Lance Radiant, Star Fortress with Tachyon Lances, enemy Dooms with Reaper torpedoes, etc.) or at least destroy the armor in one hit. Reinforced Bulkheads lets you take more armor-penetrating hits and keep firing.

Thank you! I appreciate you sharing your reasoning as well. I've yet to take this ship into combat, much less have any near end game experiences. The reinforced bulkheads does add quite a bit of hull, considering you start with so much. It must be a huge ship in real life. J

40

General Discussion / Re: Build Two Items into new Paragon

« on: September 17, 2021, 09:23:38 AM »

Why in the world would you build hardened shields on Paragon? It has a fortress shield, like 90% of shield flux comes from upkeep, not damage absorption. Heavy armor makes a lot more sense, to protect it when venting.

You make a good point! They do have to vent at times. Thanks!

41

General Discussion / Re: Build Two Items into new Paragon

« on: September 17, 2021, 09:22:57 AM »

Definitely s-mod in Hardened Shields.  It will be one of your more expensive hullmods on Paragon.

My other pick would be Augmented Drive Field (40 OP), but others do not care about burn speed or do not mind having four or more tugs in their fleet.  If you do not care about ADF, pick the other most expensive hullmod you always use on Paragon.  You probably have some other hullmod worth at least 25 OP on it.

Wow, four tugs. That's taking up quite a few of the limited (30) slots. Maybe the ADF is a good choice. Thanks!

42

General Discussion / Re: Build Two Items into new Paragon & Hegemony Rep

« on: September 17, 2021, 04:29:06 AM »

I haven't used the Paragon extensively, but the hardened shields are a definitive pick here. Paragon can do armor and hull tanking when it's necessary, but it has good flux stats, a strong shield and a shield-boosting system, so boosting it's shields will get you much more mileage.

Thanks! That's a good start for me. I have zero experience with that ship so far.

Edit: On another note, I was informed of an AI inspection by the Hegemony while I was writing the original post and I saw one of the options was to resist. Why not? How mad could they get? Well, I went form +100 to -50 just like that and I lost my nearly 100k a month commission. Darn that's a lot of money at this stage.

The whole thing makes me wonder if there's no way to make peace with them. Maybe I should align with Tri-Tachyon because they seem to care less about all the AI's I have in my two colonies. They're both run by the Blue AI, and every industry has some AI help. I'm not sure, but it seems to me that the Hegemony would just keep sending the AI inspections and I'd keep losing story points. There are five planets in Duzahk and one colony has a Star Fortress (largest) + High Command and the other has a Battle Station + is building high command. As soon as I have the extra credits I'll upgrade the second colony to Star Fortress as well. Maybe I should just let the Hegemony bang their heads against my superior fleets while I run some bounty and pirate missions for Tri-Tachyon and bring my rep up?

43

General Discussion / Build Two Items into new Paragon

« on: September 16, 2021, 11:36:27 PM »

I found the BP for the Paragon, and I could use some advice. It's the first ship that many people on the forum mention keeping, and I just built one. To my surprise it came with the default fitting found in the fitting screen.

I can build two hull mods into the ship. Keep in mind I don't pilot my own ships. What would make the most sense? I can get 500 more armor for 40 points or 40% more hull for 30 points with blast doors. Adding the armor takes me to 2000 armor, but the blast doors add something like 4000 hull or so. Also the hardened shields are 30 points. I could build those in. What works well for an AI piloted Paragon?

What's a good build, considering I don't have any tachyon weapons and I'm not using mods. I also have not really started the story line so I don't have any of those special weapons. Thanks!

44

General Discussion / Re: Legion XIV > STD Legion

« on: September 16, 2021, 04:00:29 PM »

My standard Legion could never beat an Onslaught in AI controlled 1 vs 1 combat from the fitting screen, but the Legion 14 sure can. It's a heck of an improvement in my limited gaming experience. I kind of like it.

45

General Discussion / Re: What I Wish I Knew About Starsector (new player guide)

« on: September 16, 2021, 03:56:41 PM »

Excellent read. Super helpful. Also loved the comments from the veterans.