Fractal Softworks Forum

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

News:

Starsector 0.97a is out! (02/02/24); New blog post: Simulator Enhancements (03/13/24)

Pages: [1] 2

Author Topic: Killing the Mothership  (Read 10840 times)

Hypilein

  • Commander
  • ***
  • Posts: 101
    • View Profile
Killing the Mothership
« on: April 25, 2017, 12:38:27 PM »

So, I finally managed to find one of these buggers and kill them after many tries. In the end I used a Paragon as Flagship, an Astral and the rest Drovers/Moras and Herons, mostly loaded up with Piranhas, Longbows and Sparks. On the Astral I used 5 of the Flash Bombers from the remnants.

Used Daggers on my first try and they are so useless. Their torpedo just gets shot down. 20 OP for that...

Still, it was a really tough nut to crack so I am curious how you guys managed. With the 180 OP limit, you are really limited to no more than 4 Conquests or 3 Paragons. I don't think 3 Paragons would have enough fire power under the constant pressure from that station. It's so annoying that it turns.
Logged

Roflzozicals

  • Ensign
  • *
  • Posts: 6
    • View Profile
Re: Killing the Mothership
« Reply #1 on: April 25, 2017, 01:08:21 PM »

The domain mother ship? It was fairly easy for me just used an enforcer, a heron with 3 khopesh and 3 shepards and just shredded it. I love the weak point mechanic which I assume is applied to remnant stations as well, makes it so you don't have to sit there for days plinking a 40k hp brick
Logged

CrashToDesktop

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 3876
  • Quartermaster
    • View Profile
Re: Killing the Mothership
« Reply #2 on: April 25, 2017, 01:13:11 PM »

Err, the Domain mothership?  Hopefully you're talking about the Remnant Battlestation and not the Mothership.  The Mothership is easy because it's only got (relatively) short range weapons.  The Remnant Battlestation however, is a much tougher nut because it's got massive range and a lot of substations.

Do note that station-type things have infinite hull durability and you have to instead take out all the substations and components.
Logged
Quote from: Trylobot
I am officially an epoch.
Quote from: Thaago
Note: please sacrifice your goats responsibly, look up the proper pronunciation of Alex's name. We wouldn't want some other project receiving mystic power.

Twogs

  • Lieutenant
  • **
  • Posts: 76
    • View Profile
Re: Killing the Mothership
« Reply #3 on: April 25, 2017, 01:31:41 PM »

I destoyed both, Mothership and Battlestation with a Hammerhead, 2 Drover and a Mule.

But apparently there are different versions of the Station, some much tougher than the one I fought.
Logged

Igncom1

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 1496
    • View Profile
Re: Killing the Mothership
« Reply #4 on: April 25, 2017, 01:48:52 PM »

Huh, and to think I was planning an expodision to one of the stations to take it out.

My current fleet might do the trick: 1xLegion 2xEagle 2xMora 7xFalcon 1xApogge? 12xLasher 1xDram 3xSalvage Rig

That said, it's mostly low tech hegemony stuff which suffers in the AI's hands against longrange stuff and missile spam, so I'm looking to replace the fleets laser pd with the burst laser pd, the annihilator missiles with sabot missiles and the remaining assault guns on the Lashers with duel autocannons, as shield are often a concern for them. The problem is amassing the fuel and supplies to warrant the journey to get there.
Logged
Sunders are the best ship in the game.

Hypilein

  • Commander
  • ***
  • Posts: 101
    • View Profile
Re: Killing the Mothership
« Reply #5 on: April 25, 2017, 02:38:38 PM »

Ah my bad. Of course I'm talking about the Remnant Battle Station. The Mothership was a piece of cake. To be honest, I wish you could do the second in command thing on most of the Domain Automated Defenses. They are sooo bad, and soloing them in my Medusa quickly got old. I guess you could try killing them with your fleet of Drams for increased excitement. Extra drama, for when you don't get back because you couldn't carry the fuel...

Killing the Battlestation with just a Hammerhead, 2 Drovers and a Mule seems impossible. You can't micro that station as it outranges everything. I actually took multiple trys with my setup, because I had too many Daggers/Longbows and too few Flashs/Piranhas in my first effort.
Logged

Dri

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 1403
    • View Profile
Re: Killing the Mothership
« Reply #6 on: April 25, 2017, 02:47:42 PM »

Heh, I have two Beam Wolves that I always deploy to deal with domain drones. I don't even close the command screen and just watch their little icons dance around and pop all the drones.
Logged

Hypilein

  • Commander
  • ***
  • Posts: 101
    • View Profile
Re: Killing the Mothership
« Reply #7 on: April 25, 2017, 03:03:38 PM »

I guess I could just have a little break every time I encounter them. Still, it feels unnecessary when the option to let the 2nd in Command handle easy engagements is there.

Back on topic? I can't be the only one who has beaten a battle station. Btw, the loot was pretty miserable. Loads of AI cores (aka money) but no weapons/fighter LPCs or anything else that may be of value. And I had to recover 5 or 6 of my ships, which probably lost a bunch of things. Probably worth it money wise but only because I got lucky and all the ships were recoverable.
Logged

CrashToDesktop

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 3876
  • Quartermaster
    • View Profile
Re: Killing the Mothership
« Reply #8 on: April 26, 2017, 04:24:58 PM »

Spoiler
[close]
God forbid when I have to fight that.  A completely intact battlestation, possibly as powerful as it comes.  I'm gonna have to break out the heavy weaponry for that, just a handful of carriers and destroyers wasn't enough for that beast of war.  At least now I know why the Hegemony were eager to get the First AI War over with.
Logged
Quote from: Trylobot
I am officially an epoch.
Quote from: Thaago
Note: please sacrifice your goats responsibly, look up the proper pronunciation of Alex's name. We wouldn't want some other project receiving mystic power.

Midnight Kitsune

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 2846
  • Your Friendly Forum Friend
    • View Profile
Re: Killing the Mothership
« Reply #9 on: April 26, 2017, 04:40:15 PM »

Spoiler
[close]
God forbid when I have to fight that.  A completely intact battlestation, possibly as powerful as it comes.  I'm gonna have to break out the heavy weaponry for that, just a handful of carriers and destroyers wasn't enough for that beast of war.  At least now I know why the Hegemony were eager to get the First AI War over with.
Hard Mode:
And yes, it is doable. That is in the SIM as there is no way to fight more than one station
Logged
Help out MesoTroniK, a modder in need

2021 is 2020 won
2022 is 2020 too

bowman

  • Commander
  • ***
  • Posts: 101
    • View Profile
Re: Killing the Mothership
« Reply #10 on: April 27, 2017, 12:56:22 AM »

This ended up much longer than I had expected but I'll keep it and hope someone else enjoys reading of failed attempts as much as I enjoyed coming up with and trying them.
I'm still trying to get a functional approach to this thing, though I'm fairly certain I have a plan that will work Main issue is that I'm limited by my commission with the Sindrian Diktat.

My first attempt was with two Conquests and two Astrals. It started off well enough, until the AI Conquest got obliterated as I hadn't realized it was tanking the station to allow the Astrals to do successful khopesh runs against one of the corner weapons pods. The second attempt was with one Conquest (my own) shifting in and out of focus of the battlestation supported by two Astrals (Still Khopesh and Longbow) and three Herons (loaded with wasps and gladius squadrons to provide some cheap target that could both swarm the station and provide a screen against the Flashes). That went quite a lot better though still failed as a result of mispositioning on my part and the increasingly saddening fact that I STILL haven't managed to get the Hardened Shields hullmod for the Conquests (as with it I have a feeling I could legitimately tank the battlestation, with some flux management, whereas right now that 1.4 flux/dmg ratio is painful).

Returning to the commission limiting me: I'm pretty sure it would work out fine if I had an Odyssey or a Paragon to simply soak damage to shields with a good ratio while the Astrals and Herons bombard the outer edges until I can properly approach and broadside it with the Conquest(s). If that fails, or if I simply get too impatient trying to salvage one, I'll probably get around to salvaging absolute metric tons of cheap frigates/destroyers and take the Stalin approach...
Did have a passing thought to grab a couple Onslaughts, arm them to the teeth, and simply burn drive right in and raise hell but I figure they'll simply get ripped to shreds by the sheer damage output of the station.

Oh, speaking of Odysseys and Paragons, will the Tri-Tach markets around Hybrasil spawn fleets with those? I've seen Astrals (and that's actually where I got the second one) but have yet to see either of those flying around.

This game is great, I'm really enjoying the challenge of coming up with a fleet setup for and subsequent attempt at actually putting the plans into practice against it.
Logged

Hypilein

  • Commander
  • ***
  • Posts: 101
    • View Profile
Re: Killing the Mothership
« Reply #11 on: April 27, 2017, 01:59:55 AM »

Yep, Paragon tanking and Bombers from Astral killing seems to be the way to go. In smaller engagements the Astral is just sooo slow though. I think a lvl 3 Helmsmanship Admiral is really required for them and I had none with fighter skills. Not a problem against the Battlestation but pretty annoying vs Hegemony Detachments/Defense fleets as they arrive way too late. I guess you could just only use Astrals but I prefer Drovers mixed in because they give the most Fighters/Deployment (1Fighter Bay/6DP vs 1 Fighter Bay/7,5DP on the Astral). Not saying it is unbalanced though. The Astral certainly is more useful in bigger engagements.
Logged

goduranus

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 925
    • View Profile
Re: Killing the Mothership
« Reply #12 on: April 27, 2017, 02:13:36 AM »

Drover is actually 1fighter/3 DP because the reserve squadrons ability recharge really quick.

goduranus

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 925
    • View Profile
Re: Killing the Mothership
« Reply #13 on: April 27, 2017, 02:32:04 AM »

Hard Mode:
And yes, it is doable. That is in the SIM as there is no way to fight more than one station

Starsector - The bullet hell arcade shooter

Twogs

  • Lieutenant
  • **
  • Posts: 76
    • View Profile
Re: Killing the Mothership
« Reply #14 on: April 27, 2017, 08:47:21 AM »

Drover is actually 1fighter/3 DP because the reserve squadrons ability recharge really quick.

1/4 DP the ability gives +50% fighters, so "3" wings on 12 DP
Logged
Pages: [1] 2