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[Paul]

So I have been playing with the different ships, and among frigates and destroyers the Hammerhead with safety overrides just dominates everything. It's not the best in AI hands because the AI isn't aggressive enough with it, but in a player's hands it is monstrously powerful.

I started using the ship like this in the tutorial of my first game. I put 4 light machine guns, 2 assault chainguns, 2 reaper torpedos (they were all available during the tutorial for me). 20 points into vents, flux distributor, safety override, and the last point in capacitors. It was a D class with a faulty power grid, which hurt the build a lot, but it still did well. Using this ship I was able to wipe out the pirates with ease, but it was a bit of a glass cannon with the low flux capacity.

Then I bought a pristine hammerhead. Without the faulty power grid I was able to go 20 vents 9 capacitors and have more venting and way more flux capacity. With higher vent rate and almost double the flux capacity, suddenly the ship was no longer fragile. No pirate fleet stood a chance. So I decided to find a bigger challenge.

I jumped a Hegemony detachment with an onslaught, 3 enforcers, and 5 frigates (lashers and vigilances I believe they were), fully expecting to get blown to bits but excited to see how well I would do. I had my starter frigates flying after the nav relay and sensor jammer, but did all the real fighting myself. I avoided the big guy at first and just flew around wrecking the supporting frigates and destroyers while they captured points. I managed to take out all of them, although one of the enforcers hid behind the onslaught a bit and was difficult to finish off (but I still outmaneuvered and destroyed it). Then I just got in behind the onslaught. Fired both torpedoes into the engines then hammered away at it with everything I had until it died. The rear guns on it almost got me and I had to juggle shields up and down and strafe around a bit to avoid some of them, and pretty much all my armor and most of my hull was gone by the time it was done, but I beat a hegemony detachment with the starting ships plus one destroyer with only one lost frigate (I lost the wayfarer to a lasher/enforcer/vigilance attack, but the drone ship got away).

I have since tried every other destroyer in the game, and nothing quite compares to the build I stumbled upon in my first few minutes of playing. It can kill every other destroyer with ease and most cruisers, and even apparently onslaughts (although it was a very difficult fight). And it only uses up 8 supplies.

Anyone else stumble upon this playstyle and have success with it? What other crazy ship builds have you tried and found powerful?

[Dri]

Safety Overrides is basically the "Berserker" class of Starsector and it can be quite effective as most ships in the game can't handle a constant stream of fire that SO affords!

[Voyager I]

Safety Overrides is basically the "Berserker" class of Starsector and it can be quite effective as most ships in the game can't handle a constant stream of fire that SO affords!

See also: the first time you encountered Pather ships.

[TaLaR]

SO Lasher dominates frigates and most DEs in similar way. Except it doesn't have that many enemies faster than it, which is very important when you have no range or CR-time to speak of.

[Thaago]

The Hammerhead is hands down my favorite Destroyer this patch. The new Accelerated Ammo Feeder + the larger than average OP increase have made them just great. Practically every loadout I put on works, though I find that Hard Shields + Resistant Flux Conduits is a really good set of hullmods to keep them going.

There is nothing quite like activating my Entropy Amplifier (target ship takes extra damage) at the same time an Afflictor forces their shields down with a mini-overload at the same time an allied Hammerhead actives their Accelerated Ammo Feeder.

[AxleMC131]

Hammerhead is an exceptional all-round destroyer. In my opinion it's probably the most forgiving destroyer in the game, and it's incredibly customizable, meaning it's great for first-time players and veterans alike. You really can't go wrong with it.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, the Hammerhead is also extremely friendly to your supplies. With a base maintenance requirement of 8 supplies per month, it's one of the cheapest proper combat destroyers to maintain.

[StarGibbon]

Hammerhead is an exceptional all-round destroyer. In my opinion it's probably the most forgiving destroyer in the game, and it's incredibly customizable, meaning it's great for first-time players and veterans alike. You really can't go wrong with it.

It also benefits from the new salvage system in that Hammerheads are frequently encountered, and dont tend to be crippled by D-mods. It's pretty easy to shore up your fleet with cheap, trashy salvaged hammerheads.

[Thaago]

Mm, true. Usually as long as they don't have glitched sensor arrays (range mod... )

Now, I just need to find that extended hangar hullmod! Waaay back in the day my go to ship was a Hammerhead with a Broadsword along in its 6 Hangar space. (Which I totally didn't get popped by the am blaster of a Buffalo Mk II while live streaming. Nope. Not me.) I want my escort wing.

[AxleMC131]

Now, I just need to find that extended hangar hullmod! Waaay back in the day my go to ship was a Hammerhead with a Broadsword along in its 6 Hangar space. (Which I totally didn't get popped by the am blaster of a Buffalo Mk II while live streaming. Nope. Not me.) I want my escort wing.

... Are you alright? The Hammerhead isn't a carrier. Since when did it have hangar space?

Also, are you thinking of the "Converted Hangar" hullmod? That allows non-carrier ships to mount a fighter wing.

[Thaago]

Like I said: waaaay back in the day. All of the fighters needed 'Hangar space' to be in the fleet - carriers had a lot, but other ships could have some as well. The Hammerhead had just enough for a Broadsword wing, though I had to be careful to not have it destroyed as I had nothing to respawn them.

And yes, I want the "Converted Hangar" hullmod very badly, but have never found it. Any ideas where it might be?

[Wyvern]

Converted hangar is really nice... and egregiously rare, as (I'm pretty sure) none of the default variants use it.  I think I found mine in an abandoned research station?

[NinjaPirate]

So I have been playing with the different ships, and among frigates and destroyers the Hammerhead with safety overrides just dominates everything. It's not the best in AI hands because the AI isn't aggressive enough with it, but in a player's hands it is monstrously powerful.

I started using the ship like this in the tutorial of my first game. I put 4 light machine guns, 2 assault chainguns, 2 reaper torpedos (they were all available during the tutorial for me). 20 points into vents, flux distributor, safety override, and the last point in capacitors. It was a D class with a faulty power grid, which hurt the build a lot, but it still did well. Using this ship I was able to wipe out the pirates with ease, but it was a bit of a glass cannon with the low flux capacity.

Then I bought a pristine hammerhead. Without the faulty power grid I was able to go 20 vents 9 capacitors and have more venting and way more flux capacity. With higher vent rate and almost double the flux capacity, suddenly the ship was no longer fragile. No pirate fleet stood a chance. So I decided to find a bigger challenge.

I jumped a Hegemony detachment with an onslaught, 3 enforcers, and 5 frigates (lashers and vigilances I believe they were), fully expecting to get blown to bits but excited to see how well I would do. I had my starter frigates flying after the nav relay and sensor jammer, but did all the real fighting myself. I avoided the big guy at first and just flew around wrecking the supporting frigates and destroyers while they captured points. I managed to take out all of them, although one of the enforcers hid behind the onslaught a bit and was difficult to finish off (but I still outmaneuvered and destroyed it). Then I just got in behind the onslaught. Fired both torpedoes into the engines then hammered away at it with everything I had until it died. The rear guns on it almost got me and I had to juggle shields up and down and strafe around a bit to avoid some of them, and pretty much all my armor and most of my hull was gone by the time it was done, but I beat a hegemony detachment with the starting ships plus one destroyer with only one lost frigate (I lost the wayfarer to a lasher/enforcer/vigilance attack, but the drone ship got away).

I have since tried every other destroyer in the game, and nothing quite compares to the build I stumbled upon in my first few minutes of playing. It can kill every other destroyer with ease and most cruisers, and even apparently onslaughts (although it was a very difficult fight). And it only uses up 8 supplies.

Anyone else stumble upon this playstyle and have success with it? What other crazy ship builds have you tried and found powerful?

The Hammerhead is easily one of my favorite ships in game.  I will have to give this a try.

[Voyager I]

The Override Hamerhead was good enough to be a contender even in 0.72 when the Hammerhead was generally considered to be an underwhelming ship.  It's really well suited to a Chaingun berserker build.

[arwan]

Like I said: waaaay back in the day. All of the fighters needed 'Hangar space' to be in the fleet - carriers had a lot, but other ships could have some as well. The Hammerhead had just enough for a Broadsword wing, though I had to be careful to not have it destroyed as I had nothing to respawn them.

And yes, I want the "Converted Hangar" hullmod very badly, but have never found it. Any ideas where it might be?

Way way... way back in the day. Fighters were just like ships, no hangers needed "started with alpha .35"

[Drokkath]

During the much earlier versions of SS a few years back, I used Falcon and Eagle due to firepower potential but they were too slow, I remember not being able to catch faster pirate ships until I didn't find neither the Falcon or the Eagle being sold a few game versions later and so by the time I saw them on sale in-game back then, I already had bought my Hammerhead which I filled to the brim with hull mods and weapons and had chainguns in front as a primary weapon group to grind hostiles down to swiss-cheese. It was quite satisfying.

I am glad that the Battlercruiser from Starcraf- ehrhem, I mean I am glad that the Ramming Frigate from Homeworld Catacly- ackh! I mean I'm glad that the Hammerhead in SS is still something fierce.
Speaking of Hammerhead, I should make another character who will be using it, it's been a long while now since I last flew the original ship and not the Tiandong's wonderful version of it which I have piloted and liked too recently.