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

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Author Topic: My thoughts and impressions  (Read 19892 times)

Thaago

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Re: My thoughts and impressions
« Reply #45 on: November 01, 2018, 10:22:28 PM »

And speaking of skills... maybe its time to start a new game and try a new build :) If you've beat the fully functioning Remnant station, thats pretty much it in the base game in terms of content.
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Blaine

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Re: My thoughts and impressions
« Reply #46 on: November 01, 2018, 11:31:40 PM »

"Two Onslaughts and a Legion are too many, use more cruisers!" say the members of the Starsector forums. Meanwhile....



In fairness, even after parking my second Onslaught, I took these guys down without too much trouble. Ten max-level officers and a player in an Onslaught are pretty big advantages.

And speaking of skills... maybe its time to start a new game and try a new build :) If you've beat the fully functioning Remnant station, thats pretty much it in the base game in terms of content.

Yeah, plus then I'll get to see the other half of the ships in the game outside of the Wiki or a faction patrol tooltip.

Bah, I keep forgetting to raid core systems. That's a great low-fuel activity, at least until two or three big patrols get after you.
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Blaine

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Re: My thoughts and impressions
« Reply #47 on: November 02, 2018, 01:04:34 AM »

Oh boy, what have we here? ;D



This was from one bounty battle. Needless to say, they cost a fortune to restore. This is why I keep playing this campaign... there are so many more ships and even some weapons I haven't seen/acquired to mess around with.
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Bastion.Systems

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Re: My thoughts and impressions
« Reply #48 on: November 02, 2018, 06:19:23 AM »

Oh boy, what have we here? ;D



This was from one bounty battle. Needless to say, they cost a fortune to restore. This is why I keep playing this campaign... there are so many more ships and even some weapons I haven't seen/acquired to mess around with.

Put all the possible speed and maneuverability bonuses on the Tempest, just do it. Extremely fun.
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Blaine

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Re: My thoughts and impressions
« Reply #49 on: November 02, 2018, 07:46:12 AM »

Yeah, the Tempest is neat. I like the design and the concept.

Funnily enough, I ended up fitting, testing, re-fitting, and re-testing the Aurora much more than pretty much any other ship. The difference in performance of various loadouts versus a Dominator could be pretty extreme, from a build that could annoy and disable it from afar but would take an eternity to kill it to one that that can rush up, unload charge burst weapons at point-blank range, and kill it relatively quickly.

I tested the Doom too, but its purpose is so obvious that the fit I chose for it ended up being almost identical to the Autofit Strike loadout. Not a lot of experimentation is needed there. Needless to say, a lone Onslaught stands absolutely no chance against a Doom piloted by a player.

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FooF

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Re: My thoughts and impressions
« Reply #50 on: November 02, 2018, 10:17:46 AM »

Whenever outfitting an Aurora, my chief goal is to come to near-parity with weapon flux and flux dissipation. The Aurora has such a deep flux pool that if I'm firing with little-to-no flux build up, I can tank hits with the shield and still vastly outperform the enemy in a flux war. AM Blasters are a plus for burst damage or just a single Heavy Blaster. If I go with SO and max vents, there's little an Aurora can't equip (3x Heavy Blaster isn't out of the question) and that gives it a ton of power. I also don't tend to fill the medium synergy in the back, which is kind of a trap slot for anything not a guided missile. I like a Medium Sabot back there but I find myself rarely using it even when I have it.

The low-tech ships are always going to have a flux bottle-neck but they typically have enough armor to vent mid-battle. High-tech ships don't have that ability, though they are typically faster and more maneuverable as to get out of said rough spots and vent.

Re: The Tempest

It'll change in 0.9 but it's been my favorite frigate even before the Terminator drone was turned into a murder-bot. Just a jack-of-all-trades with superior speed. Even with the changes, I think it'll be an above-average frigate that can fill about any role.
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Blaine

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Re: My thoughts and impressions
« Reply #51 on: November 02, 2018, 06:50:23 PM »

Whenever outfitting an Aurora, my chief goal is to come to near-parity with weapon flux and flux dissipation. The Aurora has such a deep flux pool that if I'm firing with little-to-no flux build up, I can tank hits with the shield and still vastly outperform the enemy in a flux war. AM Blasters are a plus for burst damage or just a single Heavy Blaster. If I go with SO and max vents, there's little an Aurora can't equip (3x Heavy Blaster isn't out of the question) and that gives it a ton of power. I also don't tend to fill the medium synergy in the back, which is kind of a trap slot for anything not a guided missile. I like a Medium Sabot back there but I find myself rarely using it even when I have it.

You could put a Heavy Burst Laser PD in there for complete PD coverage, but I prefer to leave it empty and put Tactical Lasers in all the small turrets with Integrated PD AI, Ion Cannons in the small forward hardpoints, and Heavy Blasters in the turrets. I let the Ion Cannons autofire and fire the Blasters manually (and leave it this way for the AI, also). This isn't the highest burst DPS build by any stretch of the imagination, and Integrated PD AI is probably a slightly silly investment, but it's got a lot more staying power than the high-burst builds that run out of charges within ten seconds and then are nearly useless for the next minute. In the early game that might have flown, but not late game when blowing up one destroyer in a single pass (and then not much of anything) barely contributes to a fleet battle.

It'll change in 0.9 but it's been my favorite frigate even before the Terminator drone was turned into a murder-bot. Just a jack-of-all-trades with superior speed. Even with the changes, I think it'll be an above-average frigate that can fill about any role.

Yeah, I have two of them now and I think I'll be adding them both to my fleet as non-officer-piloted point-capturing ships and escorts. At the moment, the only frigate I have is an officer-piloted Monitor for escorting my new Gryphon. Unfortunately, my only Missile Specialization 3 officer has an aggressive personality....
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intrinsic_parity

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Re: My thoughts and impressions
« Reply #52 on: November 02, 2018, 07:24:14 PM »

On the aurora, a medium sabot pod works very well in the rear slot, it adds a lot shield break potential for 0 flux and allows a rear facing slot to contribute to forward firepower
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Blaine

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Re: My thoughts and impressions
« Reply #53 on: November 02, 2018, 11:45:09 PM »

I love the Onslaught.

It's not the most powerful capital ship, and probably the least elegant, but that doesn't matter. It's essentially a huge, ugly warthog. When provoked, it becomes enraged and charges at the enemy fleet, grunting, squealing, spraying bullets in every conceivable direction, and possibly crashing into numerous ships and wrecks.
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Megas

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Re: My thoughts and impressions
« Reply #54 on: November 03, 2018, 05:43:04 AM »

Onslaught used to be the strongest capital in the 0.7 era, able to solo everything faster than other capitals, possibly without taking hull damage.

Astral with original Remnant fighters was the strongest ship in early 0.8, able to solo a full-powered Remnant battlestation.  (Paragon needs buddies with ECM hullmods to outrange and solo battlestation.  Astral does not need any help.)

Today, Paragon with four lances and two HVDs is probably the strongest ship in current release.

I like Paragon because it can really snipe with long-range guns.  The only other ships with comparable range are carriers, due to their fighters.
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Blaine

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Re: My thoughts and impressions
« Reply #55 on: November 03, 2018, 06:07:42 AM »

I like Paragon because it can really snipe with long-range guns.  The only other ships with comparable range are carriers, due to their fighters.

Yeah, no kidding. I tried jousting with a Paragon while testing my Onslaught and was utterly obliterated in every scenario, since it has an impervious shield and absurd range.

Still, the Onslaught does its job. I got tired of trying to dodge 5-6 huge REDACTED fleets at one point, so I decided to test my mettle while also testing Alex's 300 vs. 200 scenario:

Spoiler
[close]

I lost (but recovered) a Mora and a Hammerhead, my Onslaught lost virtually all of its armor and 80% of its HP, and the rest of the fleet was battered and even the cruisers were losing readiness, but fair enough. It's doable, since additional enemy fleets get "pushed back" briefly, giving you time to beat your retreat. It's a bit irksome of having oodles of enemy fleets around when the player only ever gets one. I suppose the final game will include player colonies and perhaps player-owned factions, and presumably there'll be friendly NPC fleets patrolling in your own systems, which will at least feel like a more even playing field. Sure, there are friendly fleets in the systems of factions with which you have a commission, but in 0.8.1a nothing dynamic ever happens there except pirate dregs.

I have no idea how anyone can handle REDACTED without 20 max burn, doesn't seem as though it'd even be possible.
« Last Edit: November 03, 2018, 06:10:17 AM by Blaine »
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Megas

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Re: My thoughts and impressions
« Reply #56 on: November 03, 2018, 09:01:59 AM »

Before 0.8, Paragon did not have its builtin Advanced Targeting Core.  (Sometime after 0.6.x, Tachyon Lance range was cut from 2500 to 1000.)  Without that, it was fairly harmless for ships with superior range.  Dominator could kite-and-snipe Paragon for flawless victory.  Eagle could do it, but it was tedious with less firepower, and could still lose due to CR decay.

I have no idea how anyone can handle REDACTED without 20 max burn, doesn't seem as though it'd even be possible.
Burn 20 is not necessary as long as player is faster than them.  The fleets should be lured away and dodged if you want to kill the battlestation because slain fleets are almost immediately replaced.  (I leave battlestation alone because I do not want to kill the golden goose that lays unlimited golden eggs or loot pinatas.)
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Goumindong

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Re: My thoughts and impressions
« Reply #57 on: November 03, 2018, 11:20:29 AM »

I have no idea how anyone can handle REDACTED without 20 max burn, doesn't seem as though it'd even be possible.

Go dark. You can avoid most of the fleets while dark and so long as you’re able to handle a single engagement drawing a fleet to you isn’t devastating because, so long as you’re stopped when combat happens you will be stopped when the combat burst goes out... which will he muted by “go dark” and additionally by being stationary inside a debris field
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Nick XR

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Re: My thoughts and impressions
« Reply #58 on: November 03, 2018, 02:12:18 PM »

What piloting an Onslaught with maxed skills feels like

Megas

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Re: My thoughts and impressions
« Reply #59 on: November 03, 2018, 03:36:58 PM »

In 0.7, max skills Onslaught kills everyone, possibly without hull damage.

In 0.8, well... Ronnie James Dio says it best, "THE MOB RULES".  Horde of smaller ships in the simulator will murder max skills Onslaught fast.
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