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[Kpop]

Does anyone have a ship or setup they use in a oddball way compared to how you see most other people use it? For example, I stack armor on conquest and run 4x Mjolnirs for double broadsides. Gets me killed a lot but when I got money to burn the 270 degrees of carnage I can deal on cruisers and down is satisfying.

[pairedeciseaux]

I think Conquest is a good candidate for special loadouts, because it has many weapon slots and ordnance points, good base flux dissipation, and good mobility.

Some people will leverage Conquest mobility mostly as a way to kite slower opponents while shooting with long-ish range guns (and maybe missiles). One seemingly popular loadout for this is the so call “sniper build”, with 2 Gauss Cannons on one side, and defense/empty other side.

A few people like to put Heavy Blasters on Conquest. Here mobility is used in a completely different way.

I like my Conquests to be mostly “balanced”, so I always use symmetrical loadouts, usually with Pulse Laser + Mark IX + HAC + Hephaestus/Hellbore + Flak. Sometimes I don’t put any missile. Sometimes I put 1 or 2 Locust. Nothing unusual, right? Sometimes I go crazy and put 1 or 2 Cyclone Reaper Launchers or Hammer Barrages, as a bust damage anti-station solution. Together with Auxiliary Thrusters and good use of the ship system, it is possible to rotate the ship to aim the large missile launchers at the target, fire a volley of torpedoes, then turn back to “normal” position. I remember once I chased a Doom while piloting such a Conquest, shooting Hammers at it so the torpedoes would hit it once Phase Cloak deactivates, on this occasion turning wasn’t necessary nor effective, only option was to move straight toward the (annoying) target - I guess an Ion Beam would have been useful.

Another unorthodox thing I do often is put humble Talons in my carriers (especially Legion). These aren’t perfect fighters, but I find them quite useful in many situations, and OP-cheap. Basically I feel like my fleet is more effective when it has the right amount of Talons (depending on fleet size). Their biggest downside AFAIC is the high crew casualties (even with skills). Obviously, Talons are no replacement for proper bombers.

Last thing I can think of now as uncommon, is I like to put torpedoes on my frigates, so they have a higher chance to cripple and destroy heavier targets. Yes, I do send frigates to face such targets, and not just as distraction. Specifically Hammers available right at the start of a campaign, and also Reapers. Another reason to use these, is the 1 OP or 2 OP cost, easy to fill-in an otherwise complete loadout with max dissipation and max vents. Sometimes I use the single-Sabot as a filler. I could be wrong but I am under the impression that Annihilators, Harpoons, regular Sabots and Swarmers are more popular on frigates.

Anyway, IMO it is a good idea to experiment and see for yourself what works and what doesn’t, don’t be afraid to try unusual things. 

[Kpop]

I agree with that sentiment about torpedos on frigates. I think 1-2 shot missile weapons on frigates is the way to go. Low PPT so having lots of ammo doesn't do you much good. Second, frigates weapons don't punch particularly hard per shot(unless its a Tempest) so having the ability to crack armor at least once goes a long way.

[Thaago]

My frigates are usually either swarmer or torpedoes, depending on if they are going to be fighting other frigates or harassing larger things. Swarmers are really good for short fights for providing flux free anti-armor pressure, great for clearing out pirates.

[Igncom1]

Antimatter blasters on midline ships can add a really nice extra bang to a ship that might otherwise have some simple laser PD instead.

It's like having a 10 ammo reaper torpedo which can be really nice when paired with actual missiles like sabots.

[flanker37t]

For example, I stack armor on conquest and run 4x Mjolnirs for double broadsides.

Armor notwithstanding, I always use 4 Mjolnirs on my Conquest, and I was under an impression that Mjolnir setup is pretty common. I always add Hardened Shields, though - the benefit is quite huge.

[Kpop]

Antimatter blasters on midline ships can add a really nice extra bang to a ship that might otherwise have some simple laser PD instead.

It's like having a 10 ammo reaper torpedo which can be really nice when paired with actual missiles like sabots.

Suddenly I'm curious about a SO sunder with AM blasters.

[intrinsic_parity]

If you put SO on sunder, you should put a plasma cannon on it.

[Volfgarix]

I run SO Sunder with double Phase Lances and Autopulse Laser + two railguns as kinetic support/anti-fighter.

[Rain]

I think the most 'out there' thing I've made some sort of habit out of is taking Enforcers and equipping them with Heavy Armour, Expanded Missile Racks and Auxiliary Maneuver Thrusters then stuff them with Annihilators or Reapers and some kinetic weapons as a sort of desperate budget way of taking bites out of cruisers+ in the early-ish game.

I used to think single-shot torpedoes were dumb but have come around to liking them on frigates, mostly Lashers, sometimes, much like has been talked about before.

Does actively seeking out and actually using Condors count as 'unorthodox'? I started to grab a few for early bounties, partly as budget fighter capacity, but mostly to deal with the infuriating constantly-fleeing-AI thing. Doesn't matter much what LPCs, as long as it's enough to catch and destroy a frigate being a stalling jerk; though I understand the problem this habit is meant to address should be fixed next update anyway.

[Goumindong]

Antimatter blasters on midline ships can add a really nice extra bang to a ship that might otherwise have some simple laser PD instead.

It's like having a 10 ammo reaper torpedo which can be really nice when paired with actual missiles like sabots.

Suddenly I'm curious about a SO sunder with AM blasters.

AMB are not that great on SO ships imo. DPS/OP is too low on ships that are starved for OP.

[Thaago]

AMB are also surprisingly efficient, so while the speed on SO is great to get in range, the flux dissipation isn't needed. I find an AMB on a Tempest or Shrike works extremely well without SO. Surprisingly good on Wolves too, though flux budget on wolves is always a problem.

[ubuntufreakdragon]

I think the AM-Blaster should become Medium and get a really slow ammo reg.

I don't risk much typically.
I sometimes add Unstable Injector on non beam Paragons, is quite effective.
I use the Odyssey as Carrier Killer.
I once stopped a hole Expedition by luring them away in Hyperspace with a single Dram, lore wise I cycled a Black Hole, but their timer to reach the system ran out.

[Lucky33]

I once stopped a hole Expedition by luring them away in Hyperspace with a single Dram, lore wise I cycled a Black Hole, but their timer to reach the system ran out.

This is amazing. Your very personal detachment.

[Serenitis]

I sometimes add Unstable Injector on non beam Paragons, is quite effective.

I always use Unstable Injector on all capitals because they're not fast enough to be useful to me otherwise, and +15 is a significant boost that's far more valuable than losing a bit of range that can be (more than) recovered by something I'll be using anyway (where applicable): ITU.

Paragon is a natural "always fit UI" for me, because it's slow as hell (to the point of tedium), and has a built-in ITU+ so it has no excuse whatsover to not use it.