That's pretty similar to my standard odyssey loadout from the last patch. I used sabots +plasma in the last release all the time, I just had to save the sabots for tough enemies without extra ammo, so I know how strong it is/was. I usually go very light on PD for more dissipation, but I guess that doesn't work as well without escorts. I also prefer locust to hurricanes usually because plasma cannons have armor penetration covered, and locusts are great for finishing stuff without committing. I'm not sure I understand your skills though, which side is B and which side is L lol?
B = Both sides. Basically 8 combat, 7 Tech.
My view on PD is go heavy or don't bother, as you're just wasting soft flux and still taking the incoming ordinance anyways. Especially solo, since light PD will get saturated anyways.
The PD does a decent job of handling Remnant fighters, for example. The Hurricane I consider a toss up with the Locust. If there's heavier fighter I'd drop it for locust definitely. The Hurricane I've found makes a decent quick finisher as the enemy is pulling back overloaded if I haven't had a chance to hit it with plasma. In 0.9.1a because of the tighter OP budget it was always locust, but this time I'm trying the Hurricane, for things like speeding up Onslaught killing.
Conquest feel really squishy now too, I think because there are a lot less armor skills and a few new damage boosting skills that specifically increase damage to capitals. I have a SO aurora that will kill them in one pass (the new omega weapons are kinda busted to be fair though).
I agree, SO Auroras with skills do a number on Conquests, yeah.
I didn't realize officers skills carry over when you switch pilots, is it just missiles spec and CR stuff, but you get to use your own skills as well?
The skills used are your skills when piloting any ship, even when transferring command. However, hard numbers like the ship's current CR, peak remaining time, or the missiles in the tubes don't change once you are in the mission. I don't benefit from say, +50% missile hp or +50% missile fire rate, but it is like getting a free stacking Expanded missile racks and +15% CR at the expense of an officer.
When I was trying to kill really big remnant fleets, the problem I was having was that even paragons get run over by the lump of cruisers and destroyers plus the radiant with 20% range advantage, so I didn't have time to try and clean up smaller stuff. You also start with 160 DP because of the officer disadvantage, so you need a strategy for capping points to get more ships in the game (and if you lose any, everything falls apart because you will not hold any points after the first 30 seconds). I think I've improved my fleet noticeably since I last tried though, so I might have to re-evaluate. I'm also planning on respeccing out of industry at some point, so that might give a boost to combat power.
I dunno, I've found a Paragon or two with a Legion XIV (dual Hurricane Mirv), Astral (dual Hurricane Mirv) or pair of Herons on escort seems to be fairly resilient. I haven't tried multiple Ordos simultaneously yet though. Two radiants is the highest I've done fleet wise. I do slap ECCM on the Paragons to cut down on the ECM range penalty though, plus heavy armor/hardened shields for layered survivability. The combination of missiles, fighters and the long range Paragon seems to be enough stacking threat to keep enemies from completely overwhelming them, and fighters still seem to be able to chase of frigates. I also find myself chasing those things down during the first few minutes of engagement as well.
I've given up on carriers in the hardest fights, they feel like a liability to me now. The smaller fleets with one radiant are pretty comfortable usually, but even a big support fleet with one radiant is much harder than faction fleets. It's like 20+ level 6-8 officers with reckless/agressive personalities and heavy blasters/plasma canons running at you and not stopping unless you kill them. At least that was my experience. Anything not fast enough to get out of the way died before I could kill enough stuff. I'm not sure if odyssey is fast enough to run away from a radiant or able to keep remnant frigates from flanking.
Systems Expertise Odyssey can outrun a Radiant. Especially with 0 flux boost if you drop shields. 40 vs 70 base speeds, and plasma burn is faster than a skimmer in a straight line. Loadout determines how you engage, but typically I take some damage in the exchange venting - don't have the same depth of flux pool as the Radiant. If I'm flanking it with another ship though, it doesn't last long since as soon as it's high flux, I can chase. However, this big question is, are you pointing in the right direction at the right time. Which as mentioned can make some approaches awkward or not possible. I definitely feel the need for Auxiliary thrusters because of that.
Right now I'm feeling like I need a first wave of fast ships that can survive by running away to clear out frigates and destroyers (and remove the associated ECM bonus) before retreating and re-deploying with caps.
My Odyssey can essentially grab 1 point guaranteed - frigates/fast destroyers will back off or get demolished, which generally puts me at 200. Which might be 2 Paragons + Doom + Odyssey. Or some other combination. If it's favorable points (one really close to my side), I can generally often get 220 or 240 if the close one is a comm relay.