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[Kos135]

I decided to wait a couple weeks until the hotfixes dropped, so I haven't completed a playthrough in 0.95.1a yet. But here's what I've got so far:

Eradicator
Weapons:
2x Assault Chainguns in the forward medium ballistic slots
1x Heavy Needler in the remaining medium ballistic
4x Vulcan Cannons - 2 in the forward small ballistics, 1 on each side slot
Hullmods:
Armored Weapon Mounts
Integrated Targeting Unit
Heavy Armor
Resistant Flux Conduits
Flux:
16 capacitors
30 vents

This is assuming you have no officer or built-in hullmods. The two forward-facing vulcans are enough to shoot down a reaper torpedo, assuming it is fired from a distance and they're focused solely on the reaper. The two assault chainguns combined with the 40% range boost from ITU and the Accelerated Ammo Feeder system are devastating to anything that gets within range. The heavy needler has much greater range than the chainguns and it pressures the enemy's shield before the Eradicator closes in with the chainguns.

I decided to go with armor hullmods because the Eradicator is a low tech ship with predictably weak shields, 1.0 damage/flux ratio, and strong armor. And I took Resistant Flux Conduits mainly for the EMP resistance. I always try to fit that into my ship builds.

This is a rudimentary build that I haven't put much time or experimentation into, but so far it has done very well for me. And I'm glad to see the assault chaingun finally putting in some work outside of my Luddic Path Brawler build.

What builds have you guys come up with so far? Eradicator, Manticore, any of the new or updated ships.

[Maeleth]

2x Assault Chainguns in the forward medium ballistic slots
1x Heavy Needler in the remaining medium ballistic

Why? Just... why-y-y? Chaingun requires sustained kinetic support during AAF bursts, otherwise you're losing a good portion of hull/armor damage due to shield flickering.

Also, with this build you're basically paying premium for a Hammerhead with worse KE mounts and lower mobility. Plus, good ol' Hammer can dart in and out (or strafe with shift+movement) thanks to its high acceleration and low inertia, whereas Eradicator is forced to facetank all the incoming damage while packing low-ish destroyer level of firepower.

Maybe I'm totally wrong, but I just don't see it as being cost-efficient or, well, efficient at all.

[Grievous69]

Hmm yeah doesn't seem like the best but here's the real head scratcher, why leave half of the mounts empty lmao? This isn't even an SO build and you have 0 missiles there!! plus the ship has 7 small ballistics and you used only 4. Man this is a wonky build.

[pairedeciseaux]

I have an Eradicator in storage with the following build:

• Missiles: 5 Annihilator Rocket Launchers
• Medium ballistics from left to right: 1 Heavy Autocannon, 1 Heavy Mortar, 1 Heavy Autocannon
• Small ballistics from rear to front: 2 Vulcan Cannons, 2 Light Dual Machine Guns, 1 Light Assault Gun, 1 Light Dual Machine Gun, 1 Vulcan Cannon
• Hullmods: Integrated Targeting Unit, Reinforced Bulkheads
• (probably 30 vents and 11 capacitors)

It was used in a light&fast fleet composition before transitioning to the full 240 DP fleet with heavier cruisers.

You really want missiles on your Eradicators.    If you prefer a cheap option OP-wise, I recommend 5x dual Hammers. This is a good compromise between punch, ammo and OP cost.

A good hullmod for an Eradicator properly build with missiles is - obviously - Expanded Missile Racks, especially when built-in with a story point.

[Kos135]

You really want missiles on your Eradicators.    If you prefer a cheap option OP-wise, I recommend 5x dual Hammers. This is a good compromise between punch, ammo and OP cost.

I'll give that a try. I prefer to leave weapon slots open a lot of the time so I have more OP for flux stats and hullmods. 5x dual hammers would give it a little extra burst damage. I generally don't use small missiles because the really good ones have low ammo counts.

[Grievous69]

You really want missiles on your Eradicators.    If you prefer a cheap option OP-wise, I recommend 5x dual Hammers. This is a good compromise between punch, ammo and OP cost.

I'll give that a try. I prefer to leave weapon slots open a lot of the time so I have more OP for flux stats and hullmods. 5x dual hammers would give it a little extra burst damage. I generally don't use small missiles because the really good ones have low ammo counts.

Yeah I can totally understand that, like what are those 2 small missile going to do on a Sunder or Eagle, best just to invest in flux. But FIVE small missiles grouped close together, all pointing in the same direction is very respectable firepower even though most missiles there won't last super long. If you want endurance, 5 linked Breaches in there will do serious work, just be sure to have enough kinetic damage. Hammers are ok but we all know how AI fares with unguided torpedoes.

It goes to show that I beat a Guardian very very early in my playthrough just because my flagship was an Eradicator with 5 Reapers and EMR. Never underestimate small missile mounts if there's more than 2 pointing at you.

[Kos135]

It goes to show that I beat a Guardian very very early in my playthrough just because my flagship was an Eradicator with 5 Reapers and EMR. Never underestimate small missile mounts if there's more than 2 pointing at you.

My issue with the small variants of reapers, harpoons, etc, is that I'm spending OP on something that can only be fired 1-3 times and will probably just get chewed up by PD. Instead I could put those points into flux. I could increase the ammo count by taking Expanded Missile Racks or adding an officer with Missile Specialization but is that really worth it for something with such low ammo base?

As I said, I haven't put much time into 0.95.1a and it's still early on in my playthrough. I'm sure that my Eradicator build will change once I put more time into it. The response I got to this build reminds me of when I shared a Paragon build a while ago. 2x plasma cannons in the front, with the turreted large energy slots empty. That's not all the weapons I had on it but it's the part that made people look at me like I had 2 heads, lol.

When you consider the flux stats of a plasma cannon and how much damage they do it makes sense. The impulse to fill every single weapon slot on a ship is a trap. You should only fill the slots that see the most use, and leave slots empty whenever possible so you have more OP available for expensive weapons, flux and hullmods.

[Grievous69]

I mean there's "leaving some mounts empty" and "leaving a big part of your firepower empty". That Paragon example would also get weird looks from me since large energy weapons are almost the only good ones from all energies lmao, medium energies are easy leave empty material. I'm well aware of a trap to fill your ship to the teeth with guns, but the other side of the coin is that people put a bit too much emphasis on flux neutrality. Your alpha damage potential is also very important, if you can manage to overflux, disable, or even destroy enemy targets then who cares if your weapon flux goes a bit higher than the overall dissipation. As you said, firing a weapon only 1-3 times in a fight might seem meaningless, but on multiple ships those same missiles can turn an uneven fight into a fair match. You trade high impact with zero flux cost for low ammo. Not to mention just by having missiles, your ships immediately appear more deadly to enemy ships.

[Igncom1]

If you don't want a proper weapon in a medium energy slot you might as well put a graviton beam, point defence weapon, or a small weapon of your choice in there in stead.

Never underestimate what effect a randomly equipped anti-matter blaster can do.

[intrinsic_parity]

I run two plasmas in the turrets and front larges empty for the AI quite frequently on paragon (I think the turrets are better due to maneuverability, but I can imagine the small range advantage of the hard points could be relevant). Two plasmas plus medium ballistics is enough to use all the available dissipation (2k+), and I think the Paragon really benefits from not exceeding dissipation by a significant amount, primarily because it has really good shield efficiency and fortress shield which means it can spend its capacity on absorbing incoming fire very efficiently, so spending that capacity on firing weapons over dissipation can be actively bad IMO. I also leave the medium energy spots empty or spend them on PD of some sort. For a player build, I might fill those spots but use them very sparingly, but the AI is not capable of that, so I prefer to just leave the slots empty.

I've found it to be very effective after significant testing personally.

I still think the small missiles on the eradicator are worth filling though lol. 15 OP for 5 breaches is 100% better than 15 capacitors IMO. I've been really enjoying using arblests on the eradicator actually. They have the best shield damage efficiency IIRC, and 200 damage/shot hits quite hard against armor/hull also. They are just a bit mount inefficient and lacking range, but I find they fill out the eradicators DP nicely and match range with the heavy mortar and small ballistics (and thumper).

[LinWasTaken]

I have an Eradicator with anti-shield weapons in ballistic slots, 5 harpoons and Vulcans for PD... works surprisingly well.

[Gergin]

Here's how I put together my Eradicators (Pirate variant) and it's pretty scary. 

5 Dual Hammers (LINKED)
2 Assault Chainguns on the right facing mediums
3 Light dual machine guns on the front/right facing smalls
2 Vulcans on the back slots
Advanced Gyros
Armored Weapon Mounts
Expanded Missile Racks (Built in)
Heavy Armor (Built in)
Integrated Point Defense AI (Can be built in if you want more Dakka or you can build in Reinforced Bulkheads for more tank)
Insulated Engine Assembly
Resistant Flux Conduits
Safety Overrides
Shield Shunt

You fight off axis (pointing slightly to the left of your target) so your front/right facing guns can engage.  Soon as they drop their shields because of overload danger, you swing over and pound a Hammer salvo into them.
There's really nothing that's going to stand up to you in a straight brawl because of your relentless DPS.   Your biggest danger is EMP and ships that try and kite you.  That's why I use the Pirate variant to Burn Drive right next to my target.  Once you're on top of them, they're pretty much dead.

I'm role-playing as a Pather and their variant of the Cerberus tuned me into the hyper aggressive playstyle.  I like to cut my teeth and train my captains up in LP Cerberus.  It's a shockingly dangerous frigate when you embrace the Path and go pedal to the metal offensively.  Most fleets that aren't a bunch of cruisers will get obliterated by just going Full Assault and even bigger targets can be dealt with if you employ some good strategy (kill their frigates and then pull back to isolate their cruisers/capitals in the next battle).

[Kos135]

I'm role-playing as a Pather and their variant of the Cerberus tuned me into the hyper aggressive playstyle.

Have you used the LP Brawler yet? It's amazing. 2x medium ballistics, Accelerated Ammo Feeder and the usual built-in Safety Overrides. Put 2x assault chainguns on one and watch it chew up frigate after frigate. Just make sure you increase its combat readiness as much as possible.

[Gergin]

I'm role-playing as a Pather and their variant of the Cerberus tuned me into the hyper aggressive playstyle.

Have you used the LP Brawler yet? It's amazing. 2x medium ballistics, Accelerated Ammo Feeder and the usual built-in Safety Overrides. Put 2x assault chainguns on one and watch it chew up frigate after frigate. Just make sure you increase its combat readiness as much as possible.

I wasn't a fan for a couple of reasons.  It's too slow and gets kited by High-Tech way too hard.  The lack of any turrets means it's really vulnerable to missiles as well.
The Cerberus is fast enough to catch pretty much anything you'll face.

Assault Chainguns are good but with the +200 range on Elite Point Defense, I have become a diehard fan of Light Machine Guns for Pather ships.  152 Kinetic DPS is absolutely bonkers for 3 OP and with 3 MGs per Cerberus, they also have extremely good PD for missiles and fighters.  When they move together, they can wade into most engagements without fear.

A mix of Pirate Eradicators and LP Cerberus is an amazing do all fleet that is cheap to build/maintain/repair and doesn't require a ton of your skillpoints to make good.  You basically just need to find some captains that are at least steady (you'll want a mix of aggressive/reckless) and you can start terrorizing cleansing the sector.