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[pponmypupu]

Video demo:

Spoiler

https://youtu.be/3fBSgCEZ-JE

[close]

I see more mentions about manticores or the pirate variant but for some reason no love for a cruiser with accelerated ammo feeder which is crazy to me - essentially an attack speed boost which is a highly coveted stat in any other game and now it's on a cruiser. Whaaaaaaaat? So I went ahead and designed a fleet to make use of my favorite ship system that usually stops being relevant once I phase hammerheads out of my fleet into late game.

Character skills

Largely flexible, but the two I consider essential are Electronic Warfare and Flux Regulation. Range is the strongest advantage of this fleet and ECM reducing the enemy's peen by 10% just makes yours look that much bigger and makes every inch they take (heh) into weapons range that much more painful. It also ensures that taking on REDACTED, who will come out of the gates swinging over 40% ECM, won't be reducing our range advantage by much. It becomes uncommon that a brilliant is able to use anything other than its HVD or Tachyon lance. This also means that common shield poppers such as the autopulse cannon, the bane of many an SO build, is largely a non threat. Flux Regulation is taken to keep this flux close to neutral and AI friendly.

My personal recommendation is to also take Officer Training and Officer Management for +1 level/+1 elite skill and +2 officers, as well as Best of the Best for +1 S mod. In the video I also take Neural Interface for an extra "officer" to pad out the battle lines, but that's just me.

Officer Skills

Impact Mitigation - The Eradicator's shields would be worth saving if there were enough skill points to pass around, but that's not the case so armor tanking is the economical choice. Elite version would be nice, but honestly one of the low key perks of the Eradicator is its generous turret arcs.
Polarized Armor [Elite] - Pairs well with AI defensive behavior as it likes to get near max flux before armor tanking. Elite version is taken here in conjunction with Resistant Flux Conduits for +50% vent speed.
Systems Expertise - Enhances the rug that really ties the room together. Having 33% more uptime for the AI translates to better chances that it's up at crucial moments, and an overall DPS boost.
Target Analysis - Anti Brilliant, Anti Radiant. Essential for peeling Radiants off a focused Eradicator.
Gunnery Implants
Ballistics Mastery [Elite] - 33% faster projectile speed makes a night and day difference in landing shots on fast frigates such as the ever annoying Glimmer. Frigates need to be checked - letting even one behind battle lines will draw away attention from the front line meaning less peeling power when its needed.

Ordnance Expertise - I considered but ultimately left out because I need the Eradicators to (a) tank and survive a Radiant long enough for (b) its buddies to deal damage and push it away. Impact Mitigation and Polarized Armor are essential for (a), Target Analysis & Systems Expertise best fulfill (b).

Hull Mods

S Mods
Ballistic Rangefinder - Unfortunate Railgun tax, but necessary to push Railgun range into the 1200s. Once an enemy enters Railgun range it's already deep into Hvy Mauler/HVD territory and now the shield pressure really starts. This is what the +1 S Mod is for.
Heavy Armor
Integrated Targeting Unit

Solar Shielding
Flux Distributor - Without Ordnance Expertise this does a good job in its place.
Shield Conversion - Front - Cuts shield flux useage in half. And I play with mouse look.
Resistant Flux Conduits - In conjunction with Elite Polarized Armor brings vent speed up to +50%. Good for ensuring AI gets back into the fight sooner. Also, HVD's/Tachyons become the most common weapons that will actually reach so it helps with EMP.

Note: Without an extra S Mod I'd replace either shield conversion or resistant flux conduits with Ballistic Rangefinder/Integrated Targeting Unit.

Fleet Composition

Fleet comp is flexible but I'd recommend on any capitals you bring to install the ECM hull mod and any piloted frigates to have Elite Gunnery Implants. In the demo I have 37% ECM and still start off at a -6% range disadvantage, though towards the end it swings back to 10% in my favor.

Thoughts

The Eradicator by itself isn't very strong as it is a fast cruiser. Its shields are subpar, it doesn't have much hull, and so despite it looking like an obvious SO candidate on paper the reality is assault chainguns lack armor punching power, which means it needs to brawl a Radiant for an unacceptable amount of time. SO Eradicator is... eh, it'll get the job done but like a spoon would for a knife and probably lots of eradicated Eradicators along the way. However its strength in this fleet isn't only its range but that it's coupled with Accelerated Ammo Feeder (AAF) which means that Eradicators can lend great covering fire for each other and peel Radiants, which is something every fleet will need a solution for. This is also why I take Systems Expertise over Ordnance Expertise, the added DPS is that important. I think there are many instances of this being showcased in the video, and I have more footage I may upload later. This is also a reason why I took Neural Interface in my personal character skill as it is an extra "officer" on the field (a total of 12). The more buddies watching each other's back the less chance a Radiant will have success in separating one away from the pack.

AAF also really makes the reworked Heavy Mauler shine in this build by making up for the Heavy Mauler's low rate of fire.  With all damage bonuses, if I've calculated correctly, the Heavy Mauler will hit for 500 x 3 against Radiant armor - that's Plasma Cannon numbers, boys. And this build is packing two of them. However, three is greedy and there is a noticeable drop in shield pressure without the HVD, in my experience. And shield pressure is key for making the most out of the range advantage because if nothing else it checks any brilliants from bullying its way into your lines with its superior shields, flux, and superior shield popping weaponry (autopulse). It's also why I put away the MIRVs and put Squalls on my Conquests (reworked Squalls are pretty good).

As far as flux goes in this build I really wanted to take Ordnance Expertise and be done with it. Reaaally wanted to. It would be completely flux neutral for everything you have shields on all weapons hot all the lights on, the fridge door open, your crypto Alpha core slaving away, and it would save me from taking Flux Distributors. But after playing the build, it actually is kind of flux neutral in practice. Weapons flux starts at 944 if everything is hot - but not everything is hot, ever. 4x Vulcans not firing discounts 80 flux, and if only shielding as needed, which I do, that's another 80. Flux Dissipation is 880, so with two commonly met conditions this build is flux neutral. Add to that, if railguns aren't firing (AI will tend to prefer HVD/Hvy Maulers) that's another 450 flux not used. So in practice it is very AI friendly as far as flux usage goes.

Final thoughts - Eradicator needs lovin' so notice her, Senpai.

[Megas]

Standard Eradicator is not terribly common.  Only the Luddic Church (I think) has the blueprint.  Meanwhile, pirates are everywhere, and their bigger fleets always have the P-variant.  Sure, player will eventually procure those pure Eradicators, but it will take a while.

I probably would prefer standard Eradicator late.  The P-version feels kind of weak late in the game.

With that said, Asher is one of the easiest industries to raid for blueprints, and a persistent raider will steal the Eradicator blueprint from Asher eventually.

[Grievous69]

I think people are well aware how good Eradicators are, at least from what I've seen here and in some other places. The thing is, it's hard to build them right to fight end game threats. I've used them a ton, both normal and pirate versions, and they just fall apart in hardest fights unless built for sniping, as you have shown here. I had a build abusing Thumpers and Breaches, medium range DPS builds, but all of those don't do as well in late game. Still, fun ships to fly and use nevertheless.

[Jarolegon]

Only the Luddic Church (I think) has the blueprint.  Meanwhile, pirates are everywhere, and their bigger fleets always have the P-variant.  Sure, player will eventually procure those pure Eradicators, but it will take a while.

Only Luddic Church sells them, true. However eradicators are extremely common on their markets, any given month there is between two and six eradicators on their 4 markets. Sure most of them are D-modded, but accelerated feeder beats burn drive even with a few defects.

On another note, overdriven eradicator makes for an extremely strong pretty broken player flagship. Can solo any small station, bounties up to 200k and remnant ordos with single radiant given careful piloting. Elite PD is mandatory for range, elite helmsmanship and impact mitigation are strongly recommended to make it feel less like a brick, everything else is nice but not necessary. Missiles can be either sabots for efficiency or reapers for fun, 2nd s-mod is free pick but i'd go for converted hangar or missile racks.

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[SCC]

Do your Eradicators vent often with elite PA and RFC? I've rarely ever seen AI do it, unless it was aggressive or reckless, which in this build here would be pointless, since aggressive and reckless AI love getting close and personal.

[Üstad]

What is dakka?

[Kos135]

What is dakka?

It's a term from Warhammer 40k. It is a word invented by the Ork race, it means "firepower". More dakka = more guns, bigger guns, higher volume of fire.

In response to the OP: Pirate Eradicators are more common, but if you have a place in your fleet build for the vanilla Eradicator then it's worth shopping around for. Burn Drive is a good system but I'll always take AAF over Burn Drive.

In a previous thread of mine people panned my 2x Assault Chaingun build and I understand why, the short range. But I swear it works. It's not meant to challenge capital ships (use Dominators if you want a Cruiser VS Capital matchup), or line cruisers. It's meant to punish light cruisers, destroyers and frigates that come within range and chase down ships that stray from the enemy's line.
I've updated my build since then and I'll post it here.

Vanilla Eradicator
WEAPONS:
1x Heavy Needler (rear medium slot)
2x Assault Chaingun
5x Annihilator Rocket Pod
2x Light Dual Machine Gun (forward slots, linked, great for destroying reapers before they hit the shield)
HULLMODS:
Built-in: Heavy Armor & Reinforced Bulkheads
Armored Weapon Mounts
Integrated Targeting Unit
Resistant Flux Conduits
FLUX:
17 Capacitors
35 Vents

I am open to constructive criticism. I've thought about switching to a Heavy Mortar/Heavy Autocannon build to save on OP and increase the overall range of the ship, while channeling the excess OP into another hullmod and more flux capacitors. But I also want a lot of firepower, I want to capitalize on the AAF system and make my Eradicators as deadly as possible. An ounce of burst damage is worth a pound of constant damage, in most cases.

[pponmypupu]

Do your Eradicators vent often with elite PA and RFC? I've rarely ever seen AI do it, unless it was aggressive or reckless, which in this build here would be pointless, since aggressive and reckless AI love getting close and personal.

I've seen them vent a couple times, but not in the way I'd hoped they would (like doing a quick vent in combat). At the very least it does help get them back to the fight when they do vent. But thinking on this, I think switching the elite PA to elite Target Analysis would be a better choice as disabling the few weapons that can actually compete in range (HVD/Tachyon) may be more effective. RFC can probably also be subbed out for more flux cap or something else.

In a previous thread of mine people panned my 2x Assault Chaingun build and I understand why, the short range. But I swear it works. It's not meant to challenge capital ships (use Dominators if you want a Cruiser VS Capital matchup), or line cruisers. It's meant to punish light cruisers, destroyers and frigates that come within range and chase down ships that stray from the enemy's line.
I've updated my build since then and I'll post it here.

I am open to constructive criticism. I've thought about switching to a Heavy Mortar/Heavy Autocannon build to save on OP and increase the overall range of the ship, while channeling the excess OP into another hullmod and more flux capacitors. But I also want a lot of firepower, I want to capitalize on the AAF system and make my Eradicators as deadly as possible. An ounce of burst damage is worth a pound of constant damage, in most cases.

I have my doubts about your build (and annihilator pods use medium missiles while Eradicator only has smalls), but you sound pretty confident that it works. A video demonstration of it in action would be very helpful for some better feedback.