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[Thaago]

I just stumbled across a weird build for a Sunder that is working really well!

HIL, Graviton, Ion Pulser, 3 vulcans, and sabots. ITU + 20 vents, 17 caps, with a reckless officer with energy weapon mastery (elited), gunnery implants, and target analysis. This build was a "whatever I have lying around" fit because I recovered a Sunder with only the -hull D mod from a fight and coincidentally got a 'promote from fleet' reckless officer with energy weapon mastery, so decided to give it a try.

I originally thought the Ion Pulser was going to be useless thanks to the range mismatch, but it is doing really good work! Most of the time it doesn't fire and the ship does the usual artillery sunder thing, minus a graviton. But thanks to the reckless officer it is much more willing to close in on enemies when it is winning the flux war and when it does the ion pulser is often enough to cripple the enemy ship. The same happens to enemy frigates that try to rush the sunder. The sabots on top give it some alpha strike anti-shield on top and whatever target it comes across first usually doesn't survive.

This ship is in a mid sized (~85 DP) early game destroyer/frigate fleet, and I am careful to make sure the Sunder isn't alone so it has another ship around to provide kinetic anti-shield support/flank coverage. It is MVP any time I'm dealing with capitals as the HIL armor cracking + ion crippling to keep my ships alive is just so clutch vs one big target. I should add that I'm flying a pretty standard Hammerhead (Arbalest + Heavy mortar + railgun + light assault gun, reapers, ITU, insulated engines, RFC) and will often fly near this sunder, both to protect it but also so that I can charge an enemy I want dead and flux out their shields for the sunder to do it's work.

[FooF]

Kind of reminds me of my original “go-to” Sunder of Autopulse, Pulse Laser and Ion Cannon with Vulcans and Sabots for the rest. You’d never think the Ion Cannon would do anything but after an Autopulse barrage (with HEF), most shields were toast which let the ship EMP everything to death and get general use out of the PL. It is a very good generalist and can punch above its weight due to HEF and Autopulse efficiency.

I am a little shocked that an Ion Pulser would work with that setup but I see why it works. Getting the AI to commit to use is the trick and I rarely use reckless officers so maybe I should branch out a little.

[Thaago]

I'm shocked too! I'm considering replacing the graviton with a second ion pulser and seeing how it goes.

I can see an ion cannon working well there - its very little flux but can knock a lot of things offline.

[Zsar]

I have been using a more aggressive version of this: Safety Overrides, Expanded Magazines, Hardened Subsystems, Autopulse Laser, 2x Ion Pulser, 2x Reaper, 3x Vulcan.

Stopped using it because it pretty much always dies against [Redacted] and has a decent chance to accidentally die against pathers, but it is a great asset in "regular" battles. Well, every now and then it self-snipes with a Reaper, but oh well!

... Might be possible to make it sufficiently survivable using S-Mods, dunno. Maybe just build-in Reinforced Bulkheads and call it a day. The PPT is also an issue, though, even with Combat Endurance, thus I have stopped using it nowadays.

[WhisperDSP]

Add High Scatter Amp for hard flux from beams?

https://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=25959.0

I like the EMP myself.

[Cruacious]

I've been using Ion Pulsers coupled with Anti-Matter blasters to solid effect. Sure, it can flux up, but as an early player ship it's quite viable.

Gets even better when you get the AntiMatter SRMs from the Omegas. The Fury may be overpriced for what it is now, but it can be a VERY solid burst damage provider like its bigger cousin the Aurora.

[Linnis]

What? I been building my sunders like this for years... Perfectly normal sunder build for me.

[Thaago]

I applaud your enlightened building skills then!

[CABLES]

i, too, was pleasantly surprised recently that ships with aggressive/reckless officers and good speed/a movement system can handle a range mismatch very well. i built a VIC valafar* with an aggressive officer, a pair of heavy needlers, and a tach lance, and despite the 300 range mismatch, it does really well in combat, lending itself to a kind of "duelist" style. it'll get in, burst shields with the needlers, and get out, firing the tach lance to keep the target suppressed. great for harassing anything bigger than it, great for bursting down anything smaller than it. blows my earlier storm needler/phase lance build out of the water in terms of effectiveness.

*not sure if I'm allowed to post mod content here -- for those who don't know, it's a 20 dp cruiser with a sort-of phase skimmer, 2 medium synergy, 2 medium missile, 1 large synergy

[Bummelei]

Surprisingly, my build is somewhat similar to yours. The only diference is Tach instead of HIL, and 2 Machineguns with PD perk.

[Void Ganymede]

SO Plasma Cannon flagship Sunder. What really makes it tick is keeping shields lowered and rotating the Sunder's wedge to dodge shots. With the plasma cannon changed to be less bursty, swap for a modded equivalent to the old plasma if you can.

[BigBrainEnergy]

I've recently found HVDs + railguns good on the hammerhead. I was not so sure about it at first due to the range mismatch, but the having the option to pressure the enemy from long range or close in for better DPS has actually been pretty good even in AI hands.

Then again, these are fairly conventional weapons on a widely-appreciated ship so it's hard to say it's really all that "weird." I'd like to see somebody tell me about how their 5 salamander eradicator is actually good.

Oh, I guess something weird I have done is ionpulsers/cryoflamers on a Paragon. Brilliants can be pretty cocky when they outnumber you and it's nice to have a short range burst weapon to burn through their shields. You know, aside from the needlers you already have.

[CapnHector]

Oh is this a general weird ship builds thread?

I guess all of my latest creations would all fit "weird" by some people's definition. These are designed to mow down multi-Ordos under AI control and work better than my previous Conquest-BrawlerLP or Conquest-Radiant-BrawlerLP fleets. It's fine to just give a defend order on the Paragon and let them fight a multi-ordo by themselves.

Radiant killer Paragon for a level 7 Sleeper Pod officer with BM and EWM. Note the 4 Cryoblasters up front. It does a great job of blowing up Radiants as soon as they make the mistake of closing in aggressively. I would put in another Rift Cascade Emitter if I had one.


Missile/mine spam Doom, another fit for a Sleeper Pod officer with Systems Expertise and Missile Spec. According to the Starship Legends combat reports I get, this ship actually does the most damage in the fleet. If it fires its full salvo of missiles and mines at one target it deals incredible damage, up to destroying a Radiant very quickly and it recharges missiles pretty quickly with its Phase Anchor.


Armored Escort Conquest, my favorite build after months of optimizing Conquests. The Xyphos help it defeat Remnant fighter wings and provide PD as well as disable Radiants' weapons when they warp in close. Every weapon provides EMP and it is relatively tough despite being a Conquest. Burst PDs on the enemy facing side to kill incoming Reapers. These ships can mop up Ordos by themselves easily and without taking losses. Pair with an officer with elite Target Analysis but NOT elite Missile Specialization if you are planning to send only these ships vs multi-Ordos, so the Squalls last longer.


AMSRM Brawler (LP). Because it was lacking a finisher missile. I would really not want face these in combat. Not really a weird build, but it's a hilarious one to see it go to work.


The total Ordo Farming fleet is the two first ships for my level 7 officers, 5 of the Conquests, then the rest is a mix of Afflictor(P) with Rift Beam and Advanced Optics, the above Brawler (LP)s, and my own SO Brawler(TT) with a Cryoflamer. I farm story points by letting them kill multi-Ordos under AI control while I do other stuff so I would say these are capable "weird" designs.

[Void Ganymede]

I'd like to see somebody tell me about how their 5 salamander eradicator is actually good.

Well, ackshually...

click for abomination

[close]

It works off of two gimmicks (1) infinite AAF via Neural Link resets and (2) +200 base railgun range via elite PD skill + IPDAI. You're your own escort and can active vent then swap ships to cover it.

Fitting 40 OP of missiles is kind of questionable but you don't need Systems Expertise so can bring 10 ECCM'd Salamanders with elite Missile Specialization on all. It protects your flanks, keeps you from being swarmed, and the mobility kills secure hard kills on anything that can back off and vent. The missile investment makes the flagships way more independent and 2vX-capable.

The two alternatives you could spend the OP on are armor and flux. You fly the ships more like midtech than lowtech, relying on overwhelming concentrated firepower and mobility (regularly shutting off weapons with x for 0-flux speed boost) so stacking armor hullmods isn't that valuable. Flux is harder to judge. The ships run hot but you get plenty of time to vent after nearby targets are dead or retreating.

Salamanders really benefit from flare-dumpers like Broadswords but the Eradicator's burn 9 (!!) outruns the Mora and the skill investment for this gimmick precludes taking carrier skills. I was using strictly low-tech so it's a +2 burn Legion XIV or nothing for escorts.

[BigBrainEnergy]

Now that is a weird build.

+200 base railgun range via elite PD skill + IPDAI

(Nerd emoji) umm, didn't you know that ePD doesn't increase base range? It's only a flat 200 on top.