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Author Topic: Atlas MK2 compares to cruisers  (Read 4837 times)

paramecium

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Atlas MK2 compares to cruisers
« on: March 24, 2023, 05:13:23 AM »

it nearly dwarf all the cruisers isn't it. for 24 DP you got 2 foward mount large ballistic and 2 small ballistic with accelerated ammo feeder it is already out range the cruisers but also going to out trade flux due to accelerated ammo feeder not only double the damage out put, but also halve the flux/damage pushing the stat of light needle and hellbore canno to omega weapon level. yes it is not as tanky as cruisers but cruisers are not in a tanking role any way. 2 large missile making the fire support even better. in which case you would chose a cruiser over a atlas MK2 other than carriers?
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Lawrence Master-blaster

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Re: Atlas MK2 compares to cruisers
« Reply #1 on: March 24, 2023, 05:41:49 AM »

yes it is not as tanky as cruisers but cruisers are not in a tanking role any way.

Nothing in Starsector has a "tanking role" because the game doesn't have aggro mechanics. Can you guarantee that the enemy will never shoot your Atlas Mk2s? Because if not then they can't run like cruisers and can't take hits like cruisers.
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Jackundor

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Re: Atlas MK2 compares to cruisers
« Reply #2 on: March 24, 2023, 05:53:29 AM »

yes it is not as tanky as cruisers but cruisers are not in a tanking role any way.

Nothing in Starsector has a "tanking role" because the game doesn't have aggro mechanics. Can you guarantee that the enemy will never shoot your Atlas Mk2s? Because if not then they can't run like cruisers and can't take hits like cruisers.

well, yes, Atlas 2 is slow and made of paper, but it can be good from what i have heared. how? use gauss cannons and long range missiles, it needs to be a long range fighter bc if it comes into close quarters even a good destroyer will rip it to shreds
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CapnHector

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Re: Atlas MK2 compares to cruisers
« Reply #3 on: March 24, 2023, 06:54:46 AM »

I have tried very hard to make this ship work, because it seems like it has great offensive potential, even rivaling the Conquest with its AAF and 2x large ballistic 2x large missile setup. Unfortunately, it is very much let down by its flux capacity, fragile hull and bad shield arc, and does not have the OP to mitigate these issues with hullmods.

For example, here is a setup that can defeat sim assault Radiant under AI control (the one with 4x Autopulse, Plasma and 4x Reaper). Give officer skills: elite Ordnance Expertise, Elite Missile Spec, Ballistic Mastery, Field Modulation, Target Analysis (elite if you can).




Note that it can win, does not always win. For example not intercepting a Reaper or getting its Storm Needler disabled will lead to death.

However, I tried sending a fleet of 6 of these ships, and my special Ordo Farming Doom and Paragon to fight a Remnant Ordo with 3x Radiant using the usual tactics of defend order on Paragon. They just get slaughtered by the Radiants in fleet combat - they actually deal good damage but are extremely vulnerable to getting flanked by mobile opponents.

I think this ship deserves a buff. The Pirates deserve a capital that strikes fear into the player. Basically just give it more OP or better flux stats and it is fine.
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Lawrence Master-blaster

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Re: Atlas MK2 compares to cruisers
« Reply #4 on: March 24, 2023, 08:19:20 AM »

I think it's fine in Pirate hands as it is, since AI doesn't care about losses. It may not be a big bad ship on its own, but they always bring several.

If we're going to post builds, here's a quick one I threw together:



It was honestly better than I expected, easily took out both sim Onslaughts and the Conquest which I came to expect from a 25 DP ship(sim fights being what they are) The main problem is that both of the 25 DP cruisers are faster, tougher, more agile(even the Dominator) and have a lot better campaign stats - Atlas MkII has worse DP/fuel ratio than the Onslaught and it takes ten days to fully recover CR. Speaking of, would be nice if Militarized Subsystems boosted CR recovery *cough*
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paramecium

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Re: Atlas MK2 compares to cruisers
« Reply #5 on: March 24, 2023, 08:51:21 AM »

I have tried very hard to make this ship work, because it seems like it has great offensive potential, even rivaling the Conquest with its AAF and 2x large ballistic 2x large missile setup. Unfortunately, it is very much let down by its flux capacity, fragile hull and bad shield arc, and does not have the OP to mitigate these issues with hullmods.

For example, here is a setup that can defeat sim assault Radiant under AI control (the one with 4x Autopulse, Plasma and 4x Reaper). Give officer skills: elite Ordnance Expertise, Elite Missile Spec, Ballistic Mastery, Field Modulation, Target Analysis (elite if you can).




Note that it can win, does not always win. For example not intercepting a Reaper or getting its Storm Needler disabled will lead to death.

However, I tried sending a fleet of 6 of these ships, and my special Ordo Farming Doom and Paragon to fight a Remnant Ordo with 3x Radiant using the usual tactics of defend order on Paragon. They just get slaughtered by the Radiants in fleet combat - they actually deal good damage but are extremely vulnerable to getting flanked by mobile opponents.

I think this ship deserves a buff. The Pirates deserve a capital that strikes fear into the player. Basically just give it more OP or better flux stats and it is fine.

https://ibb.co/gZNT72B
if you are fighting drone ships then I think you should use my build as 2 light needle at the front with accerated ammo feeder is 4500 kinetic damage in 7.5 second pluse the 10 round of hellbore will put more pressure to shield than a 24 dp should do. certainly more oppressive  than a dominator would do
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paramecium

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Re: Atlas MK2 compares to cruisers
« Reply #6 on: March 24, 2023, 09:01:21 AM »

I think it's fine in Pirate hands as it is, since AI doesn't care about losses. It may not be a big bad ship on its own, but they always bring several.

If we're going to post builds, here's a quick one I threw together:



It was honestly better than I expected, easily took out both sim Onslaughts and the Conquest which I came to expect from a 25 DP ship(sim fights being what they are) The main problem is that both of the 25 DP cruisers are faster, tougher, more agile(even the Dominator) and have a lot better campaign stats - Atlas MkII has worse DP/fuel ratio than the Onslaught and it takes ten days to fully recover CR. Speaking of, would be nice if Militarized Subsystems boosted CR recovery *cough*

I suggest you try to utilize the small ballistic in front as a anti-shield weapon. 2 light needler with accerated ammo feeder will have average dps to 440kinetic and will have a flux/damage down to about 0.56, while out range heavy needler is quite a punch combined with two hellbore
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Candesce

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Re: Atlas MK2 compares to cruisers
« Reply #7 on: March 24, 2023, 09:04:43 AM »

However, I tried sending a fleet of 6 of these ships, and my special Ordo Farming Doom and Paragon to fight a Remnant Ordo with 3x Radiant using the usual tactics of defend order on Paragon. They just get slaughtered by the Radiants in fleet combat - they actually deal good damage but are extremely vulnerable to getting flanked by mobile opponents.
A) The ship is vulnerable to being flanked, yes. Give it escorts rather than trying to force a monofleet.

B) It's made of paper. Why would you stick short-ranged Storm Needlers on it? Put those on something that wants to close, like the Prometheus Mk II.

I've had quite a bit of success using them as artillery ships, armed with 2x Squalls, a Haephestus, a Mjolnir, and some PD. Pair them up with some more maneuverable and tougher ships to force separation, and they'll wreck ***. Best used with Blast Doors and Containment Procedures, though.
« Last Edit: March 24, 2023, 09:08:58 AM by Candesce »
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CapnHector

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Re: Atlas MK2 compares to cruisers
« Reply #8 on: March 24, 2023, 09:19:22 AM »

It has a Storm Needler for the specific reason that I was unable to make one that could defeat a Radiant 1v1 using any other weapon (I tried a lot of combos - I think Mark IX-Hephaestus also won once but mostly not).

You are paying 62.5% of the cost of a Conquest for this ship, and a Conquest can be kitted to defeat two sim Radiants simultaneously without even taking much damage if you optimize the ship properly, so this ship is simply poor value if it can't defeat even one.

Does your layout work vs Ordos under AI control? If you have a better one, share please, I would love to use this ship. I do realize now that I didn't try 2x Squall with elite missile spec, since I usually do not run the elite version for multi-Ordo fights which are the goal, so that must still be tried and might work with other weapons.

Also if you guys want to test your ships vs the Radiant, here is how to add it to the sim: in data/campaign/sim_opponents add the lines

radiant_Assault
radiant_Strike
. Alternatively you can overwrite that file with this one I attached. It is a hard fight.
« Last Edit: March 24, 2023, 09:37:18 AM by CapnHector »
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Lawrence Master-blaster

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Re: Atlas MK2 compares to cruisers
« Reply #9 on: March 24, 2023, 12:42:56 PM »

Also if you guys want to test your ships vs the Radiant, here is how to add it to the sim: in data/campaign/sim_opponents add the lines

Well, I did just that and... ooops. The fight took a while because Radiant kept disengaging when high on flux but was overall pretty one-sided. I then tried it against the Tachyon variant and it was a breeze, no damage taken.

Seems like any old rustbucket can take the Remnant on if you just fit two Squalls on it. Although sim Radiants don't have Alpha AI Cores so there's that.
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Doctorhealsgood

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Re: Atlas MK2 compares to cruisers
« Reply #10 on: March 24, 2023, 02:29:43 PM »

Well, I did just that and... ooops. The fight took a while because Radiant kept disengaging when high on flux but was overall pretty one-sided. I then tried it against the Tachyon variant and it was a breeze, no damage taken.

Seems like any old rustbucket can take the Remnant on if you just fit two Squalls on it. Although sim Radiants don't have Alpha AI Cores so there's that.
The absolute state of the renmant.
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Brainwright

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Re: Atlas MK2 compares to cruisers
« Reply #11 on: March 24, 2023, 06:19:22 PM »

The Atlas Mk II is a bully ship, it makes everything smaller than it cower.  Trying to make it powerful one on one seems a silly premise.  Have two escort a Doom tied to a capture point.  It'll work fairly well.
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FooF

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Re: Atlas MK2 compares to cruisers
« Reply #12 on: March 24, 2023, 07:17:47 PM »

I consider the Atlas Mk. II to be the offensive foil to the Dominator's defensive role. It's an absolute glass cannon meant to beef up Pirate fleets without making them too strong. I don't consider them to be true Capitals or expect them to have the same battlefield presence. If they were re-labeled Heavy Cruisers, I wouldn't bat an eye.

The Prometheus Mk. II is a fair bit stronger, though, and is an inefficient Capital but a Capital nonetheless.
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Candesce

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Re: Atlas MK2 compares to cruisers
« Reply #13 on: March 24, 2023, 08:13:34 PM »

I don't consider them to be true Capitals or expect them to have the same battlefield presence. If they were re-labeled Heavy Cruisers, I wouldn't bat an eye.
They're priced like cruisers, so that's what they compete with for slots in my fleet.

But the Atlas II really needs the range boost that comes from technically being a capital ship.
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CapnHector

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Re: Atlas MK2 compares to cruisers
« Reply #14 on: March 24, 2023, 09:53:42 PM »

Also if you guys want to test your ships vs the Radiant, here is how to add it to the sim: in data/campaign/sim_opponents add the lines

Well, I did just that and... ooops. The fight took a while because Radiant kept disengaging when high on flux but was overall pretty one-sided. I then tried it against the Tachyon variant and it was a breeze, no damage taken.

Seems like any old rustbucket can take the Remnant on if you just fit two Squalls on it. Although sim Radiants don't have Alpha AI Cores so there's that.

Nice one! Was this under AI control and did you have elite Missile Specialization?
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