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Starsector 0.97a is out! (02/02/24); New blog post: Simulator Enhancements (03/13/24)

Author Topic: Random comments on 0.96a  (Read 870 times)

Megas

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Random comments on 0.96a
« on: May 14, 2023, 07:20:29 PM »

Long post with my comments about various random things while playing 0.96a.  Getting this out now while I have my thoughts somewhat fresh (read: not too stale) and not too muddled.

Read Codex before playing, then promptly went to in-game settings to disable whiteout.  Went with the "Sir" title, but was tempted to go with "Captain".

Overall, 0.96a feels like a modded 0.95a game.  Fundamental gameplay is nearly exactly the same as before, but with more ships, weapons, quests, and subtle balance changes to some ships and weapons.  Skills, missions, trade and other income, and colonies aside from "Hostile Activity" are more or less the same.

General Gameplay:  Selected Apogee start, picked Navigation for more burn and T-jump at the start, avoided all combat while I abused well-known black market trade routes that remained the same since last release to get more than a million credits in about five game months and buy more ships.  While leveling up through trade experience, I built up Industry up to Hull Restoration.  After that, I looked for where I could colonize and pick off bounties that seemed safe enough to attack.  Colonized one world to get storage and growth started, but could not find another system I wanted to settle permanently.  Next skills I got were Technology because I wanted to try the new Automated Ships.  Later, I just killed more bounties, get more and more ships, and searched for better colony systems without any success.  I have not started any of the new quests yet.  Overall, the seed has crummy systems for colonization, and I am tempted to start over, or just wait for the .1 release.

WEAPONS
Mining Laser:  Is underpowered as ever, but now being hybrid and 1 OP, it is cheap enough to mount just for aesthetics and to prevent empty mounts if I do not need every last OP.  I have yet to try them seriously on low-tech ships who would otherwise need to spend 3 or 4 OP on LMGs or Vulcans, and I know I cannot spare 3 or 4 OP per weapon just to fill empty mounts I do not have the luxury of filling.

LR PD:  4 OP instead of 5 is nice.  I use LR PD mostly to force NPC ships to stay further back when they insist on closing within PD weapon range when I do not want them to get that close (like on automated warships that are too fragile for close combat).

Burst PD:  6 OP instead of 7 is very nice, and it has helped shave off and save OP on ships that had a hard time affording it, especially Wolf and Heron.  I have not used the s-mod option that recharges +50% faster enough to know if it powers up burst PD enough to be a replacement for less efficient burst beams when massed.  I did not have a good opportunity to use Heavy Burst Laser yet due to the new or other buffed beams.

Tactical Laser:  1.0 was too inefficient before, but at 0.8 efficiency, I use them occasionally when I need range, whether 1000 on soft flux build or 600 instead of 500 on hard flux HSA build.

Pulse Laser:  I like 0.8 efficiency.  Now the de facto shield cracker, and it is still kind of average - not bad but not great.  At least I do not feel compelled to get sIPDAI + ePD for high-tech ships for efficiency's sake.

Mining Blaster:  I guess it has potential, but I have not (found the need to have) used it because of poor range and I needed shield cracking more than armor busting, especially since it is easier to delegate anti-armor to missiles.

Kinetic Blaster:  Basically an upgraded pulse laser against shields, which is what pulse laser is mostly good for.  The main thing going for kinetic blaster is more DPS against shields and slightly better efficiency against (the most important defense called) shields, which is better for those without enough mounts.  If I have the mounts and do not need DPS, Pulse Lasers are probably better for general use.  I kind of wish Kinetic Blaster was slightly more efficient, like 1.4, or 350 flux per shot instead of 375.

Graviton Beam:  Because of the bonus shield damage effect, I use one or two on a ship as the default choice when my ship cannot support (more) hard flux weapons or said hard flux weapons have insufficient range.  Also, because of the combination of buffed Graviton Beam and Missile Autoloader, I seriously use High Scatter Amplifier on few ships when Pulse Laser at 0.8 efficiency is still not good enough for low powered ships that can barely support pulse laser (while taking hard flux in a brawl).  HSA Graviton is effectively the energy machine gun for assault purposes.

IR Autolance:  Only used one on each ship, and it seems weak when using only one beam on the ship.  Armored fighters can tank an IR autolance for a few seconds.  Even if I can hit bare hull, I cannot tell if IR Autolance kills enemies faster or if I would have been better off with another weapon like an Ion Beam, a second or third Graviton beam, or even a burst PD.

HIL:  Better efficiency is good.  I used it to good effect on Brilliant and Executor.  Before, Tachyon Lance instead of HIL was nearly a no-brainer.

Breach:  Not a new weapon, but I like how it long it lasts when combined with the new Missile Autoloader on some ships, which I combine with all kinetic guns, like Arbalests on Eagle or HSA Gravitons on some high-tech frigates.

Gorgon:  Nice for cleaning up early game pirates early in the game, but later on against stronger enemies, they are too easily stopped by whatever defenses the enemy has.

Hydra:  Alterative endurance option to Locusts.  Same comments on Gorgon apply here.

Gazer:  I wonder why I want to use these instead of Sabots (or Reapers in case of medium size) if I have a choice.

Dragonfire:  They are visually impressive.  Their performance, not so much.  They have low ammo count, and when the missile bursts, more agile enemies sidestep the beam before the beam dissipates and only takes about half the damage.  It would not be so bad if there were as many Dragonfires as Reapers, but not with its low ammo count.

Jackhammer:  Only two triple shots.  Feels like the weapon either needs another three shot for nine missiles or OP cost lowered to 7.

Reapers:  Medium version has seven shots now.  It becomes a possible endurance option with Expanded Missile Racks, or I can forget the hullmod if I need OP elsewhere.  Large version firing missiles at max speed is fun to watch and use, but there are not enough ships that can use Cyclone Reaper easily.

Hurricane MIRV:  Still powerful enough with ECCM.  Non-ECCM version is more accurate, but probably not enough against smaller agile targets.
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HULLMODS
IPDAI:  With small weapon conversion locked at s-mod level, getting that feature is a much greater opportunity cost that I often cannot afford.  I get the hullmod occasionally for some ships that really need more power and/or guaranteed perfect target leading for their PD weapons.

Missile Autoloader:  Finally, most frigates and cruisers who got too few missiles to play the missile game last release can do so now.  Works great for Breach.  Classic destroyers got shafted since they have at least two mounts.
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HULLS (Human)
Apogee:  New Apogee feels better.  The new medium mount makes upgrading on the way to plasma cannon or other heavy weapon easier.  Soon after starting the game, I found more pulse lasers and used two pulse lasers and one IR PL for a brief time.  Not long after, I used two heavy blasters and despite being inefficient, it was close to one plasma cannon, but with less efficiency and range.  Much later, I found my first plasma cannon and dumped the two HBs.

Tempest:  I use Missile Autoloader on this.  Depending on what I use for missiles, I may use two Graviton Beam with High Scatter Amplifier because it is the most efficient anti-shield on an energy weapon, Graviton has the new anti-shield debuff, and Missile Autoloader turns some missiles into a flux free HE gun while PPT lasts.

Gemini:  Obtained one a bit late.  The improvements made it useful enough to use in few fights, at least a fight before endgame difficulty.  Loadout I like was two HVDs, Breach Pod or Pilums, and Warthogs.  Basically a light battlecarrier.

Drover:  Felt better to use, especially with Active Flares taking care of PD needs.  At least I do not need to deal with old Reserve Deployment shooting my Drover in the foot by gutting replacement rate.  Used Claw and Broadswords for fighters, plus Railgun and LAG for weapons.  Used cheap 1 or 2 OP missiles on hardpoints

Venture (P):  Basically used it like a brawler.  Two HVDs in hardpoints, flak in turrets, graviton beam in the energy turret.  Used Hydra in the large mount at first, then Squalls after I found some.

Harbinger:  Finally, the AI can pilot this ship competently enough and be useful!  Loadout was two Ion Pulsers and Heavy Blaster.  Also put two Mining Lasers in the rear because I could spare two OP and I dislike the idea of empty mounts.  Used Phase Anchor mostly for the destruction avoidance effect (because I do not want new d-mods from dead ships).

Heron:  While the ship has not changed, the various weapons buffs among point defense lasers costing less, pulse and tactical lasers getting better efficiency (1.0 to 0.8 is huge for a ship too OP starved to set vents high), plus IPDAI costing less (to buff weaker PD beams up to snuff) made outfitting Heron as a battlecarrier with a basic loadout a bit easier.  It still feels a bit OP starved since Heron cannot downgrade much of anything aside from fighters to fit more stuff while Mora can downgrade either fighters or medium missiles to small missiles to get more OP in a pinch, but it not as bad as before.  Heron would probably need no more than +5 OP to fit a midgrade battlecarrier loadout with decent fighters a bit more comfortably.

Eagle:  Missile Autoloader and the buffs Eagle and various weapons received made it a better ship.  With Missile Autoloader giving enough ammo to turn Swarmers or Breach into an HE gun with enough endurance to last until PPT runs out, it is effectively a flux free HE gun, and all ballistic hardpoints can be filled with kinetics.  Linking Breach to the main guns is required to force the AI to shoot Breach as often as the kinetics, while Swarmers do not need such configuration tricks.  Using Graviton Beams on Eagle does not feel like a waste anymore.  I used two in my fleet, and they seemed decent enough and not excessively weak like last release.  A loadout I quickly settled on was three Arbalests linked with two Breach, two Graviton Beams, one Ion Beam, and four burst PD.  With Breach and Autoloader, Eagle has enough missiles for the whole fight, and I link them with the main guns.  Now it can fill all three hardpoints with kinetics while having reliable missile power for HE.  Falcon benefitted similarly.

Aurora:  Another ship that felt like it pulled its weight with buffed shields and indirect buff with energy weapons.  Not disappointed with it like I was in previous releases.  Used two pulse lasers, two IR PL, and an ion cannon.  Missiles were four Swarmers and one Typhoon Reaper in hardpoints, and Sabot pod in the synergy.

Retribution:  Did not play with it long, and what little time I dabbled with it was in the SIM.  Piloting it was awkward.  For what I can see, it And Nova seem designed to jump into melee against an enemy, alpha strike, withdrawn to vent, repeat.  My gut feeling loadout I tried for Retribution was heavy machine guns and devastators.

Invictus:  Feels like a super-capital from a mod due to being bigger than the classic battleships and huge logistical requirements to operate it.  Because I was not at endgame with unlimited resources, and was close to running out of money after building it with Orbital Works, I used Augmented Engines and Efficiency Overhaul so I can use Invictus without slowing the fleet too much and breaking the bank.  I quickly settled into two Mark IX and two Hellbore.  Used two Xyphos for fighters at first, but later went with one Xyphos and one Sarissa.  Used Pilum Catapults because I did not have enough OP left for better missiles and Expanded Missile Racks.  Using Gauss Cannons builds up flux too much too fast and takes longer to vent than for Lidar to recharge, and I want to use Lidar as often as possible.  I did not have more than one Mjolnir when I first obtained Invictus, but when I did later after the latest hotfix, I tried four Mjolnirs and flux bar reaches max just before Lidar ends, and I have vent time longer than system recharge.  Later, I tried two Mark IX and two Mjolnirs, but it did not break Onslaught's armor as fast as HE weapons.  I was better off using Mark IX and Hellbores (or HAG if I want the minigun feeling).  Storm Needlers did not have enough range.  Overall, Invictus was a beast that was fun to use, makes Onslaught and Paragon look small, and I wish there was a high-tech super-capital like Invictus that focused on energy weapons and maybe fighters.  Perhaps a unique one-off high-tech colony ship that is the equivalent of a dreadnought or mobile space station.  (Paragon and Astral are not it, they feel more like a mere battleship like Onslaught.  Onslaught is like a Star Destroyer, while Invictus is like the Super SD)

Pegasus was beaten to death elsewhere in other topics, but it was sure fun to play the four large missile version while it lasted.
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HULLS (AI)
Brilliant:  The first Remnant I used that is new or changed since last release.  I miss the fighter bay and flares and I am not sure plasma burn is better or just a sidegrade.  At least Plasma Burn lets Brilliant stay within it attack range up to cowardly enemies trying to run away, so that is something, probably more important than letting cowardly enemies get away, and the bay can be bought back with Converted Hangar for 10 OP if I want fighters that badly.  For loadout, I used two Heavy ACs, one Ion Beam, one HIL, two LR PD, and a Proximity Charge Launcher.  I wanted to use burst PD, but I did not want the reckless behavior to get closer to the enemy than it needs to, so I settled on the LR PDs with either Point Defense or Ordnance Expert.  (I think I took Ordnance Expert because I needed it to keep flux use under control.)  I tried a more close-range loadout with HMGs and non-beam energy weapons, but Brilliant just kind of cowered and let the longer ranged enemy ships pummel it.  It did not use Plasma Burn as much as it should to get within range of shorter-ranged weapons.

Fulgent:  Tried it since it got Energy Bolt Coherer.  It just means Pulse Laser has a bit more range and sIPDAI+ePD IR PLs may not be so vital.  Did not use it much or enough for that matter.

Apex:  It is so slow and +200 range to non-beams do not seem like enough.  Arming it is an annoyance.  In the end, I bit the bullet and s-modded IPDAI for the classic small weapon conversion, loaded all pure energy mounts with IR PLs for maximum hard flux range (1180, vs. mediums' 1120), and mounted four medium missiles in the synergies, with Annihilator Pods, Breach Pods, or Typhoon Reapers.  Terminator Drones are wasted as usual.  Not a fun ship to use.

Nova:  Seems like a high-tech Retribution, and just as weird or awkward to use, although I will not pilot it because I will not get Tech 8 to unlock it.  Seems like it is built to drive in, alpha strike, back out, and repeat.  Loadout I used was two plasma cannons, three graviton beams, one ion beam, some burst PD, and empty missiles (due to lack of OP and Breach Pods at hand).  Have not put it through real battle yet.
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This is probably not everything, but this is all I can think of for now before getting burned out from too much information late.
« Last Edit: May 14, 2023, 07:50:58 PM by Megas »
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pairedeciseaux

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Re: Random comments on 0.96a
« Reply #1 on: May 15, 2023, 02:46:51 PM »

Nova:  Seems like a high-tech Retribution, and just as weird or awkward to use, although I will not pilot it because I will not get Tech 8 to unlock it.  Seems like it is built to drive in, alpha strike, back out, and repeat.  Loadout I used was two plasma cannons, three graviton beams, one ion beam, some burst PD, and empty missiles (due to lack of OP and Breach Pods at hand).  Have not put it through real battle yet.
[/spoiler]

I use a build lighter on flux than yours, allowing sustained fire. Backing out only necessary when in trouble.
  • 1 Plasma Cannon
  • 2 Kinetic Blasters
  • 1 Ion Pulser (on right-side large hard point)
  • 2 Ion Cannons (on left-side medium hard points)
  • 4 IR Pulse Lasers (on turrets, together with S-mod IPDAI)
  • Sabots
  • S-Mod Extended Shields

Basically it feels like an Aurora on steroid. :D Although, one pays a heavy OP price for Neural Interface, not to mention so much skill points spent in technology.
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