Here's a generalist build that I use for my own XIV which looks ridiculous, but is actually quite lethal, and has the advantage of being nearly impervious to missiles and torpedoes. Due to the side-mounted Devastators, it also has the advantage of being extremely good, even when surrounded. One weakness to keep in mind would be the sharp fall-off of HE damage as soon as your PCLs run out of ammo.
My brother in Ludd what have you done. I make a hobby of collecting regrettable Onslaught fits I find on Reddit and such, and this... is a work of art because it
looks like a horrible fit, but it actually
works. It has EVERYTHING. Large slot PD.
Thumpers. I see this take the field, rearing upwards into the clouds like Cthulu risen, and am struck dumb by it's horrifying, Stygian grandeur.
I... I kneel.
One endgame build is to double down on the range boosted, high efficiency small and medium ballistics, then back them up with 3 Hephaestus Assault Guns (with either the currently overpowered PCLs or Reapers). It might sound wild to be fighting ordos with so much HE, but its more that smaller mounts have so much efficient kinetic that the build is still balanced.
Incidentally, that's what my Onslaught looks like, and I've found this to be true. My current fit:
This is refinement of fits I've been using since before Burn Drive was interruptible. As you can see this ship is built explicitly to enrage my friends whom wail about
"muh flux" and to channel my dark, roiling hatred of large slot PD. More specifically, this ship is built around a few key principles:
1.
Burst fire > else. This thing is
extremely shooty, the point being to
confirm kills. The Hephaestus Assault Guns will
rapidly over-flux your ship, so you must
pulse autofire for that weapon group on and off. In a dynamic, high-pressure situation, leaving the HAGs on long enough to strip armor off the target is more than enough; the medium slot autocannons hit more than hard enough to overcome residual armor protection. As Thaago says, the kinetic firepower of the medium mounts alone is impressive - I've occasionally found myself wondering why my Onslaught's holding off multiple enemies without actually killing any, only to realize I'd forgotten to turn my HAGs on. Which leads me to my second point:
2.
The Onslaught is a broadsides warship of the line. Due to weapon mount layout, you can only bring approximately 2/3rds of your firepower to bear on any single point target at any time. You can absolutely stick your nose into the middle of a fight and lash out to
both sides with enough kinetic suppression to control the entire field. The astute observer will notice I split my heavy autocannons into two weapon groups
per-broadside, so if I'm tight on flux I can choose not to engage e.g. a random frigate to my port-side to enable continued engagement of an Atlas II on my starboard side. If you need to hold the line, this ship can do it. Which means-
3.
You can create your own opportunities to pounce. The Thermal Pulse Cannons are of course significant; also helping to mitigate the broadsides nature of the ship somewhat with their forward facing, but the four medium missile mounts are MVP. I'll typically bring this into the main mass of the fight, hold my position (carefully managing HAG fire to control flux) and when I've picked off the eager beavers or just thinned out the frigates/destroyers (to avenge the Sim Onslaught, of course,) then I can pick one unlucky SOB opposite, burn-drive into his face and dump TPC and missile fire into him before flipping the HAGs on.
HAGs rip through hull at a hilariously fast rate, which is where the real lethality of this build comes from.
4.
The Onslaught's best anti-torpedo option is its shield. I've tried many things on Onslaughts to stop those
hateful evil little frigates from ramming torpedoes into my side-rear areas and hands-down the best solution I've found are accelerated + omni shields. Nothing else comes close - even if you sacrifice firepower (and the ability to run off flanking frigates) by swapping the side-rear autocannons for flak guns, there's only so much firepower they can muster and a Gremlin unloading its entire torpedo armament into you
will get through. Even if you elect to make Baby Ludd cry by fitting large slot PD the side larges don't have great angles on the side-rear quarter. Just man up and take those Reapers on the shield like the Domain intended.
Some notes:
-The HAGs allow this thing to devour anything on the field. You absolutely
can make this a Hellbore fit if that's your preference, but the OP savings are marginal due to Heavy Ballistics Integration (12OP). Furthermore, the high ROF and projectile velocity of the HAGs allow them to engage even frigates effectively.
The flavor text of the HAG concerning it overpowering weaker shield emitters isn't just fluff - it can do that.The missiles are to-taste and can be swapped out as needed. Given my emphasis on securing kills you may wonder why I don't just fit Harpoons, which is a fair question. For starters, with HAGs I don't need them as much (though often wish I had them,) but secondly, I prefer sabots for flexibility. When fired whilst under burn-drive, they "fly formation" with you, staying inside your ship model, meaning they typically fire their second stage and hammer your enemy just as you de-accelerate in front of them (and they can't be picked off by marauding fighters or something, either.) Since they're guided/maneuverable, they can also handily engage attackers that get into my vulnerable rear arc; especially useful if I've got a destroyer or cruiser pressuring me that my twin HMGs can't flux out and drive off. And lastly, if I'm in big trouble and need to relieve the pressure, sabots are far more likely to help than torpedoes or harpoons, as they will drive up flux on attackers who aren't feeling flux pressure, and will punish with EMP anything that tries to armor-tank them. Given how much firepower the missile mounts bring, the build's non-reliance on them makes it a bit easier to customize for particular fights or expected enemies.
The second S-mod is to taste. Astute observers will note I've only built in one hullmod here, and that's because I'm still deciding exactly what I want. The S-mod bonuses for cheaper hullmods are one of Alex's best ideas and really stand out here.
Of course the default option is to
build in Integrated Targeting Unit and install Hardened Shields, which are 1. always good and 2. especially useful for this build given the propensity to take Reapers directly on the shield. But other attractive options:
Build in Expanded Magazines and install Armored Weapon Mounts, which increases the TPC's recharge by a whopping 50%.
The TPC's have a flux-damage ratio of 0.6 which is nothing to sneeze at for the Onslaught, given its flux stats.
Build in Armored Weapon Mounts and install any of the other 15 OP hullmods normally: This gives you a 10% overall increase in armor (which is significant due to how much armor the Onslaught has to begin with)
and gives you a 10% ROF increase on all turrets, which leans into the burst nature of the weapon fit.
Build in Resistant Flux Conduits (for 10% faster venting, for a total 35% bonus) or
Accelerated Shields to
double the shield raise/turn rate bonus and
always catch those wayward reapers.
Concerning skills:
Polarized Armor and Impact Mitigation are, of course, must-have skills for any armor-tanking ship. Impact Mitigation's elite bonus also neatly counteracts the maneuvering penalty of S-Mod heavy armor and leaves you with a 25% bonus on top. Polarized Armor's elite benefit (faster venting) is likewise indispensible for managing flux. Given how much kinetic suppression this ship can throw around, it can often
create enough breathing room to vent by chasing off hostiles close enough to shoot. (I still wouldn't do it without supporting ships nearby however.)
Point Defense and Helmsmanship are obviously not terribly important for this ship in contrast to other low-tech options or builds you might try, but don't hurt to have. Helmsmanship especially.
Missile Specialization is obviously a lot more attractive since having Burn Drive more often isn't very powerful on its own, though it
does give you a hilarious amount of speed during late-battle mop-up.
Damage Control isn't as useful on this build as it usually would be, especially if you take the grug option of building in ITU so as to fit Hardened Shields. But it never hurts for armor tankers, esp. for a poorly fluxed ship like the Onslaught. We all catch a stray torpedo now and then, that's the breaks.
Ballistic Mastery is of course mandatory, but the elite bonus helps a theoretical Hellbore fit quite a bit, and makes the already fast moving HAG projectiles
hilariously lethal to fast cruisers, frigates, and other hateful little beasts. The Sim Onslaught calls from beyond the grave for vengeance!
Comments welcome etc.
