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[Adraius]

I'm kinda astonished by the lack of 'how do I fit ship x for purpose y' threads on this forum.  Depending on how this goes, I might make this a weekly series of threads, featuring a different ship each week.  Anything from general fitting tips for the ship to favorite loadouts to loadouts for a specific purpose are welcome, and feel free to include weapons and hullmods from mods.

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Wolf

1x Medium Energy, 2x Small Missile, 3x Small Energy
50 Ordinance points
2250 Flux capacity, 150 Flux dissipation
 
1500 Hull integrity, 150 Armor rating
Front Shield, 210 degree arc, 60 upkeep/sec, 0.8 flux/damage
150 Top speed

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As a starter, I have a fleet designed to charge the enemy, which utilizes a few fast frigates to speed ahead and hold Nav Buoys and Sensor Arrays from the enemy fleet's advance elements until my destroyers arrive, after which they serve as fleet screens/carrier hunters/point defenders/etc.  I have a few captured Wolves I want to bend to fit this role.  The Wolf has the speed to perform this role excellently, but has issues with getting pushed off a capture point, and is rather fragile for fleet fights.  Any suggestions for the fit, given 65 OP and the stipulation should likely include Augmented Engines?  My current fit is 3x CEPC, 2x Sabot SRM, 1x Heavy Burst Laser, Augmented Engines, 6cap/15vent.  The CEPCs have great damage and range for little flux, and the Heavy Burst Laser pulls triple duty as supplementary frigate skirmishing weapon, personal PD, and later on supplementary fleet PD.

[SafariJohn]

CEPC isn't vanilla

In my big missile fleet back-when I used Wolves for capturing points. They did fine with a pretty stock loadout: Heavy Blaster, 3x Tactical Lasers, and 2x Reapers. Salamanders would probably be better than Reapers. That leaves plenty of OP for whatever else you want.

[Thaago]

I find fitting the Wolf to be very role/enemy specific. For the purpose of charging ahead and keeping points until the destroyers get there, then acting as screens, I would recommend:

1x Pulse Laser/Heavy Blaster if you have the OP - skill dependent
1x Ion Cannon
2x Burst PD
2x Swarmer

Reason: This build will tear apart fighters and un-shielded frigates, while holding its own against ships with shields due to the main gun + swarmers. The swarmers essentially force the enemy ship to stay shields up and actually go a long way in winning a frigate v frigate battle. The downside of course is their limited ammo, but I think they are worth it and they do last a good long time.

In a fleet combat situation, the Ion Cannon is remarkably good. Front shielded ships will most likely have bigger targets to worry about and Wolves are pretty good about getting around an enemy. Or even if the enemy vents, Ion Cannon bolts disabling the engines can be a fight winner.

[Cyan Leader]

With the right starting choices I can have a Wolf like this within the first few minutes of the game, depending how lucky I get with an AM Blaster.

1x Heavy Blaster
1x AM Blaster (front slot)
2x Harpoon MRM
2x PDs or empty (if running mods, those BRDY beams that do hull damage, though you may be out of OP if you try this on lower levels)

The HB and the AMB are strong enough to take down the shields of most early game ships you'll face, including pirate destroyers. Once you do it you can just take them out with the Harpoons. Do this a couple of times you level enough to get Expanded Missile Racks and you can pretty easily take down 4-5 frigates fleets or even a couple of destroyers.

The AI doesn't like this build too much though.

[Linnis]

I do have to say, the wolf is excellent for capturing points. I almost always fit it without anything in the medium slot as it will not only spare much needed OP on a frigate, also make thee AI behave better as its not always spinning and turning to shoot stuff. The extra OP if often spent maxing out the flux vent AND capacitors or sometimes even spent on engine durability affecting mods, cuz that how frigates die. I use IR pulse lasers as main weapons as its quite enough dps to handle most threats the wolf will face.

My load out is simple. with two variants, that basically do the same thing.

3 - IR pulse lasers on the small slots

2 - Swarmer missiles

or

2 - IR pulse

1 - Ion cannon on small slot

1 - Salamander and 1 - Harpoon (These pair very well together)


With this load-out it basically allows the wolf to trump most frigates aside from the tempest, it will even stand up to destroyers very well. Even better if its sent capturing a point it will basically never die.

Then you ask me, its so short range how will it fight longer range ship. I tell you to try it on the refit screen and compare show much flux and dissipation you can get, if you have tech skills put a hardened shield on that thing. They will run out of flux shooting the wolf then it will fly in an rip them apart with 450 energy dps.

I personally don't fly the wolf as its not offensive enough without a heavy blaster, but with it its unable to stand up to cruisers. Lashers is simply the best because of the amount of Dual light machine guns you can put on it, and once you get close you can fight toe to toe with an Eagle. Also its dirt cheap and replace-able.

[Schwartz]

1x Heavy Blaster
3x Tac Laser, 3x PD Laser or 2x Burst PD
2x Harpoons

Get extra missiles for this baby and have several Wolves in your fleet. The missile spam is glorious.

PS: Put Unstable Injector on smaller ships that don't need the navigation speed bonus of Augmented Engines. It costs less fuel and gives your ships more acceleration = agility.

[TaLaR]

(haven't played for quite a while, so forgot precise names of many hullmods, this is mostly for the first player-piloted ship)
For Vanilla:
1x Heavy Blaster
1-2x Tac Laser, more if high Tech skill (primarily anti-fighter, trying to hit them with blaster is too tiresome)

Unstable Injectors (optional Augmented Engine if available, though it's not automatically better, due to lack of acceleration bonus) -> Vent Rate to max -> Extra Hullmods (Usually Gyros and Active vent upgrade, hard shields if I have really a high Tech skill) -> Rest into Flux caps.

Tac laser alternatives:
Mayorat PPC - excellent: still viable against fighters and efficient hard flux in general.
Shadowyard CEPC - not as good as PPC, but still decent hard flux option.

Blaster alternatives:
Mayorat shotgun-like weapon (forgot name) - superb efficient hard flux, but short ranged and can't hit anything smaller than a Destroyer with all projectiles.

Overall Wolf might not technically be the most powerful frigate, but due to skimmer system it certainly is the most satisfying to use.

[Megas]

These are my favorite endgame max OP/Op. Assembly configurations:

Wolf (grunt)
Weapons: Pulse Laser, Tactical Laser x3, Salamander x2
Hullmods: Advanced Turret Gyros, Augmented Engines, Hardened Subsystems, Integrated Point Defense AI, Integrated Targeting Unit, Resistant Flux Conduits
Capacitors: 6
Vents: 10

When I deploy about forty frigates in combat, I need long-range so that ships hang further back and not slam into each other when twenty or more frigates focus-fire against a lone big ship.  Occasionally, Wolves dart in-and-out and deal some hard-flux damage to shields with pulse laser. Other weapons zap incoming missiles and ships alike in a long-range crossfire.


Wolf (elite)
Weapons: Heavy Blaster, PD Laser x3, Reaper x2
Hullmods: Advanced Optics, Augmented Engines, Hardened Subsystems, Integrated Targeting Unit, Resistant Flux Conduits
Capacitors: 10
Vents: 10

Heavy Blaster is the best all-purpose medium energy weapon there is.  (Unlike other ships, Wolf cannot use Phase Lance effectively on its own due to being unable to mount kinetics like Light Needlers.)  PD Laser with Advanced Optics hullmod and/or Entoptic Rangefinder perk has the best balance of power and efficiency of beam PD (heavy burst PD costs too much and becomes underpowered when charges are drained, tactical laser eats too much flux needed for blaster use, the rest are underpowered).  Reapers are for four quick 6000 damage shots (thanks to max Missile Spec.)  If I do not have the missile skill, Reapers are replaced by 0 OP freebies.  This configuration is what I use for my flagship, and I have a few more in my fleet in case I need extra lives.  Also, this is the ship I use to hunt down lone pirate scouts when I need to build up reputation (after losing it all to an investigation) and pirates run from everything aside from a couple lowly frigates.

[Adraius]

Thanks for the tips, everybody, I didn't realize Unstable Injector gave an acceleration bonus that Augmented Engines did not!  Also, Advanced Optics only effects beam weapons, not Pulse Lasers, Heavy Blasters, etc., correct?

[TaLaR]

Yes, Advanced Optics affects only beams. It also reduces affected turret turn rate, so typically you'll want to combine it with improved turret gyro mod (forgot precise name)

[Megas]

You do want Advanced Turret Gyros if you use Tactical Lasers with IPDAI.  Tactical lasers with (or possibly without!) Advanced Optics are too slow without Advanced Turret Gyros.

[Megas]

Some fun old configurations of mine usable by no-skilled Wolf, reposted.  (No quotes to leave dead topics safely anonymous.)

Wolf ("Red")
Weapons:  Mining Blaster, PD Laser x3, Reaper x2
Hullmods:  Unstable Injector
Capacitors:  3
Vents:  10

The one thing all weapons have in common is they are colored red, short-ranged, and they are reasonably effective.  Mining laser would give it a mining theme, but they are too underpowered to use.  Due to short range, Wolf needs more speed from Unstable Injector to approach, fire, then retreat.  Wolf has enough power to fire the blaster twice before needing to vent.

Wolf ("Blue")
Weapons:  Heavy Blaster, Burst PD Laser x3, Harpoon MRM (Single) x2
Hullmods:  None
Capacitors:  2
Vents:  10

Just a basic, no-frills assault configuration usable without skills.  Single Harpoons for the sake of filling in the missile slot, and Harpoons have blue exhaust.  Blaster and beams are blue too.

[Doom101]

i have a few favorites that i'm always ready to use,

The "beam Wolf"

Used mostly for large scale PD or blowing up fighters.

1x phasebeam
3x tac lasers
2x salamanders

Advanced optics, and advanced turret gyros, Integrated targeting CPU ( the one that lets all small weapons target missiles) as well as any other hull mods i have the OP for at the time.*


"Alpha strike wolf"

4x am blasters
2x reapers

Hullmods: Extended mags, unstable injector for the speed boost.

DO NOT let an AI use this loadout, they are almost guaranteed to die.


"Balanced"

1x heavy blaster
2 X LR PD** on the side mounts
1x tac laser on the front mount
2X harpoon singles or pods if you have the OP for it.

pretty good under AI control, better under player.

"light show" or "The christmas tree"

1x pulse laser
3x IR pulse laser
2x sabot pods

Whatever hullmods you want.

Mostly a joke build, but it certainly makes pretty colors, also good at taking down shields.


*- all of my builds gain more hullmods depending on what level my tech is at. beyond the basic ones, use whatever you want.

**- you can add tac lasers if you prefer them for PD, or burst pd.

[Dark.Revenant]

If you wish to end your opponent rightly, the following Wolf variant is sufficient to the task.

Front Energy: Burst PD Laser (You need the extra range and armor penetration over the PD Laser, to better exploit your speed)
Center Energy: Ion Cannon (This handy weapon is anti-fighter, anti-missile, anti-ship, all for one slot)
Left Energy: Antimatter Blaster (The extra burst damage is essential for shooting down large missiles)
Right Energy: Tactical Laser (You never know when you might need some extra DPS - better keep this one off autofire though, to conserve flux)
Left Missile: Sabot SRM (Single) (The spread-fire is great for clearing fighters; single version because a full rack is overkill)
Right Missile: Atropos Torpedo (Single) (Better than a Reaper because it's guided)

Hull Mods
IPDAI: To get much-needed point defense cover
Extended Missile Racks: It's always nice to have more missile ammo
Expanded Magazines: Since the main weapon uses charges, this lets it fire for longer
Automated Repair Unit: Never underestimate a fast turnaround in the campaign

This design has served me well for many years.

[Thaago]

If you wish to end your opponent rightly, the following Wolf variant is sufficient to the task.

Front Energy: Burst PD Laser (You need the extra range and armor penetration over the PD Laser, to better exploit your speed)
Center Energy: Ion Cannon (This handy weapon is anti-fighter, anti-missile, anti-ship, all for one slot)
Left Energy: Antimatter Blaster (The extra burst damage is essential for shooting down large missiles)
Right Energy: Tactical Laser (You never know when you might need some extra DPS - better keep this one off autofire though, to conserve flux)
Left Missile: Sabot SRM (Single) (The spread-fire is great for clearing fighters; single version because a full rack is overkill)
Right Missile: Atropos Torpedo (Single) (Better than a Reaper because it's guided)

Hull Mods
IPDAI: To get much-needed point defense cover
Extended Missile Racks: It's always nice to have more missile ammo
Expanded Magazines: Since the main weapon uses charges, this lets it fire for longer
Automated Repair Unit: Never underestimate a fast turnaround in the campaign

This design has served me well for many years.

...

You had me typing out a reply for a minute - nicely done!