Erlking main battery use ?

[TKz]

Hey,

I have a fully upgraded Erlking, but I'm kinda disappointed with the main battery.
Did I miss something or is it very weak ? I tried to fully charge it, or almost no charge to hit more often, in every case it's really not impressive.
Turrets are not so bad though, but globally it feels way weaker than a Rattlesnake, which is not even in the same category !

[palm911]

compared to asgard, yes it is dissapointing,

maybe it needs to be tuned up,

and of course the erlking shield is broken, it should be way more powerful than it is.

[xant]

I'm glad it is balanced, as not every expansion has to bring better and better ships.

Don't forget that the Erlking is just an experimental ship, put together by RIP with bits and pieces of old Commonwealth tech and scrap metal. The result is still impressive, with the most powerful turrets in the game, but not so overpowered as to surpass all ships in the universe. That is fine and actually lore-friendly.

[Imperial Good]

Did I miss something or is it very weak ? I tried to fully charge it, or almost no charge to hit more often, in every case it's really not impressive.

It is still ~30% of your damage odd. Just it is annoying and needs a lot of skill to use as you want to charge for exactly 1 second. Honestly its damage and charge duration should be increased by 10 seconds so you can hold longer and releasing deals huge damage. It also will wear out the space bar/trigger less as you do not need to press and hold for 1 second every 2 seconds odd.

and of course the erlking shield is broken, it should be way more powerful than it is.

Erlking shield is best in slot out of the base game and Tides of Avarice DLC, an entirely possible combination which a player might have. The only problem with it is that Cradle of Humanity DLC (not required for the Erlking) adds a MK2 TER shield which is statistically better than it in every way.

In my opinion if the player owns Cradle of Humanity DLC then unlocking the Erlking XL shield blueprint should also unlock a MK2 Erlking shield blueprint if the player owns the TER MK2 XL shield blueprint. This would add some complexity and polish, making the universe feel more interconnected.

[TKz]

I'm glad it is balanced, as not every expansion has to bring better and better ships.

Don't forget that the Erlking is just an experimental ship, put together by RIP with bits and pieces of old Commonwealth tech and scrap metal. The result is still impressive, with the most powerful turrets in the game, but not so overpowered as to surpass all ships in the universe. That is fine and actually lore-friendly.

I'm not sure that "worse in every way" can be considered "balanced".
More damage but less range and less speed, why not. Less damage but better range and speed, could be fun too. But this .. Unless I'm mistaken somewhere, all destroyers main battery damage are far better than this "battleship" main battery.
Sure, turrets are nice, but not that great. They're only very good at close range, so the best use for this Battleship is .. AA defense ?

It is still ~30% of your damage odd. Just it is annoying and needs a lot of skill to use as you want to charge for exactly 1 second. Honestly its damage and charge duration should be increased by 10 seconds so you can hold longer and releasing deals huge damage. It also will wear out the space bar/trigger less as you do not need to press and hold for 1 second every 2 seconds odd.

I'll try with exactly 1 second shots. But a "charge up" weapon should be "chargeable", as you said. In X3TC a great Terran weapon was chargeable, I don't remember the name. It was very fun, powerful and a little bit challenging to use, because projectiles were very slow but very powerful.

[solarie99]

I hate the charge up mechanic, probably the only mechanic i hate in the game i dont use thous wepons. And Erlking main battery is no exeption on this. i dont even put it on as that give more benefit as then smaller ships often comes closer due to smaller "hitbox" so funny enogh it makes the ship better without it.

Egosoft please considder change how this gun work. have it slow interwall fiering but one huge ball of death instead. "no charge up"

PS : seeing that it have that special core now is a good time to make a PSP "point singularity projector." as main gun for it. have it shoot small black holes that linger for a bit before dissapereing.

[palm911]

Did I miss something or is it very weak ? I tried to fully charge it, or almost no charge to hit more often, in every case it's really not impressive.

It is still ~30% of your damage odd. Just it is annoying and needs a lot of skill to use as you want to charge for exactly 1 second. Honestly its damage and charge duration should be increased by 10 seconds so you can hold longer and releasing deals huge damage. It also will wear out the space bar/trigger less as you do not need to press and hold for 1 second every 2 seconds odd.

and of course the erlking shield is broken, it should be way more powerful than it is.

Erlking shield is best in slot out of the base game and Tides of Avarice DLC, an entirely possible combination which a player might have. The only problem with it is that Cradle of Humanity DLC (not required for the Erlking) adds a MK2 TER shield which is statistically better than it in every way.

In my opinion if the player owns Cradle of Humanity DLC then unlocking the Erlking XL shield blueprint should also unlock a MK2 Erlking shield blueprint if the player owns the TER MK2 XL shield blueprint. This would add some complexity and polish, making the universe feel more interconnected.

it is a unique shield , it eneds to be more powerful than a terran one, as it can only be fitter into the earking, whats the point of having ashield no one will intall if it has the terran dlc? again you cant use that shield on anyuthing but the erlking

[Arvel]

it is a unique shield , it eneds to be more powerful than a terran one, as it can only be fitter into the earking, whats the point of having ashield no one will intall if it has the terran dlc? again you cant use that shield on anyuthing but the erlking

By that logic, why have any XL shields in the game at all except for the Terran MK2s if nobody will use them?

To be honest, I don't want the Erlking to be the best of the best at everything. I'm glad her stock shields aren't quite the best in game, and that her main weapon system is fairly lackluster to offset how fast she is and how powerful her turrets are.

[Imperial Good]

it is a unique shield , it eneds to be more powerful than a terran one, as it can only be fitter into the earking, whats the point of having ashield no one will intall if it has the terran dlc? again you cant use that shield on anyuthing but the erlking

It is more powerful than TER XL Shield Mk1 making it the best mk1 shield available. Just the TER XL Shield Mk2 is better than it due to being an entire tier above it.

It also cannot be made stronger than or given a Mk2 variant without Cradle of Humanity because then it would be potentially in a leage of its own. Hence the suggestion that if the player owns Cradle of Humanity and the TER Mk2 XL shield blueprint then they get a Erlking Mk2 shield blueprint.

To be honest, I don't want the Erlking to be the best of the best at everything. I'm glad her stock shields aren't quite the best in game, and that her main weapon system is fairly lackluster to offset how fast she is and how powerful her turrets are.

You can throw Mk2 shields on it if you own cradle of humanity. Also without Cradle of Humanity the XL shield is the best XL shield.

[Arvel]

You can throw Mk2 shields on it if you own cradle of humanity. Also without Cradle of Humanity the XL shield is the best XL shield.

Sorry, I meant the stock Erlking shouldn't have best-of-the-best everything. The "optimal" loadout for a ship should always be a mix of equipment from different factions - because they should all have different strengths and weaknesses. The stock Erlking is already a bit too strong. As you said, for anyone who doesn't own CoH, her shields are the best in the game too. Which is why I'm glad her main weapon is a bit of an Achilles heel and I'm also glad she doesn't have a unique shield that's better than the Terran MK2s, whether you own the expansion or not.

[palm911]

Also without Cradle of Humanity the XL shield is the best XL shield.

a shield only 1 ship can use.

sorry still makes no sense.

considering how powerful are the other items this shield module still looks cheap and not very good

[Imperial Good]

Even if the XL shield was better than TER Mk2 it will make little difference. The ship still has paper shields and single explosions can strip most of its turrets.

[TKz]

Even if the XL shield was better than TER Mk2 it will make little difference. The ship still has paper shields and single explosions can strip most of its turrets.

That combined to the fact that you NEED to be really close to your target for it to explode is a big problem.
I went again a single Xenon K and a few fighters (20 at most) with my Erlking. I won, but it was painful, slow and really not fun. Never again. It's now stored somewhere in a dump sector.

[TheShear]

Even if the XL shield was better than TER Mk2 it will make little difference. The ship still has paper shields and single explosions can strip most of its turrets.

That combined to the fact that you NEED to be really close to your target for it to explode is a big problem.
I went again a single Xenon K and a few fighters (20 at most) with my Erlking. I won, but it was painful, slow and really not fun. Never again. It's now stored somewhere in a dump sector.

Weird, my experience is the opposite. It's my to go for Xenon Sectors as it outranges their Big Ships, is faster than them while flying backwards meaning I can just poke them to death at 8-9km with Main Gun + Turrets with the Bonus of not even close to being in range once they blow while it's Turrets are actually good and make short work of Fighters. Seriously the Turrets are what make it shine, at 9.2km range they are the longest range Turrets in a unmodified game and also strangely accurate too. It feels kinda like a bigger Rattlesnake.
It definitely doesn't have the BOOM of an Asgard but it's considerable more nimble and isn't as vulnerable to "death by a thousand Cuts".

[TKz]

Weird, my experience is the opposite. It's my to go for Xenon Sectors as it outranges their Big Ships, is faster than them while flying backwards meaning I can just poke them to death at 8-9km with Main Gun + Turrets with the Bonus of not even close to being in range once they blow while it's Turrets are actually good and make short work of Fighters. Seriously the Turrets are what make it shine, at 9.2km range they are the longest range Turrets in a unmodified game and also strangely accurate too. It feels kinda like a bigger Rattlesnake.
It definitely doesn't have the BOOM of an Asgard but it's considerable more nimble and isn't as vulnerable to "death by a thousand Cuts".

It would be interesting for me to see it in action.
It's certainly possible to do what you describe, but to me it looks like it's terribly inefficient. I'm not even comparing it to an Asgard (even if I should, it's the only ship in the same category !), but against destroyers ...
A battleship should not be "poking" enemies to death if any destroyer can pulverize them 5 times faster. I don't need to go faster backward than a Xenon K if I pulverize it in 15 seconds with a Rattlesnake, way before I'm in range of its turrets.
"Poking them to death" is actually exactly how I felt with my Erlking, so maybe our experiences are not so different, but our expectations are.

[Imperial Good]

A battleship should not be "poking" enemies to death if any destroyer can pulverize them 5 times faster. I don't need to go faster backward than a Xenon K if I pulverize it in 15 seconds with a Rattlesnake, way before I'm in range of its turrets.

At the 6 km range you deal tons of damage, without even needing to fire the main battery. Just remember to throw on Slasher green mods with good rolls (attack speed, damage) on all the turrets.

[TheShear]

Yeah "poking" might be the wrong choice of words. I call it that since after using the Asgards Deathstar Ray once everything feels like poking with sticks. I guess the ship just works for me since my usual play style is "running away screaming while taking potshots" because I'm a terrible Pilot. I think it died pretty fast actually and I admit I actually haven't modded it yet since it's a fresh play through and I only "aquired" it recently.

[Imperial Good]

It is weaker against L and XL targets for sure, but it is just so good against S/M sized targets it more than makes up for it.

[nemo1887]

Against the Asgard he has no chance! , it is already necessary to wait for him to load and it is just an unfortunate little "giclette".

[nemo1887]

It is weaker against L and XL targets for sure, but it is just so good against S/M sized targets it more than makes up for it.

Did you see the size of the ship to be able to target S or M? You play X4?