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perseus raider if you got a TL//M7//M1 to be your jumpdrive

nova vanguard if you need some extra firepower

(pirate) nova raider if you like the nova and acceptable speed
(atm flying a pirate one)

mamba raider if you are on speed

xenon LX if you wanna OWN

meduasa if you wanna good m3+


any other: if you like to fly it

or check the pirate buster, it has more weapon energy than the baracuca vanguard

In my modded game, by far the best M3 is the Terran Thor MKII. I use these as escorts for the Terran Vidar M6 running Sector Patrols. I load them with 2 AHept's and 6 AEMP's. They can pretty much fire continuously and not run out of energy.

But, for sheer looks and by far my personal favourite M3 is the Yaki Tenjin. It looks like an awesome futuristic fighter jet, and the designs on the 'wings' look quality.

what if you just cant get a pirate nova, would you guys recommend the standard novas or would you try another race?

Using standard Nova you can get reputation and money to buy Eclipse.

Eclipse is best M3+ - heavy fighter in Argon's space.

It is indeed true that your chosen M3 must reflect your dogfighting style, however when it comes to chosing which one, sometimes you take what you get...

The Pirate Nova Raider is my current ship, it's fantastic to be honest as it can use quite a wide range of weaponry and has a 145m/s top speed. With 3x25MJ, I'dd love a little more shielding so I will look into other options also.

I hear a lot about the LX and I'dd love to get one but to be honest, from all the dogfighting I've done with the Xenon, never has one abandonned ship so I haven't a clue what I'm doing wrong...

Er... 3X25 is the best you are going to see in any M3 unless you are looking at the Teladi Falcon. If thats not enough for you to be able to fight effectively in a PNR I'd look at your fighting style. I was smashing Xenon patrols apart in a standard Nova with little trouble, but then I could defeat them with a Pirate Buster so...

The LX outclasses every other M3+ to a stupid amount, but as I am kind of fond of saying "If you use only the bast then everything will be crap, including you." Every M3+ will outclass the Pirate Nova Raider as, guess what, its a different and more powerful ship class.

maphys wrote: Weapons are a funny one - those AHEPTs are the most powerful main gun you are going to get on an M3. But hitting M5s with them? Pain! The projectiles are too slow to hit them unless they are charging right at you. PBEs are great for fast ships and capping but only Split and Xenon ships get them at M3 level. PACs are the mainstay of my arsenal, I find. Cheap, effective and just about anything can mount them. They do more hull than shield damage and are not as quick to hit as the PBEs but are still OK for M5s. Oh and BIREs in turrets on missile defence are great for minimising stray hits on ships when they are bailing. Short range, low damage but good enough for missiles.

I used to religiously use the LX too. Until I got into my current game which make me play for the all powerful dollar. So when I got the free Eclipse I started using it. It is not be underestimated.

I hesitated to use the Eclipse because it looks like a pig. It didn't do anything specifically well other than be a big target with high shields.

But load it out with 4 BHEPTs and 4 Concussion Generators with BPACs on the turrets. Front for attack or protect ship, back for missile defense and report back.

Those little M5 whipper snappers don't stand a chance when you get a good long range bead on them with the concussions (shooting all 4 at once). Apparently, they tend to fly out in long smooth arcs once they get a couple of km away from you. Perfect for a take out shot. Just pickle one off to bring a smile to my face every time. You don't cap a lot of ships like that thought.

I've taken on many a P patrols with the Eclipse. I haven't tried a J or K with it though.

I am however currently manufacturing a personal LX for old times sake.

Nightwatch wrote:Er... 3X25 is the best you are going to see in any M3 unless you are looking at the Teladi Falcon.

4x25 is present in Perseus and Nova Sentinels, isn't it? Not that their speed would raise any brows.

Even the best do die like the rest.

So try out whatever you can get your hands on. If you like, good, if not then move on.

The most powerful M3 (not M3+) is of course Susanowa.
Pros:
-Highest weapon energy (155) for an M3 that can use Pulsed Beam Emitters (very efficient against shields and fast ships, a must-have on any ship)
-Phased Shockwaves (against hull, also against Kha'ak and missiles)
-75MJ shields
-Good speed (141)
-Actually small and hard to hit

Cons:
-Limited cargo space (87), but M3s are for fighting, not trading or scouting/satellite deployment
-Hard to capture

jlehtone wrote: 4x25 is present in Perseus and Nova Sentinels, isn't it? Not that their speed would raise any brows.

True

While we're on the subject, how can I get the Xenon to freakout and gimme their ships? Cause after all these kills, I've never had a jumper and I'm a pretty good capper. Would be happy to try and cap and LX after all these hails but...

No special trick, except keep trying. Xenon are notoriously harder to get to bail than cowardly pirates or Boron freighter pilots.

You install windows on them. Once they detect a problem they will either bluescreen or initiate ctrl-alt-delete mode on themselves to fix it.

Nanook wrote:No special trick, except keep trying. Xenon are notoriously harder to get to bail than cowardly pirates or Boron freighter pilots.

What are you talking about? They're as easy as any other pirate ship. Until now I've been able to capture 95% of LX's. Other 5% I got bored Of course only P patrols and in Xenon sectors. Those spawned by BBS missions get max morale and aren't worth bothering with.

I noticed LXs seem to be very bail-happy. The other types not so much, but I must have sold half a dozen LXs by now.
Right now, I'm flying around in an LX, the very first one I got. The ship is the peak of awesome. Quite fast and maneuverable, five 25MJ shields, good gun energy, mounted with four AHEPTs and four PBEs in three(AHEPTs, PBEs, both and lastly safe) loadouts, with AIREs on Missile Defense. I'm yet to be hit by a missile. Falcon Sentinel 250GJ shields are not a challenge for four PBEs, after which the AHEPTs go to town on his hull. And all that with 300something carry capacity.
I just parked my Elephant somewhat south of the east gate in Getsu Fune, and I'm patrolling in my LX, capping other Ls and LXs and selling them. Not so much for credits as for the race rep. I want to buy a Raptor sometimes soon, and selling LXs makes for great rep shifts
My previous ship was the Mamba Raider. That thing is... Damn. It's immune to everything that isn't a bloody Kha'ak. I hate Kha'ak and their insta-hit white beams of nibbling death. But anyway, the Mamba. Had four AHEPTs and four BPACs in three separate loadouts and an APAC on missile defense. In the very first encounter with a P patrol it cleaned house, murderizing all of the ships except the LX which bailed. It's shields didn't go below 70%(they did get because I was dumb and rammed myself into a PPC shot from the P). The Mamba Raider is a true pilot's ship for anything not involving Kha'ak. Damn I hate the Kha'ak.

AlderonDark wrote:My personal favorite M3 is the Pirate Nova Raider and my favorite M3+ is the Xenon LX.

But in a game like this, where there are so many variations on ships, stats and weapon loadout, most people develop their own list of 'best ships and stuff'. You will too.

Alderon

I completely agree with you

Zoozer

In my opinion the best M3+ is the Medusa, for it's PSG's and laser recharge, whilst the Mamba Vanguard gets my vote for standard M3 due to it's high recharge and PBE's. Also it gets better shielding than the raider.

Nanook wrote:No special trick, except keep trying. Xenon are notoriously harder to get to bail than cowardly pirates or Boron freighter pilots.

Thanks, I got one buzzing right in front of my noze right now! Let's see if he's bail-frendly

Where can I purchase a nova vanguard?

Delian wrote:Of course only P patrols and in Xenon sectors. Those spawned by BBS missions get max morale and aren't worth bothering with.

Which BBS missions are you talking about?

Ships spawned by Xenon Invasion missions aren't cappable (although I've never bothered to check the morale they spawn with).

Ships spawned by Xenon Taxi missions appear to have a fixed morale of 25, and are all capabble.

Laguna252 wrote:Where can I purchase a nova vanguard?

Argon Prime, iirc.