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X3R Questions about Boron Hydra M6

Posted: Tue, 4. Dec 18, 23:43
by siddham
Relatively early in my game and I want to buy my first M6 to deal with kha'ak clusters that spawn in sectors I have assets in or are used by my assets
I want to be able to jump in and quickly deal with them
To me they are a nuisance - not fun

I had problems with the kha'ak in X2 because I could find no ship fast enough to dog fight them
and no weapon I could equip that had ordnance that was fast enough to catch them (I never managed to get the Xenon beam thing)
So it was impossible to dog fight them or target them (except the bigger guy at the center of the pack)
I dealt with them by standing off and taking them out one by one with wasp missiles
They never knew what hit them; it was effective and efficient
And I guess it suited me;I dont play the games for the combat so much as the economic simulation

I like the stats of the Boron Hydra and I have a couple of questions that some may be able to answer
Can the Kha'ak be engaged in a Hydra or are they too fast like in X2?
Is there a weapon fast enough to target them?
Would the wasp missiles work in X3 - I think I read somewhere they are different in X3
If not a wasp, what missile would kill a Kha'ak fighter in one shot (the ones that buzz around at lighting speed)
It needs to be able to track a moving target

Also finally - I dont like the look of the Hydra - is there a reskin for the Hydra?
I would want solely a graphics replacer that would not alter the stats or mark my game as modded

Thanks for any suggestions

Re: X3R Questions about Boron Hydra M6

Posted: Wed, 5. Dec 18, 00:35
by jlehtone
Cluster that is still packed, or an already broken one that has the KM5's swarming around?

Firestorm torpedo or Hammerhead from distance at packed cluster (when you get close, the cluster breaks up). They have 1+ km blast radius. Relatively expensive though.


The M6 are quite sluggish to turn. I had Dragon and often had to jump (to Gate) from the swarm. Nemesis with PSG should be decent against Khaak.

The M7 Hyperion on the other hand has everything; speed, rudder, shields, firepower. For that reason I refused to fly one (after initial test), but did let PHQ build several of the sector patrol duty.

Re: X3R Questions about Boron Hydra M6

Posted: Wed, 5. Dec 18, 01:37
by siddham
I would not be wanting to dogfight in an M6
The idea is to either use missiles from a distance like I did in X2 or go in with very heavy weapons blazing and take them out before they can swarm
I would not be trying to do any fancy flying - there's no point if they move as fast as they did in X2
I dont want to play with them - I want to get rid of them

In X2 my first wasp would break the pack up and I would then pick the little swarming fighters off one at a time
Then close to finish the main heavy fighter head to head
I was far enough away they didn't pick me up

It was tedious going through a series of keyboard strokes to target one after the other using the sector map - but it worked very well
I wasn't prepared to take the losses to assets of not dealing with them
and I couldn't afford effective defence patrols in all the sectors my assets were active in
In my Reunion game I am conscious of centering my assets in a safe sector and building out gradually as I can defend them

Actually I got bogged down in Reunion over the past couple of attempts
I am making a new attempt to finish out the storyline and move on to TC
I've played the story from XBF through X2 and I have this thing that I can't play X3TC until I finish the story of X3R
Silly - I know

So I would want a missile that has enough punch to kill the escort fighters that buzz around (they buzzed around at lighting speed in X2)
I need to be able to target them using the map - not the target reticule - so a guided missile fast enough to catch them and powerful enough to kill them
In X2 the swarm fighters were not well shielded and were easy to kill if you could hit them - problem was hitting them
The little wasp missiles were able to catch and kill them
It was satisfying to see the little red dots blink out one after another and the sector returned to order

A missile that might take out the whole bunch on the first hit would be cool so I will try those bigger missiles you mentioned
As I said I dont find the Kha'ak entertaining - they're a nuisance

That Hyperion is very overpowered - I presume that is why you chose not to use it
I also presume it's not something you can buy at just any shipyard

Re: X3R Questions about Boron Hydra M6

Posted: Wed, 5. Dec 18, 06:06
by Fulgrymm
The Hyperion is what you get as one of the rewards for the Bala Gi missions.