Darshu's OFFICIAL Best Ships...

[Momaw]

>> Is there something I don't know? <<

There is a bug in the way PSG's work. They continually check for hits along the entire area of the wave, and for the entire lifetime, meaning that ships get hit multiple times. The bigger the ship, the more it gets hit by the same shot. The wave does not lose power, no matter how many ships it hits, nor does it become weaker at any one point as it expands. It's also a HUUUUGE blast, it easily encompasses an entire Khaak cluster. You don't need to be accurate at all, just aim vaguely somewhere in the general direction of your enemies and fire.

These things, combined, means that PSG's can kill an entire cluster of Khaak and damn near anything else, swiftly and with little effort.

[Ronin44]

Do PSG's still have the same effect in in the latest patch, 1.2. I thought this was "fixed".

[pjknibbs]

I'm just wondering here guys why everyone loves thier PSGs? To be honest I haven't amassed enough credits yet to outfit my own heavy fighter, but when I do I'm going for GHEPTs all the way.

I don't love PSGs--in fact, I refuse to use them because they're cheesy and almost tantamount to cheating, IMHO. However, good luck finding a heavy fighter which can mount GHEPTs, because there aren't any in the game! The smallest ship which can use THOSE beasts is the corvette class (M6).

[o1derfull1]

Thanks for the edification gents. At least now I can same some creds on outfitting my ships with PSGs instead. If it works as you all claim, then I believe it to be a crutch too, but my computer runs the game very slowly, especially with more ships involved on screen so I can't exactly dogfight with proper reaction and timing, I'll need the PSGs to be effective. Much obliged.

[CT3]

In a Nova you are helpless when you encounter the Khaak!

I agree with this, if by "helpless" you mean "victorious." Which is an odd way to use the word, but language is constantly evolving.

Honestly, a Nova has no problems with the standard Khaak M3+M5s running around the map. Even a full cluster is rare a problem--the trick is to simply quickly reacquire and kill the core M3 when all the little guys peel off when you approach; usually a single pass with ion disruptor + b-hept will work just fine--if you're pressed for time (or there's another M3 in the area breathing down your neck), ion disruptor to strip the shield followed by a single silkworm launch at point-blank works just fine, too.

Then it's just a matter of cleaning up the little guys. When it's a full cluster's worth, you might occasionally have to go into full-spiral-jinking-strafe-tapping evasion mode till shields recharge, but once a few get knocked out they cease to even threaten you.

Nova is goodly.

heh i once had one of those really big clusters jmup right in front of my centaur so i started to blast away (my turrets too) and went right trough the middle at full speed, took out the M3 and the turrets took out half the M5's best fun i ever had

[Darshu]

Do PSG's still have the same effect in in the latest patch, 1.2. I thought this was "fixed".

I know that Ego increased the amount of energy required to fire the GPSG, and I think they may have decreased the damage across the board, but not by much.

If you think about it, the concept of the weapons means that they would make excellent anti-cap weaponry. The ONLY way I could see to fix these would be to give the shockwave an overall, arbitrary damage cap, each corresponding version (A,B, and G) could have a TOTAL damage output of say three to four times that of its HEPT cousin.

Now before you flame, this would allow the weapon to still be an effective fighter deterrent, like it was supposed to be, and if it is used against cap ships/stations, then when the wave's total damage output is used up, it dissipates, doing no more damage.

Although they may be cheesy, and I don't use them (the Osprey is my one weakness hehe) their concept and execution makes sense in that an expanding wave passing through a station would of course do more damage than a single bolt from a HEPT.

The other alternative would be to make shields of any object cause the shockwave to mold with it, so rather than the wave passing through the object, it envelops the target, doing damage to the outside, instead of magically passing through to the middle, bypassing shields and then expanding through the enemy craft.

[PhineasGage]

I have a question about the fast Orinocos you may capture in mission2. Is it in 1.2 still possible to get one? An Orinoco with a speed of >300 would be the best M3 I suppose.

[Darshu]

I believe you can capture them, but I've never tried. I prefer corvettes myself, and so I'm used to slower speeds, considering my main two ships are a Nova and an Osprey.

[Ravein]

true, the osprey is a great ship, for the reasons that Darshu pointed out (namely, better sheilding, as I remember, and thus less equipment losses). It also looks the best of the M6's. Like a hot-rod Nova that has been streamlined. Nova's also are the best all-rounder M3, for the same reasons (cargo, missile defence rear turret, carries 2XBHEPT 2X Ion)

[Sorasil]

For M2s i like the teladi pheonix the most, mainly for the extra shield. And it looks cool , i also use it as my personal ship worked my butt off to have nuff cash to purchase it so no way im letting AI fly it.

a lil slow though but that dosnt matter cus whenever i go anywhere anyway i use the jumpdrive.

[Freeholder]

I have a question about the fast Orinocos you may capture in mission2. Is it in 1.2 still possible to get one? An Orinoco with a speed of >300 would be the best M3 I suppose.

I'm guessing so, since I just nabbed a 340m/s Bayamon (23 engine upgrades) with 80% hull and four bpac's. This took me twenty runs through mission two. I'm debating if I want to be satisfied with this or go for better loot.

[GrendelMk1]

Someone mentioned the Perseus only carries AHEPTs, which are less powerful than the BHEPTs on most M3s. Very true. One thing, though. It carries 3, not 2 That's more power than 2 GHEPTs.

I use one off my TL (my working ship). "Oh, look, Khaak/pirates. Dying time."

I agree fully with the "PSG=cheese" sentiment. Blew an entire Khaak cluster away in a few seconds, went "holy CRAP!" and put 'em away. HEPTs are more satisfying

[pjknibbs]

Someone mentioned the Perseus only carries AHEPTs, which are less powerful than the BHEPTs on most M3s. Very true. One thing, though. It carries 3, not 2 That's more power than 2 GHEPTs.

Not quite. According to Argonaught's shipstat spreadsheet, you get the following:

2xBHEPT = 3400 shield damage, 2000 hull damage
3xAHEPT = 3000 shield damage, 2700 hull damage

Also, the BHEPT fires fractionally faster, so gains a little more ground on the AHEPT. Against Khaak clusters the BHEPTs are definitely superior because Khaak ships tend to have stronger shields and weak hulls--therefore the extra hull damage dealt by the AHEPTs is pretty much useless.

[easternblocrobotcowboy]

bump

[Syfoo]

How do the Xenon ships factor into all this? I've captured L, M, and N variants but so far haven't kept any.

Also is there any kind of faq like this for weapons? According to the chart over at the commander site, I'd only ever want to use HEPTs and Ions?

A post like this one but concerning weapons instead would be great.

Also, completely off the topic, but what in the heck is the point of secret containers? I can't pick up most of them because of their locations and the ones I have got have energy cells and one cargo extension (it was one extension in one crate).

Thanks, and sorry if this all got asked before, but the search function is still disabled and this forum is rather cluttered. Too much in one folder, 3 games tech support and hints and tips.

[esd]

Brilliant read - this is the best thread I've seen in ages - I arrived when it was 4 pages, and still took the time to read it all.

I'm a Dragon owner, and I too am paranoid about having the AI fly it, which is why now that I have returned to capturing Xenon L's in my Nova, I have left it parked in my busiest sector guarding a lasertower

I use a Demeter for mining, with a fleet of mantas and a dolphin following for mining support (I blow up rocks, the mantas pick it up and the dolphin lugs it).

I don't know if I will ever be able to get anything bigger than a M6 - every time I get more than 4million Cr I go and buy something......

[High_Pinger]

My first m3 was a nova and it was an incredible ship, to tell you the truth i never died once in it and captured about 30 ships in one sitting... but as soon as i had a TL i started buying groups of perseus, 3*perseus with a total of 9 bpsg's all firing at the same target can make mush of a khaak cluster of any size and turn capital ships to scrap. As a personal ship early on however they aren't all that useful.

However in the end its for defence and has no other real use in the game, you are not going to get as many captures or use it in assasination missions (friendly fire!), or be able to use the jump drive, and as such its purely for the advanced player with lots of money to waste.

[JackScratch]

This was a great read, but while I would agree with most of your overall opinions on craft, I think some of the final choices may have missed the boat. The 'best' craft of a given type should arguably be the one that can best serve it's intended function.

For example a Split Iguana is a pretty damn nice craft but it only barely qualifies as being a TP. For example I bought my first TP it was primarially so I could have the fun of doing the lucrative Tour/people transport missions. I immediately went for the Iguana for the speed and all the guns only to promptly find out it's cargo capacity rendered it unable to qualify for 90% of the TP missions, and the ones it did paid next to nothing.

So really the 'best' choice of a TP is the Boron model hands down. It's the only one that can qualify for 100% of the TP bbs missions, packs more shielding, is fast, and can be a better TS than most of the actual ones.


Anyway on the later topic of the Nemesis, and PSGs in general, they may seem powerful and 'cheaterish' but they are largely useless in inhabited sectors unless you really love continually killing your ratings with friendly races and losing your police licences. No matter how clear I think an area is of friendlies before using one there's always some one I didn't catch. (like those damn cargo inspectors)

Anyway, rushing in to protect your investments with a PSG usually means destroying them yourself, so the Nemesis is probably the worst for Sector defense and that's the best use of an M6 whether you are behind the wheel or not.

[Myrrath]

Excellent thread.

I noticed though that when you were discussing the M1's and the M2's you left out the Argon ships.

Any particular reason?? I haven't managed to get very far yet but was looking at grabbing a Titan. Any reason I should avoid these???

Just curious

[Flaco]

Also added to My Favourites. Nice job, Darshu. Your effort is much appreciated.