What a battle! Advice on Combat please.

[-John-]

Been using a Mamba Raider and going mainly to Xenon Sector 101;shooting a few M and L but cant handle much larger for the moment in the Mamba.
OK, had a Centaur given to me;so,I outfitted it with 4 CIG and 4 EBC in front,rear-mass driver and side turrets EBC.
Its like the Xenon are gate camping me when I jump in the gate,lol. So,I turn and try to run out (get some distance) and it works except for one thing, a firestorm missile always gets me. I have (and it worked perfect on the Mamba) the rear turret set to missile defense (and I do have mass driver ammo on board. But, it will not shoot at the missles. Ive also tried Missle Only command, but it does not work as well.
Beginning to believe this Centaur is a coffin ,lol.
John

[Bill Huntington]

Xenon 101 is tough to crack with M2s, and very hard with less than that. My usual trick is to enter with a Kestral, lead the Xenon away, then jump back and enter with heavy units. I use a Jump Beacon if I have one, using the Kestral to enter the gate. There are some J, K, I in the sector and Qs spawn regularly.

The X-sector next to Scale Plate is the easiest to deal with. You'll still need more than a Centaur to hang in the X-Sectors for very long.

If you want manageable Xenon enemies, take defend position missions next to Xenon sectors.

Good Luck.

[Triaxx2]

Alternate plan, because the Centaur is much, much slower than the Mamba. Buy a Turbo Booster from the Split, and use that. It'll eat some energy or shields, but it'll get you out of reach a lot faster.

On the other hand, enter the sector, then pull up and roll over the gate. The Xenon will have to go around the gate to pursue, and you'll have more time to escape. Missiles won't go through the gate, but you'll have time to turn and shoot them down manually.

[-John-]

Thanks, I did get the Turbo but the missles keep coming,lol. I sure you guys know how to handle this but I get my butt handed to me. Think I will just give it up and go back to trading.
Thanks,
John
edit: Im hitting the Xenon Sector south of Scale Plate Green. Having a heck of a lot more fun there,and not getting shot down,lol.

[Nanook]

First, put an IRE or PAC in your anti-missile turret(s). The mass driver's range is way too short for shooting down firestorms, since the blast radius of a firestorm is ~1000m, similar to the range of the MD. Second, get a load of mosquito missiles and activate Mosquito Defense Missiles (MDM) in your ship's control console. You should be safe from most missiles that can harm your Centaur with these changes.

[-John-]

Yes,,did get the Mosquitos going for missle defense.
This boat is ok. Ive killed Ps,Ls,PX but cant handle a Q,hahahaha.
And I need to cap a L;but so far nada. I will keep on trying,need that L for a mission.
You guys have fun,know I am,
John

[terryokc2]

For the L needed for that mission, I was fortunate enough to be able to pilot a Tiger (which somehow did not get to its designated station for an abandoned ship mission ;P ) through a line of Xenon fighters in Black Hole Sun.

Actually had 2 pilots bail...guessing the flak artillery array's did the job.

Good luck and good hunting.

[-John-]

What a battle!

and then I had to run like a little school girl,hahahahahah.
Was in Grand Exchange;been forever trying to get that elusive L.
There were always war ships to help with the Qs and Js but not today.
One J was wreaking havoc on the stations;so, I in my Centaur tried to take it on. Got him down to 40 armor before I ran out of missles;thus I ran,lol.
Dang it was a good battle while it lasted, I just couldnt hurt that J fast enough. I did keep cutting him down bit by bit and had to leave sector to repair a couple times.
Oh man,,that was a blast.
Question,,that J seemed to be able to turn pretty tight. It was hard for me to get behind him. I would strafe but that didnt help. Seems as if he was gonna get on my rear.
Im trying to get some IPG and CIG (only one IPG factory in my game) but it is taking some time to get them made. My plans are for trying out a Giffon,but it will be several days off.
You guys have fun,
John

[-John-]

I have a Centaur and have been working toward a Griffon (have the credits for a Griffon;but,making buying,CIG and IPG atm).
I cant destroy a Q,get into the hull but I run out of missles (thus far I have favored Typhoons). So, I sort have been on a Quest for a more powerful ship and opted for the Griffon.
But,on the Wiki site,featuring the Centaur, that recommended placing PBG on the Centaur.
So I guess my question would be,should I just go for the PBG on the Centaur (after going for the station hack) or continue my work toward a Giffon??
Thanks a million
John
ps
for now, I just want the Xenon as my main enemies.

[Alan Phipps]

Three very similar threads merged.

[jorganos]

I have a Centaur and have been working toward a Griffon (have the credits for a Griffon;but,making buying,CIG and IPG atm).
I cant destroy a Q,get into the hull but I run out of missles (thus far I have favored Typhoons). So, I sort have been on a Quest for a more powerful ship and opted for the Griffon.

Firestorms are risky for your own health in a corvette, but if they hit the target they have some good effect. Back in X3-Reunion I used hornets to good effect from the dead angles e.g. of Khaak M1. They are still in the game, but lead some kind of shadow existence next to all those specialized or salvaged missiles.

But,on the Wiki site,featuring the Centaur, that recommended placing PBG on the Centaur.

PBG are great if you just want to destroy your enemies. They excel at getting rid of fighter drones or M5 too fast for a sluggish ship like the centaur to follow, they do a lot of damage against targets that offer a lot of surface, which means they eat capital ships at an excellent rate for the comparably low energy requirements.

They don't discriminate targets, though, and cause lots of collateral damage if fired in heavily traveled environments.

So I guess my question would be,should I just go for the PBG on the Centaur (after going for the station hack) or continue my work toward a Giffon??
for now, I just want the Xenon as my main enemies.

In that case, go for the station hack, and keep it supplied with space fuel. You will have a lot less hostile pirate encounters.

The Griffon is a sweet little ship, IMO preferable to the Cerberus despite its inability to employ IBL. (The Cerberus doesn't really wield them well, either.) Personally, I prefer the split M7 (all of them) for general purpose activities, but the Griffon might be the best ship for stripping noxious hull polarizing devices from well-flakked M2 and M1.

Attacking with a corvette has the advantage that you can release a small boarding crew for spacewalk boardings. Those are a bit risky and tend to take a lot of time unless you manage to immobilize the target through maneuvering, though.

As soon as you can afford it, start to train a couple of marines up to three stars in all trainable skills. That will take some time. Get a bio-scanner for your private ship before buying marines, so you can select for excellent combat experience. You can train them up in ship salvage missions which don't care about some extra damage to the salvaged hull as long as it arrives on time.

[-John-]

jorganos,I did it. I got the hack and was allowed to dock and trade to get the PBGs.
I took on a Q and several Ns and Ms and killed em all. Hey it was a blast.
Im an old person and it really excited me. But it took me about 20 Typhoons so now I have to ask myelf is it worth that price,hahahahaha.
Thanks for your help,man that was fun. I got kinda hairy as I closed in to be able to land my shots, the picture was so birght I could not tell if I was hitting /on target;but, I watched its shield and armor disappear , so I hung in there. I was down to 89 armor,lol.
I still think I would like to try out the Giffon.
Thanks
John

[Dreez]

If you're still sticking to the Centaur, i'd advice you to change to the Skiron
with CIG's in the front and PAC's everywhere else.
It's easily the best pre-M7 in the game and packs a punch.

Buy it at Legend's Home for a few mil.. This ship is my constant go-to,
unless i run the Terran plot and get the awesome

Spoiler

Show

M6 Vidar

.

Still... The Skiron almost outshines it.

/Edit. If you're in the M7 class now. NOTHING beats the Split M7 tiger with IBL front and FAA everywhere else. (PAC back).
Fast, agile, small hitbox.

[-John-]

Dreez,thanks man. I have read so much and googled so much to try and find my next war ship. I liked the Tiger but for one thing,,,it has no ship hangars.
And I cant do a Terran plot,hell, I cant capture this freakin L,lol.
I will check out the Skiron.
I know from what I have read,the Griffon is a good anti fighter platform plus I have read its a good boat to use for boarding ops because of a certain laser (I forget the name, but it supposedly wreaks havoc on ship systems).
Thanks for your time Dreez,
John

[jlehtone]

I liked the Tiger but for one thing,,,it has no ship hangars.
And I cant do a Terran plot,hell, I cant capture this freakin L,lol.

FAA (on Tiger, like Dreez mentioned) is nice. It won't oneshot L and its shots are so fast/rate of fire low that there are no extra bullets in the void the moment a target bails. I.e. no unnecessary hull damage to the target.

While focusing all attention to moving P/Q/K/J/I's with the IBLs some abandoned fighters are quite lakely to appear in your wake.


A TM can be called to collect the scrap metal after the spacedust settles. If one cannot clear the sky, then the recovery is simply ... more interesting?

[hisazul]

The irony is that if you used the right weapon you could kill Q's 1v1 on mamba. PBG is love. Irony is that Centaur can also mount PBG... but it's abysmally slow.

Anyway what first responses said is basically how you deal with Xenon core sectors you need to jump in and lead the greeting party away then roll in. Unless you are sporting the... "funny" ships 1 versus entire xenon core sector is usually not going to go "far" sure you can kill things indefinitely on fast fighter with right weapons but it is a slow and grueling process of fishing for kills.

If you roll in on Kyoto/Valhalla/Pteranodon that is a different story.

Skiron as best pre M7... is... just no. Hyperion makes all standard ships look sad and lame. Achinonix has stupid amount of forward firepower that nothing matches and 3-4 times more laser recharge then other m6 ships. Truelight seeker can mount capital weapons so yeah gauss cannon on m6 is a thing. There is nothing outside of shields that is note worthy about it, even then there are terran ships with even more shields and double shield reactor on top of that. It maybe be m6+with nol shortcomings but it also doesn't really shine in any one area or even as a general ship.

[-John-]

Thank you again. Funny my little traders have been keeping the Medium Weapon Factory in Great Trench busy making CIG and IPG for the Griffon. I needed 14 of each and they finished it up today.
Now I have to make a decision. Tiger has my interest but I will also need a TM.
What kind of support do I need with the Tiger to take on a Xenon sector full of the heavies, or is that possible?
Yes, Ive lead the faster fighters out from the Qs.
Also what missles do you suggest, Ive had good luck with the Typhoon.
hisazul,no offense but I only understood half of what you are trying to say.
What I read is
1) you can go into a Xenon sector with a ship like Kyoto,Valhalla or Pteranodon and wipe the sector clean
2)I got that about the IBG on the Mamba,but it will be a long difficult fight.
3)Skiron is not that good????
4) that last paragraph is really where I get lost.
Thanks guys,
John

[AleksMain]

...
What kind of support do I need with the Tiger to take on a Xenon sector full of the heavies, or is that possible?
...

You can use missiles (expensive, but possible), of course, to clear Xenon sector, but to destroy heavy ships better to use heavy ship.

I myself used Boreas, when I had not my "Xenon I" yet.


Tiger can be used against ships like Tiger itself (M7) or weaker (Xenon M,L,P,P+, even Q), but against multiple Q, K, J and "Xenon I" better to use M2 or M2+ class ship, like Boreas or mentioned by you "Kyoto,Valhalla, Pteranodon".

[Dreez]

Skiron as best pre M7... is... just no. Hyperion makes all standard ships look sad and lame. Achinonix has stupid amount of forward firepower that nothing matches and 3-4 times more laser recharge then other m6 ships. Truelight seeker can mount capital weapons so yeah gauss cannon on m6 is a thing. There is nothing outside of shields that is note worthy about it, even then there are terran ships with even more shields and double shield reactor on top of that. It maybe be m6+with nol shortcomings but it also doesn't really shine in any one area or even as a general ship.

But in X3:TC, those ships can't be bought by the player or isn't in the game at all.
The Skiron is the best pre-M7 that is available to the player through buying.
I would say the crown is owned by the Springblossom, but that ship's lasergenerator lacks alot and will run out
almost instantly in a fight.
However.. speed is king. But you need to finish the Terran plot.

[jlehtone]

But in X3:TC, those ships can't be bought by the player or isn't in the game at all.

A very important point. X3TC and X3AP have similar, yet different ships. The details count.


What do you need with Tiger to kill Big Red Ships?
(Pineapples are purple.)

Patience and diligence.

0. Herd the cattle into a queue.
1. Wait for the first one to come to you.
2. Empty your laser energy banks on the target while dodging its fire.
3. Run away to recharge.
4. Repeat from 1 until the queue is empty.

You have to be faster than your enemy, or you cannot run away.
Your effective damage per second has to be better than the recharge rate of their shields.

(I've use the same method to assassinate TS ships with M5.)