Ship Capture Guide: X2 Version 2 (Updated for 1.4)

[Al]

If the M6 is the one that the target is on then I'm fairly certain you cant capture it. The M6s you may be able to capture are ones that are spawned as escorts.

HTH

Al

[Dominar]

I really believe that pilots should bail more often than they do: at least as soon as they remain with NO weapons and only 1 shield they should bail at once since there is no sense to remain on a ship if you can't defend yourself.
I understand that there are pilots that can be scared easily and others that are strong and expert, but even the greatest pilot as soon as he realizes he has no hope I believe he should bail.

[Al]

Capturing most ships is easy, it just takes patience. Capturing M6s should be much harder, and it is. I have yet to capture one despite killing approx 50 so far.

Al

[Jim Parker]

Yeah I keep messing up anytime I try the assassination missions. Last time I found myself up against an Osprey and 4 Falcons while flying around in a Perseus with no hornets. I couldn't even take out the Falcons.

I'm thinking it's gonna be hard to cap an M6 during these missions in most M3's. The Perseus doesn't have the firepower to take out an Osprey's shields (I'm assuming most hornets will get blown away), ditto Mamba.

The Nova is so slow it won't be able to catch most M6's so the Barracuda looks like the best bet, with a couple of IonD's to get the shields down. That's still not gonna be easy as I lost a Perseus to a Dragon and it's got 75MW shields instead of 50MW.

What M3 do most of you use during assassination missions? I really want to cap an M6 soon.

[Al]

I think you should try installing PSGs on that Perseus. Should make M6 kills rather easier for you.

I personally use a Nova with Ions and beta HEPTs. Its slow but it works.

Al

[Dominar]

Yeah I keep messing up anytime I try the assassination missions. Last time I found myself up against an Osprey and 4 Falcons while flying around in a Perseus with no hornets. I couldn't even take out the Falcons.

I'm thinking it's gonna be hard to cap an M6 during these missions in most M3's. The Perseus doesn't have the firepower to take out an Osprey's shields (I'm assuming most hornets will get blown away), ditto Mamba.

The Nova is so slow it won't be able to catch most M6's so the Barracuda looks like the best bet, with a couple of IonD's to get the shields down. That's still not gonna be easy as I lost a Perseus to a Dragon and it's got 75MW shields instead of 50MW.

What M3 do most of you use during assassination missions? I really want to cap an M6 soon.

In my old, dear Vorax (Barracuda) I destroyed 2 osprey and capped all 3 falcons without any problem in an ass. mission
Anyway I haven't capped any M6 yet
I don't have the patience to wait M6 pilots to bail.

[JTressy]

I found that a Nova is the best way to take out an Osprey, dual Ion Ds to get the larger shields down, then just Ion D and B-HEPT combo to kill it. The Osprey is barely faster than the Nova anyway so speed isn't much of an issue, you just need a strafe drive to keep out of the way of the turrets.

[Jim Parker]

Hmmm, this was a pretty fast Osprey with 2*125 MW shields. I got them to about 1/2 damage but they recharged faster than my guns did. I'll try again with my psg's.

I always try to take out the escorts first, but 4 of them were taking so much time and the Osprey was running away fast.

[pads66]

Thanks Al, I'll give it a go...

[Nanook]

In the assassination missions, I find that it's generally easier to use a fast ship against slow enemies, and a slow ship against faster enemies. So I usually go after a Split mission with my Nova and can keep inside their turning circle and blast away, while my turret intercepts the missiles and keeps the escorts off my tail. On the other hand, I use my 319m/s Super Ori to take on the slower enemies, such as the Argon and Teladi. Using totally different tactics of leading them off and, at a certain distance, turning and giving them a long burst of BPSG fire handles an Osprey quite well. My three assassination mission ships are my Nova, my Super Ori, and for pure BPSG firepower, my Perseus. The right tool for the job, my pappy always used to say.

[2verb]

I almost always use a Nova for assasination missions. The targets are almost always faster then me.

I use the jump drive to go to a gate I know they will pass through. Then I nail them good with double IonDs to make sure they stay in sector.

Once you annoy them they keep making passes at you until somebody dies.

IonDs and strafe drive them until the shields drop, and then switch one IonD to a BetaHEPT.

[fchopin]

I find the easiest way to cap M6s is with an M6 using PSGs.

[GCU Grey Area]

Had limited success capturing M6's in assassination missions with an Iguana (Ion's & G-PACS) &, more recently, with a Ray (Ions & A/B-PPC's). Still less than 1% capture rate though (12 M6 captures/1600+ M6 kills).

[Fireseen]

Thanks for the great guide! Before reading it, I had no luck with capturing ships, after, I've got 7 Bayamons, 1 Mandalay, 8 Oronicos and 1 Pirate ship all in a Bayamon.

Just a question, you can capture Khaak M5s, right? I found 4 wandering around Ore Belt alone, and none decided to eject (I have an Ion Disruptor, but I rarely use it as it seems that it takes to long to make them eject. Plus, I don't mind having to repair them, as I'm not in the capturing buisness for making money.) I even got killed by one, as a Bayamon with a max speed of 203 going up against a Khaak M5 going 406 doesn't work all that well for the Bayamon pilot.

Thanks in advance.

[Whismerhill]

for those who already tried successfully capturing at low scale:
this is to have an unlimited flow of single ships you can capture

-clean xenon sector 347 of any ships but leave the base alone (shoot it only one time to be able to kill the fighters inside)
-alternatively, I think you can leave Ks & Js alone
-you can use a perseus for that (with 3BPSGs & 3AHEPTs)

-after a while you'll have a steady flow of fighters between xenon 347 & 472
all ready for capturing

-my prefered hunting ground is black hole sun (only an Centaur sometimes bothering me by killing my targets)

PROS:
-you get many targets & money for killing if you fail to cap one
-every target acts as a lone fighter
-the flow seems to be killed by local patrols in other sectors & so seems to never reach sector 347, which means that the flow never interrupts even if you leave it alone (not tried with SETA whole night though)

CONS:
-PSGs & IDs can be problematic with all the TS flying around
-once you have the skill & ship to take on multiple cap targets without risks, it may be better to go directly to xenon sectors

Note:feel free to correct me if I'm wrong
Note to Al : if you find this tip useful,feel free to add it to your first post

[Al]

Thanks for the great guide! Before reading it, I had no luck with capturing ships, after, I've got 7 Bayamons, 1 Mandalay, 8 Oronicos and 1 Pirate ship all in a Bayamon.

Just a question, you can capture Khaak M5s, right? I found 4 wandering around Ore Belt alone, and none decided to eject (I have an Ion Disruptor, but I rarely use it as it seems that it takes to long to make them eject. Plus, I don't mind having to repair them, as I'm not in the capturing buisness for making money.) I even got killed by one, as a Bayamon with a max speed of 203 going up against a Khaak M5 going 406 doesn't work all that well for the Bayamon pilot.

Thanks in advance.

Capturing Khaak is only possible if you haven't yet purchased the Khaak information (which is a bug) or if you have purchased it and are at a high combat rank, perhaps Ace of Aces 3rd grade but thats just a guess.

Also one you have bought the Khaak information the are still very difficult to catpture. The bug mentioned earlier allows them to be captured with the same ease as normal ships.

HTH

Al

[Al]

@ Whismerhill

Yeah its a good suggestion. I have some updating to do but its probably not going to get done in the near future. Its not even been updated to 1.4 yet.

Al

[beefcake]

A nice way to start capping in a new game is to take plot mission 2. With the express you trade, and sell the disco, till you have enough to buy an a-psg. mount on the rear turrent. Now you have a capping machine just use a mosqito to get their attention, then fly in a suitable speed for enemy to follow at a-psg range (stay out of traffic lanes ). Even work with multiple enemies.

[Nukleus]

Here's how I cap.

I use a Boron Mako, max speed/max shields/2x APACS and 2xGPACS in the cargo hold.

Now I look for a target in the pirate sectors east of Argon space. The best targets are lone Orinoco's/Bayamons.

If the targets an Orinoco I approach and drop in behind them, I arm 1 APAC and 1 GPAC and open up .

The ship will undoubtedly try and turn on me but in a mako I just turn with them and keep similar speed to keep right on their six. I keep firing away until the shields are down and the hull is at 87% or less.

Then I just keep the shields down with regualr bursts trying not to dent the hull.

With the Bayamons I use the same tactic but use 2 APAC'S instead of the GPAC/APAC combination this prevents a lot of accidental damage to the hull.


Capped 5x Orinocos in just a few hours today, could have been more if I wasn't doing BBS missions aswell.

I'm sure there are quicker and easier methods like using IONs and the like but the I the challange of 'manualing' it as I call it.

Just 1 question from me, what triggers the actual ejecting of the pilot is it damaging the hull itself or keeping the shields down/low with the hull already down past 87% obviously?.

[Ac3s]

since im a noob to this, I have 1 question.

Do ions do any hull damage or are they only for shielddamage?