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

[Heretic666]

@ ???:

If you wanna take on pirate ships in a disco look for ones with only 5MW shielding - those shields go down very quickly, just remember to stay away from the rear turrets

Also, look for Orinoco's with 1x25MW and 1x5MW...

If you are good enough you can take these down (I had to hit em a few times tho and it is ramdom I believe as to whether you lose equip or not), but if you can cap one with the disco you probably wont have done much hull damage to it, so you could get around 250,000-300,000 for it

[XS]

ahh so kicking the hard drive doesnt work..wonderd where i was going wrong cheers

[Al]

That is how you SHOULD do it but in reality with a disc... GOD LUCK... I´m trying it right now and against a pirat ship even with missiles it´s almost impossible, against a mandalein it´s very hard (to ceep on its tail at least) BUT im flying with mouse so if you guys fly with stick it explanes something.... With gamma ire you dont do so much... I hear u all talk about some plasma or other guns YES they suerly rule BUT u need first a bigger ship then the disc... so are there yeasy ways (and cheap ways) to capture? I some times come betveen 2 ships but if the other one is a m2 it usually dosn´t work...

(This is my anwser to the first post here )

As PJK said I'm a keyboard only player so you dont have to have a stick. Never tried mouse combat but from what others have said this is almost certainly the reason you cant stay on the Mandalays tail as its not responsive enough. Give the keyboard a shot.

If the Mandalay does get away from you its not the end of the world, just try and avoid the incoming shots and get back on its tail and start again.

Pirate ships are more of a problem as you normally have 25MW of shields to get down while avoiding the rear turret. Probably best if you avoid them until you get a better ship.

HTH

Al

[grapedog]

my main issue is trying to find them solo, i've tried picking off the ends of convoy's, but this still all seem to come at me. Maybe this is a change with one of the patch's, not sure...when i find a convoy, i find the fastest bayamon , hit it and run...and try to get plenty of space between me and the rest of the group...takes a while though. Almost all solo pirate vessels I've seen are Orinoco's and plain Ships which are a bit much for most M5's from my perspective.

[XS]

if all else fails, move ur destroyer into there convoy and say OI noooooooooo and kill them all mwahahahaha

[JungleJim]

If you can't find single pirate vessels, go ahead and target (small) convoys.

Some tips to taking on more than 1 at a time:
1) Make sure you are faster than they are
2) Hit HARD on your first pass
3) Run away to allow your shields to recharge
4) Turn and attack the closest pirate vessel only (Mandelay probably)
5) Repeat 3-5 as necessary

This hit and run tactic helps spread out the ships in the Pirate convoy. The fastest (& smallest) ships will be the closest to you when you turn to fight.

Addendum:
A) If you get into trouble, try ducking behind a station. Incoming Pirate fire might arouse the ire of the station and they'll launch fighters (which will probably help)
B) Don't allow your shields to get under 25%. You can't afford to lose any hull.
C) Since you're faster than they are, just run away if the going gets too tough.

[XS]

when attacking convoys i find using drones the best, knock there sheilds down on the madalys only and reapeat till hull is at 83 p[ercent or what ever then, repeat throu out, then just fire ion at each ship, there for there sheilds of others regenrate and u knock em down, quick caps, plus i normaly go about 100/110 speed wise other wise u risk running into them and blowing them up

[Vertical]

I read your with a lot of interest, since I have some problems with capping. I do cap ships, but not that often, and when I finally hear “No sips is worth a Split life” he really means it - hull at 3%.
I read somewhere in the forum you’re not supposed to use Ion D’s since the chance of getting ships with either shields or weapons get reduced dramatically. So I use B-HEPT and one B-PAC, because I need 25 MW shields – but doesn’t seem to work.
I get their hull in the 80’ies and strip the shields time after time (sometimes wait until its recharged something I don’t) but the don’t give in.

Am I not allowed to get hit ? Am I supposed to keep their shields low at all times, or do I have to let the recharge ? Are their any rules I have to keep in mind ? Do tactics and difficulty vary from patch version to patch version (I’m playing the 1.4 as I assume most are).

I need some help, since I can’t seem to make any big money on capping or get equipment for that matter.

[Al]

Using Ions does destroy equipment but it is the best way to consistently capture with a high hull %. Its all down to luck whether any remaining equipment is left when the pilot bails out so by not using Ions there should be more shields/weapons before the pilot bails but still not guarantee that any will remain after its captured.

If you are using an HEPT and a PAC then try and judge your rate of fire so you strip the shields just enough to get them to zero and do a little hull damage. If you do too much you'll find you are killing rather than capturing.

There really isn't any right or wrong way to capture ships. Each works in its own way. Best thing to do is keep trying.

If you want to use Ions then why not try taking on the contents of a pirate base and dogfighting them all at once. This normally means you wont hit any particular ship for any length of time. Its not fool proof but its worth a shot!

HTH

Al

[RobG]

my main issue is trying to find them solo, i've tried picking off the ends of convoy's, but this still all seem to come at me.

Here's 1 good tactic I've been using which works well:
When you spot a group of pirates flying through a system, follow them with the autopilot. Don't attack, just fly along with them and they "should" ignore you.
When they get to the gate just park infront of it, they will fly through it 1 at a time, so when there's 1 left attacking him before he goes through. Now once your done with him hop through the gate and the others are there flying along totally oblivious to the fact that the're 1 short, and you can repete the gate trick again. :Wink:

Vertical: I know what you mean, some of them just never want to give up, most people seem to use the save in space just before you attack and if they don't give up at once reload and try again.
I've recently got a APSG and it seems to work well, I think it's because it does lots of small hull hits

Question: What are the factors that infulance the chance of surender? Have any changes been made to it in 1.4 vs 1.3?

[keyshiner]

hi Al, what kind of ship or which ship did you use to cap a m6?
i'v dreamed of cap one m6, but i have not capped one yet with my Nova

[Al]

I got in a Nova. I gave up on trying to capture them and just went for the kills. The Dragon I captured bailed at abuot 36%. In fact it was probably nearer 50% but I had a lot of HEPT going at it.

Al

[Vertical]

Capping an m6 ???? I thought you couldn't cap anything higher than the m3 (besides the Xenon destroyer you encounter in some kind off taximission).

Because if it really true that you can cap m6's I KNOW WHAT I'M GOING TO DO TONIGHT !!! :twisted: :twisted:

[Bishop149]

Capping an m6 ???? I thought you couldn't cap anything higher than the m3 (besides the Xenon destroyer you encounter in some kind off taximission).

Because if it really true that you can cap m6's I KNOW WHAT I'M GOING TO DO TONIGHT !!!

You can capture the M6's that spawn as escorts in the assassination missions.
I wouldn't recommend you set out to capture them though, they are A LOT less likely to bail than normal ships. I have only specifically set out to try and cap M6's twice, both times I was flying around with my Ions zapping them for the best part of half and hour to an hour to no avail. Given up now, I have captured M6's but only when I've been aiming for a kill so it comes as a VERY nice surprise when it goes blue. Got a nemesis the other day, at 60% hull and a 125MW shield still on board! Very nice, bring my M6 cap total to ummm 5 since 1.4 I think. . . including the 2 that were then immediatly killed by their former commrades. . . . . horrible when that happens but nowt to be done about it.

[Al]

Yup M6 captures are like rocking horse dung. It appears that very few of them are actually capturable and those that are are often lost due to your own fire or that of thier comrades. I would go for the kill every time and if you get a capture just count it as a bonus.

Al

[keyshiner]

i just killed a handful m6 escort, or should i say, my squad killed a handful of them, coz due to the slow speed of Nova where i was sitting, the km3s under my command always crashed m6s.
but with a single nova, it would be too slow to kill a m6.
i gues u guys are right, , M6, i will kill you all

[Al]

If you are in a Nova all you have to do it get ahead to the mark and escorts and when they come into range just shoot them. Once you have their attention it doesn't matter how slow you are unless you are trying to escape as they will keep coming back for more.

Al

[Bishop149]

Mk1 Engine booster. . . . the Nova's saving grace, It usally last long enough for me to keep up with a kill two M6's. . . . if theres a lot of firepower/missiles flying around the resulting shield drop can get nasty but it has to have its disadvantages too now doesn't it!

[Al]

Thats something I've never used. I'll have to have a play with it one day.

Al

[keyshiner]

that is strange, , i never need to use the engine boost to kill fast m6s, just like AL said, they will always come back to you. and to me, once they make a big U turn, they always face the death, coz i can always cut in at that moment with my nova.
SLOW, i mean the firepower of a nova is not powerful as i expected. i know, i know, nova lovers would disagree, but that is ONLY my opinion when using a Nova to kill a M6, dragon is the only exception.