[TC] M7 class

[RedLeader]

So, if I got it right, frigates are large enough ships that can pack serious punch even against larger targets, capable of towing around essential supplies and some fighters as well. Finally got enough resources to buy one, and good timing, because it would work well as a backbone of the taskforce I'm assembling.

Now, I know everyone has his biases, but what do you think about the Cerberus type vessels?

[The Great Stonk]

too slow and weakly shielded to be of any use against larger opponents.

pick up a panther and reign death and spew fighters to your hearts content

[Mouseco]

I'd say go with your heart on these kinda things, I asked the same question and was advised with the Thresher ....
Its basically the worst ship i've flown in this game.

Its wide, and has 3 tail fins that seem to do nothing but cause collision damage, and for some reason the Flak Arrays dont actually do anything ... Apart from be loud.

Now, it can mount some decent forward firing weaponary but that wont hit anything smaller than an M6, maybe an M7 IF its comming at you, and due to being so wide, the shots take forever to close in on a target
Its one of the faster ships, so thats quite helpfull.

I bought the M7, Fitted it, gave it 'all' turret flak, and forward banks of Ions and PPC's and then left it to patrol Grand Exchange .... Went back to my Centaur...

May advice would be to save the game, in a nice empty slot, buy the ship, test it, then reload....
I'm thinking of trading in my ship for the Diemos, it can carry fighters and pack some semi reasonable punch.... its also horribly wide, but minus tails ....

If the Teladi ship gets fix, i'll be buying that

[pjknibbs]

Its wide, and has 3 tail fins that seem to do nothing but cause collision damage, and for some reason the Flak Arrays dont actually do anything ... Apart from be loud.

Have you tried changing sector? There was a bug in X3R (that seems to have made it into X3TC) where if you use salvage insurance to save all the FLAKs in the sector stop working until you move to another sector. I find FLAKs work fine for me so long as I don't trigger this bug.

Anyway, the main problem with the M7 class is that they're much bigger and more heavily shielded than a corvette, and are often more manoeuvrable than one, but they tend to have problems with fighters because they simply don't have enough turreted firepower to keep them off (and they obviously have great difficulty dodging incoming fire). Get into the middle of a bunch of M6s and you simply have no choice but to jump out to escape before your shields evaporate, in my experience.

[The Great Destroyer]

Flaks don't seem to work for me as well on my Boreas as well,whether it be Cluster or normal.I realize in fact that the munitions appear to be going through the target & exploding at maximum range instead of actually hitting the target.Shockwave cannons appear to do the same but not as much as Cluster Flaks or regular flaks.

[Gazz]

That's exactly how the flak bug looks. Try reloading your game or changing sectors. =)

[RedLeader]

Never noticed such bug, because I've not yet used salvage insurance to save, even though i could get it. If only Egosoft put your perception to good use...

Well, yeah, an awe-inspiring vessel, but I returned to an earlier save. Why? Because so much flaks and bigger main guns are expensive, of course and fighting missions were hard to find afterwards, even in usually active sectors like Black Hole Sun. (another bug?)

But design was OK for me, different turret 1st person views seemed nice (well, hello to X series, I guess) and the fact turrets were animated, even if shot went in too steep an angle to be believable, compared to the position of turret's barrel. You see, I like human-style and functional designs, and wouln't use some weird alien vessel just because it's marginally better. Design with 2x more powerfull shields? Maybe..

Gonna check out Yokohama (I have a Hades conventionally docked in Mars shipyard..), but it will probably be more expensive in the end, and pain to get those weapons, first to know the best ones, then to find suppliers, and then to get enough of that hardware.

So far, yeah, for a ship few hundred metres long, there are not enough turrets and therefore not enough coverage. Turret hardpoints probably would be located at least in both ends of eah side of the ship to be effective, or wherever convenient (like flaks in WW2 carriers).

With dodging out of the question, I'm not concerned about M5s and their peashooters, but rather nasty missiles and being overwhelmed. Flying in formation could help against massed swarms. Also that landing space can house some 6 fighters, which can really fill in the gaps. If nothing else, quickly jumping in a M3 and rushing out to wreak havoc is an option...

Hey, ramming, too, is an option! I ram opponents even in my M3, of course, not the big ones...

[Gazz]

With dodging out of the question, I'm not concerned about M5s and their peashooters, but rather nasty missiles and being overwhelmed. Flying in formation could help against massed swarms. Also that landing space can house some 6 fighters, which can really fill in the gaps. If nothing else, quickly jumping in a M3 and rushing out to wreak havoc is an option...

Not being overwhelmed is up to you. If the huge cloud of enemies lies this way, fly that way.
M7 are typically fast enough to be able to choose their fights.

Nasty missiles should not be any kind of problem with Mosquito Missile Defense or a better turret script.
Egosoft "Missile Defense"... isn't.

[delray]

Yup. Get MARS and see how your M6s and M7s become twice deadlier.

[Akula87]

M7's have the cargo capacity to house literally hundreds of missiles... these should be your main weapon against anything up to M3's, that is, of course, unless your turrets with some kinda fighter screen dont get them first

[TerrorTrooper]

After experimenting with a few M7's

Id say Split Panther all the way...

Its got Identical shield, speed, turning & laser energy stats to the split Tiger.
Its got more gun mounts than the Tiger..
It carries 34 Fighters..

I have my Forward turret mounting 8 HEPT's set to Attack Target.
All others FAA's set to attack enemys.

I have hit the flak bug once or twice, but apart from that the ship can tear apart litterally dozens of fighters in a matter of minutes..
even groups of corvettes.

My advice would be panther, Fast, with Decent all round stats like the tiger, but with 34 docking bays thrown in for free..

However, you should look them all up and see what takes your fancy
as its a matter of Personal choice...

[Mikes78]

After experimenting with a few M7's

Id say Split Panther all the way...

Its got Identical shield, speed, turning & laser energy stats to the split Tiger.
Its got more gun mounts than the Tiger..
It carries 34 Fighters..

Yeh... the Panther is almost too good to be true.
It's a pocket destroyer and carrier all in one.

With 10 IBLs mounted in the frontal and side turrets and a mix of flak and whatever in the rest it seems to be pretty much the most deadly M7 and can even tackle enemy M2s rather easily and has excellent anti fighter turret coverage as well.

It's weaker than an M2 combatwise of course... but it is actually much stronger than the "real" M1 Carriers ... having double their laserpower and the ability to fire 8 heavy weapons (IBLs) at a single target and it still features a moderately sized hangar. And it's also faster than most M7s LOL.

[delray]

Yup. Split have talent for creating pocket destroyers.

Elephant is still a one tough son of a khaak and I won't ever forget good old Reunion Dragon with PPC...

Now we have Panther with 32 fighters, IBLs and FAAs all over her (and PALC if you can find them!). All at 122 speed with 4x1GJ shield.

I bought a Tokyo (because I liked the design) but now when I compare prices, equipment, speed (especially speed!) and hangar sizes... M1 isn't a good deal anymore.

[gammacee]

I'll add my vote for the Panther!
It packs plenty of punch and is more manoeuvrable than most other M7 (and some M6) ships. And the large hanger bay means you can keep a ship for every purpose (not to mention a good few caps along the way).

I do have one question for other M7 fliers: Is it possible to change the speed or direction of the ship whilst operating one of the turrets. It would help, when the P's swarm, to be able to roll and strafe (with the keyboard) whilst also taking some of the blighters out from the rear turret (with the mouse).

[pjknibbs]

No, you can't do that. You're either in the cockpit controlling the direction of the ship or in the turret firing at enemies; you can't be both. Just set your turret to Attack Enemies and it should do a pretty sterling job all by itself, though!

[Mouseco]

I reloaded an old save and now the Thresher is behaving itself ...
On a lighter note, I want me some Salvage insurance! where can I find some? *not in my encyclopedia at the moment*


Thresher is a good ship when everything works .... just needs alternative tactics ....
360 flaks, big guns on the front,

Let the fly at big target firing as much as you can, once at 4-5km, slam it into reverse .... and you should be able to yaw and strafe away most big gun fire ...

As for smaller ships, let flak kill them as you target them.... prioritise the PBG ships since thats insane damage other ships wont really hurt you too much ...

[saber1]

I want me some Salvage insurance! where can I find some?

There are some at:

Spoiler

Show

Free Argon Trading Station in Heretic End,
Orbital Defence Station in Uranus,
TerraCorp HQ in Home of Light,

[RedLeader]

Yeah, buying guns for large ships can be a bit tedious. I've got almost full frontal battery of PPCs, but those Flaks are evasive!

Still, I think I'll go for Cerberus and test it in action. If it performs satisfactory, then screw those 2x shields or pocket carrier thingy.

BTW, a M7 that doubles up as a carries must have some weakness, doesn't it? And what do some of you mean saying 'has main battery'? Does it mean some caps have uncontrollable main guns?

[pjknibbs]

BTW, a M7 that doubles up as a carries must have some weakness, doesn't it? And what do some of you mean saying 'has main battery'? Does it mean some caps have uncontrollable main guns?

I don't think the Panther DOES have any weakness, actually...

As for main battery, the Panther is unusual for an M7 in that it has a front turret rather than main guns, so I suppose you could say the main guns on it are "uncontrollable"--never had much problem with setting that turret on Attack My Target, though, and since it IS a turret it can fire at a much greater angle than the fixed front guns on other M7s can.

[Mouseco]

Yeah, buying guns for large ships can be a bit tedious. I've got almost full frontal battery of PPCs, but those Flaks are evasive!

Spoiler

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The Two systems near Ianamus Zura (Homily of Perpetuity.... and Acquisition Repository)
Both have Heavy weapons Fabs and Heavy shield fabs, I parked a tarde ship in both of these stations and siphoned off the need equipment for my M7.

Far South West of the Map (Boron space, seemed to stock al lthe CIG's and Ion cannons I needed)