Weapons for my AI fighters

[Gandex20]

Hi everyone. What weapons are the best for use on my ai comanded ships?

[Mistle]

AI don't check the type of weapon and don't choose the right option of attack due to owned weapon.
The attack will be the same , no difference if you have equipped torpedo , beam or repeater.
Use this weapon what You think that will be the best due the type of attacked object, don't look at AI.

[GCU Grey Area]

Have 2 main configurations for my fighters, depending on what sort of ship they are & what role I've given them.

For fast, lightly shielded interceptors I'm using a full set of Shards. Decently fast projectile speed (i.e. fairly accurate against a moving target), comparatively high damage, although relatively short range.

For my anti-capital bombers I use heavy fighters with stronger shields that the interceptors. These are generally armed with tracking launchers & longer range weapons, such as Blast Mortar or Plasma Cannon. The guns are there both as backup weapons in case they run out of missiles & as a range finder. Putting short range weapons on bombers means they tend to go a bit closer than I'd ideally like to ships which explode with a rather large boom when destroyed. Favourite missiles for such ships are Starburst.

However that's just what I use. Would strongly recommend trying the different options yourself & seeing what works best for you. Experimenting with all the various options is part of the fun of the game for me.

[Gandex20]

What do you think about combination 2x mason stream 2x photon barrage. (Used on Katana)

[GCU Grey Area]

What do you think about combination 2x mason stream 2x photon barrage. (Used on Katana)

Used that setup on my Falx in my previous Terran game. Worked well for a personal ship. Briefly loaded my final archived save for that game & gave a few attack orders on nearby ships to see what the AI could do with it (4½* pilot at the helm). Not an exhaustive test by any means, but seemed to do a reasonable job. Mesons are highly effective against M size ships but tend to miss S targets, however the Protons did a good enough job against those.

On the whole though not a big fan of M ships for AI use. These tests were just against individual & small groups of S & M ships. M ships don't tend to do so well in a fleet context, either against capitals (much easier target for turrets than S ships), or against S fighter swarms where they tend to be outmanoeuvered by their more agile opponents.

[XIII8]

What do you think about combination 2x mason stream 2x photon barrage. (Used on Katana)

Problem with that is that all weapons share heat. Wouldnt take more than 1 meson beam; even that alone will take an eternity to reload if its using proton barrages as well.

On the whole though not a big fan of M ships for AI use. These tests were just against individual & small groups of S & M ships. M ships don't tend to do so well in a fleet context, either against capitals (much easier target for turrets than S ships), or against S fighter swarms where they tend to be outmanoeuvered by their more agile opponents.

Agreed, M ships got a lot of firepower, but they also catch a lot of fire. They got their use, but not quite as frontline fighters.

[jlehtone]

What weapons are the best for use on my ai comanded ships?

The answer is: Yes

I either don't care: "Whatever, just send more ships"*, or I take it as exploration: "Hmm, what difference do I see if I put these?"
(There is very little exploration in this game and when it is done, there is no "unsee" option.)


*Why are my credits always gone?

[blackphoenixx]

Shard batteries.
They work against everything, do high burst damage to keep fights short and the AI's low firing rate (it spends a lot more time flying in circles than shooting) means heat - their only real downside - is pretty much meaningless.
It's near plasma cannon damage with fighter-hitting projectile speed.

Proton barrage is also pretty solid with high accuracy and good range, though damage is a little low unless you mod it (they're brutal with Slasher mods).

Most other weapons feel underpowered once you get used to that but the AI does okay with pretty much anything rapid-fire.

What do you think about combination 2x mason stream 2x photon barrage. (Used on Katana)

Meson Stream is a decent anti-destroyer weapon - if you ignore the cost. You'll also need more than one ship with them to actually kill a destroyer. Against anything smaller they're mostly overkill (if they hit) and leave you waiting for cooldown often.
Since you can basically buy an extra Katana with 4x proton barrage for every M meson stream (or a decently equipped commonwealth destroyer for two) they're pretty much never worth it unless you want them for personal use.

The AI also tends to miss a lot with them IS so they're even worse there.

[pitkanen17]

I love Blast mortars for small. And barrage for terran smalls. I like making a mix of those...
For medium ships the weapon stats are generally better... more range and speed. So many fast projectile speed weapons with better than pulse dps and over 3km range.
I generally avoid using S/M AI vs K/I... so I don't have e much to say there. I also don't sent my little ships on kamikaze runs vs stations... but if I did I would use Blast mortars on 3 shield ships.