Weapons

EN4CER · Post by **EN4CER** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 4:22 pm

I'm learning quickly but new enough that I have a few questions. Weapon systems for new pilots are generally very weak. I was told that I should get a high level laser and a very low level cannon so that I can shoot both and take down ships quickly. I was told the guides were written before changes were made to the game that made low level cannons so much more efficient than high level ones.

Combat tutorials and guides point to the fact that you should use beams to deplete the shield and then the cannon to destroy the hull. With that knowledge in hand I bound LMB to lasers and RMB to cannon and attempted this method with the highest level weapons I had.

So should I be taking the advice and using a low level cannon or should I stick to the guides and fire my weapons as needed for their respective purposes?

49rTbird · Post by **49rTbird** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 4:31 pm

I use a high power cannon and a low power laser. Each person should test different ones to find what works best with the way they fight.

Capt_Caveman · Post by **Capt_Caveman** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 4:42 pm

the rumours are correct, more is not always better.

EN4CER · Post by **EN4CER** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 6:22 pm

Ok then the next questions that need direct yes no answers:

1. Are beam weapons (lasers?) better for removing a shield than a cannon?

2. Are cannon weapons better for damaging an unshielded hull than a beam weapon?

My personal playstyle is that I would prefer to manage my energy closely with high powered weapons than use low powered weapons so I can ignore energy management.

49rTbird · Post by **49rTbird** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 6:28 pm

As far as I know Beam weapons "ONLY" work on the Shields.

EN4CER · Post by **EN4CER** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 6:32 pm

Ohhh! Well that sure does change the weak cannon theory up a bit. I'll definitely be sticking to my current loadout for a bit and if I have trouble I'll downgrade my energy hogs. Thanks for the info guys!

49rTbird · Post by **49rTbird** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 6:40 pm

Maybe I stated that wrong. I meant to say that Beam weapons "Work Only on shields" not that they are the only thing that works on a shield.

EN4CER · Post by **EN4CER** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 6:52 pm

I understood. I'll still elect to use powerful beams and powerful cannons becuase I end up slingshotting due to inertia and have plenty of time to restore my energy between passes.

Sinbad · Post by **Sinbad** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 7:40 pm

Hi En4cer. As with many of the equipment configurations there is no "best" combination. It totally depends on personal taste and combat style (I like the phantom cannon for no other reason than the great pounding sound it makes lol). The beauty of this game is that at the end of the day it is down to the individual!

Nubarus · Post by **Nubarus** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 11:42 pm

The big difference with the high power cannons is that most of em have a relative short range and thus gives you a tactical disadvantage since the enemy can hit you before you can hit them.
They also have a low rate of fire paired with a high energy use, extending the disadvantage.

Keep in mind that when you get hit it also drains energy off you and makes you less effective in combat.

I use a low power cannon myself and a high power laser, the range, the extremely high rate of fire and low energy use pretty much means you can fire your cannon all the time and you can hit the enemy before they can hit you.

To be honest I am fairly confident that I destroy most of the foes who use high power cannons before they even get within their own weapons range.

EN4CER · Post by **EN4CER** » Fri Jul 27, 2012 1:25 pm

Yeah last night I engaged in PvP and really starting comparing the weapon stats. The difference is 300 in range between a lvl 15 cannon and a lvl 1 cannon. I ended up having to switch to the long range low powered cannon to even hit the guy. I'm not a fan of this system. Make high powered weapons difficult to use by eating massive amounts of energy but just making it half of the range means that it is flat out not viable. I really hope Vince allows us to modify range in the expansion.

Post by **Marvin** » Fri Jul 27, 2012 2:10 pm

Try the Maxim-R ... a vet's best-kept secret.

sundalo · Post by **sundalo** » Fri Jul 27, 2012 3:11 pm

From post: 141705, Topic: tid=9630, author=EN4CER wrote:Yeah last night I engaged in PvP and really starting comparing the weapon stats. The difference is 300 in range between a lvl 15 cannon and a lvl 1 cannon. I ended up having to switch to the long range low powered cannon to even hit the guy. I'm not a fan of this system. Make high powered weapons difficult to use by eating massive amounts of energy but just making it half of the range means that it is flat out not viable. I really hope Vince allows us to modify range in the expansion.

It will bro, the weapons lab for the expansion will allow you to change stats to make even the high damage weapons such as the phantom cannon viable in pvp. Check the expansion blog for the details in the announcements section.

Maarschalk · Post by **Maarschalk** » Fri Jul 27, 2012 4:03 pm

Lasers will damage the hull of ships too not just shields but it takes longer then cannons when the shields are down! I have tried this many times destroying ships using lasers only!
even the low class laser will eventually destroy a heavy shielded top class AI controlled military frame! PvP is another story! A smart pilot in PvP can manage his shielding and energy in a way that a low class laser has no effect on it! But if the player drops its shields completely the low class laser will slowy destroy the players ship!....

[Edited on 7-27-2012 by Maarschalk]

Busch · Post by **Busch** » Sat Jul 28, 2012 1:33 am

In any combat scenario, it's strategy and tactics, tactics, tactics! The strategy part consumes the majority of your ships frame and weapons selections. The tactics part is how you fly and fight the beastie! Now, having said that, I commonly use a high-end laser balanced against a low-end cannon. And pump the Excalibur at appropriate moments, usually my opening barrage. I also fly the shield recharger and AMS as integral equipment items. MDTS fully armed and functional. My power bias is most often set at -5/+5; weapons foremost over shields, hence the shield rechargers' useage/burden. With the cannon relay and heatsinks in place, on most any of the civ frames (and ALL mil frames) that accommodate the 8/8 eqpt/secondary wpns suite lash-up, I've managed to hold my own consistantly, successfully. Just the facts, no brag. However, experiment, test-fly, R&D the available weapons combinations with frames and power availabilities. Credo: Use what best works for you. Gitter dun !

-splosives- · Post by **-splosives-** » Sat Jul 28, 2012 9:55 am

To do maximum damage I recommend a c1 cannon, c5 beam.
Start by firing both untill your target lost his shields, then switch to firing cannon only.
Also get a shield recharger, and leave all your energy into weapons only.
That way you can fire a c1 cannon indefinitely!!

Captain86 · Post by **Captain86** » Wed Aug 01, 2012 12:31 pm

Hi all

I'm just learning combat, and I noticed that my tactic is not very good since I don't know all the controls yet, or if I need all the controls

I'm not using match target speed, or reverse afterburn atm, and it would seem I need to start using them or binding to something

I sort of just fly bye with inertial on and sort of try to strafe slightly away from the target at the end to avoid missile fire this seems to work well on small ships but I can't seem to damage any better shielded ships

The quest missions took me to Olympus and thus a patrol mission which has 6 fighters, however I kill 2-3 and then 3-4 or more keep showing up
The quest no longer indicates the ***I.M.G*** in the titles so I'm not sure if I'm even taking the correct mission or if it's suppose to be there as it was in the begining.

Anyhow what about combat tactics ?
Should I be trying to match speed to control distance, and using reverse thrust and reverse afterburn to do this as well ?

I don't have much upgrades only shields 3 and engine 2-3, wings 4 or something, I can make changes but I don't think this is doing much help without better weapons

I can unload a fully charged dual energy beam and flarebeam and it will kill weaker ships but I can't seem to do anything to the heavier shielded ships which indicates I need more missles, however I'm usually empty by this time

Currently seems that I can only hold 2 missile shots, yet when I purchase them it says viper = 10 or some rockeye = 7 or some such thing

Where are all these missiles going if there is 10 of them and why only 2 shots get fired and I'm empty ?

Anyhow sorry for the long questions, but I want to figure out a little more about combat tactics of weapons and methods of flying around instead of just flying at the group and circling around after I pass and fire off some weapons. I'm sure I'm missing much more on flying tactics.

Please advise
Thanks

-splosives- · Post by **-splosives-** » Wed Aug 01, 2012 12:59 pm

First of all if you want to take out more enemies, you'll need a better ship. One that can take a beating for a while. you need a class 10 shield, a shield boost x5, a cannon relay/heat sink, and preferably a shield recharger.

Second practice making circles in inertial mode while facing the center point. This way you can use the so called "circle of death" movement. Circling around your enemy, and firing at him while you dodge all incoming fire.

When using a shield recharger, put all your energy in weapons, so you can do maximum damage, and once your shields get low, stop firing and back off a little so your energy will be used to recharge shields.

To do these things, you need to be flying completely inertial, and you'll need afterburner, reverse afterburner, inertial forward and reverse all set to controlls.

Post by **Marvin** » Wed Aug 01, 2012 2:12 pm

Every I.M.G. contract has the title at the beginning. If you don't see it, you're not doing a Quest contract. If one doen't show up when you look for it, then you're almost certainly at the wrong station. Check the very last Quest message you received by opening your inventory menu (default F3), going to the News section and clicking on the "view last message" option near the bottom. Make note of where it says to go.

Captain86 · Post by **Captain86** » Fri Aug 03, 2012 1:20 am

From post: 142301, Topic: tid=9630, author=-splosives- wrote:First of all if you want to take out more enemies, you'll need a better ship. One that can take a beating for a while. you need a class 10 shield, a shield boost x5, a cannon relay/heat sink, and preferably a shield recharger.

Second practice making circles in inertial mode while facing the center point. This way you can use the so called "circle of death" movement. Circling around your enemy, and firing at him while you dodge all incoming fire.

When using a shield recharger, put all your energy in weapons, so you can do maximum damage, and once your shields get low, stop firing and back off a little so your energy will be used to recharge shields.

To do these things, you need to be flying completely inertial, and you'll need afterburner, reverse afterburner, inertial forward and reverse all set to controlls.

Yep, I figured I need reverse afterburn I could see that I had something that was working, however I could not adjust my distance without turning or turning around.

Definately using inertial no problem there sort of strafe to the left or right and toggle inertial off from time to time while facing the target yet not really traveling toward them. But I can see I need to reverse afterburn so I can attack then put distance between the target etc.

Thanks, I'll get my binds setup so I can use that

Captain86 · Post by **Captain86** » Fri Aug 03, 2012 1:22 am

From post: 142302, Topic: tid=9630, author=Marvin wrote: Every I.M.G. contract has the title at the beginning. If you don't see it, you're not doing a Quest contract. If one doen't show up when you look for it, then you're almost certainly at the wrong station. Check the very last Quest message you received by opening your inventory menu (default F3), going to the News section and clicking on the "view last message" option near the bottom. Make note of where it says to go.

I'll double check that but I did look at that severarl times and it directed me to the Olympus orbiting station and I did have the mission there at one point but now it's added a mission for patrol just like before but now it's not an I.M.G mission,

I'll read it some more thanks

Post by **Marvin** » Fri Aug 03, 2012 3:45 am

There are more than one I.M.G. contract in Olympus and they are at different stations/cities. Make sure you're in the correct sector for each.

EN4CER · Post by **EN4CER** » Fri Aug 03, 2012 2:42 pm

Sorry for the late reply but if you've done enough practice in the starter ship to get a kill or two then you will breeze through the red blips like a hot knife through butter once you get a strong ship. The difference is night and day. Also bear in mind that a mid or low grade military ship usually isn't as combat worthy as a high grade civilian ship.

You want a lot of range on your cannon so that you can get the jump on them. Make sure it's not a shield depleting cannon either. You want to punch the hull with it. If you're having a problem with missiles then make sure you're only firing your cannon for them. I don't know if the laser can get them or not but the cannon always does if they are in range.

As for the missile purchasing it says 12x or 10x because that's what they have in stock. You can only put a single missile in a cargo bay or a secondary weapon hardpoint. So if you are completely empty on 4 cargo bays and 8 hardpoints you could purchase 12x missiles. Click for each one. Please note excaliber missiles are an exception to this as they are sold as an 8x pack and they take up 8x hardpoints but 1 cargo bay.

Against AI if you already have defensive equipment make sure you're not flying too fast. I used to slingshot with every pass. I believe the vets call it 'jousting'. While it may work well in PvP it does nothing but prolong the battle in PvE. Slow down to about 1000 on throttle and use your afterburners for acceleration and reverse afterburners for slowing down.

One last thing to note is that subsystem targeting can be extremely useful. If they're knocking your shield out with each pass then start targeting the weapon subsystems. Same goes for if you're having trouble keeping them in your line of sight, knock out the engine subsystem.

If you want to see a video of some combat in a Starmaster by another new player (me

) check out TheGrinningSkulls.com/blackbox . Make sure to switch the video to high def so you can see the shield/weapon management and countermeasures. Managing these functions in the heat of combat are probably the most difficult part to combat for me personally.

[Edited on 8-3-2012 by EN4CER]

[Edited on 8-3-2012 by EN4CER]