Now i've been able to play, oh, my ships...

[NaffNaffBobFace]

Hi all, looking to pick your brainz, two questions but first some backstory:

Now i've been able to have a go in Crusader and Area Commander, i am having a little change of mind about the ships i have.

For big ships i love my Connie so that's staying put, but the Avenger Warlock and my little Aurora...

The Aurora I'm just not getting on with. I know, sacrilege. It's slow, little, the pew pew is not where i'd like it to be as its the LX luxury version, nice seat but everything else is a little lacklustre when you have a big Connie to slum it in...

The Warlock, although good and has the unique EMP just 'aint my style. I let off the EMP in Swarm and was out by wave 2. Its a unique weapon but you need buds to make the most of it and i won't be having the time to get together with the dudes and put that kind of action in to practice. The TigerStreak is mighty, but the EMP now just takes up all the back space with no bonus for me personally... Also, i am not a fan of Gimbals. Either All fixed or All gimbles, no in-betweens...

That's the background filled in, so my questions:

1) I want a machine that i can get the most amount of fixed forward firing pewpew sticks on to - I don't care for missiles so am happy to not have those at all. Any ideas? I will melt the Aurora for $30 credit and the Warlock is good for $85 in a CCU and am happy to pledge another couple of bucks but not much more than $30 so budget is about the $130 mark with what i have and a little extra...

I was thinking the 350r the next time it is available for the raw speed, or the Hornet Ghost... I like the idea of the Ghost as i'd like to either be so fast i won't be caught or so stealthy i won't be noticed and i can imagine it has a bunch of firepower... or does it I am aware its stock setup has less bang for more stealth.

[Answered] And question 2) My Warlock is a CCU from an Aurora pledge package... Can i CCU a CCU or do I have to scrap the Warlock CCU for store credit and CCU the original Pledge ship? I may have asked this one previously but can't remember...[Answered]

Many thanks for your help, everyone.

 

[ThomSirveaux]

Keep the Aurora. You'll always need a ship to ferry you from one point to the next, especially if you don't want to have to go through LTI just in case. Odds are, there won't be many raiding parties to go after an Aurora. This also makes them ideal at inconspicuous VIP transfers (that would be an interesting theorycraft/story, about Adm. Bishop shirking his escorts in favor of a small, unassuming Aurora or fighter... and I just realized they did this with SW:AOC...)

CCU the Warlock into something more to your liking. You should be able to CCU it to anything, even if it's a CCU, in and of itself. The Hornet Ghost is nice, but not so heavily armored as the Sabre or standard Hornet/SH. You might want to just CCU to another Avenger, as they have relatively decent weaponry/armor tradeoffs. If you want raw speed + firepower, it has to be the Sabre, but I don't think there's a CCU available for that, atm.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

Aha, all good options there. It is tempting to keep the Aurora because TEST is BEST :)

I've found the old thread where i discovered the CCU can apply to a CCU'd ship, this would be this ships FOURTH, so Question 2 is no longer needed.

 

[DeepDrum]

I got into the sabre free fly this week and with 4 non gimballed 227s, it works very well. Only one pip to follow.
I imagine it will go on sale for a short spell soon.
One can always play Arena Commander to earn enough REC to rent diferent ships to try.
The Hornet ghost could be awesome with a top ballister canon or something after you buy/rent the mount for it.
The Super Hornet rocks!
I will always have at least one hornet in stock (tracker right now).
The warden is tough and has some good firepower but it's a bear getting in and out while on missions.
I liked the 350R a lot when I tried it. The engines just purr.

 

[BUTUZ]

Er you do realise you can take the Gimbal adaptors off and use a one size larger gun as a fixed weapon, right? (apart from on specialty nose mounts like Avenger nose)

So if you had a S3 mount with a gimbal you would have to fit an S2 gun. If you removed the gimbal, you could fit an S3 gun.

It's a win win, as fixed is better anyway, and as a bonus you git a bigger gun with more pew pews, per pew pew.

My current favourite bang for buck ship is:
Bog Standard Hornet. Remove all Gimbals, fit S3 ballistic weapons, Fit Flash fire mount and a S4 Gatling gun. 3 x S3 and 1 x S4 = bye bye die die hahahhaa

 

[AstroSam]

I hate the Warlock. Are you aware of the blow the EMP weapon can cause? Heres a vid I once shot in 2.5:

 

[AstroSam]

It's a win win, as fixed is better anyway, and as a bonus you git a bigger gun with more pew pews, per pew pew.

No, thats not 100% true. The bigger, more sluggish ships won't hit anything without gimbaled weapons. But,@BUTUZ I for sure can lend you my Starfarer with a couple of fixed weapons and see how you are doing within a swarm of attacking pirates ;)

 

[BUTUZ]

No, thats not 100% true. The bigger, more sluggish ships won't hit anything without gimbaled weapons. But,@BUTUZ I for sure can lend you my Starfarer with a couple of fixed weapons and see how you are doing within a swarm of attacking pirates ;)

It's a date :D

 

[AstroSam]

Hi all, looking to pick your brainz, two questions but first some backstory:

Now i've been able to have a go in Crusader and Area Commander, i am having a little change of mind about the ships i have.

For big ships i love my Connie so that's staying put, but the Avenger Warlock and my little Aurora...

The Aurora I'm just not getting on with. I know, sacrilege. It's slow, little, the pew pew is not where i'd like it to be as its the LX luxury version, nice seat but everything else is a little lacklustre when you have a big Connie to slum it in...

The Warlock, although good and has the unique EMP just 'aint my style. I let off the EMP in Swarm and was out by wave 2. Its a unique weapon but you need buds to make the most of it and i won't be having the time to get together with the dudes and put that kind of action in to practice. The TigerStreak is mighty, but the EMP now just takes up all the back space with no bonus for me personally... Also, i am not a fan of Gimbals. Either All fixed or All gimbles, no in-betweens...

That's the background filled in, so my questions:

1) I want a machine that i can get the most amount of fixed forward firing pewpew sticks on to - I don't care for missiles so am happy to not have those at all. Any ideas? I will melt the Aurora for $30 credit and the Warlock is good for $85 in a CCU and am happy to pledge another couple of bucks but not much more than $30 so budget is about the $130 mark with what i have and a little extra...

I was thinking the 350r the next time it is available for the raw speed, or the Hornet Ghost... I like the idea of the Ghost as i'd like to either be so fast i won't be caught or so stealthy i won't be noticed and i can imagine it has a bunch of firepower... or does it I am aware its stock setup has less bang for more stealth.

[Answered] And question 2) My Warlock is a CCU from an Aurora pledge package... Can i CCU a CCU or do I have to scrap the Warlock CCU for store credit and CCU the original Pledge ship? I may have asked this one previously but can't remember...[Answered]

Many thanks for your help, everyone.

Have you considered renting ships for trying before buying (i.e. by becoming subscriber)?

 

[supitza]

I want a machine that i can get the most amount of fixed forward firing pewpew sticks on to - I don't care for missiles so am happy to not have those at all. Any ideas? I will melt the Aurora for $30 credit and the Warlock is good for $85 in a CCU and am happy to pledge another couple of bucks but not much more than $30 so budget is about the $130 mark with what i have and a little extra...

I was thinking the 350r the next time it is available for the raw speed, or the Hornet Ghost... I like the idea of the Ghost as i'd like to either be so fast i won't be caught or so stealthy i won't be noticed and i can imagine it has a bunch of firepower... or does it I am aware its stock setup has less bang for more stealth.

For the budget you have, I'd go with either a Buccaneer (very pewpew, zero tanky), Hornet (somewhat pew, somewhat tanky) or Freelancer (very nice, much wow, ship good).

 

[Cherokeedog]

Now i've been able to have a go in Crusader and Area Commander [...]

There's one thing I feel I need to clarify: all current game content is best handled in a dogfighter. That's because the "universe" is now just a shoe box, so they needed to give us somethin' to chew on. A "dog eat dog" environment was the easiest solution. As I understand, when the PU launches, it will not be like this.

Now, this means you shouldn't make your decisions based on how you feel right now in your ships. I reckon it would be best to wait at least until 3.0 is launched, as that's supposed to flesh out an environment closer to the PU's shape.

That being said, if you feel you're goin' to have an itch in the PU that'll need to be scratched with lead, then yes: you're missin' a fighter ship.

The Aurora...well...most of the times I managed to kill anything with it (besides time), it was because I managed to find the perfect path to crash it into my target. I actually feel the only useful purpose that mosquito has in the game, is to represent TEST affiliation.

The Warlock doesn't yet work as intended. Putting that aside, I see it only as a bounty hunter ship (or a pirate ship running takeover gigs), and never a solo hunter. So either you accept to be part of a team with it, or ditch it for a fighter. I don't fancy the normal Avenger as a fighter either...too little firepower. I actually fared better in a Merlin in Vanduul Swarm.

So, I think you should be lookin' at a Hornet, Sabre, or a Buccaneer. I think the closest to your desired price range is the Hornet. Any of them is good enough to make you stop feelin' squishy and like you're shootin' mushrooms.

If you want a rust bucket with similar firepower and higher versatility, the Cutlass seems to be the best choice. You can mount 3 fixed Panthers and a big arse cannon on top, you have cargo space, beds, an open space toilet and a lot of holes to evacuate ship if that toilet gets stuck. Also, it is in the same price range you're aiming for.

 

[Cherokeedog]

Damn that was a long post! My throat is dry after all that writin'.

 

[AstroSam]

Damn that was a long post! My throat is dry after all that writin'.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

Cheers for the input, all.

I've gone in for a Hornet Ghost, I have 3x gimbaled badgers and lock the gimbals. Why? Unlock for M50's. Have the flash fire and have just sunk 18000 UEC in a Apocalypse Arms Gatling.

Just logging in now to give it a go!

That EMP video was impressive - I won't miss it though, as said i won't be teaming much but then i can work for one in the PU. Something to aim for :)

 

[Cherokeedog]

[beer mug]

Damn! So that's how you rig a beer mug!

Now, question is...who owns the never endin' barrel?

 

[Cherokeedog]

I have 3x gimbaled badgers and lock the gimbals. Why? Unlock for M50's.

Forget the Badgers. Go full Panthers. You'll rarely fight an M50, and even if you do, you can use "match target velocity" for a larger firing window. Your shields are twice stronger and your guns are twice bigger. This move may make you a sittin' duck for a bit, which may be a hassle if you have someone else on your tale, but it ain't worth to lower your firepower that much. You'll simply cripple your own arse against the regular fighters - Hornets and Sabers.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

Oooooh, that was what i was looking for. Dakka dak dak. Got to Wave 9 on Drone Swarm without a hitch, Asteroids got me in the end.

Forget the Badgers. Go full Panthers. You'll rarely fight an M50, and even if you do, you can use "match target velocity" for a larger firing window. Your shields are twice stronger and your guns are twice bigger. This move may make you a sittin' duck for a bit, which may be a hassle if you have someone else on your tale, but it ain't worth to lower your firepower that much. You'll simply cripple your own arse against the regular fighters - Hornets and Sabers.

Good point - I reckon they will balance the Hornet to make the Panther loadout a little less awesome in terms of power drain in the end, hence why i stuck with the level of gun it came with.. but now i've got some decent pew sticks i can rec those Panthers up soon enough :)

 

[Cherokeedog]

By the way, you mentioned you own a Connie. I'm pretty sure you can strip off one of them M5A lasers and mount it on top of the Hornet. Your target pointer may follow up closer to the Panthers than the Revenant does. I stole a Hornet with that build at some point in time. It rocked!

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

Ah, yes it does fit a treat. The possibilities are really opening up, i just need to learn how to pull my gun from its holster now and i may just make a citizen.

 

[CrudeSasquatch]

And remember when the main game comes out everyone is stuck in an Aurora. Might as well have the Aurora deluxe!