Destroyer combat tips anyone?

[Nigel Strange]

I've flown as a fighter pilot fairly successfully. It's all great until you run out of counter measures. Better hope nobody shoots more than 10 missiles at you!

However, as a destroyer captain, I am rubbish. In a ship to ship fight, I can't survive a single head-on battle. I actually do better if I hand over the reigns to the helm.

What is the strategy here?

From my end, what seems to happen is that if I target the enemy lasers, they destroy my forward defense and fire torps at me.

If I fire torps, they are shot down by enemy defense.

If I train the lasers on enemy defense, they destroy my defense first, then use torps and kill me before I manage to hit their defense.

So, what's the solution? The helm seems to do pretty well, though they still lose, but I survive longer if I'm not actively trying to achieve victory. How does it work?

[wdboyd]

Capital Ship Targeting Tips

The Insurgents ships are nearly immune to subsystem targeting aside from thier PDB systems. Their destroyers fusion reactors can sometimes be hit by attacking from the belly but this is rare.

The Insurgent frigates are almost totally immune from subsystem targeting. Simply Hammer away at them untill they explode.

The Hegemony Tiger class frigate is a pushover. Its fusion core is very exposed and can be hit from any side angle. Once the core is down, the shields drop and the ship is a sitting duck.

The most intimidating enemies you’re going to face are going to be the Hegemony destroyers and cruisers.

Volanaris class destroyer- If you can hit it from a flat 90' angle, you can occasionally take out its core and its shields will drop. You may even be able to take it out completely with a full barrage of grazers. Failing this, switch to the 2 forward lasers.

Once you see that laser 1 is down to 10% or so (or isn't taking any damage if your angle is off, immediately hit the ":" key and cycle to laser 2. Once its down to 10-0%, hit ":" again and finish off the volley on the ships torpedo system. Worst case scenario, you've taken out half its beam weapons as well as its torpedo capability. If you’re attacking from the nose, you can get each of these systems in a single volley. The ship is helpless and you can kill whatever else is shooting at you.

Broadsword class destroyer- These are tricky. While I have been able to make good core hits (and disable the ship) from about 95'-100' angle from the nose, this kind of sucess is rare. Generally it’s best to start hammering away at its forward beam weapons and torpedos.

If you have a side shot at the ship, hit its torpedos first. If you have a forward view, go for the beam weapons. Once these are down, you can take off the rail and pdb batteries on the top and tail. Finish with torpedos. Rinse and repeat. These craft usually come in packs, so be sure and bring a friend to get their attention first.

Hegemony Cruisers - There are two types. The tactics for both are similar. Attempt to come in at high speed and adjust your flight path to bring your ship under them. They have soft bottoms and their limited manuverability works in your favor.

The first type will have a single fusion reactor at its bottom center which can be hit from a pretty wide angle if you’re underneath. So, when you can see it, fire away. Once you start to see it fall, let your beams charge to full and fire a volley of torpedos. Follow this with the beams and the shields will drop just as your torpedos slam into the hull. Easy Kill.

The second type of cruiser has 2 fusion reactors. One is in the belly and one is along the bottom at the very end of the ship. The one aft is responsable for powering the ships shields.

If you can maneuver underneath and fire torpedos just before disabling it, you can often make an easy kill. Unfortunately the ship quickly regains its shield power when it switches to the second reactor. You will have a narrow opportunity to get torpedos away. The second core has about the same vulnerability angle, so line up shots and start hammering.

Carriers - carriers are tough. Don't expect to be able to damage anything other than its PDB systems, so save some torpedos to finish them off.

Choose either the bottom or top surface to attack and stick to it. Eliminate the batteries on the top or bottom and hammer it with torpedos.

You'll likely have to chase the carrier down when they jump away so be prepared for a hunt. Quantum to a system you think they might have jumped to. If it isn’t there, wait for your quantum-drive to recharge and jump again. When you find it you’ll likely have the carrier all to yourself since they don't seem to launch fighters after making a jump very often.

One very nice tactic is to set a navigation point near an enemy vessel. Set the speed to 750 or 1000 for a high speed attack run and then select "auto". You should appear around 55km out from your target and have just enough time to acquire and set a subsystem to target. You can use this tactic to come at enemies from the side/tail and get a jump on them.

Good luck Commander.

[Nigel Strange]

Thanks for the great tips, wdboyd! I'll work on these ideas.