frigate use (noob question)

[avance]

I just got promoted and figured I would start with a Berents frigate and work my way up. I am a newbie at all this, I just moved to standard physics. We are going after an enemy carrier + support, our team is 2 frigates and 2 destroyers. After about an hour of dying and reloading I really am stumped.

I need to get into within 20km to use the fwd pdb, by then I am getting lit up like a Christmas tree. I thought these PDB things were defensive anyway, but they don't seem to fire on incoming missiles. The Mk7's never lock on anything although I have tried hitting Shift Y (or is it U?) and then they lock on torpedos. So what are they for, these Mk7's?

As it stands, it looks like this Berents is just equipped with defensive weapons. Is this right? I have tried to put the weapon modes into various combinations of AUTO and DEF, heck, I even hit Shift M and let the computer fly the damn thing, and I really don't see how this frigate is doing a lot of good against a massed fleet.

Thanks for answering, I know I'm behind the curve...

avance

[TheDeadlyShoe]

The Berents is indeed armed with primarily defensive weapons. The Mk7s will only target missiles, fighters, and corvettes, but can do so at a long range and are effective against fighters. The PDBs it mounts are only useful against certain vessels with 'weak' shielding such as the Volnaris-class destroyer. Try switchin the Asher-class destroyer commanding the destroyer group. The frigates aren't really meant to be played in the dynamic campaigns AFAIK, although there's at least one missionw here you play one.

[avance]

DeadlyShoe, thanks. 'Mk7's - good against fighters' is info that should be in the manual, or on a website somewhere, no?

At any rate I will switch to the destroyer. Stay tuned for the next post, "My !@\@ destroyer keeps getting blown up!!'

Thanks again,

avance

[Pos]

that was comming, and you know that.

seems like no matter what I try to do.. Frigates get blown up no matter what waypoints I give them.. They charge a destroyer group and get blown up... and trying to box in a destroyer that got buddies... gets my whole group blown up.. any sudgestions?

[suleo]

If you want your frigates to stay close, instead of wandering about and getting blasted to pieces, use the 'cover me' command (combat->cover me). They will end up following you and stick fairly close, 50km or less. In fact, you can use that command to get other ships (not in your group) to follow you. This is quite useful if you wish to enlist, say, a cruiser for some dirty work [8D].

Now as to how not to get blown up when attacking enemy destroyer groups. Here is a simple way to practice. Start the first campaign and select the destroyer group (I assume your rank is sufficient). Try to get the 'attack destroyer radix' mission. If you get an 'attack minefield XYZ' or something, exit the campaign and re-enter, until you get the radix mission. The Radix and its buddies are usually to the center of the map, to the north of the minefields. You start at the lower right(doh) corner (I've played this several times, the starting positions are the same always). You can also look for the enemy ships by going to F3 view, zoom out and look around for dark objects that don't blend very well with the background. It takes some practice but after a while you'll be able to recognize ships this way. Oh, and DONT USE PROBES! They will tell the enemy where you are, and more importantly, will tell your ships where the enemy is, and they will race towards the enemy and get killed.

Use the 'move patrol orders' and plan an approach that will bring you to the sides of the destroyer group. In this particular mission, keep going north until you're almost to the left of the radix group. Keep the ships together by either using 'cover me' or by placing move patrol orders and make sure to call them back if they move too far away. Approach the group at a 90 degree angle, with you and the other destroyer up front; keep the frigates trailing so they don't die. Also, try to come in BELOW the enemy ships; their PDBs are less effective this way.

With practice, you can kill the entire group without losing a single ship! The most important thing is the approach. Oh, and concentrate fire on a single ship!

Hope this helps

[avance]

Thanks for the help.

I think what was happening was this. The first promotion just allows you to command one ship, but not to give orders to the other ships in your section. This is kind of a limbo level, as you're helpless when your ships decide to go off and die. Really, sticking with the fighters is better during this level. The promotion after that (Commander?) allows you to give commands from F3, and this is a *lot* more cool, and allows you to become a lot more efficient, although I think I found a bug:

I moved the waypoints for everyone in the pre flight map to keep them closer together. We passed NAV1 OK, but heading to NAV2 I noticed that 2 of my ships seemed to be sticking to the old flight plan. They were certainly not heading in a straight line to the next NAV, that's for sure.

Thanks again for all the comments!

avance

[Mehrunes]

You can always give orders to the other ships in your squadron as long as your commanding the squadron's lead ship.

[Pos]

I just want a comm to all ships in squadron "All ships (squad name), attack <target>, box in"