Matrix Games Forums

1)What has everyone been using for weapon set ups that seems to work well for you? Ive tried a lot and defiantly a fan of the more direct fire weapons just visually. Like fighters and standoff's but standoff's seem....cheap and overkill, especially if it's a 1v1 battle. Ya you have to rearm a lot but still seems cheap. So far I've found bolts to be a good style most fwd with a couple aft depending on size of the ship

2)Is their anyway to delete techs? Such as federation. I really can't stand that tech. I don't like having to take over someone else's race and I hate that if I don't I find that it ends up being me and an ally vs. 6 comp federation [:@]

besides those.....addicting as he!!
Thanks

Greetings to longlive289s,
 
I have found that each weapon type has its advantages and disadvantages.  And it is rather fun to custom arm your ships with different sets of weapons just to gain experience handling them.  I usually put two different types of offensive weapon on each ship, which gives a certain flexibility in the attack.
 
Standoff's are best for long-range attacks against worlds, particularly if you want to stay clear of the home world's defenses and blast away from relative safety.  Moreover, they are really difficult to defend against.  When 4 frigates are attacking your home world carring about 120 total standoffs, you had better be ready to defend.  In general, worlds are pretty poor at defending themselves.  No matter how many offensive weapon slots you fill, world cities are still rather easily taken out.  So instead, I protect the world under threat with a cheap gunboat that carries 3 sets of standoffs and little else.  I use it like the battles of the 1600s used fire ships against frigates and men of war.  Its job is stay at long range and to fill the sky with standoffs making life miserable for the attackers.  Rather than use the 6 slots on the world for standoffs, I put them to better use. 
 
The drawback to fighters is their vulnerability and lack of punch.  I think that they are fine for survey ships looking at puny planetary defenses, because they fight from a distance and keep the mother ship safe.  But in a fight with some heavy duty starships, their lack of punch can take a long time to penetrate warship defenses.  When used in combination with standoffs, often the collateral damage from standoffs does more damage to your fighters than to the enemy.
 
Ship to ship, the torpedo is very dangerous.  It is best carried when your starship has accumulated enough combat maneuvers to give you some flexibility as they have to be aimed.  But they pack quite a wallop, have a fast rate of fire, and shred defenses well. 
 
If you want to be different, arm some smaller ships (like gunboats) with advanced waves and generators.  Try to attack a large destroyer or cruiser by putting a gunboat to port and starboard of your bigger target.  Then watch those waves rip shields, armors, and chunks of starship in record time.  Waves can be effective against standoffs too.
 
I do not know of a way to turn off the ability to form alliances.  Often, if you are small and unimportant, other species will fight among themselves, something you should encourage while quietly gaining strength.  It is possible to use your spies and to create disruption.  If you think that a federation is about to be formed, add enough spies for an 80% success rate, and try to target one of the potential partners for disruption.  If successful, do it again as soon as you can.  There are very decent odds that you will switch that world's philosophy.  After that, they may not be your friend (even if they now share your philosophy), but they will never form an alliance with anyone else.