Fighting the small ships in a Python can be difficult. Well for me at least. I used fixed lasers and plasma accelerators so hitting the buggers is sometimes hard (but when you do hit with the double plasma's they pop). I seem to have extra trouble against the Cobras because they are so darn thin. Of course this would all be made easier if I got rid of the Plasma's and switched to gimballed, but I built my ship to hunt the big game so I am happy with it. Does decent PvP as well.
All fights against AI = afterburn + FA off turning
- Thread starter Cidcaldensfey
- Start date
Fighting the small ships in a Python can be difficult. Well for me at least. I used fixed lasers and plasma accelerators so hitting the buggers is sometimes hard (but when you do hit with the double plasma's they pop). I seem to have extra trouble against the Cobras because they are so darn thin. Of course this would all be made easier if I got rid of the Plasma's and switched to gimballed, but I built my ship to hunt the big game so I am happy with it. Does decent PvP as well.
I kill plenty of Cobras, Eagles and Sideys before my FSD cooldown timer wears off after interdicting them. What's the issue here? Vipers can take a little longer sometimes. But not five or ten minutes longer!
You found the Vulture difficult to use against Vipers and the like? Really? Tell me. do you control and manage your throttle in combat? Do you use your thrusters? The Vulture is a superbly manoeuvrable machine and I have yet to find anything that can stay with it and on the offence I can get inside the turn of anything flown by the AI. I am thinking of giving mine up after just a week because combat against the AI is just too easy.
You have those two size 2 slots on the Python... they are just perfect for class 2 beam laser turrets, just in case you feel too lazy to try a turning match with an Eagle. They also will make an Anaconda shield-less in short order, leaving you plenty of choice what to install in your size 3 slots. Even if you don't have the 51 million power plant yet, it should be ok with the right power priorities.
Isn't the counter simply for the AIs to use boost and catch up since you can't fly backwards as fast as forwards
Alternatively just break off the attack so that they fall out of weapons range.
Python still good after all those nerfs. I'm a Sunday driver in this game, I've not focused on combat, so if you're a really good pilot, you'll shred NPCs with it.
This is what I use for my Python.
I know...I know... But I like it the way it is and the only thing left to do is to put on the mirrored armor and it will be complete in my eyes.
Mostly just Vipers, really. And it wasn't like I didn't get em in the end (still way less than 5 minutes). The Vulture is joy to fly and can out turn just about anything with some well timed thrusters and a boost. It is great at getting close (when the AI executes a poor turn), but against faster ships it loses ground quickly. Probably just a style difference...I like to stay so close I could throw pennies at my prey. For me, the Vulture was the best when I was using it to stay glued to Anaconda power plants
The Clipper is my favorite overall for PvE. Speed and maneuverabilty (use the thrusters and its ridiculous yaw and you can keep a Vulture in front of you) and enough fire power to just own a RES.
I've noticed that already, you can't just reverse and forget. I'm constantly changing speed. If I don't, I'll loose them and if they took more damage than they liked, they'll charge their FSD and warp out.
I'm not sure what further changes they'll make against flying backwards, but its already not very useful, except if you're already close when you first target them and want to get them in front of you for scan and initial attack.
Edit: well, maybe other people use that flying backwards thing better than I do and get more mileage out of it. I've yet to work on any kind of FA skills, which I won't if I don't absolutely need to, in order to complete the few combat missions I do.
I don't know, I was much more into and proficient in ship combat in other games, like X, where you could get NPC pilots to eject if you managed to scare them a lot with heavy alpha strikes. That was a lot of fun, even if you didn't keep the ship but just sold it to the station you sent it back to (remote controlled) Sometimes, you'd get some really cool and unusual pirate ship with an awesome paint job and keep it.
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Well...yeaahhh...ummmm...I don't know what else really. Maybe all of all the ellipses and emoticons have made this seem more portentous than it's going to be; I'm a bit baffled to be honest.
*wanders off, lost to the music in his head*
I'm pretty sure that doesnt work when using FA off. I can just boost away, hit FA 0ff, flip, and move backwards at full speed. A solution indeed depends on speed: if the target flying backwards is faster, break off. If the NPC is faster, approach (sliding around preferably).
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Didn't one of the FA Off gurus on here say that FA Off doesn't give any actual advantage over flying with every directional thruster individually? I certainly find that on the Xbox One I can do things that are much harder with keyboard/mouse, simply because I have two joysticks. I can actually dodge a stream of MC fire in real time by slewing as I spin, and then boost, drop my throttle, turn and side-thrust to strafe. The same is true when docking. It's not any better/different/worse with FA Off as you're still controlling the same ship with the same thrusters! It's simply a logical change to how you perceive the control of direction of movement and rotation.
But yeah, the AI are utter gits, especially AI Eagles and Vipers against me in a slower turning ship like a Cobra or Asps.
But yeah, the AI are utter gits, especially AI Eagles and Vipers against me in a slower turning ship like a Cobra or Asps.
Wow! I watched both and honestly prefer the more realistic ED rather than the kids arcade approach in Freespace 2 Open.
Freespace 2 is actually quite fun when you use fast-paced mods like Dimensional Eclipse with it. The speeds dramatically increase and they have stuff like flight assist off in them before it was ever called that.
http://www.twitch.tv/mr_blastman/c/4112834
The action starts at about 7:30.
I liked Independence War I and II the best for combat and overall space flight.
Viajero
Volunteer Moderator
This is correct, they have no need. Also I can add that AI combat is getting a big upgrade. It's what I'm working on right now, adding a load of new tactics to make things more... interesting.
Hi Sarah,
I am a bit confused by this statement as it would suggest by extension that human players may not actually need FAOff either to get the most out of their ships.
I d agree FAOff is not a flight mode that would give anyone an advantage "per se", especially if used 100% of the time. There are many obvious situations where that steady control of FAOn is much more advantageous.
But there are also a few situations where FAOff (I reckon) is more advantageous to FAOn, and I see in principle no reason why an AI should see this differently as you say?
For example, any ship with a lower turning rate than her opponent (say a Python vs a Vulture) will probably have a harder time trying to get a clear shot at said opponent which, by definition, may be at her six most of the time. In these scenarios, the best way for the lower turn rate ship to get a decent shot at her better turning opponent is by activating FAOff and drifting away, opening some space, and bringing weapons to bear, then reactivating FAOn in reverse to steady her aim.
Trying to do this with FAOn can also be achieved but it requires the ship to first decelerate and then accelerate in reverse while turning, which is a much slower process than simply activating FAOff.
No?
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AI are easy, just fly backwards and they come to you. You might have to turn from time to time but they need some new tricks if the same AI are going to fly Thargoid ships
Dam, just saw Sarah's post... Seems it is me that needs a new trick!
Dam, just saw Sarah's post... Seems it is me that needs a new trick!
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I'm able, by using the vertical thrusters in combination with pitch to flip 180 in a FAoff style whilst staying in FAon mode. Admittedly my track through space is not dead straight, it curves up and down partly due to me only having digital control of the thrusters (hat stick) , but I'd view that as a combat advantage. I'm not sure about the time taken to turn (rotational rate) which should be the same regardless of mode (i.e. bound to speed).