FAS What am I doing wrong?

Devlin-Darkside

D
Ok always been a shield guy so thought I would try the FAS with armor tanking.

Now I have Bi weave shields on it so they go down pretty fast and you rely on hull, fair enough.

But I am finding my modules are taking lots of damage because there is no shields up. Now I've tried using AFMs but this does not repair hull right?

I had a fight with a conda (NPC) now I kept behind most of the time but the turret weapons are hard to avoid and this is (im guessing) what messed up my modules.

So what is the attraction of armor tank over shields with this in mind?
 

Casey Casem

C
I hear you. Turreted beam elite anacondas are kryptonite against FAS as you sustain damage unless you're directly on his 6. I keep normal shields, chaff and mirrored armor to mitigate this worst case scenario
 

Sentenza

Sentenza
This is the new way since 2.1. Now you need mods to fly a tank - first of all shielded distributor, as it's the first target for NPCs. After that, sturdy mounts for guns.
 

Devlin-Darkside

D
Sentenza said:
This is the new way since 2.1. Now you need mods to fly a tank - first of all shielded distributor, as it's the first target for NPCs. After that, sturdy mounts for guns.
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Ahhh lovely so I have to go find all this stuff with no storage in game yet! Think I will leave it in the hanger until engineers works properly..... why did I bother parking the Asp lol
 

Devlin-Darkside

D
Well I have played with missiles and I do like them, but I find the lack of ammo annoying and creating missiles with mats gets tiresome because you then have to farm said mats when you run out.

But yea that is a good idea...

I can actually make credits faster in high res site with my little iEagle than I can with the FAS, of course I rely on local security...
 
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Arjin

Arjin
Bacalao said:
Have you tried fitting a missile rack to take out his exterior modules, particularly those very exposed, juicy deck guns that tend to cause all the problems?
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Yep indeed best course of action, players really need to understand old metas are well old...I did however switch back to regular A rated shields and 2x a boosters which has increased my longevity, eventually those will get upgraded soon enough.

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Devlin-Darkside said:
Ahhh lovely so I have to go find all this stuff with no storage in game yet! Think I will leave it in the hanger until engineers works properly..... why did I bother parking the Asp lol
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Our magic cargo hold for materials is good enough to get the job done for the first rank 3 upgrades.
 

Kaybe

Kaybe
Missiles are great now, but definitely not for bounty hunting in a RES as they deplete too quickly. Generally speaking, Haz RESes are now best winged up to take on as the AI has gotten strong enough to make fighting an Anaconda a long and painful challenge (as it should be ... it's a        g Anaconda!). But if you go to High RES, you can hang around the security forces who now actually hit hard and are pretty excellent at holding the enemy's attention ... assuming you don't shoot first.

Also, FAS/FGS/FDS ... all the medium fed ships *require* military grade armor. You can't armor tank without it.
 

Mohrgan

Mohrgan
With a Bi-weave you not only rely on your hull, but you must play to the regeneration time of your shields. An FAS with a 5C Bi-Weave, and 2 AO shield boosters will recover collapsed shields in 43 sec. and be fully restored in 59 sec. Standard 5A shields, with boosters, will take 1:14/2:28. During any down time flying evasively is super important. You only need seconds to restore them, I use that. I forego some damage dealing to save as much of my hull as I can, that won't regenerate on station.

I will only attack a large, high ranked ship when my shields are at their best, and save the small, lower ranked ships for when my shields are weak. Much of this is pretty common sense, buy I still love to discuss this stuff.

P.S. Let's hand it to the guy(s) who created the Coriolis web page where those numbers were plucked.
 
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GTwannabe

GTwannabe
Wait until the Conda gets into a scrape and loses some shields. Get in CLOSE and shoot out the powerplant. Try to stay to the side or below to avoid the upper hull's field of fire.
 

thorn-

thorn-
The basics of my FAS:

- Real shields, not bi-weaves. Keep PIPs on them, and keep them up.
- Armor + armor modules are good, but as you've seen - you need shields to protect internals.
- Missiles are your friend, if you get the Conda's shields down.
- Beams eat Python/Conda shields for breakfast. Sometimes you're in for second breakfast, though, if they have cells...
- Load at least 2 units of chaff.

Yes, you have to reload a lot. But provided you get decent targets, you can take out 1-2 million in targets before needing to reload missiles. Don't get greedy... it's not like it takes 30 minutes to restock your ship. Cash in, reload, return to killing.
 

Spacecat

Spacecat
Kaybe said:
But if you go to High RES, you can hang around the security forces who now actually hit hard and are pretty excellent at holding the enemy's attention ... assuming you don't shoot first.
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This is all I've been doing since the upgrade. Hazres always has flights of three ships, and taking a flight of 3 on by myself is no longer a viable option (unless I "get a lot gudder").

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Devlin-Darkside said:
Ok always been a shield guy so thought I would try the FAS with armor tanking.

Now I have Bi weave shields on it so they go down pretty fast and you rely on hull, fair enough.
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I don't use bi-weaves. My strategy is to try to destroy the enemy as quickly as possible before my shields get taken down.
 

sqzbox1

S
I don't use bi-weaves either. A grade shields plus 2 boosters and a cell of recharges. Don't take on wings unless they are engaged already and you can take out at least one of the little guys before the big fella notices. Stay right up the annies pipes and if you can, slightly under. Move pips around ALL the time so that you can thrust well, shields when needed, and weapons don't run out of energy.

But above all, be conservative and preserve your ship - unless you are ready to head back for repairs.

Oh - and go for the PP which means shifting your position once his shields are down.
 
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Chris Simon

Chris Simon
Why did this conversation steered towards the missiles? o_O

OP, if you want to somewhat successfully hull-tank and keep your modules safe against turreted enemies, you have to use chaff and silent running (basically SR while chaff is on cooldown (Why does chaff have to cool down, again? Ah, it's reload. yes) and vice versa) There is really no other option to inhibit their ability to target modules.
 
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Mohrgan

Mohrgan
Chris Simon said:
Why did this conversation steered towards the missiles? o_O

OP, if you want to somewhat successfully hull-tank and keep your modules safe against turreted enemies, you have to use chaff and silent running (basically SR while chaff is on cooldown (Why does chaff have to cool down, again? Ah, it's reload. yes) and vice versa) There is really no other option to inhibit their ability to target modules.
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I hadn't heard that SR now affects the AI. Does it? Because it didn't in 1.5/2.0. If it does that is exactly so. Use SR to break lock, and re position. With changes to Heat in 1.6/2.1 it can be dangerous to fire weapons in SR. So, it's best to resume venting heat when firing. The FAS can be a sweaty deadt.
 

thorn-

thorn-
Against another CMDR, I think running silent can be a decent option... some people just can't cope with it.

Against the AI - even if the AI is affected by SR, I wouldn't take that strategy. You're only going to get around 6 heatsinks in a FAS (unless you're really feeling lucky and fly w/out chaff or point defense), and the AI misses a lot less than the average CMDR. I'd rather have decent shields and some good weapons. IE, strong offense, vs crafty defense. The FAS isn't exactly a cold-running ship to begin with.
 
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Rorkan

Rorkan
Kaybe said:
Also, FAS/FGS/FDS ... all the medium fed ships *require* military grade armor. You can't armor tank without it.
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This.

HRPs add hull points, but they offer no protection to your modules. You can still have 70% hull and get your thrusters knocked out.

Military grade armor gives your modules the protection they need, allowing you to actually hull tank. I've had my FAS leave a heavy fight at 45% hull and not one single module below 80%.
 

kofeyh

kofeyh
FAS advantage with bi-weave (until you have level 5 modded shield boosters) is the dump & ditch because it's top end boost speed is near 400.

Unload everything you have, when the shields drop, all pips to engines, and NOPE out behind asteroids (or just boost clear if you are elsewhere); cat and mouse while they regen. Unless the AI has bi-weaves, yours will come up first (and also this gives weapon cap time to recharge). Once up, and the AI has caught up, plough the road.

FAS used to be great for face-tanking but honestly with the increased missile and torp damage, hull tanking isn't really workable. HRP only offered a small module bonus; it's almost negligible. AI will target modules with abandon now (previously it was mostly just blasting hull) so they are at best useful to increase survivability whilst you leave.

Military hull certainly takes a beating though. So if you're going to roll bi-weave, it's time to armour up.

Also 3 MC on a FAS is jolly good fun. I've parked mine whilst I bring Python up to snuff, though. :)
 
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