I'm in a fully kitted out and combat engineered Corvette, and these Spec Ops wings are absolutely wrecking me. Endless SCBs, sniper-like Rail Guns with shield breach, seemingly bottomless shields and hull... I'm spending most of my MultiCannon ammo on just these 4 ships that spawn, and by that time the battle has been lost for my faction, I've got barely any money to show for my effort, and to top it off I lose faction reputation. Can we please get a balance pass? By which I mean, can we get a big ol' nerf hammer the Spec Ops spawns?
I disagree with you here. I'm loving the increased dificulty level of the CZ's and spec ops. Personally, I would like the high CZ's to become harder, I'm not bragging here as I'm not the best combat pilot (I'm ok) but in my pvp built FDL I win 100% of the time in a high CZ (with spec ops spawning) however I have had some close calls (almost losing), however in my pve built corvette I destroy the high CZ's (with spec ops spawning), it's way too easy. I would like the high CZ's difficulty level increased so you NEED to be in a wing to win the CZ.
I guess the advise I can give is maybe re-check your ship build, and/or you need more experience in combat (it's all about tactics, how to respond in certain situations). Don't worry about that statement btw, I need more combat experience too, I suck in pvp, something I'm trying to improve in my flying.
I guess the advise I can give is maybe re-check your ship build, and/or you need more experience in combat (it's all about tactics, how to respond in certain situations). Don't worry about that statement btw, I need more combat experience too, I suck in pvp, something I'm trying to improve in my flying.
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last time I ran into a spec ops wing in my cutter (biweaves for shields and the rest of the armament is turreted pulse lasers) the only difference in how I faced them compared to the rest of the zone was setting my turrets to "target only" instead of "fire at will" so I could focus them. I'm in a pretty far-from-optimised build for taking on hardened targets.
Don't demand the rest of the game get dragged down for everyone else so you don't get your battlebarge's feelings of invincibility shattered. Improvise. Adapt. Overcome.
Don't demand the rest of the game get dragged down for everyone else so you don't get your battlebarge's feelings of invincibility shattered. Improvise. Adapt. Overcome.
Personally, im loving them. I was in a few combat zones last night and i actually died 
It was great.
I did encounter the re entering and not being able to choose sides bug and for some reason twice i randomly switched sides, but it was fun that it wasnt just fish in a barrel like it used to be.
I would love to have some of those beams and rails that the engineered vultures use. I think their aim with fixed weapons might be a little inhuman, but all in all im liking the new NPC behaviour.
It was great.I did encounter the re entering and not being able to choose sides bug and for some reason twice i randomly switched sides, but it was fun that it wasnt just fish in a barrel like it used to be.
I would love to have some of those beams and rails that the engineered vultures use. I think their aim with fixed weapons might be a little inhuman, but all in all im liking the new NPC behaviour.
They are Special Ops - they are meant to be tough!
I found them about right, it was a pain when 3 or even 4 started shooting me, they made it harder to win the CZ which is good. Overall a nice addition. Difficulty was ok. I was flying a FDL. On Czs in which I had another friendly CMDRs their impact was a lot less.
The first time I met them I was in a Fully Engineered Vette, and just thought they would be cannon fodder like everyone else. That opinion soon changed.
Treat them with respect, use your NPC team mates, don't get swamped, and you will be fine. They are a decent challenge, but not OP, even in a FDL instead of a Vette.
Treat them with respect, use your NPC team mates, don't get swamped, and you will be fine. They are a decent challenge, but not OP, even in a FDL instead of a Vette.
Not trying to be funny, but Spec Ops need, well, special tactics to take down.
If Spec Ops spawn, and you go straight for them, you'll die. Generally because they try to operate as a wing, and will dogpile you the minute you try and go toe to toe with one of them. I'll grant they're one of the tougher encounters, and can turn the tide of battle, but I've won many High Intensity CZs where enemies get the Spec Ops spawn, and my allies get a god-awful Warzone Correspondent spawn, and barely had the enemy get over 50% progress.
I go in with a Krait MK2, and defences aside, my fitting is an overcharged C3 beam with thermal vent, Overcharged C3 Multi with Corrosive Rounds, Overcharged C3 Multi with Autoloader, and 2x C2 Shard Cannons.
- Shard Cannons, despite being Guardian, anti-Thargoid weapons, are great distributor-friendly anti-sheild weapons which overwhelm enemy shields quite effectively. Spec Ops are lucky to get more than one SCB in, provided I can keep point on the enemies.
- Resistance-reduction weapons are king. This is because the resistance reduction helps damage from your allies, and if you're going toe-to-toe with Spec Ops without allies helping, good luck.
- Don't go at them straight away. When they spawn, spend some time taking out other enemies first. The Spec Ops will make some ground for the enemy, but eventually, they'll split up, allowing you to take them down one at a time, aided by an ally to boot usually.
- Target powerplants on spec ops once their shields are down. Against solid targets, it's way better use of ammo... you can kill most hard targets at 60% hull.
- If all four spec ops are wailing on you, fly through a blob of allies asap, and keep going til you're about 15k away.
Honestly, Spec Ops are entirely doable, and you can still clear the CZ without needing to reload with Synthesis.
On the other hand... Enemy Captains I feel are totally overpowered. They flee before I can even down their shields, so I never bother. They should really hang around for the whole combat, like Spec Ops.
If Spec Ops spawn, and you go straight for them, you'll die. Generally because they try to operate as a wing, and will dogpile you the minute you try and go toe to toe with one of them. I'll grant they're one of the tougher encounters, and can turn the tide of battle, but I've won many High Intensity CZs where enemies get the Spec Ops spawn, and my allies get a god-awful Warzone Correspondent spawn, and barely had the enemy get over 50% progress.
I go in with a Krait MK2, and defences aside, my fitting is an overcharged C3 beam with thermal vent, Overcharged C3 Multi with Corrosive Rounds, Overcharged C3 Multi with Autoloader, and 2x C2 Shard Cannons.
- Shard Cannons, despite being Guardian, anti-Thargoid weapons, are great distributor-friendly anti-sheild weapons which overwhelm enemy shields quite effectively. Spec Ops are lucky to get more than one SCB in, provided I can keep point on the enemies.
- Resistance-reduction weapons are king. This is because the resistance reduction helps damage from your allies, and if you're going toe-to-toe with Spec Ops without allies helping, good luck.
- Don't go at them straight away. When they spawn, spend some time taking out other enemies first. The Spec Ops will make some ground for the enemy, but eventually, they'll split up, allowing you to take them down one at a time, aided by an ally to boot usually.
- Target powerplants on spec ops once their shields are down. Against solid targets, it's way better use of ammo... you can kill most hard targets at 60% hull.
- If all four spec ops are wailing on you, fly through a blob of allies asap, and keep going til you're about 15k away.
Honestly, Spec Ops are entirely doable, and you can still clear the CZ without needing to reload with Synthesis.
On the other hand... Enemy Captains I feel are totally overpowered. They flee before I can even down their shields, so I never bother. They should really hang around for the whole combat, like Spec Ops.
My only gripe with the Spec Ops as implemented is once, when they spawned, all four of them instantly decided I was their prime target. Went from completely undamaged to shields gone in two seconds, then the rebuy screen in two more seconds. This is while flying a moderately engineered Krait II.
Yep, I got ganked by the Spec Ops.
Which is entirely rational and logical that they operate as a wing. It's just RNG if they happen to decide to do so, with you as the victim.
Yep, I got ganked by the Spec Ops.
Which is entirely rational and logical that they operate as a wing. It's just RNG if they happen to decide to do so, with you as the victim.
Yeah I've been in Czs since the new ones landed, they are really good now.
I must admit, in last 24hours the medium feel like they have turn up another level.
Loving all three levels, low, med and high. Depending in the mood I will do all
I'm many cases, I am behind in a cz alone, and I manage to pull them back. I'm loving them, it's good they have changed them.
Only compaint is the payouts for killing a Corvette etc have been reduced
I must admit, in last 24hours the medium feel like they have turn up another level.
Loving all three levels, low, med and high. Depending in the mood I will do all
I'm many cases, I am behind in a cz alone, and I manage to pull them back. I'm loving them, it's good they have changed them.
Only compaint is the payouts for killing a Corvette etc have been reduced
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I've found that they're a bit of a bulletsponge for sure, mainly on account of bank-and-chaff-spam (the annoyance of gimbals generally being better for PvE except for those particular targets, so that's what I fit for PvE). I've slapped some feedback rails on my corvette specifically for targets like them. The captains are nothing special in terms of damage output, they're just annoyingly tanky.
I'm still undecided on whether it's more effective to trash their drives and FSD first before moving on to the power plant, or just kill the plant first. They tend to try rebooting if you kill the drives, but that's not much of an issue as you can just shoot them out again.
The few times I've had the Spec Ops appear on the oppositions side the allied version popped as well. Meaning I never had an issue targeting one of them and blasting away until they were dead. I managed to kill 2 while the NPCs finished off the remainders.
The key to spec ops is not to try to solo them.
Also you can use yourself as bait to attract all their fire. While doing that your own sides spec ops can be decimating the opposition ships.
When the heat starts to get a little tough, just run in the direction of your sides main combat forces and they will then start to distract the spec ops ships. You can now pick them off at will.
Main thing to note is that it takes time to take them out.
So far i have only fought them in an FDL. However i dont use shield cell banks, i rely on a 1500 mj shield with high all round resistances to soak up the shots.
Also you can use yourself as bait to attract all their fire. While doing that your own sides spec ops can be decimating the opposition ships.
When the heat starts to get a little tough, just run in the direction of your sides main combat forces and they will then start to distract the spec ops ships. You can now pick them off at will.
Main thing to note is that it takes time to take them out.
So far i have only fought them in an FDL. However i dont use shield cell banks, i rely on a 1500 mj shield with high all round resistances to soak up the shots.
Last High Intensity CZ I fought in the enemy Spec Ops appeared and 4 enemy Warzone Correspondents.
Took out the Journalists first (they don't shoot back anyways), but in the meantime the Spec Ops decimated them allied ships quite fast. First time I've had both bars get into a neck-to-neck race.
Managed to get all 4 myself. Once they were gone the rest was a walk in the park once more.
I use Federal Corvette for hunting.
Took out the Journalists first (they don't shoot back anyways), but in the meantime the Spec Ops decimated them allied ships quite fast. First time I've had both bars get into a neck-to-neck race.
Managed to get all 4 myself. Once they were gone the rest was a walk in the park once more.
I use Federal Corvette for hunting.
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me loves me some spec ops
I murder them in a Crusader.
They are a good challenge and a fun fight, although sometimes I have to run, but that's fine.
If I want easy I go to a REZ site and kill things as I chat with friends with the volume off
Indeed, noticed this earlier today when I went right for them... all 4 turned on me and my Krait Mk2... one FdL, 2 Vultures and an AspX if I remember correctly. I killed them all, but burned through most of my SCBs. Was a nice fight, never had as much fun fighting NPCs before... hope they don't nerf them.
Give it time...