HE Missile countermeasures.

[Don_Von_Hulio]

Right now the Missiles are treated as a "Win Button". You save them for when you need them.

They are expensive to fully restock, the price is fine where its at imo. But currently all there is to counter these is a flaky Point Defense turret that will by design (and for balancing) not shoot down every missile that comes your way.

We need some type of temporary disruptive device or chaff/flare utility. The Missile Lock Jammer could be a support module that when activated is good for 10-15 seconds until it goes into a 40-50 second cooldown. It does not jam missiles already in flight, just the lock.

Flare/Chaff/'EMP thingy' is a limited 'Utility' item that works instantly disrupting all HE missiles headed towards the user, and having a continued influence for 3-5 seconds within the immediate vicinity and if its in between LOS of him and his target.


To me, these things seem pretty rudimentary and im surprised there is nothing like this already ingame. Currently all you have to do is just... spam the button until the enemy is no longer with us with little thought. You dont have to hold a lock, or adjust for angle, or worry about missile turn radius etc.

The missiles dont need a nerf of any kind, just a reliable countermeasure if they are going to stay in their current form.

 

[Cosmos]

Actually there is a way to counter them already.

Point defence and heat sinks if the guy isn't right on top of you. Although we could do with some chaff too imo. I also think missiles should not be able to be launched at point blank range.

 

[Don_Von_Hulio]

Actually there is a way to counter them already.

Point defence and heat sinks if the guy isn't right on top of you. Although we could do with some chaff too imo. I also think missiles should not be able to be launched at point blank range.

Ive had Dual Points on a sidewinder once. It wasnt very reliable.

Ive never had the chance to try the heatsink though. Never seem to have them on whenever im being shot at by missiles. Always wondered if it worked though, good to know it does.

 

[Aleksej]

Select highest threat binding always selects missiles first, so if you are facing your enemy you can easily select missiles headed your way. I am using missiles for defence purposes. What else can I do when I am being attacked by overwhelming opposition taking into account that shields are bugged right now?

 

[Stodgy]

Does closing your radiators and dropping a heat sink work against missiles? Or do they continue to track you after you have gone cold. It should in theory have the same effect as the Missile Lock Jammer that you want.

 

[Don_Von_Hulio]

Select highest threat binding always selects missiles first, so if you are facing your enemy you can easily select missiles headed your way. I am using missiles for defence purposes. What else can I do when I am being attacked by overwhelming opposition taking into account that shields are bugged right now?

I wish i had that type of hand-eye coordination and precision to take out a volley of 6 missiles fired two at a time from a range of under 700m with multi cannons.... but sadly, i dont. And if i could i probably would be really awesome at other stuff too.

I dont know what you consider overwhelming opposition... or what situations you put yourself into. Im just pointing out the fact that missiles can be heavily relied upon more so than any other system. Its only downfall is the fact its costs like 12k per to restock.

 

[Aleksej]

I wish i had that type of hand-eye coordination and precision to take out a volley of 6 missiles fired two at a time from a range of under 700m with multi cannons.... but sadly, i dont. And if i could i probably would be really awesome at other stuff too.

I dont know what you consider overwhelming opposition... or what situations you put yourself into. Im just pointing out the fact that missiles can be heavily relied upon more so than any other system. Its only downfall is the fact its costs like 12k per to restock.

E.g. when 2 Cobras or a Cobra and an Eagle or a Cobra and several Sidewinders attack me or 3-4 Sidwinders.

 

[Don_Von_Hulio]

E.g. when 2 Cobras or a Cobra and an Eagle or a Cobra and several Sidewinders attack me.

Ok. So like 8 (edit: )"real" people?

 

[Aleksej]

Ok. So like 8 (edit: )"real" people?

No, there are "or" between each situation. Simply more than 2 PC. 2 PC using the same ship as you is already a little bit overwhelming.

 

[Don_Von_Hulio]

No, there are "or" between each situation. Simply more than 2 PC. 2 PC using the same ship as you is already a little bit overwhelming.

Oh, i was gonna say... 8 people, is alot of people. XD

Well. Ya, i would think it generally is for everyone. In my case, majority of those occurrences are avoidable, im not one to tip toe around.

At ranges under 1500m they are unavoidable unless you are heading away from them and are boosting. You can go cold to avoid a lock but you give up shields and accrue heat very quickly, you are better off guessing how many missiles were fired and hope you sponge it at that point. And apparently a heatsink will work, but its effectiveness is to be determined.

It allows you to dispatch real players as if they were NPCs.

 

[Aleksej]

Oh, i was gonna say... 8 people, is alot of people. XD

Well. Ya, i would think it generally is for everyone. In my case, majority of those occurrences are avoidable, im not one to tip toe around.

At ranges under 1500m they are unavoidable unless you are heading away from them and are boosting. You can go cold to avoid a lock but you give up shields and accrue heat very quickly, you are better off guessing how many missiles were fired and hope you sponge it at that point. And apparently a heatsink will work, but its effectiveness is to be determined.

It allows you to dispatch real players as if they were NPCs.

Of course it is possible to avoid such encounters but then where is fun in playing the game? Sure it is easy to choose Eranin and destroy federal fighters as everyone else does but it is not fun. I destroy them by two shots. However, if you choose Federation quite often all PCs in the area rush to attack you - this is interesting and challenging. This allows improving your skills.

If you keep everything simple then you won't learn. Challenge gives you experience.

 

[Don_Von_Hulio]

Of course it is possible to avoid such encounters but then where is fun in playing the game? Sure it is easy to choose Eranin and destroy federal fighters as everyone else does but it is not fun. I destroy them by two shots. However, if you choose Federation quite often all PCs in the area rush to attack you - this is interesting and challenging. This allows improving your skills.

If you keep everything simple then you won't learn. Challenge gives you experience.

I could say the same to you. Why should guaranteeing a win against 2+ real players be as simple as equipping HE's.

 

[Aleksej]

I could say the same to you. Why should guaranteeing a win against 2+ real players be as simple as equipping HE's.

Why can't you use what you can afford? IMO it is stupid not to use weapons that will lead to your advantage over opponents. Guided missiles are very expensive so it would me illogical if they would not offer significant combat advantage.

 

[Lobstris]

We just need more countermeasures in the game. Period. Where are the ECM system/Flares/Chaff etc.:S

 

[Aleksej]

We need a lot of more equipment before countermeasures are added. E.g. active scanners, jammers, ship module scanners, engine/shield/power plant upgrades, more weapons, more ships, missions etc.

 

[Cosmos]

Thing is I have noticed since Alpha people use HE missiles as their I win button launching them all at very close range and there is little anyone can do to respond and when in a small ship its game over. Its doesn't promote good gameplay at present.

I'd like to see a min range to fire.. say 500m, perhaps a little more. This would serve a number of purposes 1) No instant I win button 2) A player has time to respond - launching counter measures or try to avoid. 3)Using missiles would then require a bit of skill, timing and cunning. 4) A player would have to manage their range to launch them.

So if this was the case, imagine if two opponents were at 1000m from each other. player A launches all their missiles, Player B launched counter measure and nullifies the attack.

I think this would promote a bit more clever use of missiles so instead of launching them all at once because they can easily be countered a player must use them carefully in a fight, perhaps launching a few to elicit counter-measures and exhaust the other players heat sinks etc... Fights would last longer and be fairer and I think it would add an interesting dynamic to the combat system.

 

[Aleksej]

Thing is I have noticed since Alpha people use HE missiles as their I win button launching them all at very close range and there is little anyone can do to respond and when in a small ship its game over. Its doesn't promote good gameplay at present.

I'd like to see a min range to fire.. say 500m, perhaps a little more. This would serve a number of purposes 1) No instant I win button 2) A player has time to respond - launching counter measures or try to avoid. 3)Using missiles would then require a bit of skill, timing and cunning. 4) A player would have to manage their range to launch them.

So if this was the case, imagine if two opponents were at 1000m from each other. player A launches all their missiles, Player B launched counter measure and nullifies the attack.

I think this would promote a bit more clever use of missiles so instead of launching them all at once because they can easily be countered a player must use them carefully in a fight, perhaps launching a few to elicit counter-measures and exhaust the other players heat sinks etc... Fights would last longer and be fairer and I think it would add an interesting dynamic to the combat system.

And yet again, it happens quite often that when you arrive to any area, choose one side of the conflict, however all other players have chosen the other side. All of them will rush to attack you. Is it a fair combat you talk of? Do you really think it will last longer when you get attacked by 5 PC at once?

 

[Cosmos]

And yet again, it happens quite often that when you arrive to any area, choose one side of the conflict, however all other players have chosen the other side. All of them will rush to attack you. Is it a fair combat you talk of? Do you really think it will last longer when you get attacked by 5 PC at once?

5 v 1 is never going to be fair. Run!

 

[space_invader]

Of course it is possible to avoid such encounters but then where is fun in playing the game? Sure it is easy to choose Eranin and destroy federal fighters as everyone else does but it is not fun. I destroy them by two shots. However, if you choose Federation quite often all PCs in the area rush to attack you - this is interesting and challenging. -snip-

Ahhh, greetings fellow Federal pilot. Nice to see there is more than 1 of us.

 

[Aleksej]

5 v 1 is never going to be fair. Run!

Sure, even 3v1 is not fair, however with missiles it is tough but possible to win combat.