Warning: AI does not break in head-on passes, even when it is suicidal not to break.

[Roadblock]

Exactly. 1v1 combat with larger ships seems to all play out the same: Flip, Joust, Dodge; Flip, Joust, Dodge, until one of you is dead either by gunfire or collision and no, its not really fun. Maneuvering is fun. Shooting is fun. Flipping just in time to catch a boosting Dropship's nose in my canopy (over and over) is not fun.

edit: Why bother giving NPC's weapons. Just stack them up with HRP's and military armor, and turn CZ's into demolition derbys. That might be fun.

Yep. This. ^^

Dropships and Pythons are the worst offenders I've seen since 2.1 hit, even after yesterday's patch. I'm pretty adept at lateral thrust and FA OFF, but my A-rated anaconda can't always avoid them.

 

[Nerwan]

Yep. This. ^^

Dropships and Pythons are the worst offenders I've seen since 2.1 hit, even after yesterday's patch. I'm pretty adept at lateral thrust and FA OFF, but my A-rated anaconda can't always avoid them.

Why would you want to? Ramming is a really good way of killing NPCs with good shields and in an A-rated Anaconda it's quicker and easier to kill them via ramming if you can.

If fighting a Python.

1. 4 pips to weap and take the shields down as quick as possible as you go in for the ram.
2. Boost
3. 4 pips to shields and hit them straight in the face as they're on 1 bar of shields remaining and before they can reach for the SCB
4. Their shields are gone and their hull is probably damaged
5. Target power plant
6. Elite Python gone in seconds and your shields hardly dented. You've lost less shields than if you let them return fire.

It's just the same tactics that players use, why shouldn't NPCs try it too? Ramming is part of the game I don't understand why people regard it as in any way broken...

 

[Karla]

I wouldn't agree with the lateral thrusters. FDL's vertical thrusters are a bit weak but the lateral ones are amazing if you have 4 pips to engines. Having upgraded to A rated thrusters also help a lot.

You may be right. I was doing a mix of lateral and vertical thrust and desperately trying to get 4 pips to SYS for the oncoming collision!

 

[Jex =TE=]

Or it could be a valid combat tactic...

 

[Han Brannigan]

As long as NPCs don't try and run when they are on the wrong side of a fire fight suicide ramming is a valid tactic.

 

[Karla]

FA off can help too.. sometimes I find that I've mismanaged my pips a bit and don't have a boost left when I need one to evade. Ever since Alexander the Grape's excellent video concerning all the different properties of FA off I've found that FA off + lateral thrust is a good alternative method of evading because the lateral acceleration rate is higher than with FA on.

I use that when lining up to dock. I boost and yaw at the same time and hardly make any forward motion at all. I then accelerate forward to dampen the lateral motion once I have started to line up. It means I don't have to go out too far from the station if I have jumped in at the side. I'll try FA off for lateral thrusting tonight I think.

 

[Nerwan]

I use that when lining up to dock. I boost and yaw at the same time and hardly make any forward motion at all. I then accelerate forward to dampen the lateral motion when I have started to line up. It means I don't have to go out too far from the station if I have jumped in at the side. I'll try FA off for lateral thrusting tonight I think.

Haha, everyone has their own method of FA off docking I usually approach the mailslot from the side but with FA off and my ship facing the mail slot, when lined up I boost which cancels all my lateral momentum, then I hit the landing gear to stop the boost so that I enter the mail slot at a sensible speed.

 

[Starkiller_]

I tend to ram my opponents a lot as well, even if I might die, such is life. Do you ram and potentially gain the upper hand or be destroyed? Only one way to find out, now where did I put that Harry Hill meme.