[Wardad]

Originally posted by Phoenix-D:
Undertakr, the Talisman is effective but it isn't everything. Particularlly since you are giving your opponent 110kt over you, if he's smart. 50kt Talisman + 30 Stealth + 30 Scattering + 10 ECM -10 sensors.

See, he can't dodge you anyway.. so he doesn't NEED those extra things. Just sensors. You on the other hand do need them, to dodge his shots.

PDCs are hyper-accurate even without the talisman. so that part is irrelevent..

Or your opponent can just take a page from military history and hit you when HE is ready, not when you are. It's an advantage, not a holy grail (pun not intended)

Phoenix-D

That 110Kt difference is true for ships. But... Have you looked at what the Talisman can do for a stack of units?

100 SATS in a stack is a lot of Kt, for Large SATS thats 12,000 Kt of space, for Medium SATS thats 10,000 Kt of space, and I'll ignore the Small SATS as they can't use the large weapon mount.

With 12,000 Kt of space I can easily add a 50Kt Tailisman and bonus the whole stack. I can even add few more for backup. I have more than enough room for ECM and ECM armor. In fact the toughest SATS should be destroyed Last, so my Talisman SAT could have best shields and armor points.

Oh yea, that large SAT mount adds x4 range and x2 power. That extra range is cool for using cheap ripper beams, only X weapons, and the pyshic subVersion weapon.

BUT THATS NOT ALL!!!
Don't you hate missing with the Weapon Platform large mounts. These mounts have incredible range and can deal some real pain. Just one Talisman can help a whole stack of platforms. You can put it in a small platform and save the space on the big ones for big guns.

The funny numbers...
The best combat sensor can add only +60 to hit and there is no training or racial bonus effect on units. The larger weapon platform mounts do get a bonus to Hit, but not enough.
The ship the unit is targeting may have +130 ECM (+60 ECM, +30 ECM armor, +20 ship training, +20 fleet training)and +30 racial defense (+10 bezerker, +20 attack) + DISTANCE Modifier. A mid game ships total ECM + Distance could easily be figured at +90 to +200.
Since units are generally more fragile than ships the results are damning. The ships can also have +130 to hit bonuses, (+60 combat sensor, +40 training, and +30 racial)which is better than any units ECM.
A SAT unit stack can have +90 ECM. ECM is generally wasted on weapon platforms because of a planets high hit-me bonus. I don't remember exactly what the best fighter ECM + Size Bonus is, but it is not enough.

With a Talisman in the SAT or Weapon platform a ships ECM and distance is meaningless. These units can still be usefull in the later game.

[ September 05, 2002, 00:16: Message edited by: Wardad ]