Your favirote ship and why?

[Coasty]

I think my strategy is some what the opposite of you guys.

In the late stages of campaign 1 and very early stages of campaign I find the Terran battleship, with its four forward firing light guns to be the best. Awesome firepower for that stage of the gun. With it I use 80kt phased shields front/rear and 40kt on each side. Same for the armor. Then cram the hull with basic electronics (like you guys listed) and go to war. Mine is set up this way cuz I like to get in and slug it out.

Once things start getting tough in campaign 2, usually after the 2nd mission, I switch over to the Abbidon Carrier MKIII as soon as I have the coins to buy it. Then I set it up essentially like I do the Terran BB, except using 160kt shields/armor front/rear and 80kt on the sides.

I stick with the Anti-Proton beam gun in the forward firing slots for both ships because of its range. You need its range because most ships are faster then the carrier or BB. For the side guns I use the heaviest fire power guns, usually the ones that are 5000ms regen, that have a range of 80-100 (nothing short of that range for the side guns). As the game goes on I keep upgunning the side slots, especially when I finally run into the Sithrak and their great guns. I should note that I never use guns that have a power consumption higher then 10.

When fighting I swing the ship side to side, first the forward guns, then a side gun, back to the forward guns, then the other side guns. Doing this I keep the enemy under continuous fire, with no time-outs waiting for a gun to recharge.

I consider the Abbidon Carrier MKIII to be the best ship you can buy. It's 1600kt storage is essential for building a great slugger. With shields and armor up in the 4000/2000 range you can basically go in and slug it out with anything, including star bases. The thing here is that I use it basically as a battleship, no fighters at all. The only ship with more forward firing guns is the Terran BB which you should never end up fighting. Set up this way the Abbidon Carrier MKIII out-matches any, and I do mean ANY, ship or starbase you will be fighting.

The secret is to put your character points into armor/shield repair. In campaign 1 I built my offense/defense up to 10 points each then put everything into armor/shield repair. By the time I got deep into campaign 2 quite often I was repairing my shields/armor almost as fast as the enemy could damage them. As a matter of fact, with the Abbidon carrier set up that way, campaign 3 really became way too easy, a turkey shoot.

Heh... Just finished my first game, and gonna try it this time on "expert" using this same strategy and see what happens.

[Suicide Junkie]

The secret is to put your character points into armor/shield repair. In campaign 1 I built my offense/defense up to 10 points each then put everything into armor/shield repair. By the time I got deep into campaign 2 quite often I was repairing my shields/armor almost as fast as the enemy could damage them. As a matter of fact, with the Abbidon carrier set up that way, campaign 3 really became way too easy, a turkey shoot.

Do try my P&N physics mod. It deals a number of changes to shields and armor. Should make things a bit more difficult.
Not to mention all the nifty changes to lifesupport/crewquarters & weapons.

[LesserHellspawn]

Maybe I should add that I've slightly modded the ships. I found it ridiculous that all ships of the same class have identical speed and maneuverability, yet having vastly different size and weight.

The slowest destroyer will still outrun the fastest cruiser, the slowest cruiser will outrun the fastest battle ship, but in the classes there is a range. I used the MK II Versions as an average and made MK I slower and MK III faster. I applied my MK II stats to all AI ships as well. Last not least, I slowed the carriers down.

So in my game, the Xiati battleship III has a top speed of 640 and a base turn rate of 11 (being the lightest), while the Abbidon battleship III runs 600 with turn rate 9. Terran one is in the middle with 620/10. MK III Carriers start at speed 540, turn rate 8, acceleration 4.

With that mod, you cannot use a carrier as a battleship. Real battleships will outgun and outrun you. Massive fighter use is necessary, as it should be, IMHO.

[ November 14, 2003, 09:12: Message edited by: LesserHellspawn ]

[it depends]

Xiati BB III.

The 180 degree firing arc is cheating in my opinion, seeing as how no other ship I flew had it. With the 90 degree and a little skill in wiggling, my broadsides are forward firing, not requiring me to come about, and from the same position, I can simply lock onto a ship behind me, and just hit the weapon bank occasionally until it's in range, destroying it without ever seeing after establishing lock. My PD makes short work of the incoming fighters, and since i like them thar Bio-weapons, no major ship can Last long enough to chew through my 4 digit shielding, unless he has at least 3 big friends. I didn;t have much luck with the null-space dmg vs. weight though. Felt like thiers hit harder than mine did,

[ November 19, 2003, 19:26: Message edited by: it depends ]

[dominictus]

Hmmm...

I am using the Terran Mk III battleship and am not having any problems.

Have 4 high energy magnifiers on the front + 2 plasma missiles.
40 absorption armor and 20 crystalline front, then 40 shields and 20 armor on sides and back.
Shields
4160
920 920
920

Armor
1320
840 840
880

Nueral Net
Scanner Jammer
Multiplex track
Master Computer
System Scanners
ECM
Shield Regen x2
Combat Sensors
Repair Bay
Long Range Scanners
Afterburners
Manuevering Thrusters.


It's all about staying head on, guns blazing. I'm nearly done with the 3rd campaign.

Not sure if any of do this, but I realized it half way through the second campaign. You DON'T need all your engines. Heh. I only use 6 engines and I still go 600. Once you get engines with 900 propulsion, ditch 3 of them for extra space.

Dominictus