Ramming/Kamakazi tactics

[Baron Munchausen]

quote:

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Originally posted by Phoenix-D:
My idea was to make long-range "smart" missiles out of fighters; make a 1 KT size and a component that flies and rams. But it never did even a half of the rated damage- though I *was* only testing it against shields..

Phoenix-D

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This is using a fighter as a substitute drone. Drones use ramming as their main form of attack. They are essentially cruise missiles. Once you have drones I think you'll not bother with kamikaze ships or fighters.

But remember, the percentage of damage caused by ramming, to both the target and the rammer, is settable in SETTINGS.TXT like so many other things. I've set my ramming damages VERY high (300 percent for both) because realistically you should not expect to survive collison at the speeds represented in space combat. This makes ramming very effective, but also invariably fatal unless there is a HUGE size difference between the ships involved. It does make drones more powerful, though.

[ZeroAdunn]

Wow, I didn't know you could change the ramming values. Thanks for the info.

[Phoenix-D]

Well, the problem I had with ramming is the warheads never did anything, i.e. the ship without the warhead did as much damage ramming as the ship WITH the warhead.

Phoenix-D

[Q]

In my experience the cobalt warheads work. If you put several Typ III on a ship you can do quite a lot of damage! But I always lost the attacking ship even if its destruction potential (of the cobalt warheads) was greater than the target. And the cost of the cobalt warheads is too high. I reduced it to 100 minerals and 200-400 radioactives for level I-III.

[Taqwus]

Here's a quick Q: Do destroyed components on the ramming ship count for ramming damage?

[Q]

quote:

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Originally posted by Taqwus:
Here's a quick Q: Do destroyed components on the ramming ship count for ramming damage?

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According to my observation (Version 1.49): No.

[Taqwus]

Odd, that. Perhaps they should -- well, at a reduced rate (70%? 50%?); armor may be mangled, and weapons non-functional, but a fair bit of the mass might actually remain. Ramming as a Last "Oh heck, we're going to die anyway" move might be a bit more meaningful then. Close-in space combat might be made a bit nastier, then...