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EverythingXen
Arch-villain
Joined: 01 Feb 2002
Posts: 4342
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| "And now you learn the meaning of -- hey! Get back here |
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So after playing pretty much constantly for weeks now I finally have bought my first M2. I chose Boron because 1) They were the first faction to be really nice to me because of something I did 2) The ship looks pretty cool and 3) It's a steal at 49 million (next runner up is 62 million).
It took every penny I had... busting myself down to 200k.
I figured... this is alright. It will be worth it. I have looted beta plasma cannons for every weapon point... I will fly into a system and they will know terror.
Guess again.
Khaak are unengageable by an M2. Consider yourself warned. You are so frigging huge that they activate their 'station attacking' script, it seems... which means instead of closing to less than 2 kilometers and duking it out they hover at more than 3 kilometers and pound the hell out of you.
They don't even have the decency to crash into you like they do to every other class of ship. Guess their legendary near-sightedness can't miss something the size of a small moon.
I've read people who look at the numbers and say knowledgeablly that beta heavy plasma are the ideal weapons for capital ship turrets. They are incorrect. The PPC are the ONLY weapons remotely suitable for capital ship useage... and the betas cost 1 million a shot and the gammas 2 million each.
They are the only ones suitable as they can fire at targets 3 to 5 kilometers away... as in keep range with the Khaak.
I traded and traded and traded and set up factory after factory and ran mission after mission for this M2... and it ends up sitting there for another day as I tried to make money to put a PPC on most ports.
I did so... now it has at least 1 PPC per facing with the primary arcs (front, left, right) having two or more... and NOW it is the engine of destruction I wanted it to be.
So be warned if you want to go the way of the M2 ... plan not only for the price of the ship and the price of the shields... add 16 to 24 million to the purchase price to make it useful.
Fortunately, you will never need a M2 or M1. It's purely an ego thing, as I can see myself easily having to switch back to the M6 for later missions. You see, M2 and M1 cannot dodge... and 650k shields only go so far when outnumbered by enemy M2s with the same or superior weapon systems and shielding.
I am still saving for my Titan, though.  My new goal is to have one of each capital ship class, TL and M2 at least... and control a sector with every factory type in the game in it, with dozens of Mantas on each set to 99 sectors. Preferably with two M3s guarding each.
It should cost billions... that's a long time off.
_________________
Estuans interius, Ira vehementi
"The old world dies and with it the old ways. We will rebuild it as it should be, MUST be... Immortal!"
=Member of the Nonflamers Guild=
=Worshipper of the Written Word= |
Tue Mar 09, 2004 4:02 pm |
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dteowner
Shoegazer
Joined: 21 Mar 2002
Posts: 7570
Location: Third Hero of Erathia |
What we have here is a man with a plan. I don't suppose you contract out your combat skills?
_________________
=Proud Member of the Non-Flamers Guild=
=Benevolent Dictator, X2/X3 and Morrowind/Oblivion Forums=
Sorry. No pearls of wisdom in this oyster.
RIP Red Wings How 'Bout Dem Cowboys! |
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Tue Mar 09, 2004 5:10 pm |
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EverythingXen
Arch-villain
Joined: 01 Feb 2002
Posts: 4342
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Combat mainly comes in two flavors in X2... insanely difficult and really easy. I've only had a middle ground when using a M3 with 75k shields to take out Khaak clusters. Not insanely hard, but certainly not easy.
Surviving in the Disco ... insanely difficult. Getting a M3 with 75k shields = rest of the game so far easy.
Getting an M6 with PSG to kill capital ships and space stations is icing on the cake (I tried doing it without using PSG. It took a half hour AND that was with an NPC Nemesis also pounding the pirate station.). The only death I've had in my M6 was when I was dogfighting THREE M2s and inexplicably my shield generator was destroyed (my shields were well above 75% at the time and nothing rammed me that I know of).
Strafe drive solves all combat frustration... except Khaak. 75k shields solves Khaak frustration (though a cluster will still kill you without some fancy flying).
_________________
Estuans interius, Ira vehementi
"The old world dies and with it the old ways. We will rebuild it as it should be, MUST be... Immortal!"
=Member of the Nonflamers Guild=
=Worshipper of the Written Word= |
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Tue Mar 09, 2004 5:27 pm |
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dteowner
Shoegazer
Joined: 21 Mar 2002
Posts: 7570
Location: Third Hero of Erathia |
All I know is that my Nova, saddled with a mere 15MW of shields, hasn't given me any love so far.
I'll happily micromanage the heck out of your trading empire if you'll kill a few stinkin pirates for me.
_________________
=Proud Member of the Non-Flamers Guild=
=Benevolent Dictator, X2/X3 and Morrowind/Oblivion Forums=
Sorry. No pearls of wisdom in this oyster.
RIP Red Wings How 'Bout Dem Cowboys! |
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Tue Mar 09, 2004 5:45 pm |
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EverythingXen
Arch-villain
Joined: 01 Feb 2002
Posts: 4342
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I bought a Nova M or L to start with more than 15k shields, I believe. I don't buy S for ships I intend to pilot myself (with the exception of M5s, of course, who don't carry enough shields to survive a hit even at full shielding). Oh wait... no I didn't. I started doing captures in a 240k Split TP with an ion cannon and an alpha impulse. I just transferred its 50k of shields over when I bought my Nova. Been a while.
Capturing Pirates (ya-har!) isn't that bad in a 15k. Just dodge the green balls of death (not hard from a distance of 500+ meters with a strafe drive.... or with your rudder optimization up a bit. Mine is 99.9% on the Nova. Turns on a dime and dodges through fields of fire like a champ. Always a few seconds of culture shock when I switch to it from one of my capital ships, that's for sure. ).
_________________
Estuans interius, Ira vehementi
"The old world dies and with it the old ways. We will rebuild it as it should be, MUST be... Immortal!"
=Member of the Nonflamers Guild=
=Worshipper of the Written Word= |
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Tue Mar 09, 2004 6:05 pm |
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dteowner
Shoegazer
Joined: 21 Mar 2002
Posts: 7570
Location: Third Hero of Erathia |
You must have done something before that. The Split start out hostile. That's why I was looking to make some kills in Split space- so they'd let me land and procure 25MW shields.
I think I could bitchslap an Orinoco if I could corner one FAR FAR away from any other ship. That wouldn't be too difficult to arrange in a pirate sector, but I need the kill to occur in Split (I suppose Paranid space would be OK since that's the story quest) space. I figure the first few kills will be the toughest. After that, I think it could become much more routine. Perhaps I should stock up on missles and simply obliterate a few pirates to take care of my political problems, rather than trying to make some salvage cash in the process.
_________________
=Proud Member of the Non-Flamers Guild=
=Benevolent Dictator, X2/X3 and Morrowind/Oblivion Forums=
Sorry. No pearls of wisdom in this oyster.
RIP Red Wings How 'Bout Dem Cowboys! |
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Tue Mar 09, 2004 6:17 pm |
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corwin
On the Razorblade of Life
Joined: 10 Jun 2002
Posts: 8376
Location: Australia |
Good tactic to have a few missiles and obliterate a couple of 'Pirate Ships' (Orinocos are too valuable) to get in good with the boys. Priest's Pity is the best for that in Paranid space, and Thuruk's Pride in Split space. Go for it!! 
_________________
If God said it, then that settles it!
I don't use Smileys, I use Emoticons!!
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Wed Mar 10, 2004 7:40 am |
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EverythingXen
Arch-villain
Joined: 01 Feb 2002
Posts: 4342
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Yeah, I shot up a few Mandolay in a Disco. Even for a Disco with Beta Impulse a Mandolay isn't a hard target... especially if you have the full 3k shields.
Or you could take a decently shielded TP or TL and ram a few pirates. Think of any hull damage you take as an investment. For that matter, your 15k shields should hold against ramming a Bayoman or Mandolay easy. Probably even an Orinocco, especially if it's shields were down from ion blasts. Beware of system component loss... IE save first.
_________________
Estuans interius, Ira vehementi
"The old world dies and with it the old ways. We will rebuild it as it should be, MUST be... Immortal!"
=Member of the Nonflamers Guild=
=Worshipper of the Written Word= |
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Wed Mar 10, 2004 2:12 pm |
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