[X3R] Ship recommendation: Eclipse or Centaur?

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liveware
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[X3R] Ship recommendation: Eclipse or Centaur?

Post by liveware » Sat, 25. Apr 20, 01:43

Greetings all,

I have reached a point in my X3 Reunion adventure where I feel that it is necessary to upgrade my aging Argon Buster. While this M4 has served me well this far, my trade empire is growing exponentially and I have made a few enemies along the way, including the pirates and the local Paranid empire.

I have about 30 trade ships (some LTs and some directly supporting stations, about a 50/50 mix) and I am currently sitting on about $15M. I have been studying the Eclipse (M3+) and the Centaur (M6) as possible replacements for my current player ship, the Buster (M4).

I have tested the Nova (M3) previously and found it too slow and too lightly shielded for it's speed. The Eclipse is even slower it seems but better armed (2 turrets vs 1 on the Nova) and better shielded. The Centaur however seems to completely outclass the Eclipse in every way. I have also read rumors of a Heavy Centaur that is even better than the original, bit I am not sure if it is available in X3R.

Does anyone have any recommendations on what ship I should choose next? I'm leaning heavily in the direction of the Centaur (with a few buster interceptor escorts) unless someone can provide me a compelling reason for another ship.

I should also add the following: a Kha'ak carrier has been terrorizing Ore Belt since game start and I would like to remove it if practical with this ship upgrade. So any recommendations in support of that endeavor would be particularly interesting.

liveware
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Re: [X3R] Ship recommendation: Eclipse or Centaur?

Post by liveware » Sat, 25. Apr 20, 02:16

After an exhaustive search of Akeela's Beacon, I have been unable to locate Legend's Home. I conclude that the heavy Centaur does not exist in X3R. The original Centaur it is then!

liveware
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Re: [X3R] Ship recommendation: Eclipse or Centaur?

Post by liveware » Sat, 25. Apr 20, 07:20

A word of caution: even a fully shielded and armed Centaur is no match for a Kha'ak carrier... at least not with my skill. Note I have not attempted any missile tactics, lasers only this far.

jlehtone
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Re: [X3R] Ship recommendation: Eclipse or Centaur?

Post by jlehtone » Sat, 25. Apr 20, 17:28

Disclaimer: I did play X3R 2006--2011, so I might have forgotten details.

X3R does not have Heavy Centaur. X3TC/AP do. Some mods for X3R might.

There is an unnamed sector in X3R that is owned by a private corporation that has financial issues and is therefore forced to auction the rights to the sector. News show up in BBS around game day 5 and action completes about day 10 with final price about 900mil.

Player can participate in the auction. If you do and win, then you own a sector. You can select its name from a short list of names. One of those is Legend's Home. That sector is not South from Akeela, like the Argon/OTAS sector Legend's Home in X3TC/AP.


When X3R was released, the X2 pilots were disappointed on the M6 class. Slow and (un)agile as bricks. The Bala Gi missions did introduce unique M7 class vessel that was demoted for X3TC/AP to M6+ class. Apart from speed revamp X2->X3R, there were weapon redesign. The guns of X2 M5 could not drop the shields of M6 ship. X3 M5 can (with diligence). A Kha'ak cluster has no trouble in decimating M6.

Having said that, my favourite X3 ship is M6 Dragon. I have sniped Xenon K and J with that M6.


BBS missions tend to require a ship of specific class or features. I had a in X3R:
* M1 Raptor, the Assassin bar none. Carries fighters
* M2 Python, when the Raptor has to rest
* M3+ Chimera, for M3 tasks (speed and cargo)
* M4 Mako, for M4 tasks (speed and cargo)
* M5 Raijin, for M5 tasks (speed and can jump)
* TS Caiman Hauler, loot collector and refuel
* TP Toucan Hauler, a Tour Bus
* M6 Dragon, purely for sentimental reasons

I had Raptor before M3+ ships were added to the game. Combat in M3+ was thus not important.


Kha'ak Carrier is a different story. Those beams hit and hurt. Yes, you can use missiles from safe distance. With guns the trick is to have the bigger stick; longer range than the beams have. PPC does. The other part is to be faster, so that the Carrier can't close in. (If you go close, then you need shields that last long enough.)

PPC, speed, and not to expensive? Split Elephant, a TL. She can slice a pineapple hands down, without a scratch. :split:
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Nanook
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Re: [X3R] Ship recommendation: Eclipse or Centaur?

Post by Nanook » Sun, 26. Apr 20, 20:55

jlehtone wrote:
Sat, 25. Apr 20, 17:28
...
PPC, speed, and not to expensive? Split Elephant, a TL. She can slice a pineapple hands down, without a scratch. :split:
But only with the right tactics. :wink:
Have a great idea for the current or a future game? You can post it in the [L3+] Ideas forum.

X4 is a journey, not a destination. Have fun on your travels.

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Re: [X3R] Ship recommendation: Eclipse or Centaur?

Post by jlehtone » Sun, 26. Apr 20, 23:23

The Split standard tactic: Run away "to get a bigger gun". ;)
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liveware
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Re: [X3R] Ship recommendation: Eclipse or Centaur?

Post by liveware » Sun, 26. Apr 20, 23:24

Interesting about the auction system, I've definitely seen that come up on the BBS but my plebian ass can't afford such riches... yet.

I might try another weapon load out with the centaur against the Kha'ak carrier. It's really messing with my planned industrial development of Ore Belt. First attempt was with 8x HEPTs on the main mount and PACs in each turret. After messing around with the ship some more on some pirate extermination campaigns, I've switched to using 6x Ion Disruptors and 2x HEPTs on the main mount and HEPTs in each turret. The IDs are excellent for forcing bails and the HEPTs work pretty well for clearing out any fools who chose to not to bail 😈

However, that stupid carrier is still kicking my ass. Even with the ID loadout and spamming as many missiles as I can afford (currently only wasps and tempests seem capable of landing a hit) I can only nock out about half of the carrier's shields. I'm considering testing out a mass driver setup next, or possibly trying to aquire some of those shockwave cannons that I occasionally find on pirate falcons and novas. They seem to work pretty well against my centaur so perhaps they will work well against another large target? Or I might just save up for a few more centaurs... 4 of them would probably work well as carrier escorts or OOS patrollers later on down the road.

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Re: [X3R] Ship recommendation: Eclipse or Centaur?

Post by Fulgrymm » Mon, 27. Apr 20, 10:47

Invest in a capital ship to deal with the carrier. Or do the Bala Gi missions and get yourself a sweet prototype M7. You'll need a tractor beam at some point, so try to source one for your M6.

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Re: [X3R] Ship recommendation: Eclipse or Centaur?

Post by jlehtone » Mon, 27. Apr 20, 16:50

liveware wrote:
Sun, 26. Apr 20, 23:24
spamming as many missiles as I can afford (currently only wasps and tempests seem capable of landing a hit)
Big ships have six turrets. They can't mount all guns on all turrets.
All turrets can't shoot to every direction. All NPC turrets might not do "shoot incoming missiles".

The thing is that a missile is not "incoming", if it is not locked on you.
In other words, if you don't shoot missiles at the Kha'ak, then the Kha'ak does not see them and shoot them.

Should it happen, that a missile "accidentally collides" with Carrier, while enroute to its "real target", the Kha'ak won't know what hit them. :roll:
Likewise, gunshots/beams can hit missiles or friendlies even if you were aiming something else.

A missile that loses its target keeps flying straigth until it runs out of fuel. Exception: Tempests lock into nearby enemy.

Firestorm Torpedos have quite a punch.
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