APBE's are they any good against M3 craft?

Ammok Rules · Post by **Ammok Rules** » Thu, 20. Jul 06, 14:20

I got a mammoth with eight apbe's on it.

before i stick in somewhere stupid, like a xenon sector, has anyone used apbe's enough to give me the heads up using them as an offensive weapon.

Alternately, are they good as defensive weapons?

Mostly interested in M3 confrontations, but if you have attacked a cap ship with them I'd be interested in how you made out.

Incubi · Post by **Incubi** » Thu, 20. Jul 06, 14:24

apbes are great shield busters...but what they are really good for is killing m5's off quickly. So no it is not a good choice to pop on a TL ship. But on any m4 or m3 that can mount it.. they are great... but with the poor hull damage .. compliment it with a heavy hull hitter ( other than mass drivers . mixing the mass driver with pbe's is just silly )
another note pbe's are great against m3's if your goal is to cap it.

Post by **Cycrow** » Thu, 20. Jul 06, 14:39

there great against kha'ak clusters, as they are fast it makes them easier to hit the fast m5's, and make light work of them.

they dont do all that well against hulls thou, so anything with bigger hulls like m3's they wont be as effective, will take down thier shields quickly but will take awhile to take down thier hulls.

i tend to use pbe's for shields then switch to hept's for the hulls

ZaphodBeeblebrox · Post by **ZaphodBeeblebrox** » Thu, 20. Jul 06, 15:04

I used APBE in a TL, found them to nearly useless due to the range. The NPC ships just fired HEPT etc, and then pulled away, without ever getting in firing range, for long enough to do any real damage.

Mounted on an M3 that can take them, and used in close range dogfighting they are great weapons.

Black Gryphon · Post by **Black Gryphon** » Thu, 20. Jul 06, 16:03

Also remember when OOS you want the heavyest weapons mounted you can afford...

Tenlar Scarflame · Post by **Tenlar Scarflame** » Thu, 20. Jul 06, 18:58

stuck on a capital ship they're kinda useless. I have a few captured Raijins that I've armed with a bunch of APBE's (and a couple with BPBE's) and they clean up pretty well. Correction, they're the most effective fighters in my fleet.

Buy up some fighters that can mount APBE's and arm them with these narsty little weapons and watch how fast you can chew up enemy ships. (though you may have to swoop in and finish the kill yourself with HEPT's or whatnot, APBE's are pretty ineffective against heavier hulls).

EDIT

For your TL, I'd arm either PAC's or HEPT's. I'd recommend PAC's as they'll actually hit something. Some TL's can mount PPC's, but I'd only use those if you're sitting in your TL yourself and you feel like long-range bombarding something, otherwise they won't hit the broadside of an Albatross.

Ammok Rules · Post by **Ammok Rules** » Thu, 20. Jul 06, 19:39

Thanks for the excellent feedback. I'll need to change the load out.

I was gonna trawl pirate ally with the elephant and me in my nova raider. idea being that I park the moth in the middle, i lure the poor pirates into a fray and then let the mammoth chew them. Plus it would be a good place to hide in if i got too badly damaged.

And although the shield reducing aspect described for the apbes could be a good thing in this venture, my experience is that when eight or twelve pirates get involved in the party then I don't get too picky, and the faster their blown away the better it is for me. I vapourise easily in those circumstances.

I'll switch to bpacs and missiles on 100% prob. Thank you all for the very quick responses to this, I've not kicked in for the night yet, so i'll put that straight soon as.

cheers peeps.

Incubi · Post by **Incubi** » Fri, 21. Jul 06, 00:02

forgot to mention the pbe's are great for wing men. it is probably the second most accurate weapon in the game ( with the khaak beams ranking number 1 )... and X knows we need wingmen that can hit something lol.
If you get a chance.. try to cap a Xenon L. with its turn rate and pbe mounts... it is the perfect and best m3 against clusters ( without missle use ) Not the only m3 that can mount it and al other stats are sub par.... but for dodgy fights like clusters.. the L plus pbe = great. Its a specialist ship though so don't make it your main stay.

Noobtastic · Post by **Noobtastic** » Fri, 21. Jul 06, 01:05

Tenlar Scarflame wrote:stuck on a capital ship they're kinda useless. I have a few captured Raijins that I've armed with a bunch of APBE's (and a couple with BPBE's) and they clean up pretty well. Correction, they're the most effective fighters in my fleet.

Where, exactly, did you find BPBE's? I have never found a place they has any. Nor have I found a factory that makes them.

Incubi · Post by **Incubi** » Fri, 21. Jul 06, 04:31

noobtastic wrote:
Tenlar Scarflame wrote:stuck on a capital ship they're kinda useless. I have a few captured Raijins that I've armed with a bunch of APBE's (and a couple with BPBE's) and they clean up pretty well. Correction, they're the most effective fighters in my fleet.
Where, exactly, did you find BPBE's? I have never found a place they has any. Nor have I found a factory that makes them.

one of the races eq docks has it.. split I think. don't remember at the momment.

mdimasso · Post by **mdimasso** » Fri, 21. Jul 06, 06:12

Check out the Boron sectors... I started a new game today and I think I saw one in Menelaus Frontier or Rolk's Fate (or Drift)

Orion1632 · Post by **Orion1632** » Fri, 21. Jul 06, 06:58

I found my BPBE's in Depths of Silence.

But their range suck, on a ship like the Elephant, the ship is longer then the range of the guns!

I have now discovered FAA's , wow talking about killing fighters quick!

Incubi · Post by **Incubi** » Fri, 21. Jul 06, 10:35

Orion1632 wrote:I found my BPBE's in Depths of Silence.

But their range suck, on a ship like the Elephant, the ship is longer then the range of the guns!

I have now discovered FAA's , wow talking about killing fighters quick!

and your own lol.. be carefull of that

I only put those on ships with no fighters in the fighter bay

( or the lack of )

Noobtastic · Post by **Noobtastic** » Fri, 21. Jul 06, 22:59

Thanks for the replies; I didn't have all the sectors in my Navigation maps but most of them. I then went exploring with my carrier and have found a complex that sells them. Oddly enough, I never bothered to map out Family Pride...
I thought their range would suck, but I believe their range will be sufficient for capping with them on my Thor.
Flak’s are good, but GOD keeps destroying the factories, so I must always run around to find more whenever I need them

.

Incubi · Post by **Incubi** » Sat, 22. Jul 06, 08:25

Buy a ts ship that does nothing but feed new factories and collect weapons and shields that you know you will eventualy need. Be sure to set this ship to "notify me when task is done". Untill you can make all the arms you need.... this has really worked out for me. Still pay attention to cost however.. never pay more than the price in a eq dock.... just in case you end up needing to sell some of the stuff off

egosoft.com

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APBE's are they any good against M3 craft?

APBE's are they any good against M3 craft?