I discovered the Mass Driver today

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Psirus
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I discovered the Mass Driver today

Post by Psirus » Sat, 14. Oct 06, 18:05

Wow.... I had no idea, took out 2 xenon caps without taking any damage in my argon nova........ why didn't i find this earlier in the game.....
(I decided to be adventurous and kill xenon with somethign besides my Python)

P.S. 20 G PPC goodie basket :P

-=Legendary=-
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Post by -=Legendary=- » Sat, 14. Oct 06, 18:12

I know what you mean.

In a buster aside from getting hit with a stray silkworm or better.

I was unstoppable. But I didn't like the ammo factor especially when I have 4 mass drivers and i just took out 12 pirates in pirate alley and 12 more pop out. And as I get within range I press the mouse button and what do you know...nothing.
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Psirus
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Post by Psirus » Sat, 14. Oct 06, 19:25

"click click click" oh @%!$

Steve J.
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Post by Steve J. » Sat, 14. Oct 06, 19:36

If those Xenon have Flaks, MDs are trouble. I think the Flak range (2KM?) is longer than the MD range (1KM?).

But I like MDs too. They're the only way I can hit M5s from my Dragon.

szuur
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Post by szuur » Sat, 14. Oct 06, 20:38

IIRC alfa flaks are 1,5 km and beta's are around 2,5km

but i know if ure dogfighting massdrivers are ruling, expecialy in a mamba raider.
to bad i discoverd what carnage a fully loaded python with afterburners can do.

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Cith
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Post by Cith » Sat, 14. Oct 06, 21:15

I have a small squad with 5 busters, all equipped with 6 mass drivers. 40 units of ammo is what I refill them with.

They can take out a bunch of enemies before starting to take damage themselves. 5 mins ago I took out 4 novas with HEPTS and an express, it all was over in a matter of seconds. Also Khaak they eat as cookies (munch munch O_O).

Havent tried using novas myself yet, but I can assume the extra turret can be handy for missile takeouts (I'd prolly stick a driver there aswell ;P). So basically, massdrivers ftw!
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Post by atomicpig » Mon, 16. Oct 06, 21:00

Try a nova armed with HEPT's for a real killin spree! Got two mass drivers on for when the energy runs out but for pure power the HEPT rules! Put four on the ship and it will take out buzzards in four or five shots! :twisted:

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mrbadger
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Post by mrbadger » Mon, 16. Oct 06, 23:49

My standard personal fighter loadout is all Mass Drivers with a couple of Ion disruptors for good measure.

when fighting the Xenon, the ion disruptors take away their sheilds, and the damage from the mass drivers (which bypass sheilds anyway) take the xenon immediatelly into 'I might bail' mode. I get loads of captures that way.

Those Mass drivers can shred a Xenon patrol with ease, especially when you're using 7....
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Hg|Merc
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Post by Hg|Merc » Tue, 17. Oct 06, 00:04

i have 9 mass drivers on my nova raider its great, but the ammo consumption can get excessive. i keep 6000 units in my elephant, im down to 3000.

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Post by Nyax » Tue, 17. Oct 06, 14:28

The Ammo factor (and thus running costs) is one reason why i didn't use MDs at all until i was rich enough to set up a self sufficient ammo complex. Now i have almost unlimited free ammo, i've started using them a bit more :)

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mrbadger
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Post by mrbadger » Tue, 17. Oct 06, 14:45

I avoided them completelly in X2, not really understanding how the ammo thing worked. I only tried them in X3 because I was having a huge amount of trouble surviving against the khaak in a later patch and decided to give them a spin.

I haven't looked back since, they really are very useful. Were they in XX-btf? I don't recall ever using them there.
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zooze
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Post by zooze » Tue, 17. Oct 06, 16:48

Okay I've equiped my personal Mamba and Nova in the past with mass drivers, however I haven't managed to cap anything when they are fitted, and yet when I use BPAC or AHEPT's its not a problem. Anyone else found this?

Zoozer

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Cith
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Post by Cith » Tue, 17. Oct 06, 17:20

You cant cap anything with massdrivers (unless you go through the hassle of taking the shields down first). Massdrivers are for pure destruction only.
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Post by foxy42 » Tue, 17. Oct 06, 18:21

zooze wrote:Okay I've equiped my personal Mamba and Nova in the past with mass drivers, however I haven't managed to cap anything when they are fitted, and yet when I use BPAC or AHEPT's its not a problem. Anyone else found this?

Zoozer
MDs are one of the best capping weapons, but only when combined with something else...this was one of the ways I kept my caps in such good condition in the early game. Basically, give a burst with the MDs, not too much, hull 85-90%, whack the shields down quickly with the ions, and bingo! free ship in great condition. For more effect and if doesn't work first time, allow enemy shields to come back up to half, then pummel again with the Ions, rinse and repeat, but don't waste time, if they don't bail after a couple of attempts, they prob ain't gonna...I'm guessing this might have been what mrbadger meant about putting them into 'I might bail' mode...

edit: truncated out the unnecessary waffle... :oops:

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zooze
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Post by zooze » Tue, 17. Oct 06, 18:51

Ahhhh thats where I've been going wrong. Assuming I didn't need to do anything to the shields.

I'll pop some IonD's in the mix also....thanks 8)

Zoozer

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mrbadger
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Post by mrbadger » Tue, 17. Oct 06, 22:56

zooze wrote:Ahhhh thats where I've been going wrong. Assuming I didn't need to do anything to the shields.

I'll pop some IonD's in the mix also....thanks 8)

Zoozer
That's my solution (that you must have missed)

7 Mass drivers
2 forward mounted Ion Disruptors.

Be aware that the IonD's will irritate a friendly race if you use them in a fight with friendy NPCs around. You don't need more then two IonD mounted, that's enough to keep the sheilds down on a single Xenon patrol.

I get a fair few caps that way, but the frequency of captures obviously varies.
If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared. ... Niccolò Machiavelli

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Post by Nanook » Wed, 18. Oct 06, 00:07

mrbadger wrote:...
I haven't looked back since, they really are very useful. Were they in XX-btf? I don't recall ever using them there.
Neither X-BTF nor X-Tension. Those games, ships didn't have hulls, only shields. When the shields went to zero, BOOM! :)
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Cardboard Tube
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Post by Cardboard Tube » Wed, 18. Oct 06, 00:13

That's actually more logical really. I mean, you can pour laser energy into the back of a capital ship, then go and shoot it once at the front and suddenly the hull is breached? Silly.

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