PBE / Pulsed Beam Emitters - Counter measures?

[XanII]

Start situation: Me flying in a Nova vs. 3 Xenon L.

In X3:R i wouldnt have blinked twice about engaging theese ships but now they are equiped with PBEs that never miss. Strafing might give me a second or two more time but if i cant kill them quickly it is hull damage and 'game over' time quickly.

So the question is: what do you use to counter ships with PBE:s? other than buying an M7 of course...

Im a little mixed if this is good or bad for the game, i guess it's good as now there is a little...note, only a little... but a little hint of a respect towards Xenon L and M with PBE now.

[Andaius]

Missiles

[Kor'ah]

It's pretty simple. Make them dead first.


Something more helpfull. Draw the Xenon over to something big like a shipyard (split super SYs are great for this). They'll be be too busy avoiding the station to shoot at your ship. Wait till one is by itself and zip out from under your cover to quickly gank it. Repeat as needed.

[Sandalpocalypse]

On the first pass: Distract them with missiles and fighter drones.

Ideally you should knock one L out right away, then get on the tail of the second one; that leaves only one shooting at you.

If dogfighting the Ls isn't working for you, do hit and runs; PBEs have a very short range. In the first firing pass, use all your laser energy and try to get a kill; regardless of what happens, don't turn. Just keep going. You'll be out of range soon enough, and they'll be chasing you from behind. Now you have plenty of leisure time to decide if things are working or not.

Finally, you could lure them near a large object that you can dodge around to buy time and to futz the piloting AI. Faster fighters will even fly into large objects.

(The flight AI is more collision prone than in X3:R, but it's much better at actually fighting near large objects, so be warned.)

[Thelic]

Same tactic as against PBGs - range. The PBE has a range around 1km, so keep them at arms length with EBCs, HEPTs, PACs, and missiles. RLSG and repeat.

[BillSheil]

I find it's still very much doable in a turning dogfight without missiles or drones, but in these situations (in TC) you do need to keep an eye on your shield/damage indicators and be ready to jink and fly evasively at any moment that one of the enemies gets a bead on you.

This is as opposed to Reunion where you could rely on your shields to protect you while you finished off an enemy. Just don't try that anymore, in TC battles are much more about flying defensively and wearing down your opponents in a number of short passes.

Make sure you have enough firepower so that in the shorter periods when you can target one of the enemies you can do the maximum damage. Also a reasonably fast ship is always necessary. And at the start of an engagment (usually when you meet them head on) always start jinking and evading before you get into PBE range otherwise they'll strip you and hang you out to dry in the first pass.

[Gazz]

Yeh, PBE are insanely easy to avoid with the "don't be there" tactic.

If you get close you play by their rules and why would you want to do that?

[pjknibbs]

There are only two defences against PBEs: distance (the things might as well be thrown personally by the pilot for all the range they have) and shields. Increase one or the other of these (e.g. use longer range guns or standoff weapons like missiles, or else get a new ship) and PBEs are not an issue any more. (Same applies to the PBGs often equipped by pirates, incidentally).

[tene]

Use PBG

[pjknibbs]

Use PBG

Which has even shorter range than PBE...doesn't seem like such a good idea to me.

[tene]

It isn't safe but pretty effective. Althrough maybe that's bad for nova which slow as turtle

[Ares23]

well the distance part might not work, because if I'm not mistaken the Nova is somewhat slower then the L. So if they are after you, you can't avoid getting in range.

I would go with a variation of what Sandalpocalypse suggested. On the first pass, you should try and score a kill. Then DO turn around and get on the tail of the remaining 2, since these are just L's you don't have to worry about back turrets. Score a second kill QUICKLY, you might need missiles for this since you're probably low on energy by now. Once he's dead, you should have no trouble getting on the remaining L's tail and taking him out as well.

But if it gets to more then 3 PBE equiped L's then this probably won't work. In that case I would suggest a faster ship which CAN keep the distance. Then you can do hit and run. Or get an M7

[XanII]

Basic Nova is slow, very slow. My Nova loadout packs 4xHEPT and 2xPBG that make short work on the first L. second L takes some seconds more which is way to long it seems. By the time i get to the third im down on my shields and any missile or bumping into the L or similar makes toast of me. if you have a bigger scuttle taking place with 1-3 Xenon M:s nearby with PBE:s then im as good as dead.

Too much risk then, seems like using other ships/stations as distractions is the best course now. dont use missiles as i only got those i pickup (wildfire/banshee) and they aint much to party with.

[Thelic]

Basic Nova is slow, very slow. My Nova loadout packs 4xHEPT and 2xPBG that make short work on the first L. second L takes some seconds more which is way to long it seems. By the time i get to the third im down on my shields and any missile or bumping into the L or similar makes toast of me. if you have a bigger scuttle taking place with 1-3 Xenon M:s nearby with PBE:s then im as good as dead.

Too much risk then, seems like using other ships/stations as distractions is the best course now. dont use missiles as i only got those i pickup (wildfire/banshee) and they aint much to party with.

Save your pennies and get a Nova Raider. The Raider can outrun both the L and the M.

[Kor'ah]

....and replace HEPT with Energy Bolt Chaingun. Slightly lower damage, but no engergy useage. A single 2.9Mcr factory will supply all your personal ammo needs.

[Nanook]

....dont use missiles as i only got those i pickup (wildfire/banshee) and they aint much to party with.

A couple of Wildfires will take out each M, and a couple of Banshees, at the most, will kill an L. Both are faster than their intended targets. And you get loads of them just by doing a few missions.

[H.F._Mudd]

The days of flying a slow ship armed with HEPTs are over!

You need a ship that can run at least 180ms. If you're like me and you hate using missiles and area weapons, you also need a fighter that can mount chain guns and/or PBEs as well. Fight fire with fire!

In my first start, I used a Chimera armed with 8xChain guns, and had no problems with xenon fighters. In my current game, I'm using the Mighty Penguin of Death, aka Advanced Perseus armed with 3xPBEs (wg1) & 5xChain guns (wg2) and there's very little I'm afraid to take on...

[pjknibbs]

A couple of Wildfires will take out each M, and a couple of Banshees, at the most, will kill an L. Both are faster than their intended targets. And you get loads of them just by doing a few missions.

Banshees are not always faster than Ls--I've come across several that will stay ahead of a Banshee for pretty much forever, and the range on a Banshee isn't that great.

[XanII]

Today there was more smackdown against xenon. 3 M, 3 L, 1 Q in Zhyrts dominion were taking in on with the Split so i decided to join the fun and aid the split.

Well i died twice on this particular fight, first one time and then i had to reload just to make sure that it wasnt just bad luck, nope got toasted again. So did the split on a sidenote.

With the Nova things seems to go like this: i pick a target, a M3 or M4 usually and then i attempt to kill M5 if needed when they get near into my crossfires as i turn (Plasma Burst is just a goodsend for near flying M5 imho, i dont even need to target much the M5).

Anyhow with the 4xHEPT + Plasma Burst i take out one L real quick and either kill another L or take it down so it dies on the next pass. But at this time the Xenon are already counter attacking. M and L fire PBE at me or HEPT, mostly PBE as they rip the basic Nova shields down quite quickly. (The Q in this particular equatiom isnt helping much either). Missiles are also bad, even with basic wasp/wildfires they keep my rear turret totaly distracted and shields constantly down.

But as i see it now speed seems to be the key: if i fly a enhanced pericles it is like flying the Mamba Raider in X3:R. i simply dart around and hit enemies hard, now i strafe and barrell roll all i can but it matters not i still get pwned.

Chain gun is something i havent tried yet. got one onboard that i salvaged but dont have any ammo for it.

Banshee/Wildfire doesnt seem to hit anything. i even got better luck with dumbfires.

I am treating the Banshee missile like its a closer-range version of the terrific M3 killer Thunderbolt missile from X3:R. But this far i havent succeded in hittinh anything with it.

Seems like i really need to get better hardware. Nova may be heavily armed and reasonably shielded with big cargobay for a M3 but it sure lacks evasion capability.

[Sandalpocalypse]

SEriously, try fighter drones.