What exactly "is" an M8 "Bomber"

[Dodgey]

I've ended up with a gifted one and have no idea why it's referred to here as a bomber - since I was nto aware you could buy bombs...

[Paladin-Solo]

They fire specific missiles that no other ships can use, they're also completely useless.

[klingens]

They are not useless at all. They're basically "artillery": they do a LOT of damage from far away and require that you keep them far away from the action or they're dead. They're useless against fighters but great against capital ships. Just like classic real life artillery.

The terran bomber you got is problematic in sofar as it needs terran missiles. So I suggest you sell it. The commonwealth bombers are much easier to outfit with missiles and are to be preferred. If you want to use bomber(s) you want your own tomahawk missile complex to feed them ammunition anyways.

[kurush]

The terran bomber you got is problematic in sofar as it needs terran missiles. So I suggest you sell it. The commonwealth bombers are much easier to outfit with missiles and are to be preferred. If you w

That is if you have not got to the point where you can get a fab producing those missiles. They do like 2.5 times more damage per 1 unit of cargo space than commonwealth ones...

[G Morgan]

If you get one it is about 4m credits you can put towards buying an M6 which will be infinitely more useful.

Perhaps keep one if you want to say you have a personal ship of every class but I don't see a purpose to them. I'm quite happy using my Vidar and its Wraith missiles for anti-capital attacks.

[PegasusJF]

Those things tear up, not cheap to outfit and use and they are vulnerable, but they are far more effective against cap ships than M6s

[empiro]

Those things tear up, not cheap to outfit and use and they are vulnerable, but they are far more effective against cap ships than M6s

Exactly: it would be very difficult if not impossible for an m6 to take on 4 Xenon Qs and a J at once. And even if you were hotshot enough to do that, you still can't kill all of them within a minute. Both the M7M and M8s are obscene in this game. The main difference is that the M7M is more durable, and more flexible because it can shoot flails and boarding pods, but the M8 is cheaper and easier to keep stocked with missiles. Each Tomahawk fab produces 9 missiles per hour as opposed the Hammer's 4. They also do more than twice the damage of a Hammer.

I use the Hades either to wreck havok in a Xenon sector, or I use them as fire support -- I have it follow my Tiger, and shoot 1 barrage at a K to soft it up for my guns.

[Dodgey]

Thanks all - I'll keep her - money is no problem - just for the sake of experimenting later in game. (damn my fleet is growing!) - next to consider - my Vidar... what to do with it!

[Kapakio]

.. it would be very difficult if not impossible for an m6 to take on 4 Xenon Qs and a J at once. And even if you were hotshot enough to do that, you still can't kill all of them within a minute...

Have you tried wraith missiles? With my Hyperion loaded with wraiths I can kill 3 or 4 capital ships in less than 2 minutes.

[XanII]

Sell the terran M8. It is hopeless to keep armed with missiles. i kept mine docked at the only fab in terran space for ages and bought up everything i could find. That ships is useless unless you can build fabs on your own and that takes a loooong time. You can build a fab afaik but it's after a certain plot thingy. and by that time you already past the Terran M8 stage and moved on to other much more interesting toys.

But do get a commonwealth M8. No need to have more than 1 of those but it's good to have as artillery is just great when things get nasty. Get any one them with big enough cargo. dont arm it with anything else other than it's payload missiles + jumpdrive + energy cells so it can jump in, fire, jump the h*ll out before it gets whacked.

[Gavrushka]

They fire specific missiles that no other ships can use, they're also completely useless.

Credit for credit I personally don't think there is a more powerful ship - Fully loaded a single M8 can take down an entire enemy sector capital ships et all.

They are not a lot of fun to fly as all you do is fire volleys at range and enemys are dealt distant death.

The Vidar is a spectacular ship Dodgy, in my newly started game it is the most powerful ship I have available and can be used against capital ships even without missiles.

[Kapakio]

Credit for credit I personally don't think there is a more powerful ship - Fully loaded a single M8 can take down an entire enemy sector capital ships et all.

The M8 may have the highest damage per credit ratio, but it's not amongst the most powerful ships in the game. Three things are against tomahawks:
- They are not swarms and are not so fast. That makes them easy targets for turrets. It's impossible to kill a full kitted Khaak destroyer with a single M8
- Range is only 43Km, so they will die before reaching the distant targets in one sector. You cannot use one single M8 to clear up a big sector.

[Gavrushka]

Whereas I'd agree they'd not work in every situation, - and Insta-fire -hit Khaak, yes conceded. But with fighter drones and Tomahawks you really can take down a sector with a single M8.

If I gave the impression that I was saying they can take down ANY sector, that'd be patently obsurd.

What I said is true, equally what you, vbruzual said, is also true.

[G Morgan]

Thanks all - I'll keep her - money is no problem - just for the sake of experimenting later in game. (damn my fleet is growing!) - next to consider - my Vidar... what to do with it!

The Vidar is unique AFAIK, you cannot buy another if you sell it. Keep it until you have a HQ in which to RE it. However good the M8 may or may not be at taking down cap ships you will want the Vidar for everything else. Also in a tight spot the wraith missiles the Vidar can stock can be used to take down capital ships.

[XanII]

I'll confirm the Khaak M2 part. I used the M8 Claymore to take down a khaah. fired all i got and that was quite a lot. i think some missiles did connect but most died by insta-hit kyons.

On everything else even less is overkill.

And yes, the ship itself dies quickly but it sure has attack power when it has proper range and belly full of missiles. I dont think i even bothered to arm the Claymore with a back turret. it only took up space.

[Sovereign01]

Sell the terran M8. It is hopeless to keep armed with missiles. i kept mine docked at the only fab in terran space for ages and bought up everything i could find. That ships is useless unless you can build fabs on your own and that takes a loooong time. You can build a fab afaik but it's after a certain plot thingy. and by that time you already past the Terran M8 stage and moved on to other much more interesting toys.

But do get a commonwealth M8. No need to have more than 1 of those but it's good to have as artillery is just great when things get nasty. Get any one them with big enough cargo. dont arm it with anything else other than it's payload missiles + jumpdrive + energy cells so it can jump in, fire, jump the h*ll out before it gets whacked.

It's after you finish the Aldrin missions, then you can buy the fabs. I found that even a single complex with a handful of fabs will be more than enough to keep one going. The Claymore's missiles are faster, more powerful, better range and take up half the space. Couple that with a bigger cargo bay than the rest and the difference becomes clear.

[RoadRunner12]

Thanks all - I'll keep her - money is no problem - just for the sake of experimenting later in game. (damn my fleet is growing!) - next to consider - my Vidar... what to do with it!

Fit the Vidar with a full compliment of M/AM Launchers on the front guns and then you can take on 4 Xenon Qs and a J singlehanded. That's what you do with it!

[XanII]

Sell the terran M8. It is hopeless to keep armed with missiles. i kept mine docked at the only fab in terran space for ages and bought up everything i could find. That ships is useless unless you can build fabs on your own and that takes a loooong time. You can build a fab afaik but it's after a certain plot thingy. and by that time you already past the Terran M8 stage and moved on to other much more interesting toys.

But do get a commonwealth M8. No need to have more than 1 of those but it's good to have as artillery is just great when things get nasty. Get any one them with big enough cargo. dont arm it with anything else other than it's payload missiles + jumpdrive + energy cells so it can jump in, fire, jump the h*ll out before it gets whacked.

It's after you finish the Aldrin missions, then you can buy the fabs. I found that even a single complex with a handful of fabs will be more than enough to keep one going. The Claymore's missiles are faster, more powerful, better range and take up half the space. Couple that with a bigger cargo bay than the rest and the difference becomes clear.

And to get there are thousands of bodybags and countless hours of gameplay to do. i still havent built much terran stations.

But i stay at what i stated: sell it. claymore does have some great qualities but you can use it to 100% potential so late in the game that you dont need the M8 much at that point. it has become a toy so get the commonwealth one first and use it mid-game for results. more bang for the buck so to speak.

It sure is good the claymore though. the cargo and power/range arguments are true. too bad i wasted most of my missiles on a Khaak M2 which shot down 90%+ of incomming missiles.

[Sovereign01]

Sell the terran M8. It is hopeless to keep armed with missiles. i kept mine docked at the only fab in terran space for ages and bought up everything i could find. That ships is useless unless you can build fabs on your own and that takes a loooong time. You can build a fab afaik but it's after a certain plot thingy. and by that time you already past the Terran M8 stage and moved on to other much more interesting toys.

But do get a commonwealth M8. No need to have more than 1 of those but it's good to have as artillery is just great when things get nasty. Get any one them with big enough cargo. dont arm it with anything else other than it's payload missiles + jumpdrive + energy cells so it can jump in, fire, jump the h*ll out before it gets whacked.

It's after you finish the Aldrin missions, then you can buy the fabs. I found that even a single complex with a handful of fabs will be more than enough to keep one going. The Claymore's missiles are faster, more powerful, better range and take up half the space. Couple that with a bigger cargo bay than the rest and the difference becomes clear.

And to get there are thousands of bodybags and countless hours of gameplay to do. i still havent built much terran stations.

But i stay at what i stated: sell it. claymore does have some great qualities but you can use it to 100% potential so late in the game that you dont need the M8 much at that point. it has become a toy so get the commonwealth one first and use it mid-game for results. more bang for the buck so to speak.

It sure is good the claymore though. the cargo and power/range arguments are true. too bad i wasted most of my missiles on a Khaak M2 which shot down 90%+ of incomming missiles.

Yeah, all those station defense and assassination missions have boosted my kill counts considerably . I had my Claymore sit in the Earth Torus for ages, I figured it might come in handy someday. In the terran sector that has the shipyard with those stations, I built a huge chip/weapon complex. I only wish I'd sat OOS when I told my lifter to dock at the shipyard. Its sheer size made it take a long time.

Oh, and I finally got the chance to deploy my Claymore in battle. I took on a station defense mission in scale plate green, where my Fail/Hammer plex and Cobra were situated. Not normally a problem, but this time the game spawned 4 Yaki M1/M2s! First time around, and I found that the Cobra simply couldn't carry enough missiles to take them out. Second time around, brought in my Claymore, set my Hyperion to follow it and provide anti-fighter cover, and flew the claymore and had it let rip...

Suffice to say, even though it ran out of missiles, by the time it did, all 4 bigships were nothing but space dust