The semi-hidden advantage of EMPCs - How an M4 can trounce an M6 (Battle Report)

[aceattacker]

Good day everyone, no longer tazura because I'm playing a Terran this time around.

I've finally decided to start over with TC after I got bored of the Hyperion's general uberness in X3R - once you have a ship that can effortlessly take down entire groups of destroyers, you kind of lack challenge.

So here I am, starting off as Terran Defender in my Sabre. And I must say - damn fine ship! Fast as hell, great shields for its size and those weapons can shoot all day long. It may not have the fast-tracking abilities of a PRG, the punch of a HEPT or the low pricetag of a PAC, but the EMPC kicks ass and is well worth the price - because it is, for one thing, extremely energy-efficient. I just managed to take down a Paranid Nemesis one-on-one with my trusty Sabre, still 2 EMPCs short of full srmament, and won. No Commonwealth M4 could've pulled that off, as I recall from X3R that none has the energy banks for an extended battle.

And the battles are finally challenging again - I haven't tried going up against a Blastclaw yet - especially after a Pirate Skate's PRG turrets sent me home crying. Xenon M4 groups are particularly nasty, if you let just one get close, those PBEs will make a number on your ship F-A-S-T. Of course, you can still win if you either use hit-and-run tactics from outside their 1km range or get really close while they're busy with someone else and just out-turn them. The Sabre's great speed helps a lot here.

P.S.: Anyone know a good way to raise reputations with the Borons quickly without shooting down more Split? I'm stuck all the way in the southeast of the universe in quest for a jump drive, and I'm still one rank short.

The new way to get missions is also a great improvement from X3R, it's just like the old Privateer days! But I'd wish for just one more extra feature - when multiple missions are offered in one station, only one symbol is displayed. Any chance to get symbols for every available mission?

[Hemectu]

Just do missions to raise Rep. You can do it very quickly in TC, just make sure you complete them you can lose rep just as quick.

[em3e3]

Just do missions to raise Rep. You can do it very quickly in TC, just make sure you complete them you can lose rep just as quick.

Look for some retrieve ship missions. Or, continue with the plot without using a jumpdrive.

[aceattacker]

without using a jumpdrive.

Well, after five hours of Jump Drive Withdrawal, I could do it... but what I really need it for is recovering a few abadoned ships in hostile sectors, it's the only way to get them it in one piece considering my current massive 1.1 million credit budget.

[mrbadger]

The Sabre definatelly gets 'best in class' from me, I really like it. Were it not for (prepare for a tired old mumble, oft repeated..) the fact that you can't buy them with guns on board, I would use them as carrier fighters instead of M3s.

As for the mision icon. I just take it to mean 'thar be missions here' and check to see what's on offer. The icon usually means the last mission that the station was given.

[garchan]

i like the sabre as well, quite a bit. i dont know about best in class though... for me it gets tough competition from the solano. it still has good speed and you can use PRGs which is pretty good. plus 3x25mj shields on an m4+? are you kidding me??

but for the sabre, it is way cheap, and it is technically only m4, not m4+. i have been testing some for my carrier fighters and it seems like the shielding is always getting close to getting wiped out, but i have not lost one... yet. the solanos can take a beating.

[em3e3]

OTAS Solano: 210m/s, 3 x 25MJ, 405,864 credits
Teladi Kite Vanguard: 140.4m/s, 4 x 25MJ, 1,172,065 credits!

[aceattacker]

Well, look what came up, guess what, it was a patrol assignment through Boron space - completing that boosted me well over the needed rank. But it's apparent I'm gonna need something with mroe firepower now - those Kha'ak Corvettes are giving me a run for my life, thank god for the friendly neighbourhood capship which took care of it. I already found myself two ships - a Skate prototype and a Blastclaw prototype. Only problem is - If I sell one, I could get millions! But I'll never get another, so no reverse-engineering it... and I still don't know which one I should use as my personal ship.

Any clues on where I can find Plasma Burst Generators? I still haven't come across a single factory for those.

[Wolvan]

Both are nice but for a run and gun ship I'd go for the Skate. The Blastclaw has a really spacious cargobay and 2 turrets but it lacks in the speed department.

As for the PBGs... I believe there's a forge in

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Danna's Chance

[Sam L.R. Griffiths]

As for the PBGs... I believe there's a forge in

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Danna's Chance

That will vary from game to game...

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mine is near 0,0,0 in Maelstrum

As far as main stream carrier fighters are concerned my favoured one is the Terran Cutlass (M3+)... Fill a Tokyo with them and watch the enemies vaporise before your very eyes (no Cutlass losses to date for me)... as for equiping them with EMPC there is the legacy feature of the cloning trick if buying more than one ship at a time... but more recently my own weapon production is outstripping my demand,

[Vicrry06]

As far as my preference on personal fighters go, a Split Mamba Vanguard (or the advanced if you can get your hands on it, I never have) is a very fun ship. It's very fast and manuverable, with a not itty-bitty amount of shielding so you can shrug off the occasional bad dodge when dogfighting. Still, don't get hit in it too often

It's weapon loadout is the best part, PBE's are nice but do munch on the energy reserve, HEPT if you must be boring, and plasma bursts if you can find an intact forge that's actually got some. I've found six PBG's and have two PBE's in case I need to worry about collateral damage (PBG's are awesome at killing little M5's no matter who they belong to )

Don't use the Mamba as a AI-controlled ship though, it doesn't dodge or flick the strafe drive nearly enough to survive.

[Reimu Hakurei]

the EMPC kicks ass and is well worth the price - because it is, for one thing, extremely energy-efficient.

I think it's really just their slow firing rate coupled with the possibly oversized Terran power generators that leads to this belief — I for one know that unlike the Katana, the P can't fire EMPCs forever.
The HEPT fires faster and deals more damage; sure it runs out of energy faster but it's no less efficient in terms of maximum damage per second.

[garchan]

the EMPC kicks ass and is well worth the price - because it is, for one thing, extremely energy-efficient.

I think it's really just their slow firing rate coupled with the possibly oversized Terran power generators that leads to this belief — I for one know that unlike the Katana, the P can't fire EMPCs forever.
The HEPT fires faster and deals more damage; sure it runs out of energy faster but it's no less efficient in terms of maximum damage per second.

HEPT: 431 m/s at 188mw
EMPC: 588 m/s at 88mw

HEPT does deal more damage though, but your hit rate is probably not going to be quite as good.

oh i just noticed you said firing rate and you are right it is pretty slow.