3X-TC Boron M7 Thresher

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mwecom
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3X-TC Boron M7 Thresher

Post by mwecom » Wed, 3. Mar 10, 06:31

I looking for any feedback on the Boron Thresher. At first it looked to be lacking on everything and not really worth my time. Then I noticed the ten forward firing Photon Pulse Cannons. On second thought this looks like it might be an interesting player ship under the right conditions. Just another tool for the tool box.

Has anybody had positive results with this ship?

kreep69
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Post by kreep69 » Wed, 3. Mar 10, 07:07

The Thresher is fun (as are all the ships at least for a while). It depends what youre looking for. Do you have a specific task in mind or do you want a good all arounder.

The Thresher is great but when you fire off a bunch of PPC that energy goes in a blink of an eye and recharges slowly (dont think you will take on multiple capital ships with just that as your tool). The storage can also get a little tight.

I don't want to take the joy of experiencing each ship from you but if you want what is the ultimately the best all arounder in my opinion, try the M7 Teladi Shrike. It is an absolutely sweet ship (as you can see from recent post where I raved about it - others discovered its power first though).

Give it a try and enjoy.

P.S. Split Panther (if you like docking ships) and Tiger (if you like killing capital ships) are sweet too.

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Spychotic
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Post by Spychotic » Wed, 3. Mar 10, 09:59

The Thresher makes an excellent OOS patrol ship. Squadrons of MSC Threshers patrol several busy sectors in my game. Keeping the pirates in check :wink:

Used as a player ship it is quite potent too. But it lacks the weapon generator power to be effective under AI control IS.

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mwecom
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Post by mwecom » Wed, 3. Mar 10, 10:20

Thanks! At this point I have quite a number of M1s and M2s and quite a bit more M7 Shrikes. I really like the Shrikes. I put three together and load them up with M3 and have them do sector patrols in area that do not require M2s.

I had just never looked past the low shields and HUGE target cross section of the Thresher. Then I looked again and saw that it could mount 10x Photo cannons up frount. Being that I have six Photo cannon forges spitting out guns for my M2s, I though it might be interesting mounting some on a M7.

How does the Thresher do for Anti-Fighter? I see that it can mount Flak. Is the Thresher like most M7s in terms of dead cow like handling?

At this point I have a Yaki Chokaro with three of my favorite ships and some supplies. I really just use the Chokaro as my flying tool box. I would really like to get my hands on Hyperion Vangard.

Does anybody have any tips on getting one of those? I would rather not tick any of the races off, I'm on very good terms...great terms in fact, with all but the Khaak, Yaki, Pirates and Xenon.

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Post by garv222 » Wed, 3. Mar 10, 10:44

Well...the easiest way to cap a hyperion is with a m7m. I had huge trouble learning to board ships but it's been quite easy once I understand how to get it done. The only problem with using an m7m is the insane amount of investment it takes. Buying the ship is expensive, as are the factories/complex you'll need to keep it supplied with ammo. Personally I think it's good for the long term. You never know when you might need a real heavy hitter in a sector and a Cobra can lay waste to fleets by itself if used properly.

I captured a hyperion by first scanning it to make sure it didn't have any internal sentry defenses. A polarized hull isn't too important to me. Then I looked at the shields, and fired the appropriate amount of missiles to thin out it's shields. The hyperion maxes out a 1 gj of shielding so 2 hammer heavy torpedoes and 1 barrage(8) flail barrage missiles+ change(each flail barrage does 40k damage) will take down the shields. You can send out boarding pods after the shields are below 5%. Periodically firing a flail barrage missile to keep the shields down. Some people like to launch fighter drones with the command to keep shields down on a target. That works too. The quickest way for me to get this done was to keep 5 marines on board, and use the "launch all marines" command in additional commands. Once the pods are away, wait a short while, then fire one flail barrage missile to confuse the target ships missile defenses. If the pod lands successfully just keep your finger's crossed and hope for the best.

For training marines, it's a good idea to pick up any that have good fighting skills. I buy anything over 35. I also train them in engineering. During boarding ops, the ship will get damaged during the fighting, but 100 engineering will reduce this damage to 0. I would suggest training marines in hacking and mechanical if their fight skill is high though.

I've read about people having great success using M6 or TP ships for boarding ops while using ion weapons to destroy all the weapons before boarding but personally I never liked to continually keep firing at a ship. Also a hyperion is rather fast for a m6 so that's just another complication I don't need. Sorry I can't explain how to do this method since, I haven't had too much success with it.

Good luck grabbing that hyperion.

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Post by Bobucles » Wed, 3. Mar 10, 13:06

The Thresher is best summed up as a Sniper type of ship. It's made for heavy hits with one of the longest range weapons in the game. In addition, it has good speed to stay out of trouble.

The huge ship profile makes it very bad for direct combat. Too many shots will hit you, and the Thresher has low shields. Its primary weapon is energy based, so fending off fighters will drain precious reserves.

OOS combat is "turn based", where ships have WAY too much time to fire at each other. The Thresher is great because it can wield enough firepower to kill other ships in one "turn".

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Post by mwecom » Wed, 3. Mar 10, 14:23

It does sound interesting using a Thresher for OOS patrols. I am wondering if, in the opinions of those whom have used them, would four or five Threshers do better than my "standard" patrol wing of three Shrikes and 24 M3s. I'm looking at this from a cost per wing point. In my "standard" patrol wing I will on occation loss a fighter or two. I have never lost a Shrike in this configuration.

Also, what would the weapons configuration be for a Thresher on sector patrol be. I would think flak all around exept up front. It moves to slow for a missle to start following it. I'm not sure about PPC up front, but if that works best I can build a few more PPC factories.

Also, on the Hyperion subject. Is that ship just candy...where the surgar coating wears off and turns sour? Or is it a good (great) player ship?

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Post by brucewarren » Wed, 3. Mar 10, 14:47

It all depends on whether you prefer to fly an M6 or an M7.
The M7 is tougher but much slower.

IMO the hyperion is the best ship in its class, but others prefer the
Springblossom for its greater speed.

As an M6 it's 1G of shields will be weaker than your thresher, but on the
other hand for an m6 it's speed is second only to a Springblossom.
The hot version is reputed to be able to manage 220 kps which is
actually faster than an M3.

With 18, yes 18, guns and a sizeable power generator it packs quite a
punch and is one of the few M6s able to pack the powerful Wraith missiles

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Post by philip_hughes » Wed, 3. Mar 10, 15:26

I loaded mine out with ppc's in the front and IONDs in the turrets. I had this idea that it would be able to fry the weapons off a larger target if I had enough of the little lighning bolts.

Didn't work.

Figured in that process, the thresher was an awesome long range ship but not so good at the up close stuff.
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Post by pjknibbs » Wed, 3. Mar 10, 17:07

Actually, that WOULD work--it just takes a very long time for IonDs to destroy equipment. I've spent 20+ minutes lightly toasting an Agamemnon with them and the thing still had a fair few shields and guns left!

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Technojerk36
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Post by Technojerk36 » Wed, 3. Mar 10, 18:15

Perhaps if you fitted every slot with an Ion D it might be a tad bit faster?
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Post by Markhor » Wed, 3. Mar 10, 21:08

Yeah if you have all IonD's the rate is faster. Question is, how long will it keep that rate up? assuming IonD's use energy anything like other lasers (i've never used it).
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Post by Bobucles » Wed, 3. Mar 10, 22:01

Ion disruptors, on a frigate? They barely fire halfway across the hull! You'd have a better chance of ramming the ship than hitting it with IDs.

Corvettes are far more capable at spamming Ion Disruptors.

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Post by pjknibbs » Wed, 3. Mar 10, 22:17

Technojerk36 wrote:Perhaps if you fitted every slot with an Ion D it might be a tad bit faster?
That was using a Skiron with four IonDs on the front, which I think ought to be plenty :-).

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Post by Spychotic » Wed, 3. Mar 10, 22:25

I have my Threshers equipped with 10 PPCs and 11 HEPTs. Not the best setup for IS work but OOS it kicks some serious arse. The reason for this is that OOS, all weapons are assumed to have 100% accuracy so you just want the highest firepower you can get.

I find that single Threshers work well. No need for 4 or 5. If the Thresher can't kill it in one turn then it can probably kill the Thresher in the following turn, meaning that the Thresher has already lost.

My Threshers have taken and destroyed several Ks during the course of my game. I once watched in awe as one of them took two Ks and a fighter wing in Omicron Lyrae. Didn't take any permanent damage. Though if you want ships to hold sectors bordering Xenon space then I'd recommend an M2 (the Osaka does best; nothing else has good enough shielding to survive against well-equipped Qs).

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