CFLAK v FAA

[stg1969]

Hi, playing TC 2.5 and i'm glad to read reports that CFA is now fixed.

I have both CFA and FAA on my M2, but was just wondering, is there any point mixing them up, or are CFA just better full stop.

Currently my UP and DOWN turrets on Titan and Boreas (IS and OOS) have 2xCFA and 2xFAA

Should i just make this 4 CFA

Oh , and what opinions does anyone have on having anti-fighter cover in other turrets, because ive heard talk of NOT mixing weaps in turrets,

Currently my setup is this

FRONT - 8xPPC
R & L - 4 x ION Cannon 4 x PPC
UP & DOWN - 2xCFA 2xFAA
REAR - 4xCIG 4xPBE

Is this a balanced loadout, i'm fairly new with Cap Ships, X3TC has allowed me to make money so much faster..

[EmperorJon]

Loadouts ok, as for CFA I wouldn't say 'Fixed', sure you don't have to hit the target bang on but it still doesn't quite act as an area blast.

1 prob. with the loadout.

Rear turret. The moment you're in range your CIGs'll open fire, and tso will the PBEs which have less than 1/3rd the range. See where I'm going?

[AgamemnonArgon]

Credits are not a concern, when it comes to protecting the ships. Get CFA or FAA as one can buy it. Availability is a problem, so use the lookup to find out which factories produce it. I will put FAA on up, and FAA on lower gun turrets, but not mix the two. If a ship can use them, I will put at least four on a ship.

[Sn4kemaster]

Hi, playing TC 2.5 and i'm glad to read reports that CFA is now fixed.

I have both CFA and FAA on my M2, but was just wondering, is there any point mixing them up, or are CFA just better full stop.

Currently my UP and DOWN turrets on Titan and Boreas (IS and OOS) have 2xCFA and 2xFAA

Should i just make this 4 CFA

Oh , and what opinions does anyone have on having anti-fighter cover in other turrets, because ive heard talk of NOT mixing weaps in turrets,

Currently my setup is this

FRONT - 8xPPC
R & L - 4 x ION Cannon 4 x PPC
UP & DOWN - 2xCFA 2xFAA
REAR - 4xCIG 4xPBE

Is this a balanced loadout, i'm fairly new with Cap Ships, X3TC has allowed me to make money so much faster..

CFA Vs FAA = No real difference, both kill things very efficiently now...but i wouldn't mix them, just stick to one or the other.

On other turrets for fighter difference....as a rule again don't mix (although CFA/FAA does go very well with the ID, try it)

[stg1969]

1 prob. with the loadout.

Rear turret. The moment you're in range your CIGs'll open fire, and tso will the PBEs which have less than 1/3rd the range. See where I'm going?

Yeah i do, but many threads on here now suggest the varying range thing has been fixed, IE, your PBE's will only open up when in range, despite the CIG's firing...

[AL'42]

I mixed up the top and bottom turrets (set for attack fighters) for the first time a few days ago, swapped out the usual FAA for CFA + ID + IPG quite spectacular and fun to watch, with lightning bolts jumping across ships, wrecked hell on the fighters, and whacked them all over the place, heh heh. Very effective Only thing to watch though is friendly fire with this arrangement, stay at least 5km from friendlies and stations …..

[SIMON POPPLEWELL]

1 prob. with the loadout.

Rear turret. The moment you're in range your CIGs'll open fire, and tso will the PBEs which have less than 1/3rd the range. See where I'm going?

Yeah i do, but many threads on here now suggest the varying range thing has been fixed, IE, your PBE's will only open up when in range, despite the CIG's firing...

You also have to take into account the rate of fire. Different weapons on the same turret will cause problems in tracking targets. i.e. PPCs are a lot slower tracking a target than say a HEPT. So the turret will only track as fast as the slowest weapon. So it is not a good idea to mix weapons on a single turret. Also FAAs are generally better than CFA IMO.

[pjknibbs]

I'd actually say CFA are functionally WORSE than FAA, even with the 2.5 fixes. Consider: they do less damage, have a slower speed of shot, and use more energy per second, and their only advantage is the vanishingly small chance that one of the randomly-flung bomblets from the explosion hits something else and damages it too!

[garv222]

Personally I use them both. It really depends on what's available. I usually mix my CFA with HEPT though. Some people might say it doesn't work very well, but it seems to work alright with me. I found the CFA was able to strike the area, while the HEPT tracked a single target. I don't know if I was handicapping myself in anyway, but my turrets were going through a pirate fleet without much trouble on that setup.

I think FAA is a better buy in general for basic anti-air coverage though, because it's more precise and fighters do not really swarm you that often. I think this is particularly true for heavily shielded fighters. If you were swarmed by say.....50 khaak scouts, I think large groups of CFA would shine better, but that's not exactly a normal situation.

[AgamemnonArgon]

As of other threads in the last few weeks, I do actually believe that it is possible to put mixed weapons into turrets. At this time, there is too much admin to do in running the Fleet, and running missions, that I just haven't yet tried. But I don't forsee a problem in having different weapons ranges at all. Retrofitting over thirty Frigates would be fun, but time consuming.

[tasev1]

I did a test of my own - I got the Galactica mod and loaded it up with all FAA. Looked pretty cool, but did diddly squat. I for one avoid loading up my caps with any sort of flak weapon.

But I might try again.

[pjknibbs]

If FAA are doing diddly squat then that mod has broken your game. They are the single most effective anti-fighter weapon in the game, especially since the fixed the "fires but does no damage" issue in 2.5.

[AgamemnonArgon]

Have you tried setting the weapons in Command to:
Top and Bottom Flak - Engage Fighters
Gauss, PPC (Whichever weaposn) set to Anti Capital.

[Infekted]

I find mixing CFA and FAA works very nicely. The FFA goes out and explodes at a point, then the CFA shells spread out and explode all around the initial explosion. Pretty and effective.
Top and bottom load out = 2x CFA, 1xFAA, 1xIonD. IonD is fantastic for fighter clouds. The range is half that of the flak arrays but if it bounces it'll go much further.

I'd put at least 4 FAA in the rear aswell, tho I find a full bank of 8 to be wasteful, so like to mix in random things of a similar range. With anti fighter defence I work on the principle that you want to fill the entire volume within 2k of your ship with flying death, so different projectile speeds and slightly different ranges can actually be a good thing as long as you talking about AoE effects. Within reason.

[AgamemnonArgon]

I did a test of my own - I got the Galactica mod and loaded it up with all FAA. Looked pretty cool, but did diddly squat. I for one avoid loading up my caps with any sort of flak weapon.

But I might try again.

I actually own a Galactica too (and several other Battlestars), it did ok in one of my (none Vanilla) games. The screen prints from my Valkyrie show exactly the Flak (CFA) splattering Xenon over the Sector. Try again, perhaps.
In Vanilla, my Shrike all work pretty well with FAA, and my Boreas with their eight CFA.

[Nanook]

1 prob. with the loadout.

Rear turret. The moment you're in range your CIGs'll open fire, and tso will the PBEs which have less than 1/3rd the range. See where I'm going?

Yeah i do, but many threads on here now suggest the varying range thing has been fixed, IE, your PBE's will only open up when in range, despite the CIG's firing...

I don't think this is true. I've never seen this on any of my ships. Can you quote some?

AFAIK, if all the guns are equipped, they'll all fire together. The only way to prevent this is to put them in different groups on the turret, and then manually switch groups as needed. There are turret scripts that do what you want, but you need to go to the S&M forum for info on those.

[AgamemnonArgon]

If I had any mixed turrets, as long as all of the weapons fire, even if it is at the same time, it would not concern me. Long, Medium, Short ranged weapons would be handy against kamikazi Pirates that just shred shields.
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If the weapons only move as fast as the slowest turreted weapons, that would be a hinderance, but I would still go with that too.
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If ammunition weapons stop all weapons firing if the ammo weapons run out, that would concern me.
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I think that I will try a mixed loadout, and take the risk of losing an M7. With EBC or MD and another weapon on a turret would be useful.

[Nanook]

If I had any mixed turrets, as long as all of the weapons fire, even if it is at the same time, it would not concern me....

It should. PBE's, for example, are very energy hungry. They'll drain your laser energy, if fired with CIG's, long before they ever hit anything. Then your CIG's won't fire, either. Then you die.

[AgamemnonArgon]

If I had any mixed turrets, as long as all of the weapons fire, even if it is at the same time, it would not concern me....

It should. PBE's, for example, are very energy hungry. They'll drain your laser energy, if fired with CIG's, long before they ever hit anything. Then your CIG's won't fire, either. Then you die.

Sorry dude, I meant in the context of Out of Sector combat. But if the weapons can be mixed, regardless of firing, I certainly wouldn't mind taking a chance on it. On my personal ship, I only have minimum weapons (A Panther), five Flak, and two ammunition weapons (EBD / MD), as it is more of a non combative vessel, in my Vanilla game.
In my MOD game, my personal ship has massive shielding and generators. (Valkyrie).