Ka aK clusters suck

Palladin888 · Post by **Palladin888** » Tue, 13. Jul 10, 20:54

Its been my exp that clusters are mostly harmless except the one ship in the center which is probably a M3 heavy fighter. I have been in several scraps with several clusters at the same time and I've noticed the scouts do almost no damage. What the scouts do is confuse the battle enough to make it hard to target the heavy fighters that are pounding your shields to bits.

I swear i can't pick out a fighter from a scout to save my life. They all look alike to me.

Gazz · Post by **Gazz** » Tue, 13. Jul 10, 20:57

A pair of flamethrowers unconfuses such a battle in a reeeal hurry.

Post by **Nanook** » Tue, 13. Jul 10, 21:00

Palladin888 wrote:....
I swear i can't pick out a fighter from a scout to save my life. They all look alike to me.

Which is why we have a sector map (among other reasons).

But like Gazz says, just kill 'em all.

Rive · Post by **Rive** » Tue, 13. Jul 10, 21:12

For me, if I target the cluster and it's falling apart then the target automatically picks the fighter.

bonalste · Post by **bonalste** » Tue, 13. Jul 10, 21:14

If you target the entire cluster before it breaks up, when it does eventually break up the ship that you will have automatically targetted is the one in the middle, which is the Fighter to which you're referring. So as long as you target the cluster before break up, the scouts should have no effect in confusing you. Just shoot the ship that you've got targetted.

Gazz · Post by **Gazz** » Tue, 13. Jul 10, 21:15

Cluster busting is the one application I ever found for the Aurora.
It doesn't matter if it's "intended target" vanishes. when the missile is in the middle of the pack, you make it go boom, solving your scout problems - or many of them anyway.

Baddieus · Post by **Baddieus** » Tue, 13. Jul 10, 21:21

Try an M8 out at 20km or more and that cluster will go in one shot.

XanII · Post by **XanII** » Tue, 13. Jul 10, 21:24

The scouts are quite dangerous too. Do not underestimate them unless you got the right tools for the job.

Post by **Nanook** » Tue, 13. Jul 10, 21:25

Gazz wrote:Cluster busting is the one application I ever found for the Aurora.....

I like the Hurricane for this purpose. One for small, two for medium and three for large clusters. It's hilarious watching the fireworks close up, those little scouts bouncing around, the ones that don't pop in the first hit.

Gazz · Post by **Gazz** » Tue, 13. Jul 10, 21:27

Ahh, chinese firecrackers!

I always liked the Hurricane there but the Aurora can be used against the connected cluster, which is more satisfying because you often get them while spreading out when the scouts are all close together.

With flamers you get an even better show because you're closer.
Sounds like popcorn.

But since overkill measures like an M8 vs a cluster have been mentioned... just build a station on top of a cluster...

Cpt.Jericho · Post by **Cpt.Jericho** » Wed, 14. Jul 10, 00:57

Gazz wrote:Ahh, chinese firecrackers!

Says one who uses Auroras.

Unless the Cluster has splitted already, the Firestorm is my nuke of choice against clusters.

SLeeZeCoRe · Post by **SLeeZeCoRe** » Wed, 14. Jul 10, 01:21

Oh man, 3 words...

Plasma Burst Generator

Fight over.

Post by **Nanook** » Wed, 14. Jul 10, 01:26

Cpt.Jericho wrote:
Gazz wrote:Ahh, chinese firecrackers!
Says one who uses Auroras.

Unless the Cluster has splitted already, the Firestorm is my nuke of choice against clusters.

What a waste of 80,000 credits.

A Remote Guided Warhead or Beluga missile is more than sufficient. And if you're Terran, a Spectre is overkill.

XanII · Post by **XanII** » Wed, 14. Jul 10, 18:42

I still use Firestorm torpedoes to take them out. Or Spectres. Dont bother with the cost or the fight.

Triaxx2 · Post by **Triaxx2** » Wed, 14. Jul 10, 19:11

I like Firestorms for them actually. It's powerful enough that even if it splits at the last minute, the blast will vaporise it and they can't shoot at it, so it's fire and forget most of the time.

brattbags01 · Post by **brattbags01** » Wed, 14. Jul 10, 19:15

Flack weapons will do the trick

XanII · Post by **XanII** » Wed, 14. Jul 10, 20:05

Triaxx2 wrote:I like Firestorms for them actually. It's powerful enough that even if it splits at the last minute, the blast will vaporise it and they can't shoot at it, so it's fire and forget most of the time.

The forget part is the key. i fire away and dont even look back. im half way across the sector when the message finaly arrives about how things went kaboom and how cool i am and all that and how im now getting payd and stuff. um... moving along.

Post by **Alan Phipps** » Wed, 14. Jul 10, 20:10

I like to use just one Hurricane from an M3+/M6, even for the bigger clusters, during a controlled head-on approach with my speed about 50-70m/s. If the launch is just after the cluster breaks due to your proximity, the missile detonates on the Fighter and most Scouts die though a few outer ring ones survive with low hulls and sometimes even with a bailed Scout. I can then pick off the unharmed Fighter and the few limping Scouts with light gunfire at my leisure and most times get some Kha'ak missile drops too.

frankster · Post by **frankster** » Wed, 14. Jul 10, 20:13

If you can keep your finger off the trigger and approach the cluster at full speed wiht a reasonable sized ship, you can explode the whole cluster before it splits up!

Cpt.Jericho · Post by **Cpt.Jericho** » Wed, 14. Jul 10, 21:52

Nanook wrote:What a waste of 80,000 credits. A Remote Guided Warhead or Beluga missile is more than sufficient. And if you're Terran, a Spectre is overkill.

There is no such thing as overkill in this game

Anyway, it's easier to make your own Firestorms than collecting missle drops. If I wanted to use dropped missles I would opt for Hammerheads

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Ka aK clusters suck

Ka aK clusters suck

Re: Ka aK clusters suck