M1 or M7M or M2

[svenje]

HI All.
First of all thx for the active forums.

I have the game now for bout 20 days now but still have some questions altho I found this forum already very helpfull.

My first question is: I want to start doing the plots. ( I'm trader mined). So what ships are used to slice trough all the missions? or what would u recommend? I was thinking of an M1 full with m3's.
But then comes my second question.

I see alot of topics regarding what is the best ship and stuff like that but can't seem to find a good topic bout equipement. ( what guns, what missiles)

For now I have only round 700mil credits to spend and wanne start to plots. with that in mind ( the 2 questions) Any help would be lovely.

Thx

btw I only have one Solano and one Tenjin. All the hidden ships were sold to start my trading >.<

[Infekted]

You'd be looking at an M7 or M2. Nothing will stop a player in one of those ships.
M1s full of fighters, are generally more for OOS defense. Or rich boys toys.
M7Ms are handy to have following you around. They can clear entire sectors very quickly, however its not what you'd call a combat vessel. And require a supply factory to be built to keep them in missiles.

[palenaka]

HI All.
First of all thx for the active forums.

I have the game now for bout 20 days now but still have some questions altho I found this forum already very helpfull.

My first question is: I want to start doing the plots. ( I'm trader mined). So what ships are used to slice trough all the missions? or what would u recommend? I was thinking of an M1 full with m3's.
But then comes my second question.

I see alot of topics regarding what is the best ship and stuff like that but can't seem to find a good topic bout equipement. ( what guns, what missiles)

For now I have only round 700mil credits to spend and wanne start to plots. with that in mind ( the 2 questions) Any help would be lovely.

Thx

btw I only have one Solano and one Tenjin. All the hidden ships were sold to start my trading >.<

I use a Split Panther (M7) 90% of the time. It's pretty fast (>100) It can equip PALC (see spoiler) and has a nice selection of weapons. It can also hold 32 ships in it's hangar. Although normally I just fly it solo. It's fast enough to stay away from Enemy capital ships and Xenon Q's. YOu can decimate enemy corvettes/capital ships from afar by keeping a good stock on Hornet missiles on hand. Hornettes track a target on their own (fire and forget) and they pack a good punch.


The on-board ships are handy if you're in a big fight with targets spread out all over the sector. Plus you always have the option of switching to a good M3+ you have on board if you need to dock at a station.

Spoiler

Show

You can find these floating in one of the Kha'ak sectors during the plot. I forget which, google for it (assuming you're unmodified)

[gbjbaanb]

Given that, I'd grab a split Panther. Its a fair M7 for battles (though it's more a sit-and-point while the turrets do all the work for you kind of ship) but its easy to dock a wing of fighters in for when things get troublesome.

It can hold its own, I kill Qs in mine, and its not a high-maintenance ship. Its also fast, which helps a lot when you're sitting in it wishing you'd get somewhere quicker.

A M2 or M1 are good, but are slow and more powerful. I have found Qs can outrun my M2 so it's a bit useless unless you persuade them to come for you - and they don't 'cos they know they'll get pounded to mush in seconds.

So, get a panther, fill it with whatever guns you have, and upgrade them as you can. I recommend HEPTs and CIGs to start with as they're cheap and good enough. Most of the threads about what to use are for power gamers who are not satisfied with anything less than the optimum loadout, ignore them and play your game for fun.

[Infekted]

Ahh I shoulda seen the Panther fanboys... There are actually other ships in the uiniverse. Maybe you should try them out sometimes.

The guy has 700 million. Why on earth would he arm a Panther with Hept?
CIG and FAA... Ideally IBL, but thats a whole different ball game.

[svenje]

WoW oki. I knew this forum was active but wasn't expecting some reaction that fast.

Thx alot all for the information. Atm I don't have the rep to get me the big nice gun factories but I will buy the panther and see what I can find to equipe it.

btw for the 32 ships in the hangar, should I go with a mix of M3 and M4 or just stick with one type?

[ancienthighway]

It sounds like you haven't started any of the plots yet, and being trader oriented thus far your fight rank should be quite low. There's no need for an M7 or bigger yet, in fact an M6 will be too big for much of what you will be facing.

With the low fighter rank, most of what you face will be in the M5 and maybe M4 variety. A Solano equiped with PACs and a Turbo Thruster will get you through most of the Terran Plot. An M3, such as the Argon Nova Raider or Mamba Vanguard, with jump drive and Turbo if desired, will handle most of the Goner plot that requires combat.

As you come to towards the end of those two plots something bigger may be needed. You'll need a TM for one mission, and filling it out with matching fighters should get you to completion of both of those plots. But then something bigger would be an asset then.

You will be able to judge from the enemies you face when you need to bring more firepower to the table.

[svenje]

Yeah my combat status is atm Veteran. But are Q's bout the same fighting power as a M5 or M3? Cause I have to kill 2 of them when I start the quest given in Omnecrom. ( the one from that big fighter ship)

[palenaka]

Ahh I shoulda seen the Panther fanboys... There are actually other ships in the uiniverse.

LIES!!!! pack of lies!!!!!

anyway yeah 700 mil...

here's the main 2 ships I toggle between

------------


Split Panther - for plot stuff. Right or wrong, here's my kit
- Front (go all CIG if you can't find IBL)
4x IBL
2x CIG

- Right (and left)
1 x PALC (you can hit M1/M2 with this at a range they can't hit back!)
1 x IBL

- Up (and down)
2 x CIG
2 x Energy Bolt Chaingun (make sure you stock some ammo)

- Back (this is for missile defence)
2 x PRG
2 x IRE

----------------------------------------

Diemos (this will kill friendlies. I use this for jumping into Xenon sectors)

- Front
1 x Tractor beam (i use this ship for building also)
7 x Ion Shard Railgun

Right (and left, and up , and down)
1 x PSG
1 x FAA

Back
1 x IRE
1 x FBL


-------------

on both ships I carry M3s in my hanger for these reasons
- sometimes i just want one and it's handy to have them available
- because I can
- several M3s mean I can carry multiple jump drives. When I cap a ship i can give it a jump drive and then xfer one from an onboard fighter so i'm not without a jump drive
- I can group them into a wing and tell them to "go kill enemy pirate" that i'm too lazy to fly over and shoot myself. Spitfyre is good for this because it's so dang fast
- because i can

[deca.death]

.

I agree with highway. Don't rush into big vessels, get some experience with smaller ones, it will prove very useful. Your tenjin with EBC /PBG combination is powerful vessel. Later you can pick skiron, OTAS M6+ armed with CIG/PBG at nose and PRG at turrets. If you have problems with last phases of OFF plot, just buy yourself shrike. Problems solved.

[svenje]

yeah me Tenjij is equiped with the ECB PAC combination. found that last night.

and thx for the detailed equipement post

[palenaka]

btw for the 32 ships in the hangar, should I go with a mix of M3 and M4 or just stick with one type?

pick whatever you want. 32 ships is a lot more than you'll realistically need. I have a 10-squad of Tenjins, a bunch of Nova raiders, and a spitfyre. I don't think i'm even filling out my hangar

But are Q's bout the same fighting power as a M5 or M3?

Q's are a Xenon "M7" class. However they pack guns (that seem) as powerful as an M2. I just shoot em with Hornettes if I want them dead. Going toe to toe with a Xenon Q is dangerous, but they're surprisingly stupid when you shoot missiles at them.

To answer your question, Xenon Q is infinitly more dangerous than a M5 or M3, but easier to shoot down with missiles (or PALC if you want to board one... just make sure you have some high skill marines because it's a very difficult boading op)

[Infekted]

Yeah sorry it just annoys me a bit.. The guy asks for a run down on what ship class to get and everyone is automatically "panther panther panther". Literally any M7 or M2 will enable you to destroy every single thing in the game.
I have personally flown every single one. Some aren't as effective as others, but will all pwn in players hands. Why not live a little and try things out? Or maybe we should just delete every other ship and all fly panthers..

Its like the guy that used to go into any "what ship shall I get thread" and leave a post starting "I was flying in my Panther the good ship 'Who Gives a S**t', loaded out with chimeras. Its the best ship there is" And hadn't actually flown anything else -_-

I'm not sure why PALCs are worth a mention, considering the guy specifically stated he has done no plots what so ever...

[Over-tuned Gamer]

I enjoy the Cobra and Tiger, both.

A good capital ship killer is the (M2) Terran Osaka, loaded out with PSP and SSC. But, this is very expensive to obtain in both credits and reputation with the Terran.

[deca.death]

Its like the guy that used to go into any "what ship shall I get thread" and leave a post starting "I was flying in my Panther the good ship 'Who Gives a S**t', loaded out with chimeras. Its the best ship there is" And hadn't actually flown anything else -_-

Well to be honest panther filled with chimeras is one mofo thug : ) still I agree that player should try and test as much ships as possible. Interestingly I flew most of ships in M7 class but never panther. Why? Well I never really wanted carrier. Panther is a beautiful ship but it's no M7.

[heratik]

I am assuming your combat rank is very low...

I would kit out the fighters you have already, maybe buy a few others that catch your eye and test them out to see which one you feel most comfortable fighting in.

Then I would start the plots in that. As you complete the plots, your combat rank will invariably rise, and you can upgrade ship accordingly when you feel things are getting tougher, you certainly have the funds.

This way you can experience the natural difficulty rise rather than just rushing straight in with an all out behemoth and having no challenge.

As a side note, I would buy either a Cobra or a Kraken or both, and a bunch of marines and get them training NOW (they take a bloody long time). So by the time you have finished some of the plots, you will also have the beginnings of a boarding squad.

[Masochisto]

Infekted- Its ok, you sound like you could use a good nap tho.

OP- I'm also more of a trader, and I agree with the idea of taking smaller steps. Once your obliterating entire Xenon sectors in a decked out M2 it is hard to step down and appreciate the more subtle power of the ships you leapfrogged. A Q is very difficult to take down in an M3, and can be somewhat difficult in an M6, but in both cases you feel a rush afterwards, and the experience of it is very fun. In an M2 and lesser extent and M7 it can be a bore.

[svenje]

thx alot all for the usefull info. ATM I'm in TM with my tenjin. I'm planning to get me rep with several faction up now.

And for that bording part, I've never done that before. still need to read some detailed info bout that topic. ( Think I'll gonne try that video tutorial I found here)

[Triaxx2]

Panther full of anything is quite a thug. Surprisingly, while I like most other Split ships, I cannot bring myself to like the Chimera. No idea why, it just doesn't strike me as interesting.

Frankly, I like Pikes better as carrier ships. Yes, they're only M4's, but against anything except HEPT and Kyon's, because nothing lasts long against Kyons, they're exceptional. Particularly if you're going to fight a lot of Xenon, where the hull matters more than the shields. (Xenon love their PBE)

For M7's, I like the Shrike, though it'll have some difficulties against Kha'ak Capitals in at least one mission that you'll probably want an M2 for. But you're likely to need an M2 of some kind for that mission anyway.

The Tiger is also a very nasty ship to fight with, though you might in fact spend more time smashing enemies with the nose of the ship than actually hitting them with guns. And like the Panther, it can mount PALC's.

I have not tried the Deimos, but if mounted with PSG's all around, it should be more than able to deal with most missions not involving protection of friendlies.

The Cerberus is not much good for taking on other capitals, but against fighters, it excels.

The Shrike, Deimos, and Cerberus all carry a small fighter compliment giving you the ability to bring some friends, or a personal ship along with your capital, including, should you bring the Cerberus, a safe place to retreat, by running back into it's flak umbrella, which will shred most fighter class pursuers.

[gbjbaanb]

d'oh my bad - I read that 700 mil with his 2 ships and thought is that all, this'll be his first capital ship.

I should have thought "700mil, buy 2 of everything".

However, as it is his first cap ship, he will want something faster than average, so a 40m/s titan would be dull, dull, dull. A panther is still a good choice to get going, once you've got used to it and want something with more oomph, you can buy a Shrike and then move up to a big M2.