Dealing with enemy missiles - advice for a beginner?

[jubbbird]

Hi, and apologies if this has be asked to death, but I can't find evidence of it despite much searching.

I'd like to know if there's a guide out there for X3TC as to how one should react when missiles are launched at one mid-dogfight. Do you repeatedly wait for the beeping to go almost monotonic before swerving and wait for it/them to give up, or is there a realistic way to target and shoot them down?

I ask this question as someone who doesn't have a load of Mosquitos hanging around, and/or isn't [yet] using the bonus pack.

I remember the good old Tie Fighter days when you had a "target nearest missile" key, and you could actually target them like ships and shoot them down... or evade if/when necessary.

On a similar note, perhaps someone can tell me why the targeting in this game is so odd. For example, unless I switch to mouse-pointer mode and manually click on a target, using the 't' key to target from the boresight takes an frustratingly long time to lock.

What's yet MORE frustrating is that shift + t (nearest enemy?) takes AGES to lock, and often DOESN'T lock if the enemies aren't already very close. For what reason can't I quickly lock on to the nearest enemy target I can clearly see in a red box on my screen? Is it just because he's over 10km away or something?

But back to the point: if I'm in an ill-equiped M5 and my approaching aggressor pops a missile at my face I suppose I just fire phasers and hope it blows up in his face. But you can launch from anywhere, even pointing in a different direction, right? So he can launch one at me at any point during a dogfight, or an enemy wingman could easilly launch one of his own. What do you do!?

Surely it's not just a wildcard of death...

PS: During my research I came across information to the effect that capitals don't launch missiles at fighters. So, what, M5-3 is safe and need only dodge capital lasers and bright and shiny things you can see drifting toward you? You can take out large cap-ships by staying in blind spots just because they don't bother launching them at you because you're too small? Except M7Ms, I hear. I think I'd prefer it if missiles DID get used more, but they were easier to target and shoot down.

Thanks in advance for any help and advice.

[Triaxx2]

Whomever said that capitals don't launch missiles? They're WRONG. Capitals, notably M2's, which often aren't fast enough to catch you, will launch missiles. The don't tend to do it up close though, preferring to shoot with guns.

In an M5, there are only a couple of missiles worth worrying about, because M5's are mostly faster than the missiles that might be launched at it. Three exceptions are the Rapier, Disruptor, and Wasp missiles. Rapiers do 605m/s, but only 1mj of damage, so as long as you have full shields, its not an issue. Disruptors do about the same for speed, but deal a whopping 6mj of damage. And that's instant death for M5's. Fortunately they're not often fired for some reason.

Wasps are another story. While they're not particularly fast, they are persistent and swarm. This means that you will have eight 1mj warheads chasing you down, for a total of 8mj of damage. Since they only rank in a 300m/s or so, the best thing to do is step on the gas and run straight from them.

The best way to target them is in mouse click mode, since the other modes are intended for stations or ships. Shooting them down takes some practice, but it can be done. The big limitation to doing it with an M5 is two fold. One is the tiny laser generator on the M5's. The other is the small round size of the IRE. It's tremendously hard to hit a missile target with the tiny blasts from an IRE. PAC's are better, but only a few M5's mount them.

The easiest solution is counter fire. Mosquitoes and wasps are very effective.

And yes, you'll see fighters capable launching of missiles facing away, but generally they're either launching light missiles, or blowing themselves and you up by launching mid-fight.

[Nanook]

...
Wasps are another story. While they're not particularly fast, they are persistent and swarm. This means that you will have eight 1mj warheads chasing you down, for a total of 8mj of damage. Since they only rank in a 300m/s or so, the best thing to do is step on the gas and run straight from them....

Wasps actually do 560 m/s. Hence they're one of the fastest missiles in the game. However, their real shortcoming is their lifetime - 32 seconds. Since they don't last long, the best way I've found to deal with them in an M5, or other light figher, is to simply outmaneuver them until they expire. In anything bigger, I just ignore them.

[jubbbird]

The best way to target them is in mouse click mode

Can you confirm - you're saying that, mid-fight, you'd relinquish flight control to select a missile?

Does shift + t work on missiles? If your opponent fires a missile from a long way off, would that work if you allow the missile to approach?

How can you turn to face the missile efficiently before you've targeted it, in order to target it?

[jubbbird]

outmaneuver them until they expire

To evade, rely on the reverse parking sensor?

I still find it odd that the ship is capable of warning of an incoming missile but it can't auto-target it. Perhaps the single fastest way to target an incoming missile, presuming you're not under hot fire at the time, is to quickly check out the sector map. Do they appear as potential targets on the list?

[Makoaman]

I hate wasp missiles simply because in an m3 you cant shoot them down wile there swarming you and they make the missile alert go crazy i have to turn the sound off or ill go nuts. they don't do too much damage but they are massively annoying. thank God they die quick

[46_n_2]

for targeting i use target nearest enemy and/or target next enemy... i dont know what they are on the keyboard as i have them both mapped to my stick...

i've noticed that it will only select missiles that are locked on to you.... if attempting to destroy a missile locked onto another ship you have to use the mouse (they dont show on the list on the sec map)

[jubbbird]

With "target next enemy" etc, what order do they come in? Distance, or the sector map order? And, for that matter, what's the sector map order?

[Triaxx2]

[Incomplete Post] See below V

[Triaxx2]

Sorry, I was thinking you were flying with a stick, where you don't lose control. Don't ask why. The easiest way is to turn around and select them to hit them. I just fly forwards, hit F2 for an external view, Numpad 5 twice and then I can target any missile behind me. Which is most of them if I'm going full speed. Then they can be selectively locked on and fired on.

560m/s individually yes, but as a swarm, a lot of that speed is wasted in the spiraling effect. Meaning they slow down enough they can be out run.

[Honved]

Soon as you can afford an M3 with a rear turret, buy both it and Fight Mk.2 software. That allows you to assign the turret with the "Target Missles Only" command, and all but ends the missle threat (except for the rare head-on launch, which more frequently blows up the launcher while you're shooting at it, than its target). More than once, to my dismay, I've had an M8 launch from about 200m away and take out both itself and me with the blast effect.

[46_n_2]

With "target next enemy" etc, what order do they come in? Distance, or the sector map order? And, for that matter, what's the sector map order?

honestly i have no idea what the next order is but usually it will cycle nearish to far (also since i have it on my stick i can just spam it till it targets what i want).... the ship list on the sector map is alphabetical by class (M1-M2-M7-M6-M8-M3-M4-M5-TL-TM-TS-TP-civilian IIRC)

another way you can target things is by hitting T while its in your boresight but that'll only work when the missile is in front of you (obviously)

[Master of the Blade]

Why not carry a few mosquito missiles and run the Mosquito Missile Defence system? They'll automatically launch to take out any missiles launched at you, and instantly destroy them regardless of class.

[InFlamesForEver]

Shoot them!
I hope this helped!

[devilsad]

To quickly target the next nearest enemy, I generally tap 't' to start the autotargeting and then 'End' to pick the nearest enemy. It does target missiles if they're closer than the ship that fired them. The reason for hitting 't' first is so that it will not pick the next enemy after your current target, but start again from the closest one.

In an M5 you can also hide behind a nearby station or large capital ship, as missiles don't care about obstacles in their way.

[jubbbird]

So ultimately, if you're not running the bonus pack and/or you have to defense missiles...

...targeting them is indeed awkward at best, so you generally have to evade unless you can get the 'nearest enemy' thing to grab the missile or you can spin around to actually see the freakin' thing, which is arguably a bad idea unless you can use your rear-view mirror.

Any attempt to target the missle other than using shift + t (nearest enemy, no?) will require relinquishment of a degree of control, which in a dogfight is perilous, unless you're in old-school control mode (shift + n) or joystick control mode, in which case you can still steer to evade while messing about in the sector map or otherwise.

So you can't see enemy missiles on the sector map, and this visual acquisition or 'nearest enemy' is the only option?

[Zaitsev]

So you can't see enemy missiles on the sector map, and this visual acquisition or 'nearest enemy' is the only option?

Basically, yes. Either that, getting something fast enough to outrun them or something with a rear turret to shoot them down.

[The X-Plorer]

So you can't see enemy missiles on the sector map, and this visual acquisition or 'nearest enemy' is the only option?

Basically, yes. Either that, getting something fast enough to outrun them or something with a rear turret to shoot them down.

You can't see missiles on the sector map, but you CAN see them on the little gravidar map on the bottom right corner of your HUD, they're little red spike icons.

Also, if you want to deal with missiles as little as possible, get a Teladi Kestrel. Those things have a rear turret, THE ONLY M5 with a rear turret.