Personal Ship/Loadout Question - Need a bigga hammer! :)

[Bajau]

First of all, Money is no problem. Secondly, I've enough megaplex's around the place producing anything I need for weapons/missiles/shields (except I've still not completed the Aldrin missions so Terran stations are still beyond me at the moment.) I can also get IBL's and PBGs without a problem.

So. I've been doing a pile of missions in the Springblossom but the Spectre/Polty missile combo is starting to be a 'bit soft' for the level of missions I'm getting. I've got a Thresher, Panther, Tiger and Heavy Dragon floating around doing some sector patrols (plus several Boreas's as well).

My issue is I'm now looking for a decent ship (M7 most likely) that can handle most of the 'Corporate grind' I'm working through while I'm waiting for the microchips to complete the Hub so I can then finish the Aldrin missions.

I was thinking a Deimos but am not really decided. (I suck at capping and boarding also).

Any suggestions?

B.

[werewolves?]

The Shrike is always good, can fit a tonne of typhoons/drones has 8 fighters, and mounts 4 front firing gauss turrets in addition to 8 IBL in the main, can take down anything in the game quickly.

[Sinxar]

Im in a similar situation as you. My Hyperion could technically handle the missions im getting but its just too much effort. Jumping in a brigantine to kill the carracks is cool looking but it doesn't give fight rank either

I was looking at the Shrike as well since it has room for your personal yacht and 7 fighters. The panther is also really good in TC. The only reason that its not on my short list is that I used it way too much in the past and want something different.

[deca.death]

Try them all, eventually it will be so so whatever you try first matters a little. Deimos is good, so is Tiger.

[Triaxx2]

They all have up and down sides. It depends a lot on what you're flying and how you like to fight.

The Shrike is sort of the best middle ground M7 out there. It has the third largest hangar, after the Panther and Griffon. It mounts both IBL's forward, as well as Gauss cannons and can quite easily dispatch just about any other capital ship without any assistance. So far I've only failed to kill two, the Tyr and Boreas with it. The former because of escorts, the latter because I accidentally rammed it. The Shrike has an exceptional cargo bay among M7's and excellent turret coverage, no matter what you chose to slot into those turrets. That said, it's the slowest of the standard M7's.

Talk of ramming brings up the Tiger, which suffers slightly from being a little unwieldy, the point that it's most effective anti-fighter weapon is the nose of the ship. Capable of mounting 12 forward firing IBL's, the Tiger is one of the three fastest commonwealth M7's, tied with the Panther and Q. The Aegir is the only one which is faster. On top of that, it's also one of only two capable of mounting Phased Array Laser cannons. It does suffer from a very long profile, making it less likely that it will avoid missiles fired at it, and making it unsuitable for fighting anything that's firing broad sides. Turret coverage is acceptable, though there are gaps where a fighter can hide. The aren't noticeable enough for the AI to take advantage of them however.

The Panther is the other ship capable of using PALC, and it's very nearly a carrier in it's own right. It actually carries more fighters than the Pirate Galleon, is faster and has a wider variety of potential weapon mountings. The down side is that for it's size and fighter capacity, the cargo bay is far too small. On the other hand, turret coverage is excellent with only a few small gaps, mostly straight up the nose. Rear fighter docking, vertical launch tubes and excellent speed. If you can work with the small cargo bay or simply don't carry combat fighters, it's perfect for use as a conventional M7. If you want to use it as a carrier you'll need cargo vessels to keep it supplied, but it becomes even more dangerous than it is alone.

The Thresher is a powerful ship, but unfortunately, while it's more than capable of instantly barbequing any capital that gets in front of it, it is then useless until it's batteries recharge. Shielded well enough and with middling speed, it's more than capable of fighting corvettes all day long, but against anything larger it's entirely a one-hit wonder.

The Deimos is a powerful ship, but it's not exactly a friendly fire friendly weapons system. It lacks forward IBL mounts, which is not necessarily crippling, if you use an asymmetrical load out, but it's most power is derived from filling every single slot with Phased Shockwave Generators and watching it shatter anything that gets close. And with it's massive shielding, it can keep it up for quite a long time. It's essentially immune to fighters, and capitals will crumble, provided it can get close enough.

The Agamemnon is a more aggressive variant of the Deimos, trading up/down PSG mounts for the ability to mount forward IBL's. Due to the model design however, visibility from the cockpit is lousy.

The Cerberus is a fighter killer. It's capable of dealing with larger threats, but they are quite the challenge. Against fighters, it's one of a small number of ships capable of mounting FAA and CFA everywhere. It's also capable of supplementing them with Ion Disruptors to become immune to missiles. It can mount IBL's, but only in it's left/right turrets.

The Carrack is like the Cerberus, but it's not as capable. It does have a tiny profile and tiny hull and unfortunately, also a tiny cargo bay. It does however, have a very capable weapons generator and can continue to fire for a surprisingly long time. Also like the Cerberus it only mounts IBL's in it's left/right turrets.

The Griffon... I have zero experience with. I've heard it's an excellent fighter and has the second largest hangar of all M7's, mounts IonD and FAA or CFA in every slot. However it lacks capital weapons.

The Q is the Xenon M7 and must be boarded under extremely unfair conditions. However, while it has no cargo bay, it's an extremely tight turner, though it has two weak spots top and bottom and is only capable of mounting PPC's in it's left/right turrets.

The Aegir is the fastest vanilla M7, while the Yokohama is still fairly quick. The downside they both share is the inability to mount true capital weapons, which combined with the lack of variety of Terran weapons overall, means the most effective weapons they bring to the table are often Matter/Anti-Matter Launchers, which while devastating to corvettes and smaller, barely tickle larger ships.

---

So by the end of this you're probably wondering what I mean by Asymmetrical Loadout. The answer is simple. If you can only mount your anti-capital guns in one or two turrets, which cannot fire at the same target at the same time, there's rarely a reason to fill both with anti-capital guns. Instead the best strategy is to circle the target allowing one turret to fire and chip away a them. However, mounting an anti-capital weapon on the other side will mean you are now vulnerable to fighters attacking you from your less defended other side, because capital weapons have trouble shooting fighters. Instead, installing FAA, or other fast firing weapons, means that when fighters come knocking to attack while you're circling, they meet anti-fighter weapons instead of anti-capitals.

[Master of the Blade]

The Carrack is like the Cerberus, but it's not as capable. It does have a tiny profile and tiny hull and unfortunately, also a tiny cargo bay. It does however, have a very capable weapons generator and can continue to fire for a surprisingly long time. Also like the Cerberus it only mounts IBL's in it's left/right turrets.

I beg to differ. The Carrack can bring twice as much anticapital firepower to the field than the Cerberus due to the fact that its L/R turrets have 4 slots each to the Cerb's 2. This actually makes it surprisingly punchy, and you can fly perpendicular to enemy capitals while attacking, meaning evasion is a lot easier. The 2GJ shields mean you're in trouble if you get swarmed by fighters or corvettes, though. Not really worth using as a main playership, but definitely fun to mess around in.

[Triaxx2]

You're right, I forgot about the Carrack being 4 instead of 2.

[werewolves?]

You're right, I forgot about the Carrack being 4 instead of 2.

In AP at least the Carrack becomes an exceptional M7 - 8 PBC's that can all fire forward in addition to their L/R cover means that ship can clear Xenon Core.

[Bajau]

Thanks for all the assistance folks. I'm going to give the Deimos a spin for a little while and then try the Shrike. I've used both the Panther and the Tiger for a bit as well so I need some more comparison.

One question. Sinxar said the Shrike can hold "your personal yacht" as well as fighters. What size 'yacht' can it take?

B.

[Echofinder]

I'm assuming he/she meant your personal fighter, as M7s can't dock anything larger than an M3 without a mod. Though if this were the case the Deimos can also serve this purpose with its 6 hanger slots.

M7s can't dock at most stations, so it's worth acquiring a falcon hauler or two; otherwise you may find yourself stuck when you can't dock at that Gauss cannon factory to equip yourself. Or I suppose you could fiddle with freight drones instead.

[Triaxx2]

Agreed. At least one Falcon Hauler and at least one Blastclaw Prototype. No better way to refuel than a BCP.

[brucewarren]

I usually have a big TS with JD, transporter device and s/w particularly supply s/w on refuel duty. Failing that a freight drone or two isn't too bad for refueling. It's got 800 unit capacity. Which is a bit more than the BCP IIRC

[Bajau]

Agreed. At least one Falcon Hauler and at least one Blastclaw Prototype. No better way to refuel than a BCP.

I knew I shouldn't have sold the BCP I found early in the game...

[Nanook]

... while I'm waiting for the microchips to complete the Hub so I can then finish the Aldrin missions...

As an aside to the main topic, you can start the Aldrin plot as soon as you supply the ore requirement to the Hub. You don't have to wait for all those microchips and finish the Hub plot. The only plot that requires the completion of the Hub is the Player HQ plot. TC plot FAQ.

[Bajau]

... while I'm waiting for the microchips to complete the Hub so I can then finish the Aldrin missions...

As an aside to the main topic, you can start the Aldrin plot as soon as you supply the ore requirement to the Hub. You don't have to wait for all those microchips and finish the Hub plot. The only plot that requires the completion of the Hub is the Player HQ plot. TC plot FAQ.

Yeah, I knew that but I'm waiting for the final set of Hub gates to be ready (I'm up to the final Aldrin mission) so I don't have to reroute a bazillion CLS/CAG ships... If I link the final gates just as I complete the final mission then I'll only need to wait for long enough to realign the gates once and correct a few ship 'non-necessary' to Hub completion. Thanks for the heads up though.

B

[Coreblimey]

If your CLS/CAG ships are fitted with jumpdrives then it should make no difference. And if they aren't, why not?

[Bajau]

If your CLS/CAG ships are fitted with jumpdrives then it shouldn't make no difference. And if they aren't, why not?

Good point. I should have added "and all my sell for best price/buy for best price ships that I've been too lazy to bother going back and changing to CLS/CAG ships as it would take too much effort..."

[Coreblimey]

Now I see your problem!