Hype and the Wraith missile

[Bill Huntington]

I like to take down a Q whenever they come out of their sectors. It’s a good fight in a Xenon sector, but they are spawning and coming at you so many ways inside.

Outside it’s a pretty good fight for me and the overtuned Hype that you get as the reward for the PP start. I’ve used the Wraith before, a pretty good missile to have when you are piloting some of the Terran ships. It is interesting that the one CW ship that can use the Wraith is the Hype.

I use some missiles in my game, but not a lot. But I needed more help with my Q combat. I used the Wasp before, which is more of a distraction to the Q than a real help. When I first started using the Wraith, the Q would target the Wraith I just launched, and it blew up and made a pretty good hole in my own shields. I tried launching from directly behind the Q and had better luck with that. The Wraith is a swarm missile with 8 warheads in each missile. When the Wraith is close, it takes a lot of shots at the missile. It usually gets most of the warheads if a single Wraith is fired. I did a lot better when I fired from a distance of 8 or 9 km, and fired 4 or 5 of them. Then I would close with the Q. As I strafed back and forth to avoid its fire, the Wraiths closed in on the Q. They did a respectable amount of damage when they hit. Once its shields are gone, the Q goes down pretty fast. Even when it is shooting up the multiple Wraiths, that means it is not shooting you.

The Wraith takes up only 1 volume, which is nice. It has a good punch with 125 damage, and a speed of 170. The speed is not great, but for what it delivers, it is good enough. The Banshee is a pretty good medium missile, in my opinion. But it suffers in comparison to the Wraith: speed 153, damage 74.

The Hype and the Wraith, a good combo !

Question: What missiles, and other tactics, do pilots use to take down the Q ?

[Kirlack]

Bill, I love and respect the Wraith missile as a cap killer, but due to the difficulty in sourcing them I tend to use Typhoons as my primary anti-capital missile. Every Commonwealth M6 or higher (I think) can use them and they are widely available, plus you can buy the factory for them more or less from the start, with a bit of cash and a decent Teladi rep.

I've also recently discovered the power of Tornado missiles! These are great for blasting down encroaching capitals, but your aim has to be pretty dead on.

Of course, where possible I'll just call in a bomber instead and use 'hawks to blast them out of the sky

EDIT: Since I completely missed the second part of your question Bill (D'oh!). Other tactics for Q killing: Whilst piloting my Shrike (and only the Shrike, no other M7 mounts Gauss Cannons): Head straight for the Q and start charging IBL shots from my main guns at about the 8-9 km mark. Whilst that's outside of range for the IBL the time taken to charge shots, plus the Q moving towards me at speed usually means the Q is getting hit by charged shots before it even starts to fire. By the time it's within range of my Gauss cannons the IBLs have typically dropped the shields, leaving the GC to punch through the hull. All told a Shrike vs Q engagement lasts ~30 seconds

[EricMoore]

I'm using the power of Tornado and really find it fun and interesting.

________________
"Mishaps are like aitor knife that either serve us or cut us as we grasp them by the blade."

[Morkonan]

My Standard Q Response Protocol : Jump into the zone, order in a Claymore, order it to launch a barrage of Phantoms, watch the Q blow up, order in my Cleanup Crew (A split Boa with four Taledi Falcons) to collect any debris, then I jump out and order everyone back to base once the op is complete.

[DrBullwinkle]

Killing a single Q with a Hyperion is giving you trouble??

A couple of ISR's combined with CIG's in your main guns is all it takes. No missiles required (but, yeah, Typhoons rock).

If you have trouble avoiding the Q's guns, then try holding down W and D at the same time, and fly in a spiral toward your target. A Q should be easy that way.

Like the classic barrel roll in air combat, flying in a spiral makes it difficult for anyone to hit a ship -- whether AI or player. It is a standard maneuver in all space and aircraft sims.

[kolimbo]

The Q has a stupidly-ass big blind spot, just close in and gun it down where it can't shoot at you.

Personally, I just murk it with hammer torps or firestorms. No kill like over-kill. (Seriously, hammer fab and firestorm fab are probably the two best investments I've made thus far. every capital ship in my fleet can fire firestorms so an engagement usually ends before ships get into weapons range)