[TC] Some boarding questions.

[Lea Flamma]

Hi, as I read some of the guides about boarding with an M7M I found I am still lacking some answers. So here my questions go:

1. How many marrines can one Pod contain?
2. What happens with the marrines that can't board a ship, if the Pod cantains more the ship can?
3. Do I have to sit in the M7M in order to lunch the Pods or can it be done with the "Commands" window?

[heratik]

1. five I think, maybe four, hopefully someone else can confirm.

2. When the hull cutting is complete the extra marines will float off into space, which is fine unless the target ship starts firing it's turrets at them.

3. M7M can be ordered to launch via Commands window.

[Kirlack]

1) pods hold 5 marines, if you fire them personally from your M7M like any other missile. Otherwise, they hold 4. (So to remote launch 20 marines, you'll need 5 pods).

3) to remote launch you've got two options. Open command menu of the M7M and use the piracy command, or open the command menu, access 'additional commands' (below the regular command slots), and use the 'launch all marines' command.

[Lea Flamma]

So... to remotely capture an M6 I need 2 pods, what will happen to the remaining 3 marrines? Are they going to be spaced?

I am off now to some practicing. That Minoutar is slow as hell

[ajax34i]

You don't need pods to capture M6 ships, it's easy to do with just another M6 ordering the marines to board. If you do it with an M7M you will have trouble controlling your damage to take the shields out but not damage the hull, because the M7M missiles do too much damage to such a small target.

To answer your question, marines who don't fit typically just wait around in space, and you can pick them up after the fight.

[Lea Flamma]

You don't need pods to capture M6 ships, it's easy to do with just another M6 ordering the marines to board. If you do it with an M7M you will have trouble controlling your damage to take the shields out but not damage the hull, because the M7M missiles do too much damage to such a small target.

To answer your question, marines who don't fit typically just wait around in space, and you can pick them up after the fight.

I was intending to use a H. Centaur stacked with Ion Disruptors with a command to "attack shields of..." and some drones as distraction with the same command and just lunch a B. Pod at it. I imagine it would be the best way to capture a Hyperion or H. Centaur Prototype, which are my current targets.

[Nanook]

So... to remotely capture an M6 I need 2 pods, what will happen to the remaining 3 marrines? Are they going to be spaced?

When you give it the boarding/piracy command, a menu pops up and you can choose which marines to send. You don't have to send them all. If you fire them manually, you don't get a choice.

[Cycrow]

also, only 2 marines will be remaining, as ships can hold an extra marine while boarding, so 6 can board an m6

the 2 that dont make it will be ejected into space and slowly make thier way back to your ship

[Kirlack]

I was intending to use a H. Centaur stacked with Ion Disruptors with a command to "attack shields of..." and some drones as distraction with the same command and just lunch a B. Pod at it.

I fear this is doomed to fail. If your Ion equipped H. Centaur is firing on the target as the pod approaches, your marines will be wiped out. Ion fire will 'jump' from the target to the pod and then: poof. No more marines.

[Nanook]

You don't need pods to capture M6 ships, it's easy to do with just another M6 ordering the marines to board. If you do it with an M7M you will have trouble controlling your damage to take the shields out but not damage the hull, because the M7M missiles do too much damage to such a small target.

To answer your question, marines who don't fit typically just wait around in space, and you can pick them up after the fight.

I was intending to use a H. Centaur stacked with Ion Disruptors with a command to "attack shields of..." and some drones as distraction with the same command and just lunch a B. Pod at it....

As Kirlack said, this approach is doomed to failure. Do not use Ion D's as shield suppressors. Use them initially to fry off any equipment or marines on the target ship, and then switch to something like PAC's, or even IRE's, to keep the shields down. Or just use enough drones.

[Lea Flamma]

As Kirlack said, this approach is doomed to failure. Do not use Ion D's as shield suppressors. Use them initially to fry off any equipment or marines on the target ship, and then switch to something like PAC's, or even IRE's, to keep the shields down. Or just use enough drones.

I must say doomed was not the outcome of the last 5 boardings. Captured myself a Heavy Centaur Prototype, two Pirate Cantaurs, Xenon P and a Pirate Osprey.

I used a Vidar full of EMPC and a Heavy Centaur full of ID, both on the command to "Attack shields of..." Each Boarding Pod was given a distraction of 5 Drones, each on the same command as the M6s. No missiles fired and just 2 marrines lost each boarding. It's a good way to train them.

I must find myself some more defend missions.

Another question, is it possible to board a TL that is carrying NPC only stations and keep them? I just came across a Hercules and boarded it. I ended up with a Heavy Shield Production Facility. It says it can produce 1GJ and 2GJ I think.

[Nanook]

As Kirlack said, this approach is doomed to failure. Do not use Ion D's as shield suppressors. Use them initially to fry off any equipment or marines on the target ship, and then switch to something like PAC's, or even IRE's, to keep the shields down. Or just use enough drones.

I must say doomed was not the outcome of the last 5 boardings. Captured myself a Heavy Centaur Prototype, two Pirate Cantaurs, Xenon P and a Pirate Osprey.

I used a Vidar full of EMPC and a Heavy Centaur full of ID, both on the command to "Attack shields of..."..

Then you've been very, very lucky. Ion D's will kill pods if it hits them. Most likely, the pods arrived at a lull in the Heavy Centaur's firing. But that's just due to luck, since you can't control the AI's firing patterns.

....
Another question, is it possible to board a TL that is carrying NPC only stations and keep them? I just came across a Hercules and boarded it. I ended up with a Heavy Shield Production Facility. It says it can produce 1GJ and 2GJ I think.

You'll get a factory that produces one of the two shields when you deploy it. You'll never get the complex that produces both. This goes for all such NPC stations.

[Lea Flamma]

As Kirlack said, this approach is doomed to failure. Do not use Ion D's as shield suppressors. Use them initially to fry off any equipment or marines on the target ship, and then switch to something like PAC's, or even IRE's, to keep the shields down. Or just use enough drones.

I must say doomed was not the outcome of the last 5 boardings. Captured myself a Heavy Centaur Prototype, two Pirate Cantaurs, Xenon P and a Pirate Osprey.

I used a Vidar full of EMPC and a Heavy Centaur full of ID, both on the command to "Attack shields of..."..

Then you've been very, very lucky. Ion D's will kill pods if it hits them. Most likely, the pods arrived at a lull in the Heavy Centaur's firing. But that's just due to luck, since you can't control the AI's firing patterns.

....
Another question, is it possible to board a TL that is carrying NPC only stations and keep them? I just came across a Hercules and boarded it. I ended up with a Heavy Shield Production Facility. It says it can produce 1GJ and 2GJ I think.

You'll get a factory that produces one of the two shields when you deploy it. You'll never get the complex that produces both. This goes for all such NPC stations.

Thanks for the tips. It seems I was really lucky. Also using IDs on an AI ships is rather stupid. I discovered it does not check the range of a weapon and usually fires them before it can actually hit the target. Which ends in it's generators failing to support all weapons when they actually can do damage.

Is there any way I can command all groups os Drones? It's rather tedious to order each one ( and there are 20+) to attack shields. I have the Carrier Software, but it only makes the drones return to my ship once their task is complete. Or I have missed something.

[Zaitsev]

Is there any way I can command all groups os Drones? It's rather tedious to order each one ( and there are 20+) to attack shields. I have the Carrier Software, but it only makes the drones return to my ship once their task is complete. Or I have missed something.

Go to the command console and select the last "normal" command, I think it says "broadcast to all ships in sector" or something. When you select it you'll get to chose which class of ships you want to transmit the order to, and if I remember correctly transmitting to drones is one of the options. Select drones, and your orders will be transmitted to every active drone in the sector.

[DiArmada]

1) pods hold 5 marines, if you fire them personally from your M7M like any other missile. Otherwise, they hold 4. (So to remote launch 20 marines, you'll need 5 pods).

for boarding ops I always use the Aquilo and Sirokos.
are you telling me that I've wasted my boardingpods that way?
hmm, now you mention it, there are usually five trails leaving the Sirokos...
thanks for the info.

[Nanook]

Is there any way I can command all groups os Drones? It's rather tedious to order each one ( and there are 20+) to attack shields. I have the Carrier Software, but it only makes the drones return to my ship once their task is complete. Or I have missed something.

Go to the command console and select the last "normal" command, I think it says "broadcast to all ships in sector" or something. When you select it you'll get to chose which class of ships you want to transmit the order to, and if I remember correctly transmitting to drones is one of the options. Select drones, and your orders will be transmitted to every active drone in the sector.

There's no option for attacking shields when using the broadcast command, unfortunately. So yes, the only way to get drones to attack shields is to order them individually. It's why most players simply order the drones to attack and carefully monitor the damage.