split Pteranodon

[Orion1632]

Is the split Pteranodon available only after the start of the Shady business plot?

[Sinxar]

Is the split Pteranodon available only after the start of the Shady business plot?

No, what would give you that idea? You can buy it as soon as you have the rep + money.

http://roguey.co.uk/x3ap/ships/ship-352/where.html

[rzadzins]

Isn't that Patriarch's seclusion btw? Also you can buy it from Rhonkar's trial, however I don't recommend as the sector doesnt have a space eqpt dock so you cannot boost the speed right away.

[hisazul]

Just remember that this ship only shines when equipped with PALC. And they are rare... otherwise its rubbish. Who wants m2+ with ISR? I mean I love ISR and all... but cmon now.

[Sinxar]

Isn't that Patriarch's seclusion btw?

Nope.
[ external image ]

Also you can buy it from Rhonkar's trial, however I don't recommend as the sector doesnt have a space eqpt dock so you cannot boost the speed right away.

Ya thats not my site. There are all kinds of small errors and omissions. I seen from another source that it is available in Rhonkar's Trial but didn't feel like flying there in a new game to check.

[rzadzins]

Just remember that this ship only shines when equipped with PALC. And they are rare... otherwise its rubbish. Who wants m2+ with ISR? I mean I love ISR and all... but cmon now.

Correct, the only reasonable loadout for a Pteranodon is 8xPPC + 20xPALC. It took me a long while to gather that many, about 100 Qs killed. You can use the ISRs as "stubs" until you find PALCs to replace them. Then this ship becomes a mercilles killer, because the PALCs are super-efficient on the hull from a very long range, you can destroy practically anything before they even get in range to touch your shields.

[Sovereign01]

Which Qs drop them? I did a Xenon patrol and blew up dozens of them, none dropped any PALCs. Should I pay a visit to a Xenon sector and pop Qs until some spawn with them on board, or would I be better off instead going to UFJD sectors and doing the same?

[phantomrock2]

That is where you can buy it! & if you were able to pick up Phased Array Cannons in the Xenon Graveyard then no need to worry you can use the UFJD to take on Xenon & there's a chance one will be dropped after it has been destroyed. Just make sure you have enough shields to hold you while you collect that ware. I would go out there with a Tyr or a Megalodon loaded with Firestorm torpedoes.

I do not know why this ship can only equip 5 2GJ shields... That's a lot of hard work to only get a M2 that can only hold 5 2GJ shields. You just get the blueprint after the SB plot is finished

[DrBullwinkle]

I do not know why this ship can only equip 5 2GJ shields...

The light shielding balances the overpowered guns and fast turning rate.

Pteranodon is designed to be flown by the player -- not by your AI pilots. As a playership, it is the mightiest beast in the 'verse.

[rzadzins]

Which Qs drop them? I did a Xenon patrol and blew up dozens of them, none dropped any PALCs. Should I pay a visit to a Xenon sector and pop Qs until some spawn with them on board, or would I be better off instead going to UFJD sectors and doing the same?

From my experience there are 3 loadouts that spawn on a Q and only one of them has 4 PALCs, from which 1-2 can drop. I am not sure but I think the loadouts depend on the fight rank. Not entirely fair, but if you're getting desperate, you can start the following:

1. UFJD, check if the sector has the typical group of 3* Q
2. Fly to them, scan them
3. If either has PALCs, save - and destroy them until you get the drop.

As I wrote, not entirely fair, but up to you

[Graaf]

5x 2GJ shielding is a lot given that it is a Split Destroyer.

[Sovereign01]

Which Qs drop them? I did a Xenon patrol and blew up dozens of them, none dropped any PALCs. Should I pay a visit to a Xenon sector and pop Qs until some spawn with them on board, or would I be better off instead going to UFJD sectors and doing the same?

From my experience there are 3 loadouts that spawn on a Q and only one of them has 4 PALCs, from which 1-2 can drop. I am not sure but I think the loadouts depend on the fight rank. Not entirely fair, but if you're getting desperate, you can start the following:

1. UFJD, check if the sector has the typical group of 3* Q
2. Fly to them, scan them
3. If either has PALCs, save - and destroy them until you get the drop.

As I wrote, not entirely fair, but up to you

Sounds like a good idea- I have a total of 9 PALCs, 8 from the mission and one from a Spacefly hunting Tiger. I've found that my Tiger is actually pretty handy against Qs when I took on some in X347, though less so vs Ks, have to see if my Shrike does any better.

I just have to decide which ship to use to give this a shot

I actually do have a Tyr and a Mega, with firestorms. I think I need to set up a Hornet plex so I can wade in there with my Xenon I

[Sovereign01]

UPDATE: I just took a sector patrol, had a Q spawn with 4, so that answers the question if XI Qs spawn with PALCs. Hopefully I can profit from this

EDIT: Managed to acquire 6 PALCs so far, half from XI Qs, the other from UJD ones, bringing my total up to 15. I need another 5 to fully arm my Pteranodon's turrets- it was already formidable with the original 9

[stavros]

I've only managed to pick up 3 PALC's and none of them were from killing Q's. Mine came from killing Carracks whilst doing protect station missions.

[Orion1632]

well back to the original question, I am finally back at my PC and no I can't find that ship at any of the shipyards stated.

So maybe it only comes in at a certain time in the plot time line?

[DrBullwinkle]

Well, since it is plot related, be sure that you want to know the answer before reading...

Spoiler

Show

The blueprints for the Pteranodon are one of three possible rewards at the end of Shady Business.

The ship is so powerful that you would not really want it sooner than that anyway.

[Sinxar]

well back to the original question, I am finally back at my PC and no I can't find that ship at any of the shipyards stated.

So maybe it only comes in at a certain time in the plot time line?

Welp I have to ask. Are you playing TC or AP? This ship is not available in TC nor is the Shady Business plot.

I just double checked with a new game. It is there at the start of a new game in all three stations and it is there in my main game (middle of Shady Business plot) at all 3 stations.

Are you using any mods that change the behavior of shipyards, etc? If so you will need to check with the mod author about it.

[Orion1632]

Playing AP, and no mods that affect shipyards.... That I know of.

[Sinxar]

Playing AP, and no mods that affect shipyards.... That I know of.

Is there a mammoth for sale at those shipyards? The tiny amount of research I just did points to MARS not being compatible with AP 3.0. Something about it using its own tships file or something like that. I don't use it so I cannot confirm or deny if this is true or not, just a bit of googling turned that up.

[DrBullwinkle]

MARS Repacked for Plugin Manager is AP 3.x-compatible.