TL Class ships and your opinions?

[Agykoo]

Hello ^_^

I was wondering what every one thought about the diffrent TL Class ships.

Whats your Fav TL and why?

Do you bother to arm your TL with weapons? and if so what ones?

Do you mainly use it for station carrying? or do you use it for other useses?

Just wondering what every one thought, thank you ^_^


(as of me playing Reunion)
as to my self, i like the mammoth becuse of its huge cargo hold. and its doesint look to bad.
but the split elephant is to me the coolist looking TL, sad that it also has the smallist hold.

as to arms i use A-PBEs on my mammoth. not sure why i bother to put weapons on it, but they are there XD ^_^

[pjknibbs]

In Reunion TLs are often used as "poor man's carriers" (since the TM class doesn't exist), and in that role, the Elephant excels--it's the cheapest, fastest, and carries the most ships, plus you can install PPCs on the rear turret and exploit their range advantage over Kyons to take down Kha'ak capital ships!.If you actually want to build stations then the Mammoth is the best due to its large cargo hold. Boron Orca is kind of a compromise between those two ships, but has difficulties undocking from a shipyard in-sector due to the huge fin at the back--I'd rather use one of the first two.

As for the other two, I doubt anyone would ever get either on stats alone, because they're frankly rubbish. The Hercules looks kind of cool but has little else going for it, and the Albatross is overpriced and under-performing like most Teladi ships. The only real reason to have an Albatross is because it can mount flak and PSG, but it doesn't really have the weapons energy to make good use of these guns and you don't want to be putting a gigantic ship with only 625MJ of shielding into harm's way anyway.

[Nanook]

..The only real reason to have an Albatross is because it can mount flak and PSG, but it doesn't really have the weapons energy to make good use of these guns and you don't want to be putting a gigantic ship with only 625MJ of shielding into harm's way anyway.

Have to disagree with pjknibbs on this. The Albatross has better shielding than all the other TL's except the Hercules. The fact that it's so huge and can mount FLAK weapons makes it a good, IMO, TL for the more combat minded player. For example, I've used it to successfully clear Pirate Alley on numerous occasions. The combination of the shielding, FLAKs and its huge size make it very difficult for the pirate fighters to do too much to it.

[TycHouse]

Personally i used the Elephant for all the reasons pjknibbs has mentioned.
I used it as my personal carrier until i could afford a Zeus, it's a good allrounder, can mount flak in the sides, has reasonable cargo size and it's fast.
I mounted AHEPT's all round and kept 2xbppc's and some aflakk's in the cargo hold. Ahept's kill fighters with ease and flakk's kill m4's & m5's - the 2xbppc's as mentioned get rid of nasty destroyers at a range of about 5.6-5.7km.

[TTD]

Depending on which version I am playing and what I want to do...

First choice in Elephant because it's cheap and can earn it's keep

Then the Ryu
Still limited in storage space but is robust enough for the occasional skirmish

Never really cared much for Teladi and Boron TLs

When I have enough funds then I go for the Mammoth.
A few of those working for you carrying the stations for a complex...and the elephant and Ryu collecting CCKs...these make for a good construction company

As for Terran TLs...there are two.
The Mobile Mining Base Ship looks cool, but has no real advantage over the Mammoth if only using for station builds.
However the Atmospheric Lifter , which looks like an over-sized Hard-Disk-Drive has a lot more space for stations.
Unfortunately, you can't buy them...only gained by boarding or scripting.

[RayF]

I use the TLs just for cargo and complex building. With this in mind i went for the biggest cargo space i could find: The Atmospheric lifter. (iam playing TC).

I have 3 lifters,
1 hercules that sits between me and the hub as storage
1 albatros that acts as storage for weapons for my fleet
1 elephant that is currently mining nividum
& one terran mobile mining base that sits somewhere doing nothing:)


I dont bother arming my TLs.

[Black_hole_suN]

he only real reason to have an Albatross is because...

I have an Albatross in my PHQ sector... I renamed it as "Alcatraz Maximum Security Prison". It also houses all pilots who kindly donated their ships to me, pilots who thought my shiny M6 is just a quick taxi and tourist whose tours gone terribly wrong.

From time to time a CLS Blastclaw named "Warden" docks to it and stays there for a long time.. Who knows what it is doing there..

[Nanook]

...
Then the Ryu..

He's playing Reunion.

[TTD]

...
Then the Ryu..

He's playing Reunion.

Depending on which version I am playing

[Earth Ultimatum IV.]

The Albatross is really great in X3AP for station building missions and for empire building.

But otherwise I find TLs rather meaningless, since you cannot dock them at a factory, and do trading (yes, you theoretically can dock small ships at the TL and use them to load the cargo on the TL, however it's just not good for profit making).

I never liked Elephant, Raptor or Python due to that first-person view. That nose is just UGLY from the bridge perspective.

[DiArmada]

in X3;R I was using an Elephant for the reasons stated above: speed, usable as a carrier and cool-looking.
I didn't know there was an undocking issue with the Boron Orca , but then again, I never fly TL's myself.
in AP the Orca has more cargospace than the Elephant, while it also has a decent speed.
when building a complex with a lot of stations your TL has to make many trips.
most of the time is spent on the TL being OOS flying from the gate/jump beacon to the shipyard.
that's why I changed to Orca's later on in the game.[/b]

[TTD]

erm...Dolphin is TS...


I think you mean Orca ?

[DiArmada]

oops, thx TTD.
I knew it was some kind of large swimming mammal.

[Threesixtyci]

In Reunion, I found TL's to be pretty useless for anything other than placing your own factories. In which case, the more it could hold the better.

As for TC, the Split Elephant is a pretty good one to use for Build missions. But the reward for Build missions is a bit of a farce. The reward does not compensate for the out of pocket expense of buying the factory. Also, it's a pretty good idea to get a tractor beam, for any possible mistakes you might make in placing the factory on the beacon. (unless you don't mind save scumming when things don't go your way.)

[Honved]

As for TC, the Split Elephant is a pretty good one to use for Build missions. But the reward for Build missions is a bit of a farce. The reward does not compensate for the out of pocket expense of buying the factory.

I don't know what your Trade rank is, but I tend to make anywhere from 500K to several million above and beyond the cost of the station. At really low trade rank, I've seen the rewards fall short of the factory cost, but by the time I can afford the TL, it's generally not an issue, except in a heavily combat-oriented game.

To me, the Split Elephant is pretty close to the perfect "My First TL". It's faster than any other TL, carries a heap of fighters (great for hauling around bailed fighters until you feel like doing the EVA time to repair them), and is great for placing STATIONS. It can carry enough shields and weapons (including PRGs, which make short work of most light fighters) to generally survive until you either show up to defend it or until it can jump to safety. I recall many games where I had an Elephant (often accompanied by a TS, M6, or other ship) following my M3 at roughly a 1 sector distance (OOS is preferable to frequent collisions), doing all sorts of routine trade and resupply stuff plus a few build missions in my wake.

Eventually, you'll want to start placing COMPLEXES, not just "stations". At this point, the Elephant isn't big enough, and you'll want either an Argon Mammoth, Terran Atmospheric Lifter, or something similar for the job, unless you like making 20+ trips to the Shipyard. The Elephant is still useful as a light carrier, mobile supply depot, and station placer tagging along after your combat ship(s), through the end of the game.

The Paranid Hercules is a second-best starter TL, with a little bit more room, but a bit slower and with less hanger bays, for a moderate amount more credits. I never use the Telaid or Boron TLs unless I somehow end up with a captured one (Honestly, officer, I have NO IDEA how that got here!).

[Nanook]

...
Then the Ryu..

He's playing Reunion.

Depending on which version I am playing

Why muddy the waters and perhaps confuse a new player? I'm not sure he'd understand you're referring to a different game rather than a different version of Reunion.

[LTerSlash]

What do i think? i can say it with a video?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li5zfwBTxSw

Also if i remember well, Rapid Response does not respond to a TL attacking a sector, thats already a huge advantage.

[hisazul]

Well... in Reunion I'll go with the riot and say that its mobile storage or station building. Never found any other area where TL ship was "better".

In AP... that's a different story. Atmospheric Lifter... with 50000 cargo used for Keris drones can chew through a xenon sector like a boss. Now don't get me wrong it should work just fine in Reunion too... but khaak and beam weapons... even if AI misses still makes drone use somewhat limited.

Frankly, as far as I'm concerned, a TL + A LOT of Mk1 fighter drones > most carrier set ups. Mk1 drones cost peanuts to make/buy and can be produced fast. They require no set up.... so you guessed it... you don't need a superplex just to equip your fighters with 25mj shields. Once a drone is build that is it, it's completely done and ready for combat. Now sure my Woden with a full set of decked out Fenrirs packs more firepower... yeah... but believe me when I say this, every single time I lose a Fenrir I shudder at the idea of having to go though equipping new one... and the cost and time of making one... yeah. I don't dismiss Mk2 drones they are better at dealing with cap ships and so are keris which I happened to like a lot but mk1 tend to simply be a better option in the long run. Taking down big targets would still be a better job for a m2.

And yes I know most people don't use TLs in such a way but it doesn't mean it doesn't work. Also its exceptionally easy to maintain. You would think a TL would be easy target... you would be wrong a cloud of drones works better at absorbing most of the fire then any defense you can assign to a carrier short of a missile boat. Another benefit deploying a few of "drone TLs" means for the most part I can run around and do my thing while drones eat most of the heat. Which eliminates need for large fleets. You can pair 2 "drone TLs" with a capital and that capital can go around shooting things until pigs fly and most of the time nobody will even bother with it.

Mk1 drone may only have 50 hull and a single IRE but their 400 m/s and crazy steering make most of shots miss. And in large quantities they completely trap AI.

Just one thing to note. They last for 10 minutes. If your fight isn't over in 10 minutes they will all die >_> So don't throw all your drones out in a fight that looks like it will take a long time. Besides there is only so many drones that can attack a target. Smart use would be launching more as they are needed.

Since you are playing Reunion discussing wonders of Mosquito Missile Defense is pointless but it's still awesome. Makes for a wonderful missile immune ship. But on relevant note TLs can dock ships... so if your using Falcon haulers to transport XL cargo they can also be used as bombers. Just strip their weapons and load them with any good missiles like thunderbolt or tempest. Launch them and let them unload all their missiles then dock them and reload... rinse and repeat until you get tired. TLs can carry a lot of those missiles... With good enough set up and practice you may not even need a capital ship to deal with bigger targets.

All this can be done from any range. So IS you can engage from FAR FAR away... way out of reach of any serious weapons.

[Agykoo]

thank you all so much for all the info ^_^

also sorry for the late response (have been busy in the bug thread ^_^).

lots of cool info and things in here. the drone boat idea that hisazul talked about i have thought of before. cool to hear it would work. ^_^

also @ nanook, its she, but its ok as i am used to it after so many years of gaming ^_^

again thank you all for the cool info ^_^

i am still playign reunion atm, and have found my love for the elephant. i love it as a cheap mini destryor for OOS combat (its also suprisingly easy to outfit with beta PPCs..........that are strangly are much easyer to find then beta HEPTs XD). i also liek its speed and the way it looks. as to using it as a mini carrier yet i haveint goten around to it yet, but i hope to sometime ^_^

[TTD]

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