M7 against M2 AP

[RanKShaNK]

is it worth getting an M7 or better to get an M2 as main ship.
I have over 70 million from playing the stock market and my main ship is an M3 at the moment, i realise that the weapons are more expensive for an M2 but i'm struggling to see the benefits for an M7 as a player ship.

This will be my main ship for the whole duration of the quests.

Also can you recommend what is a good layout for either an M7 or M2 please

[Sirrobert]

Personally I never go above an M6 as personal ship. Higher is just to slow

[AleksMain]

is it worth getting an M7 or better to get an M2 as main ship.
I have over 70 million from playing the stock market and my main ship is an M3 at the moment, i realise that the weapons are more expensive for an M2 but i'm struggling to see the benefits for an M7 as a player ship.

This will be my main ship for the whole duration of the quests.

Also can you recommend what is a good layout for either an M7 or M2 please

Every war mission (Defend station, Assassination, etc.) can be more difficult, than previous, because difficulty of missions rise along with the battle rank of the pilot.

I always prefer to use at least same ships as enemy or even better to destroy enemy ship.

As M7 ship I always use Tiger:
Main
8 Ion Shard Railgun
Right
2 Ion Shard Railgun
Back
2 Ion Shard Railgun
Left
2 High Energy Plasma Thrower
Up
2 High Energy Plasma Thrower
Down
2 High Energy Plasma Thrower


As M2 I use Boreas.

...
I have 7 Boreases in my fleet. Boreas is one of the first M2 ships, which I got (really bought) in X3: Albion Prelude.

I used it for first fights against enemy fleets in different missions. It has one cons: it has not missile defense against enemy M7M or M8.

Commands for turrets:
Front and Right turrets - "Attack my target", other turrets- "Missile Defense"

Configuration of turrets:

Front: 8 Photon Pulse Cannons
Right: 8 Photon Pulse Cannons
Back: 8 Concussion Impulse Generator
Left: 8 Ion Cannon
UP: 4 Incendiary Bomb Launcher
Down: 4 High Energy Plasma Thrower

Best M2 ship is Xenon I for personal fight.

As multi functional carriers with best defense I use M2 Kyotos (capped from Terran fleets):
"Where the Kyoto shines is its ability to dock up to six medium-sized ships, including M6, M8, TP, TS and TM classes"

But for boarding purposes I have few M7M Cobras.

As M2+ I use Xenon I.

P.S.
To get missions just jump from sector to sector.
Cloud Base South West has plenty of missions often.
To save game without Docking you can use Salvage Insurance.

[ancienthighway]

The only reason to get an M2 is to go into enemy space and do as much damage as you can. If that's your game go for it.

But as a main ship, the M2 is too slow and limited in where it can be docked. Horrible choice for a mission ship. The M7 is a bit faster, but also is limited on docking locations. Again, horrible choice for a mission ship.

That being said, a Panther/Panther Raider is a worthy ship to fly, IMO. It's a light carrier that carries a respectable number of fighters that will do serious damage. Toss in the weapons and missiles on the Panther and an M2 will lose. If necessary it can outrun anything that out guns it.

A TM, specifically the Choraro, suits me just fine as a personal/mission ship. If I need more firepower, I can always call in my Panther Raider or whatever M2 I add later in my game.

[pjknibbs]

Personally I never go above an M6 as personal ship. Higher is just to slow

Split Panther and Tiger do 121m/s, which isn't that much slower than most M6s--and you can always fit a turbo booster from the Bonus Pack to help things along a bit!

OP: M7s are pretty darned good ships. When equipped and flown properly most M7s can easily take down an M2 one-on-one--I've done it in a Shrike numerous times. You basically just have to fly an M7 that has capital class weaponry (PPC, IC, GC or IBL) and make sure you stay at long range from your target as long as possible--that usually means reversing once you're in weapons range and strafe rolling to avoid return fire.

Having said that, some are better than others. Thresher is OK against capital ships due to its all-PPC front loadout, but it runs out of weapons energy really quickly and simply can't deal with fighter swarms. Cerberus is weak against capital ships but good against fighters. I personally prefer the Shrike or the Panther due to their fighter-carrying capability, but your mileage may vary.

[insolent1]

Try the Shrike, its a little slow(engine tunings can fix this) but has huge cargo bay for missiles and it is the second most combat capable m7 until IBL are accquired.
I like the postion of the left and right turrets as they are both near the front of the ship and when mounted with FAA the ship has good flak coverage

[MrFiction]

Can't really recommend a Boreas with HEPT and CIG. The ship is powerful enough to be equipped with PPC and flaks all around.

[Triaxx2]

Bloody Stock Market...

Have you flown lesser ships for a while? M5's, M4's and M3's? If not, I suggest taking the cash you've earned and buying some of those to fly around and ensure you know what you want. Then work your way up the size chain from your preferred faction.

Please don't fall into the new user trap: Stock Market>Free Money Exploit>Destroyer/other Capital Ship>This Ship Sucks>This Game Sucks>Rage Quit.

That said, one of my favorite capitals is actually the Pirate Galleon. It's actually a little better now that it's got a Hangar bigger than the Panther's. For a carrier, it's absolutely microscopic, and hits well above it's weight class. Good weapon coverage and it's stupendously good at dodging capital fire.

The benefits to the M7 over an M2 are the spinal batteries being under your direct control (Panther not with standing because it's all turreted.) This lets you hold to charge your PPC/IBL's to do more damage to a target. They also tend to be a bit faster, and considerably more maneuverable than an M2. One of my favorites has always been the Shrike. It's a bit slower than most options, but it's very strong defensively and can mount four Gauss Cannon's in addition to 8xIBL's in it's nose. Smash them with the IBL's to knock down the shields, and then watch your Gauss Cannon's make mincemeat out of the enemy hull.

[Sirrobert]

Personally I never go above an M6 as personal ship. Higher is just to slow

Split Panther and Tiger do 121m/s, which isn't that much slower than most M6s--and you can always fit a turbo booster from the Bonus Pack to help things along a bit!

That's way to slow for a personal ship!
150m/s minimum.

I agree though, when I do fly an M7 for specialist goals (like jumping a Flak Battery in a cloud of Pirate ships), Panther and Tiger all day

[RainerPrem]

Hi,

Personally I never go above an M6 as personal ship. Higher is just to slow

this is interesting. How do you kill the required 50 Xenon capital ships with an M6?

cu
Rainer

[MrFiction]

Hi,

Personally I never go above an M6 as personal ship. Higher is just to slow

this is interesting. How do you kill the required 50 Xenon capital ships with an M6?

cu
Rainer

You don't. But you can fly the M6 yourself and let the AI pilot a bunch of M2 ships, helping you destroy the 50 Xenon capital ships.

[AleksMain]

Hi,

Personally I never go above an M6 as personal ship. Higher is just to slow

this is interesting. How do you kill the required 50 Xenon capital ships with an M6?

cu
Rainer

You don't. But you can fly the M6 yourself and let the AI pilot a bunch of M2 ships, helping you destroy the 50 Xenon capital ships.

Fleet OOS kills does not contribute to combat rank.

Also, what is interest in game if you allow computer to destroy enemy ships, while you can play yourself ?

[pjknibbs]

Fleet OOS kills does not contribute to combat rank.

Also, what is interest in game if you allow computer to destroy enemy ships, while you can play yourself ?

He never said they were OOS, merely that they were under AI control. As for the second point, some people like to play X3AP as if it were more of a fleet command simulator than a space flight simulator, maybe MrFiction is one?

[Sirrobert]

Hi,

Personally I never go above an M6 as personal ship. Higher is just to slow

this is interesting. How do you kill the required 50 Xenon capital ships with an M6?

cu
Rainer

I might get into a different ship for specialized goals. Like I already said.

Like a Flak M7 to clear out loads of Fighters, or take personal command of a big ship for that mission.
But for roaming, nothing bigger than M6. I can always call in something else if it's needed

[Honved]

In my opinion, an M3 is a fighter, plain and simple. It has the speed and maneuverability to engage M6 Corvettes on reasonable terms, in the hands of a capable pilot, despite the huge difference in firepower and shielding.

An M6 turns too slowly to play "fighter", yet lacks the weapons punch to deal with anything larger than itself. I absolutely hate flying M6 ships myself.

An M7 turns only marginally slower than an M6, and will overwhelm it by pure firepower. It has just enough agility to dodge the heavy guns on a larger M2 or M1 at long range.

An M1/M2 is not a dogfighter, and simply outguns anything smaller. Choose a target, and it dies, if your ship can catch it. Not what I consider interesting, but worth having around when something needs to be removed from the game.

Then you have M8 bombers, which are capable of exterminating virtually anything if you're willing and able to pay for the missiles to do it.

[Jimmy C]

He never said they were OOS, merely that they were under AI control.

Only the ships killed by the guns or missiles launched from your personal ship count towards the combat rank. Your AI ships don't contribute to it, OOS or IS.

[astreus]

At last, the Springblossom (M6) is my best player ship. Even in spite of it's restricted weapon and missle model system.

Fast (360!) with strong shields and good cargo space.
Only one weapon is useful: The aldrin version the the flak.
Use 8 in front and one shoot is enough for a M3 or M3+.
Or less if you like to get them bail out.
Use 1 and a M5 is gone.

No fear for Tomahawk or Typhoon missles - they won't be launched against a 360m/s ship!

Fast enough to avoid too many hits, you take down even a Q with some attacks.

Against M1,2 call your big tanks

[RAVEN.myst]

As a personal ship to operate from, you are likely to find a M2 disgustingly and frustratingly sluggish: it takes what, about a full minute to turn once? As someone above mentioned, best to only fly those when you fancy just throwing your weight a bit, or if you want to work a bit on your fight rank - then you might consider an Odysseus (if you're ok with flying Paranid) equipped with PPCs, FAAs and PSGs - take that into a Xenon sector and have fun.

But for a ship to "live in", I would recommend a M6 or M7, and in the latter case I STRONGLY recommend one that is able to accommodate smaller ships, fighters at least, so that you can hop into your favourite fighter and go dock wherever you need to.

But to get a bit more fundamental here... what I would TRULY recommend is to save off this game, start again, and FORGET ABOUT THE STOCK EXCHANGE. Going from flying a fighter straight to shopping around for a capital ship is much too precipitous in what I suspect is your first time around - doing so you skip both the experience and the enjoyment of all the intermediate ship types, and there are a number of those. A more gradual game, especially in the first couple of playthroughs, is generally much more advisable and makes for a fuller game experience (as well as allowing you to explore the gradual variety that is available) - basically, if you have to ask "do I get an M7 or an M2", then you don't know enough about either to be making that choice yet (or, really, to even be flying either of them!), so (in my opinion) you really ought to slow down - then you will discover where your play style is most comfortable, and choose accordingly.

Good hunting!

[hisazul]

It's all preferences and personal ability that make a ship or break it. Someone can say m6 can't take on anything larger then it self... and I can go on hyperion solo and wreck an entire core xenon sector that means J, K and Q galore plus the cannon fodder. Someone could say anything after m3 is just too slow.... but then they actually try and they fall in love with the damn thing.

I tried overtunning caps to past 200... Yes a Kyoto or Pteranodon that goes that fast gave me a bit of amusement and then I threw them away. Couldn't deal with that... didn't feel right or good and I couldn't fight with my Kyoto at all... I love terran ships too much and they don't really work well if they are fast. Relearning combat is one thing... getting used to shooting PSP at high speed would be.... hard... but I'd lose my immortal turtle feeling that most terran ships give. I love to just stop and laugh at majority of other ships that can't really do much to terran caps unless you fall asleep while piloting the thing. Then again Kyoto is an odd ball it's turnining and straifing makes a good portion of m6 selection look like bricks being tugged by hamster on a string. Certainly fast enough that you can swing it and flatten most fighters buzzing around you heh.

To each his own... my personal ship tends to be hyperion and overtuned past 400 m/s and yet I thoroughly dislike capitals that go past ~ 70 m/s mark.... Pteranodon and Woden would probably be the only exceptions.

Frigs are like all ships between m5 and m1, transition ships... you lose something that previous class had and gain something new. Some of them will feel like an m2 but realistically speaking compared to "good" m2 they are not there but they still retain decent speed considering the size jump from m6 to m7.

I wouldn't jump classes if it's your first time playing tho... try them all. Try everything... for some people having a hangar on their personal ship is pretty much an absolute requirement... some won't touch anything that doesn't have some good cargo capacity... some need their favorite weapons and some just need that bling feeling.

[ancienthighway]

Someone can say m6 can't take on anything larger then it self... and I can go on hyperion solo and wreck an entire core xenon sector

Then again, an overtuned Hyperion isn't really an M6 any more except in class designation only. I'd go so far as to say the same for an untuned Hyperion. Try that Xenon sector in an off the shelf CW M6 and you'll realize you are talking exception rather than the rule.