X3AP Capped L

[delray]

For the people who aren't sure if what they are doing will ever eventually succeed, here's my confirmed cap of an L today:

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- Boron M6 Heavy Hydra, 6x PBE up front, EBC in turrets (disabled).
- Grand Exchange.
- Very Easy Sector Patrol mission.
- Spawned 5x Ns (killed those with hurricanes) and 3x L.
- First of the Ls I approached and grilled with the full battery of my PBEs bailed at 2/3 hull.
- Fighter rank Master Chief.

Total killed Ls before cap: Around 50. Took me around 4h real time, though I really focused on it.

[Don_Zardeone]

Started playing again recently. The first L I fought bailed at 1%. I didn't stop shooting :/

[RAVEN.myst]

Yeah, if I had a nickel/penny/cent/whatever for every time that's happened to me, I'd be a rich man...

[Spearthrower]

For the people who aren't sure if what they are doing will ever eventually succeed, here's my confirmed cap of an L today:

Only just started playing AP a week or so back, and L's are the only Xenon which have bailed, and there's been a lot of them. I've got 12 now, with one already given away for the mission.

Not sure if they're worth keeping though, but I'll worry about them later when I've got a PHQ.

[RAVEN.myst]

They're not bad as drone fighters, if you outfit them right. Not great, but not bad (they used to be good in X2, but gradually have been superseded by new designs.) If you capture any LXs, though, those are pretty darned decent, even as a personal fighter.

EDIT: Oh, and you mention PHQ - Ls are pretty cheap and, more importantly, quick to build (~40mins each, iIrc), so you can churn them out by the shipload, decent for outfitting a carrier.

[Spearthrower]

They're not bad as drone fighters, if you outfit them right. Not great, but not bad (they used to be good in X2, but gradually have been superseded by new designs.) If you capture any LXs, though, those are pretty darned decent, even as a personal fighter.

Ahh yes, I remember having one of those in reunion or TC - of course, by the time I had one, I rarely flew fighters any more, but this time I plan to have in depth OOS patrols, so LX may be the one..

EDIT: Oh, and you mention PHQ - Ls are pretty cheap and, more importantly, quick to build (~40mins each, iIrc), so you can churn them out by the shipload, decent for outfitting a carrier.

A zerg swarm approach is kind of interesting, but I think it'd be more effective with something with a bit more bite.

[RAVEN.myst]

EDIT: Oh, and you mention PHQ - Ls are pretty cheap and, more importantly, quick to build (~40mins each, iIrc), so you can churn them out by the shipload, decent for outfitting a carrier.

A zerg swarm approach is kind of interesting, but I think it'd be more effective with something with a bit more bite.

Fair enough They only sport 6 forward guns and no turrets, so they're not exactly god-like. Their main problem, in terms of firepower, is a really weak weapon reactor. There are ways to mitigate, this. One option is to fit them with PBEs the way the AI does, and use them to tear off shielding in no time - in this configuration, they are the shock/storm troopers, to be followed by a wave of ships strong vs. hulls (this may be a bit micro-management-intensive, so just mixing them with other ships may be simpler.) Alternatively, they can be used exclusively for OoS duties - in this case, you can ignore the weapon energy issues, and just fit the biggest guns that will fit (PRGs and HEPTs are both compatible, HEPT probably better as OoS option), in which case they can be rather deadly (the guns will const well more than the ships, hahahah - truly nothing more than a transport systems for the guns ) You don't want to use HEPT's IS on Ls, though, as they'll drain their capacitors in seconds, and then will really struggle after that. (Too bad that they are incompatible with MDs and EBCs...)

Hmmm, all this talk of Ls and what-not has put me in the mood to play some AP, and I think your questions have given me a direction for the game: I may play a Robot Overlord (Erm..., overlord of robots, not a robot myself ) Thanks!

[delray]

If you really want a carrier to actually win a Xenon sector: Load a few dozen Eclipses or Falcon Sentinels to the brim with wasps and tempests and set their missile chance super high... Oh and get Marine Repair mod too, by the way.

[Spearthrower]

Hmmm, all this talk of Ls and what-not has put me in the mood to play some AP, and I think your questions have given me a direction for the game: I may play a Robot Overlord (Erm..., overlord of robots, not a robot myself ) Thanks!

Intriguing - what would that entail? Playing as Xenon?

[RAVEN.myst]

Hmmm, all this talk of Ls and what-not has put me in the mood to play some AP, and I think your questions have given me a direction for the game: I may play a Robot Overlord (Erm..., overlord of robots, not a robot myself ) Thanks!

Intriguing - what would that entail? Playing as Xenon?

Not exactly, but as a Xenon "user" - Master of the Forbidden Tech So, I would focus on carriers of all types (this suits my playstyle, as I like projected/delegated and dispersed firepower instead of the monolithic approach) - so, TMs early on, then M7C or any M7 with a decent fighter bay, then up to M1s with lots of fighters. The fighters would be all Ls (with maybe an LX or two thrown in.) Ultimately, I would board a J and a K, and churn those out of my HQ (they are very quick and cheap to build for their class - EXTREMELY so, in fact.)

This particular time around I may start as a Split (they are notorious for tinkering with Xenontech), which gives me access to the lovely Panther M7/M7C. However, initial race is more or less immaterial - you can think up a role-playing rationale for pretty much any of them (Boron are almost fanatically tech-curious, researching stuff, and historically have been major ship innovators; Argon played around with X-tech in the Terran Conflict and that was in fact the excuse for the war; a Terran player could be experimenting with X-tech either on behalf of ATF for the sake of "know thy enemy" or can be a renegade; Teladi will do anything if it can be profitable Paranid are the only ones for whom I find it hard to think up a justification off the top of my head, but there once again one can fall back on the "renegade"/outlaw/practitioner of the forbidden arts concept.)

[ubuntufreakdragon]

Paranids believe themselves being better than anyone else so if they see the Argon/Terran failure regarding terraformer they likely want to show that they can do it better.

Anyway why use L as Zerg any buyable Fighter is better as Zerg, if want a real Zergling go for a Solano with PACs, cheaper than a M7M missile barrage.

[RAVEN.myst]

Paranids believe themselves being better than anyone else so if they see the Argon/Terran failure regarding terraformer they likely want to show that they can do it better.

Yes, that works, I like it.

Anyway why use L as Zerg any buyable Fighter is better as Zerg, if want a real Zergling go for a Solano with PACs, cheaper than a M7M missile barrage.

It's a roleplaying and stylistic choice, not one based on power gaming efficiency/effectiveness. Yes, Solanos are fantastic, especially with MDs, and I've used them aplenty. But I've so played TC/AP to death, that I have to look for different things to do, even when they are sub-optimal - in fact, to challenge myself, ESPECIALLY when they are sub-optimal For instance, when I play as Teladi, I *only* use Teladi ships, even though they're so slow, for example. This is also, and perhaps above all else, about doing something with an aesthetic theme.

[ancienthighway]

Paranids believe themselves being better than anyone else...

For this very reason, Paranids would not touch Xenon ships, nor any other races ship. As a Paranid player, you'd have to destroy your rep with the race making use of other races technology your only alternative. Isn't there a mod that makes Pirates a playable "race"?

[RAVEN.myst]

Paranids believe themselves being better than anyone else...

For this very reason, Paranids would not touch Xenon ships, nor any other races ship.

Also a valid perspective. I play Terran very much this way (in fact, I play all the races this way, almost always, unless I have some special idea that creates an exception - such as my upcoming Robot Master game, heheh.)

[MrFiction]

Funny you mention it, captured my first L (this playthrough) two days ago. I capped a Blastclaw prototype a while back and fitted it with 4 x PRG in the front.

Doing Xenon sector patrol missions in Brennan's Triumph and the pirate sectors around it. I killed a lot of pirates already so ever pirate was aggressive. A couple of hours and Xenon patrol missions later and most pirates turned blue and an unlucky L bailed. Capturing an L took me tons of hours in my previous playthrough though.

BTW, some L ships just fly around, not shooting back?

[RAVEN.myst]

Yes, it's a very uneven (RNG-driven, after all) element - I've also had games where I've had to toil for hours, and others where one falls into my lap without hassle. I've been less lucky (or more consistently unlucky, heheheh) in the Terran equivalent - capturing an Argon M3 has proved consistently tedious.

As for them passive Ls - I've seen it occasionally (very rarely, though), most often in the presence of a P, PX or Q; not sure what causes it: could be that they are already "locked" onto another target, except that they seem a little too leisurely for that, in those cases; or perhaps their group leader hasn't spotted the player yet, and they're taking all their cues from there. Maybe they're simply in power-saving mode

[delray]

Yea, Terrans are f*cked because they don't have a PBE equivalent. Much harder to grind hull.

[RAVEN.myst]

Yea, Terrans are f*cked because they don't have a PBE equivalent. Much harder to grind hull.

That's true - the EMPC is much stronger vs hull than most Commonwealth weapons, which in this case is a disadvantage. Also, it just seems that the Argon pilots really like their ships... Particularly the most conveniently located ones (in the war zone sectors) are really reluctant to go for a spacewalk...

[Sinxar]

For the people who aren't sure if what they are doing will ever eventually succeed, here's my confirmed cap of an L today:

Yeah using a larger ship helps. I traditionally used a Panther Raider as my "let's go cap some fighters" ship. I did the Terran start this game and didn't have to go through that nightmare.

However last game I played I had a lot of trouble capping an L. Seriously took like a week of trying 2-3 hours a day. I eventually just went into Xenon Sector with a Susanowa loaded PACs and Hurricanes. I was just kiting the J and picking off the fighters. One eventually bailed thankfully but it was fun to do that nonetheless. Reminded me of the Split Scorpion Raider in TC it is extremely deadly with MDs. Absolutely destroys anything M6 and below, best combat M4 IMHO.

Before that incident I never had any issues capping an L and I never got why people said it was so hard. It can be quite challenging at times to be sure.

[RAVEN.myst]

Before that incident I never had any issues capping an L and I never got why people said it was so hard. It can be quite challenging at times to be sure.

Same here: sometimes it's a breeze, other times... not so much All down to how benevolent the RNG gods are feeling... (they tend to hate me - I must have annoyed someone important at some point - maybe ridiculed someone's furry dice hanging from the rearview mirror, or something...)