Are gunnery crews really effective?

[TYBRO]

I have try with and without the help of the crew.
For me, it takes more time a battle with gunnery crew, than using regularly turret command like "attack my target"

I think maybe because and trying to chase a target and they are focus in another target, so the combination between my piloting and their objective do not match some time

Another thing is that, I load up the weapons in a way that I think is more effective, and one they go to “action station”, they change the whole thing to their convenience.

Does anybody have this situation?

Note: I using gunnery crew in an Boron M2

[Brianetta]

Gunnery crews were designed with defence (and delegation) in mind. If you want to attack your current target with the weapon you chose, then "Attack my target" is the better comand to use - that decision's a no-brainer, in my opinion.

[TYBRO]

Gunnery crews were designed with defence (and delegation) in mind. If you want to attack your current target with the weapon you chose, then "Attack my target" is the better comand to use - that decision's a no-brainer, in my opinion.

So, you mean that gunnery crew will be then for a ship that you are actually not flying

[TYBRO]

what about AEGIS then, is really good to spend 50mil in it?

Is mainly for defence purposes also ?

[thrakar]

Gunnery Crews really shine when you are fighting multiple targets at once. Each turret will decide which target in range is the biggest threat and which weapon will be best for the job. They will also stop using Area Effect weapons when a friendly wanders in to range.

If you are chasing a single target, then "attack my target" is the better command.

Aegis on the other hand I think is a total waste of credits other than to say you have Aegis equipped. The capture command does nothing but slow their fire rate. And Missle Attack? Bah, they would all just either get shot down, or collide with each other.

[TYBRO]

If you are chasing a single target, then "attack my target" is the better command.

Then, in an m2 against m2 fight, in xenon sectors for example, the best is "attack my target" command, gunnery crew will be almost harmless

Now, are AI ships using gunnery crew too or not?

[ceogreen]

In xenon sectors chances are you'll be facing multiple targets, hence in this scenario I'd expect gunnary crews to improve your effectiveness.

[TYBRO]

In xenon sectors chances are you'll be facing multiple targets, hence in this scenario I'd expect gunnary crews to improve your effectiveness.

Yes but remember, you want the majority of your turret concentrate in one target, (xenon M2) to eliminate it quickly, before he do it with you, with gunnery crew maybe you will have 2 or 3 turrets shooting a xenon k and the other focusing in xenon Ls or Ms, which are not really a threat, that way your are not going to make it.
Because the xenon k will drop your shield down before you can do it with him.

[ceogreen]

If I recall correctly gunnery crews use targetting priority (this will be in the readme which I don't currently have).
Each turret targets your target first, then looks for the most threatening vessel and works down from there. So if you target a K, then the turrets which can hit it will fire on the K and the turrets which can't will blast at any other threat vessel in range. This means the turets are working on a mixture of "attack my target" and "attack all enemies", in my experience this works very well.

EDIT: If you can get more than 2 or 3 turrets targeting any one ship then you're doing well

[TYBRO]

Each turret targets your target first, then looks for the most threatening vessel and works down from there.

EDIT: If you can get more than 2 or 3 turrets targeting any one ship then you're doing well

That order of priority will be great, but is not happening at least in some assassination missions against M6 enemies. I found myself targeting and positioning my ship in range of a target, and it take some time before the turrets start firing at him.

And for example in the same case, in a combination of ions turrets and ppc turrets, they keep firing ions to a target that already has their shield complete down, instead of using the ppc that will make damage to their hull.

Is really unpredictable what the gunnery crew going to do next.
Who trained this people anyways…the Goners..

[thrakar]

Yes but remember, you want the majority of your turret concentrate in one target, (xenon M2) to eliminate it quickly, before he do it with you, with gunnery crew maybe you will have 2 or 3 turrets shooting a xenon k

About all you will get is 2-3 turrets firing on any single target anyway, so with gunnery crews, they will pound the K with the best weapon for the range that will remove the shields quickly, then when the shields are gone, switch to a weapon that will kill the hull quickly.

Meanwhile, the other turrets instead of sitting idle since they can't see the target, will find other targets of opportunity.

On a Ray equipped with ID, GHEPT, GPPC, I can nuke K's in about 30 secs with gunnery crews on board. You just need to be strafing while approaching the K to get within leathal range of all your weapons.

[Nanook]

Gunnery crews are most useful when you're in a target-rich environment, especially when there are friendly ships around. The standard non-gunnery crew commands are best when you're only going one-on-one with an enemy equal to or greater than you in size. For example, using the standard commands in a sector such as Thynn's Abyss will result in a lot of freighters being hit and killed, with a resulting huge drop in racial rep. Especially if you use WMD's such as PSG's and Ion Disruptors. Gunnery crews automatically switch to standard PPC's and HEPT's, for example, when friendly ships are within range.

On the other hand, I found that combat is enhanced in general with crews, just because they can rapidly choose a better weapon. PPC's and PSG's are good for long range combat, but when the enemy approaches within a kilometer or two, GHEPT's are much more effective. Without the crews, you're stuck with either using the current weapon, or frantically trying to switch them all manually in the midst of battle. Personally, I prefer to let the gunners do their jobs.

I'm guessing you noticed combat taking longer because the gunnery crews were avoiding using weapons of mass destruction while friendly ships were within range. So it's really up to you, do you care about your racial rep, or do you just want to kill things as fast as you can.

[TYBRO]

About all you will get is 2-3 turrets firing on any single target anyway,


On a Ray equipped with ID, GHEPT, GPPC, I can nuke K's in about 30 secs with gunnery crews on board. You just need to be strafing while approaching the K to get within leathal range of all your weapons.

Well I mean actually turret numbers not positions, remember m2 will have 3 front 3 on one side, 3 on top or bottom, that’s 9 turrets, I was referring to 2 or 3 only

And well, I just learning to fight another m2, I have only to fights again k and I lost , and amazing I never use strafe drive before, I have to buy one and practice a little, I'm Ace first grade only

[Nanook]

Well I mean actually turret numbers not positions, remember m2 will have 3 front 3 on one side, 3 on top or bottom, that’s 9 turrets, I was referring to 2 or 3 only

No, M2's have six turrets. One each top, bottom, left, right, front and back. Each turret has 3 guns, all of which fire in the same direction at the same target. The max turrets you can bring to bear on any one target is 3, due to simple geometrty.

[TYBRO]

Well I mean actually turret numbers not positions, remember m2 will have 3 front 3 on one side, 3 on top or bottom, that’s 9 turrets, I was referring to 2 or 3 only

No, M2's have six turrets. One each top, bottom, left, right, front and back. Each turret has 3 guns, all of which fire in the same direction at the same target. The max turrets you can bring to bear on any one target is 3, due to simple geometrty.

ok, in that case I mean 3 guns on a target, I was counting guns instead of turrets,

[Nanook]

Here's how gunnery crews should work with your Ray. Assuming you have PPC's, Ion D's and GHEPT's all in your cargo hold for them to use. At about 5km, they start firing with PPC's (hopefully you have the Gamma variety). They continue firing these until you get within a km or so of the enemy and then they switch to Ion D's if the enemy has any shields left, along with GHEPT's. Once the shields are down, they should then switch to all HEPT's and blow the sucker away.

Remember, use the speed of the Ray to get close to your enemy. The ray is a close-in gunfighter because of it's Ion Disruptors which have a range of just over a km. At ranges greater than that, you're only equal to the Xenon K. Close in, you're superior. And good hunting.

[plawolf]

im sure you can bring 6 turrets to bare on one target if you manover correctly so that the target is above/below and slightly to one side of you, so you use the top/bottom turrets as well as the side ones.

it will be hell trying to keep the ships in that position, but it is possible to have more then 3 firing at any one target at the same time.

[TYBRO]

Here's how gunnery crews should work with your Ray. Assuming you have PPC's, Ion D's and GHEPT's all in your cargo hold for them to use. At about 5km, they start firing with PPC's (hopefully you have the Gamma variety). They continue firing these until you get within a km or so of the enemy and then they switch to Ion D's if the enemy has any shields left, along with GHEPT's. Once the shields are down, they should then switch to all HEPT's and blow the sucker away.

Remember, use the speed of the Ray to get close to your enemy. The ray is a close-in gunfighter because of it's Ion Disruptors which have a range of just over a km. At ranges greater than that, you're only equal to the Xenon K. Close in, you're superior. And good hunting.

Ok I will try that alone with the strafe drive