Ships not attacking while in sector

[OrionTaltos]

I've had a problem a few times where some ships do not engage if I'm in sector. In the latest situation, the lead ship is an M2 set to Defend Sector. It simply follows the K2. I checked the settings on it. I have had to set it back to Defend on occasion because it would go to Ignore randomly but I had it in a fleet alone. I've had to remove everything from fleets because they're so buggy. I have other ships set to protect it or attack its target.
The K2 even is attacking the lead M2 and it refused to fight back. Even ordering everything in the sector to attack the K had no real effect.

Anyone have an idea of what might cause ships to not engage a labeled enemy while I'm in sector? They do fine if I'm not around (though I'm nervous to leave them alone with even a battered K).
And I have a small group of M6s in another sector doing defense that happily engage even if I'm in the sector.

A flock following a wounded K that had 2 M2s, 2 M7s, and 3 M6s. A full concentration of my meager power
https://i.imgur.com/9K9xfKp.jpg

Version: 1.3.10 Unofficial (only other mod is Diplomacy Extension)

[Sovereign01]

What happens when you order the lead ship to "attack all enemies"? Because of the way attack priority works OOS, I've always set ships charged with protecting a sector to "attack all enemies" instead of "defend sector".

[BrigandPhantos77]

I've had a problem a few times where some ships do not engage if I'm in sector. In the latest situation, the lead ship is an M2 set to Defend Sector. It simply follows the K2. I checked the settings on it. I have had to set it back to Defend on occasion because it would go to Ignore randomly but I had it in a fleet alone. I've had to remove everything from fleets because they're so buggy. I have other ships set to protect it or attack its target.
The K2 even is attacking the lead M2 and it refused to fight back. Even ordering everything in the sector to attack the K had no real effect.

Anyone have an idea of what might cause ships to not engage a labeled enemy while I'm in sector? They do fine if I'm not around (though I'm nervous to leave them alone with even a battered K).
And I have a small group of M6s in another sector doing defense that happily engage even if I'm in the sector.


Version: 1.3.10 Unofficial (only other mod is Diplomacy Extension)

From your screen shot I'd say that was the hub? Are they maybe trying to avoid collision with the shell of it? I've had problems using the fleet setup as well. On some encounters I've also had ships do a 180 and go away from a target. But most of the time it's not a problem.

In lieu of using the "create a fleet" I do the following.

Name / designate my lead ship. Order some followers to defend it, some to attack the nearest enemy of it / attack target of. I do this with M6s a lot, and have a patrol defending the sector with my PHQ in this manner. They have no problems eliminating the dukes spawns that appear randomly. All ships move as a group and react based on who shoots or get's shot.

When using a fleet setup, the one behavior that really irked me was upon activating it, the lead ship would actually patrol, and the rest would get stuck on joining up and sit idle in the middle of the sector. Like dead center. I haven't used it since. I use the setup I mentioned above instead.

Going again back to the screen shot, that K is almost on the edge of the shell of the hub. Only 1 destroyer of yours is in a position to shoot it, the other destroyer cannot due to friendlies in the way. And those in range may be avoiding collision objects. During OOS combat the shell is not a problem.

[OrionTaltos]

From your screen shot I'd say that was the hub? Are they maybe trying to avoid collision with the shell of it? I've had problems using the fleet setup as well. On some encounters I've also had ships do a 180 and go away from a target. But most of the time it's not a problem.

Yeah, this is the hub. At that point, they were pretty bunched up. They started about 8-10 km away in the center. Luckily, a freights and escorts delayed the K from advancing while I jumped in and swapped to a ship with weapons (a bit stressful when at the edge of weapon range ).

I ran the battle a few times. When I gave the 'everyone shoot it!' order in the screenshot, I think your explanation matches why they didn't fire then. They were already stuck trying to dodge the wall, enemy, and each other. When I gave the orders to all of them earlier, the M7s and M6s engaged. The M2s would never fire their weaponry (they don't even match each other in configuration).
I have had a couple of other fights, but also in the hub, where I've had issues. I may need to let them fight somewhere more open to see how they act. Now I'm not sure if OOS they were all actually firing. I'll have to start checking missile supplies.

My fleet has become pretty similar to yours and happy to hear that it works. I've had experiments. I tell the M6s to protect and the bigger ones to attack the target of the lead. I changed to have an M7 Akurei lead. I'm not sure what I've done to the Brigs. Their front, left, and right turrets are 'Attack My Target' while the rest are Protect Ship. The weapons themselves function when I'm in direct control.

Coincidentally, my PHQ sector defense is a set of four captured M6s that does the job of nailing the pirate spawns and other loose enemies.

[OrionTaltos]

What happens when you order the lead ship to "attack all enemies"? Because of the way attack priority works OOS, I've always set ships charged with protecting a sector to "attack all enemies" instead of "defend sector".

They just charged headlong at the K without firing lasers from the lead. Even though the command said 'Killing... K', it never engaged anything other than a few missiles. It even took what I think was a firestorm without mosquito missile defense or turrets stopping it (though ranges were silly close by that point). Only one of the ships actually was firing its actual weapons. The K destroyed half the ships and the others fired off emergency jumps at critical.

[Sovereign01]

I might have to start doing that myself, though I generally keep my ships in the hub out of harm's way by putting them close to either the top or bottom of the sector, just so long as they're not level with the gates. I do have to jump in to destroy the occasional J or K that takes a potshot at one of my vessels if it wanders off. I'm hoping as my HQ completes its reverse engineering it will free up more docking ports for large ships so they're not left in harm's way.

[Cycrow]

Most M2 don't have front weapons and rely on turrets.

The turrets have thier own commands so make sure they are setup correctly.

The autopilot commands will not control the turrets directly, they operate seperatly

[BrigandPhantos77]

The attack my target command if you read it, targets the players targeted ship. I always use the protect ship or missile defense, as those 2 commands have a line that says attack whatever the ship is attacking, along with the protect ship. I've witnessed similar behavior in the past with my own ships not shooting at enemies until I changed the turret commands from the attack my target. My biggest notable moment with it was fighting a Q with a Thresher in Wastelands. The fight was in system, and my Thresher simply was not shooting, and getting shot up. It couldn't turn it's main torwards the Q and the sides were silent. I switched the turrets to attack enemies and suddenly they began firing. I have not switched my turrets back since, and it's the first setting I change on all new ships. (Since attack my target seems to be the default.)

If you go into the global turret commands, and open the attack my target command, you can add the command for it to attack whatever it is ordered to attack. But I only use it for my own personal turrets when I want them to focus fire on specific enemies I am trying to pop.

From my experience here are the scenarios for which I use them in.

Protect Ship - Most scenarios; simply put the turrets defend the ship and attack whatever the ship is told too.
Attack Enemies - Invading and wreaking havoc; turrets fire on all enemy ships, period.
Missile Defense - Does the same as protect ship, but most effective with flak, pbe, pac, ire, prg, psg, beam weapons, less needed if you have the missile defense software and ample mosquito missiles. The turrets primary function though is to target incoming missiles.

Alpha, Beta and Gamma - Great configurable commands when you want specific or weapon changing turrets. Just have to have the change-ables on hand. Also have to define whether the ship can use area effect or not. (PSGs, not sure if flak or beam weapons fall into this category though they can have area impact.)

[OrionTaltos]

The attack my target command if you read it, targets the players targeted ship. I always use the protect ship or missile defense, as those 2 commands have a line that says attack whatever the ship is attacking, along with the protect ship. I've witnessed similar behavior in the past with my own ships not shooting at enemies until I changed the turret commands from the attack my target. My biggest notable moment with it was fighting a Q with a Thresher in Wastelands. The fight was in system, and my Thresher simply was not shooting, and getting shot up. It couldn't turn it's main torwards the Q and the sides were silent. I switched the turrets to attack enemies and suddenly they began firing. I have not switched my turrets back since, and it's the first setting I change on all new ships. (Since attack my target seems to be the default.)

If you go into the global turret commands, and open the attack my target command, you can add the command for it to attack whatever it is ordered to attack. But I only use it for my own personal turrets when I want them to focus fire on specific enemies I am trying to pop.

From my experience here are the scenarios for which I use them in.

Protect Ship - Most scenarios; simply put the turrets defend the ship and attack whatever the ship is told too.
Attack Enemies - Invading and wreaking havoc; turrets fire on all enemy ships, period.
Missile Defense - Does the same as protect ship, but most effective with flak, pbe, pac, ire, prg, psg, beam weapons, less needed if you have the missile defense software and ample mosquito missiles. The turrets primary function though is to target incoming missiles.

Alpha, Beta and Gamma - Great configurable commands when you want specific or weapon changing turrets. Just have to have the change-ables on hand. Also have to define whether the ship can use area effect or not. (PSGs, not sure if flak or beam weapons fall into this category though they can have area impact.)

This was it! Thank you!

I blanket set everything to Protect Ship and both Brigs engaged weaponry. They even slowed down and didn't get stuck in collision avoidance because they chose to maintain firing range. Now if I could give my M6s a standing order "flee from capital ships" lol.

I'll see what I can do with the custom turret commands to see what I can tweak.
And I do see that rather specific wording for Attack My Target.

[BrigandPhantos77]

This was it! Thank you!

I blanket set everything to Protect Ship and both Brigs engaged weaponry. They even slowed down and didn't get stuck in collision avoidance because they chose to maintain firing range. Now if I could give my M6s a standing order "flee from capital ships" lol.

I'll see what I can do with the custom turret commands to see what I can tweak.
And I do see that rather specific wording for Attack My Target.

Your welcome.

As far as fleeing from capitals, you could always set the settings to evade / flee. lol... Though that doesn't always work, and applies to all hostiles. Meaning the ships run around like scared little Paranid. lol....

[OrionTaltos]

As far as fleeing from capitals, you could always set the settings to evade / flee. lol... Though that doesn't always work, and applies to all hostiles. Meaning the ships run around like scared little Paranid. lol....

When the investment in corvettes doesn't go well... the obvious thing is to invest in more!

Strongarms forgot a briefcase on plans for a Plasma Beam Cannons. And so after I finished the 8 I needed for my Carrack, I couldn't let that factory go to waste. So my Marauders have started getting refitted with their worth in weaponry. Because as a true friend of the Goners, we believe in peace. Even if we need to enforce it with hot death.

[Sovereign01]

As far as fleeing from capitals, you could always set the settings to evade / flee. lol... Though that doesn't always work, and applies to all hostiles. Meaning the ships run around like scared little Paranid. lol....

When the investment in corvettes doesn't go well... the obvious thing is to invest in more!

Strongarms forgot a briefcase on plans for a Plasma Beam Cannons. And so after I finished the 8 I needed for my Carrack, I couldn't let that factory go to waste. So my Marauders have started getting refitted with their worth in weaponry. Because as a true friend of the Goners, we believe in peace. Even if we need to enforce it with hot death.

Are you sure you're not mixing up the Marauder and the Truelight Seeker? The latter is the Goner ship, though both can use the PBC. I think I need to get some more capital ships to make use of all the weaponry I'm churning out, because there is a lot of it. I put an EQD next to the complex hub where the new ship will dock, still need a TS to ferry stuff from the hub to the dock. It's a real one stop shop for guns, ammo and shields. Missiles are made elsewhere

[OrionTaltos]

As far as fleeing from capitals, you could always set the settings to evade / flee. lol... Though that doesn't always work, and applies to all hostiles. Meaning the ships run around like scared little Paranid. lol....

When the investment in corvettes doesn't go well... the obvious thing is to invest in more!

Strongarms forgot a briefcase on plans for a Plasma Beam Cannons. And so after I finished the 8 I needed for my Carrack, I couldn't let that factory go to waste. So my Marauders have started getting refitted with their worth in weaponry. Because as a true friend of the Goners, we believe in peace. Even if we need to enforce it with hot death.

Are you sure you're not mixing up the Marauder and the Truelight Seeker? The latter is the Goner ship, though both can use the PBC. I think I need to get some more capital ships to make use of all the weaponry I'm churning out, because there is a lot of it. I put an EQD next to the complex hub where the new ship will dock, still need a TS to ferry stuff from the hub to the dock. It's a real one stop shop for guns, ammo and shields. Missiles are made elsewhere

Marauder can put a Plasma Beam Cannon in each of the left and right turrets. I 'find' Marauders. Though I could work on adding more Truelight Seekers to the mix because they can equip close to everything.

I need to elevate my weapon and shield manufacturing as the planned M7s and hopefully larger coming online will tax my searchers having to gather the parts. I may build them in a new sector and ship them to the new EQD.

Currently the missiles are abundant. Only hurricanes and tempests, but that thins out fighters which is what I need them for.

[BrigandPhantos77]

Are you sure you're not mixing up the Marauder and the Truelight Seeker? The latter is the Goner ship, though both can use the PBC. I think I need to get some more capital ships to make use of all the weaponry I'm churning out, because there is a lot of it. I put an EQD next to the complex hub where the new ship will dock, still need a TS to ferry stuff from the hub to the dock. It's a real one stop shop for guns, ammo and shields. Missiles are made elsewhere

Boron EqDock for the win. Fit unlimited swarms of deadly cuttlefish! Unleash on those passerby's!

When the investment in corvettes doesn't go well... the obvious thing is to invest in more!

Strongarms forgot a briefcase on plans for a Plasma Beam Cannons. And so after I finished the 8 I needed for my Carrack, I couldn't let that factory go to waste. So my Marauders have started getting refitted with their worth in weaponry. Because as a true friend of the Goners, we believe in peace. Even if we need to enforce it with hot death.

I just buy/build a bigger boat. My last run into Lasting Vengeance net me 13 Zeus from boarding, and many (many many many more; Quote from Capi-tain Lessard) 5 star combat rated marines.

Marauder can put a Plasma Beam Cannon in each of the left and right turrets. I 'find' Marauders. Though I could work on adding more Truelight Seekers to the mix because they can equip close to everything.

I need to elevate my weapon and shield manufacturing as the planned M7s and hopefully larger coming online will tax my searchers having to gather the parts. I may build them in a new sector and ship them to the new EQD.

Currently the missiles are abundant. Only hurricanes and tempests, but that thins out fighters which is what I need them for.

Marauders are nice, they got side firing arcs. The Truelight Seeker feels like a glass cannon with only forward firing. I'd still use them though, but never alone. I managed to upset a Xenon J with a TLS that wouldn't leave the gate in Sanctuary of Darkness. The almost 7km range of beam weapons seemed to upset it. Acinonyx has some nice forward firing action too. 12 ISR for the fun of it.

[BrigandPhantos77]

Arrow + Auto-Pillok + SETA = White Knuckle Terror

Sorry, have to absolutely say it.

Arrow + Seta + Afk session for one hour = Is your PC still running? Did it crash / BSOD yet? Did you reach the star when you aimed at it?

[OrionTaltos]

Boron EqDock for the win. Fit unlimited swarms of deadly cuttlefish! Unleash on those passerby's!

When I looked through the options and saw the Boron had the most amazing hanger, I had to pick that as my EqDock. It finally gave me a place to load 'acquired' vessels until I make a decision on them and the HQ has capacity to handle them.

I just buy/build a bigger boat. My last run into Lasting Vengeance net me 13 Zeus from boarding, and many (many many many more; Quote from Capi-tain Lessard) 5 star combat rated marines.

That's terrifying. I just had my biggest run through Brennan's territory to net 5 M6s, an M7, and an M1. I went after a Brig as well but I had to retreat from that fight as we were close to a TOA when a Tiger and Carrack popped through with their fighter escorts
Lasting Vengeance always greets me with a Zeus and a flock of Nemeses at the gate. So not something I'm ready for... yet.

Marauders are nice, they got side firing arcs. The Truelight Seeker feels like a glass cannon with only forward firing. I'd still use them though, but never alone. I managed to upset a Xenon J with a TLS that wouldn't leave the gate in Sanctuary of Darkness. The almost 7km range of beam weapons seemed to upset it. Acinonyx has some nice forward firing action too. 12 ISR for the fun of it.

Yeah, the Seeker really was tough because of that lack of turrets and it can't load up things like Tempests. So I had to engage fighters carefully. I did manage to take my first Brig with it. Slowly drew away fighters and picked them off and then swarmed the Brig with 40 drones. Came in to the belly and dropped marines and raced to where I had a Toucan hidden behind an asteroid to reload marines and charge back in.
It was exciting, but the Acinonyx has been a much more wonderful M6 for me. Boarding pods, a dozen ISR, defensive turrets, and good speed

I wonder if the Seeker is decent OOS since it can equip such powerful weaponry. It's hard to tell.

Arrow + Auto-Pillok + SETA = White Knuckle Terror

Sorry, have to absolutely say it.

Arrow + Seta + Afk session for one hour = Is your PC still running? Did it crash / BSOD yet? Did you reach the star when you aimed at it?

Hahaha! That was quite awhile ago in a previous X3. The arrow became my local player ship. I never ran it AFK because it couldn't use a Jump Drive, so I'd be... a long way out. Watching it dodge things was gut wrenching. Surprisingly, I don't think the PC did bad, but it's hard to tell exactly how well things are doing at 1km+/s x10

[BrigandPhantos77]

When I looked through the options and saw the Boron had the most amazing hanger, I had to pick that as my EqDock. It finally gave me a place to load 'acquired' vessels until I make a decision on them and the HQ has capacity to handle them.

Never have a problem with the fighters, but when you start adding TS/TP in large amounts, definitely. And of course M6s. Love that hangar.

That's terrifying. I just had my biggest run through Brennan's territory to net 5 M6s, an M7, and an M1. I went after a Brig as well but I had to retreat from that fight as we were close to a TOA when a Tiger and Carrack popped through with their fighter escorts
Lasting Vengeance always greets me with a Zeus and a flock of Nemeses at the gate. So not something I'm ready for... yet.

It had a purpose. And added almost 2 billion to my credit account. Plus it was necessary to train the marines.

Had my eye set on another Xenon I in 534. This "I" had a jump beacon. Sneaky peaked it with the all seeing eye script.

So it cost me 15 (fully trained 5 star) marines to take it, but I succeeded. The end loot result was 26 Point Singularity Projectors, 30 poltergeist missile packs, 1 jump beacon, 5 x 2 GJ Shields and of course the ship. I think the tradeoff was acceptable.

Yeah, the Seeker really was tough because of that lack of turrets and it can't load up things like Tempests. So I had to engage fighters carefully. I did manage to take my first Brig with it. Slowly drew away fighters and picked them off and then swarmed the Brig with 40 drones. Came in to the belly and dropped marines and raced to where I had a Toucan hidden behind an asteroid to reload marines and charge back in.
It was exciting, but the Acinonyx has been a much more wonderful M6 for me. Boarding pods, a dozen ISR, defensive turrets, and good speed

I wonder if the Seeker is decent OOS since it can equip such powerful weaponry. It's hard to tell.

I'd avoid the OOS combat with it. With the way it works you'll likely lose them at a steady rate. Thats my gut feeling anyway. I've never tried it. I keep a small handful for collection purposes in my Aran. Just feels right to put them there. To me an M6 is an oversized M3 with better obvious shielding.

Hahaha! That was quite awhile ago in a previous X3. The arrow became my local player ship. I never ran it AFK because it couldn't use a Jump Drive, so I'd be... a long way out. Watching it dodge things was gut wrenching. Surprisingly, I don't think the PC did bad, but it's hard to tell exactly how well things are doing at 1km+/s x10

I think we've all wanted to try that at least once. See how far we could get before game crashes.

I think it don't matter which one, but I've always been partial to the Spring Blossom.

I know we all got our method of boarding, I personally prefer a M7M. Here's my points on it.

- It takes 3 hammers to pop an M6. (Nemesis aren't powerful)
- Boarding an M1, it takes 3 hammers to deal with each 1 GJ of shield.
- Launching 60+ fighter drones helps keep a target distracted.
- Flails launched to keep shields down long enough for boarding to succeed. On average once pods fired, fire about 5 / 6 flails. Always clear escorts first. Make sure Shields at 0% before firing pods and fighter drones are actually engaged.
- Use the Dukes HQ to target distant ships that are out of the 30km Triplex range.
- I always use 25 marines to board. Let's me maximize combat skill training.

Those are my points that I keep thinking on when I do a boarding operation. The Zeus will respawn frequently / randomly. And you have a choice of taking other M7M that belong to the Duke as well. The only point that I did not mention above is to make certain you have supplies ready between each Zeus to keep it going.

I make my own Flails and Hammers, so I have a good supply at all times. Same with fighter drones, Mk1 and Mk2. I use an Ozias kept in Heavens Assertion for storing the stuff. And an Ehanced Mercury to bring it to me in between boardings. I also switch out / in new marines as some reach 100 in fighting. You don't have to have high level fighters to capture a Duke's Zeus. In hundreds of boardings I've only ever lost 1 marine.

When you enter system to start operations, draw the Zeus and escorts away from the gate. Then order the M7M to Jump to a position opposite the gate from Zeus. Try to have the enemy at least 20km from the gate before doing it as the Zeus may turn to engage M7M instead.

Those are my points upon the start of it.

[OrionTaltos]

Had my eye set on another Xenon I in 534. This "I" had a jump beacon. Sneaky peaked it with the all seeing eye script.

So it cost me 15 (fully trained 5 star) marines to take it, but I succeeded. The end loot result was 26 Point Singularity Projectors, 30 poltergeist missile packs, 1 jump beacon, 5 x 2 GJ Shields and of course the ship. I think the tradeoff was acceptable.

I've heard references to capturing real jump beacons. Now I see. I'm starting to get fully trained marines in my ranks. Mostly because of Pirates because of their ship variety.

I'd avoid the OOS combat with it. With the way it works you'll likely lose them at a steady rate. Thats my gut feeling anyway. I've never tried it. I keep a small handful for collection purposes in my Aran. Just feels right to put them there. To me an M6 is an oversized M3 with better obvious shielding.

With the capitals operating correctly (and laser towers to draw attention in defensive fights), The M6s definitely help act as superheavy fighters. More dice being rolled and missiles to launch to help thin out regular fighters. Almost every M6 I use is a capture which helps justify putting them in a fight versus risking more Seekers. But maybe I'll invest in an experiment when I get farther in.

I know we all got our method of boarding, I personally prefer a M7M. Here's my points on it.

- It takes 3 hammers to pop an M6. (Nemesis aren't powerful)
- Boarding an M1, it takes 3 hammers to deal with each 1 GJ of shield.
- Launching 60+ fighter drones helps keep a target distracted.
- Flails launched to keep shields down long enough for boarding to succeed. On average once pods fired, fire about 5 / 6 flails. Always clear escorts first. Make sure Shields at 0% before firing pods and fighter drones are actually engaged.
- Use the Dukes HQ to target distant ships that are out of the 30km Triplex range.
- I always use 25 marines to board. Let's me maximize combat skill training.

Those are my points that I keep thinking on when I do a boarding operation. The Zeus will respawn frequently / randomly. And you have a choice of taking other M7M that belong to the Duke as well. The only point that I did not mention above is to make certain you have supplies ready between each Zeus to keep it going.

I make my own Flails and Hammers, so I have a good supply at all times. Same with fighter drones, Mk1 and Mk2. I use an Ozias kept in Heavens Assertion for storing the stuff. And an Ehanced Mercury to bring it to me in between boardings. I also switch out / in new marines as some reach 100 in fighting. You don't have to have high level fighters to capture a Duke's Zeus. In hundreds of boardings I've only ever lost 1 marine.

When you enter system to start operations, draw the Zeus and escorts away from the gate. Then order the M7M to Jump to a position opposite the gate from Zeus. Try to have the enemy at least 20km from the gate before doing it as the Zeus may turn to engage M7M instead.

Those are my points upon the start of it.

That sounds solid. I opened up my second HASP (the third and last one available to me is off in nowhere) and was trying to decide what to dedicate the non-selling potion of it too. It sounds like I need to start making adult missiles

Currently I've been firing boarding pods from my Acinonyx or Carrack at almost hull grinding range in a jousting pass to change distance quickly. But that doesn't hold up against M2s. So I'll work up my resources to try your M7M method. Get some practice on some unlucky Pirates or Yaki first

[BrigandPhantos77]

I've heard references to capturing real jump beacons. Now I see. I'm starting to get fully trained marines in my ranks. Mostly because of Pirates because of their ship variety.

Those ships are among the toughest to capture. Both Xenon I's, and Rapid Response ships carry them. From my experience so far, I am 2 for 2 with them dropping from an I. The first one caught me by surprise. The second one, I knew it was carrying.

Currently I've been firing boarding pods from my Acinonyx or Carrack at almost hull grinding range in a jousting pass to change distance quickly. But that doesn't hold up against M2s. So I'll work up my resources to try your M7M method. Get some practice on some unlucky Pirates or Yaki first

Boarding pods are easiest. Especially when your not that great (like me) at run and gun.

I've had a lot of success all around with boarding the M7M way. I definitely always save prior to starting any boarding attempt. I usually start by launching the torpedo's at about 24km distance. I haven't found a comfortable step to place the fighter drones though. 60 works "for me" for taking the Zeus, and they sometimes help keep the shields down just enough. Shift + 8 is mapped for the drones to attack my target, and shift + 0 is mapped for return to cargo bay. I don't remember if that is default or not. I use a couple custom controls. I don't compromise on the Engineering, Mechanical and Hacking skills. But as far as fighting, at least 30 to 40 in skill level for most marines is sufficient to take from the races mentioned. Yaki, Pirates, Dukes. I didn't notice much of a difference taking from Strong Arms or Split either.

So fire torps, launch and attack my target with drones, launch about 10/12 flails, switch to pods and wait for them to be ready. As soon as shields hit 0% launch 5 pods. (M1 and M2 allow 25 marines, M7M allow 28, Sirokos is 50? ).
As soon as pods are launched I switch back and send a few more flails to keep shields down. Hull damage to the target is "inevitable". But can be minimized. I've gotten one with 99% before. The

I use seta to speed things up, especially after launching torps and pods. Also open the property menu to the personnel tab. That way you can watch the boarding progress. The seta will somewhat safeguard the pods from anti-missile capabilities. Once your marines are fighting, you can recall any surviving drones. And turn and burn away from the target as well. Don't let a cap close to within 6kms, or leave it past 10km. You'll understand why after doing it.

Important: Bind a key for the transfer freight. And make sure you have a transporter device. Once captured you need to close to about 4km from the new "shiny" toy. Transfer your marines back to your ship. It helps to have jump drive installation kits. I keep 5 on me when doing this. They are sold by Terracorp. (Stealing them with an agent is the best method of getting them.) It takes 40 energy cells to jump a ship to the next system. So have extra's. That's why I set up a fleet to receive it nearby. And drone frigates to repair it. (Reverse engineer don't need repairs, but recycle and selling do for best results.) Oh yea, don't sit in system with it while repairing. Repair drones pathing really, REALLY sucks!

[OrionTaltos]

And drone frigates to repair it. (Reverse engineer don't need repairs, but recycle and selling do for best results.) Oh yea, don't sit in system with it while repairing. Repair drones pathing really, REALLY sucks!

Hold up, drone frigates have repair drones? I know what I need now.

I did get an M7M from the Yaki. They were so kind when I made my first push into Weaver's Tempest to send one after me. It's not the most impressive, but it topped out my biggest expedition boarding expedition yet with my first couple of Yaki M1s and TLs. When I saw the icon coming for me, I was thinking I was in trouble. But I think there was an issue loading it because it had practically no missiles to launch at me. Or maybe it just spawned and hadn't had a chance to load up. I'm not sure how that works.

Those jumpdrive kits are why I always want to be friends with Terracorp. I had to guard a gate so my Marine Toucan could restock energy, jumpdrive kits, and boarding pods.

One weird thing I noticed with the M7 Carrack versus the M6 Acinonyx is the hotkey for Launch All Marines works for the Acinonyx to fire boarding pods. For the M7, I have to use the target interaction to launch marines to send a full group in one burst instead of individual shots. I wonder if that's because the Acinonyx has a spacewalking option.