OK, so I have been quite vocal on the discussions as to how I hope to play, what tactics I want to try and see if they work. I am very in favour of being able to play as a 'sniper' of sorts. Hitting from maximum effective range, trying to get an opponent blindside and unprepared for the coming battle. "Hit Hard, Hit Fast, and find no need to hit again." So, what sort of tactics are others wanting to use? How do you imagine Genari tactics are going to differ from the Sol ones?
Following your tactics idea, working with long range, I think in the early game the Liverpool is the best frigate on the Sol side for accurate, ranged weapons. Both its plasma beam weapons pack a serious punch, and I don't think you'd need its secondary weapons. Add Helmsman Accuracy skill to make sure you it at that 10+ hex range. You'd also have to play as Sol no matter what if you want to be the sniper type (until Maalaketh becomes available that is). I think it depends on the terrain though, being a 'sniper' you'd need minimal obstacles. I don't think it would work in an asteroid field, or a place heavy with nebula.
Yes, that's a good idea. I plan on starting with the Orchis IV and the Liverpool is an obvious next step from there, but what are YOU planning to do first time out? Comparing this to a well known MMORPG, I plan on being a ranged damage specialist. But I know very little about being a Tank or a Melee character. Once I have at least one point in fleet command, I can work as my Hunter in WoW did, but I want to try other things. For example, I will probably be playing Genari in the Beta just to try something other than the same sort of thing I am comfortable with. I hope to be able to try a number of different things before I settle with a favourite in Space Wars, and I hope I can find fun in a number of them. How are others on the forum planning on playing? I am fairly flexible and would like to try all styles in time, but currently have no idea how to play many ships or races as I have no experience with them.
I wouldn't say there are any 'tanks' in this game unless you consider the heavily armored ones tanks, but that just means a few more hitpoints. But in the way of WoW and other games, DPS type warships I'd go for a Gorshkov Frigate as it has an arsenal of so many weapons and a lot of power, or something like the Firebolt Frigate which has a pretty high total damage output. Sure, you need to get closer, but the devestation you'd wreak on your opponent is good enough. One strong series of hits and your enemy is done for.
If we're talking about tactics based on range, I think the size of the map and obstacles can make a difference. If its a big map with a lot of allies, then I think range is to your advantage. But if its one on one, on a smaller map then the guy with the bigger close-up punch wins. But this is all speculation until we play. I'm sure we'll have ships in certain classes that will be very popular, and others that will be rarely played.
I didn't read that into it. I took it as the ability to broadcast 'static' on the same frequencies as the opponent's scanner systems. I don't think Vesuvius would actually be able to have what we would consider a 'cloak' due to considerations of "Passing Off", i.e. he would get into too much trouble if Paramount decided that this was just some re-skinned ST game with Klingons that have cloaking technology versus Earth's federation, with eventual inclusion of the Borg and Dominion. I wouldn't play a race that can just pop up out of nowhere, fire, and be invisible before the opponent could return fire anyway. That's a dishonourable Romulan tactic!
Well, cloaking is staying invisible to the enemy, so -1 sensor range on enemy makes you invisible to him if you stay outside the range... and then you have the dampening field of Ma'Alaketh which makes the - enemy range of sensors even stronger. So it's "some kind of cloak", as you can see the enemy while he can't.. if you stay far enough.
The Genari are about getting close and slugging it out, so it doesn't matter if there's a dampening field or some sensor thing, up close it won't matter. Sensor shadow doesn't do anything to prevent marines from boarding at close range!
After researching all the class 3 ships, I've decided on the Mendi Corvette. I didn't want the Orchis, because it simply doesn't have enough firepower. The Bengbu isn't much better, even if it has the extra hitpoints. The Mendi has that array of four lasers, so if you miss a few, at least there's more to shoot. Overall damage is great too, and its force field is decent enough. If I can afford the special varities (I'm guessing they're unlocked by $$) then I'd go for the type 2 with better shields or the type 4 where you have more engine power. I think its weakness is the scary low 10 hitpoints, but I think the enemy marine pods are the greater danger. But I feel that all of us will want to get to the Frigates as fast as possible, since they are so much more durable.
The class III ships are cannon fodder, a step to get to the stronger ships. I think the class IV are fodder also. Everything I see says that the class V destroyers are where ships will really last.
A lot of people seem to be stuck on shield not being there for genari ships. That only seems to be on the early ships, and some of the type 2/3 etc... have them anyways. Even with the sol corvettes, they aren't very strong either, 2-4 points in shields, so I don't see that much advantage with sol and their shields over genari. One less system to worry about means more power to weapons or speed.
I'm just going to pick a ship at random for now, whatever look fits my fancy. Without any experience its not like I'll really know what I'm piloting and how to make best use of it right?
Exactly my thought. Knowing almost nothing about the game, my first attempt(s) will be random, just trying to catch the feel of everything first.
Well if I follow the Heroes of Might and Magic way of playing, I'll probably do singleplayer missions first to get my feel for the combat then move to PVP.
Thought of refreshing this discussion now that the game is up and running. I've found that the starting class 3 ships can be just as good as higher tier ships if you play them right. They're faster and more maneuverable, and you can generally get out of harms way if there's enough planets/asteroids etc.. At least against AI, I can take on class 4 and sometimes class 5 ships with hit and run strikes. On the genari side I enjoy the agile flyer, even if it doesn't have shields, and the mendi on the sol side even though its weak on hitpoints.
I don't like corvettes much, they're too fragile for my taste. They're more cannon fodder for me, using the free choice one and get to around 1200xp and go straight for a frigate. I like the Liverpool's long range and accuracy, preferably on more open maps.
