I have a hankering for the Orchis type 4. Long range kill power coupled with a sensor boost and either power boost or extra repair points and you should have a decent 'sniper' vessel. The ability to spot the enemy before they spot you, hard-hitting weapon, and maybe the ability to manoeuvre backwards as the enemy approaches should give you a couple of rounds extra to take them down, even on your own.
I think these starter ships are exactly what they are, meant so you can start learning the game. But when I go to the shipyard section on the site, the frigates are much stronger, and I'll do everything I can to get to my first frigate. Even better if I get to destroyer. Then I'll start upgrading officers. Corvette = 10 hitpoints Frigate = 20 hitpoints Destroyer = 35 hitpoints (I know I'm generalizing here)
Nah, that Orchis IV is a wonderful design to the right person - as I'm sure all the others are in different ways. Going to Frigates, you just swap in shields or bigger weapons for speed, manoeuvrability, etc. Vesuvius has already said that a class III starter ship with a fully upgraded crew can tango with a base class V and come out on top, so there's much more longevity in those starter ships than you seem to believe, SJ. Still, it's also a game that everyone can play the way they want to, so there's nothing stopping you going for that. It'll make the game really interesting with a variety of play styles, and yours is just as valid a method as anyone else's. I just think that the minor inconvenience of upgrading all your initial officers so you have a fall-back position to be better than rushing into spending all your experience getting a bigger ship too early and then not having the experience to replace it if you lose it.
Sorry Lefty, don't quite understand. You say you like offensive power more, but are going to play a Mendi. The highest offensive rating for a Mendi is 11.8. There are 2 variants of Orchis that go past that, the Orchis with a rating of 14, and my own favourite the Orchis 4 with 16.2
According to the page on the Sol captain, you'd have to be 4th tier captain for that, which means above 16K XP. Depending on how much you play each day, I would imagine several weeks of fairly heavy grinding to months of relaxing play. Personally, I don't play games to get the same feeling as when I'm at work [yes, I know, I'm an old fart.] so a new game gets more attention than an old one, but an interesting game gets played more than a dull one. This is why I have over 1K hours on Fallout 4 and I still haven't completed the storyline once. I may even spend several server cycles just getting to know the starter ships as much as possible, which I am sure will pay dividends in later cycles so I can gain the maximum XP quicker and increase my chance of getting one of those Dreadnaughts.
Woah, 1k hours in Fallout 4!!! I played that game and did nearly every quest, and visited every region, but I'd say I played about 100 hours haha. As for getting to the highest tier ships, I'd say at fastest, a month. Even if you 'grind', take note that there is a graded XP earning system; if you're a higher tier ship, you get less XP for damaging/destroying a lower tier ship. So if you're the only guy with a Cruiser running around, expect less XP gain if all your enemies are frigates. Of course, the reverse is also true; if you damage or destroy a Cruiser as a Frigate, expect significantly higher XP from it. The whole idea is that the server is nearing endgame by the time there's a dozen battleships running around. But of course... once again this is all hypothetical -- in beta we will see what the progression will be, and the XP required for the rankings may be tweaked with in the long run. Everything I've calculated is based on board simulation (yes, I've made a board version of this game) and just number crunching for years.
Building more ship cards; this set of four Leningrad Destroyers gives you an idea of the ship variants a single type of ship may have. The base 'Leningrad type I' is what everyone can get, but the Type II thru IV is the 'monetized' variety. So not only its a different 'skin', but a totally different style/loadout/lore. LENINGRAD I - Base Version LENINGRAD II - Defensive Variant LENINGRAD III - Offensive Variant LENINGRAD IV - Long Range Variant
I'd take the long range beam type 4 variant any day. It seems to be the best on offensive even if it costs more. I like the patterns on it too.
Definitely picking type II because of its defensive shields. If I can't get as much damage, then add engineer repair skill, I'll last on the battlefield defending so much longer (and more XP ))
From what I gather, there's the Leningrad and the Swordfish that are destroyer-class ships for Sol. The Leningrad looks tough, but I have the preference for the Swordfish from what I've seen of it. Are we going to see some ship cards of the Swordfish?
Been working on the ship cards, just finished the Swordfish. The Swordfish Destroyer is the most 'ancient' of the Sol ships, with a lot of history both in game and in the novel itself. It also happens to be the only ship that has five variants. SWORDFISH -- FIVE VARIANTS: TYPE I - Base version, old technology, but very sturdy, and 'cheap' to acquire. TYPE II - Similar to base version, but with greatly enhanced force fields. TYPE III - The Admiral Hayes variant, which tends to improve most things overall, making it a better fighting ship. TYPE IV - A heavily modified version that strips a lot of the ships armor and offensive for an incredibly powerful force field. TYPE V - Modified to replace the large numbers of weaker weapons with three more powerful ones.
I'll acquire the type IV swordfish over any other destroyer for sure. Those advanced force fields seem to be the best bet even if my attack is much lower.
Disagree on that, if you're a destroyer-class with less firepower or putting everything to defense, you're not going to rack up much XP camping.
The Admiral Hughes versions always seem to be the best ones to me. Not just these destroyers mind you, but the other ones I've seen on frigates too.
