On Torpedo upgrades: Aft Battery vs ARES vs Sails?

[freedomhater]

I usually build Boarding Combat when I build combat captains, but now I'm trying the dogfighter and realized that i dont really know what all the upgrades do!

My question is on the best option for increasing Torpedo effectivenes on higher levels, Crazy and above.

0. can torpedoes have enough of a chance to land at MEDIUM range to warrant burning a move on them at this range? What about with upgrades?

1. ARES? I can only think of this if you are fighting some giant ship that needs 5-10 torpedoes and you are flying a Mordi or something with 3 torpedoes default. Since torpedoes cost a fortune and this doesnt necessarily help land the 3 you already have, this seems like the weakest option.

2. Aft Battery - ok so this is what i am leaning on recently - mostly out of ignorance. "Better torpedo accuracy" seems to be much more valuable than more actual torpedoes. "Following retreating maneuvers" - does this boost mean you can actually land a shot at medium range if you went from Short -> Medium last move?
Does it just mean increased accuracy when your ship is pointing away from the enemy? and does this increased accuracy 'following retreat' (or pointing away?) mean that it is the same as base accuracy? or just a lessened penalty?

3. sails!
Since Accuracy of torpedoes are my principle concern, maybe the best option for torpedo lethality is sails?

4. what do the pointing of the ships mean when you are fighting?

a. i take it that being pointed away from the enemy gives you a penalty to torpedoes (to guns as well?) [this happens following a retreating maneuver]. does pointing away have other penalties? to guns? to dodging guns/torps? penalty to a subsequent advance? does it boost a subsequent retreat? or boost anything for that matter?

b. on Boards: i heard somewhere that ships on board will point in a direction showing advantage/disadvantage. So if you board, and you point up, you have an 'advantage' on all subsequent 'duel' attacks? sometimes i swear i see ships pointing to the SIDE (whereas normally one points up one points down). What does that mean?

[slayernz]

Hey Freedomhater,
Torps are definitely most effective at the Long Range, but at medium range, you still have a reasonable chance of hitting your target. The thing is though that you often don't spend much time at medium range.
First move - Long Range --> Fire Torp.
Second move - Advance
Third move - Advance (now at Close Range)
Fourth Move+ - Engines and/or Decks.


Sails help torps at long range, and have some bearing at medium range.
Tactics definitely helps with torp accuracy.
Torp quality helps with torp accuracy and damage.
- Faction Torps from high-security planets are best
- Faction Torps from low-security planets are okay
- Independent Torps are passable
- Torps taken from "Rearm" after combat are lowest quality.


The real advantage with Ares is that you get 16 torps as a single upgrade. This is great if you are the type of captain who typically has multiple encounters between restocking (at the local Cadar Seven-Torpeven). Sure you can have a ship that has 5 torpedoes, but if you've had half-a-dozen encounters, you find your tubes empty. Stuffing crew into the tubes only has very short-term satisfaction, and is only an inconvenience to the enemy captain because they then have to go get their ship cleaned again.

I also thought that the Ares system added bonuses to hit probability too, but am not 100% sure on that.

Torp Control Pods definitely do increase hit accuracy and can boost your torp count by 20%. However, if you had 5 torps to begin with, you get only 1 extra, so is kind of a waste of cash.

AFT lance battery - if your ship is facing away from your enemy, then you get to take advantage of this system. Normally, if you want to fire torps at your enemy, you have to turn around. If you've ever tried doing that in the game, it involves "advancing" - so your range gets diminished. This diminishing range is detrimental to the entire idea of pushing that big red Torp Launch button. So, with AFT torps, you can retreat to long range, then fire a couple of torps at your enemy.
Note: Only works if a) you have better pilot skill than your opponent, and b) the opponent isn't trying to flee from you too (they escape if they are fleeing).

Firing Guns is like firing Torps - you have to point in the general direction of the enemy. The good thing is that guns like being at close range, so advancing is a positive.

Ships facing sideways - that is when you are at boarding range. Often you and/or the enemy ship will have crew trying to board the other. If you fire your guns, there is a distinct probability that you will kill some of your crew that has boarded (or for that matter, crew hanging onto the hull of the enemy). You get a nice warning about that though. You may not have seen the warning because of your previous love of boarding

After all said and done though - I used to buy the Ares upgrade, but then found ships that had enough torps to keep me happy. I much prefer using the upgrade slot for either an Omni-Stealth Array, or a Predator Tracking Array. Predator Tracking Arrays help when doing the capture/kill contracts (if you aren't a Military or Bounty Hunter captain). Omni-Stealth Array helps you avoid unwanted encounters.

Did I cover everything?

[Fenikso]

Jun 20, 2012 18:41:38 GMT -5 slayernz said:

First move - Long Range --> Fire Torp.
Second move - Advance
...

Are you sure that is expected move of a Cadar captain?

How about:

First move - Long Range --> Fire Torp.
Second move - Long Range --> Fire Torp.
Third move - repeat moves 1 & 2 ;D

[slayernz]

On Impossible, it's hard to maintain that perfect Long Range for Torp precision ... the bastards are usually much higher in level than me and keep trying to leave the combat or (gasp) actually try and come to kill me!

[captmo]

I had no idea that there were torps that varied in quality. That info is very helpful.

[BlastGT1]

I've definitely noticed a difference in torp quality, as I often take torps from defeated ships. Sometimes a torp hit does significant damage, sometimes a torp hit does minor damage, sometimes virtually nothing. I've also seen tons of misses in a row against lower level captains and lesser ships.

Launched from Torpedo Bay 1 of my MetroFLASHed HTC Droid Incredible

[easyrush]

Omni stealth and Predator Tracking are only useful though of you can't escape..if you have enough engines I think it would be best to take the sail probe for dodging and aiming torps?.

[rabidbite]

I didn't know that Torpedoes had such serious quality issues in the game! Well well!!

rabid

[starfixer]

Sept 1, 2012 18:53:59 GMT -5 easyrush said:

Omni stealth and Predator Tracking are only useful though of you can't escape..if you have enough engines I think it would be best to take the sail probe for dodging and aiming torps?.

Sail command probe does not help combat. It provides a manuverability bonus in deep space travel. Nothing to do with combat.

Torp accuracy depends on ship speed + sails (to hull ratio mainly) + stealth + tactics + torp quality. A fast ship with a lot of sails, high tactics and stealth, and torps from faction worlds will provide a great combination in torp accuracy.

[prideofcadar]

Against most aggressors I find it best to close the range to Medium and engage rather than letting off a Torpedo.

Staying at Torp range is usually a bad idea because Torps are real game-ruining. When you get hit by a torp, your losses are usually very heavy, because your hull, engine, armour and solar sails will fall by several points, while your opponent shrugs it off like it's peanuts (HE doesn't have to consume water-fuel in Deep Space). If you don't fancy an emergency visit to the next star dock, try not to Torp.

I find it better to close the range to Mid, gun down a few sails and engines, then close and fire upon the Deck. this move will usually cut the opponents' crew to pieces to prevent boarding while you down the ships' engines to force a surrender, and is apparently less likely to end up ruining the Hull than the Engine tactic so that you can get at the cargo easily.

On that note, unless you want to build an Indie Battlecruiser, it's usually better to try something other than the Ares Torps. I recommend upgrading the other stuff before you move on to getting more torpedoes for your ship.

[sheff]

Sorry to rehash old threads, but if you're really interested in torpedo warfare, and you have a fast/quick ship, and you've padded your tactics and pilot stats, you should be fairly OP.
Torp accuracy then. Like boxing. Hit and dodge.

Since I can't seem to stay alive for an incredibly long time on hard yet, I can't confirm this. But since I just got a shiny new platinum plus membership card at Cadar Prime's Seven Torped-even, I ought to try, right?

For science?