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Post by pendell on Jan 8, 2016 8:32:14 GMT -5
I love the Trese brothers games but I've been avoiding this one for awhile, primarily because aliens keep eating me.
I'm given to understand the two basic styles for dealing with this are 1) Warrior captain who conducts boarding. 2) Stealth captain who uses torpedoes and high solar sails to avoid alien contact altogether.
Neither of these are my preferred playstyle.
I prefer a gunbunny captain with high engines and low crew who gets in close and disables the engines of the prey.
Has anyone been able to make this style work against the aliens? Or did team Trese expect that boarding would be *the* way to go against aliens? In ST4X, gunships are a viable solution against aliens , so does that imply it should be possible to build such a playstyle here as well?
Respectfully,
Brian P.
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AA
Templar
Torps away!
Posts: 1,382 
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Post by AA on Jan 8, 2016 11:06:20 GMT -5
Yeah me...
Close range-bad cause they can easily outgun or broad you at close range
Medium range-good cause they can't broad you
Long range- good for crippling them with a torp or two
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Post by Cory Trese on Jan 8, 2016 11:14:04 GMT -5
Gunships are absolutely viable against the Xeno. They're just big enemy ships.
Any Captain, no matter what the build needs to be designed with a way to deal with escape.
If you are asking "Is a no-Escape Captain build viable in all encounters?" then the answer is no, you definitely do need a strategy for dealing with fights you don't want to continue -- but that doesn't have anything in particular to do with Xeno.
The Gun-Bunny has a big advantage over the Torpedo Rain build because, if built correctly, they've got viable options at every range.
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Post by pendell on Jan 8, 2016 14:08:05 GMT -5
Thank you both!
So it sounds like I should really focus on high tactics first, then high piloting. Tactics will give me a chance of landing a torpedo hit as well as a gun hit.
The next step is a ship with as high an engine/mass ratio as possible. This plus high piloting will give me a better chance of preventing enemies from closing the range.
If I can stack on solar sails as well, this will give me a chance to land a hit with a torp and then escape at extreme range. Regrettably, a gun build probably means minimal stealth ; I won't be able to put in enough points in stealth to make it truly worthwhile, and it will cause my enemies to level faster.
If forced into a boarding battle I will most likely have to surrender to a human enemy. Against the Xeno, I will either have to open fire at point blank range, risk to the ship or no, or ram my ship to death and go out with a blaze of glory. I don't like escape shuttles -- I dislike any captain who would abandon his crew, so we live and die together -- but a desire to continue the game past a bad alien encounter may force me to change my stance.
Does anyone see any flaw in this analysis?
Respectfully,
Brian P.
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Post by Cory Trese on Jan 8, 2016 14:58:31 GMT -5
Yeah, couple of flaws -- you've looking at Stealth the wrong way. In a boarding battle, just Ram and fire point blank. Don't be scared by those warnings. Escape Shuttle is part of the game's balance. If you don't use one, make sure you fill that upgrade slot with something that makes sure you don't need it.
Avoiding and escaping can be greatly aided by Upgrades, which act as multipliers on your Stealth. Don't over simplify the rules to reach a forgone conclusion that something isn't balanced.
Ram is definitely not suicide, there are very few "trap" buttons in ST RPG. Just make sure you have some Armor left before Ram. If you don't, fire point blank on the Engines.
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Post by jango1 on Jan 9, 2016 14:06:36 GMT -5
there are very few "trap" buttons in ST RPG. LOL, trap buttons. Confirmed. |
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Post by Cory Trese on Jan 9, 2016 14:09:14 GMT -5
I'm trying to think of one and I really cannot.
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Post by slayernz on Jan 9, 2016 18:11:29 GMT -5
I agree with Cory - gun bunnies can certainly survive Xeno encounters. Some do get a bit hairy - but torping from afar - ramming before trying to retreat, high pilot and moderate tactics, and a good EHr will all help you manage those encounters. In fact, the trickiest ones are the space hulks that seem to have impossibly fast engines and always seem to evade me  IF you are finding a lot of Xeno encounters in your play - then get some upgrades that will help reduce those encounters, or ensure you have an escape shuttle. Also - it doesn't hurt to boost your strength/warrior a little in case the worst happens. |
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Post by Cory Trese on Jan 9, 2016 21:11:53 GMT -5
Well Space Hulks are very, very rarely hostile ... so they're not so much a threat as an objective you have to build for.
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Post by resistor on Jan 9, 2016 23:10:17 GMT -5
Well Space Hulks are very, very rarely hostile ... so they're not so much a threat as an objective you have to build for. Space Hulks can be hostile  ? I've probably encountered at least two dozen Space Hulks and haven't seen a single hostile one. I've played enough TB games that things like this really shouldn't surprise me, though. |
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Post by ntsheep on Jan 9, 2016 23:40:03 GMT -5
The rule is simple. Don't make the Space Hulks angry, you wouldn't like them when they're angry  |
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Post by resistor on Jan 9, 2016 23:52:43 GMT -5
The rule is simple. Don't make the Space Hulks angry, you would like them when they're angry Wait, what? |
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Post by wascalwywabbit on Jan 10, 2016 0:10:35 GMT -5
The rule is simple. Don't make the Space Hulks angry, you would like them when they're angry Wait, what? Space hulk smashed a whole word (well a contracted ending anyway) outta that movie line! |
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Post by ntsheep on Jan 10, 2016 0:24:49 GMT -5
The rule is simple. Don't make the Space Hulks angry, you would like them when they're angry Wait, what? Typo, still tired from working out in the cold today. It's fixed now so it makes sense. My mind when writing tends to go faster than I can type or write. I'll be several spaces ahead in my mind thinking I've all ready written something when I didn't. That's my most common mistake, not misspelling, but actually leaving out a letter or two or even a whole word. |
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Post by Cory Trese on Jan 10, 2016 10:58:59 GMT -5
You can trigger Space Hive hostility a few ways -- run into them under certain Rumors or attack and hit them enough times in a row.
Arguably the easiest way to deal with them is flip them to hostile and close range, because they always have a chance (even when hostile) to ghost from position 3.
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? I've probably encountered at least two dozen Space Hulks and haven't seen a single hostile one. I've played enough TB games that things like this really shouldn't surprise me, though.
