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Post by ChocoCrowbar on Feb 23, 2016 15:37:37 GMT -5
So I want to start to mix my Gunner style with a bit of face to face combat. Sine I have a high amount of engines and guns, my 77 crew are already busy with that and don't want to invade the enemy ship, leaving me to break down the doors and take out the whole enemy crew by my lonesome.
Should I make room on my ship for 15 Shalun/Type III (don't know what this means) mercenaries or add +20 additional quarters? Maybe even add only +15 crew pods on the outside and leave some room for +10 cargo? Restucture my whole ship to add +20 + 30% crew?
I guess what I'm asking is if 15 battle hardened Shalun mercs are better than 30 normal crew for boarding purpose?
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Post by xdesperado on Feb 23, 2016 16:00:35 GMT -5
Shalun mercs are worth roughly 3 times normal crew if I remember correctly.
Look in the pinned thread for game guides, pretty sure you'll find one regarding boarding combat that has a lot of useful information.
Seems like my normal decision regarding Shalun vs the Battleship Architecture (think that's the one that adds +20 +30%) was based off starting crew size. Smaller crew ships the mercs were better on larger crew ships the sheer numbers tipped in favor of normal crew. Note the +20 crew gets added first then the 30% is figured off that total so with a base crew of 80 you'd be adding 50 crew.
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Vraesrial
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Post by Vraesrial on Feb 23, 2016 16:09:08 GMT -5
The merc upgrade it worth it. If you need someone to help you board, then they're the way to go...Not that I have need of their services......
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Post by xdesperado on Feb 23, 2016 16:21:23 GMT -5
Another factor to keep in mind when adding crew to ship or getting a new ship with larger crew size is having enough Intimidate for efficient operations. Unfortunately been a while since I've played ST seriously so don't recall the exact equations for that off top of my head. slayernz might know the numbers or where to find them. |
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Post by ntsheep on Feb 23, 2016 16:35:56 GMT -5
We now summon the great cat god slayernz and ask he bestow his wisdom,  |
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Post by ChocoCrowbar on Feb 23, 2016 18:10:42 GMT -5
So I added the Shalun, plus got a Bodyguard. Promptly went out to see how well it felt, against Aliens. About 5 hives later I meet a lvl 66 Xytox Carrier. Me being a lowly lvl 21 couldn't maintain distance to shoot guns. Once on board, 140 aliens lined up against my captain, her bodyguard and 15 Shalun mercs, plus 77 scared crew members on deck, all suited up in Crew Xeno Suits. We won.I feel confidant about these 15 Shalun bodyguards on my ship as a backup just in case my high pilot skills aren't enough. I even started to board other ships instead of shooting them down. |
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Vraesrial
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The absolute God of Hyperdeath, an outlander, and the bad pun king.
Posts: 278
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Post by Vraesrial on Feb 23, 2016 18:17:29 GMT -5
Yeah, that'll do it.
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Post by slayernz on Feb 23, 2016 18:54:39 GMT -5
I don't know about intimidate and crew and the magical formulas that surround them. Remember, I'm a gun-bunny. The only times you want large crew are for Exploring (give all the crew red shirts), and Boarding (give all the crew stabby stabby stuff). Why we don't give crew stabby stabby stuff when we go exploring is something that I might have to check with the crew union rep about. Oh wait, I airlocked him the day he was identified. Crew numbers have a direct impact on water-fuel consumption. That is, the more crew you have, the more WF you consume per turn. Negated by pilot. You can have a ship with 200 crew members, and still have zero WF consumption in green zones. IF your morale drops, higher crew definitely has a higher impact to WF consumption. The old old rule of thumb for picking hull size was Hull size < (Indimidate + Pilot) I don't know if it still really holds true, and if you do what I do and get pilot pumped up as quickly as possible, having an intimidate of 1 isn't an issue, even at level 38. Did I answer your question? No, not even slightly, but look, here's a distraction  |
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Post by xdesperado on Feb 23, 2016 18:59:02 GMT -5
slayernz lol Thinking where's @starfixer, seems like he was the one badgering Cory Trese over the nuts and bolts numbers for stuff and was the one running a lot of boarding type captains.
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Post by johndramey on Feb 23, 2016 19:33:47 GMT -5
I've been really considering getting into starting up a few boarders, as that seems like it could be a really fun style of play. I'll see if I can dredge up any threads that have info regarding intimidate/warrior/etc. Need to find the time, though.......
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capthawk
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Post by capthawk on Feb 23, 2016 19:48:53 GMT -5
Here a few things I gleaned from the Forum along the way on mercs and board/intimidate to add to this discussion.
1. Mercs- type III means they are zero range (boarding range) experts, similar to how the Leviathan or Sonic Disrupter is zero range, but for crew. Also, if your crew ever gets massively killed off in a duel, they will be the last 15 alive no matter what. Wf consumption had been discussed.
2. There is a post a couple pages back that had a similar question, might check it out but I think the advice above was the key points.
3. Boarding, Intimidation. The thread I found this in was old, and died before any exact math came out. But Corey agreed with a poster, pairing Warrior and Intimidation is definitely powerful in boarding.
Personally, I use the mercs when I do have high base crew, unless the ship has too many engines or something.
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capthawk
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Post by capthawk on Feb 23, 2016 19:59:21 GMT -5
I've been really considering getting into starting up a few boarders, as that seems like it could be a really fun style of play. I'll see if I can dredge up any threads that have info regarding intimidate/warrior/etc. Need to find the time, though....... If you use the model lurker put out in Brother Dervin's Guide for Hunting Aliens you end up with a monster boarding Capt. If he's built to board a Terrox, what faction has a chance? Also just in case anyone didn't know, always board first, the advantage is crucial. You can try engines to disable, or decks to soften crew, but if there is any doubt, Xeno, high level ship, just get in there! That first roll is so huge you can take some ships with one board and maybe one to three lost crew. |
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Post by johndramey on Feb 23, 2016 20:01:40 GMT -5
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capthawk
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Post by capthawk on Feb 23, 2016 20:13:08 GMT -5
You're welcome. With the Dervin's Guide, I've found you can def tweak some of the other skill distribution if you keep the Strength/Warrior/Pilot core. I've been messing with less tactics, more intimidate and stealth lately and it's still working well for example. |
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Post by ntsheep on Feb 23, 2016 20:17:36 GMT -5
Did I answer your question? No, not even slightly, but look, here's a distraction The lord works in mysterious ways  |
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