|
|
Post by xdesperado on Jun 23, 2013 14:54:38 GMT -5
Okay decided to try knocking out some of my few remaining Award Unlocks. Was surprized to see I hadn't done the Hardcore Elite one yet so created a New Thulun Military Officer to do this. Chose the Serpent Tooth as my ship for this, instead of my normal Fidei Defensor, since the Serpent Tooth has better combat stats for my style of play and I'll be flying the ship much longer than I normally do starting ships. Have already added all upgrades except for Interior. Ship has Cargo Prow (really need the cargo space), Weapons Cabinet (no point in Escape Shuttle since I'm flying this ship until level 20 or death), Titan Components (want extra combat edge), Cargo Pod (need all hold space possible and I rarely Torp). For interior I'm leaning towards either the Battleship Architecture or Mercenaries. Engines + Guns = 50. Starting crew size is 40 so either option gives me more crew than the combined engine/guns. With Battleship Architecture I would have 78 crew, which would allow 25 weapons armed boarders without cutting into general Hold space or pulling crew from engines and guns. Mercenaries only gives me 5 free crew but they would be armed to the teeth and then some, plus getting their normal bonuses. Please vote in my above poll and post reasons for your choices below.  |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2013 15:10:18 GMT -5
depends on your skills and focus. if you're getting a weapons cabinet, I'm assuming you have some warrior skill and want to be decent in board in addition to gun. in that case, id get battleship and make full use of the weapon cabinet by having 25 weapons. if you have no interest in board whatsoever and only gun, you should get the external crew pods, and scratch the weapon cabinet for heavy bulkheads. if your interested in ram, you should get the external crew pods and scratch the weapon cabinet for escape shuttle.
I also suggest you get a better ship when you can afford to do so.
|
|
|
|
Post by xdesperado on Jun 23, 2013 15:24:22 GMT -5
depends on your skills and focus. if you're getting a weapons cabinet, I'm assuming you have some warrior skill and want to be decent in board in addition to gun. in that case, id get battleship and make full use of the weapon cabinet by having 25 weapons. if you have no interest in board whatsoever and only gun, you should get the external crew pods, and scratch the weapon cabinet for heavy bulkheads. if your interested in ram, you should get the external crew pods and scratch the weapon cabinet for escape shuttle. I also suggest you get a better ship when you can afford to do so. Can't get a better ship before level 20 for the Hardcore Elite Award. Already have all the other upgrades I listed in the OP so it's just the Interior upgrade remaining. I primarly Gun and only board when it looks like there is a good chance I'll destroy the enemy by continuing to gun, or if I can't seem to hit with guns but can board. As a MO I have some warrior to start with and will increase it a bit more as I level up. Primary skill focus however is Pilot and Tactics. |
|
|
|
Post by slayernz on Jun 23, 2013 17:42:14 GMT -5
Weapons Cabinet is not just for if you like boarding and you are a prolific gunbunny. I usually buy one if I am expecting to do lots of looting on a common shipping lane (eg between Hydri-Thulun Prime and Ursae Thulun). I normally end up picking up so many weapons and electronics (my fuel consumption is 0.0) so having extra capacity to hold even more loot is great  |
|
|
|
Post by contributor on Jun 23, 2013 18:19:16 GMT -5
I put my vote in for the Mercenaries. Since you're playing on insane and at early levels you don't want to be saddled with super high fuel bills and you don't want to invest a ton into intimidate at this point. What's more boarding isn't your primary offensive strategy. And despite what's been said in other threads, I think mercenaries do give you a combat bonus outside of boarding. Why else would the descriptive text say "for Boarding and Combat advantage."
If the Serpent's Tooth doesn't work out, I think I did this award with the Mortifier Telum. I invested a bit in stealth and put the Omni Stealth Array on and the Advanced Solar Sails. That allowed me to escape any encounter that looked iffy and then I did a lot of blockading and spying to level up quickly.
|
|
|
|
Post by johndramey on Jun 23, 2013 18:38:16 GMT -5
I'm currently (slowly) working on this achievement as well. I like to run the Tempus Fugit with high stealth and concentrate on being sneaky and doing spy things. For my money, you can't really go wrong with the Water-Fuel tank to boost your range, but if you are wanting to go for combat advantage I'd get Battleship Architecture since boarding isn't really your primary strategy.*
*Keep in mind I'm rubbish at this game.
|
|
|
|
Post by xdesperado on Jun 23, 2013 19:52:06 GMT -5
Keep em coming folks. Status update. The captain I was using when I created this thread died at 12th level when a bloody 1st level Cadar Pirate Crossbow rammed and took out all the armor and hull. (Ship was undamaged up till then.)  Started a new Captain and slowly working my way back up.. Have gone with the Battleship Architecture both times, but still want the feedback and votes. Who knows if this captain will make it and others may find it usefull in the future. May also prove useful in helping people decide their Interior upgrades for other ships when not trying for this award. That's why I've invited the feedback so we can see different peoples reasons for choosing the various upgrades.  |
|
|
|
Post by slayernz on Jun 23, 2013 21:19:45 GMT -5
Oh oh ... with things like the WF hold, weapons cabinet, etc, they are technically deemed as "not part of your cargo hold". As you are probably aware, the more you carry in your cargo hold, the less stealthy you are. If you have one of those hidden tanks, filling them up doesn't affect your ship's signature. IE, carrying 25 units of WF normally would make you more visible to enemy detection. Carrying 25 units of WF in a WF Hold has no impact on your detectability.
|
|
|
|
Post by xdesperado on Jun 23, 2013 21:43:07 GMT -5
slayernz the Water-Fuel Tank says it has a small reduction in encounters. Is that in addition to the bonus of it masking the W-F in it?
|
|
|
|
Post by slayernz on Jun 23, 2013 22:00:30 GMT -5
Hey xdesperado, Found what I was looking for ... This was a post written by Cory a long time ago when only the WF Tank was available as "special storage". As such, read the quote below with all other ~25 storage unit things included with the WF Tank exclusion. Signature is what causes you to run into bad guys. If you take a bunch of illegal passengers, carry mystery packages, have a hull full of weapons and fly a giant ship you will be very obvious. If you attach huge missile racks, retrofit the ship to carry 3,000 tons of armor and add 2.5 kilometers of mycracrysta solar sails and deployment booms ... the ship is beyond obvious. ---- That's the cumulative value computed from the following: * Current Cargo Hold Quantity (excluding Water Tanks) * Contract Cargo on Ship (passengers and packages) * Hull Size * Ship Speed Signature Increasing Upgrades add a scaling factor to this. Lower signature is critical to moving undetected, avoiding bounty hunters, surveillance, docking at hostile territories, ect. The test could be summarized (although they have 40 some parts) as: Signature vs. Security Forces Signature vs. Enemy's Tactics Captain's Stealth vs. Signature Oh ... Cory did neglect to mention the impacts you get for carrying things like Weapons, Electronics, Artifacts, and Records. |
|
Fenikso
Templar
[ Star Traders 2 & Elite Supporter ]
Nobody expects the Rychart Inquisition!
Posts: 753
|
Post by Fenikso on Jun 24, 2013 1:58:44 GMT -5
My answer would be: It depends ... on a difficulty level. IMO on Impossible the ship is so thirsty that you need Water-Fuel Tank if you would like have some room for piracy. However, at lower difficulties I would probably go for Advanced Bridge System or Mercenaries. I would choose depending on how worried you are about fuel consumption between Water-Fuel Tank (a lot), Advanced Bridge System (s bit), or Mercenaries (not at all).
|
|
