Aliens vs noncombatants

[krauser]

It's a simple question really. Are alien encounters a death sentence for noncombatant captains?

I've lost one captain on crazy, and three on hard playing smuggler/explorer/spy. All due to extremely high level alien encounter. I get that death is inevitable for all captains, it's just a little frustrating dying from the same fruitless battle.

All instances my pilot was specced fairly well for level (200%) and stealth was about 150%. All instances the alien ship was at least 15-20 levels above me. The last time was in a fully rigged javat cutter, so good engines and sails.

Any way for a merch to get out of these situations alive?

[krauser]

Oh, and in case it matters I wasn't in deep space. I was floating along the lower left hand side, in (green) Steel Song territory.

[contributor]

krauser, I'm actually surprised that you weren't able to escape them with your stealth and sails. You might have been extremely unlucky and aliens might also have had very high stealth and sails, or you just got bad dice rolls. I've had non-combat captains who have been very successful at running from aliens using high stealth and high sails. The omni stealth array upgrade and the advance sails upgrade are both really good for a captain like that because they both increase your stealth. The one problem with that build though is you put so much into stealth that once an enemy advances on you past long-range, you're pretty much a sitting duck. So if you see somebody who is at your level or above you just have to hit retreat and try to get away. With the right ship/build though it is quite possible to live for quite a long time. I got that award for reaching level 50 on insane with a spy who was basically good at avoiding and running from everybody.

Last thing, when I started playing I only seemed to encounter aliens that were ridiculously above my level. They can often be at or below you level, it just took me a long time to encounter them. Actually wrote a little fan fic about that.

startradersrpg.proboards.com/thread/3981/revenge-sweet

Best of luck and may the dice be kinder to you next time.

[Deleted]

Well on crazy, high pilot or stealth could work vs aliens. But 250% Pilot and 150% stealth is physically impossible, so your stats were probably a bit lower. Speed and Agility is also crucial for combat. On crazy, Id say a FAST ship with lots of sails and the captain's stealth 160-170% lv outa be enough to escape aliens. Or with a little tactics, veteran officer and predator Xeno array, you could probably torp most aliens. If you want to invest high in Pilot, Id say get a QUICK ship with lots of engines, pilot officer, escape shuttle and advanced bridge upgrades and keep Pilot about 225% lv and Strength 200% lv. This way, you could ram any alien and use an escape shuttle, and you'd still have plenty of room to invest in negotiate and get non combat officers and upgrades. Also, Stealth and Pilot have non combat features as well so it would be hitting two birds with one stone. Pilot helps for fuel consumption while Stealth helps for avoiding encounters, surveillence and exploration.

If you chose the Pilot/ram option, don't be an explorer. Explore requires high explorer, stealth and Strength and you won't have room for them with such high Pilot.

In ST, you need to invest somewhat in combat or you'll die.

[boeu]

Worst alien i hit was lvl 346 when i was lvl 31 on hard

[krauser]

contributor- thanks for the encouragement! That was a nice piece of writing there, I could imagine the hunger in that captains eyes.

@starfixer- the death that caused my post was an explorer on hard, and as I said had 200% pilot. Your build suggestion sounds great for another type, but yeh...this wasn't a ramming captain.

He was originally created for an award run, managed to get exemplar and triple clan before getting dusted. I'll try to spread my stats a little better next time.

Jan 16, 2014 4:24:14 GMT -5 boeu said:

Worst alien i hit was lvl 346 when i was lvl 31 on hard

Ouch! My enemy was only 33 (still almost 20 lvls higher than me), I remember cause I just stared at my screen for a moment. But level 346?

I can picture the captain looking at his first mate in resignation, gritting his teeth, and in a steely voice laying down his final order.
"Ramming speed, men!"

[contributor]

Normal aliens and narvs can only be max 4x your level. The highest I think I've ever found was 3.85x my level.

There are hives though that can be more than 10x your level. The good thing however is that they don't attack. They just try and run from you. Those are the ones you get the "Hive" awards for and it can take forever before you find one that you can actually catch.

[boeu]

Dont carry artifacts

[Deleted]

Jan 16, 2014 9:11:17 GMT -5 contributor said:

Normal aliens and narvs can only be max 4x your level. The highest I think I've ever found was 3.85x my level.

There are hives though that can be more than 10x your level. The good thing however is that they don't attack. They just try and run from you. Those are the ones you get the "Hive" awards for and it can take forever before you find one that you can actually catch.

1. That is only on Impossible. On crazy maximum alien level is 3.2x lv and in that case Stealth skill 170% lv, fast speed and lots of sails are enough to outrun almost all aliens. For aliens that cannot be outrun, some tactics (30%) and predator torp upgrade in addition can torp practically any alien.

2. The pilot officer provides a bonus vs hives. With maximum Pilot skill (300% lv), a QUICK ship, lots of engines/sails (engines for medium, sails for long) advanced bridge and ancient reactors upgrades, pilot and veteran officers, it is technically possible to advance on hulks 5x your lv or higher, depending on ship and AI. Here's the math behind this:
Average enemy skill = 55% their lv
Advance vs retreat = Pilot + (Pilot X Agility) + Stealth + Sails/Engines (depending on range; agility = 0, 1 or 2; slight bonus with ancient reactors) vs enemy Stealth + (enemy Stealth x enemy Agility) + enemy Sails/Engines
Advanced Bridge, Pilot Officer and Spice (w/officer) increases Pilot by a percentage (so greater Pilot = greater advanced bridge and pilot officer bonus)
Veteran provides advance bonus vs xenos

There are times where hulks are 10x or more than lv, probably because they are carrying so many artifacts. In these instances, advancement will be impossible. You will, however, eventually run into a hulk that you can change range on with the right skills, ship and upgrades.