Alien hunting

[jester]

Does anyone have any tips for hunting aliens? 
Does having artefacts atract them?

[Deleted]

Patrol independent dead planets as early in the game as possible with high Tactics, artifacts, and a veteran officer

[jester]

Thanks that helped.

[fallen]

jester - welcome to the forum! Let us know if you have other questions!

[travail]

I have tons of questions, and I've been around for a bit

I had my most successful run as alien hunter, with tons and tons of kills on "crazy"- running with a Javat Flagship (for the community challenge) and with the following officers for the ship: military, templar, veteran. Had about 25 artifacts & 50 or 60 weapons in the hold, null-field generator, but had killed lots of aliens and lost at least 6 Hives which got away- switched ships to an omega cruiser for speed (to try to get one of those as they were outrunning the flagship), same officers, less crew, and ran into one of the most lethal AI alien captains which just slaughtered us.

Still, I like the close and board style, finding it much more survivable for hunting. Still, my questions:

Just upgraded on insane to a carnifex cruiser, and wanted to try some different upgrades to see how they made a difference: Reactor superstructure (armor and engines), weapon cabinet, battleship architecture, water fuel recycler, and hyperion superstructure- was a challenge to decide, since the 25% sails upgrade in a carnifex would have increased that by a lot, and could have made different choices on some of the others as well.

As a casual (if sometimes intense) gamer, I'd love to see a comprehensive guide on all the upgrades in terms of how much benefit they have in all the variations: ie, if your pilot to hull ratio is <x but >y, and you're playing a torp captain in a fast/fast ship, your best upgrades are this/that/and the other thing.

I know some people have all that in their heads through experience and time-served, but those insights would be lovely to have in a handy reference.

[Deleted]

Tell me your XP allocation and I'll tell you which upgrades/officers would be best.

[travail]

See? I'd love to be able to figure that out for myself!

But, I've gone with a very warrior/boarding heavy approach-
Cha 10
Wis 13
Q 26
St 29

Pilot 26
Neg 1
Tactics 13
Stealth 20
Warrior 29
Intimidate 9



** Oh, and for the record for Hive-hunters (sounds like a new Reality show), have found scads of Hives (and only hives so far) at Nef-v3, at 19,27. Woot**

[Deleted]

And what's your level?

[travail]

Well. things have changed over the past 24 hours or so, with access to phone but not puter.

Updated: Lvl 32 now (last stats were probably 19 or 21)

Cha 17
Wis 18
Q 35
St 40

Pilot 35
Neg 1
Tactics 18
Stealth 27
Warrior 40
Intimidate 17

[Deleted]

Okay the average enemy skill/attribute is 55% their lv, so want warrior at least 2x your level to match aliens' warrior skill. With a MEDIUM ship, you want Pilot 1.5x lv to avoid pirate ram attacks, but you can have less pilot by having more strength. By having strength 3x lv, you can leave pilot at 1.25x lv and have a stronger board attack. You don't want to invest in Stealth, because your focus is board, which is short range, and stealth is best st long range. You dont need too much intimidate either, as it won't help for board as much as Tactics and warrior. Here's your upgrade guide

Structural
Cargo Hold - allows you to increase weapons by 20, making it the best structural upgrade for board attack
Battle Prow - increases board attack but not as much as 20 weapons. However, this upgrade also increases resistance vs ram, making it best for board vs ram, vs pirates (not aliens)
Ancient Reactors - greatest upgrade for changing range, ship evasion and gun attack
Dreadnought - best for repelling boarders and resisting ship and hull damage and also increases ram evasion strength.

Combat
Shuttles - best for winning boarding and being succesful for boarding at short range. Bonus based on how much you outnumber enemy crew
Leviathan - best for winning boarding at zero range. Bonus based on Warrior
Exo-suit - best for winning duels, wounding the enemy captain and preventing being wounded. Bonus based on Strength
Cabinet - unlike shuttles and leviathan, weapons help at short range and zero range. It's also best for damage to enemy
Xeno suits - wont help be more succesful or win, but will significantly decrease crew damage for board vs aliens
Impact Shield - helps alot for board vs ram, vs pirates (not aliens)

Interior
Battleship - increases board attack the most. Bonus based on base crew (before the upgeade)
Mercanaries - increases board attack a good amount without significantly increasing fuel consumption and encounters like battleship. It also increases crew efficiency the most, meaning you'll have less crew deaths per turn of boarding. Increased bonus with weapons
Advanced Bridge - best for advancing, evading and gunning. Bonus based on Pilot and Ship Agility
Weapon Cabinet , gives you more room for weapon

Propultion
Titan Components - best for dodging ram and gunning, and also increases board attack
Advanced Sails - best for evading torpedoes, advancing at long range and torpedo attack. Bonus based on base sails
Cargo Pod - allows 10 extra weapons, making it best for board attack and board damage

Armament
Hyperion - won't increase board attack or help with evading, but if you get attacked this upgrade will help decrease damage, particularly gun and ram damage
Predture Xeno - best for torp attack vs aliens
Cargo Pod - allows for more weapons, making it best for boarding

Carnifex vs Omega - Carnifex is better for boarding, resisting damage and fuel consumption. Omega is better for changing range, gunning, torping and evading however, and requires less Pilot.

[Cory Trese]

Dude, wow. +1 ... that's just ... wow.

[Deleted]

lol thx

[Cory Trese]

I do think maybe you have the last category incorrectly labeled?

The analysis of the Structural upgrade category for high level ship combat is particularly impressive.

There is a formula (somewhere) that shows the break even of +20 weapons from C-Hold, but really great analysis.

[travail]

Sweet, and thanks for the comprehensive!

[guylyu]

I need an advice
I have two captains
One is on impossible difficulty year 235 level 9 with fully upgraded honor of thulun
Over 200 repuatation and permits for all factions
Another is level 5 on hard difficulty year 89
With permits with every factions and rank
Using custom vessel
25 hull
16 armor
56 engine with components
51 sails
105 crew
190 hold
35 guns
20 torps

Weapons hold

Both only have vet and first mate impossible also has a political officer
Both have 30k credit
Both are zealots heavily focused on pilot
Has 9 tactics 5 warrior 9 intimidate 100 strength
Which has a better chance of finding that heela?