Combat

[sunlover72]

Hi all

Installed this four or five days ago, and after a while running isinor to the industrial planet i can never remember (esinphor?) i got myself kitted.

After some tips here i installed z-ships and randomnhits oxps to make things a bit more varied. Fantastic game and brings back memories (and my GF is already annoyed with the game lol)

Some things about the game are a lot easier than i remember (docking for instance with the navigation bouy makes lining up a doddle)

But, one area i seem to be finding harder is... the combat.

For instance, i take a 'random hits' mission, which often takes me to anarchy or fuedal planets...and cruise the spacelanes trying to find my mark.

More often than not i get hit by 4 or five ships at a time (unrelated to the mission).. asps and cobra commodores seem the most common foes.

I really struggle with these packs of enemies, i can probably win a fight against four or five 35% of the time, so with no save at the spacebar, thats a lot of reloading!

Im fully equipped in a cobra commodore with everything apart from military shields.. so i think its me not the ship. Lasers seem to overheat faster than i remember.

Can anyone offer any combat tips for improving my chances?

I dont tend to use a great deal of missiles... more often than not i will only fire them when my energy is too low to ecm (since the enemy usually ecms his and my missiles)

Any tips would be greatly appreciated


Cheers

[Rxke]

Some quick tips:

-Never be ashamed to run away from a fight that turns sour on you. After all you only have one life! Hit those fuel injectors!

-a (hardhead) missile can come in handy to get someone off your back, so you can concentrate ont the others.

- If a pack of pirates spots you and 'turns red,' don't wait for them to come you, but YOU fuel inject towards them and overshoot. They often get confused that way, and you just turn around 180° and hit them when they're still trying to figure out what happened. one exception: if you are the only one with a mil laser: you can then (sniper-like) shoot them from a distance, they can't (mil lasers have longer range)

-With a military laser, make every hit count, don't just shoot arcade-style, yes they do overheat faster than the others. And no, this behaviour won't be changed, with laser coolers or whatever, it's part of the game.

-Install an aft laser and prctice to shoot at targets when you're facing away from them. It's pretty hard at the beginning, but it pays off: when you alternate the use of lasers, the ones not in use can cool.

-Again: don't be ashamed to run away when you see the odds are against you.

[sunlover72]

Hey thanks... and actually something you posted brought back a memory from twenty odd years ago (using rear lasers when they obligingly line up behind you).

I didnt realise the rear lasters heated seperately

Finally (and sorry for so many questions) one habit i seem to have picked up from too many space sims over the years (from elite and privateer to wingcommander, freelancer, freespace etc) is i tend kill speed a little if i want to reduce my turning circle.

Am i right in saying that on oolite speed doesnt really affect my turning speed?.

Thanks again, much appreciated.

[Rxke]

The moment I am inside a 'furball' I also decrease speed, not sure what makes me do that, though. I never played much space-sims beyond oolite, 'xcept some crappy ones on an old AtariXL. It's more intuitive behaviour, I suppose.

[Rxke]

sorry for so many questions

We love to answer questions, heehee!

[Smivs]

Lots of good advice above, plus...
Rather than flying straight at the groups of pirates, stop as far away as you can and start 'sniping'. Your aim should be much better than theirs and you will often take-out two or three before they even start to get close to you. (I have taken-out groups of up to eight without taking a single hit this way before now).
To repeat, buy and learn to use Aft lasers. You can (when proficient), just fly away from them and pick them off one by one as they follow you. Again they never get close and rarely land a hit on you.
Finally, save up for those Military Shield Enhancers. They are expensive but are really good. Another option to consider is Thargoids IronHide OXP. Very effective, but also very expensive as you have to get it/them repaired/replenished frequently.
Happy hunting

[Cody]

If you’re using a joystick, make use of the roll/pitch precision toggle… it helps to make every shot count.

[ClymAngus]

I find my nostromo invaluable.



Turns my left hand into a weapons platform. Generally i do say the snipe tactic works quite well. You'll need a good hud however to take full advantage of the tactic.

[Smivs]

I find the standard HUD fine, but do use the precision toggle function.
Each ship has a 'sweet-spot', that exact position within the reticule that you want the enemy ship. This is not necessarily dead centre as your view position is probably a bit higher than the laser position. Knowing your ship and lots of practise are the secrets here.

[Ganelon]

Well, a fight against 4 or 5 ships *should* be a good one, I think. At least not a total freebie.

Precision toggle with the joystick, basically using precision for when you're aiming and shooting and then switching off it to allow for some hard turns when you're evading or need to come around fast to smoke a bandit that's moved onto your 6.. Well, it's both fun and effective. LOL

I close in fast, but I like to slow down as soon as I've closed with the opponent. Use injectors for bursts of speed to keep slotting into their 6 and making them have to keep turning and coming to me. If you don't slow down some, it's more than possible to run smack into the aft end of a ship you're chasing. LOL I know a lot of people swear by long distance sniping, but it's just not my way of doing things unless I'm up against something big and well armed.

If you can keep close enough on them that they're flying very erratically to try and shake you off, then *you* are also usually being a very hard target for them to hit. Besides, when they're evading, they aren't shooting. So at least the one you're dogging after is a "purely receptive target" so long as you can keep him/her doing the bob and weave routine. Just remember that while you're chasing and trying to tag him with your lasers, his/her lasers are getting to stay nice and cool. If the opponent gets enough of a break to turn and get a bead on you, they can scorch you up pretty good before their lasers overheat while yours may be down to counting seconds between short bursts.

Actually, I'm not sure if the AI/NPC's lasers overheat like the player's do? I just kind of assume they do when I'm playing. The AI gets all sorts of neat unbalanced tricks you don't already, like multiple beams, so I wouldn't be surprised to hear the AI doesn't have to worry about weapons overheating, either.

I'm not 100% sure how it actually works, but I *think* the AI's chance to hit you whenever it shoots is always the same for a given individual AI ship. Doesn't matter how far away you are as long as you're still in range. They don't miss more because you're tricky, nor do they fire wild out of panic or frustration. But it still takes time to get you in their sights, and evasive flying gives them less of a chance to do that.

So far as speed and turns, I don't think you turn through x number of degrees any slower because you're going fast. However the curve you make is much larger when you're going fast, that's simple math. And you're easier to target/track on a big gentle curve. I like to take speed down to maybe 25% throttle or lower and then use injector bursts. If you turn, burn, turn, burn, you make the AI do more computing to hit you.

I don't use missiles much either, unless it's a big target or a pack of opponents. Sling a missile at one or two of a group of four or five and evading it will keep them occupied while you deal with the ones that are left. The ones that are doing a bit too good at tagging you or have multiple beams are good choices. And if you finish up fast, you may be able to take them out while they're still trying to evade your missile. But yeah, missiles cost CR, while lasers just need a little time to cool down. LOL

[Disembodied]

Try to pick out any smaller ships – Mambas, Sidewinders etc. – in the attacking pack first and kill them quickly. The NPCs' big advantage is weight of numbers, so you want to cut down the number of enemies as quickly as possible. Small ships can pack as big a punch as big ones, but they die a lot easier ...

[sunlover72]

WOW, thanks for all the tips, one thing.

I tend to play on the laptop which means keyboard control.

I noticed people referring to joysticks and 'precision' control.. is that a joystick only function?

Will definitely go looking for mil shields as well, just havent found a tech15 planet yet!

[Cody]

Yeah, the precision toggle is stick only. As for finding certain types of system, the Vector maps can be very useful.
Find the name of the system you need, load the game and set that as your long range destination, then head over to it.

[Smivs]

I tend to play on the laptop which means keyboard control.

I noticed people referring to joysticks and 'precision' control.. is that a joystick only function?

Yes, and it makes things so much easier. I use a Logitech Attack Three which is USB and will almost certainly work with your Laptop. It's even Linux friendly.

[another_commander]

If you don't have ECM, missiles could serve as a poor man's countermeasures. If you receive notification of incoming missile, try firing one too. There are some good chances that the opponent will activate ECM in defense, taking down the missile that is heading your way in the process too.

Also, NPCs do worry about overheating lasers. As for the distance hit probability being affected by distance mentioned by Ganelon, I am not sure and will have to check the code, but I think that their hit chances increase with reducing distance.