Any combat tips?

[byronarn]

I am not a noob. I've been playing Oolite for years now. However, when it comes to combat I may as well be a noob. When I attempt combat, I die probably 75% of the time. I do use a keyboard instead of a controller, but killing them pirates still shouldn't be impossible. So, any tips for how to come out on top more often in combat?

[CmdrGumbo]

I am not a noob. I've been playing Oolite for years now. However, when it comes to combat I may as well be a noob. When I attempt combat, I die probably 75% of the time. I do use a keyboard instead of a controller, but killing them pirates still shouldn't be impossible. So, any tips for how to come out on top more often in combat?

I'm not a born combateer myself, but one thing I can say: you do get better the more you do battle. As a rule of thump you should at least have a military laser and shield boosters installed on your ship.

As for doing battle: keep an eye on your speed. If you stay at full throttle all the time while fighting, you may overshoot your target or you will have trouble aiming in on your enemy. If a ship comes after you and you can't shake it, come to a full stop, to let the enemy overshoot, zero in on his tail and then hammer him with all you got. Oh and make use of the left <Ctrl> key on your keyboard while aiming, keeping this key pressed while aiming in on an enemy ship will result in higher precision (slower movement) when maneuvering.

[Imaginos]

Keep a keen eye on your shields.

[Cody]

Get in close, and make every shot count.

[Disembodied]

Varying your speed, as CmdrGumbo says, is a good ploy, especially for close-in dogfighting: you'll turn tighter at lower speeds. Fit, and learn to use, a rear laser, too (not a mining laser!). Being able to at least keep your opponent honest when he's on your tail, while allowing your front laser to cool, is very useful.

Also, it's worth checking to see if you're using any old ship OXPs: prior to the Great AI Improvement, it was common for ships to be made more challenging by giving them more energy and military lasers … when these old ships inherit the new AI, they can really spoil your day!

[Cody]

If you're up against multiple bandits, lob a hardhead at the nastiest. That'll keep it occupied while you deal with the rest.

[Disembodied]

Also, when facing multiple enemies, if possible pick off the weakest ships - Mambas, Sidewinders, etc. - first. They can dish out as much damage as a Python or a Cobra, but they die a lot faster. They're harder to hit at long range, of course, which is an argument in favour of getting in close, fast.

[Day]

which is an argument in favour of getting in close, fast.

And then fleeing fast, far away from the combat center, before coming back to your designated victim

[Norby]

A good tactics is if you do combat only when you think that the odds are not against you. Oolite is very far from an arcade space combat game where the player can destroy whole fleets in a single fighter, here if you have two opponents and no escorts then you can be simply outnumbered where you need luck to win so maybe better to run.

Very much depends on your equipments and your OXP configuration which modify NPCs. For example if you install Custom Shields then your enemies get shields which is not in the core game and your job will be considerably harder.

If you tell more about your OXPs then you pobably will get more specific tips.

[byronarn]

Very much depends on your equipments and your OXP configuration which modify NPCs. For example if you install Custom Shields then your enemies get shields which is not in the core game and your job will be considerably harder.

If you tell more about your OXPs then you pobably will get more specific tips.

The only OXPs that I have installed are ambient. The Classic Ooniverse Compilation, BackgroundSet, and Galaxy Names. The gameplay should be the same as vanilla Ooilite.

[Norby]

Ok, then do some preparation before combat, for example:
-set a safe nearby system to hyperdrive target just in case if your injectors get damaged,
-select missile targeting mode and choose a pylon with q-bomb, which can break the red alert (everyone will run),
-stop at high distance from your targets, identify who may have injectors and faster than you.
These are the most dangerous ones because if you dive into close combat and after a while you must run then these can follow you. If there are more than one then maybe better if you split them from the others by attacking one with just one salvo then run on injectors until others will be left behind well, then do a close combat just with these. After you won you still can fly back to the slow part of the enemy fleet and finish the job (if you are a hunter).

Another tactics if you always keep distance: fire until overheat then turn back and run (without injectors if not needed) while keep sniping with the rear military laser, doing evasive maneuvers in the cooling periods. This is a less intensive but efficient way, destroying the enemy one by one behind you. Also less danger from missiles in this case, even hardheads has low chance to reach you if you keep using ECM repeatedly and an impact do much less damage if arrive from behind due to the lower speed difference between you and the missile.

[byronarn]

Slightly off topic: What's the difference between a hunter and a bounty hunter.

[Cody]

No difference - hunter is simply shorter.

[byronarn]

No difference - hunter is simply shorter.

I suspected as much, but figured I'd verify my assumptions. You know what they say about assuming...

[byronarn]

Just made the first kill of my current game! It was a lucky find. Found a lone Fer-de-lance in the space lane on my way to Tsionla. He had an offender status, so I targeted him. Tried to take a few shots with my military laser, but the dang thing overheated too fast, so I used my fuel injectors to get close then finished him off with my mil laser.

Thanks for the advice guys! I'm going to come back to this post to reread these tips every so often, so feel free to post more tips if you think of any.

(For those who are following my Tales of a Pacifist Pilot in the fiction subforum, don't worry, It wasn't Noryb who did the killing. His kill count is still zero!