Improvements to my long range cruiser fleet?

[Oksbad]

I have three main cruiser long range cruiser designs consisting of Federation Panther Cruisers armed solely with one type of long range weapon. I typically put a few of these behind my main battle line to provide support.

Gunboats: Heavy plasma
Macross: Fast missile
Macross-L : Multi warhead missiles

I am thinking of sacrificing some armor to add a “target booster”, will this positively effect their performance? Is it advisable to sacrifice one launcher (of eight) to add a target painter? Do cruisers receive accuracy bonuses from other cruiser’s or frigate’s target painters? Have any of you had any luck with any other type of missile (Regular, decoy, megaton etc.)? How about the other types of plasma gun?

[outlander78]

I find target boosters help all of the weapons you listed above.

I would suggest mixing fast and multiple missiles, and rockets, all on the same cruiser - one less to fiddle with, and they make for a good mix.

[follick]

@Oksbad

I am thinking of sacrificing some armor to add a “target booster”, will this positively effect their performance?

I don’t think so.

@Oksbad

Is it advisable to sacrifice one launcher (of eight) to add a target painter?

In my opinion, for the Fast missile yes, for the others, no.

@Oksbad

Do cruisers receive accuracy bonuses from other cruiser’s or frigate’s target painters?

Yes.

@Oksbad

Have any of you had any luck with any other type of missile (Regular, decoy, megaton etc.)?

Occasionally Megatons are useful, they have the highest intrinsic dps.
Regular missiles have the longest range which can be useful when attacking stationary opponents at extreme long range.

@Oksbad

How about the other types of plasma gun?

I’ve never found a use for them in a cruiser.

[outlander78]

Normal plasma has the same DPS as heavy, but 50% better accuracy - I use that and a target booster for decent effect. Accuracy is less than missiles, but is not affected by decoys, and regular hits are devastating.

[Oksbad]

I see some conflicting information about target booster so I will wait for more consensus to form.

Question: Does the increased tracking speed of the normal cruiser plasma help against slow moving or stationary targets? Is it worth the sacrifice of decreased shield penetration?

[yurch]

@Oksbad

Question: Does the increased tracking speed of the normal cruiser plasma help against slow moving or stationary targets? Is it worth the sacrifice of decreased shield penetration?

Tracking only compensates for missrates due to movement, so it won’t make any difference vs a completely stationary target.

All of the plasma launchers have more than enough penetration to go through every shield in the game - there’s no need to worry about that.

[Oksbad]

@yurch

@Oksbad

Question: Does the increased tracking speed of the normal cruiser plasma help against slow moving or stationary targets? Is it worth the sacrifice of decreased shield penetration?

Tracking only compensates for missrates due to movement, so it won’t make any difference vs a completely stationary target.

All of the plasma launchers have more than enough penetration to go through every shield in the game - there’s no need to worry about that.

I see, what about slow cruisers (speed 0.05-0.06)? Does tracking make a difference then?

[follick]

Let me clarify, I don’t think the added performance from a target booster is worth the cost.