I’ve been playing the game totally wrong and have gone Cruiser & Fighter only. Basically I built my Cruisers with no engine and bulked up on defense, while the fighters are super quick.
What are your feeling on movement rates? Also, is there a good way to compare the two?
I wouldn’t call that “playing it wrong”. Frigates can be very handy in the right situations but it is possible to beat most challenges without ever fielding them. I can’t imagine a “cruiser only” strategy going much further than the single-player missions but after that the choice of mixing in mostly fighters or mostly frigates appears to be largely a matter of taste.
Try bringing frigates with EMP missiles or disruptor bombs, since that adds capabilities you’re largely missing with frigate free fleets.
[edit] Just noticed that you aren’t putting engines on cruisers at all. While it is possible to beat almost all challenges with stationary fleets, I think it is a lot more fun to have a fleet that can move. The main advice I would give is don’t be afraid to try cruisers with 4 or 5 engines. A lot of people seem to give up after putting one engine on and finding they don’t win more. You want to move fast enough to prevent low tracking speed weapons from hitting you and also so that your frigates don’t race ahead and die before your cruisers could possibly get there. [/edit]
Wow 4 or 5 engines on a cruiser? I stopped after 2. Will try that.
It looks to me like just a little bit of speed makes opposing plasma next to worthless.
Yes. It’s very funny smashing plasma-only challenges with tiny deployments of high speed frigates.
Indeed, I believe that fast cruisers are a key to getting a high score on the second survivor scenario (the one where engines are required, and no fighters allowed)
I never really have the space on my crusers fr one or 2 engines… maybe because I use 3 shields;), (Fast recharge, multiphase and reflective)
hi,
then you are doing something wrong. are you spamming plasma and rockets? otherwise it’s easy to have 5 supercharged engines on a cruiser and at least 3 shields.
and speed is quite a protection of its own. a cruiser with 0.30 speed can outmaneuver plasma and rockets.
btw, what’s this postspamming about, trying to enlarge something?
greetings
driver
I regularly build cruisers with a reflective shield, 2 fast recharge shields, 4-5 supercharged engines, and 6 cruiser lasers (along with sundry other modules).
dupe
I build them with 1 reflective shield, 5-6 lightweight engines, and 5 weapons of choice. They are cheap, and have a good hitpoint/cost ratio.
It ultimately depends on what you’re facing, I find. A group of speedy frigates can tear plasma-heavy cruisers to shreds, and a fast long-range cruiser can dance around big slow ones while pelting them with beams and missiles. Then again, if you armour and shield a cruiser well enough, it may not even need to avoid fire in the first place. It really comes down to the situation at hand.
no, I AM NOT COMPENSATING FOR SOMETHING!
I’m trying laser spammers, 2 PD, target booster, repair systems, It just ends up taking up so much weight. (I don’t even consider weight when loading up my ships.)