The game and wiki really don’t give a worthwhile explanation to the differences of the Maelstrom, Liberator, and Nemesis–just that one has faster guns, one has heavier drones, and one has heavier shields.
Dreadnought players, what’s your explanation of the differences, and why did you choose the dreadnought your corp has? Is there a particular dread that seems to underperform against the other two, or are specific match-ups more one-sided than others? Share your war stories.
Jericho dreads have bigger shields (higher volume, same regeneration and resistances), Empire have extra dmg (like 7-9%?), Federation has drones that hit harder and wistand more dmg and start with 200 extra fleet points. IMO jericho is the worst, empire does better for long battles and defensive tactics, federation is better suited for agressive tactics (pushing along drones). But players are the ones that do by far the biggest difference, I think i like most the empire dread, but its mostly subjective.
Three dreadnought models are available in total.
_ «Maelstrom» _
Imperial dreadnought model. Equipped with strong weaponry that deals higher damage to enemy dreadnought
_ ‘Liberator’ _
This model has powerful attack drones able to deal significant damage to the enemy dreadnought’s support fleet
_ ‘Nemesis’ _
Built by Jericho Techs. Equipped with powerful shields able to withstand punishment for a longer period of time
From here: [http://forum.star-conflict.com/index.php?/topic/26536-star-conflict-v11/](< base_url >/index.php?/topic/26536-star-conflict-v11/)
And also check this topic out:
Choose Dreadnought to build
here: [http://forum.star-conflict.com/index.php?/topic/26561-choose-dreadnought-to-build/](< base_url >/index.php?/topic/26561-choose-dreadnought-to-build/)
And let me add my personal opinion: Cover might be useful (tho not crucial) for players so inspect the designs of the dreadnoughts closely and choose as you feel.
Oh, and one more thing. There is a button for playing dreadnought battles solo even if you have no dreadnought. Launch/Conquest button becomes available for rank 7-9 and rank 10-12 players after each battle registration time ends for attacking/defending players in wings of corporations with dreadnought. This opportunity opens around the 8th minute after the times (round hours above each sector) shown on corporation battles map. Play it. It’s fun and gives a bunch of experience. Random solo players get random dreadnoughts to play with so anyone might be able to test each dreadnought out.
in summary -
Jeri dread has biggest shields. And that’s it. Easy to kill structures.
Fed - worst of the dreads - structures very close to each other, it supposed to have stronger drones (which is true, but they were nerfed to oblivion), but in practice they are almost the same as others. +200 Fleet points.
Imperial - higher firepower that takes any other dreads shield FAST, stupidly located launch bay, hardest to get the structures.
Our corp selected Fed as a dread of the choice as it promotes more aggressive style of play, however when the fed drones were nerfed, we are cursing that decision to this day.
niri, you really don’t know how terrible Jericho dread is, do you?
Fed’s dread neither better nor worse than empire’s, it’s different, after nukes got nerfed to the point of nuke rushes being pointless, it’s layout of smaller size is no longer a disadvantage.
Jerry dread is by far the worst IMHO. The spawnpoint is at the prow of the dreadnought, whereas the Empire and Fed dreads have spawnpoints in the midsection. Therefore, the Command Tower for Jerry dreads is more vulnerable to being captured than the other three, since a respawned player will have to haul arse to cover the command tower should it be contested. This is terrible for Guard frigates, which are prime defenders.
Losing the command tower means you lose your combat drones (basically your DotA creeps) AND 125-150 dreadnought hitpoints.
Here’s my general breakdown.
Jericho has stronger defenses than Empire or Federation.
Empire has stronger guns than Federation or Jericho.
Federation has more points than Empire or Jericho.
Jericho has leeway for both assault and defense. Disable shield systems to win.
Empire depends on a strong defense strategy. Disable weapons systems to win.
Federation depends on a strong assault strategy. Disable command tower to win.
Always use Shield Emitter vs Empire.
Disable weapons to use Shield Emitter Catalyst at maximum efficiently.
Disable shields to use Weapon Booster at maximum efficiency.
Use Resistive Coating Emitter vs Weapons Booster.
Equip Missile Turrets against frigate pushes.
Equip Plasma Turrets against interceptor and fighter pushes.
This should be a sufficient summary. I can expand more if you like. Find me in game and I’ll explaiin what I know!
As for my strategies… I am good at formulating a dynamic defense and attack strategy that works for and against a Jericho dread. Jericho tends to be my main class of pilot, but there are others who will argue its the worst. I’m of the opinion that you just have to be proficient enough in it to like using it ^^
niri, you really don’t know how terrible Jericho dread is, do you?
That’s what I meant. It has bigger shields than fed, but as soon it goes down it has absolutely no other advantage.
Empire = win almost always.
Empire = win almost always.
far from truth
Always use Shield Emitter vs Empire.
Disable weapons to use Shield Emitter Catalyst at maximum efficiently.
Disable shields to use Weapon Booster at maximum efficiency.
Use Resistive Coating Emitter vs Weapons Booster.
Equip Missile Turrets against frigate pushes.
Equip Plasma Turrets against interceptor and fighter pushes.
This should be a sufficient summary. I can expand more if you like. Find me in game and I’ll explaiin what I know!
As for my strategies… I am good at formulating a dynamic defense and attack strategy that works for and against a Jericho dread. Jericho tends to be my main class of pilot, but there are others who will argue its the worst. I’m of the opinion that you just have to be proficient enough in it to like using it ^^
By this, I’m guessing there’s a way to customize the dreadnought’s weapons and module loadouts either before a battle, or perhaps during?
far from truth
What do you have to back this up with? I *have* seen that empire dreads seem to have a lot more wins under their hat.
By this, I’m guessing there’s a way to customize the dreadnought’s weapons and module loadouts either before a battle, or perhaps during?
Yes, before battle. Have a peek at the Liberator’s options. Most of the modules are t4 so the t3 stock versions differ in stats. Turrets are not included in the base model.
Yes, before battle. Have a peek at the Liberator’s options. Most of the modules are t4 so the t3 stock versions differ in stats. Turrets are not included in the base model.
This is extremely interesting… I’ll be showing this to my corp, thanks!
This is extremely interesting… I’ll be showing this to my corp, thanks!
Your welcome. It would be a good thing to see the stats of the other two dreadnoughts as well.
And it would make any sense if dreadnoughts weren’t sometimes randomly selected 
And it would make any sense if dreadnoughts weren’t sometimes randomly selected
what do you mean, randomly selected?
what do you mean, randomly selected?
Sometimes you’ll play on someone else’s dreadnought, so it might actually be a good idea to make the worst possible dreadnought build just for that occasion.
Anyhow, since your question is an excuse to write way too much about dreadnoughts, here’s a nicely divided overview of what dreadnoughts are, the differences between them, and the modules available to be built.
Overview :
Dreads are a gamemode fought essentially exclusively between corporations for control of sectors, which give rewards each day. There is a minimum of four and maximum of eight players per organized wing, although it is possible to queue solo for a random dreadnought fight. Dreads tend to carry an air of competitive play, although there are certainly a number of corps that are less competitive than others.
In an actual game, the top bar summarizes the game state very succinctly. An picture I’m lifting straight off of the NASA forums that was originally made by Mecron:
No, I don’t feel particularly bad about giving other people the information in the picture, since it’s incredibly obvious once you start playing.
Not pointed out: Coloured circles above the dreadnought indicating turrets in that spot, bomb and torpedo indicators (not shown).
There are two win conditions: Timeout with more fleet points than the enemy, or reduce enemy fleet points to zero. Obviously, fleet points are important. They are lost through a variety of methods.
Drones dying will take one fleet point each.
Turrets destruction will take three fleet points each.
Other structures will take 10.
Player deaths will take 15.
Main caliber damage will do about 1 per 10k damage.
Dread torpedoes will do up to 50 points of damage, depending on shield level prior to hit.
Due to the sheer ridiculous damage output of dreadnought torpedoes, I suggest not participating in dreadnoughts until the torpedo launcher is built. Each team typically has a designated Empire LRF to snipe the torps, since they are both small and fast. Due to the importance of the LRF, one also typically invests in an engineer with eclipse launcher to heal it. Other ships all have their own roles in dread battles, typically rather obvious when considering the ship.
Important notes: Drones are actually very tanky, hard-hitting bots in faction-relevant ships. Once turrets are built on your dreadnought, it is typically better to leave any that get through your defenses to them, rather than taking them head-on. The engine trails of dreadnoughts will instantly kill you should you go into them. The white lasers (main caliber fire) will do the same if you’re in the line of fire. The smaller calibers will simply do an amount of white damage should you get in their way. The dreadnoughts are constantly moving forward, although this is easier understood as the players constantly moving aft. There are asteroids in the midfield which will move aft faster than you drift. They can be destroyed by main calibers, which looks wicked cool. Should they not be destroyed, they will typically do severe damage, if not instantly kill, most craft that bump into them.
Dreadnoughts :
The “standard” dreadnought starts with 2000 fleet points, 500k shields, 9k shield regen, and 13.95k main caliber dps. It comes with no turrets, no torpedo launcher, and no bomb rack, although it does come with a standard command tower, shield emitter, and weapon cooler.
Note that any suggested playstyles are my own personal thoughts on the matter, and are obviously not set in stone.
Jericho:
The Jericho dreadnought looks like an Empire dread with oars attached. Unfortunately not very distinctive, but still fairly different from the Empire dreadnought.
It has a shield volume and regeneration bonus over the “standard” dread, taking less fleet point damage over time. Destructible structures are grouped, making life easier for the enemy. The spawn point is at the forward section of the dreadnought, and the dreadnought itself is quite long, making it quite a trek to get from one end to the other.
Strangely enough, the defensive bonus suits itself to an offensive playstyle, encouraging players to stay in the midfield and coordinate pushes to the enemy dreadnought rather than have to deal with the travel time around their own. The bonus to damage tank lends a few more fleet points over time to help mitigate failed pushes. I still don’t have hard numbers for the Jericho dreadnought, and as such can’t say for certain if it’s actually much better or worse than the other two. For certain, though, the folks who use it tend to have a hard time holding their own.
Federation:
The Federation dreadnought is small and aerodynamic (space-o-dynamic, I guess :P), very easily identified at the start of the match.
It has a 200 fleet point bonus and (very) slightly stronger drones over the “standard” dread, adding on a significant amount of tank and an early game advantage. Destructible structures are still grouped, although a good number are out of sight, making life meh for the enemy on this front. The spawn point is in the midsection, away from the enemy dreadnought, and the dread itself is rather small, making it a relatively fast trip to whatever section of the dreadnought one wishes to be.
The bonus tank suits itself to whatever playstyle one wishes. A defensive play can be rather successful, with extra fleet points to burn through while waiting for the enemy team. An offensive play can also be rather successful, with a large number of extra fleet points to mitigate failed pushes.
Empire:
The Empire dreadnought is blocky and rectangular, visually somewhat similar to the Jericho dreadnought.
It has a main caliber damage bonus over the “standard” dreadnought, dealing more fleet point damage over time. Destructible structures are far apart, making life a little more difficult for the enemy team. The spawn point is at th eforward section of the dreadnought, although closer to the midsection than Jericho’s, making it still somewhat hard to get to where one wishes to go.
Oddly enough, the offensive bonus suits itself to a defensive playstyle, as the dreadnought will do more damage to the enemy over time, but provides no extra support should a push fail.
Modules :
There are a total of nine module slots on each dreadnought. Three passive slots, four turret slots, and two structure slots.
Passive Modules:
The passive modules include the command, shield, and weapon modules. They are highlighted on the map, and are featured on the game summary bar at the top. Each can be captured like a beacon, or have a bomb planted in it. Capture rate is about the same as in capture the beacons. Bombs will take 50% of the capture points off of where it was planted, and do extra fleet point damage besides. Any capture points lost cannot be regained through any means.
Command modules:
Currently, the only available module for the command slot is the command tower. Normally provides faction-specific drones every minute or so. Once capped, drones stop spawning (although ones already out behave exactly the same as before), and 200 fleet point damage is done to the dreadnought. Upgrading reduces this to 150 fleet points.
Shield modules:
There are currently three shield modules available.
The default shield emitter increases dreadnought shield regeneration by 6k points per second. Upgrading increases this to 6.6k. This happens to be the best module for all circumstances.
The shield emitter catalyst gives a 360 fleet point bonus at the beginning of the game. Upgrading increases this to 396. While it has superior early-game performance, it has a break-even point with the shield emitter at 10 minutes. Should the game be won afterwards, you would have done better with the shield emitter. Should the game be lost afterwards, you can blame the module. Should the game be won before, it was clearly unused. And should the game be lost before, you clearly got stomped pretty hard.
The resistive coating emitter will hard counter an enemy weapon booster, and give a 7% chance to fully block any incoming damage. It has sub-par performance relative to the shield emitter, but will still manage to outperform the shield emitter catalyst around the 15 minute mark. Considering the dearth of weapon boosters in use, this module typically doesn’t fare too well.
Weapon modules:
There are currently two weapon modules available.
The default weapon cooler increases dreadnought damage by 37%. Upgrading increases this to 40%. This happens to be the best module in most circumstances.
The weapon booster increases main caliber fleet point damage by 50%. While this is a great bonus, it is typically stopped by the fact that default shield regen (with shield emitter) is larger than default main caliber damage (without weapon cooler).
Turrets:
Turrets are automated dreadnought defense weapons. While expensive, they very effectively avert attackers and destroy drones. Each bought “turret” can only be used in a single spot – meaning, buying the second slot plasma turret gets you a second slot plasma turret and no more. However, in-game, each “turret” gives multiple turrets arranged in a band around the dreadnought for maximum coverage. There are currently two kinds of turrets.
Plasma turrets deal EM damage. They have a respectable rate of fire and significant damage, as well as high projectile speed. This all comes at the cost of some DPS.
Missile turrets deal thermal damage. They have a low rate of fire and huge damage, but low projectile speed. In return, they get a slightly larger DPS – just remember that a missed shot deals no damage.
Structures:
There are two structure slots on the dreadnought. Each can only take one module right now.
The bomb rack provides bombs after two minutes of there being no bomb on the rack. The bomb is similar to the one in detonation, except it does not apply a slow-down, and detonates for a good deal of damage after being dropped. The main purpose of bombs is to be planted in enemy capture points, taking off 50% of the capture points and dealing a good amount of fleet point damage (depends on which point was bombed). On explosion, whether that be dropping or planting, the bomb deals a high amount of thermal damage to any nearby players.
The torpedo launcher shoots two torpedoes every minute, plus or minus a random number of seconds. Torpedoes will show up on the launcher for a few seconds before launch, vulnerable to explosive damage only. They launch to one of three sites on the enemy dreadnought – fore, middle, or aft. They have a very, very small hitbox and travel at about 350 m/s. Upon hitting the enemy dreadnought, up to 50 fleet point damage is done, depending on enemy shields before the hit. On detonation, should that be from being hit or hitting something, they deal a large amount of thermal damage in a very large radius. A designated Empire LRF is all but required to win against an opponent with a torpedo launcher.
I dotnt think jericho had bonus regeneration, only insignificant amount of volume which gets eaten up through rather fast.
I dotnt think jericho had bonus regeneration, only insignificant amount of volume which gets eaten up through rather fast.
It does, I know that much. I’m not entirely sure how much it has, but it has it.