Guard Frigates: Role, equipment, tactics

Ships
#1

Recently I’ve somehow managed to get myself an Alligator frigate (the guard frigate), but I’m totally unused to it and the mechanics of guard frigates. Usually I fly a tackler (rapid plasma, surgical strikes) or an engineer frigate (stabilized railgun, aura shield and hull heal + minefield), but the guard frigate just feels so… odd. 

 

I’m currently outfitting my Alligator as a close support ship with area denial (via pulsar) and anti-missile capabilities, and as a tasty target to draw fire away from my teammates while I tank using phase shield. However, I can’t tell if my pulsar is working at all, and overall it just feels inadequate. Enemies seem to ignore me as well, as though I’m not worth their time destroying. The loss of two turrets isn’t helping much either.

 

Is there something I’m doing wrong? (Dumb question, really… I must be doing something wrong.)

#2

As far as i know they are best for chilling around beacon. Pulsar + Antimisile + Engine inhibitor + shield regen module over ~20 sec are what i take on guard frig. Having one or two Guard frigs is ok, but for a frig they lack 2 missing turrets. And Empire engy frigs are pretty much as durable as guard frigs, so there is no real reason taking guard frig if team already have one or two.

#3

I’m starting to think that the engi frigs are much better than guard ones…They got less hull, shield but also a lot of regeneration and at the end of the story they got same chance to stay alive in fight…Guard got 2 turrets less so i tihnk heavy plasma and crit mods/build are absolutely needed plus a shield regen and a shield boost (the one that gives you some extra pts for a short time)…the only good thing for gurad is the pulsar but engi frig got mine camp…so not that big difference…They are very viable in PvE anyway so i think that having bboth is a good idea indeed :wink:

#4

Really really dislike the Alligator, but I suppose it’s got a tiny bit more speed than the Neuron Zealot. I dunno, the federation frigates so totally aren’t my cup of tea, just because they can move a little faster in the forward direction doesn’t mean squat to me when their strafe/reverse and roll speeds are the exact same as the other factions frigates, if thats the case I’m going for someone else who doesn’t have foward speed as their main draw.

 

But guard frigates are awesome. Slap on a weapon meant to kill interceptors and float near a defensible position near an engie, or follow one in to a beacon and prevent the whole opposing side from connecting to the beacon during your pulsar duration, while you focus them down one at a time. Guard frigates always need support since they can’t dodge and always need to be healing though, take it to mean you gotta protect your engie at all times I guess, they’re like bits of meat wild dogs rush for while you wait to pop them down.

#5

As far as i know they are best for chilling around beacon. Pulsar + Antimisile + Engine inhibitor + shield regen module over ~20 sec are what i take on guard frig. Having one or two Guard frigs is ok, but for a frig they lack 2 missing turrets. And Empire engy frigs are pretty much as durable as guard frigs, so there is no real reason taking guard frig if team already have one or two.

 

I’m starting to think that the engi frigs are much better than guard ones…They got less hull, shield but also a lot of regeneration and at the end of the story they got same chance to stay alive in fight…Guard got 2 turrets less so i tihnk heavy plasma and crit mods/build are absolutely needed plus a shield regen and a shield boost (the one that gives you some extra pts for a short time)…the only good thing for gurad is the pulsar but engi frig got mine camp…so not that big difference…They are very viable in PvE anyway so i think that having bboth is a good idea indeed :wink:

 

T2 Alligator’s got limited slots, so I prioritized pulsar and missile shield (of which I have a military grade pulsar, and my vanguard rank 7 gives me access to Mk3 modules). The last slot… I like the inhibitor, but I think I’m better off with some shield regen. 

 

As far as possible, I’ve been ‘leeching off’ the heal auras of allied engineer frigates. Essentially, I have the regeneration of dual heal aura engineer frigates, plus the increased durability and special modules that guard frigates enjoy. But that didn’t improve the ship’s usefulness or longevity (I can only pick one). Loitering within the aura places me far away from the combat zone, where I need to be in. But going into the zone means leaving the dual auras behind (oh the horror). I might as well ping myself to the enemy team if I amble in without the support of an engineer frigate.

 

I really want to go and park my frigate beside a beacon, but it just isn’t working out for me yet. I’m getting roasted before I even reach the beacon. I guess I have to refine my ambush tactics?

#6

Really really dislike the Alligator, but I suppose it’s got a tiny bit more speed than the Neuron Zealot. I dunno, the federation frigates so totally aren’t my cup of tea, just because they can move a little faster in the forward direction doesn’t mean squat to me when their strafe/reverse and roll speeds are the exact same as the other factions frigates, if thats the case I’m going for someone else who doesn’t have foward speed as their main draw.

 

But guard frigates are awesome. Slap on a weapon meant to kill interceptors and float near a defensible position near an engie, or follow one in to a beacon and prevent the whole opposing side from connecting to the beacon during your pulsar duration, while you focus them down one at a time. Guard frigates always need support since they can’t dodge and always need to be healing though, take it to mean you gotta protect your engie at all times I guess, they’re like bits of meat wild dogs rush for while you wait to pop them down.

 

What kind of weapons would you suggest? I have a decent stabilized railgun set that my Raptor is using (I can switch it over), but I’m not sure if it’s interceptor killing material, plus I’ll be hiding too far for my guard modules to be of any use to my teammates. 

#7

A long range guard frigate? What is this madness? Nah just kidding, Sithor’s been doing pretty great with his stabilized rail guard when I see and play with it, so it’s a viable weapon. I go Assault lasers all the way, when someones trapped in the mass propulsion field it’s incredibly easy to get that max DPS if you’re able to angle yourself just right on them, and they’ve got a decent range to boot.

 

Just because you aren’t getting a constant use out of your modules doesn’t mean they aren’t already more useful to your allies than a heal or survival mod might be, we get amazing guard survival mods in t3, so the regular fair is already supposed to be seen as lame to us.

 

I guess the survivability and usefulness of a guard really hinges on having an allied engineer who’s not going to run off on you. If you can force yourself to stick next to one you become his shield that most targets won’t be able to break through unless they push like mad men, you provide the defensive abilities it needs, the missile shield to keep up its drones [which heal your engies alot holy crap D:], the Prop field to let it line up shots on interceptors, and the pulsar to really screw with groups.

#8

Heck when you see people trapped in your mass prop field and you didn’t put them there on purpose that means you got a couple pains close to your engie :’)

#9

Oh yeah, real pros bonk their guard frigates into enemy frigates at close range, do eet, you don’t need that hull if your shield is down [You gon’ die, getting focused nooo] or up [bahaha shoot me and not my allies plz] anyways.

#10

Rethought on it, and the alligator might actually be a better choice as a defender for wayward hydras if they don’t wanna remember you’re tagging after them. Gonna give it a shot with the stabilized rails and see how that works, I’m thinking it might be pretty sweet.

#11

k it works, you need to use the background to your advantage, waiting for your cross hairs to reset after each shot to keep the accuracy up, but the speed is indeed great for keeping up with a hydra 2, or probably any other kind of engie since they don’t go full bore all the time anyways, unless they’re trying to die or something.

 

adding your fire to an allies works pretty awesome

 

Oh god I can’t just delete old posts to reconsolidate them into one? Man I filled this topic up.

#12

I feel like guard frigates really start to shine in T3. With nukes being a good way to clear enemies off a beacon, the guard frigate’s missile shield can be the difference between your team getting vaporized in a couple explosions or holding the field. Also, with interceptors relying heavily on speed and agility to stay alive, the slowing field can make them keep their distance - again aiding your team in taking/holding beacons. 

#13

I feel like guard frigates really start to shine in T3. With nukes being a good way to clear enemies off a beacon, the guard frigate’s missile shield can be the difference between your team getting vaporized in a couple explosions or holding the field. Also, with interceptors relying heavily on speed and agility to stay alive, the slowing field can make them keep their distance - again aiding your team in taking/holding beacons. 

 

I was undecided on whether I should pick slowing field missiles or normal EM missiles on my tackler, but I guess on a guard frigate the choice is obvious. :P 

 

As for the missile shield… does it still take out Jericho frigate torpedoes? 

 

k it works, you need to use the background to your advantage, waiting for your cross hairs to reset after each shot to keep the accuracy up, but the speed is indeed great for keeping up with a hydra 2, or probably any other kind of engie since they don’t go full bore all the time anyways, unless they’re trying to die or something.

 

adding your fire to an allies works pretty awesome

 

Oh god I can’t just delete old posts to reconsolidate them into one? Man I filled this topic up.

 

Tried it out last night. Though it has lower damage as compared to my Raptor, overall it’s still pretty sweet. Needed to pull back every now and then to recharge my shields, but then again that’s a standard tactic for frigates with long ranged weapons. 

 

I’m still not getting the hang of phase shields… Against railguns, I typically put on thermal resistance, and against plasmas I switch to EM resistance. Lasers hurt shields either way: xenon lamps make up for the reduced efficiency, and microwave has great damage to shields even with the damage penalty. I can’t gauge by seeing how fast my shields drop either, especially if I’m being mobbed by ships with a variety of weapons. 

I’m also filing up this topic. I have a double post up there also because I couldn’t find a way to edit a post and put in another quote. ><

EDIT: Just realized how. I feel dumb.

#14

Missile shield still takes out jer torps, yes.

#15

70 kinetic resistance with the shield booster and rank 3 Jericho implant feels like all kinetic resistance you’ll need in tier 2, I stay in thermal to avoid getting smacked by the many thermal effects beyond basic shooting, and switch to EM when I’m being attacked, if its the rails I just go thermal all the way, they can deal with the base passives on that or the huge buffed thermal if they’re trying to be tricky.