Recons use to be the weakest inty in T2 and pick it up in T3, after 0.9 patch and buff to proximity mines, and recent nerfs to CovOps, Recons became very strong starting from T2. I would argue that they are better on utility than covops and have almost the same dmg potential, add to this they survivability and you have a winner. ECMs on other part are completely different ships.
jrisom mentioned it and i wasn’t posting srsly earlier so …
1. Electronic Guidance + Emergency Barrier
these 2 must always be on you interceptor whatever role it may be.
higher ranked ships with more than 2 passive slots is when you have a choice otherwise EG+EB is cumpulsory
extra passive slots when I have them are used to stack elec. guidance -or- horizon -or- heatsink depending on weapon choice
2. Camouflage Actives
if you 1 vs 1 against other interceptors, use these modules
learn to use them to kill NOT to save your as$
if you dont one on one interceptors, use a team module instead
ECM doesn’t have camo but Metastable Field Generator (F-module) is used the same way - use it to kill not to save your rear
3. Interceptor Duties
a. Interdiction
b. Baiting
c. Kill-team
Interdiction - is what interceptors is meant to do namesake. you intercept value targets based on opportunities.
for eg. enemy is holding beacon and your team is on siege mode. they have Engineer inbound. you intercept and try to turn that ship around or force it to warp gate. you don’t have to kill, just pressure ships to abandon their destination or delay them atleast
Baiting - most high level play involves alota camping and sieges. After a long time of making no kills people get careless and are easily tempted to run down and chase a small ship. like an interceptor for example. that’s your job. be the bait, get the enemy to move.
Kill-team - is to hunt down isolated and vulnerable ships and go down hard on their sorry as$. What most people don’t understand (or maybe chivalry is still alive here in SCon) is that you don’t go in against a full health enemy. vulnerable means they have little support, defenses and mostly - low on health. It’s kicking the poor cripple when he’s already down mentality. And you go in as a pack of wolves not solo.
4. Weapons
Interdiction - you want an EM weapon that can take out shields fast and scare the enemy to retreat. When the nice lady starts screaming ‘Shield Down!’ he’ll be affected in some way no matter how experienced he is.
Suggested weapon = Plasma Gun
Longest range, most accurate interceptor weapon
ultra bad with hulls so make sure you have the right rockets on you to make up for it.
Baiting - you want range on this one more than interdiction. flying around as bait from range with an engineer close by looks too much like a trap. if you have a gun that is actually damaging them it might be more convincing.
Suggested weapon = Plasma Gun
Alternative = Laser + Horizon and Refractive Lens weapon modifier
Kill-Team - you kill when he’s down to hulls. Should be obvious
Suggested weapon = Shrapnel
Alternative = Shrapnel + Optimized for Critical Hits
…- ECM doesn’t have camo but Metastable Field Generator (F-module) is used the same way - use it to kill not to save your rear…
There’s a little contradiction here. Emergency Barrier does not necesarily save your back, someone who sees you enter this thing will profit of your ship’s agility being dumbed down to deliver the final shot quite easily as soon as you’re out. I myself prefer the collision compensator for tight maneuvers.
At interceptor duties as baiting, suggesting stealing beacons as well, will turn an a$$-load of enemy ships towards you, giving your team on the other side some room to breathe and eventually push on.
After a kill shot is made you glow green and he needs to make that shot again to claim the kill. In some cases that’s an extra 2 - 3 seconds for you to GTFO and find cover.
There was a short while when I first started playing that I recorded the number of times EB activated and I succeeded in continuing to stay alive. It happens so often I’ve stopped arguing with myself on how effective it is.
Collision compensator is harder to quantify so I dare not forward a recommendation when I cannot prove for certain it’s better than module x for eg.
re: Beacons
speed + beacon cap bonus = it goes without saying. I try to avoid stating the obvious.
Love all the posts guys, guide and a little discussion on whats better and what not! It’s exactly what I was looking for, helps me to fine-tune my ship and playstyle! So Thank you both a lot! Just keep it rolling if theres any other suggestions!!
Lets go interceptors!! =) Currently have a recon, Covert Ops and ECM and love them all!
Ok, lesson 2: there’s a ship for every situation xD
J/K? But since i started, here’s what i mean:
In other words, don’t fly only 1 ship size. Add at least another ship class to the list to progress on / learn how to fly. In the beginning i always had all 3 ship sizes active in the list and can now fly all of them very good, so don’t limit yourself only to interceptors. At least when you get bored, add another size to that list.
First: you will learn their specifics and will grant you better knowledge on how to fight against them with other ships.
Second: sometimes a single class just cannot do something, so you need to switch sometimes and might just happen your other ship can do it (don’t suicide as captain in combat recon to change ship though lol).
