One is tankalicious, the other is… well, I can’t fly it yet, but based on slots, not so much. Yet, the Naga is several ranks past its predecessor. Obviously the Minotaur is the premier Empire “I’m a brick, watch me sit” healer, while the Naga is more mobile, even more akin to say, a Federation engineer frigate.
To me, this feels completely opposite of the Empire’s established doctrine. I’d much rather see it with a third hull module slot, a second shield, and perhaps less capacitor slots, or engine slots.
It’s actually a little difficult to compare the Minotaur and the Naga. The Minotaur is easily the tankiest engi in the game, but the Naga is the best for actual healing. Or, so it was before the engineer overhaul. Now, the T-Rex has pretty similar healing capabilities, and comparable tank with adaptives.
But yeah. Don’t knock the Naga before trying it out. It’s different, not worse.
It’s actually a little difficult to compare the Minotaur and the Naga. The Minotaur is easily the tankiest engi in the game, but the Naga is the best for actual healing. Or, so it was before the engineer overhaul. Now, the T-Rex has pretty similar healing capabilities, and comparable tank with adaptives.
But yeah. Don’t knock the Naga before trying it out. It’s different, not worse.
I wouldn’t go as far as to knock the Naga, just be skeptical is all. I fell in love with the Styx–it blends my Guard-like playstyle with adaptable utility and offense. I’ve hero-moded more than a few times with it. When I got the Minotaur, it was, for me, everything I loved with the Styx turned up to 11. For me, taking that playstyle that I’ve gotten very comfortable with–frontline offensive support with surviviability matched only by Jericho guards of the same or higher rank–and then going into a more run and gun, borderline Fed guard/engie playstyle has me worried that my fleet would suffer too many of my blunders.
the naga gets a bit of a mobility upside, which is more important than stationary tank in t5, where all ships have a higher base speed. this already starts in t4 meta, which is why the grizzlies can hold their weight compared to a minotaur. in t3, the valor overall can be deadly, but never replace the sturdyness of the styx, and since in t3 you often have phalanx fights with clear battle lines, the valor basicly is a hit and run engie, but the styx just gives you more staying power to hold the line.
which makes osprey, t-rex and mammoth pretty much viable healers as well, since they got the mobility too, and actually, get some nice tank together.
so not want to lie, but naga isn’t the styx in t5, and the octopus basicly is the most tanky healer if you whish so. but i am not sure if in t5, you want to play a brick.
with the module changes, the minotaur won a bit of sturdyness aswell, making it possibly the tankiest empi healer in the long run, but as others said, by far not the most effective one.
Brick engi dies quickly in t5, even my 1 1 3 3 1 octo with styx hull tank + jeri guard shield tank. I prefer a mobile TRex or Mammoth nowadays, with extra speed and rotation bonus, played as a fighter. Still has very nice heals and does not get left behind by the team. The only time I would use my Octopus is in team battle or combat recon, where staying power is required.
(notice I never even mentioned the Naga: I consider it an unusable ship in t5 - not tanky enough to be static and not mobile enough to be played fighter-style)
Brick engi dies quickly in t5, even my 1 1 3 3 1 octo with styx hull tank + jeri guard shield tank. I prefer a mobile TRex or Mammoth nowadays, with extra speed and rotation bonus, played as a fighter. Still has very nice heals and does not get left behind by the team. The only time I would use my Octopus is in team battle or combat recon, where staying power is required.
(notice I never even mentioned the Naga: I consider it an unusable ship in t5 - not tanky enough to be static and not mobile enough to be played fighter-style)
I admit, I had considered putting together a bricktopus.
I admit, I had considered putting together a bricktopus.
its not bad to have awesome tank in any scenario anyway just dont take away the mobility the octopus already offers, and dont forget how now “surplus energy” impacts healing modules aswell. with mobility i just mean, being at least able to keep up partially with your team, and not falling below 200m/sec max, and possibly aiming to reach somewhere to 300m/sec. Don’t forget, if you apply a “malus” module which takes away percentages of available numbers, higher numbers create higher numbers with the same percentage, so a fed engi is much more vulnerable to reducing speed/turning effects overall if it already has high base values in the stock version.
since the games got bigger in t5 in the last few months, but also the influx of players who seemingly did not spend a lot of time in tiers before, you can see basicly anything in t5 atm. but as someone who has already fought in t3 and understands that theatre, and has t4 experience, it is easy to notice the increase in damage potential in t5, which means that sheer survivability cannot be your only defense.
The Naga has 20% better healing as well as 1 more engine and cap slot. You can make an excellent Eclipse healer, it’s faster, does at least the same or more damage. I’m not sure how much better the 20% is now since you can increase surplus energy to give a bigger heal (no stats on this) but its stations will still be better. A good Naga is still just as hard to kill as any Minotaur I’ve come accross. It’s more annoying due to the damage/cap slots and can escape better than Minotaur.
You want the drones that heal more on octopus (either Armada or Vanguard, can’t remember). They are tanky so can survive for example a coil mortar shot. Three drones are useless if they all just die to one coil mortar shot…
Sorry for the necro  …
But I am waiting for the frigate Ellydium ship and wanted to build my first special Projects ship ”)
The Octopussy drones that heal the most are the standard ones (‘Combat droens’).
The Octopussy drones that are the most tanky are the ‘Vanguard’ ones 3 times the survivability each.
Here’s a
… SYNOPSIS of Octopus Drone Specs:
Name: Combat Armada Vanguard
ship type: Octopus Octopus Octopus
Type: spec spec spec missile module/slot
DPS: 697 697 697 EM dmg (thermal)
Damage: 418 418 418 EM dmg
Rate of fire: 100 100 100 rounds/s
Firing range: 1950 1950 1950 m
Max number of drones: 2 3 2 pts
Drone durability: 3339 3339 9579 pts
Drone recharge period: 35 30 35 s
Ship repairs: 205 105 105 dmg/s
Energ. consumption: 0 0 0 en/s
Recharge: 3 3 3 s
Activation (F): 410 410 410 en
self destruct (F): 4648 4648 6971 shield pts
just dont take away the mobility the octopus already offers, and dont forget how now “surplus energy” impacts healing modules aswell. with mobility i just mean, being at least able to keep up partially with your team, and not falling below 200m/sec max, and possibly aiming to reach somewhere to 300m/sec. Don’t forget, if you apply a “malus” module which takes away percentages of available numbers, higher numbers create higher numbers with the same percentage, so a fed engi is much more vulnerable to reducing speed/turning effects overall if it already has high base values in the stock version.
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