I think I can explain that: Nobody expects someone with actual shooting skills to sit in a LRF.
E.g. covops come at me in a straight line, just to be met by a fully charged positron cannon.
I know that feel bro :lol:
I think I can explain that: Nobody expects someone with actual shooting skills to sit in a LRF.
E.g. covops come at me in a straight line, just to be met by a fully charged positron cannon.
I know that feel bro :lol:
the only problem i have with LRFs is that they work like a nuke.
ie: you’re in a firefight, and it’s close… and then all of a sudden, 3/4 of your hull disappears… or you just pop instantly (most likely)…
then 3 seconds later, your teammate pops… and if you’re a frigate, you’d batter hide behind a rock in 6-9 seconds or you will pop too…
hell, every time i play LRF it’s like a duck shoot. i usually end up racking up a buttload of kills.
this should be a support weapon, not a laser artillery cannon ;o
my thoughts were to reduce the damage slightly but maintain the ROF, so you won’t annoy the LRF pilot because they can’t hit anything with high reloads.
i don’t see much problem with LRF close comabt survivability tho. they are probbaly the only unit that should be this highly specialized because they are the equiv of a sniper.
on that note, i’ve had no problem taking out attacking fighters/intys in 20-30% of cases with my guns at close range. which seems reasonable given their specialization.
The Jericho LRF is more of a mid range sniper than the Empire which is definitely long range.
Ideally you want to sit about 3-5k back from objectives and support with Main Weapon fire and Tachyon Charged torpedo’s because every second you spend in the torpedo cam is a second spent defenseless.
Also here’s something with EM Scattering Field that some people might not realize…you can still rotate on all axis and stay stealthed for the duration of the buff. As long as your ship doesn’t move you’re good to go. With the Experimental version you can even stay perma stealthed the entire match. The duration of the buff is longer than the cooldown for the module! Move to the next objective, disappear, and dont pop out of stealth until it’s time to move again. Oh and there’s something to be said about staying with your team as a LRF: you might not be capping beacons but you’re nuking everybody else off them at the same time as your team mates are capping which is win/win in my book. I get kills…they get beacon captures.
The duration of the buff is longer than the cooldown for the module!
If that’s not an OP module then what is? They should lower cool downs and have the cool downs apply after the effect ends.
Are you asking for a LRF nerf? :lol: :lol: :lol:
Any smart pilot can still follow the missile trails and tracers back to where your ship is…oh and did I mention it’s bright red? You shouldn’t rely on the lock on indicator to be able to shoot at somebody…especially one who isn’t moving.
Really what snipers need are higher speed to get into position. Get to where they need to be and do some damage. Most people sit in the spawn, however…
Are you asking for a LRF nerf? :lol: :lol: :lol:
Any smart pilot can still follow the missile trails and tracers back to where your ship is…oh and did I mention it’s bright red? You shouldn’t rely on the lock on indicator to be able to shoot at somebody…especially one who isn’t moving.
I was referring more to the fact that a module has an operable time longer than it’s cooldown. LRF’s do need a buf. When I’ve played LRF, it’s either lots of kills or killed fast. Either way lacks the fun for me. I’ve nuked a few who ignored a CO that runs away.
It’s almost a rule, is you see a CO go to a valuable area then run away instantly, there’s a nuke. I’ve tried psy oping them into staying and suicide by nuke, it’s not worth it.
Yes that is one of those rare instances where the experimental version of the module has an amazing cooldown. I think it’s just scaled to lower the cooldown on the same % progression as mk1 > mk2 > Mil > Mk3. Experimental Hull Repair for Fighters is another one like that…the cooldown is 60 seconds for experimental and 110 for Mk3. It just so happens the nature of the module itself makes it so you can keep it activated non stop if you chose to not move the entire match…which I might add makes you mostly useless to your team except for maybe in combat recon games.
I propose scrapping the LR entirely and replacing them with “Destroyers”, to nick a title someone else used.
Modifications to make it work!
Special Module: Enhanced Cooling Unit
For 20-30 seconds, the Destroyer’s Guns do not generate heat and missiles (both individually and the cartridge) reload 10-15% faster.
What does this do? It makes the Destroyer a potentially terrifying opponent in a prolonged engagement. It also allows them ot use weapons like coil mortars as suppressing-fire weapons. Coils will overheat after 5-6 shots, so imagine how scary it’d be to be cowering behind a rock as twelve to twenty shots slam home one after the other, or a cutting beam of lasers constantly rakes across every ship that breaks cover. Whereas the Gunship is all about piling on damage quickly, the Destroyer is about sustained damage. It keeps firing long after other ships have burned out.
No module ideas yet… any thoughts there?
IMO, their special modules is not too bad, their current active modules are, they support the act of camping and spamming Disintegrator/Torpedo. Any active modules that support main weapon’s cooldown/ damage/ range/ mobility/ survivability are better than the current set and will allow them to actively participate in combat/objectives.
I agree with Bob. Almost all of LRF modules work with their special. Some modules to allow them to fit for conventional fire support would be nice, something as simple as Aiming Overcharge would work, put those 6 guns to use.
Hmmm… here’s another thought:
Disintegrator [Empire only]: Activated ability. When active, the ship’s main guns are disabled and the Destroyer (keeping that name!) fires a single, hugely powerful thermal bolt. The Disintegrator has a range of 6,000m. After firing, the main guns reactivate and the Disintegrator must recharge (15-20 seconds?).
Disintegrator damage scales with the Mk of the ship’s main guns.
Torpedo [Jericho only]: Activated ability. When active, the ship’s missiles are disabled and the Destroyer instead fires a single, powerful homing missile. The torpedo has a range of 9,000m and deals Thermal damage. After firing, the Destroyer’s missiles reactivate and the torpedo must recharge.
Torpedo damage scales with the Mk of the ship’s missile cartridge.
Now, the point of this change is to do two things. First, it’s to bring the Destroyer class closer to the fighting, but also to ensure that the use of their module doesn’t render them completely helpless. The idea of running in, firing off your Special and then unloading with everything you’ve got is now a valid, and potentially devastating tactic.
Sitting back and sniping is still an option, sort of, but it is highly discouraged due to very long waits between shots. Destroyers that want to snipe effectively have to do so through their main guns, not just their special module.
No one succeeds with a guided torpedo LRF in a normal random battle with an appropriate number of human opponents.
They’re not that bad. They’re just pretty situational, there are only some maps and game modes where it even makes sense fielding them (and even then watch the enemy team composition, too many recons and/or guards and I wouldn’t bother either).
My highest kill count (21 kills) was with a T2 Jericho LRF in a T3 random game. 8 of those were ceptors trying to kill me. I didn’t die once.
But I didn’t kill all of them with the torps. Actually I typically get most kills with the main guns. The torps run too long and are countered/evaded too easily to risk using them much (they can be evil in beacon hunt but would need a much larger explosion radius or higher damage to be really effective).
Never mind the fact that most LRF’s will start running away from the minefield they just dropped when they start getting hit.
If you don’t move you die to your own mines. Also you’ll want to draw the enemy into your mine field, so ideally you’ll move, get the enemy to pursue, then drop the mines to have their inertia pull them into them. Works vs most pilots. Another favorite is to race around a corner and then drop the mines.
It just so happens the nature of the module itself makes it so you can keep it activated non stop if you chose to not move the entire match…which I might add makes you mostly useless to your team except for maybe in combat recon games.
Accelerate to full afterburner speed, then go invisible, you’ll coast across half the map and can even maneuver while invisible. Then lay into the enemy with your coil mortar. By the time they figured out where the shots are coming from they’re dead.
If you don’t move you die to your own mines. Also you’ll want to draw the enemy into your mine field, so ideally you’ll move, get the enemy to pursue, then drop the mines to have their inertia pull them into them. Works vs most pilots. Another favorite is to race around a corner and then drop the mines.
Accelerate to full afterburner speed, then go invisible, you’ll coast across half the map and can even maneuver while invisible. Then lay into the enemy with your coil mortar. By the time they figured out where the shots are coming from they’re dead.
Mines: this is true. If you stay put, you’ll kill yourself because he’s popping mines around you.
The afterburn cloak trick hasn’t worked for a VERY long time. If you trigger the cloak, the ship just stops dead within seconds.
The afterburn cloak trick hasn’t worked for a VERY long time. If you trigger the cloak, the ship just stops dead within seconds.
I only started playing LRF on the last bonus synergy weekend and my rank 6 Jericho LRF doesn’t slow down from the cloak anymore than it otherwise would. Don’t know for empire LRF because I probably fell asleep playing those before I could even try.
Nice trick, tried it a few times, worked wonderful. :Dwop
P/S: LRF is Empire main frigate, yet they don’t have a rank 9 ship, I’m sad. :sad:
I am pretty sure this has been brought up but how about the LRF have the Diffusion shields like the Command Ships. If used cant launch the Torpedo or fire the disintegrator for 60secs after the shields have come down. and it requires twice the energy to use.
I am pretty sure this has been brought up but how about the LRF have the Diffusion shields like the Command Ships. If used cant launch the Torpedo or fire the disintegrator for 60secs after the shields have come down. and it requires twice the energy to use.
Two special abilities on a ship would require quite a redesign of both UI and mechanics, so that’s never going to happen. also it won’t make these ships any better, just take them slightly longer to die (IF they even get out of sniping mode before dying - which isn’t a given).
Mmm. I’d be reluctant to give LRFs major defensive bonuses. I still see them more as glass cannons. I’d like them to become slightly more flexible in how they cannon things, but I think making them tanky is probably a bad idea.
I don’t think LRFs need a massive redesign tbh. While disintegrator sniping at 10k isn’t my thing, I don’t think it’s really broken such that it should be removed. I do think that they should have some extra tricks for dealing damage with their main guns though. Since gunships have this thing where they become a highly mobile death machine, how about LRFs have a thing that makes them a highly immobile death machine:
Power Reroute:
Active Module: Long Range
Duration: 20s
Cooldown: 90s
Increase main weapon rate of fire and heat dissipation by 50% and reduce spread by 30%.
Reduces movement speed by 60%.
A module to make the LRF a death dealing machine at medium range. No agility bonus or fix for slow barrels, which should keep it from being too effective against things that are already under its guns. The main counter would be to use the LRF’s lowered speed to hide behind some cover or get behind the LRF.
Has good synergy with EM scattering, but I’m ok with that. If you pop EM scattering at the same time you trade the rest of your mobility for being immune to debuffs (you’re not exactly going to be subtle while using this, so the stealth aspect is moot).
Mmm. I’d be reluctant to give LRFs major defensive bonuses. I still see them more as glass cannons.
I agree on the defensive side but the issue with LRFs is that they are glass without the cannon. They have rather low dps which does not scale the same way as their target’s defenses going up the tiers.