Requesting help with fighting against interceptors

Hello fellow pilots o/

 

TLDR: I’m tired of single pilots trolling my whole team and killing them at the same time. So I need your help. Is there anything that is an actual threat to a decent interceptor pilot?

 

I recently reached tier 3 with all factions, and I found that the problem of interceptor pilots singlehandedly dominating whole games is even more of an issue than in tier 2. So I started looking for counters, because in a well balanced game, there should be a counter for everything, right?

Problem is, I didn’t find any hard counter. These are the soft counters I found so far, all of them easy to avoid, dodge or cancel by pretty much every interceptor:

  • small stationary area denial like mines and pulsar -> interceptors simply pick someone else, shoot from further away or pop the ability, wait a couple seconds, then come again and kill me. I would do the same, so no anger here, just saying.
  • guided missiles -> interceptors can dodge those relatively easily. And even if they couldn’t, they all have access to modules that get rid of the problem easily (flares, cloak). Should both of those defensive layers fail, they can just take the hit. It does some damage, but in order to kill an interceptor with missiles, you need how many of them? 5? Shooting my missiles at them feels really really ineffective.
  • Debuffs that slow them down -> relatively easy to break, and the only tackler debuf that does a significant amount of slowing has long cooldown and short duration. Also, this does not kill an interceptor, it just slows them down a bit and certainly doesn’t stop them from killing me in 3 seconds because tacklers are not exactly stable ships.

So is it just me, or is there no hard counter against fast agile targets?

And please don’t tell me that hitting them is a counter and that I just need to learn to aim. I’m looking for gameplay mechanics that counter difficult to hit targets, not for execution skills that I’m required to train to godlike levels.

 

I’m mostly flying command ships, with engineer and guard as secondary choices. I play these classes because my fighting skills are pretty much nonexistant. These classes allow me to be usefull in other ways, like area denial or buffing allies. I have decent situational awareness and tactical understanding, so it works well enough for me. I played all classes up to rank 4, but none actually helped me fighting against interceptors.

 

Ideally, what I’m looking for is something like a module that has low damage but hits, like small missiles or a damage beam (like the target painter, but dealing some damage). If I could use missiles as a main weapon, I’d totally go for it, just to have something to handle those pesky damage-immune flies and not die to them in less than 5 seconds every time no matter what ship I’m sitting in.

Guards and tacklers are suppose to be a counter against interceptors, but in reality, these pilots can avoid or kill them without issue. This is basically one of the issue why new pilots quit the game, from all my time when I ran a corp, every single new pilot who quit, it was always Rank 7/8 that they stopped playing at. This is one of the reasons why, you get these pilots going into T3 dominating way to easy over newbie pilots. It’s almost as bad as ESB kill squads in T3, its no wonder people quit, they go up against these people, and have no hope. Not everyone wants to sit there and train, and become competitive, some just want to blow things up in space.

Guards are a good counter. They have AOE denial modules such as mass propulsion Inhibitor and pulsar. MPI gets rid of the interceptor’s adaptive shields, which is what most fed interceptors rely on for tank. And pulsar forces them out of the zone. Very few interceptors can fully tank 10-15 seconds of pulsar, and they will be weak afterwards anyway.

Also try a tackler with both slows, slowing field missiles and gravy beamers. You do less damage, but can slow them to a complete stop, which allows your team to focus them.

I prefer the combo both slows, slowing field missiles and a goose cannon, possibly using a target painter for extra damage. The key is to observe your target before you pounce. Know when he used all his survivability modules, or when he has just uncloaked. Be wary of the use of fed rank 8 implant, and therefore don’t use all your slows at the same time. Save the big one for the final kill: charge gauss, aim, tackle, and BOOM. Adaptive or no, if you time it correctly and he doesn’t have jedi skills, then he is dead.

Also make sure you have your cloak ready before engaging.

I find the sentry drone very useful for finishing off interceptors, once they go into “dodge mode” and it is hard to hit with main weapon.

There are plenty of tackler guides on the forum.

What is more difficult is if that interceptor is in a squad and receives heals or covering fire (a successful tackle only works if you have the element of surprise and your target is isolated).

I’ve found the two most effective roles to be guard and tackler, like mill and Sema have touched on.

 

Guards have a good set of modules capable of dealing with interceptors. Pulsar, Mass Prop Inhibitor, and even signature masking can be great tools to counter interceptors. Minefields on a guard can be devestating to an interceptor, provided an ECM with system hack isnt around.

Tacklers have a variety of slowing modules, as well as other useful tools, like sentry drone and target painter.

 

I’ve also found that ECM can be very effective at dealing with other ceptors, especially in a squad. The ECM stasis generator and Ion Diffuser can ruin a covops or recon’s day. 

In a squad, if the ECM stasis’ the ceptor in question, his teammates now have a very easy target to shoot at for a few seconds. In squads, this often means the death of that ceptor, as everyone can focus fire with better communication (provided you use TS3, skype, or something along those lines).

Thanks for feedback everyone. It matches the observations I made so far. In tier 2 I played alot with my friends, and both ECM and Tackler did reasonably well when I had someone around who is able to hit something. But my friends left the game, so I’m solo for now. Everything that requires me to aim manually is bound to be worthless in my hands. That means neither of those classes work for me anymore, because I rely on others to actually hurt the interceptor, or anything smaller than a frigate for that matter.

Seeing what the Fed8 implant does further reduces my motivation to even try :frowning:

 

As for the Guard, I always liked the survivability in combination with denial. It’s a great class, but it doesn’t solve the Interceptor problem. Well, it solves the dying issue, which is fine. But it doesn’t put any pressure on interceptors - they don’t see any threat in a tough but slow melee opponent and simply pwn someone else or use cat and mouse tactics. At least that’s my experience with the Guard.

 

So if Tackler and Guard are the best that the game has to offer in terms of hunting interceptors, and there is nothing that I have missed, then my only option is to try getting my friends back into the game and focus them interceptors down 3v1.

Don’t like that :frowning:

Also what noone has mentioned yet: use the ALMIGHTY FRIGBALL (to be said in an epic trailer voice).

That is to say stick close to allied frigates in a group. It will not help to kill the inteceptor unless he commits, but it should scare him off/keep him away from objectives. You have no idea how dangerous combined drones + mines + pulsar + coil mortar flack fields can be to an interceptor.

Try for the Anaconda-M. You don’t have to do this build, but it might help.

 

1x Vernier Engines

1x Acceleration Coils

1x EM Diffuser

1x Thermal Modulator

1x Shield Projection Splitter

1x Galvanized Armor

1x Horizon Module (or Proton Wall if you keep getting stunned by ECMs)

 

Main Weapon: Heavy Blasters -Flat Reflector Ammo

Missiles: Minelayer (self defense) or Octopus (offense)

 

Active Modules:

1x Pulsar

1x Mass Propulsion Inhibitor

1x Emergency Shield Boost

1x Shield Booster

 

The idea is, the Heavy Blaster has enough spread, that an interceptor looping in tight circles can’t fully avoid it, which makes them panic. By boosting its projectile speed, it becomes even more troublesome to evade. I’m recommending the boost to range so you have more room to hold them off or shoot them off an ally, since you are in a slow ship.

 

Active modules are easy enough. If an interceptor gets lucky and starts to circle you, activate the Propulsion Inhibitor to keep them from running, and then smack them with Pulsar. They’ll try to run, at which point you can give them some love with your Heavy Blaster or a Missile salvo.

 

Essentially, it’s a Laser Flak Cannon build.

I’ve been trolling around in a new Blood Tormentor build that actually works surprisingly well against that one interceptor team we know so well. Basically, this is a short range BT that exploits their short-range weapons and can tank their damage.

 

Cap: 1x pulse discharger + 1x Iridium heatsink

Shield: 1x Kinetic + 2x thermal. <------- set shields to EM for maximum tank, however since the squad we know well uses pulse lasers, stack your thermal shield with your resists and you can tank ~60% of incoming damage

CPU: 1x overclocked + 1x electronic guidance

 

Weapon: Heavy blaster with curved reflector

Missiles: Minefield.

 

Actives: pulsar, inhibitor, 2x shield repairs

 

It looks like a derp build but it does >4000 dps in a 2000 meter range around you. With a team that sticks together, interceptors cannot deal with the raw damage this build can dish out.

Tackler with gauss and slow field missiles. Slows don’t need to be long, just enough to slow their rotating around. Catch one on open field, send missile, apply engine suppressor, 2-3 fully charged shoots and inty turn into Michael Bay FX. But if one gets too close you are helpless.

Tacklers and guards are nice solution, but I think that another interceptor is the best counter against interceptor! Recons can steal shield/break cloak, ECM can stun/paralyze and cov ops can finish off targets fast with plasma web (if you are accurate enough, plasma arc and orion targeting thingie can ruin anyone’s day very fast!).

 

If the situation really goes south, an interceptor can run like hell, even from another interceptor! 

Tacklers and other interceptors. Guards only shoo them away.

Also lrf with beam cannons do wonders vs ceptors.

For fighter missiles use the em ones, they have more rotation speed.

Those are the most annoying counters to a ceptor, but the problem is that a good ceptor pilot won’t commit if he can’t win. When you have the speed, you can always fight by your terms. It is the main rule of dogfight since the first fabric biplane shot down another one.

If you don’t like aiming or aren’t too good at it then you should learn about how to position yourself so that you are near team mates or an asteroid so that there are options to reduce interceptor mobility or have backup. You can use hit and run tactics with tacklers, sneaking up using the asteroid/structure, dealing a burst of damage then going invisible (beware of microlocator/plasma web) then using your invisiblity to sneak up again to the interceptor and finish it.

 

Definitely use you phase shield on the guard to whatever the main incoming damage is, and a single interceptor should have to take long enough to kill you that backup will arrive before that happens - this works better if you are near team mates and not alone at the far beacon trying to capture it yourself.

If you don’t like aiming or aren’t too good at it then you should learn about how to position yourself so that you are near team mates or an asteroid so that there are options to reduce interceptor mobility or have backup.

 

Yeah, usually I’m pretty good with the tactics part. That’s the only way I can have positive win rate in the first place :stuck_out_tongue:

But you must admit it is a bit difficult when the majority of the battles are 5v5 with a large portion of interceptors on both sides, most of them maxed out. There’s simply no way to kill them reliably - they just go on trolling forever because nobody bloody hits them. They just circle each other for minutes, or one runs away, or I am around and get eaten for breakfast.

I would stay behind a bit more, if the Jericho Commands at T3+ had ANY usefull Command buff like the rank 6 one (which I like very much). But for some reason, they are all fighter types and not a single one is an improved command type (reduced energy usage doesn’t count, because it doesn’t help my team at all).

 

Switching back to EM missiles and adding the missile agility implant helped a bit. At least SOME of my missiles hit now. Not that it does anything significant, but hey, 20% shield damage with a 50% chance to hit is better than nothing at all. Now if I only could get more of that (low damage, but guided in one way or another), that would be nice…

 

How is the ship size thing supposed to work?

Inty beats Inty, Fighter beats Fighter, Frig beats Frig?

Or Fighter beats Inty, Frig beats Fighter, Inty beats Frig?

How is the ship size thing supposed to work?

Inty beats Inty, Fighter beats Fighter, Frig beats Frig?

Or Fighter beats Inty, Frig beats Fighter, Inty beats Frig?

Usually Inty beats fighter, fighter beats frig, frig beats inty.

 

Your problem is that a command is NOT an inty fighter. In fact of all fighters is the worst against interceptors. A command is usually a support role. You stay with the biggest group, usually in the second line just behind the furball, and you give your buffs to allies, and use the valkirie if the focus fire is called.

 

As such, you don’t have the power surge of the overdrive OR the slowing capabilities of the tacklers, hence vs interceptors you will have a bad day.

 

In fact in a command, your best choice if being attacked by interceptors is pop the diffusion shield and retreat to the main group. Usually any interceptor will have a hard time breaking your difussion shield + tank

 

Also, if you can aim properly, gauss cannon is great vs interceptors, although bad against any other thing because of the lack of sustained damage.

You need lasers to kill ceptors, why do I never see any frigs using these ?

You need lasers to kill ceptors, why do I never see any frigs using these ?

 

My gauss bear begs to differ.

 

And on frigs, coils and heavy blasters are perfectly fine for fighting ceptors, as long as you use them in the right way. In conjunction with Mass Prop Inhibitor and Pulsar, Heavy Blasters work really well at close range on a guard, and coils with iridium slugs at distance and high projectile speed work well as well.

My gauss bear begs to differ.

 

And on frigs, coils and heavy blasters are perfectly fine for fighting ceptors, as long as you use them in the right way. In conjunction with Mass Prop Inhibitor and Pulsar, Heavy Blasters work really well at close range on a guard, and coils with iridium slugs at distance and high projectile speed work well as well.

 

Gauss is excellent as long as your target don’t (or can’t) turn around and shoot back but Denolven said he’s bad at aiming so it might not be the best weapon for him.

From my ceptor end of things, wiggling out of blaster or coil fire is piss easy. On the other hand there’s no avoiding lasers at any range and they are probably the easiest weapon to use.

Gauss is excellent as long as your target don’t (or can’t) turn around and shoot back but Denolven said he’s bad at aiming so it might not be the best weapon for him.

From my ceptor end of things, wiggling out of blaster or coil fire is piss easy. On the other hand there’s no avoiding lasers at any range and they are probably the easiest weapon to use.

 

True, although gauss is incredibly easy to aim with if the target is slowed (as is any weapon).

 

But yes, lasers are by far the best weapon if your aiming skills are lacking.

I need about 2-3 seconds to get the reticule over a small target if both me and the target are standing still. And that includes anything that is right next to me but has a relatively small 2D area representation on the screen, like if a Jericho Guard faces me directly.

I’m pretty sure that any type of nonguided weaponry requires much better skill to hit interceptors. Even the lasers are rather useless to me, unless the target stands still for an extended amount of time. In todays world of shooters, 2 Seconds is like an eternity.

Give me a (real) bow or a sword and I’m perfectly fine with accuracy. But a mouse? That doesn’t work too well for me :frowning:

I need about 2-3 seconds to get the reticule over a small target if both me and the target are standing still. And that includes anything that is right next to me but has a relatively small 2D area representation on the screen, like if a Jericho Guard faces me directly.

I’m pretty sure that any type of nonguided weaponry requires much better skill to hit interceptors. Even the lasers are rather useless to me, unless the target stands still for an extended amount of time. In todays world of shooters, 2 Seconds is like an eternity.

Give me a (real) bow or a sword and I’m perfectly fine with accuracy. But a mouse? That doesn’t work too well for me :frowning:

Well if your skills are that bad I suggest you do PVE and get some training in hitting moving targets and trust me, it does help. You get better and you earn some cash in process. Just dont get discouraged!! Keep practicing!