What do you actually use your ships for?

Ships
#1

There’s a certain idea how each of the nine different roles are supposed to be used: e.g. ECM disables key targets, gunships are capable of outdamaging just about anything for a short period of time, engineers provide healing support and sets up warp gates to facilitate movement from point to point.

 

That’s what each role is meant to do, but it’s not what they actually do. For instance, guard frigates are probably better than tacklers at taking down interceptors, and tacklers are good for assassinating long range frigates. Any ship that can be equipped with a decent amount of minelayers could do well in area denial. 

 

So… just a simple question: what do you actually use your ships for?

#2

I use my engineer ships to get lots of thud medals. 61 accidentals and counting.

#3

I seem to mostly fly around by myself, and then find the entire enemy team all at once.

#4

I use the engineer as dps soak and/or decoy to lure ships away from beacons. Don’t really use them to heal - but mainly because I’m not a proper frig pilot in the first place.

Fly CovOps as intended tho.

#5

I seem to mostly fly around by myself, and then find the entire enemy team all at once.

 

Happens to me enough times to make me reconsider my tactics.

 

 

I use the engineer as dps soak and/or decoy to lure ships away from beacons. Don’t really use them to heal - but mainly because I’m not a proper frig pilot in the first place.

 

That’s pretty interesting. This play style has never crossed my mind before. TBH I’m not really sure how that works… *goes in-game to see for myself*

#6

I’d try it with a machete S with a proper passive resist setup, but an engineer has trouble dodging at close range and one Plasma arc will ruin your day.

 

Maybe a laser using Aligator-M with his passives used for thermal resist?

#7

Yep - command ships are built for that but I haven’t unlocked that part of the tree yet so I use my EM laser engineer instead. Worked decent enough back when we had 6 turrets to go along with the stupid strong Empire hull. I could strip shields off 3-4 interceptors before having to warp. Nowadays it’s almost insta-death against a gang of CovOps. No nukes also mean I can’t leave behind a parting gift…

#8

(double post)

#9

Okay, everything I fly listed out… this applies to T2 only, since I rarely fly T1 and am only just buying T3 ships.

 

Gunships: Honestly, I have grown tired of these ships. I mainly use them to try and focus down targets of opportunity - I’ll try to avoid the big brawls and snipe at Frigates (or slow moving Fighters) from the edge of the skirmish line.

 

Command Fighters: These are my workhorse ships - I get stuck in with these and actively engage whatever ships I deem need to be killed as priority.

 

Recon Interceptors: My goal in this ship is twofold; grab beacons, and kill LR Frigates. I enjoy tagging enemies with the Spy Drone to get a fairly easy debuff assist, and in major skirmishes I may risk a fly-by shield drain. Naturally, I avoid staying too long in a big fight. This is also my go-to ship if I’m a Captain.

 

Covert Ops: More or less the same as the Recon - I grab beacons where I can, and I pick on Frigates. In a Covert Ops I am much more confident about taking on Engineers or even Guard Frigates, though to be honest I prefer the Recon for its Microwarp ability. The primarily reason I fly Covert Ops is a) to level its Synergy, and b) because I need a ship equipped with lasers to complete Contracts with.

 

Long Range Frigate [Jericho]: I like this ship. It can be hard to use at times, but I enjoy the sheer raw dps its six guns can put out, and I like the Guided Torpedo. It’s fun to use, though hardly the best of ships. I try to get close as I dare to a contested beacon and throw Torpedoes at it. In non-beacon modes, I just do my best to deliver fire support where it is needed most. I do not camp spawn unless it genuinely seems the best idea at the time (ie: Combat Reconnaissance).

 

Guard Frigate: I am really losing my love of this class. It’s too slow, it’s under-gunned and it feels worse at tanking than the Engineer. Maybe I just don’t know how to use it right, but the Guard Frigate has really failed to shine in my opinion. I typically try to support the main push in a Guard Frigate.

 

Engineer: Favourite of the Frigates by far. I like its speed, I like its tactical and strategic potential, I like how the drones make Interceptor pilots pull their hair out… I love everything about this ship. It feels powerful; you can inflict heavy damage with 4 guns + 2 drones, you can buff your allies with passive / activated healing, said healing makes you a good tank, and when things go south you can don your finest Trollface and Warp Gate away. I pretty much do whatever seems a good idea at the time; supporting the main advance, hanging back to defend, Gating over to enemy LRs and trolling them… I feel like I can fill almost any role in an Engineer, providing the Interceptors stay away.

#10

Gunships: Berserkergang, being meatshield for bomb carrier, hammering on frigates, assisting in beacon capture.

 

Recon: Carrying the bomb, protecting the captain, hunting the captain, being the captain, frying a LR frigate’s arse, ninjaing beacons, tracking invisible-unlockables.

 

Engineering: Buffing everyone from afar, opening shortcuts for the team, attention whoring the interceptors.

 

Longrange: SURPRISE MOTHAFUCKA! *countersnipes*

#11

Command Fighters: These are my workhorse ships - I get stuck in with these and actively engage whatever ships I deem need to be killed as priority.

 

I’m using my Fox-M for the exact same purpose. Fly towards whatever looks dangerous/is being pinged/needs to be pinged, slap on debuffs, and engage until the target dies, or when I’ve attracted too much unwanted attention and need to bail out. Unfortunately tacklers don’t have the durability of command fighters.

 

 

 

Long Range Frigate [Jericho]: I like this ship. It can be hard to use at times, but I enjoy the sheer raw dps its six guns can put out, and I like the Guided Torpedo. It’s fun to use, though hardly the best of ships. I try to get close as I dare to a contested beacon and throw Torpedoes at it. In non-beacon modes, I just do my best to deliver fire support where it is needed most. I do not camp spawn unless it genuinely seems the best idea at the time (ie: Combat Reconnaissance).

 

Longrange: SURPRISE MOTHAFUCKA! *countersnipes*

 

I also love the higher DPS granted by them having the highest number of turrets. I’m using stabilized rails so my damage output isn’t that high, but at least I can engage enemies from much further away. I’m still slightly worried about friendly fire though when it comes to beacons.

 

Getting the elusive triple kill with a single torpedo is pure pleasure. And yea, countersniping is ridiculously fun as well, especially in a sniper war with an Imperial LRF. Just duck out of sight and retaliate.

 

 

Engineer: Favourite of the Frigates by far. I like its speed, I like its tactical and strategic potential, I like how the drones make Interceptor pilots pull their hair out… I love everything about this ship. It feels powerful; you can inflict heavy damage with 4 guns + 2 drones, you can buff your allies with passive / activated healing, said healing makes you a good tank, and when things go south you can don your finest Trollface and Warp Gate away. I pretty much do whatever seems a good idea at the time; supporting the main advance, hanging back to defend, Gating over to enemy LRs and trolling them… I feel like I can fill almost any role in an Engineer, providing the Interceptors stay away.

 

 

I’ll agree with JasanQuinn here: engie frigates are still wonderful at filling out multiple roles. My tackler may be my workhorse, but even then sometimes I feel that it’s not adequate enough and I’ll get my engie out again. Need to park beside a beacon and tank? Can do, so long as I have my minefields and drones. Need to rush the enemy captain? Warp gate and double heal auras for my brave allies on their assassination attempt. 

 

Engineering: Buffing everyone from afar, opening shortcuts for the team, attention whoring the interceptors.

 

How far is afar? I switched out of my stabilized rails to mid-range weapons when engies lose two turrets, so somehow I tend to end up pretty close to the frontline (within 3k) even though my heal auras have a radius of 4.9 and 4.5k (extracted an experimental one by sheer luck). 

#12

I use my engineer as a beacon taker. By this I mean I warp gate to a beacon after I wait for several enemy intys and fighters to get close to it and “cropdust” them with minefields and lash out with lasers while I whip that big sucker around like The General Lee from Dukes of Hazzard,lol. I don’t like to lay deterrent minefields,I like the enemy to commit themselves before I lay mines. MInefields-the gift that keeps on giving  ;)wt

#13

Okay, everything I fly listed out… this applies to T2 only, since I rarely fly T1 and am only just buying T3 ships.

 

Gunships: Honestly, I have grown tired of these ships. I mainly use them to try and focus down targets of opportunity - I’ll try to avoid the big brawls and snipe at Frigates (or slow moving Fighters) from the edge of the skirmish line.

 

Command Fighters: These are my workhorse ships - I get stuck in with these and actively engage whatever ships I deem need to be killed as priority.

 

Recon Interceptors: My goal in this ship is twofold; grab beacons, and kill LR Frigates. I enjoy tagging enemies with the Spy Drone to get a fairly easy debuff assist, and in major skirmishes I may risk a fly-by shield drain. Naturally, I avoid staying too long in a big fight. This is also my go-to ship if I’m a Captain.

 

Covert Ops: More or less the same as the Recon - I grab beacons where I can, and I pick on Frigates. In a Covert Ops I am much more confident about taking on Engineers or even Guard Frigates, though to be honest I prefer the Recon for its Microwarp ability. The primarily reason I fly Covert Ops is a) to level its Synergy, and b) because I need a ship equipped with lasers to complete Contracts with.

 

Long Range Frigate [Jericho]: I like this ship. It can be hard to use at times, but I enjoy the sheer raw dps its six guns can put out, and I like the Guided Torpedo. It’s fun to use, though hardly the best of ships. I try to get close as I dare to a contested beacon and throw Torpedoes at it. In non-beacon modes, I just do my best to deliver fire support where it is needed most. I do not camp spawn unless it genuinely seems the best idea at the time (ie: Combat Reconnaissance).

 

Guard Frigate: I am really losing my love of this class. It’s too slow, it’s under-gunned and it feels worse at tanking than the Engineer. Maybe I just don’t know how to use it right, but the Guard Frigate has really failed to shine in my opinion. I typically try to support the main push in a Guard Frigate.

 

Engineer: Favourite of the Frigates by far. I like its speed, I like its tactical and strategic potential, I like how the drones make Interceptor pilots pull their hair out… I love everything about this ship. It feels powerful; you can inflict heavy damage with 4 guns + 2 drones, you can buff your allies with passive / activated healing, said healing makes you a good tank, and when things go south you can don your finest Trollface and Warp Gate away. I pretty much do whatever seems a good idea at the time; supporting the main advance, hanging back to defend, Gating over to enemy LRs and trolling them… I feel like I can fill almost any role in an Engineer, providing the Interceptors stay away.

I’m with you about the fighters,while I kinda like Gunships,the Command class is the true all around workhorse fighter.