Hi All,
I borrowed this from the BSGO forums, written by Ashicus79 (http://en.board.bigpoint.com/bgo/member.php?u=1053905) and I must say it fills in a lot of the info gaps.
It concentrates on the Command Strikes, so the Heavy Raider or Raptor get some special attention but the Weapon Systems part is common to all strikes.
The original link is http://en.board.bigpoint.com/bgo/showthread.php?t=385557&highlight=strike+computers
WEAPON SYSTEMS
In the harsh, dark, and eerily empty universe of BSGO… You need to defend yourself and weapons are the way you do it. Basic Raptors and Raptor F.R.s have three weapon systems as where Advanced Raptors have four weapon systems. On a side note, it is important to level up your equipment, as it gets more effective the higher level it gets (level 6-7 is where things really begin to be much more effective)
Short range Cannons “SRCs†â€" SRCs are a great weapon for mass amounts of damage, great for taking apart fellow strike pilots with the high damage per second output (DPS) great for up-close and personal encounters where dog-fighting inevitably ends up … but on the flip side, these weapons also sap a LOT of power from you and can leave you exposed if not used properly. As a Raptor with no battery juice is as good as dead.
General Purpose Cannons “GPCs†â€" GPCs are a great all round cannons. Though they do not have the high DPS that the short range cannon does, they are very good at dealing with Non Player Characters (NPCs) and have a decent range so can get to grips with the enemy should you need to “reach out and touch somebodyâ€
Long Range Cannons “LRCs†â€" LRCs are a very useful in PVP as the extensive range of these weapons means that you can safely engage the enemy without being in their optimal range which means far less damage to you. They also have the benefit of not using much power so you can concentrate your efforts on your computers and other systems. The down side is that these cannons do not create a high DPS output.
Mining Cannon â€" The mining cannon is very useful for tearing through asteroids after you scan them. They do not use any ammo so therefore keep your cost down. As they are upgraded they do increased damage to asteroids and become a more efficient mining tool. They don’t however do much damage to enemies so can leave you very exposed to attack, plus they drain your battery as they are being used.
Short Range Missiles “SRMs†â€" SRMs are extremely deadly at close range! These missiles should be used as you charge towards the enemy then, deliver them before the enemy can dodge for devastating effect (at about 250-300 distance is ideal!). They do however need to fired from very close to the target as they don’t track enemies at longer ranges making them easier to dodge. *It is also important to remember that missiles cannot be used to mine asteroids.*
General Purpose Missiles “GPMs†â€" GPMs have a much longer range than SRMs, The GPMs also track a target much better and longer than there short range counter parts. They don’t however how the “punch†the SRMs carry. Be mindful, both missiles use a significant amount of power so must be used wisely as they can sometimes end up being a “one shot trickâ€. *It is also important to remember that missiles cannot be used to mine asteroids.*
Long Range Missiles “LRMs†â€" LRMs have a massive range and still pack quite a wicked punch, the main problem with these missiles is that they do not track an enemy very well and a cunning pilot will dodge the missile and keep closing the distance on you. These are best used for when a pilot is attempting to run from you, or in fleet battles. Releasing at about 2/3 of the maximum range will usually reach its target any later will be out run, and too close will be dodged and as earlier stated, because they do not track well, they will fly off in the distance never to be seen again. For chasing down stragglers these puppies are great though. *It is also important to remember that missiles cannot be used to mine asteroids.*
“P†series weapons â€" “P†series weapons are different from usual weapons. Instead of increasing the optimal range of your weapons, they increase the maximum amount of damage done with critical hits. This can be crucial for maximum DPS purposes, and make them ideal for damage causing strikes that need high damage to deal with enemies quickly which makes them ideal for PVP… BUT, it does mean sacrificing additional and sometimes very critical range, which in turn affects accuracy.
Nukes â€" Nukes are an UBER missile that fires from your regular missile launchers. These nukes are bought using merits. (The PVP currency) and do TWENTY TIMES the damage of a normal missile. These missiles should be used sparingly as they are VERY expensive. In the sake of good sportsmanship NEVER use a nuke when fighting in arena, no matter how much you are losing or winning by. These missiles are best saved for the last resort option if your solo and facing a no-win situation (Or if someone called a Base star in… then nuke away).
HULL SYSTEMS
Both the Basic and Advanced Raptors have two Hull Systems. Raptor F.R.s have only one hull slot. This is where you decide if you want armor/extra offense/increased hit points/etc.
Hull Plating Systems â€" Since the recent patches have been released, there is now several different Hull plating systems. The standard Hull Plating Increases your hit points (HP), there is also a hull plating the increases your armor, and one that increases your critical hit defense. There are also hull plating systems that have combinations of two or all three but these increase to your stats, but not to the extent that you get from having a system that focuses solely on a single statistic.
Mine launcher â€" The Mine Launcher is attached to the hull. Once a mine is dropped, it is only activated once an enemy comes within a certain distance of it. Once triggered, it does a large amount of damage to the enemy. These Mines are great for laying in number and “luring†an enemy into which is a great tactic when you are in dense asteroid fields as the mines are harder to see for the enemy AND laying three sets of two mines (six in total) will usually kill most NPCs that try to sneak up on you or it’s a REALLY nasty surprise for enemy players (600 damage before a shot is fired… against a strike that’s DEADLY). They can also be used to break a stalemate should you find yourself in a turning battle up close with a skilled pilot who manages to stay out of your arc of fire… Drop one and they will soon back off as the sudden damage can force them back to a safer distance so you can once again train your guns on them. There is a catch, these mines use a LOT of energy to launch and a cunning pilot can see them coming and avoid them.
Strike System Redundancy â€" This system increases the rate in which you recover your HP when not in combat. A very useful tool for decreasing the amount of time you have to spend hanging back from a fight. BUT, these systems only work outside of combat.
Damage Control System “DC†â€" The DC system is the game equivalent of a health potion of other games. If you have a DC system installed, you can purchase DC packs from the store. These regenerate some of your health while in combat meaning you can last longer in a fight. But be wary, these systems require a lot of power to use and the DC packs required cost cubits.
Decoy Launcher â€" The Decoy Launcher system is designed to be launched when a missile is aimed at you. The decoy makes a single enemy missile target the decoy instead. This system works GREAT for dealing with Line’s LRMs and GPMs… BUT it is only effective “SOMETIMESâ€. It fails to deliver when used against other kinds of missiles a majority of the time. PLUS you need to level your skills in it AND upgrade it considerably making very expensive for it to be effective. Most players tend to leave this one alone as it uses much needed power that can be used on much more useful systems.
ENGINE SYSTEMS
Both the Basic and Advanced Raptors have two engine systems. Raptor F.R.s has four engine systems. Engines are what help you get that extra edge when in dogfights, travelling to and fro, and keeping up with the other members of squads you are in.
Gyro Stabilizers â€" Gyros help your ship turn faster. As you only have a small field of view for your firing arc, turning is very important to a strike. Turning faster means keeping your guns on a target for much longer periods of time.
Over-chargers/Thrusters â€" This engine system increase your flank speed and boost speed. Being fast can help you keep up with your fellow wing-mates. Also your end-game speed is important especially if you want to outrun missiles from line ships. If one of these things hit you, you’ll know about it.
Boosters â€" Boosters increase your Boost speed immensely. A lot of ‘end-game’ strikes have speeds of way in excess of 100ms. Rapid speed will help you keep your edge over the larger ships.
FTL Couplings â€" These little beauties increase the jump range of your Raptor when you spool your FTL drive. This engine is very useful for increasing your jump range if you chose to do recon. * There is also an FTL coupling that has the added bonus of lowering the tylium cost of jumps. In lower levels a useful, but later on fails to keep it’s worth as your ship will EASILLY make enough tylium to compensate costs.*
RCS Slide â€" The RCS slide is a tricky system to explain. It allows you to continue moving forward in our original direction while you turn. This is great for catching enemy players off guard, if they get into your blind spot (I.E. behind you) you can activate this and while still charging forward, you can swing round rapidly, bring your guns back on your target while sliding backwards (which looks really cool by the way).
RCS Ducting - This engine system increases the avoidance rating of your ship (your ability to dodge cannon fire). Avoidance is very important to Strikes as they have the lowest amount of hit points of all the classes of ships.
COMPUTER SYSTEMS
The Basic Raptor has four Computer Systems and Advanced Raptor and Raptor F.R. have five computer Systems. These systems are what make the Raptor such a potent tool in the colonial fleet. Be it the added support to fellow pilots or the crippling power of hacks and electric trickery, A Raptor’s true strength is computers.
Electronic Support Computers “ES comps or Buffs†â€" ES comps use an “area of effect†(AOE) to improve the systems of all friendly players within a certain radius of The Raptor (usually between 200-300 distance) for a short amount of time. These “buffs†improve various attributes such as increasing speed and handling of player ships, ship’s ability to avoid shots fired at it by guns (Known as avoidance values), Improving damage done by friendly weapons (including yours), Improving Dradis ranges and making computer buffs more efficient. Many raptor pilots focus on having a single buff that they can activate in succession meaning that a single buff can last much longer than it normally would. This can mean that a group can become incredibly agile for long lengths of time or a group could have a much higher rate of damage for longer periods of time. Be warned though that specializing in one buff will mean that you have to tailor your playing style to one kind of fighting. A healthy mix of ES comps can go a long way in groups. Support Raptors are highly sought after by Squads of Strikes as they make these “wolf packs†very deadly. But… You will not get as many kills as everyone else. The key word here is SUPPORT think of yourself as the warrior cleric that rides along with the crusading knights. You bestow your blessing and offer some combat support, but the real damage is always done by the knights.
Electronic Warfare Computers “EW comps or Debuffs†â€" The simplest way of describing EW comps as the exact opposite of an ES comp. These DECREASE the efficiency of attributes and only target one enemy at a time. The categories for the EW computers are the same as the ES comps. This can bring fast strikes to a crawl, reduce damage from enemies, make targets easier to hit etc… With practice, EW computers can be effectively more dangerous than any cannons. There is a certain finesse to using EW computers as with ES comps, they can be used to benefit a wolf-pack making it easier to destroy the enemy.
Using Combinations… A lot of Raptor pilots take a balance of ES and EW as this means that they can do a lot more solo work. But the final vote on set up is your own preference later I’ll give some examples of set-ups to give you an idea of different playing styles and the classes that have evolved because of them.
Types of ES comps
Damage Buff â€" The damage buff is a temporary AOE buff that increases the damage that your weapons do as well of those of friendly players within the “bubble†of the AOE.
Avoidance Buff â€" The Avoidance buff is a temporary AOE buff that that increases the avoidance (ability to dodge gun fire) to all friends within the area.
Avionics Buff â€" The Avionics buff is a temporary AOE buff that increases the speed and turn rate of your ship, and any friendly players within range.
Emitter Buff â€" The Emitter buff temporarily improves the other computer systems you control for a brief period. It also increases the range of you DRADIS system which is essential for scouting.
Mineral Scanner â€" This Computer Scanner scans asteroids and planetoids that float in space. These minerals are the main source of currency in the game… least not forgetting the all important water that can be traded for those precious cubits you are going to need to upgrade your weapons, computers, hulls, and engines.
Electronic Modules â€" There are a couple of different power modules. Some focus on improving your Emitter value, some focus on your Firewall value.
Battery Module â€" This a wonderful module for increasing the power you have access to… BUT the increase is slight and it takes a computer slot so is often overlooked by pilots.
Energy packs - Energy Packs act much like the DC packs do for your health except these regenerate your power instead of your health. (Think of them as mana potions if you will). The only catches to these are that 1, the Energy packs used in these systems cost cubits, and 2, the Energy packs systems does take up a Computer slot… though most say that the pay-off is well worth the sacrifice.
Auto Pilot â€" This system is used to auto correct where you are flying. This system I’m still not sure about. I’m yet to see a use for this other than to keep on your target while you are doing something else. Though it is very useful for beginners still adjusting to the controls and hot keys, but, once these controls are mastered, it fails to keep it’s worth.
FTL Transmitter â€" This wonderful device is designed to act as a homing beacon for fleet. Anyone in your party can jump to the location that you activate the beacon at. Simply put, if you find a tasty target, you can have all your buddies on it right away. The Raptor F.R. has a 50% power bonus with this item meaning this item is ideal when fitted to it. Though the beacons cost cubits, in battle situations, the device can mean an entire fleet if grouped with you can reach an objective in mere seconds.
Types of EW comps
Damage Debuff â€" The Damage debuff can be used on a single enemy that has been targeted it has the effect of significantly reducing the amount of damage a foe can turn on you. This is very useful for bringing down an Escort class ship to your size. It also has the added bonus of making a deadly strike seem more like a nasty mosquito begging to be swatted.
Avionics Debuff â€" The Avionics Debuff can be used on a single enemy that has been targeted. The targeted enemy has reduced speed and turning. On a strike, this is devastating as a strike’s avoidance is directly tied in to its speed. Combine with another debuff (the next one I’m about to mention in fact!) make the strike a sitting duck. Add to this that strikes rely on their ability to out-maneuver any opponent makes them have a massive disadvantage to you and your “humble†Raptor. Nothing will make you feel mightier than taking down an overzealous Merit War Raider in 1 Vs 1 PVP as the now “sitting duck†gets decimated by you as fly circles around it.
Avoidance Debuff â€" The avoidance debuff, like the others is designed to only target one enemy at a time. The targeted foe has his ability to dodge reduced leaving the target exposed to more fire power and increasing the damage done to it. When combined with the Damage Buff from the ES comps, you have a deadly combination for against strikes.
Buff Debuff â€" The Buff debuff also targets a single enemy ship. It works by lowering the amount of time an enemy buff works, thus if an enemy is using an avionics buff for example, the buff would not last the average five seconds, instead would die out after much less time leaving the enemy exposed to out maneuvering. A tricky module to master, but frustrating as FRAK for the enemy.
Interesting read.
Im currently working on the best configuration to go for in my advanced raider. I've tried four long range cannons a combination of tow long range and two short range and one long, to short and a mining laser. I find the mining laser useful
So know I'm working on either one long and two short or two long and one short. Has anyone tried and found the best ccombo for them?
I'm about to try 3 gyros, 2 turbos, 2 hull plates, 2 Short Range Missile Launchers and 2 Standard Range Cannons.
With no mining computer but an Avionics Debuff and an Avionics Buff.
Then have a separate mining config, 4 mining cannons, mining computer instead of the Buff, and the same for everything else.
Idea is to be a quick turbo into 300 clicks and hit em with 2 missles, then turn and start the cannons and then missile them again.
I might try short range cannons rather than standard.
The long range cannons seem rather hit and miss in terms of accuracy to me, long range missiles seem ok if launched at 600 clicks they tend to hit, and they always hit the escorts and lines as they are too slow to move.
Quick shout about the RCS option as I use it on my advanced heavy raider. apart from liners, when I am in my ahr my worst nightmare is a fast small ship with a tight turning circle. rcs is a lifesaver here as when the viper closes on you they usually intend to fly past you at speed and force you to slow and turn to face then. rcs allows you to let the viper close on you but instead of slowing you use your boost to be at Max speed as they pass. As soon as you pass each other instead if slowing and turning you hit rcs and then turn to face the viper who is now several hundred meters away from you and facing all of your ranged weapons rather than them having used their better turning speed to get behind you into your blind spot. it works really well. Rcs is highly recommended.
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