Arena Commander i've been doing it wrong !?!

[AndyBee]

So I don't play AC much, not competitively anyway, but i do use it for testing stuff, and today i finally got around to updating my VA profile so decided to check it was working in my Super Hornet.

I did a bit of free flight to test the basics, then a Vanduul Swarm but got bored as usual, so thought i'd try a co-op Swarm, after about 40 minutes (only 2 of us) i ran out of re-spawns at lvl 16, so decided to watch the other guy for a bit... he was in a Mustang Delta and boy have i been doing it wrong !! He was clearly a decent pilot, lots of Decoupled and very controlled flight and i was also surprised by the firepower of the Delta, to the point i am wondering if he'd bought better weapons as just a few shots were melting Scythes as fast as a barrage from my SH, but it was his tactics that got me.... early on we were just blasting away the small waves, but as they increased in numbers i was trying to pick one or two on their own, and tackle them separately, i began to notice i rarely saw him on my screen, well i now i know why ! that is because he was hiding in the Asteroids ! .... it seems as the Scythe count increased this guy just took to the Asteroids in close proximity, dropped countermeasures and let them A) run into the 'roids and be destroyed B) let me fight them.... he literally didn't fire a single shot on the 1 & 1/2 waves (17 & 18) he lasted on his own until there was only a couple left, he just circled asteroids, you'd hear the "boom" as another Scythe popped, see a bunch of countermeasures go off, occasionally he'd get hit whilst running away, but he only really fought 3 or 4 ships total in 2 waves and i think he was unlucky not to finish wave 18, it was just a build up of damage that got him, he was solo after all !!

So am i a noob, is this the way you guys that play AC regularly know you have to play to get a decent score and earn some REC ? Or was this guy just being clever in a weaker ship ? Genuinely from watching those last 2 waves, that Delta was as potent as my SH in the right hands (which his clearly were).

This has also raised another question for me personally.... which i may expand on in a new thread after more investigation, but in a nutshell, is my money better spent melting my $175 SH and buying a cheaper light fighter like the 325A, Delta, Gladius or Avenger and buying back my Retaliator too !

Once again i shall end a thread with my soon-to-be-catchline... "Damn this game !!!!!!!!!"

[smilodon]

I've played a fair bit of AC but do not claim to be an expert by any means. A couple of things do come to mind.

1. He's a bit of a git for just hiding away and letting others do all the work. As a tactic it works but it's not very team spirited.

2. The AI is a bit thick when it comes to not driving into things. They'll run into asteroids if drawn close and sometimes even run into the zone boundary as well. However they can also get very close without hitting and if you're not careful you will end up hitting the barrier yourself. They also fly into the solar panels on the comms arrays in the PU..... which is nice.

3. I try very hard not to get into a dogfight with any one opponent for more than about a minute at most. During the first six waves it's not such an issue as the AI must be dialed down quite a bit. I rarely find the other AI will seriously chase me down while I'm fighting an enemy. It's a bit like the army of extras that used to wait in turn for Bruce Lee to beat them up one at a time. As the levels go on though I do find that the AI will seek me out and spending too long crossing swords with any one enemy tends to leave me open to getting gunned down by others. If not that then they can set themselves up behind me for a missile lock.

My usual tactic is to pick a target and fly in as a fast as possible. As I get within 2000m I throttle back and / or match speed and as soon as I get within about 1000m hit them with lasers. When I'm down to 600m and assuming they are flying relatively straight I'll spray ballistic rounds into them trying to make sure as many as possible hit. On my Avenger my two lasers are fixed as I can afford to miss with energy weapons while my gatling gun is gimballed so I can get a finer aim on the target and hit with more rounds. After a minute or so or as soon as I loose the enemy from my forward view I will turn accelerate out and if possible run through asteroids or around one of those huge floating laser things. I find that in later levels the AI don't take long to pick me out and attack, so I get out before they can attack me on mass. On the way out I decouple, turn and fire lasers on anything in range or anything that is chasing me down. I try to get 4-5000m out before I turn and fly back in. I don't particularly go for the same target and just pick the closest to me. Rinse and repeat until they are all dead or I fly into an asteroid (which is sadly far too common an ending for me)

As a tactic it works quite well. The problem with dogfighting is that usually I don't have a wingman and so have no idea who is getting on my tail as I am trying to get my guns on my own chosen target. The desire to just keep firing for a bit longer in the hope that I can get the kill is very strong and it's what used to get me killed quickly before. Short hard fast attacks wins the day.

In my Freelancer around the Comms Arrays I can ignore all this and just pick a target and shoot holes in it. At the moment the Freelancer is very over powered with guns that can almost one shot any fighter it comes up against. It's shields make it almost impervious to enemy fire and missiles are ridiculously easy to avoid. I am sure all this will get balanced as the game progresses.

Personally I am addicted to my Avenger. It has a SCM of 260m/sec and a cruise of 1600m/sec making it one of the fastest ship out there. Two Badger repeaters on the wings and a Tigerstreik railgun thing gimbaled on the nose make it a very potent fighter. It's ideal for flying in fast, unloading into the target and then flying straight out again ready to turn round and repeat.

Just my thoughts and again I am no expert.

Last thought, if you're not going to be a serious dog fighter maybe the SH is more fighter than you need. My very personal opinion is avoid the 325a and go for an Avenger Titan. You'll even get a bit of cargo space as well. I have no experience of the Gladius and the Avenger is all round a better fighter than the Delta, better guns, more staying power and faster (I think?)

[AndyBee]

Yeah i suppose he was being a bit of a git in hindsight !!

I am seriously considering ditching the SH now, ironically i got it because i'm NOT a serious dog fighter !! it's mass of gimbaled/turreted weapons make it kind of easy for a lazy pilot like me to still nuke a superior opponent but looking at the PU and how i'll play, something that requires lots of guns and space for a friend will probably mean i'll be in the Cutlass anyway and when a dedicated small fighter is required, say on an Org' mission involving the Idris etc, i'm sure there will be much better pilots than me who ARE dedicated combat enthusiasts ! Which means a single seat small fighter with at least a little cargo space maybe more useful in my little starting fleet.

The Avengers are confusing on RSI atm though.... there are 3 listed under Ships which i assume means they are ACTUALLY all full ships, the Stalker, Warlock and Titan, but the Warlock and Titan are called modules and though they are listed in the ship matrix too they don't show as having any crew/weight/hardpoints/etc... but then the "Pledge" section does say the Titan pledge does include an actual Avenger Titan.... even so I actually quiet like the idea of the Stalker or Warlock as again my Cutlass can probably fulfill the role of small cargo ship with guns if that's required.

I guess it's time to spend that REC i have on a rented Avenger and see how it compares to my SH, taking into account it would be about $100 saved towards rebuying my Retaliator too !

[smilodon]

The first ship was the Avenger Stalker which has holding cells in the back for bounty hunters. Then CIG made it modular and allowed pilots to remove the cells module and drop in either an electronic suit module or a cargo module. You could buy the modules and just use which ever one you wanted. Also you can now by the base Avenger with any one of the the modules you wish. I bought the Titan as a standalone ship. I can buy the extra modules as week if I want and effectively have the ships in one.

This modular approach seems to be the big thing for Star Citizen. The Vanguard also uses a standard base ship with the ability to drop in specific modules. It won't work across all ships as for example the Freelancer Max is physically bigger across the beam than a DUR or MIS, so we'll never be able to convert a DUR to a MAX. I'd grab a Titan module for £39.90 and it will come with its own Avenger.

[AndyBee]

Yeah even though i'm acting like a noob with the Avenger i have been here forever and understand the module thing, it's just the strange way the Warlock and Titan are listed as modules which on further investigation come with a ship, rather than the reverse which is weird ! but thanks anyway It is much like i hope to do with the Retaliator if i buy it back, one day it can be a personal exploration/mining ship, the next a heavily armored cargo ship, then at the weekend a full on torpedo boat or drop ship/titan armor repair for Org' Ops !

After looking at the specs though it does seem the Titan is the best choice, the other modules are pretty specific and probably better bought with UEC in game if and when they're needed.

[smilodon]

The Tiran is also cheap.


 Yeah the whole module or ship thing confused me too. It's listed as an add-on but is actually the ship. Confusing.