Strike Fighter Guide/Help?

[JadedJasper]

STAR GUARD

- Heavy Lasers: These are brutally accurate at range, and deadly even without the Shield Piercing upgrade

- Ion Cannons: You need something for up close, and these are better than Rapid Fire.

- Concussion Missiles: Best all around missile, hands down.

- Directional Shields: Gives you massive shields, and are good for jousting which is your strength.

- Barrel Roll: Let's you switch field, escape, and chase. Get the +speed upgrade, +turn is overkill.

- Frequency Capacitor: Great with Heavy Lasers.

- Regeneration Extender: So you get better use out of Frequency

- Large Reactor: I like the larger buffer, but am not terribly tied to them.

- Turning Thrusters: Crucial for satellite humping.

 

CREW

- Offense: B-3G9. Faster reloads and +accuracy are just what you need. Hydrospanner too.

- Defense: Doc for the best shields you can get.

- Tactical: Akaavi Spar for Communication to hopefully attract allies, and the option for Wingman.

- Engineer: Yuun to maximize Engine and Blaster efficiency.

 

This plays much different than the Pike, as an opponent who escapes and evades well will be able to evade again before Concussion Missile coolsdown. You likely won't put up numbers as high as a result, but it's tough and good at actually defending satellites.

 

It definitely has some strengths:

- While it's only OK at dogfighting it's great at jousting -- Barrel Roll to open the range after crossing, then put Deflectors double front and open up with Heavy Lasers and Concussion.

- It's great at satellite riding, just be careful with the directional shields. +10% turn and +10% speed is the best combo for chasing people around a satellite. Don't boost, just direct power to thrusters and go 100%.

- It's a strong ship one on one, and the foe I most fear to face when nobody else is around.

- Works great in pairs, as it effectively lets you break a turning stalemate.

- Ion Blasters up close will often make foes run, which is a great lead in to Heavy Lasers.

 

Offset by several crucial weaknesses:

- It's bad at setting the terms of engagement, and good foes will usually get the drop on you.

- It doesn't have potent abilities like Blaster Overcharge or Distortion Field. Be careful to bait then stall these abilities out!

- Damn hard to escape in. Often you can Satellite Hug to stay alive, but good foes will dig you out.

Edited January 17, 2014 by JadedJasper

[tunewalker]

I am going to say right now don't write off Charged plating entirely it depends on your server.

 

Charge plating will always be vunerable to gunships but if your server isn't saturated with good gunship pilots you generally don't need to worry about that (my server has 4-6 or so good enemy gunship pilots that are rarely on at the same time)

 

As for Strike vs Strike the only armor piercing weapons are heavy lasers. No one runs Concussive with armor piercing instead of target engines and I don't count protons because they would be just as effective against all shield types any way.

 

 

For Strike vs scout the only weapons capable of armor piercing are Rocket pods which are difficult to hit with and don't do all that great amount of damage any way so not that much of a threat and burst lasers. Any other weapon combo and Charge plating can do really well.

 

 

 

Example Light Lasers on average will do around 1000 DPS if the person is using bypass like so many use and blaster overcharge we are likely seeing around 1200 DPS with 75% of it going straight to hull.... now at first this sounds bad but this is before damage reduction is taken into account. 900 damage straight to hull and with full armor and the charge plating ability active that 900 DPS to the hull becomes a measly 63 DPS while your shields take 300 dps, it would take nearly 20 seconds (your ability only lasts 19 seconds when upgraded) for some one to take you from full to dead like this. Same can be said for quads and the like. The ability only has a 30 second CD and if you are using repair with it most of the damage can be healed.

 

You just need to know to get evasive when the CD abilities buff runs out, which is made easier by the bottom part of the ability that regens engine energy when you get shot while the ability is up.

 

Now if your server has scouts that largely run Burst lasers and you KNOW they are picking up armor pen instead of the shield pen talent or you know the strikes have a heavy preference for heavy lasers or your server has a lot of gunships then Charge plating is not the way to go. But if majority of the good players aren't running any of those things its probably one of the best defenses there is. I have just now stopped using it because some of the best imp pilots have figured out I use it and have begun to use armor piercing ships on a much more frequent basis.

 

So if people tell you its garbage don't listen it depends entirely on the server and what others are using, it will deffinately save you if your server is not used to it since its such a rare shield choice no one builds to counter it, at least not until they get tired of you being a pain in the rear.

Edited January 17, 2014 by tunewalker

[Itkovian]

Thanks for the compliment. I'm glad my insights are useful.

 

I know all too well the flaws of suggesting major changes without an environment to test them in, so instead of saying "this is what should happen", I'll simply throw out a few ideas I think would be worth looking into if I were a game developer (for now, I'm merely a game designer). Bear in mind that some of them won't be appropriate, and all of them at once would almost certainly not be appropriate.

[strike Fighter Love]

 

Excellent suggestions, all around, though naturally such changes would need to be introduced gradually until a balance is reached.

 

Personally, however, I think the last suggestion is particularly good (adding hardened and ray-shielded objectives to certain modes, such as buffing turrets with massive armour and shields). Not only would it make Strike Fighters more useful, but it would also make the new gunship variant more significant.

 

Likewise, I like the idea of reducing armour penetration for weapons Strike Fighters can't use to 50%, essentially leaving 100% armour penetration only to Heavy Lasers, Concussion Missiles, and Proton Torpedoes.

 

These two suggestions would not only make Strikes more useful, in accordance to their multirole nature, but give the other ships which can mount these weapons a more significant role. With this change, the bombers actually DO become actual bombers (they can load heavies and torps), and the new gunship model (with its heavy lasers and protorps) also joins the multirole ranks and is no longer practically useless.

 

Those two suggestion would almost certainly fix most of the problems with Strike Fighters. Excellent suggestions.

 

There's also a number of easier tweaks that could be done within the current system to make the strike's job easier:

 

[more practical Strike Fighter Love]

 

Good suggestions as well, and I particularly like the reduced missile cooldown, as well as the Afterburner cost tweak.

 

The Afterburner cost tweak, at the least, is no doubt an extremely easy fix, and would go a long way to make the Strike fighters more relevant without actually increasing their killing power. It should be a good first step for balancing without risking major changes and their attendant bugs.

 

In any case, an excellent post. Thank you.

[Armonddd]

Edited my previous post a bit.

 

I'm smarter after sleep. Let me clarify that I think the strike already specializes in mid-range combat with weapons such as torps, quads, concs, and heavies - how many of us don't frantically dodge their torps already? The problem is as much that they're ineffective at mid-range combat, compared to scouts at short range and gunships at long range.

 

Again, I'm glad my insights are appreciated.

Edited January 17, 2014 by Armonddd

[Darth_Dreselus]

Star Guard with Ions/Quads/Torps and max turning boosts. I'm loving it and scouts are like fleas.

 

Granted it's hugely tactical and I use it to capture/guard points, it is not for racking up kills. That's what Flashfire is for but I hate the fact that I die within seconds and cannot play chicken with other ships =D

[NalRethak]

Don't listen to the burstfappers, Strike Fighters can hold their own against most targets. Just don't play them like a Scout up close. Use HLC's or Quads (my personal choice). Of course if you wanna go lolsmash they are very fun, and fast.

 

-don't try to go toe to toe with a Scout, they can out turn/ out quickburst you

 

I tend to agree, as I love strike fighters. Problemp is most of my games are against 80% scouts and the vast majority of them being the upgraded versions sting and flashfire.

[Kain_Turinbar]

I see a few references to the Frequency Capacitor being an ideal pairing with heavy cannons to increase damage.

 

I switch back and forth on which Capacitor I like better for Heavies--either the Damage or Range. The reason I never maxed Frequency for increased DPS is that I thought it would also cause an increase in power drain but I'm not familiar with how the mechanics of this game work. Is the power drain for blasters constant no matter what or if you take the rate of fire upgrades does it increase your power drain?

 

The reason I ask is because if I have two ways to increase the damage of my blasters I'm going with the one that isn't going to drain them faster.

 

My personal Pike loadout--

 

Heavy Lasers with ignore armor and shield piercing (going to get nerfed 3% in 2.6)

Concussion missiles with increased range (which is going from 5% to 10% in 2.6 which is nice though they are reducing its shield penetration a little bit) and target engine

Proton Torpedoes with 2x speed and increased range

Quick Charge Shield with 60% regen

Barrel Roll with 10% turning

 

Evasion Armor

Range or Damage Capacitor

Regeneration Extender

Turning Thrusters

 

My playstyle is to satellite hug, hunt gunships, or joust when **** gets too hot. Knowing when to do each is the key to long term survival. This is a very survivable build, since I maxed this Pike the most number of times I've died in a match is 2 and overall most of my deaths are crashes.

Edited January 17, 2014 by Kain_Turinbar

[Grahame]

I see a few references to the Frequency Capacitor being an ideal pairing with heavy cannons to increase damage.

 

I switch back and forth on which Capacitor I like better for Heavies--either the Damage or Range. The reason I never maxed Frequency for increased DPS is that I thought it would also cause an increase in power drain but I'm not familiar with how the mechanics of this game work. Is the power drain for blasters constant no matter or if you take the rate of fire upgrades does it increase your power drain?

 

The reason I ask is because if I have to ways to increase the damage of my blasters I'm going with the one that isn't going to drain them faster.

 

I can certainly tell you that the frequency capacitor does not lower the cost per shot. It gives you a 15% DPS increase vs. the damage capacitor's 10%, but it's downside is that your power/second rate goes up by the same amount.

 

...First and foremost, make primary weapons fire if you're holding down the left mouse button. This is as much a quality of life thing as a balance idea, but I find I waste a lot of potential shots when I'm fumbling around changing my active lasers. (On the other hand, it could be considered a mark of skill if you can change between lasers quickly without interrupting your fire. I personally find it clunky control-wise, since releasing and re-pressing the mouse button tends to jiggle my aim, much less pressing the mouse button to change primaries in the first place.)...

 

QFT! this is the main reason I swiched from Ions to Heavies.

Edited January 17, 2014 by Grahame

[RebekahWSD]

I'm learning the joys of playing the Pike as a stand off fighter with maxed out proton torpedoes and clusters for the close up work. I find people don't know how to deal with a missile lock coming from 11.5 K in front of them. Using quads as the primary but should probably switch over to heavies. Works surprisingly well at intercepting ships en route to the satellites.

 

It's not the best at close fights around the satellites, but every build has it's weakness.

Edited January 17, 2014 by RebekahWSD

[Kain_Turinbar]

Also, I've seen so many posts about bypass. Complaints that it is OP for gunships, OP when used by scouts with blaster overcharge/targeting telemetry, etc but which copilot gives this ability?

 

I swear I've looked at every copilot I have or can still purchase and I don't see it in their ability list.

[RebekahWSD]

Also, I've seen so many posts about bypass. Complaints that it is OP for gunships, OP when used by scouts with blaster overcharge/targeting telemetry, etc but which copilot gives this ability?

 

I swear I've looked at every copilot I have or can still purchase and I don't see it in their ability list.

 

M14X and Nadia Grell have it. Don't know about any others.

[Armonddd]

I see a few references to the Frequency Capacitor being an ideal pairing with heavy cannons to increase damage.

 

I switch back and forth on which Capacitor I like better for Heavies--either the Damage or Range. The reason I never maxed Frequency for increased DPS is that I thought it would also cause an increase in power drain but I'm not familiar with how the mechanics of this game work. Is the power drain for blasters constant no matter or if you take the rate of fire upgrades does it increase your power drain?

 

The reason I ask is because if I have to ways to increase the damage of my blasters I'm going with the one that isn't going to drain them faster.

 

Yes. If you check the tooltip, the energy cost per second increases when you equip the frequency capacitor.

 

I find with heavies in particular, if you take the regeneration magazine, switch power to weapons, and take careful aim, the downside is nearly negligible.

[reclipsed]

M14X and Nadia Grell have it. Don't know about any others.

 

Khem also has it, trying to think of others..

[DEATHICIDE]

My two cents on how to smoke a FF with a strike:

 

Get turning because without it you just have no chance in a dogfight at all.

Get rapid fire lasers, yeah they sorta suck, but up close with a FF they are all you have that is going to hit when the stick is fully cranked.

Get heavy lasers for 2nd, because when the flash is getting frustrated their go-to is to boost away as soon as their cooldowns are back up, expecting you to follow, turn to face you, pop cooldowns, then 2 shot you, so you shoot em in the *** with heavy laser when they are flying away, then boost to the side until you see their cooldowns run out, then turn back at them with heavies if they are still far, or if they have closed in, go back to rapids.

 

The big deal here is not the actual turn fight if you have rapids, it is watching for them to try to get you in a head on and then pop their OP doomsday devices and catch you off-guard.

[Armonddd]

Khem also has it, trying to think of others..

 

Skadge. I don't think there's any others, but Dulfy's build calculator just shat out on me.

[Gavin_Kelvar]

I see a few references to the Frequency Capacitor being an ideal pairing with heavy cannons to increase damage.

 

I switch back and forth on which Capacitor I like better for Heavies--either the Damage or Range. The reason I never maxed Frequency for increased DPS is that I thought it would also cause an increase in power drain but I'm not familiar with how the mechanics of this game work. Is the power drain for blasters constant no matter what or if you take the rate of fire upgrades does it increase your power drain?

 

The reason I ask is because if I have two ways to increase the damage of my blasters I'm going with the one that isn't going to drain them faster.

 

It does indeed drain power faster. That being said whether more damage per shot or firing more shots is more useful depends greatly on the individual and what they feel requires buffing.

 

Namely damage per shot is only helpful if you have good aim, if your aim leave something to be desired firing more shots is probably better because during the window of opportunity when you have them in your sights you'll get more shots off to compensate for bad aim.

 

Another use is countering the accuracy/evasion mechanic. By firing more shots you get more RNG rolls which means more chances to hit. Against a scout with maxed passive evasion this is a striker's only component that can, in the indirect way of more RNG rolls, counter evasion (strikers having no components that passively or actively buff weapon accuracy beyond their base accuracy stat).

 

(If this sounds familiar to anyone it's probably because I'm paraphrasing my description of those components from page 2 of this thread)

 

It definitely has some strengths:

- While it's only OK at dogfighting it's great at jousting -- Barrel Roll to open the range after crossing, then put Deflectors double front and open up with Heavy Lasers and Concussion.

 

In theory this is true but against a scout this strength can be completely nullified and flipped to actually be the strength of the scout. Primarily by using Distortion Field's invulnerability to completely nullify a striker's blaster weaponry leaving their only option to maybe get a single missile off in a joust.

 

So while jousting can be a good strategy against a scout it should be done with extreme caution as scout's have the mobility to set the rules of an engagement so if they're willing entering into a joust with you odds are they plan to pop distortion field and blow you out of the sky while taking minimal to no damage in return fire.

 

Kinda screwed up IMO that the ship with the weakest defenses can actually be better at jousting than a ship with much stronger defenses but that's the situation we currently have.

[Zharik]

If you like the in close dogfighting similar to a flashfire/Sting, try ions with rapid fire lasers and cluster missiles. It takes a bit to get used to the ion for 1 - 1.5 seconds (while missile locking) then switch to your rapid fire lasers upon seeing 3 hits, but... yeah they melt. The down side is you are 4km range on both primary weapons.

 

The other thought is heavy lasers and rapid fire for up close with clusters, though spec your heavies to eat shields faster, not to pierce shields, as they should be hitting shields just long enough to drop them, them missile away and rapid fire lasers for the closer work.

[tunewalker]

If you like the in close dogfighting similar to a flashfire/Sting, try ions with rapid fire lasers and cluster missiles. It takes a bit to get used to the ion for 1 - 1.5 seconds (while missile locking) then switch to your rapid fire lasers upon seeing 3 hits, but... yeah they melt. The down side is you are 4km range on both primary weapons.

 

The other thought is heavy lasers and rapid fire for up close with clusters, though spec your heavies to eat shields faster, not to pierce shields, as they should be hitting shields just long enough to drop them, them missile away and rapid fire lasers for the closer work.

 

Also Spec Heavies for Armor piercing for wonderful Turret destruction capabilities.

[renegadeimp]

Best SF spec is basically a tank, with sick damage and nigh on invincible when played right.

 

The base spec is something like:

 

 

• Quad laser Cannons
  
• Concussion Missiles
  
• Proton Missiles
  
• Charged Plating
  
• Barrell roll
  
• Deflection Armour
  
• Dmg Capacitor
  
• Power pool Extender
  
• Power thrusters
  

 

Crew skills are up to you. Just take what benefits those skills.

Edited January 18, 2014 by renegadeimp

[dancezwithnubz]

If you like the in close dogfighting similar to a flashfire/Sting, try ions with rapid fire lasers and cluster missiles. It takes a bit to get used to the ion for 1 - 1.5 seconds (while missile locking) then switch to your rapid fire lasers upon seeing 3 hits, but... yeah they melt. The down side is you are 4km range on both primary weapons.

 

i fly a T1 Scout built for speed most of the time (light-lasers/rocket-pods/booster-recharge). ion/rapid-fire/clusters is the setup I use on my strike with (almost) capped out turning. it's the only setup I can find that actually does anything useful.

 

much like a flashfire/sting using blaster overcharge, strike fighters lack range & the freedom of mobility that booster-recharge brings.

 

flown well, they can be awesome at holding a node. they're also pretty decent gunship chasers if you're careful about power management.

 

they're not my choice for taking nodes.

[tunewalker]

Best SF spec is basically a tank, with sick damage and nigh on invincible when played right.

 

The base spec is something like:

 

 

• Quad laser Cannons
  
• Concussion Missiles
  
• Proton Missiles
  
• Charged Plating
  
• Barrell roll
  
• Deflection Armour
  
• Dmg Capacitor
  
• Power pool Extender
  
• Power thrusters
  

 

Crew skills are up to you. Just take what benefits those skills.

 

Am I the only one that likes Regeneration thrusters, I find myself doing short bursts so often (long range means generally don't have to run far to be in range) that anything else just frustrates me that I cant get energy back fast enough.

[renegadeimp]

Am I the only one that likes Regeneration thrusters, I find myself doing short bursts so often (long range means generally don't have to run far to be in range) that anything else just frustrates me that I cant get energy back fast enough.

 

Everyone has a personal preference. I simply listed a base build that is solid and works together well. Of course, until you get at least tier 3 on the skills, you will be pretty easy to kill, but once you get the right skills, youll notice a whole world of difference.

[tunewalker]

Everyone has a personal preference. I simply listed a base build that is solid and works together well. Of course, until you get at least tier 3 on the skills, you will be pretty easy to kill, but once you get the right skills, youll notice a whole world of difference.

 

Ya everything else there you listed I really like, the only thing is if people get wise to him using charge plating and his server starts getting saturated with Armor piercing weapon users then either directional or quick charge would be better, but until his server starts running on the side of heavy armor piercing charge plating is pretty awesome.

 

 

The regen thrusters for me I throw on everything. I have tried power extenders and everything else I just apparently boost so often that if I am not running maxed out regen thrusters I am every singly match as I am yelling at my engines to regen faster so I can boost again.

Edited January 18, 2014 by tunewalker

[renegadeimp]

In the current game, especially as there is an abundance of new inexperienced players, charged plating works very well. As time goes on, that will change, but there are other skills to use, as you pointed out. Edited January 18, 2014 by renegadeimp

[Wainamoinen]

Khem also has it, trying to think of others..

 

Ootinicast has a nice crew calculator that tells you all of who does what at the click of a button.

 

http://ootinicast.com/crew-calculator/

 

As the name suggests, they also have a podcast if you fancy something SWTOR to listen to. I like it.