Strike Builds

[BardaTheHobo]

Suppose I will post mine. I Have not really played it much in the past month or so (since about 3 weeks before 2.6 until yesterday real life stuff and what not) so my set-up might be outdated for the meta, have no experience with bombers yet except in 3 matches. Anyway my set up currently (I am not maxed yet)

 

FT-2 Quell

Quads (only have the first three boxes),( thinking about switching to lights though)

Missle1: Proton Torps (Speed and range)

Missle 2: Concussion(Rane and ignore armor)(debating on switching these to emp's because of bombers)

Shields: Directional (only first two boxes)

Engines: Barrel Roll (speed)

Armor: Reinforced armor

Thruster: Speed Thruster

Capacitor: Range Capacitor

Munitions: Munitions Capacity Extender

-------------------------------------------------------

Crew:

Co-Pilot:Blizz, for hydro-spanner, I used to be primarily a node guarder and the heal is nice

Offensive: Skadge, His two passives both affect missles (capacity and load times) so its a nice match

Tactical: Scorpio (I like to know what is around me)

Defensive:Writch Hurley (I like my shields)

Engineering: Blizz (More engine power baby)

-------------------------------------------------------

 

Now as you can see by my build I put all of my resources in my shields and engines (and of course missles). I basically joust, turning my shields to whichever side I need (front If I am going after them, rear if I am making some distance, or normal If I notice someone near me on my sides thanks to scorpio. I basically put all my effort into my missles, using my engine power and speed (always have power to engines usually) to create distance or close a big distance, lock on with protons then concussion then it is just fine picking for my lasers. Of course if they are smart and avoid my missles I use my speed and turn around to get some distance (depending on what they do) then try again. Of course that is under optimal conditions.

 

Now with that said, since I have only played 3 matches so far with bombers can any of my strike brothers tell me if the emp missles are worth picking up now? and any adjustments, I know things have changed so this set-up may be a bit outdated.

Edited February 17, 2014 by BardaTheHobo

[Kain_Turinbar]

Hey I just wanted to drop you a line and say that I just used all my req to buy and master a pike with this build. What a SUPER fun build! Thanks!

 

Though I went witht he range extender cause I wanted even more range

 

Also Doc gives nullify, it is T7 who gives hydrospanner

 

Doc and T7 are both on my crew for the bonus they give but I select T7 as the copilot for his hyrdospanner ability (I have B-3G69 on my crew too but I use T7 for the "R2" experience). Doc's buff to shields makes quick charge shields even better!

 

I hear you on the range extender though. I flew that way for a long time as well. Zapping someone at nearly concussion missile range (6900m) is nice.

Edited February 17, 2014 by Kain_Turinbar

[Jandi]

Quad Lasers are definitely NOT better against satellite turrets. Heavy lasers get the 100% armor ignore and then bam, its 2 shot turret time before they can even fire back. You can clear a sat in seconds.

 

It's cool to finally see some Pike pilots I remember going days and days without seeing another one at times.

 

You are right, however I haven't upgraded my lasers yet past quads rank 2 as I've focused on shields/missiles/barre roll bonuses. I have heavies at rank 2 as well, but I just prefer quads and have gotten upgrades from capacitor to supplement to larger damage. It might be a mistake to upgrade quads but I like em

[Pilgrim_Grey]

I use this (crew choices are also show)

 

I see a lot of people run Heavies and quads, which I never understand because they are both long range weapons that suck in turning fights. I use HLC and rapids so that I have options when im trying to clear that guy humping the sat.

 

I don't really agree with that. If a Starguard had the option for light lasers, I might run those and the heavies, but we don't get that choice. As another thread kind of shows right now, the rapid fire lasers just don't do much.

 

On my star, I basically use the heavy lasers when I'm going in long range (they're much longer range than Quads) and/or not having to turn much. If I'm in a turning fight or up close, it's the quads. Yes, they have a higher tracking penalty than the rapids, but I have a lot more success with them than the rapids. Rapid lasers feel like I'm just tickling the target, to be honest. The difference was noticeable to me before I even started upgrading the Quads when I switched.

 

I'm actually more surprised by people that run only heavy lasers in a pike... I just haven't done that because I know they have a hard time in a turning fight, and you will have those even if you try to take things out at range with the pike.

[Jandi]

 

I'm actually more surprised by people that run only heavy lasers in a pike... I just haven't done that because I know they have a hard time in a turning fight, and you will have those even if you try to take things out at range with the pike.

 

This is why I've upped as much turning from engies as I can to compensate my preference of quads.

[Kain_Turinbar]

I'm actually more surprised by people that run only heavy lasers in a pike... I just haven't done that because I know they have a hard time in a turning fight, and you will have those even if you try to take things out at range with the pike.

 

I don't really see it that way. How do Quads NOT have a hard time in a turning fight by comparison?

 

Because of the tracking penalty to me a larger firing arc is useless, I don't even try to shoot at people at the edge of it. My scout uses quads and I fly the same way. I don't waste blaster pool trying to shoot at people on the edge of my screen.

 

My goal is to put them in the center of my circle and that is why I took every turning upgrade I could.

[Gavin_Kelvar]

So a question with the Ions:

 

For the final level of upgrade you can choose to drain weapon power or drain shield power. Now my question: is the drain shield power a straight increase to the damage ions do to shields? I've tried it and I haven't noticed ions getting a noticeable performance gain in bringing down shields so I'm wondering if that drain shield power upgrade drains something else (or isn't working).

[Armadyil]

Hello, the striker is my fav ship and I have mastered both the Star Guard and the Pike. Here are my builds:

 

Star Guard

Quads (Reduced cost, shield dmg)

Rapid-Fire/Ion

Conc Missiles (Extra ammo, armor penetration)

Quick-Charge Shield (Reduced cd)

Koio Turn (extra turn rate)

Range capacitator/Damage (recently testing dmg)

Turbo Reactor

Regen Magazine

Power Thrusters

Crew: Bypass

 

Quads are best allround lasers imo, for second Id choose or Rapid-Fire as a low energy option if youre running low or Ion cannons, which gives a pre mainly against Bombers (rest dies to fast to make switching worthwile)

Quick-Charge shield and turbo reactor combo is greatness, because youre recharging shield mid-dogfight.

Koio turn to compensate for lower turning rate during dogfights.

Good old bypass is still my fav, to kill the near dead fighters and in combo with conc missiles its strong ("This is how jedi fight" )

 

Pike

Quads (same as above)

Conc missiles (extra range, armor penetration)

Proton Torps (Extra speed 'nd range)

Quick-Charge shield (same)

Koio turn (same)

Reinforced armor

Regen thrusters

Range capacitator

Munitions cap extender

Crew: Bypass

 

Protons are a nice addition to your arsenal, though somewhat useless b4 t4.

Reinforced armor + quick-charge means that you can take a hell of lot beating, and with repair drones reinforced armor is a pre as well.

I choose for munitions extender so my missiles can spec otherwise and i HATE it to run out of ammo, although regen magazine might be better.

[DEATHICIDE]

I've been seriously thinking of trying quick charge shields.

 

For those of you that use them how does the Large Reactor (the one that increases total shield strength) mesh with it? Or is the Regen Reactor the only real good reactor to use with Quick Charge shields?

 

Short version = Large Reactor + Quick Charge = Good mesh.

More shields everywhere that regenerate fast, and while under fire, do feel a bit tanky.

 

Long=

Keep in mind that other than Large Reactor + Quick Charge, I have not tried the other options on a starguard, but here is why I use them, and why It is working for me:

 

I considered that while in the starguard, most of my deaths come from multiple sources in quick succession, so Large Reactor is the best choice here, because my situation tells me that more shields everywhere means more likelihood I will survive. This just works on my problem area.

 

I don't find my fights are frequently at times where I will take light shield damage, then no more for a very short time, then repeat; they were most often large shield damage with a moderate time between engagements.

 

The chance to regenerate my shield is most often after my latest problem area is cleaned up, so Quick Charge lets me maximize my downtime, and the %60 regeneration rate while under fire perk amps up the use I get out of the Large Reactor.

[Altheran]

I've been seriously thinking of trying quick charge shields.

 

For those of you that use them how does the Large Reactor (the one that increases total shield strength) mesh with it? Or is the Regen Reactor the only real good reactor to use with Quick Charge shields?

 

Quick-charge does not put the shield capacity as a strength but its regen. That's what i like about them : I value regen better than capacity, because having huge shields works only once, while regenerative shields while being risky against big chunks of damage, are nearly undepletable if you manage to get out of **** at the right time.

 

So for that same reason I didn't try Large Capacitor. But now that I think about it twice, Large Reactor get the most of being coupled with Quick-Charge than any other Shield component (because of relative improvement).

So it may be worth it.

 

 

As for myself, I use Turbo Reactor with Quick-charge. Yeah, it can seem odd, I know. But the reason is that while I value regen, I find trying to facetank people with regen as they shoot you useless because the difference between regen and incoming damage is too huge.

As a result, I don't use Regen Reactor and regen while under fire, but Turbo Reactor and CD reduction on the on-use refill, and very pleased with that.

 

Edited February 17, 2014 by Altheran

[Pilgrim_Grey]

This is why I've upped as much turning from engies as I can to compensate my preference of quads.

 

I always wonder how much to up my turning, though... on my Star I went with the turning thrusters, but I was frustrated over how slow it was then (both with the initial jump to a fight or satellite, and then during the fight), so with Koiogran Turn I grabbed the speed boost. I'm pretty pleased with that balance and feel like I can turn fast enough and not be so slow in getting to fights. Do you or anyone else have thoughts on that, though?

 

The other one I always wonder about is whether Directional Shield should go for a Large Reactor with the 3 second decrease in regen time on Directional, or keep Directional with a higher regen and the Turbo Reactor. I can see the benefits of both, but I wonder if the Large reactor wouldn't be better for more sustained shootouts while still having a bit of a recharge time boost.

[Grahame]

I don't really see it that way. How do Quads NOT have a hard time in a turning fight by comparison?

 

Because of the tracking penalty to me a larger firing arc is useless, I don't even try to shoot at people at the edge of it. My scout uses quads and I fly the same way. I don't waste blaster pool trying to shoot at people on the edge of my screen.

 

My goal is to put them in the center of my circle and that is why I took every turning upgrade I could.

 

Just thought I'd add my 2 cents on tracking penalties.

 

Quads do have a higher tracking penalty, but at ranges > 500 meters, their base accuracy beats that of rapids by 10%. This means that at the edge of their arc (12 degrees from center) your base accuracy is 83% which beats the accuracy of rapids at the same point (81.4). They only break even around the 14 degree mark; right at the arc you get for quads with the companion bonus.

 

For heavies, at the edge of their arc (10 degreese) their base accuracy is 86% which equals that of quads at 10 degrees and beats rapids by 3%.

 

My Starguard Build: http://dulfy.net/2013/11/16/swtor-galactic-starfighter/?link=dGEAAAEQAwUDARUC6gHsAvQA0ADgAOAB4ADgAeA=

I admit my reactor pick is probably sub optimal. When I get the req for it, I'll switch to the Regen reactor for faster regen and a total of 80% regen under fire. I went with Koiogan Turn initially because I like playing sat defense and I wanted a missle dodge that worked in close quarters. I'm thinking of trying barrel roll or retro thrusters now.

 

I'm also experimenting with Ions and heavies as primary pics. I haven't been able to tell, but I've been kinda hoping that the drain shield power selection slows shield regen on your target. Anyone know?

[Pilgrim_Grey]

For heavies, at the edge of their arc (10 degreese) their base accuracy is 86% which equals that of quads at 10 degrees and beats rapids by 3%.

 

Heavies also have a lower rate of fire than the quads, which is why I use quads in turning fights and use heavies as a weapon of choice at long range or against slower/static targets. And there's just the feeling that I get in hits better with the quads at close or turning range, too. But the numbers make me feel like it's not just me.

 

I don't know what to make of ions in this equation, though. I'd like them more if they weren't so short range... I kind of wonder if some of this is just a matter of taste, too.

[Gavin_Kelvar]

Thanks Deathicide and Altheran!

 

I used to run with Large reactor + Directional but was finding that the clumsy mechanic for shifting shields left that ability unsuited for in combat situations. Overall I was starting to find that I usually ended up needing a longer downtime to get my shields back up to full than I normally had so eventually they'd break and I'd get killed. I'll give Large Reactor + Quick Charge (60% regen under fire) a go and see how that does.

 

Also am I just getting a placebo effect or does the engine power regen rate boost of quick charge increase mobility quite a bit? I swear that I can get much further with afterburners than I did with directional shields.

[Kain_Turinbar]

Thanks Deathicide and Altheran!

 

I used to run with Large reactor + Directional but was finding that the clumsy mechanic for shifting shields left that ability unsuited for in combat situations. Overall I was starting to find that I usually ended up needing a longer downtime to get my shields back up to full than I normally had so eventually they'd break and I'd get killed. I'll give Large Reactor + Quick Charge (60% regen under fire) a go and see how that does.

 

Also am I just getting a placebo effect or does the engine power regen rate boost of quick charge increase mobility quite a bit? I swear that I can get much further with afterburners than I did with directional shields.

 

Its very real. Probably the main reason I could never switch from them.

[Gavin_Kelvar]

I don't know what to make of ions in this equation, though. I'd like them more if they weren't so short range... I kind of wonder if some of this is just a matter of taste, too.

 

I've been finding that Ions can, in the right situation, be very useful with heavies at close range if you're good at weapon swapping. A few bursts of Ions will completely or almost completely bring down their shields and if you swap to heavies you can start doing heavy damage to their hull. At close range this can bring down lightly armored ships such as scouts very fast if they can't break LOS.

 

I'm still trying to figure out what exactly the "drain 40 shield power" upgrade does as it doesn't increase the "against shield DPS" stat on the tooltip.

[Sindariel]

Also am I just getting a placebo effect or does the engine power regen rate boost of quick charge increase mobility quite a bit? I swear that I can get much further with afterburners than I did with directional shields.

 

Quick Charge Shield increases the regen rate of recently consumed engine power by 45%.

This means, your engines regenerate with 45% of their normal capacity while using your afterburners.

[Gavin_Kelvar]

Quick-charge does not put the shield capacity as a strength but its regen. That's what i like about them : I value regen better than capacity, because having huge shields works only once, while regenerative shields while being risky against big chunks of damage, are nearly undepletable if you manage to get out of **** at the right time.

 

Something I noticed today when just looking at different components:

 

Directional Shields have an upgrade that reduces the regen delay by 3 seconds. According to Dulfy's calc if you combined that upgrade with the Turbo Reactor you can get the regen delay down to 1.2 seconds (Quick Charge would have a delay of 2.4 seconds). Combined with Doc for defensive crew (Pub) you can have a total shield strength of 2160 (Quick Charge with the same set up by comparison has a shield strength of 1440).

 

Quick Charge will give you a larger amount of shield power regen but if you don't take the 60% regen rate while under fire upgrade in theory Directional Shields would give you a shorter regen delay with much more shield HP.

 

Not sure how that would balance out with which shield gets back to full strength first but I thought I'd point this out.

Edited February 18, 2014 by Gavin_Kelvar

[Altheran]

Something I noticed today when just looking at different components:

 

Directional Shields have an upgrade that reduces the regen delay by 3 seconds. According to Dulfy's calc if you combined that upgrade with the Turbo Reactor you can get the regen delay down to 1.2 seconds (Quick Charge would have a delay of 2.4 seconds). Combined with Doc for defensive crew (Pub) you can have a total shield strength of 2160 (Quick Charge with the same set up by comparison has a shield strength of 1440).

 

Quick Charge will give you a larger amount of shield power regen but if you don't take the 60% regen rate while under fire upgrade in theory Directional Shields would give you a shorter regen delay with much more shield HP.

 

Not sure how that would balance out with which shield gets back to full strength first but I thought I'd point this out.

Some day, I may try Directional Shields, but I don't think I'd couple it with Turbo Reactor. With the way I fly, I don't think that lowering the restart time of my shield further than those 3s will mean as much of an improvement than if I'd were to improve the regen rate with Regen Reactor. Even though I'll probably try this combination anyway... Or maybe I'll try Turbo but taking the 10% of regen rate, which seems to be a good compromise.

Edited February 18, 2014 by Altheran

[Jandi]

The thing that people seem to miss about directionals is that you are regening shields while taking damage, as long as that damage is coming from a single direction. Let's say you are being chased because you had to bug out, you switch shields to back and your front shields will start to regen a small pool to it. Use barrel roll and while doing it, to avoid hull hits, switch the shields completely around from back to front to middle to back again and that pool that was accumulating in the front is at your back and you have a new pool generating at the front again.

[DEATHICIDE]

The thing that people seem to miss about directionals is that you are regening shields while taking damage, as long as that damage is coming from a single direction. Let's say you are being chased because you had to bug out, you switch shields to back and your front shields will start to regen a small pool to it. Use barrel roll and while doing it, to avoid hull hits, switch the shields completely around from back to front to middle to back again and that pool that was accumulating in the front is at your back and you have a new pool generating at the front again.

 

But the tool tip says that shield regeneration priority shifts with the shields, so why would the front be regenerating while you have power to back and are under fire?

[Jandi]

But the tool tip says that shield regeneration priority shifts with the shields, so why would the front be regenerating while you have power to back and are under fire?

 

It's slower than normal, yes but it doesn't stop completely. It also doesn't shift the entire shield if they are full, so you have a reserve to start with at the front.

[Gavin_Kelvar]

So I've been building my Pike specifically for killing entrenched bombers.

 

Right now I've got the following set up:

Laser: Quads

Missile 1: Protons

Missile 2: EMP

Engine: Barrel Roll

Shield: Quick

Armor: Light

Thruster: Speed

Capacitor: Damage

Magazine: Munitions

 

Crew:

Lord Scourge

Nadia

Qyzen

Yuun

Copilot: Nadia (I felt the bypass would come in handy with either quads or heavies to help finish off bombers that have some shield but almost no hull).

 

Now my main questions:

On the one hand I really like heavy cannons and those are my go to guns on my Star Guard. While I know they'd be ideal for bomber killing I feel that it might leave me vulnerable to enemy fighters since I'm not using concussion missiles or clusters and lack ion cannons to help compensate in dogfighting. So for those of you more experienced Pike pilots who use heavies how do you find they work out for you if you're not using missiles well suited for dogfights?

 

I feel that torpedoes are better suited for bomber hunting than concussion missiles with the 100% shield/armor penetration but as I'm not experienced in a Pike I'm not how well that works out in practice. Would the Pike pilots out there recommend them as my main damage dealing missile given I'm going to use my Pike to kill bombers?

 

I'm torn between directional shields and quick charge. I love quick charge on my Star Guard but I'm kinda iffy on using them on the Pike since you don't get the reactor. Since I'm going against bombers having the ability to tank damage during my attack run and I've gotten the feeling that directional shields might be better. Any suggestions?

[FBPL]

I guess I'm playing an odd Starguard in comparison to yours.

 

Each of my component/upgrade/crew choices, as odd as they may look, are fully thought of.

 

Not that far removed from my set up with the Strike. Nothing beats using Ion to strip shields, slow them down, and then shoving a Conc missile up their tail pipe.

 

I

[Verain]

Edit: I had claimed QCS doesn't increase engine power consumed rate. That's incorrect: it does. Edited March 21, 2014 by Verain