How does my Flashfire look?

[Loadsamunny]

I got the ship I want finally, the Flashfire. Now I just need to come up with a decent loadout of components and crew for it.

 

So far this is what it looks like.

 

Primary: Quad Laser Cannons (may switch for Burst, but Quad has better damage, range, and accuracy, though it's not very power friendly)

Secondary: Cluster Missiles

Systems: Targeting Telemetry

Shields: Distortion Field

Engines: Retro Thrusters

 

Armor: Lightweight Armor

Capacitor: Damage Capacitor

Reactor: Large Reactor

Thrusters: Regeneration Thrusters

 

Copilot: Qyzen

Offensive: Qyzen

Defensive: Oro

Tactical: Akaavi

Engineering: Yuun

Edited October 26, 2014 by Loadsamunny

[zaskar]

You can't kill armor, at all. Switch to burst or don't target anything with heavy armor/charged plating.

 

You want a speed build? You may want to switch from barrel to retro.

 

Read this thread for builds

'http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=729222

Edited October 26, 2014 by zaskar

[Loadsamunny]

You can't kill armor, at all. Switch to burst or don't target anything with heavy armor/charged plating.

 

You want a speed build? You may want to switch from barrel to retro.

 

Read this thread for builds

'http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=729222

 

Okay, so get Burst.

 

How about my crew?

 

Copilot/Offensive: Qyzen

Defensive: Oro

Tactical: Akaavi

Engineering: Yuun

[Drakkolich]

I got the ship I want finally, the Flashfire. Now I just need to come up with a decent loadout of components and crew for it.

 

So far this is what it looks like.

 

Primary: Quad Laser Cannons (may switch for Burst, but Quad has better damage, range, and accuracy, though it's not very power friendly)

Secondary: Cluster Missiles

Systems: Targeting Telemetry

Shields: Distortion Field

Engines: Retro Thrusters

 

Armor: Lightweight Armor

Capacitor: Damage Capacitor

Reactor: Large Reactor

Thrusters: Regeneration Thrusters

 

Copilot: Qyzen

Offensive: Qyzen

Defensive: Oro

Tactical: Akaavi

Engineering: Yuun

 

Alright as far as weapons go you picked some great high dps ones, the only problem is no armor penetration so if ignoring high armor targets doesn't bother you then those are fine.

 

Engines are very player specific, I saw you had barrel roll there earlier don't be afraid to try both retro and barrel. They are both good just used differently, retro lets you really get aggresive but leaves you without a way to run from a fight you are losing.

 

Everything else looks really standard, distortion is a must and all the minors are pretty easy to figure out. The only thing I would mention is that if you do decide to swap to burst. Range Capacitor is the best in my opinion for it. There was a lot of math done a long time ago and because ranged capacitor gets you close to that awesome 500m damage it ends up helping a lot.

 

On to the crew, for Offensive Qyzen is fine if you really want concentrated fire, I myself prefer Running Interference for maximum evasion build. If you still prefer an offensive one I'd use Wingman more then concentrated fire. This frees you up to take 25% extra ammo passive on Kira carsen which is really important once you master cluster missile. As for some reason the 25% extra ammo passive isn't halved by the double volley talent thus making it +50% ammo on mastered clusters.

 

For Defensive I'd use 10% shield maximum over 15% shield regeneration thus changing to Nadia Grell instead of Oro.

 

Your other 2 are just perfect, unless you want Running interference then just change Akaavi Spar to Kendra Novar.

 

 

If you would like help with what upgrades to buy for each component feel free to add those and I can comment. So far it looks like you already have a great grasp on whats good in the game. Really only minor changes from here.

 

Hope that helps.

[MiaowZedong]

Primary: Quad Laser Cannons (may switch for Burst, but Quad has better damage, range, and accuracy, though it's not very power friendly)

Secondary: Cluster Missiles

The biggest issue here is it looks like you don't know what you want to do. If you want to engage at range, you should use Quads and Rockets. If you want to get really close and shoot at angles, use Bursts and Cluster (or Bursts and Rockets). Not that Quads and Clusters are bad, but I would recommend switching to a weapon combo with more synergy.

 

Armor: Lightweight Armor

Capacitor: Damage Capacitor

Reactor: Large Reactor

Thrusters: Regeneration Thrusters

If you want to go with Quads and Rockets, consider switching to Range Capacitator. It brings the range of your guns closer to that of your rockets.

Copilot: Qyzen

Offensive: Qyzen

Defensive: Oro

Tactical: Akaavi

Engineering: Yuun

Consider using Akaavi as your copilot, especially if you stick with Quads. Accuracy is really good and needed, and Wingman lasts quite a bit longer than Concentrated Fire so you will have more of your engagements while the buff is up. Unless you switch to Bursts, you should run with Kira Carsen instead of Qyzen for Offensive; Quads (and Rockets) have large tracking penalties, making increased arcs not very good.

 

Shields don't regenerate when taking damage and as a Flashfire pilot, you will have a relatively long wait before they start regenerating. As such 15% faster regen won't help you as much as you expect, pick Nadia Grell or Tano Vik for larger shields instead of Oro Wogawa.

 

Yuun has the two 'best' engineering passives, however, I don't place much value on anything that increases blaster power (except for gunships, they're different). I'd suggest working on your accuracy until you don't run out of power anymore and then changing to C2-N2. While you are still honing your skills, Yuun is fine.

Edited October 26, 2014 by MiaowZedong

[Loadsamunny]

I just switched to Bursts. They seem to hit harder, and I'm actually cracking armor now.

 

So right now it looks like this.

 

Primary: Burst

Secondary: Clusters

Systems: Targeting

Shields: Distortion

Engines: Retro

Armor: Lightweight

Capacitor: Damage

Reactor: Large

Thrusters: Regenerating

 

Copilot: Qyzen (I'm more offense oriented, Distortion gives enough evasion)

Offensive: Qyzen

Defensive: Nadia

Tactical: Akaavi

Engineering: Yuun

 

So Burst and Clusters pair nicely together? I'm not going to even consider Rocket Pods unless someone shows me how to lock on with them? I won't use a secondary without lock-on with the exception of Railshot.

[Ryuku-sama]

I just switched to Bursts. They seem to hit harder, and I'm actually cracking armor now.

 

The differance in DPS between quad and burst is about 50... Burst tho give you a much lower RoF which is good in very close range combat and in turning fight. Add armor pen, high accuracy and low tracking.. ANd you end up with a weapon as good as quad just used in a totally different way.

[Drakkolich]

I just switched to Bursts. They seem to hit harder, and I'm actually cracking armor now.

 

So right now it looks like this.

 

Primary: Burst

Secondary: Clusters

Systems: Targeting

Shields: Distortion

Engines: Retro

Armor: Lightweight

Capacitor: Damage

Reactor: Large

Thrusters: Regenerating

 

Copilot: Qyzen (I'm more offense oriented, Distortion gives enough evasion)

Offensive: Qyzen

Defensive: Nadia

Tactical: Akaavi

Engineering: Yuun

 

So Burst and Clusters pair nicely together? I'm not going to even consider Rocket Pods unless someone shows me how to lock on with them? I won't use a secondary without lock-on with the exception of Railshot.

 

Yep this looks really solid, you might have trouble with running out of ammo on clusters though. If you don't then perfect. The only thing I would change is Ranged capacitor instead of Damage capacitor, Ranged is actually more damage on Burst lasers because of how they interact with each other.

 

Rocket pods don't ever lock on they fire just like lasers. When you would fire quads with them you just hold down right click and left click at the same time.

 

In my opinion Bursts pair better with Clusters anyways.

[Loadsamunny]

Damnit, internet made me double post.

 

Really liking Burst. I was able to hit for 800 at close range without a crit. Ridiculous. I don't even need Clusters, Burst is a BEAST at point blank.

Edited October 26, 2014 by Loadsamunny

[ALaggyGrunt]

That's a reasonably nasty build if your target is nice enough to leave you a targeting solution. As mentioned before, rockets go better with that. The targets you really want to go after won't, including skilled dronelayers.

I could have made a video once: how to deal with Scrab and a bomber. Basically I led him around a sat my team controlled, and when a bomber got close, I TT+CFed a bomber who was dumb enough to fly straight, level, and slow toward the sat we were dancing around, and melted the bomber before Scrab could get a decent targeting solution.

 

Stuff to try:

Burst lasers are good for pursuing targets. You get into very good targeting solutions, but only for a split second. If you're fast enough, they're nasty.

Pods are nice for dealing with bombers who park in cracks in sats. Since you will hit the mines first, you park at about 6km and start lobbing them, and hope your teammates have all his buddies sufficiently occupied. Once you sweep the mines, close in and pound it with lasers and more rockets. It will have to move.

 

Stuff I've noticed:

Just for giggles, I went BLC+overcharge+CF once. That's nasty enough to blow up a bomber in 3 crits, and two seconds or less. Most things worth shooting will have so much evasion up, that will be a really bad plan.

 

Sabotage probe. If you can land it, you basically have a few seconds of free shots, and your target will have a crazy evasion debuff for the duration. Just be very careful you don't overshoot, because your target will slow way down once you hit it.

 

BLC+Clusters are nasty in close-quarters dances with fast targets.

BLC are just plain overpowered in their current form:

They crit for 1000 or more.

Accuracy at point-blank is insane, which is really important with so many distortion fields.

They have the best tracking penalty of any weapon.

The skill tree has no useless nodes.

Armor is useless against them.

 

Power dive has very fast cooldown and zero energy cost, so it will always go off. Unfortunately, it has two big weaknesses:

1: Unless you dive behind cover or out of range, you are very easy gunship fodder at the end of the maneuver, for that split-second between the maneuver ending and your hitting boost and continuing to evade.

2: Unless you are aware of what's in front of and below you, expect to dive into a lot of things.

 

Barrel roll has a very high energy cost and long cooldown, but is pretty good at getting you away from trouble. It requires a lot less situational awareness (you need to know about the tunnel of space in front of you the maneuver will fly you around in a spiral). It's good at getting you away from trouble, but not so much for lock breaks.

A long, long time ago, I literally hit someone at the top of their barrel roll with a slug rail. I haven't duplicated it since.

 

Koigran Turn:

If you're good, you can end up on someone's tail with it, but the maneuver will spend a half-second ending on your final trajectory, so a skilled target won't stay in your line of fire very long. Also, it only moves you about 3km, which means you're a really easy target at the end of it if there's a hostile gunship watching you.

It does have a very big strength, though: you can use it in a lot tighter quarters than Power Dive and Barrel Roll without sploding your ship, like sat B on Mesas and C on Shipyards.

 

Retros are a very good noob-killer. They will just keep flying straight and level and say "Whaaa?" while you kill them. Try that against a dangerous scout, and you better also hit DF or it will follow you through the maneuver and kill you while you're stuck flying straight, level, and backwards.

 

Booster recharge: You sacrifice killing power, but gain a bit of mobility, which is very nice in Exosphere or other domination matches where your objectives are A/C. Also allows you to run double-speed or double-turning thrusters without having to worry about running out of power. As much.

Telemetry: Very nice with everyone and his dog stacking evasion.

Overcharge: Nice for quickly killing strikers, bombers, and fortress shields. Not so much against evasion.

[Drakkolich]

Sabotage probe. If you can land it, you basically have a few seconds of free shots, and your target will have a crazy evasion debuff for the duration. Just be very careful you don't overshoot, because your target will slow way down once you hit it.

 

Great post Grunt, The only thing I want to talk about is this part. If you take sabotage probe once mastered do not use the upgrade that lets you make them slower. There is currently a bug that completely breaks the probe and lets them move again if you take this. You have to use the other upgrade that lowers their regeneration rate.

[Loadsamunny]

The problem I have with Rockets Pods is I CANNOT. HIT. ANYTHING. with them. NOTHING. I cannot score a hit with them no matter how hard I try. Clusters I can use in dogfights that don't involve a lot of turning.

 

Honestly, I'd rather have Proton Torpedos for the range, but Flashfire doesn't have them.

[Drakkolich]

The problem I have with Rockets Pods is I CANNOT. HIT. ANYTHING. with them. NOTHING. I cannot score a hit with them no matter how hard I try. Clusters I can use in dogfights that don't involve a lot of turning.

 

Honestly, I'd rather have Proton Torpedos for the range, but Flashfire doesn't have them.

 

So rocket pods have ridiculous tracking penalties, like the same as a Railgun. For every degree you are off center you lose 5% accuracy. It's really important to fire them right in the middle of your firing arc, this is why they are really good at kill gunships that aren't moving. You fire the rocket pods at the same cursor that you fire your lasers at.

 

But all the same sounds like clusters is more for you. Having weapons that have similar ranges is very important, because you want to fire them both at the same time. Trying to lock a proton while shooting burst lasers would be really really hard.

[Loadsamunny]

So rocket pods have ridiculous tracking penalties, like the same as a Railgun. For every degree you are off center you lose 5% accuracy. It's really important to fire them right in the middle of your firing arc, this is why they are really good at kill gunships that aren't moving. You fire the rocket pods at the same cursor that you fire your lasers at.

 

But all the same sounds like clusters is more for you. Having weapons that have similar ranges is very important, because you want to fire them both at the same time. Trying to lock a proton while shooting burst lasers would be really really hard.

 

I might try two different loadouts.

 

Bursts/Clusters for standard dogfighting and turning battles.

Quads/Rockets for head-on battles of "chicken."

[Ryuku-sama]

Power dive has very fast cooldown and zero energy cost, so it will always go off. Unfortunately, it has two big weaknesses:

1: Unless you dive behind cover or out of range, you are very easy gunship fodder at the end of the maneuver, for that split-second between the maneuver ending and your hitting boost and continuing to evade.

2: Unless you are aware of what's in front of and below you, expect to dive into a lot of things.

 

Just a little thing. When Power Dive finishes, you still have about 0.5 sec under the 30% evasion buff while you can move, so it isn't THAT bad. And if you're Power Diving anyway, most gunship won't have the reflexes to follow you. About crashing into thing, why do you think the true name of Power Dive is actually Power Die

[Loadsamunny]

Well wait, how is a little extra range from Range Capacitor better than 10% more damage from Damage Capacitor for Burst Lasers?

[tunewalker]

Well wait, how is a little extra range from Range Capacitor better than 10% more damage from Damage Capacitor for Burst Lasers?

 

Its a lot of math, but suffice to say range also helps how fast your weapon accuracy and damage scale as you get closer to your target. So at around 3k or something Range ends up being better because of the added accuracy and damage scaling vs 3k on a Damage Capacitor build....

[Loadsamunny]

Its a lot of math, but suffice to say range also helps how fast your weapon accuracy and damage scale as you get closer to your target. So at around 3k or something Range ends up being better because of the added accuracy and damage scaling vs 3k on a Damage Capacitor build....

 

I see. Okay, I'll switch then.

[Drakkolich]

Well wait, how is a little extra range from Range Capacitor better than 10% more damage from Damage Capacitor for Burst Lasers?

 

Alright it took some digging but we found it (Stasie helped me)

 

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=7350701&highlight=range+capacitor#post7350701

 

From this we can see that starting at 2800m vs evasive targets Ranged Capacitor starts outperforming the other 2 and only gets way better from there.

 

Damage Capacitor definitely will make you do more damage under 2k range especially vs low evasion targets. However vs the targets that are really hard to kill I believe Ranged is what you want.

[zaskar]

I might try two different loadouts.

 

Bursts/Clusters for standard dogfighting and turning battles.

Quads/Rockets for head-on battles of "chicken."

 

Never joust with quads/rockets. it's the sign of a bad pilot. Find an attack plane off center and between 20 and 30 degrees on the z-axis. Use your strafing thrusters thought the attack to "slide" away from your enemy just in case they can get angle on you. Don't slow down, as soon as you're within 1000-800m boost away and choose a new plane and vector.

 

These "starfighters" act sorta like biplanes from the 1910's, using the tactics from WW I and some from WW II works a hell of a lot better than thinking of it like a jet or actual spaceship.

Edited October 26, 2014 by zaskar

[Loadsamunny]

Alright it took some digging but we found it (Stasie helped me)

 

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=7350701&highlight=range+capacitor#post7350701

 

From this we can see that starting at 2800m vs evasive targets Ranged Capacitor starts outperforming the other 2 and only gets way better from there.

 

Damage Capacitor definitely will make you do more damage under 2k range especially vs low evasion targets. However vs the targets that are really hard to kill I believe Ranged is what you want.

 

What benefit does Range Capacitor offer to my Burst Lasers at point blank (2k and under)?

[zaskar]

What benefit does Range Capacitor offer to my Burst Lasers at point blank (2k and under)?

 

Seriously, we've all given you numerous links to the information you're asking for. Please read what is linked then ask questions. In that post linked everything is answered. We're going out of our way to help and you can't even take the 30 seconds to read what is provided?

 

If you need help understanding what is linked. Or you don't have the attention span to grok 500 words say that. Not ask for a friggin summary of everything.

Edited October 26, 2014 by zaskar

[Loadsamunny]

Seriously, we've all given you numerous links to the information you're asking for. Please read what is linked then ask questions. In that post linked everything is answered. We're going out of our way to help and you can't even take the 30 seconds to read what is provided?

 

If you need help understanding what is linked. Or you don't have the attention span to grok 500 words say that. Not ask for a friggin summary of everything.

 

I gave up on links dude. Someone gave me a huge number crunch about the best augments for tanks and I couldn't understand a damn thing that was written. I'm bad at math.

 

So yes, I want it spoon-fed to me. But at least I'm honest enough to admit it.

Edited October 26, 2014 by Loadsamunny

[zaskar]

I gave up on links dude. Someone gave me a huge number crunch about the best augments for tanks and I couldn't understand a damn thing that was written. I'm bad at math.

 

So yes, I want it spoon-fed to me. But at least I'm honest enough to admit it.

 

If you want it spoon fed, then just do what we say and don't ask questions?

[Loadsamunny]

If you want it spoon fed, then just do what we say and don't ask questions?

 

But asking questions is how you learn. I'm taking all the information provided to me, analyzing it, and then deciding for myself what is the best choice.