[Spoilers] End game weapon

[blizgerg]

What is your favorite weapon to use in the end game (i.e. few last systems)?

I really like the fusionfire howitzer but it doesn't really pack enough punch anymore by the time I get to the last few systems even when it is +100% with a speed loader. I also find the omni thermo cannon can take out many things nicely (it is not hard to take out a phobos with it) but against the Iocrym it's not very good. The first time I encountered the lighting turret I thought it was awesome, but in my latest play through it seemed to fall a little flat (i.e. I have a hard time dealing with a swarm of the little ares ships when I only used the lighting turret). I usually end up going and getting the lamplighter archcannon.

[Aury]

I edited in a spoiler tag in the title for you. (Yeah, I know it should be obvious, but still >.<)

Anyways, my endgame weapon of choice is admittedly a rather strange one. The IM90.
Why?
Wolfen, light iocrym, patchspiders (you can stick them in your cargo hold when you aren't using them, so they don't get damaged), longzhus, dodging

See:

light iocrym = patchspiders = heavy = cargohold
wolfen = small = easy to dodge with (even when loaded down, though it is more difficult)
cargohold + dodging = more attention used
IM90 + longzhus = lots of attention saved
more attention used + lots of attention saved = win!

IMO, Patchspiders > Patch arms : spiders use no slots (you can have as many as your reactor needs to function), you can stow them away so they dont get damaged, they have better repair rates, they repair higher level armors (like light iocrym, while patch arms stop as like, level 9 or 10 or something less than 11). Sure, they use more power, but they are just so much more convenient

Also an IM90 with longzhus can easily defeat the iocrym in a timely manner, even if each shot does less damage than most other ICS killers, because its omni and has 3 shots, it is much easier to dodge & hit the same area while dodging. Also you can multitask & keep the sentinels at bay simultaneously. IM90 +150% is amazing vs. the ICS too.

[PM]

IM90 and Iocrym Fracture Cannon for any ship I use. Wolfy explained why the IM90 is so good. The Fracture Cannon, which can be powered up by longzhu spheres, is for times when I need maximum damage per second. Both of those two weapons are overpowered.

[blizgerg]

Thanks Wolfy, I didn't think to put a spoilers tag on it...

I haven't ever used the IM90, I guess I should try it out.

[Aury]

Well, it depends on what ship you're using, and your playstyle.
IE, most people find using a wolfen + IM90 is rather unproductive as you can get forward-shooting weapons that do significantly more damage for less mass & energy use. That's fine if you've got a couple patch arms, a small cargo hold, and all, since you have high maneuverability.

I also never get the lamplighter anymore & get the GOS just for bragging rights XD (and the chance to see some aquilas)

[PM]

I consider the rewards for saving the Antarctica more powerful than the Lamplighter. Lamplighter is good, but pales when compared to +150% IM90 or Fracture Cannon. (Longzhus do not work on Lamplighter.) GoS, on the other hand, makes the final battle too easy, even if it is consumed after one use.

[Aury]

GoS is easy XD
I-D
U-[Gos]
I-I
Win!
...?
Profit!

[blizgerg]

Huh, the IM90 sounds like a weapon I'd like, I always play with the saphire and my usual strategy for difficult ships is to pummel them at max range. Ether get them to follow me and line up my shots or use an omni weapon and dance.

[Drako Slyith]

I agree with Wolfy, but as the IM90 is one of the most expensive weapons in the game, and I tend to fly through as fast as possible. I tend to have to scrounge for fuel... There fore: rapid playing style = low money. low money = low weapons/shields. low weapons/shields = lamplighter.

[Tamagoyaki]

Same topic here.
(I'm too lazy to post same answer twice )

[ThePrivateer]

*sigh*. End game sounds so fun...I really must try and do it sometime. My last...three?...playthroughs I have ended up at a dead end.
Eg.
Last Freighter playthrough -- get to two systems after St Kats, choose to safe at the wrong moment and continually get blown up by Heliotropes until I just give up.

Last Wolfen playthrough -- get my shields smashed up, my armour reduced to 1 ON ALL SIDES, getting smashed up by a whole fleet of .... wait for it.... Hornet battlepods. I flee to a sun, but my fuel is next to nothing. I accidentally save (I meant to press Suicde) so now I either die of fuel starvation, or get a few clicks off the sun, my shields get destroyed and my armour punched through.

I don't know If i'm just a bad player or what...

[Drako Slyith]

I used to not be able to get far, but I found the saphire seems to work best for me; wolfen has too little cargo space, and freighter is too slow. Saphire is good once you upgrade pretty much everything on it.

[PM]

Indeed. Once the Sapphire upgrades its engine to a Titan, it can do almost everything the Wolfen can and more. The only advantage the Wolfen has at that point is it can equip heavier armor. The problem: four 10 ton segments means the Wolfen only has about 25 tons left before becoming overburdened. Remove another seven for Hyperion reactor, another five for shields (or twelve for Kaidun). Now it has a little over ten tons left, not enough for the IM90 without becoming overburdened. Sapphire and Wolfen have the same weight limitations, and since endgame devices are heavy, the Wolfen's heavy armor advantage is meaningless. The Wolfen needs to be able to carry more mass than the Sapphire without becoming overburdened. As it is, the Wolfen is most useful for an easier game before St. Katherine's Star.

[blizgerg]

I agree, the Sapphire is the hardest ship in the early game but mid to late game it is the best. I have tried the other ships but I always go back to using the Sapphire. I've completed maybe 5 games with it. I have never completed a game with the Wolfen or the freighter.

[Atarlost]

The best armor in the game that the Wolfen can use and the Sapphire can't isn't 10 tons though, it's 8 ton heavy ithalium. That saves 8 tons over your estimate. You're actually just as likely to use octocarbide or diamond lattice and save a net 5 tons over the Sapphire because you don't need a drive upgrade. You also wind up with an extra weapon slot. Unless you're running a two weapon Sapphire config the Wolfen is a pure superset of the Sapphire if you're using a Titan 440 on the Sapphire.