[Belated Thread of] The RPG.NET LP of Transcendence 1.1

[Ultimate Chicken]

Short update because my last 2 weeks got eaten quite badly.

It's mostly just mining and running into an Iocyrm Veil. I do have enough Rins left over to get the other unidentified Shield system, but my priority's on that Level X unidentified weapon.

[Atarlost]

That level X unidentified weapon isn't very good. It's either the incredibly sad Iocrym Fracture Cannon (Look Ma, no range!) or the even sadder Iocrym Repeller. Or possibly the slightly-less-sad-but-still-not-as-good-as-its-identified-peers Kytryn Blaster or the superlatively depressing Kytryn Launcher (the odds of any ammo generating anywhere in a given game are not good).

[Song]

That level X unidentified weapon isn't very good. It's either the incredibly sad Iocrym Fracture Cannon (Look Ma, no range!) or the even sadder Iocrym Repeller. Or possibly the slightly-less-sad-but-still-not-as-good-as-its-identified-peers Kytryn Blaster or the superlatively depressing Kytryn Launcher (the odds of any ammo generating anywhere in a given game are not good).

May I just say that while Atarlost absolutely hates the IFC (which is kinda odd given he's one of the few advocates of the Moskva 11) for its tiny range, if you can get within that range it's actually pretty good, especially if optimised or longzhu'd. But in general I'd agree that an unidentified alien weapon is unlikely to be particularly good. The repeller is possibly one of of the least useful weapons in the game, the kytryn blaster looks lame to shoot (it shoots explosions in 1.1. Not sure how that works, but it's not that pretty) and isn't all that good, although it's workable......and the kytryn launcher looks lame, often has no ammo for it in the entire game, and isn't all that good compared to, say, an ares launcher or NAMI heavy. And the IFC itself is only a good weapon if you can afford to tank things (which includes the final boss, which is notorious for having something like 90% of its firepower restrained to short-range use and is thus a hard thing to take on in this way)....


The unidentified shield] on the other hand is either a Jotun deflector or an Iocrym Veil. The Jotun can be adjusted to use more or less power, but is basically not worth it in most cases.

The veil on the other hand is a rather good shield on most fronts.

On the whole, I wouldn't consider it worthwhile to chase after the unidentified items in the game unless you really can afford to gamble on it. It's usually better to find something that's fairly OK and enhance it.

[Atarlost]

The moskva 11 is an omni. That means you just have to get close. With the Fracture Cannon you also have to be facing the target. The Moskva is therefore good for close high speed passes where it'd be impossible to keep a fixed axis weapon on target. This works nicely with stuff like the Cyclotron shields available at the same level.

[Ultimate Chicken]

Well meh, that does sound pretty anticlimatic, given that I was going for "Identify All The Things".

I know where to get an IFC for free, and I think I've got an Unidentified Jotun randomly from Ares transports so I can afford to be patient on that front...

PS: I'm sorry, the Moskva is a terrible, terrible omniweapon, and the only reason I'd use it is if it were a starter weapon (which it is in 1.2 CC :3). It's only virtue is that it's more common than the RK-15. Moskva's only decent offering is the Repeater, yet by the time you get it its been overshadowed.

(Not helping is the fact that I don't like Cyclotrons either. >_>)

[Atarlost]

Well meh, that does sound pretty anticlimatic, given that I was going for "Identify All The Things".

I know where to get an IFC for free, and I think I've got an Unidentified Jotun randomly from Ares transports so I can afford to be patient on that front...

PS: I'm sorry, the Moskva is a terrible, terrible omniweapon, and the only reason I'd use it is if it were a starter weapon (which it is in 1.2 CC :3). It's only virtue is that it's more common than the RK-15. Moskva's only decent offering is the Repeater, yet by the time you get it its been overshadowed.

(Not helping is the fact that I don't like Cyclotrons either. >_>)

You're using the Moskva 11 on the wrong ship. Get a Wolfen and do high speed close passes with it and you'll do better.

I'm not sure how you're finding the Moskva 33 overshadowed. It's the best short range weapon of its level band. With the resistance gaps on common enemies it's probably the best in tier 2.

[TVR]

You're using the Moskva 11 on the wrong ship. Get a Wolfen and do high speed close passes with it and you'll do better.

I hate to say this, but the Wolfen's dual laser cannons are far, far better than the Moskva 11.

[Atarlost]

You're using the Moskva 11 on the wrong ship. Get a Wolfen and do high speed close passes with it and you'll do better.

I hate to say this, but the Wolfen's dual laser cannons are far, far better than the Moskva 11.

Not really.

Against all but the weakest enemies the dual laser is doing 2d4-2 or worse. The Moskva is going to do better against the outlaw faction and against the Urak. Lasers are only potentially better against pirates and stuff in level I armor. The Moskva, as an omni, is also better against things like Hornets and Himal Interceptors. Even though they're theoretically fast enough to stay out of range the AI won't actually be able to do so and you will hit more reliably and potentially single shot them. A dual laser will not single shot them unless you hit a Himal edge on because the shots are too widely spaced to both hit.

Not that you need to choose. The Wolfen can mount 4 weapons before impinging on it's versatile slots.

[PM]

Unenhanced, the Iocrym Fracture cannon is not powerful enough to justify its short range. Its DPS is still good, but not enough to kill things much faster than other weapons.

Kytryn blaster is slightly overpowered for its level. It is a very good weapon, with 78% of the DPS of the 1.1 plasma cannon. Still not as good as the best level 10 weapons or a +150% level 8+ thermo weapon.

Kytryn launcher is good if you can find ammo and you are adept with the Teraton fabricator to spawn more. Still not as effective as a Warhammer outside of Heretic. It is better than the unreliable pre-1.2 NAMI heavy launcher.

[TVR]

The Moskva is going to do better against the outlaw faction and against the Urak.

Have you actually tried engaging a Urak Destroyer with a Moskva 11 and stock Wolfen?

[Song]

Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the war room!

AKA: Let's keep things on topic, please.

[Ultimate Chicken]

Well to be honest I think I was the one who started it, so sorry <_<'

Anyway, update.

I died. Not the end. Respawning next week.

Stupid Kobol.

[sun1404]

The Kobols are probably the strongest enemy that uses Particle weapons. I still don't understand how can their primitive weapons deal so much damage to my defense at that point. There are many times when I was skirmishing with Ares and happen to fly near a Kobol station, turns out the Kobols there are even more ferocious than the Ares. My shield that did great against the Ares got tore down very quickly by the Kobol ships, and my armors usually follow suit quickly.

They doesn't explode easily too. Their ships are very hard, and their station even more so.

[Atarlost]

It's the omnis. Omni weapons paper over almost all of the flaws in the AI and the imbalance caused by NPC ships only having 20 facings.

[Jay2Jay]

*sigh* Why cant someone make a mod giving the ai 40 facings already? The hard work has already been done by PM (he made 40 facing versions of all ships) all someone needs do is code. I would do it, but I don't have access to notepad ++ until December 23-ish.

The IFC is awesome if you know how to use it (hit and run while constantly firing towards an enemy) as it blocks the most damaging shots and can do major damage even to groups of enemies. I line my ship up then fly in a straight line, spewing molten oatmeal-y death at everything in sight, then turn my ship around (while still going in the one direction) and leave a molten oatmeal trail to prevent any shots to my backside until the ships stop following me or get out of range. Then I repeat.

The repeller would be pretty cool if it was a point-defense device instead of a weapon.

I have always used the jotun over the veil since it has higher hp and recharge rate, not sure why the veil would be better.

I always collect plasma injectors, carbon aerogel, and longzhu's for late game, sometimes I even use my corporate trading post orders for plasma injectors over longzhus.

Endgame equipment that I like.

Vanilla:
Ares Plasma Archcannon
NAMI Heavy Launcher (I kill lots of CSC's and the ammo is pretty common at Commonwealth stations lategame)
IFC (enhanced as much as possible)
Jotun (enhanced)
Light Iocrymn armor for the boss(enhanced) but until then, I use heavy ithalium (plasma resistance) or Octocarbide